Dust to Dust -(Lightning Dust x Anon) (Some clop) (COMPLETE)

>You are Anonymous
>And things have been better for you in the past
>But, you suppose things have been worse
>As time went on and you needed to decide on a stable career, you thought you'd join a security program and become a guard
>Seemed reasonable enough, you're much taller than the average pony!
>Your human physique seemed to have landed you a guaranteed career, how about that?
>Except, you're not really as strong as the average pony, especially the earth ones
>You're not really as fast as the average pony, especially the pegasi
>You have fingers which is pretty nice, but it hardly competes with unicorn telekinesis
>And upon realizing all of that half way through training, it dawned on you that you weren't the brightest creature either
>Yeah, this was a pretty shit decision
>However, it did awaken a sort of determination within you, something you had lacked before reaching Equestria
>You felt like you had to prove something
>You'd gotten enough shit through training and all it did was make you want to prove them wrong
>That being said, you had done absolutely nothing to suggest that they had no idea what they were talking about
>You had boasted about one day becoming a royal guard but the idea seemed to rot a little more each day
>Every god damn day
>Each job you had was more pathetic than the last, and the closest you had ever come to an actual fight was arresting a drunk pony who had had way too much to drink
>What was her name? Berry... something?
>Eh, who gives a shit
>You were pretty sure you had never even had to draw your sword
>Just when it seemed like things were about to take a turn for the aggressively normal, Rainbow Dash had landed you a job as a security guard while the Wonderbolts were on tour

>The Wonderbolts! Those guys are super important!
>You got Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot if you're a weirdly obsessed fan, and the other ponies nobody cares about, but hey those first two are important!
>Turns out your dreams of grandeur as a Wonderbolts bodyguard were woefully inflated by your sense of adventure
>You should have really taken what Dash said at face value
>You were totally a security guard
>And this was boring as all hell
>You were little more than a glorified barrier rope, keeping the occassional fan from straying too far from their seats for their own safety
>These ponies could be insufferable at times
>During the last show, you had missed the finale because some pony was choking on the concessions
>Like, come on, just chew your food, you stupid horse
>Hay fries are gross anyway
>You stood there a while, listening to the cheers of the crowd as the routine you had seen so many times played out in your head
>You knew exactly where they were
>You scowled, maybe you had just become bitter
>Why would you care about missing the finale of the show anyway? You had seen it a dozen times now
>You were currently in Cloudsdale, marking the second to last spot in the tour
>Yep, Cloudsdale
>The Wonderbolts were going all out for this one
>Regardless, you weren't even paying attention
>Currently, you were propped up against the side of some bleachers, wondering how long you had before the cloud-walk enchantment you had on dissipated.
>Were you supposed to renew it every 30 minutes, or every hour?
>Maybe it'd be better if it just wore off and you met your grisly end at terminal velocity
>...
>Well, that was dark. Maybe you should get out of here, surely there are some sweet bars in Cloudsdale

>You thought only for a brief instant if you wanted to ask Rainbow Dash to go, before you immediately dismissed the idea
>Right. She was a full member now.
>You looked up, the familiar roar of the speeding pegasi echoing through the night
>You saw the rainbow trail behind one of the suited members and smiled
>As bitter as you were, it was nice to see some people achieve their dreams
>Inspiring, even
>In this day and age, too many people seemed content, and dreams were too often smothered
>If she could do it, why couldn't anyone?
>Enough of this, you need a beer
>The show probably still had an hour or two to go, maybe more
>You doubt anyone would care if you left your post, there are few jobs more boring than this
>You made your way across the stretch of clouds, marveling at how your boots molded to the white surface instead of piercing through
>You're pretty sure that's something you could never get used to
>You walked a short while, captivated by the soft light of street lamps on the flying city before stopping at a bar near the stadium where the performance was taking place
>You guessed that it would be relatively empty since the performance was completely under way and had been for a while
>You seemed relatively correct, there were a few ponies in the bar, more than you expected, but it would definitely make a nice place to stop for a drink
>The sounds of ponies in small talk struck you from all sides ad you entered and you surveyed the place for somewhere to sit
>Your eyes stopped at the right end of the bar where a green pegasus was sitting alone
>And damn, was she a trooper
>Several empty glasses were scattered below her face
>Her head hung low and she didn't seem to be making any movement
>There's absolutely no way this won't be interesting
>Besides, she seemed pretty from the back, maybe the face could match up!

>You walked over to her, a bit of confidence in your stride
>Think of all the stories you could tell her
>Like that time you roughed up that drunk mare and arrested her!
>Well... that's about the only story you got
>And honestly, the phrasing of that was pretty terrible
>God damn, you're lame.
>Her head moved up slowly, she must have heard the clink of what little armor you were wearing
>She turned, her yellow eyes looking over you before they rolled in disapproval of your arrival
>"Fuck off pig, I'm within my rights to be here."
>Well, she was pretty but you weren't off to a good start
>Story of your life
>You took a seat
>"Did my land lord send you? Look, I'm leaving tomorrow, I just gotta pack some things, okay? I'm not gonna be able to pa-"
>You didn't sign up for this
"I'm not here for any reason. I don't even know what you're talking about, if it makes you feel any better. I just want a drink. Is that okay?"
>Bitch
>A strand of gold hair fell in front of her face before she blew it to the side
>She swayed gently from side to side
>Your eyes fell upon the mound of empty bottles
>You didn't need guard training to know she was way beyond drunk
>She looked over you one more time, noticing the Wonderbolts symbol across your chest this time around
>"Yeah, I suppose that's fine. Unless..."
>She pounded her hoof on the table, gently rattling the glasses
>"Unless you're here to make fun of me! Are you here 'cause you couldn't get with any of the real Wonderbolts so you're looking to screw a dropout?"
>You were so confused
>Dropout? Of the Wonderbolts? What?
>Also Spitfire was hot and all, but you doubt you could ever do anything with her. She would break you.
>Hmmm, that is kinda hot th-
>She spoke again
>"Well... I guess I'm not really a dropout. I wasn't really one in the first place."
>Her eyes seemed to glisten as she grabbed the current glass she was nursing
>"And I guess I didn't really quit either."

>She hadn't really given you a reason to, but you couldn't help but feel bad for her
>You searched your memories for Rainbow Dash ever mentioning a pegasus that got kicked out of Wonderbolt academy
>She had so much to say when she got back, it may have got lost in the excitement
>And she surely hadn't mentioned anyone like that in recent time
>How does one get kicked out of the Wonderbolts anyway? You'd probably have to fuck up pretty bad
>Maybe this isn't the type of pony you should be around
>To hell with it, you decided your rudimentary knowledge of combat could be enough to prepare yourself for whatever a drunken super-athlete could do
>At least then you'd have a worthwhile story!
"Well if that isn't you foreshadowing an 'It should have been me' speech than I don't know what could be."
>You thought it was funny, but it seems like she didn't agree
>Based on your one minute experience of her, you would have expected her reaction to be anger
>Her ears dropped down and her eyes met the floor of the bar
>"You're right... I guess I am a bit of a broken record at this point. Enjoy your drink."
>She turned back to the bar, taking a more liberal glug from her glass this time
>Well don't you feel like an asshole
>There should be a law against you talking to mares
>Unfortunately, there's not
>You sighed and ordered a drink, turning back to the pegasus
"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. What did you mention about you being in the Wonderbolts?"
>Her eyes narrowed
>It was very likely that she thought you were patronizing her
"You don't have to worry about me mocking you or whatever. I'm kind of a fuckin' loser myself. I'm just a security guard for the Wonderbolts while they're on tour."
>She seemed to lessen her aggressive demeanor
"I wanna reitterate that, I'm a security guard. Not a bodyguard. Like, I'm the dude that makes sure you bought a ticket."
>She giggles
>There's hope for you yet

>"Well..."
>She swayed one more time, catching herself on the bar
>"I made it to the Wonderbolt Academy, and everything was going just great!"
>She emphasized the last word with an exaggerated motion, knocking over one of her empty glasses
>She was speaking a little loud for your comfort level, but you decided that stopping her wouldn't end very well
>She went on for a while, talking about how incredible she was as a flier, before she started to talk about Rainbow Dash for some reason.
>She spoke her name with such venom, and made sure to inform you that Rainbow Dash doesn't deserve her spot as a Wonderbolt, that it should be her instead
>Well that's not very nice! That's your friend after all!
>You should say somethi-!
>Wait
>The pegasus kept talking, but this story had triggered your memory
>Rainbow Dash spoke of a reckless pegasus that could fly as fast as her, one that took her spot as "lead pony" during their paired training exercises before being kicked out
>The story slowly pieced together, and more importantly, you remembered RD's narrative of how she didn't care about harming other ponies to prove she was the best
>This realization hit you like a freight train, and your eyes widened
>You attempted to play it off, but even the drunken mare looked at you quizzically when you drank from your beer
>As the pint reached your lips, you maintained a wide-eyed stare at her and a overly "play it cool" pose
>What was it you thought earlier? "God damn, you're lame"?
>Yeah, something like that
>"You uh, you okay?"
>Fuck
"Yep! Just fine! I'm just uh... amazed that that bitch would do something like that! Crazy! I mean what's a tornado to a few pegasi, anyway? What a bunch of whiny brats!"
>She looked very angry
>Why though? You were agreeing with her, right?
>Does that make you spineless?
>Eh, probably

>"How did you know about the tornado? I haven't even gotten to that part yet!"
>FUCK
>You should have really been listening
"Look, Lightning Dust, I didn't-!"
>She shot up with her wings, floating a few feet above the ground
>"You know my name too?! Dash told you all about me didn't she?!"
>Holy fuck, you're terrible at this
>"I'll bet you two are best of fucking friends too! You and the Wonderbolts sit around all day laughing at me, don't you?!"
>You wouldn't say BEST of friends
>She was full on shouting now, and what few ponies there were in the bar had ceased their conversations to look at you
>Well, this certainly wasn't going to get any better, and you already look like a jackass so you might as well try something
"Lightning Dust, calm down! Nobody's out to get you! Nobody is making fun of you or has made fun of you!"
>Except last week, but she doesn't need to know that
>You recounted the story once more in your head, and while she had been a mighty bitch, what happened to her did seem a little unfair
>Especially if it reduced her to this
"I think what happened to you was a bit much! I mean, you sure as hell deserved punishment-"
>Her eyes seemed to flare up with rage
>You back-peddled as quick as you could
"-But that doesn't mean you should have been kicked out! From what it sounds like, you were an incredible flier, the best, even!"
>She didn't seem to know how to respond
>It's like everyone had given her a hard time about it since the day it happened, so she expected the worst of you
>But you're not condemning her, not completely anyway, and that has to count for something
>Maybe it's catching her off guard?
>Judging by her current drunken state, she clearly regrets it

>"Wait, r-really?"
>Her face softened
"I'm Anonymous, by the way."
>You smiled
>She shook her head, an angry glare returning to the forefront.
>"Well, Anonymous, I think you're full of shit! Leave me alone, okay?"
>You couldn't help but be a little frustrated
>If everything Dash said about her flying ability was true, it's a shame she is where she is now
"Can you really afford to think like that when you're like this? Do you even talk to anyone?"
>Clearly, you hit a sensitive spot
>Clearly, she feels strongly about where she is at in life
>CLEARLY, you just made her very angry
>"HEY, FUCK YOU, MAN! What are you trying to say?! I'm not about to get smack talked by the Wonderbolts' bellyboy!"
>You little shit
>She had knocked over two of her empty glasses
>They shattered as they hit the ground
>You were making a scene
>But fuck it, there was a point where you should have stopped, but here you are now
>So keep going, she probably needs to hear all of this anyway
>You stood up now as well, you've had experience yelling at people who were out of line, maybe it will come in handy here
>Was she really out of line though?
>What you said was kind of fucked up
>It doesn't matter
>And she did call you a fucking bellboy
"I'm trying to say that Dash DID tell me everything. And if you're half as great as she made you sound, then you must have fallen far to drink yourself into a coma when the team you should be performing with is putting the whole city in awe right over there!"
>You pointed in the general direction you remember the stadium being in
>If she could burst into flames, she would have done so now
>"Well I can't exactly do that now can I? It's not like I quit, dumbass, I got kicked out! Kinda hard to come back from that! And who the fuck is telling me this? I'm assuming you didn't grow up wanting to count tickets! At least I tasted glory, all you've ever done is lick the boots of your superiors!"

>Calm yourself, Anon
>Or ya know, don't
>"Fuck you, Anonymous!"
>She stumbled in her drunken stupor, throwing an amount of bits on the counter that in no way added to what she owed them
>She passed through the door, every pony in the bar looking at you for answers
>You completely ignored them though, running after her
>You flew out the door and saw her only a few yards away
"You think I enjoy this?"
>You stepped onto the clouds, walking over to her
"You're right, I never dreamt I'd be in a position like this, I mean for fuck's sake I'm yelling at a horse right now! But I'm trying, God damn it. Dash mentioned how much you went on and on about pushing your limits, that's what made you lead pony in the first place right?"
>She took a step back
>You advanced
"Well I'm doing the same thing. And just because my limits are lower than yours, it does not mean you are fucking better than me! I used to talk so much shit about becoming a royal guard, and while I may be here as a  'bellboy' as you put it, I'm still somewhere! But you stopped. You gave up. Have you even tried to appeal to Spitfire for readmission? Have you tried anything since the day you walked away?"
>She was silent
>Two tears managed to escape her eyes
"I don't even have anything going for me! You ponies are stronger, faster and more versatile than I'll ever be! But you, you're fucking incredible!"
>Lightning Dust looked at you now, breaking the gaze she had on the cloud
>She looked slightly confused
"You beat out Rainbow Dash in the Wonderbolt Academy. RAINBOW DASH. The pony everyone thought was the greatest flier in all of Equestria! She's saved the world a bunch of times with her friends but you come in out of nowhere and impress Spitfire more than she did."
>Silence
"I'd bet she'd give you another chance. I'd bet all of Equestria would. But you have to give yourself a chance first."

>Lightning Dust sat on the ground, sobbing
>She used one of her wings to cover her face
>You couldn't tell if it was because she didn't want you looking at her or if she didn't want to look you in the eye
>Even though this was probably all stuff she needed to hear, you felt like garbage
>You were trying to help, but she sure was tough as hell
>It seemed like the only way to get through to her
>You walked over to the drunk pegasus and sat down next to her
"Dust-"
>She wrapped her forelegs around your neck and pulled you into a hug
>She was very drunk, you reasoned
>Between sobs you could hear her murmured acceptance
>"You're right! You're right. I'm a fucking failure. I don't even know what I am doing with my life."
>Yikes, this was bad
>And boy, did you suck at comforting people
>You hugged her back, not doing so would probably make her only feel worse at this point
"Lightning Dust, it's okay. You can still bounce back from all of this. And I mean it when I said I don't think this Wonderbolts thing is over for you. There's gotta be someway you can get back in."
>She sniffled
>"You really think so? But, I was kind of a... I was pretty mean."
>You chuckled
"Eh, you're not so bad."
>She laughed quietly
>Success!
>It's a shame she'll probably kick your teeth in when she's sober
>Oh well, enjoy the present while it lasts!
>"Thanks Anon. It's been a while since I've really talked about it to anyone."
>Yeah, no shit
"Well, I'm glad I could h-"
>You fell
>A instance of pure white surrounded you as you passed through the cloud below you and into the night sky, wind rushing past you in a mighty roar
>That stupid fucking cloud-walk spell
>You totally forgot about it
>You could hear Lightning Dust cry your name once as you fell, anything else she was saying was lost to the wind

>You supposed there were worse ways to die
>Odds are you wouldn't feel a thing
>Might scar a pony or two for life if they see you
>But it's no harm
>It's unfortunate that you just gave a speech about pursuing dreams when yours just vaporized due to being slightly forgetful
>Then again, how do you forget about something like that?
>Your back was to the ground
>You stared at the ever-shrinking city of Cloudsdale
>It really did look beautiful, especially at night
>You could even see distant fireworks
>Probably marking the end of the Wonderbolts show
>You wondered if they would even notice you were gone
>Maybe Dash would
>Maybe
>Your final thoughts were cut short as your eyes met a bright crackle of light within the clouds
>Could the clouds in Cloudsdale have lightning?
>Isn't that something the pegasi could control?
>Moments after the flash, an ear-shattering boom rang out through the sky
>Bursting from the earlier flash of light, a streak of green with a core of gold lightning began to race towards you at an unimaginable speed
>There's no fucking way
>Your eyes betrayed common logic, as the streak proceeded closer and closer to you despite the speed at which you were currently falling
>Even through the rush of wind you could hear the ever-approaching screech of a pegasus at mach speed
>You had always kept a fairly safe distance at the Wonderbolts shows, you had never been so close to that kind of power
>Guess she still had it, huh?
>As your savior approached closer and closer you thought to yourself
>Isn't she drunk?
>There's a good chance she could still get you killed
>Are there laws against drinking and flying?
>There probably should be
>Are you really in a position to argue though?

>Lightning Dust was next to you now, through the bright green glow, you could see her
>Tears flowed from her face as the wind ravaged her eyes, and her teeth were clenched
>She turned her head, and you made eye contact only for a brief moment before she grabbed you
>This probably went much better in her head, but in her drunken state she couldn't recover her balance
>What started as a grab turned into a tackle
>Her wings flapped in protest of gravity's will to kill both of you, to some avail
>You felt your speed dramatically decrease but you were still falling fairly fast
>You looked down, and the forest below was rapidly approaching
>Before you could do anything to help yourself, you passed through the canopy
>The branches and leaves passed over your body like whips
>Even in this brief moment of time, you were grateful for your light armor
>You felt Lightning Dust lose grip on you
>There's no telling where she was tumbling off to
>You flipped end over end at least four times before straightening out
>The brush had slowed you even more, but your collision with the forest floor was still incredibly painful
>You landed on your side, skipping like a stone before rolling for some time
>You ended up face down in a patch of grass, your limp body maintaining its stillness for fear of agony
"Ugh..."
>You dared to flex a few of your muscles
>Everything hurt
>Everything hurt a lot
>But nothing seemed broken or permanently damaged
>Your eyes went wide
"L-Lightning Dust?"
>You pushed yourself into a standing position
>It felt like magma shot through your veins as you grappled with yourself to maintain a stance
>You called out
"Lightning Dust!"
>No answer
>Fuck
>You called her name one more time
>Silence
>Despite the agony you were in, you ran off, dashing around each tree and surveying the landscape for the pegasus
>She had just saved your life
>The least you could do was make sure she wasn't dead

>As panic began to set in, you found her
>A few of her teal feathers were scattered around the area
>A trickle of blood matted her fur in a crimson path along her face
>She wasn't moving
>Please be okay
>You ran over to her, kneeling by her side
>Luckily, in training they taught you plenty about first aid
>It was hard at first, taking care of a human was a bit different than taking care of a pony, but the same stuff applied in most cases
>Keep their insides on the inside
>Simple stuff
>Your pretty sure Ponyville would be easy to get to if Lightning Dust could just fly up above the treeline and give you a direction
>Clearly that wasn't happening any time soon
>Using bits of your clothing that you could, you managed to create some incredibly rudimentary bandages
>Just something to stop the bleeding
>Fortunately, as you looked her over, it looks like she suffered much the same you did
>Her injuries seemed mostly superficial, and while you couldn't tell if she sprained anything, there definintely wasn't anything broken
>Well, nothing obvious was broken anyway
>The only injury that stood out was the blow to her head
>She must have taken a direct hit from a branch while falling
>It was clearly why she was knocked out
>You hoped that there was no permanent damage done
>If you and her were lucky, it would at worse be a concussion
>If you were lucky
>It was a pretty nasty fall, after all
>You looked around the the forested area
>Dark as all hell
>There was no way you were getting out of here until she woke up, or at least until day light
>You supposed one night here wouldn't be so bad
>A few hours roughing it wouldn't kill you!
>You looked over to Lightning Dust
>You really hoped that your decision to stay here for the night wouldn't have terrible consequences

>It took only a few minutes for you to assemble a proper fire
>A few more to actually get it started
>You were actually grateful for Dust's unconsciousness at this particular point, you looked pretty fucking stupid failing this over and over
>Then again, if she were conscious, you wouldn't even be in this situation
>At one point, you had tried to climb a tree yourself to get a view but immediately decided against it
>Every single movement of your body still flared with horrific pain given the proper positioning
>Much to your pleasure, a fire eventually sprung into existence
>Given that there was nobody around for you to act cool around, you made the world know how proud of your success you were
>You were Anon, Master of Survival!
>You sat down in the triumphant aura of the burning campfire
>Hm
>You didn't really have a bedroll or anything
>Neither did Lightning Dust
>Realizing your negligence, you stood up quickly, walking over to the pegasus
>As gently as possible, you slipped a hand under her head and picked her up
>She was surprisingly light
>Guess it'd be kind of strange if she wasn't, you reasoned
>How else would she fly so well?
>Doubtful in your ability to position her against a tree comfortably, you settled for sitting with your legs crossed, your own back to a tree
>You placed Lightning Dust into your lap, Making sure her head was propped up against your arm
>You didn't want the blood rushing to her head or anything
>You had already caused enough damage
>You had to fold her wings yourself to get her to fit, but eventually the two of you were properly cuddled up
>This was a little intimate wasn't it?
>Hopefully she didn't mind
>You looked down at her, the firelight dancing off of her green coat
>You had to agree with your earlier sentiment
>She was very pretty

>At least she was comfortable
>You thought back to what Rainbow Dash had said about her
>And more importantly, you thought back to what you said before you fell from Cloudsdale
>About how she'll kick your teeth in when she's sober
>Could she really be that bad?
>Against your better judgement, you didn't think so
>You had a canteen of water that you kept buckled to your side
>Removing it from your waist, you placed it next to you, a bit out in front
>She's going to be thirsty as hell when she wakes up, being hungover and all
>Hopefully if she woke up first, she would get the message that it's for her
>You laid your head back
>You've been more comfortable
>You took one last look at Lightning Dust
>But, you suppose you've been less comfortable
>...
>Your eyes shot open
>You leaned forward, groaning in agony
>God, kill you now
>The memories of last night began to trickle in one by one before turning into a flood
>You looked down at your empty lap
>No Lightning Dust
>You looked around
>No Lightning Dust
>The campfire had burned itself out
>The canteen was gone
>Well
>I guess she was fine
>You brought yourself to one knee, closing your eyes in pain
>She had probably gone back to Cloudsdale by now
>You stood, dusting your hands
>Yep, she sure didn't need you
>But that's good right? That means she was okay!
>She was just fine!
>Without you
>You sighed
>Why did you give a shit anyway?
>Did you really expect anything to happen between you and that drunken has-been?
>You looked around only for a moment before deciding on a random path and began limping towards it
>"Hey, Ponyville is that way, smart one."
>You turned to find Lightning Dust holding your canteen a few feet above you, pointing in a different direction
>She was hovering, flapping her wings gently
>She was smiling
>"I uh... I found a nearby river and refilled it for you."
>She offered the bottle to you
>You took it from her
>You couldn't fight back a grin

>She almost seemed a little upset
>"What are you smiling about?"
>You turned to walk in the direction she gestured to
"Oh nothing, I just think this is a little funny."
>She flew in front of you, backing up as you moved so that she could face you
>She was irritated
>You looked her over, she seemed to have removed the bandages you gave her
>Her fur was also lacking blood
>She must have washed it off in the river
>For the most part, she seemed relatively okay
>Save for a few scrapes and bruises and a particularly gnarly black eye
>She spoke a bit louder now
>"Well, what's so damn funny?!"
>You couldn't help but chuckle, which seemed to fan her flames
"I'm a security guard for the Wonderbolts, so I've clearly heard some things about you. Mostly from Rainbow Dash. They said you were pretty mean, yet here you are."
>You motioned to the water bottle she refilled
"I'd say you've been rather nice to me. Besides, you didn't have to stick around for me to wake up."
>She went red for a brief moment and crossed her forelegs as she stayed afloat
>"It'd be pretty harsh to leave you out here. I'm not that much of a monster. And... well..."
>She stopped, causing you to do so as well a few steps later
>You looked at her, waiting for the answer and your gaze couldn't help but fall back to the black eye she had
>She put a hoof over it and recoiled slightly
>"Quit it."
>She clearly wasn't proud of last night
>Which is pretty dumb, you reasoned
"Lightning Dust, thanks for saving me last night. I guess I got a little carried away with our conversation and forgot about the spell. I still can't believe you even managed to go that fast while completely fucking hammered."
>She laughed now
>"How do you forget about the only thing keeping you from falling to your death?"
>You had to admit, it was kind of funny

>But you're not gonna let her get away that easy
"So, what were you gonna say earlier?"
>Silence
"Come on, where's the badass I've heard so much about?"
>"Shut up, Anon! This is just hard for me, okay?"
>You nodded your understanding but showed no sign of changing the subject
>"UGH. I just really liked talking to you last night. And yes, I remember everything. You said some things that hurt to hear, but you're right. I haven't done anything since getting kicked out of the academy. I just kind of... gave up."
>You sensed that there was more she had to say, so you remained quiet
>"I've been short supply on hope lately, it was really nice to hear some words of encouragement. I'm not sure how long I would have stayed in that bar night after night, but it definitely wasn't getting any better."
>She seemed to drop her guard some
>"Also, I don't really cry a whole lot. The whole thing still kinda makes me feel weird, considering I barely know you and all."
>She wasn't rambling was she?
>"And I totally remember calling you a bellboy and some other things I said about you and I really-"
>You hugged her
>Lightning Dust had been spouting insecurities since you met her, it was getting hard to watch
>To your surprise, she almost immediately reciprocated
>She nuzzled her head into your chest
"It's fine, Dust. I'm glad you're doing better."
>A little while had passed
>She had said nothing
"Dust?"
>She backed away quickly, her eyes going wide briefly
>Her face was flushed
>"Sorry!"
>You couldn't stifle a laugh

>The two of you shared a companionable silence before she broke it
>"Hey, you still need someone to guide you to Ponyville, right?"
>You looked around at the trees
>She had pointed you in the right direction but that was hardly useful information
>It would be easy to get turned around
"Yeah, that'd be nice. I have a place in Ponyville, so I guess I'll wait there until Rainbow Dash comes to tell me how much of a fuck up I am for vanishing last night."
>You began walking again and she flew to your side, landing next to you
>"You uh, you have a place?"
>You now remembered the first words she ever spoke to you
>Something about her not being able to make rent, right?
>Play it cool
>The hot pegasus you founder yourself in the company of just may have asked to stay a night with you
>And no alcohol was required to do so!
>...Sort of!
>Images of your home came at you in a barrage
>A bedroom
>A bathroom
>A couch, sort of
>It was pretty terrible
>Lightning Dust was a world-class flier
>It's a bit embarrassing taking a mare like her to your dumpster fire of a house
>"Anonymous?"
>Shit, you had been quiet
>What if she thinks you don't like her?
>"Are you okay?"
"Yeah! Yeah I'm fine!"
>You should just be honest
>Leave out details though
"I do have a house. But I'm a security guard, and the paycheck to match. It's nothing impressive."
>If it bothered her, you couldn't tell
>She giggled
>"Well, my place isn't very impressive either. Ever since I got kicked out of the academy, things have been pretty hard."
>Lightning Dust's famed bravado helped her out here
>What she was telling you bothered her, but the only reason you knew is because you were looking for it
>Who knows how long she had been putting up the act

>Some time and small talk had passed
>The trees had begun to thin and both of you welcomed the open air
>Lightning Dust couldn't contain herself
>As you passed the treeline she took to the air, executing a few flips and stunts you knew only a master flier could reproduce
>"Woohoo! We made it!"
>She landed in front of you
>"Look at us, braving uh..."
>She looked passed you to the trees behind
>"...some forest! I guess!"
>You laughed
"Yeah, but you could have left whenever you felt like it. The only reason we're still here is because I can't fly."
>She flew closer
>"I know, I know, but you gotta savor the victories when you can get them!"
>She smiled
>Every time she does, it makes you feel incredible
>You felt proud of it, as if it wouldn't be here without you
>Which is probably the case
>"So where's this luxurious suite we're gonna be staying in?
>Oh yeah, you were going to your house
>Well, this was fun while it lasted
"It's a little ways across town, it's gonna be pretty hard to miss, Dust."
>She laughed, and you could only hope that she could keep her good humor
>You weren't sure why but Lightning Dust seemed to lose the pep in her step as you entered the town of Ponyville
>She stuck to the ground, and generally stayed behind you
>Risking her embarrassment, you had to ask
"Is something wrong?"
>She looked up at you
>"Hey, I don't know how much Rainbow Dash blabbed about me! I'm sure the whole town thinks I'm a villain."
>You assured her that it wasn't that bad
>Rainbow Dash was very focused on her training as a Wonderbolt at the time, she wasn't a monster out to ruin Dust's reputation or anything
>"Also I got... you know."
>She pointed a hoof to her bruised eye
>Poor thing
"When we get to my place, I'll get you some ice for that. Promise."

>You looked at her a bit longer
>"And your welcome to a shower as well."
>She shoved you
>She was laughing so you assumed that you got her mind off everything for a moment
>"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you spent the night in the forest while drunk, Dust."
>She was amused, but rebuttled
>"You don't smell great either, hotshot."
>You took a moment to confirm what she was saying
>It certainly wasn't great
>The two of you talked more before finally reaching your humble abode
>Your very humble abode
>It was one flat color; single story
>While it wasn't much at all, you did keep it in good shape
>You never were a very messy person
>"Well? Aren't you gonna show me inside?"
>What was that look on her face?
>That smile, you felt like there was more to it
>You really hoped you weren't reading too much into it
>Quit being a bitch, Anon
>You walked forward, opening the door and ushering her inside
"After you madam!"
>She looked over to you as she entered
>Her eyes were half-lidded and her smile widened
>You felt your face go hot
>She giggled and you felt yourself die inside
>Keep it together, Anon
>You followed her inside and began ruminating on the events of the last day
>Despite everything you were told, Lightning Dust had been incredible fun to be around
>And despite how useless you were in any given scenario, you felt like you were helping her
>It was nice to be needed
>Man, you had completely fallen for her hadn't you?
>"This isn't so bad."
>Lightning Dust flew up and let herself drop onto your couch
>You heard something break and winced
>Your faithful couch had served you well
>She didn't seem to notice

>"It's a bit barren in here, but it's not dirty!"
>She was right, the couch, amongst a couple of other items was the only thing in this entire room
>You didn't really take the comment about how clean the place was as a compliment
>After all, it's easy to keep the place clean when there's nothing to clean
>She sat up
>"Hey Anonymous... can I tell you something?"
>Your heart began to race
>She moved, giving you ample space to sit down next to her
>You did so
>"I've been thinking a lot about what you said, and I have an idea."
>You believed that you looked relatively smooth, but you'd wager that your imagination didn't match up with reality
>Her eyes lit up
>"I'm gonna start training again! What happened to me at the academy really sucks, but you're right. What if I can get back in? What if there's another chance for me?"
>That's great news!
>There's no way they wouldn't let her back in if she really-
>"And, I have another idea!"
>Hm?
>"You said you wanted to be a royal guard right? We could train together! We could give each other updates on our progress and bring each other up when we feel down. Just like you helped me out last night."
>That's a great idea!
>If you thought you were determined before, there's nothing that could stop you now!
>"And..."
>Lightning Dust looked over to you, a bit of mischief in her eyes
>Oh fuck
>"In case you were thinking of not going through with this, here's some extra motivation for you."
>She pushed you down with one hoof on your chest
>Right, she was a world-class athlete
>She was pretty strong
>For a little bit, it seemed she was just as nervous as you were
>But, she had always been about pushing her limits
>Closing her eyes she planted her lips against yours
>You thought your blood might ignite, but instinct took over
>You hadn't known her for very long but for the first time in a long time, something felt right
>You sat up and pulled her in close, eliciting a small yelp from her before continuing the kiss

>Your hands traced the curves of her body
>This was amazing
>You had kissed mares, sure
>You had had one night stands, sure
>Hell, you even had a relationship once or twice!
>None of it lasted, though
>And even as you were in the moment, you knew it didn't mean much
>Even if you wanted it to
>But this?
>Something was different
>And for better or for worse, you weren't sure what yet
>Lightning Dust pulled away from the kiss
>Her forelegs were still wrapped around your neck when she opened her eyes
>A gentle smile was across her face
>The two of you stared into each other's eyes briefly before she flinched slightly, remembering something
>Her face obtained a hue of red as she placed a hoof over her blackened eye and turned away slightly
>Her other eye was looking at the floor
>You imagined the bruise definitely made her feel less pretty
>You would have guessed she would have thought the injuries made her look cool, but then again, there wasn't really anything cool about a black eye
>With one hand you removed the hoof covering her face and with the other, you turned her to look at you
>The red in her face became more prominent through her blue-green fur
>You had to admit to yourself, it was kind of funny to see someone with her reputation so nervous
"Dust, it's okay."
>Running your fingers through her mane, you pulled her back in
>With renewed confidence, Lightning Dust met your lips once more
>Almost aggressively
>After a few more moments, you pushed her away softly
>Her eyes opened
>"Huh?"
>You laughed
>I should go get something for your eye, I'll be right back."
>It's almost like she snapped back to reality
>"R-right! You should do that."
>You stood up and Lightning Dust moved back to the other side of the couch with a flap of her wings
>You found a simple wash cloth, wet it, and placed a few cubes of ice in it before making your way back to your new-found companion

>The pegasus smiled brightly as you returned
>You handed your make-shift ice pack to her and sat down once again
>She placed it on her damaged eye and sighed
>"Thanks Anon, that feels a lot better. I don't remember getting hit in the face, but it sure fucking hurts."
>After a few seconds she took to the air one more time and landed gently in your lap
"Do you walk anywhere?"
>The one eye you could see rolled
>"Fuck off."
>The two of you laughed
>You gently stroked her as she rested against you
>You really, really didn't want to give this up
>You braced yourself for any response other than the one you wanted
"So..."
>She looked up at you
>God damn those golden eyes were your weakness
>You did your best to rally
"So are we like... a thing now?"
>Lightning dust swiveled around so that she was facing you and smiled
>"Well, do you want to be a thing? I got a feeling I know the answer, but I just want to hear you say it."
>You really needed to stop hanging out with the Wonderbolts crowd
>That damned ego
>Might as well give her the satisfaction
>You sighed
"Yes Lightning Dust, I really want us to be a thing. The makeout session was doing it for me, not gonna lie. I could use that on a regular basis."
>Her eyes adopted a more sultry look
>"I wouldn't mind that either. But not so fast, there's a deal we made, remember? You gotta train with me!"
>Improve your quality of life so that you have a better chance of getting laid?
>What's not to like about this plan?
"Deal"
>You gave her a quick kiss
"So, I have an idea too."
>She seemed amused
>"Is that right?"
>You nodded
"When I first came up to you, you snapped at me because you thought I had been sent after you for whatever reason."
>She was listening
"And you mentioned something about your landlord kicking you out, I think?"
>Her ears fell
>"Yeah. Like I said, I've had a lot of trouble getting back up on my hooves since the academy. I just kinda crash from place to place until they kick me out."

>You really hoped you weren't about to mess this one up
"I know it isn't the greatest place in the world, but..."
>She raised an eyebrow
"I mean, if you want. I don't mind if you'd, ya know... stay here."
>Her eyes went a little wide
>Hurry, Anon
"I wouldn't make you pay rent or anything. In fact, I normally have some cash to spare even as a freelance guard. The idea of you just going from place to place makes me sick. And I don't know what image is worse, that or you spending what bits you have left on drinks on a night when you're alone. Look, I... I just want to see you happy."
>What the fuck are you thinking?
>How long had you known Lightning Dust?
>A little over a day? If that?
>And before you met her, everything you had heard about her made her sound menacing
>What if she was playing you?
>What if this is some stupidly elaborate scheme to somehow get back at the Wonderbolts and she's using you to get close to them?
>Okay, maybe not that one
>Regardless, here you are, kissing a mare you barely know and allowing her to move in with you
>On top of that, Lightning Dust is woefully out of your league
>There's no way she would stick around once she got her head screwed on straight
>This whole thing was-
>Lightning Dust dropped the ice pack you had made for her in favor of bringing you into a hug that threatened the integrity of your spine
>"Do you mean it, Anon? I swear, if you're messing with me-"
>Her voice began to break
>Tears hadn't fallen yet
>She was clearly doing her best to act tough
"No joke! I promise!"
>You were ecstatic
"You said you had to be out of there soon right? Would you be comfortable flying over to Cloudsdale and getting your things?"
>She removed herself from your lap, flying well above you now
>"Yes! I don't have a lot, I promise! I'll go get my stuff and I'll be back before you know it!"
>She flew in and hugged you one more time
>"Thank you so much, Anonymous!"

"Well, go on! Don't want them throwing your stuff out, do you?"
>She laughed and zoomed out the door
>Damn, she was fast
>Hopefully this was the beginning of one of the greatest comeback stories Equestria's ever seen
>You chuckled
>Maybe you'd be an honorable mention in her autobiography when she became captain of the Wonderbolts
>You made your way to your room as you continued your fantasy about Lightning Dust
>Your ever-present sword buckled to your side reminded you of the other end of the deal
>What if you really did become a royal guard?
>Sir Anonymous, Commander of the Something'th Legion!
>There were steps to be taken, though
>You were fit, and your swordsmanship was okay, but neither were great enough to consider yourself a protector of the Two Sisters.
>Not to mention you lacked the general tact and charisma you imagined someone of such a position possessed
>But enough about those thoughts!
>You removed the pieces of armor that had been adorning you for the duration of this mini-adventure and placed them in a neat pile along with your sword
>Your eyes glanced to a series of photos pinned along your wall
>The friends you had made in the academy graduating along with you
>You smiled
>Of course, you were the only human
"I'll make you guys proud."
>You walked over to your closet, rummaging for anything that Lightning Dust could use during her stay
>You didn't have another bed, so that left the couch
>You weren't about to invite her to your own bed
>Just in case she might find it clingy and creepy
>Keep her options open, Anon!
>Eventually, you found a pillow that looked eerily similar to her coat color
>Maybe she'll find that amusing
>Shortly thereafter, you found one of your only spare blankets
>A bright pink one left by an ex-girlfriend
>You paused to remember the events of your break-up
>Daisy was a bitch, anyway
>She was just piggy-backing off of the success of Roseluck and everyone knew it

>Now was not the time to get bitter
>You placed the items you had salvaged onto the couch and frowned
>There really wasn't a whole lot you could do, huh?
>There was an empty room across from yours but it lacked furnishing in every sense of the word
>No bed or anything
>You placed one of your boots on the couch and pressed down
>It had more give than usual
>You knew you had heard something snap earlier
>You sighed
>She was worth it
>Having done all you could, you resigned to a shower and a meal
>You felt instantly rejuvenated after bathing
>Sleeping in the forest sucked
>That being said, you remembered how it felt to hold Lightning Dust as she slept
>If you were lucky, there were more of those nights to come
>The excitement of the last 24 hours had also made you neglect how hungry you were
>You opted for something a bit healthier this time around
>You were training for a pretty big position now, might as well start to act like it
>In the midst of your meal, you heard a loud banging at your door
>You made your way over at a brisk pace
>Dust was back already?
>She really was the fastest flier in all of Equestria!
>Even though it couldn't have been more than an hour, you were already excited to see her again
>You opened the door, smiling as wide as you could before it crumbled in an instant
>Rainbow Dash stood in your doorway, the mask of her Wonderbolt garb brought down
>Unfortunately, she looked very, very upset with you
>You supposed this had to come around at some point
>And there's no way this will get better once she figured out why you were gone
>She was yelling
>"Anonymous?! Where the fuck have you been?!"
>This is not good

>Maybe Lightning Dust's bravado was rubbing off on you, but you couldn't find it within you to care
"Why does it matter? Were you worried you'd have to actually count the tickets yourself without your bellboy?"
>Using the insult Lightning Dust used on you last night felt weird, but drove your point home nonetheless
>Rainbow Dash was not amused
>She brought herself inside your home, slamming the door behind her with her back leg
>"Are you seriously getting an attitude with me? You walked out on a job! A job that I got for you, you bastard! Do you know how that makes me look?"
>Oh yes, Dash
>Your life must be so difficult
"Your worried about how you look? Your a fucking Wonderbolt, Dash. There's only a handful of ponies in the world that can claim a status similar to yours. Forgive me for feeling like an absolute fucking idiot being your chaperone."
>Rainbow Dash flew up to you and pressed her face into yours, forcing you to take a few steps back
>"It took blood, sweat, and tears for me to get to where I am! If you can't be bothered with the little stuff, what makes you think you deserve a better position, you entitled prick?!"
>She brought herself closer to you
>You were starting to get angry
>You shoved her away
"I didn't want to walk out, okay?! I just left to get a drink while you and the rest of the Wonderbolts were flexing your extended routine for Cloudsdale. And... some unexpected things came up."
>Rainbow was not convinced
>"Like what? Did you find some other friend to exploit?"
>God damn it
>You anger began to match hers
>"No! Like I was saying, I left to get a drink and while I was there, I met a pony. We sort of hit it off. And I just lost track of time! I'm sorry I bailed on you, but I wouldn't have done it if I felt like it would have mattered if I stayed."

>Dash seemed to ease up a little bit, but her fury was still clearly visible
>It was always kind of hard for her to grasp why you didn't think of yourself like the way she thought of herself
>Your self-esteem hadn't been great for a while
>"You met someone? This better be the greatest pony I've ever met or so help me-"
>You heard a voice from behind Rainbow Dash
>"Anonymous? Why are you yelling?"
>It was Lightning Dust
>You were more sure of your death now than when you were falling from Cloudsdale
>This is about to get way worse before it gets better
>If it gets better
>Celestia, give you strength
>Lightning Dust walked into the door way, saddle-bags on either side of her
>Wonderbolts symbols were embroidered on satchels
>You took a moment to admire that even though she had been kicked out of the academy, she held onto them
>Deep down, she wanted to try again
>No time for that now
>Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide at the sound of her voice before she turned
>She was wrought with disbelief
>"L-Lightning Dust?! WHAT ARE YOU-"
>Dash turned to you, her wings flapping a little more vigorously now
>She looked disgusted
>"Don't tell me that this is the pony you met last night! Lightning Dust?! LIGHTNING DUST, ANON?!"
>You tried to speak
"Rainbow, she's not-"
>She cut you off, shouting
>"Did you forget about how she almost killed my friends? Or what about the time she endangered all of the other cadets? ALL of the times she endangered the other cadets?"
>Lightning Dust spoke up
>"Back off, Rainbow Dash! If you got a problem with me, I'm right here! That is, if you can spit it out without having to take a break to compliment yourself!"
>What did you do to deserve this
>Sick burn, though
>Rainbow Dash zoomed over to her
>Lightning Dust didn't falter
>She even had a slight smile on her face
>You hoped she hadn't been waiting a long time for this moment

>Rainbow Dash wasted no time
>"Oh nice one, loser! How are you going to insult me? I succeeded where you failed!"
>She gestured at her Wonderbolts uniform with a hoof
>She pushed the assault
>"And I didn't have to kill a bunch of ponies to do it. Imagine that!"
>Your hands were white-knuckled
"Dash, that's enough."
>Lightning Dust nearly flinched at her words but came back
>"And what exactly did you do to earn that uniform, Dash? Did you kiss Spitfire's ass even more than you did in the academy?"
>Rainbow Dash was red in the face
>"Keep talking like that and I'll give you an eye to match the other, you bitch!"
>Lightning Dust bit her bottom lip and covered her face with one wing
>She had forgotten about her black eye
>You thought the air around you might heat to plasma
>Rainbow Dash continued
>"Stay far way from Anonymous! Stop ruining other people's lives and keep ruining your own, you worthless excuse for a pegasus!"
>It would seem that Lightning Dust had not properly imagined a rematch
>It was hard to fight back when Rainbow Dash had the moral high ground
>She laughed at her
>"I'll bet you were drunk when you met Anon at the bar last night! Do the drinks help you justify almost killing people to become a Wonderbolt?
>Dust was silent
>"Have you even made a single friend since getting kicked out?"
>Lightning Dust's angry expression was betrayed by a few stray tears
>You couldn't watch this
"Yes, she has"
>Rainbow Dash collided with the doorway, knocking her out of the air
>Lightning Dust gasped
>You stood there, arm outstretched and your fist clenched
>Rainbow Dash blinked a few times, her vision coming back to her and she touched a hoof to her nose
>Two small streams of blood flowed from her nostrils
>"A-Anon...?"
>Your anger began to subside and the look of betrayal on Dash began the flood of guilt within you
>"D-did you just... hit me?"
>She stood up shakily, tears in her eyes
>She wasn't looking at you

>You felt beyond awful
>The only reason you hadn't completely turned into an apologetic mess is because you could easily argue that she deserved it
>You watched her wipe her nose, staining a portion of her foreleg red
>Okay, maybe it'd be a bit hard to argue that
>She stared at the blood on her foreleg, her eyes narrowing with rage
>A stream of tears flowed from either eye
>In her flustered state, Rainbow Dash couldn't manage any properly structured insult
>She yelled, her voice cracking customarily
>"F-Fuck you, Anon!"
>You wanted to say something, but found yourself speechless
>Your actions had spoken enough, anyway
>She stood up, her eyes wrenched closed
>"FUCK YOU!"
>She flew out the door
>You could hear the fading hum of her swift departure
>All else was silent
>You were pretty sure that if Rainbow Dash wanted to, she could kick your ass seven different ways
>You were a push over compared to an athlete of her caliber
>The fact that she didn't made you feel that much worse
>As you turned to walk away, Lightning Dust spoke
>"Anonymous? Are you okay?"
>You sat on your couch
>You grimaced as you sank lower than you were used to
>Dust had set her saddle bags to the side, gliding over to the seat next to you and landing gently
>"Hey..."
>You didn't turn to look at her
>"I really appreciate you standing up for me like that. I'm sorry that I caused all of this."
>From the corner of your eye, you could see her head lower
>"I'm sorry you had to meet me."
>Finally, you looked over to her
>A small smile crossed your face
"Oh shut up, Dust. It's not your fault. You didn't know Rainbow Dash was going to show up. Besides, she started it."
>You thought for a second
"Well, I guess I did technically by leaving my job while on duty and all of that."
>Lightning Dust smiled
>She seemed relieved that you weren't mad

>You flopped down onto your back, your arms spread across the couch
"I feel like a fucking jerk. I hit her, Dust! Like, how uncool is that?"
>Your staring contest with the ceiling was cut short as you felt hooves pawing at you
>You looked down
>Lightning Dust steadily climbed onto your chest, her forelegs outstretched past your head
>She got comfy and thought for a bit
>"Yeah, that's pretty messed up, but hey, what can you do?"
>You scowled
"Not helping, Dust."
>You felt her fidget some
>"Right, right. I'm trying to find some reserve sympathy for the mare who got me kicked out of the Wonderbolts Academy and then called me a complete failure in front of my only friend."
>You raised an eyebrow
"Only friend?"
>She seemed slightly embarrassed
>"Uh... yeah. Dash was sort of right about that whole 'no friends' thing."
>You found yourself building up anger again as your thoughts drifted to the things Rainbow had said to her
>You decided it was best to try and deflect such thoughts
"Wait a minute."
>She looked to you
>You adopted a humorous tone
"You got you kicked out of Wonderbolt Academy, not Rainbow Dash. She was being a total bitch back there, but that doesn't change what happened!"
>She pressed her head into your chest so that only the tops of her eyes were visible from your angle
>She was looking at you, her voice muffled as she spoke
>"Yeah, so?"
>She was adorable
>The two of you laughed
>You sat up quickly, causing a small, playful scream to come from her
>You embraced her in a hug
>She pressed her head against you, her eyes closed and a smile across her face
"Dust?"
>"Yeah?"
"For what it's worth, I'm glad I met you. You don't have to be sorry."
>She strengthened her grip
>"And for what it's worth, I'm actually not sorry at all that you met me!"
>Dork
>She looked up at you, happy to be in the moment
>"You're the best, Anon."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm pretty great."
>You backed off from her some
"Well, I'm actually a total loser. I'm reasonably sure that nobody else in Equestria likes me, but if you think I'm great then that's fine!"
>She giggled
So what all did you bring with you?"
>"Oh!"
>She flew over and grabbed her bags before returning to the couch where you were waiting
>She sat down and rummaged through the pack
>"I didn't bring a whole lot. Necessities mostly. Along with some Wonderbolt merch I couldn't bear to get rid of, a dress, a couple of pictures of-"
>You had to cut her off
"A dress?"
>She immediately got defensive
>This had clearly been a topic brought forth to her before
>Tough girl/athlete stereotypes, you supposed
>"What, I don't get to look pretty every once in a while?"
>You put up your hands in a defenseless gesture
"I didn't say that. It was just surprising, that's all."
>She continued going through her bags, quiet for a bit
>You couldn't resist
"So, can I see it?"
>She looked up, a faint red across her face
>"The dress?"
>You nodded
>"I don't even know if it looks that good. I've never actually uh... worn it."
"Ever?"
>She flapped her wings once or twice nervously
>"Well, I was always so busy training before hand, I didn't really have time for dating or formal events, not that I really enjoy formal events to begin with."
>She removed the dress from her bags, looking at it
>"And after I got booted from the academy and I stopped training, I thought it might be useful to put myself out there, ya know? Find a nice guy, and dazzle him with this!"
>She held out a portion of it
>Honestly, it looked fairly cheap
>Certainly nothing like Rarity could create for an event as important as the The Grand Galloping Gala
>You'd rather die than tell her that though
>It was various shades of gold, with the end of the dress fading into a white trim
>She looked up
>"But hey, I got you right? It's fine, really."
>She folded the dress, placing it back into one of her bags

>How could you not?
"Do you want to try it on?"
>Her faced scrunched for a brief moment before she blushed slightly more than before
"Oh come on, you just said you wanted to look pretty every once in a while, and you've never worn it! It's just the two of us. No more ponies are gonna burst through the door and yell at me. At least, I hope so."
>She brought the dress back out of her bag and looked at it longingly
"Please?"
>She rolled her eyes
>"Alright, alright, jeez! I'll put it on."
>She thought for a moment
>"Hey, I got an idea!"
>Oh no
>"You should dress up for me as well! There's gotta be something you can do. We can come out of our rooms at the same time and surprise each other!"
>How cliché
"Lightning Dust, that is so lame."
>It was no use, she was fired up
>She had a big grin on her face, and her wings were flapping excitedly
>"Too late!"
>Perhaps at a speed that is too much for indoors, she zoomed off to the bathroom in between your room and the empty one
>"The door slammed and clicked
>You could hear her voice from the other side
>"And give me a while, won't you? I wanna do my mane!"
>Where is the Lightning Dust you know, and who is this mare that has replaced her?
>You sighed, letting out an exasperated groan as you reluctantly made your way to your room
>There was no way you had anything that could be considered formal
>Come to think of it, you weren't sure if you had ever dressed up in your time in Equestria
>Well that's kind of depressing
>An idea popped into your head, causing you to move to your closet and surf through your clothes with rapidity
>You remembered that you still had your dress blues from your graduation at the academy
>And unfortunately, you also remember the hell you went through to get them
>Everything you owned had to be tailor made due to your unique physique, and the officers had a hell of a time deciding on what best matched the pony version of it

>You found the outfit, removing it gently from it's hanger before studying it more closely
>You couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic over it
>Even though you have really done nothing impressive with your training
>Whatever
>Fitting into the outfit took more time than you remember
>This thing was a god damned pain
>You felt like you spent the better part of your life finessing the buttons into place
>It felt tighter than you remember
>You went ahead and wrote that concern off has muscle gain despite great evidence of another explanation
>You took a minute to fix your hair
>You should really get this trimmed
>They made you cut it short while training so that the plate helmets you wore would fit properly
>Maybe you had gotten a little drunk on the freedom of not having to worry about that anymore
>You flattened out the creases on your suit
>You looked pretty good!
>Taking note of the time, you now realized that it had been about a little over ten minutes
>You poked your head outside your door
>Lightning Dust was nowhere in sight
>Guess that only meant one thing
>You knocked on the bathroom door
>"Dust? You in there?"
>"I said give me a bit, remember?!"
"Right, sorry!"
>You resigned to your ever-present couch
>You really needed to add a little something to the place
>About another twenty minutes passed before you heard her voice once more
>"Okay, I'm ready!"
>You were suddenly rather nervous
>Sure, the dress was cheap and all, but you would wager that she would be mind-blowing versus your rather sad form
>Your mind drifted to the thought you had earlier
>About Lightning Dust being woefully out of your league
>You really couldn't wait to start this training thing and wrangle some self-esteem
>"Are you behind a door?"
>Shit
"Uh, one second!"
>You placed yourself behind your bedroom door
>You felt rather ridiculous
>Yet you couldn't wipe this dumb grin off your face

>"Okay, I'm gonna count to three!"
>"One!"
>"Two!"
>You really need to work on your anxiety
>"Three!"
>You slammed open the door to your bedroom
>The bathroom door was still closed
>You were bitterly confused
>You heard her voice from within
>"Why did you open the door?"
>What? Why wouldn't you?
"You said you were going to count to three!"
>"Yeah! One, two, three, GO."
>She emphasized the last word
"You didn't specify that!"
>"Because everyone knows that, idiot!"
>Are you actually shouting to a pony on the other side of a door about this
"But you're supposed to-!"
>"Just walk back in your room and do it again!"
"Fine!"
>You walked back into your room, assuming the position you held moments ago
>You maintained that she should have specified, but that was an argument for later
>"Okay, one more time. I'm gonna count to three!"
"You mean you're gonna count to 'go'."
>"Why are you being like this?"
>You couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of this
"Why are YOU being like this?"
>You could hear her own laughter between the two doors, before she shouted
>"JUST GO!"
>You both slammed open your doors simultaneously
>Lightning Dust was floating gently in the air, making herself eye level with you
>Despite what you had thought about the dress earlier, she looked stunning
>She did a light twirl in the air before dropping to her hooves on the ground
>The varying layers of gold accented by her mane danced hypnotically with the light before her landing
>It was sleeveless, with a V shape across her chest
>But you supposed that doesn't really matter for ponies other than style, huh?
>Her traditionally swept back mane had a large portion of it pulled forward, with the hair being swept to the side, just a small portion of it covering one of her eyes
>You supposed it wasn't coincidence that it was the black one

>Her hair lacked the general spiked-front, with the rest of her going back down her neck
>Her mane gave her a gentler appearance, as opposed to the usual tough look she maintained
>You probably preferred her old mane style, and she clearly hadn't practiced with this one
>Although, it was likely she hadn't practiced doing her mane at all in a very long time
>Perhaps you were over analyzing, but you could have sworn she was wearing the slightest bit of make-up
>Mascara, maybe?
>An hour ago you would have said that hell would freeze over before Lightning Dust put on the slightest bit of make-up
>Even if it lacked proper execution in reality, you could tell she was incredibly excited with the result
>And you know what?
>She was beautiful
>"You um... you look really cute."
>You had completely forgotten that this was not a one-sided thing
>She was looking at you the whole time you were taking her in
>You suddenly became very aware of your posture and overall demeanor
>She giggled as she noticed you readjust
"Dust, you look absolutely amazing."
>She smiled, and her eyes met the floor
>She spoke surprisingly quiet
>"Thank you, Anon."
"You've never worn that dress before right? Well, I'm glad! If you had, I probably wouldn't have met you while you were single."
>She blushed
>You could tell that she was not used to this at all, but that she was definitely having fun
>"No. Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I really did anything like this."
>She flew in the air, over to you
>"You have no idea how nervous I was in there. Looking in the mirror at this stupid fucking bruise, trying to get the dress on just right, trying to fix my damn mane which I feel like doesn't really look that good..."
>She continued
>"...And on top of that you look really nice in your uniform, and I feel like-"
>You put your arms around her and pulled her into a kiss
>She flapped her wings in surprise, but shortly thereafter, she used them to pull you two closer in your embrace

>She pulled away from you, and you opened your eyes to find her warm smile once again
>You turned and noticed that the sun had finally set to make way for Luna's night
>You realized just how tired you were
>The night before you had slept with your back to a tree
>Not the greatest night of sleep you've ever had
>You looked back to the pegasus
"We should get some sleep, I don't know about you, but I got nothing out of last night. Not to mention I've been sore all day. There's nothing comfy about the forest."
>Lightning Dust shook her head, roughing up her mane so that it began to resemble it's natural style
>"Good, I was getting sick of this look anyway."
>She looked down at the dress
>"I feel pretty and all, but it's just not really my thing."
>The two of you shared  a laugh and agreed to part ways for a moment to change into something more comfortable
>you threw off your regal clothing, piling it in the corner of your room to be hung up at a later date
>You thought a second about how the suit would look horrific after not being hung up properly
>You shrugged
>You were too tired to care
>You threw on a shirt and some sweat pants before exiting back into the hallway to meet Lightning Dust
>You looked over to her and couldn't help but be a little embarrassed
>Lightning Dust saw your expression and raised an eyebrow
>"Is something wrong?"
"It's just, I saw you in a dress a moment ago and now you're not wearing anything. I know that's standard fare for ponies but humans wear clothes all the time. It's still hard to get used to, that's all. Well, when they're hot anyway."
>She giggled
"This sounds like only an advantage for me. That being said, I'll be right back!"
>She zoomed into your room and closed the door behind her
"Hey! What are you doing?"
>Before you had time to manage to say anything else, Lightning Dust came back out, with one of your shirts draped over her

>It didn't fit her at all, draping well past her hips
>She looked down at it, straightening herself in the air to get a good look at the full length
>"Ha! Look at me, I'm wearing my coltfriend's shirt! Can't say I've ever done this."
>She attempted to fix one of the sleeves that kept falling past her shoulder before giving up
>"This is pretty comfy. I get why it's a thing. And it's a little sexy, don't ya think?"
>She twisted to the side and pulled up part of the shirt, revealing her cutie mark
>She gazed from her cutie mark to you, her half-lidded eyes taunting you
>Somehow, this was far more lewd than her just being naked all of the time
>She giggled
>"Don't faint on me now! So where am I sleeping?"
>Perhaps now more than ever, you wanted to invite her to your own bed
>You did your best to compose yourself
>Don't creep her out, Anon
>Or are you making yourself look horrifically oblivious, by not inviting her?
>Why must you be so lame?
"I uh..."
>"Oh! These must be for me! I didn't even notice."
>She zoomed over to the couch, where you had placed the pillow and blanket you found earlier
>"Aw, it's even the color of my coat!"
>It sounded almost mocking as she grabbed the pillow with both forelegs and hugged it tight
"I just thought you might like it or something."
>Smooth
>She flew up to your face and kissed you quickly on the cheek
>"It's cute. Thank you."
>She laid down on the couch and slipped under the pink blanket
>She sighed
>"This thing is super comfy. Definitely beats the forest!"
>It's true,  your couch was awesome
>Which is largely why you were upset she broke it earlier
>"So why do you have a pink blanket anyway?"
>You rolled your eyes as you remembered
"It's left over from an ex."
>Lightning Dust threw one hoof in the air triumphantly
>"I win! I'd bet I'm hotter too!"
>You chuckled
>You enjoyed her company so much

"Yes, Dust. Yes, you are. Do you need anything before I go pass out?"
>Lightning Dust yawned
>"Nah, I'm good! I'll see you in the morning, Anon. Good night!"
>You bid her good night and made your way to your room
>She called out to you
>"Sleep well okay? We got a big day ahead of us tomorrow!"
>You closed the door before flopping onto your bed, swiveling your head to one side as to not suffocate yourself
>You spent the better part of the next hour with your mind wandering
>What an insanely wild two days
>Your thoughts drifted to Rainbow Dash
>And how you hit her
>You were so disappointed in yourself
>But at the same time, you couldn't help but be a little proud
>Dust looked fairly helpless before you decked her
>As if she really needed your help though
>You'd bet that as soon as Dust got her act together again, she'd realize how much better she could do than you and leave
>...
>Then what would you do?
>It's been 48 hours and you already can't imagine living without her
>Oh no, you're in love aren't you?
>"Anon? Are you awake?"
>You hadn't even noticed her enter
"Yeah. Yeah I'm awake."
>She crept in, one hoof gripping the blue-green pillow
>"I... I was thinking about last night. When we were in the woods."
>She had your attention
>"When I woke up, I was in your lap. You had held me all night. You made sure I was alright."
>You remembered this well
>She laughed nervously
>"I guess the couch doesn't beat the forest in every way."
>You smiled
"You want to sleep in here?"
>She nodded
>"I-If that's alright with you."
>Abso-fucking-lutely
>She set down the pillow, crawling into the bed and sighing as your arm draped around her
>She scooted even closer, nuzzling her head into your chest
>Her eyes fell closed as you stroked her gold mane gently
>Her warmth against yours gave you a feeling of safety and comfort you hadn't known before
>You kissed her gently on the forehead
"Good night, Dust."
>"Good night, Anon"
>She smiled
>Maybe she wouldn't leave you

>Your eyes shot open as you heard Lightning Dust's voice shout to you
>"ANONYMOUS!"
>Jesusfuckwhat
>The sun was shining through your window, signifying a brand new day
>You swiveled around so that you were laying on your back
>You realized that Lightning Dust was no longer in the bed with you
>She flew up slightly and dropped on you
>It was rough, but you couldn't help but laugh playfully
>"We got a long day today! Today we begin our training!"
>Her wings flapped excitedly
>With each word she spoke, her face got closer to yours until her snout was pressed against your own nose
>"Aren't you excited?"
>About being worked to death?
>Not necessarily
>But seeing Lightning Dust so excited was more than worth it
"Sure, let's go with that."
>She beamed with happiness
"How long have you been up anyway?"
>She pushed herself off of you with her forelegs, her hind legs straddling you
>You willed yourself not to blush
>"I've been awake for a little while. I got up before you yesterday too, remember? I kinda just have that internal clock. I'm always up at 6:00am or so because of getting up early to train my whole life."
>Your mind drifted to your days off
>If you were up before noon, something was definitely wrong
>That being said, you realized you felt like somebody had just ripped you out of your grave
>You were very tired
"Dust, what time is it?"
>"7:30, why?"
>Maybe Lightning Dust couldn't live with you after all
>No no, this is good for you
>You sat up groggily
>Lightning Dust moved as you did so
"Alright, I'm up. I'm up."
>"Awesome! Now, I haven't forgotten my routine from when I was gunning for the Wonderbolts. Are you going to be alright without me for a while?"
>You had your own routine as well
>You may not have touched it in ages, or have used it that much to begin with, but you had an idea of how to handle yourself
"Yeah, Dust. I got it covered."

>She gripped you in a hug before releasing you
>"This is going to be so great, Anon! We're gonna crush the competition, I can feel it!"
>Was being a royal guard even a competitive position?
>Probably
>Maybe you should actually look into that
>"I'm a little rusty, but with you around Anon, I feel faster than I ever was!"
>The words she spoke rung through you for a second
>You just now remembered something
"Hey, Lightning Dust..."
>"Yeah?"
>You stood up now, getting dressed into the light armor you wore while on duty
>It seemed sensible enough to train in it
"Do you remember when you saved me from falling off of Cloudsdale?"
>She smiled and seemed to take on an air of pride
>"Heh, it was pretty cool wasn't it?"
>You laughed
>"Yes, it was really cool, but how much of it do you remember?"
>She looked up to the ceiling as she thought for a moment
>"Not a lot, I was pretty blitzed when I did that. You should try going that fast when you're drunk. It's pretty dizzying."
"When you raced after me, there was this insanely loud noise right after a bright flash of what looked like lightning. It all happened right where you flew from. What was that?"
>She thought deeply for a moment
>"Are you sure that happened?"
"Oh, I'm sure. It was pretty insane to see you catch up to me."
>She seemed very confused
"What you're describing sounds similar to a Sonic Rainboom, or at least whatever a Sonic Rainboom would be with a little Lightning Dust flare added to it! But I don't think that's possible."
"Well, why not?"
>"I- I guess it isn't necessarily impossible, but I've never done anything like that."
>You walked over to her and smiled
>Your turn to be cocky
"Maybe you just needed the proper motivation."
>You leaned down and kissed her
"I'll see you later today, good luck with everything!"
>She seemed flustered

>A moment later Lightning Dust flew past you, beating you out the door
>In the distance you could hear her call to you
>"Good luck, Anon!"
>And she was gone
>Leaving you to begin your hard day's work alone
>And a hard day's work it was
>You had all but forsaken your workout routine as you slowly began to resign to your fate as a security guard
>You found yourself practically dying half way through the exercises
>Sore and winded, you felt defeated in almost every way
>You vommitted what little you had to eat today and yesterday after running two miles
>You could have sworn that you could run at least three at some point
>The workout equipment you had acquired over time, while dusty, proved useful as well
>And painful
>You marveled at how much your strength had decreased since graduation at the academy
>As the hours went by, you felt as if red-hot railroad spikes were being driven through each and every muscle you worked out
>It would be a while before you reacclimated to this sort of lifestyle
>If you were ever acclimated to it in the first place that is
>You crashed to the ground at one point, completely exhausted
>You couldn't help but kick your self
>No matter what you were doing, you felt like it wasn't nearly as impressive as what Lightning Dust was doing
>She was an unbelievable flier, what exactly does an athlete of her level do to push herself?
>You had scanned the sky throughout the day to look for her
>You didn't see anything, but occasionally you could hear the distant noise of a pegasus at mach speed
>Here's hoping it wasn't Spitfire and the Wonderbolts on their way for some redemption of Rainbow Dash
>You moved to refill your water, imagining how poor you'd do against the whole of the Wonderbolts teaming up on you
>You'd bet you could at least punch Fleetfoot once or twice
>Yeah, that'd be a victory in your book

>You started to conjure up ways for you to push yourself even harder
>Various terrible workouts bounced in and out of your mind before a thought struck you
>Rainbow Dash, the ever-faithful companion of yours that you horrifically betrayed, used to set something up with you and Twilight Sparkle for training
>Twilight boasted of a spell she used to use to help train her brother, Shining Armor, for the same position you're currently gunning for
>She would summon an amalgamation of magical constructs that would assault the trainee, forcing him to defend himself without worry of death
>Rainbow Dash had coaxed her into doing the same for you twice, but you quickly opted out
>It was one of the most stressful things you had ever done
>However, with your new found motivation in the form of a sexy pegasus, you just might try it again!
>There was just one problem
>Twilight, didn't hate you, but she sure didn't love you either
>Not like Rainbow Dash did
>You were sure Rainbow Dash had condemned you to anyone who would listen
>There was no way Twilight would offer you the same kindness now, not without Dash's say so
>You stopped, realizing what you had just thought
>...
>Did Rainbow Dash really love you?
>Like, in that kind of way?
>Were you so caught up in the struggles of your career and being the only human in Equestria that you didn't notice?
>She had always gone out of her way to help you ever since you showed up
>Come to think of it, before Lightning Dust and after the academy, Dash was probably your only friend
>Your heart felt heavy as you imagined what she could possibly be going through right now
>How ungrateful she must think you are
>It didn't make any sense
>As far as people go, you were pretty much garbage
>You were fairly nice, but other than that, your career was DoA, and your charisma was woefully lacking
>But, then again, Dust didn't seem to feel that way
>Maybe Dash didn't see it that way either

>You did your best to banish these thoughts
>They wouldn't help you now
>You decided that the only goal that needed to be in your mind was finishing this damned workout
>Against your better judgement, you decided to make your way to Twilight's castle
>You couldn't hide away about this Rainbow Dash thing forever
>In your eyes, it was probably best just to get this over with
>Or maybe you just didn't want to look like a coward
>With any luck, word about this will have not reached Twilight, and she'll just assume that Rainbow sent you to her
>With any luck
>When have you ever had strong luck?
>Still clad in your gear, you made your way across Ponyville towards the towering crystalline structure
>Kind of hard to miss
>While the journey wasn't very long in all reality, the trek felt like it took ages
>Anxiety about what Twilight may say to you was slightly overwhelming
>On top of this, having Lightning Dust with you for every moment these last couple of days has made you realize just how lonely things were for you on average
>Nobody greeted you with a smile like she did
>Nobody said hello
>But plenty of people stared
>Being the only human wasn't all it was cracked up to be
>Interesting and novel at times
>lonely and heartbreaking at others
>At one point you looked off into the distant sky and saw Lightning Dust
>She was rocketing through the air, performing various stunts you thought might make Spitfire's knees weak
>At one point she flew as high as she could before stopping all motion in her wings so that she began to fall
>She quickly oriented around and worked with gravity to move as fast as she possibly could towards the ground
>Faster and faster, she plummeted through the air
>If you had to guess, she was attempting to recreate what the two of you were talking about earlier
>Despite the distance she had from you, you could ear the faint growing roar of Lightning Dust's descent towards the ground
>It was incredible to watch

>You couldn't help but tense up watching
>Any loss of control could easily kill her in this situation
>Eventually, Lightning Dust was fractions of a second from landing
>At the last possible moment for someone as capable as her, she turned away
>Her trademark lightning trail followed her until she was well above ground
>She stopped, looking back to the spot that she almost impacted
>It was hard to tell at this distance, but she seemed frustrated
>You wished that you could give her words of encouragement
>You realized that you had been standing here a while, marveling at your girlfriend
>This probably seemed a little weird to some ponies in Ponyville
>It'd be best to get moving
>Eventually, for better or for worse, you arrived on Twilight Sparkle's doorstep
>What exactly did you expect to come of this?
>There's almost no way this could end well
>How are you going to explain this nonsense to Dust?
>You knocked
>Well, too late now
>You held your breath
>You heard trotting and a mare's voice call out
>"Coming!"
>You couldn't tell if it was Twilight or Starlight
>You had seen Twilight's apprentice before, but you never really interacted with her
>The door opened, and a smiling purple face greeted you before it distorted into an expression of pure anger
>Aw man, she totally knew about yesterday
>Twilight opened the door fully, her eyes narrowing as she shouted at you
>"Anonymous?! You've got some nerve showing up here! Rainbow Dash told me all about what you did yesterday! How could you hit her? After all she's done for you!"
>Incoming friendship rant
>Or alicorn vaporization
>You weren't sure which one was worse, to be quite honest
>This was a very stupid idea, in hindsight

>You are Lightning Dust
>And you cannot land this trick to save your fucking life
>Time and time again, you failed it
>This had to have been your eleventh attempt
>Or something like that
>Each and every time, the third loop felt too small
>The Wonderbolts are all about symmetry, like, come on!
>You couldn't get your mind off of what Anon had said
>About that flash of lightning and then the noise afterwards when you flew down to save him a couple of nights ago
>Was that really something like a the Sonic Rainboom?
>Is that even something only Rainbow Dash could do?
>You rolled your eyes at the idea of a trick of that caliber being impossible for all ponies except for one
>With a Rainbow mane
>Special fucking snowflake
>But what if Anon was right? What if something like that could be done?
>Surely that would be the perfect ticket back into the Wonderbolt academy!
>How could they pass you up then?
>From Anon's description though, it sounds like whatever happened, happened the moment you took off
>How the hell could any pegasus reach that kind of speed at take off?
>It was up to you to find out
>Not just for yourself, but for him
>You had really taken to Anon these past couple of days
>Obviously
>Your heart raced every time you thought about him
>You were terrified that at any moment he'd realize how much he was losing by being with you
>That at any moment, he'd leave you and you'd slowly revert back to how he found you
>Except maybe this time, you wouldn't just think about hurting yourself and actually do it
>You shook your head, doing your best to push back such thoughts
>Anonymous has done nothing to show you that he would do something like that!
>For perhaps the hundredth time today, you thought about what Rainbow Dash had said
>All the things she said
>You were different right?
>Not desperate?
>Maybe she was right
>Maybe Anonymous was better off without you

>You are Anonymous
>And frankly, you were way better off with just Lightning Dust in your life
>Twilight was still talking
>Why did you come here again?
>"-I mean, I understand arguing with a friend every once in a while, those things just happen, but I never imagined that you would-"
>Oh man, here it comes again
>You could feel the anger simmering in you once again
>You never considered yourself a very irrationally angry person, but damn if these ponies didn't make it difficult since you met Dust
>You kept your composure, Twilight was much more in her right mind than Rainbow Dash, and she did have a point
>You had little excuse for hitting her
>"-And remember what Lightning Dust did to me and the other Elements? She almost got us killed!"
>Never heard that one before
>Definitely not beating a dead horse or anything
>Despite your rapidly souring mood, you found your own joke slightly humorous
>That being said, you were beginning to question your chances of taking on an alicorn princess.
>"There's just no way Lighting Dust is good for you to be around, Anonymous. There's-"
>Well, this was fun
"Pretty terrible advice from someone who considers herself the Princess of Friendship."
>She looked appalled
>"E-excuse me?"
>In the heat of your aggression, you moved forward, causing Twilight to instinctively back up into her castle
>You slammed the door behind you
>You felt your blood go cold as you could practically see yourself digging your own grave
>The harrowing dread of talking back to a princess, even one as informal as Twilight, brought you back to reality almost immediately
>Calm yourself and back pedal, Anon
>Back pedal hard
>Surely you could rearrange this discussion into something resembling an appealing friendship lesson
>Hopefully

>You took a breath
>Don't screw this up now, there's a good chance this could actually help Lightning Dust out!
>You took a deep breath, and lost your enraged demeanor
>"Twilight, I feel super bad about all of this. I was just in the heat of the moment, and I regret it a ton. More than you know. In fact, that's why I came here. I need your help with all of this."
>She seemed to get slightly excited at the idea of solving a problem dealing with friendship
>It's like she forgot you hit Dash for a second
>"Really? Anon, I'm flattered!"
>Well, not really, but this is a very convenient segue into defusing the situation
>And maybe getting things to start turning around for Lightning Dust
"Well, you are the Princess of Friendship, right? Uh, sorry about what I said a second ago."
>Twilight seemed to accept your apology
>You imagined Rainbow Dash wouldn't be so forthcoming
>"It's okay Anon, I shouldn't have been so quick to lecture you. However, that doesn't change what you did to Rainbow Dash."
>You sighed
"I know. I feel fucking terrible about it, okay? Rainbow Dash has been pretty much my only friend since coming to this place."
>You outstretched your arms in a gesture to all of Equestria and immediately regretted doing so
>The workout you had done was voicing it's opinion of the shape you were in
>Opinion noted
"Although, knowing Dash, I'm sure she glossed over the things she had said to Lighting Dust."
>"Rainbow told me that she insulted her and that because Lighting Dust is your new best friend, you retaliated violently."
>You rolled your eyes
>Gee, she really made you the villain here
>So much for being the Element of Loyalty
>You informed Twilight of the things Rainbow Dash had said
>You were very confident that they were word for word
>Her insults had been rolling around in your brain for a while
>Twilight seemed very upset

>"Wait, so you're telling me that Lightning Dust wants to change after all of this time and Rainbow Dash wouldn't even let her speak before they started fighting?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it. I get that they have history together, but you'd think that she could at least get over it for the sake of competition or something like that."
>As you voiced this, you really hoped this didn't confirm your thoughts from earlier
>That perhaps Dash was jealous of Lightning Dust
>Hopefully, the competition wasn't for you
>Rainbow Dash didn't know that you and Lightning Dust were together
>That could be your saving grace
>Twilight's face widened into an enlightened smile
>"Well there's plenty of things you could do for her, Anonymous! Pinkie Pie knows plenty of ways to apologize to someone in style! She could make a cake for you, or throw the two of you a party, even. Or you could go visit one of her air shows with the Wonderbolts! I'm sure that afterwards you could meet her and-"
"Twilight."
>She looked at you confused
>"How about I just talk to her? Something simple. Could you get her to meet me here in the castle at some point? I think that would be best."
>Twilight looked at the ground, placing a hoof to her chin while she thought
>You didn't like that, you'd just prefer that she just say "yes".
>"Hey, I've got an idea!"
>She walked over to you
>Why does it always have to be like this
>"What if you bring Lightning Dust as well? The three of you can get together and finally settle your differences! I'll be there to watch, don't worry!"
>Somehow, this did nothing to comfort you
>At this point, you were fairly sure nothing could stop how much Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash hated each other
>Not even a princess
>However, you had to give her credit
>If the two of them did become friends, they'd be unstoppable
>Rainbow Dash could help teach her some Wonderbolts routines even
>It just might be worth the risk

"Alright Twilight, I'll play along, but this could really blow up in our face."
>She seemed confident
>"Have a little faith, Anonymous. I won't let them hurt each other or you. If Lightning Dust really does want to turn things around, this would be a great opportunity for her to make some progress!"
>You only hoped that she really did want to do that
>No, you wouldn't let yourself doubt her
>Even if you're setting yourself up for failure by doing so, somebody has to believe in her
"Let me go talk to her, Twilight. I don't want to blindside her with all of this and have things go just like they did last time. Can you tell Rainbow Dash to meet us here tomorrow?"
>Twilight nodded emphatically
>"Yes! I have a good feeling about this Anonymous! You came to the right place, and I'm glad you did. It was hard seeing Rainbow in the state she was in."
>You cringed
>Yeah, you're sure it was very hard
"Thank you, Twilight. I don't really deserve the chance you're giving me with all of this. I won't forget it."
>She smiled bashfully
>"It's just the right thing to do, Anon. Thanks for stopping by, you should go tell Lightning Dust about all of this."
>Yeah you should
>You thought about bringing up the original reason you were here but decided against it
>You didn't want asking Twilight to do the training spell to make your motivation to get Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash to be friends look disingenuous
>After saying your farewell, you made your way out of the castle, frowning as you thought about the situation
>This was going to get way worse before it got better
>You stood there a while before the familiar noise of rapid flight brought your vision to the sky
>A bright gold and blue-green streak zoomed towards you
>Lightning Dust must have saw you exit the castle
>Well, isn't that just convenient
>You could only hope she would be down for the idea that you and Twilight just conjured

>She began deceleration procedures as she got closer and closer to you
>Before long she was only a few feet in front of you
>She flapped her wings a couple of times, orienting herself upright before landing on the ground with all four hooves
>She seemed very tired
>Sad, even
"I didn't expect to see you so soon! Are you okay? You look a little down."
>She smiled weakly and looked up at you before staring back at her hooves
>"I've just... had a while to think since I have been alone. The downside to sobriety, I guess."
>You started to get a little worried
"What, are you leaving me already or something?"
>You meant it jokingly but she seemed to get a little defensive
>An angry expression crossed her
>"What?! No! If anything, I was scared you were gonna leave."
>What does that even mean?
"Dust, what are you talking about?"
>"I-I just keep thinking about the things Rainbow Dash said to me! And she's not wrong, Anonymous! That's why it hurt in the first place!"
>You relaxed your stance and listened
>"Do you realize what you're throwing away by being with me? Everyone sees me as a villain for what I did at the academy! I blew my big chance, and now I'm possibly ruining yours because you want to help me get a second one. I-"
>Her voice broke as she choked up
>"I know this all sounds a little out of nowhere, but it's eating me alive. How are you not better off without me?"
>You were silent
>You really weren't prepared for this, but you of all people understood what it was like being left alone with your thoughts
>She looked directly at you
>"Anon, when we both got in our formal outfits, I was having so much fun. When we kissed I- I felt like nobody had ever really thought of me that way before. I was even babbling like an idiot before you actually pulled me in. That's not like me at all! I felt so special, and now that I know what that feeling is like, I'm horrified that it might go away! I just..."
>She was crying now
>"...I just don't want you to leave me."

>You couldn't believe what you were hearing
>It was easy to figure out that what Rainbow had said to her bothered her
>But Lightning Dust was tough, you assumed it hadn't done any horrific damage
>Especially with you around to deflect some of her self-loathing
>But it was all starting to become clear
>Dust worked her way to the top through hard work and was cast down right back to where she started
>All of her hard work had been forfeit
>Her self-esteem after that was probably in shambles
>After the champion of her defeat, Rainbow Dash, got the title of Wonderbolt and spat those hard truths at her yesterday like that, it was a miracle she wasn't in tears last night
>And you thought it was a good idea to leave her with her thoughts
>After she had been alone with them for far too long already
>You were right, she was tough
>But nobody's that tough
>And nobody's invincible
>She sobbed uncontrollably, the endless pent up sorrow and anger from her life events coming out in a cascade after so much time hiding it
>You got a glimpse of this when she was drunk in Cloudsdale, but now there were no restraints
>Your life may not have been eventful
>But god damn it, it had purpose
>You aren't just some guy
>And despite how much you said it to yourself, you aren't fucking lame
>You are fucking Anonymous
>And Lightning Dust is your purpose
>You lowered yourself to the ground and pulled her into a tight hug
>Here, on the road between Twilight's castle and Ponyville, the two of you were alone
>Dust's cries were muffled by your form
>She wrapped herself around you, holding on to you in a tighter embrace than you have ever felt in your life
>As if you would disappear forever if she let go
>From one loser to another, you felt only sympathy
>It's time to put this fear of hers to rest
>Once and for all

"Lightning Dust."
>She was still crying
"Lightning Dust!"
>She backed away slightly and looked up at you, her eyes were bloodshot
"Stop it! Stop thinking like this! You have to get over this mental roadblock. You HAVE to get over this if you want your second chance. Yes, you messed up and got kicked out of the Wonderbolt academy, but it's okay!"
>You placed a hand on her cheek
>You brushed away a tear with your thumb
"It's okay. That is the one thing you have never allowed yourself to be told because you're so caught up in trying to be the best you can be that you can't admit that it's fine to make a mistake, even one as big as that. You loss sight of what makes someone great at anything: a lot of failure!"
>She looked down slightly
>You brushed her mane gently
>It was so soft
"And Dust, I'm not going to leave you. I promise. Stop worrying about that. I don't care what I have to sacrifice to see you happy. Meeting you made me realize that life isn't about what you have. It never has been. it's about what you're willing to give, what you're willing to do to see the world become that much of a better place no matter how small the contribution may seem, and I'm willing to give everything for you."
>Fresh tears fell down her face
"We're a team Lightning Dust. This isn't one-sided like you think it is. You're the one who had the idea for us to train together, remember? You're allowing me to find motivation I didn't know I had. Because... Because I've never had someone like you before."
>You were starting to choke up yourself
>Damn this stupid horse
"We're going to do great things, Dust. I just know it, but you have to get through this."
>She sniffled, nodding
>She couldn't talk
>You smiled reassuringly
"Fortunately for you, I just got done speaking to Princess Twilight, and I think I have just the way to do that."
>She wiped her eyes, trying to collect herself
>"W-what do you mean?"
>You laughed
"It's insane, but I'm gonna need you to trust me on this one."

>...
>"What?! I'm not doing that! There's no fucking way!"
>You groaned
"Come on, Lightning Dust! What's the worst that could happen?"
>She wiped her eyes and glared at you
>A lot of bad things could happen
"Would you quit it?"
>You gently pushed down on her snout, forcing her gaze down
>A mix of offense and humor appeared on her face before a hoof flew to her nose
>"Hey! Don't touch me!"
>She was laughing
>"You know I could kick your teeth in, right?"
>You ruffled her hair, causing her to wince
>This also brought about a slight blush
>You assumed it was a little humiliating for someone who held as much pride as her
>It was kind of the point
>She seemed flustered
"Kick me? With your little pegasus legs? I wrestled a drunk earth pony once. I'm sure that was harder. She was flailing all over the place."
>She scrambled out of your lap, shaking her head as to do her best to revert her hair back to normal
>"You wanna bet, you-"
>You cut her off, doing your best not to fully break out into laughter
>"I'm sorry, but is your face red?"
>Lightning Dust blushed harder
>It was really easy to get her riled up
>Hm
>Maybe that could be kinky in the fu-
>Your thoughts were cut short as a blue blur tackled you to the ground
>You completely lost the air in your lungs
>It felt like someone had dropped all of Sweet Apple Acres onto your chest
>Lord help the enemy of Lightning Dust
>You sputtered for a bit
"Holy shit, Dust! Mercy!"
>She grinned
>In all honesty, it was a bit sinister
>"No way, Anon! What was that about me being a little pegasus?!"
>The two of you wrestled around for a moment before you ended up on top of her, arms on either side of her head
>You were both breathing heavily
>Today had been exhausting for both of you
>Ironic, just this morning you were in the same position with her on top of you
>You seemed to have a better poker face than Lightning Dust though
>She looked to either side of her head to see your hands planted firmly and turned a bright red

>"Um! Uh- I-"
>Wow, she was a mess
>You adopted your own sinister smile
"Is something wrong, Dust?"
>Her eyes narrowed in anger
>"Nothing's wrong, you jackass! It's just-"
>You raised an eyebrow
>She looked side to side
>Her voice was lowered
>"We're in public, Anonymous!"
>You understood
>In fact, this was eating you alive as well
>The stretch of road between Twilight's Castle and Ponyville seemed like a relatively safe bet for now
>Seeing her like this was too good to pass up
"Lightning Dust... are you afraid of romance? You've never done this kind of stuff, have you?"
>Just a moment ago, she was so confident in her victory
>Mind over matter, Anonymous
>Lightning Dust looked like she might burst into flames from embarrassment
>"Anon, pleeeease!"
"Hey, that's okay! I'm not very good at romance either, but I think it's fun."
>You really had better things you could be doing right now
>Like better negotiation of this meeting with Rainbow Dash
>But alas, you're a complete bastard
>You quickly looked around for any ponies
>Nothing
>You leaned down, caressing her head as you kissed her neck gently
>"ANONYMOUS! What are y- A-Ah..."
>The kiss combined with one of your hands moving down her side gently cut her words short
>You moved to her mouth and kissed her passionately, her eyes closing in acceptance as her body relaxed to your touch
>You pulled away
>Her eyes opened
>"Wait... what?"
>You kissed her quickly one more time and stood up, dusting yourself off
"Get real, Dust! We're in public! Control yourself why don't ya?"
>She propelled herself off the ground, meeting you at eye level
>"B-But you-!"
"But what?"
>Her face contorted
>She had no idea how to feel
>This whole thing made you wonder if Dust has ever had a serious relationship
>"I thought-! AGH!"
>She put her hooves to her face
>You let loose your laughter now, it was all just too much
>She was not so amused
>"Anonymous! QUIT IT!"

>Eventually you collected yourself, wiping moisture from your face
>"Anonymous... that's not funny."
>You smiled, doing your best to reassure her that you meant no offense
"Really, Dust? I thought you of all people could appreciate some good teasing."
>"Yeah, I poke fun at other ponies and all I just... I don't know, I'm sensitive about that!"
>You rolled your eyes
"That's a bit hypocritical, don't you think?"
>She glared at you
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. You can holster your guns. You got to admit, it's at least a little funny."
>She managed a small giggle
>"Alright, I'll give you that."
>Despite the sensible portion of your brain telling you not to, you risked getting your ass kicked by Lightning Dust once more
>"Dust... am I your first boy-?"
>Fuck
>"Coltfriend? ...Or whatever."
>You didn't think you'd ever get used to horse lingo
>Her anger flared once more as she assumed a strong defensive stance
>Immediately
>"What?! What makes you say that?!"
"Nothing in particular, just curious."
>"Well, um... duh! I mean, come on, Anonymous, I'm one of the best fliers there is! Look at me! I can't keep the stallions off me most days!"
>There were few things in this world less convincing than that line
>You stared at her
"Right. That's why you're so worried about me leaving."
>She bit her bottom lip
>Shortly after, she sighed loudly, relaxing herself
>"Ugh, is it that obvious? Look, I always put work before fun. Even when I was growing up. It's paid off in a lot of ways!"
>She twirled swiftly around in the air, demonstrating her agility
>"But... it came with a price. I never really had time for colts or much else, really. Too busy chasing that dream, I guess. When that blew up in my face it kind of left me with nothing. I never had any long term friends because of my personality. A personality that is a product of me settling for nothing other than being the best and not having interest in friends. Combine all this and you get me: a socially inept try-hard."

>She smiled wide jokingly as she described herself at the end before reverting to a deep frown
>You walked over to her
"Lightning Dust, I'm gonna need you to try going a day without feeling sorry for yourself. Things are better now, you can't argue that. And they're only going to get better."
>"You don't know that! What if-"
"Dust!"
>She recoiled, rubbing one of her forelegs with the other sheepishly
>"I can't help it, Anon! I've been feeling sorry for myself for a long time!"
>You snatched her out of the air with one arm, hugging her
"Well luckily, you can stop any time you'd like. Now come on, let's get something to eat. I'm fucking starving. I have done nothing but be a flabby disappoint today."
>She laughed
>"What was that about feeling sorry for yourself?"
"Don't even start."
>The two of you continued idle conversation as you ventured away from the outskirts of Ponyville
>You both decided that the Rainbow Dash argument could be saved for when you got home
>You offered to pay for lunch, and so you did
>Few words were said
>Despite your negative disposition towards pony cuisine, you found yourself ravaging whatever horrific vegetarian mess they put in front of you
>Lightning Dust was no better
>You both shared a laugh over your combined lack of manners
>More and more, you realized how nice it was to have the constant company
>You found it funny that she was worried you'd leave her
>It was agonizing being away from her just to work out, let alone dumping her
>Why would you do that anyway?
>As if you'd go crawling back to Daisy or something!
>Fuck Daisy!
>Stupid bitch!
>You still can't believe that she-
>No, Anonymous
>You're with Dust now, there's no need to be petty
>In short enough time, lunch was finished and you made your back to the comfort of your home

>You opened the door and Lightning Dust rushed inside, moving higher into the air before performing a front flip onto the couch
>A loud creak rung out through the house
"Son of a fucking bitch."
>Lightning Dust was laying on her back, limbs stretched out
>Her hair reached towards the ground as her head lay on the armrest
>She looked towards you quizzically
>"Huh? You say something?"
>She didn't hear you
"I- nevermind."
>"Whatever you say."
>You made your way to the couch, the ever present command center of your house
"Scoot over, will ya?"
>"Make me."
>Without a word you picked her up with ease
>You might be a loser, but you're still a guard
>Not to mention she was very light, and a fair amount smaller than you
>She yelped as you did so, giggling as you threw her to the other side
>She made no attempt to resist the toss, spreading across the couch
>"Oh no! I'm so hopelessly vulnerable!"
>You stared her up and down
>She had that look about her again
>That look she gave you the first time she walked into your home
>Focus, Anon
"Dust, we need to talk about tomorrow."
>She sat up, staring at you accusingly
>"Ya know, this is hardly fair! You can't just... just do what you were doing back there and expect me to be fine afterwards and forget about it!"
>As much as you'd enjoy indulging your lover, there was business to attend to
>...
>Oh who are you kidding, it was just way more fun to tease her
>At least for a little while longer
"Hey, I know what I did. I was there! But this is important, Dust!
>Lightning Dust shifted uncomfortably
>"There are other important things we could do as well!"
>Her voice was had a tinge of lust
>You looked at her
>"Ugh! Fine!"
>She collapsed in your lap, her voice muffled by your leg
>"So what are we doing? Talking to Rainbow Cunt about the importance of friendship?
>Getting these two to work together is going to be horrendous

>"Dust, it's to teach BOTH of you the importance of friendship."
>She stuck her tongue out in a mock gag
>"Bleh. Don't ever say something that cheesy again. You're starting to sound like her friends."
>This was going nowhere
"It's not just that. If you and Dash were friends, you'd be unstoppable. She could teach you different Wonderbolt routines. She could coach you, even."
>Lightning Dust oriented herself to face you
>She was a few inches from you
>"Are you being serious?! Coached by Rainbow Dash?! I cannot think of anything more humiliating than that! She took everything from me, Anon!"
>You stroked her golden mane, doing your best to calm her down
"Whether or not that's true is irrelevant. You have to move on from this, Dust. The sooner you do, the sooner you can focus on becoming the athlete you know you are. You were thinking about Rainbow all day, right?"
>She broke eye contact with you
>She didn't answer
"That can only hinder you, and you know it. You were a team once, and you can do it again, I know it. You just have some catching up to do, that's all. The two of you would make Wonderbolts history!"
>She smiled slightly
"And of course, there would be an asterisk next to your name explaining that you later became captain of the team."
>She shoved you lightly, laughing
>"Oh, shut up."
>She let out a deep, frustrated sigh
>"Okay, I'll do it. I don't like it, but I'll do my best to keep myself restrained."
>She paused for a moment
>"And I'll pretend to act apologetic about what happened at the academy."
>You scowled
"Dust."
>"Kidding, geez!"
>Lightning Dust cuddled up closer to you, laying her head on your chest
>A few moments passed before she spoke
>"I'm scared, Anonymous."
>You knew, but hearing her say it brought to light just how terrified she was
>It was possible that her entire future hinged on this reunion
>Rainbow Dash's words carried weight in the Wonderbolts
>You petted her softly, pulling her closer as you did
"I know Dust, I know."

>The rest of the day was spent in leisure
>The two of you laid in your bed, simply talking about whatever came to mind
>Rarely did the topic drift to something uncomfortable, but even if it did, you were both eager to make one another feel comforted
>These were the moments that you found to be worth it
>Lightning Dust had mentioned that you were sacrificing a lot to be with her in the past
>That was hardly true
>You had never amassed anything that was worthwhile
>And your only friend, Rainbow Dash, was hard to open up to
>You were laying on your side, staring at her as she described a story to you
>She was wearing one of your shirts again, and her hair had seen better days
>Laying on her back, she waved her hooves around, using gestures to bring some sense to the story she was currently telling
>"-but what she didn't know was that I had a master plan for when we hit the next curve. This was the sharpest turn in the whole race, and you had to be careful if you didn't want to fly out of control."
>She was telling you the story of one of the races she won when she was younger
>You smiled as she excitedly told you one after the other, and how the result was always the same
>A medal around her neck, gold as her eyes
>Her eyes were one of your favorite parts about her
>They were beautiful
>You sort of got lost in them, and because of this it wasn't until you realized that the story was at it's end that you snapped back to reality
>"-and once again, I finished first! I got the gold medal for several years in a row, actually!"
>She scowled
>"Until Rainbow Dash beat me, that is. Anyway, cool, huh?"
>She sat up and smiled at you, waiting for praise of her athletic prowess
>You smiled back
"Ya know, you have the most beautiful eyes."
>She seemed taken aback
>"W-what?"
>She looked around briefly
>"Hey! Were you even listening to me?"
"Yeah, I was! I just didn't hear that last bit is all. I got distracted."

>She seemed annoyed
>"Distracted by what?"
>Man, she could be clueless
"I just said what! You, Dust. I was distracted by you."
>She was hopelessly confused
>"But if you were distracted by me, how come you didn't hear my story?"
>She was really bad at this
>Bit of a confidence booster for you, at least
"You're just really cute, that's all."
>She twiddled her front hooves as she realized what you were getting at, and more importantly how it went over her head
>"I uh... Oh. I mean, thanks."
>She laughed nervously
>"Wait, that sounds dumb, thanking you like that. I-"
>You sat up as well now, and pulled her in close with both arms
>She felt noticeably warmer as you saw color rush to her face
"What was that you said earlier? You're hopelessly vulnerable?"
>"Um..."
>It seemed Dust had lost her earlier confidence
>Fortunately for her, you still maintained yours
>This time though, the two of you weren't in public
>Noticing that the sun had set a couple of hours ago, you leaned forward, using your left arm to turn off your bedside lamp as your right held onto the mare in front of you
>The artificial light faded, ushering in the gentle moonlight
>Lightning Dust looked at you
>She looked like a nervous wreck
>You rubbed her cheek gently
"What are you so scared of?"
>She looked down, and in a moment of blunt truth she stated how she felt
>A nice summation of how she's felt since the moment you two met
>"That at any moment, I'm going to screw this up."
>She paused for only a moment
>"Just like last time."
>After that, there was nothing you'd rather be doing than sitting here in the comfort of night  with Lightning Dust
"That's not going to happen."
>You pulled her into a deep kiss, pulling away a few moment later
"Now... where were we?"
>You placed a hand on her chest and pushed gently, lowering her to the bed as you assumed the position the two of you held earlier in front of the castle
>With your hand where it was, you could feel Lightning Dust's heart begin to race

>She looked at you, waiting to see what you'd do next
>A mixture of excitement and anxiety radiated from her whole body
>Her chest was moving up and down rapidly with her breaths
>Your handed moved up her body, up her neck, and stopped at her cheek
"Relax."
>You picked up right where you left off, bringing yourself down to kiss her neck as your hand moved back down her body
>She inhaled sharply as your lips met her fur
>After a moment you broke the contact
>Her eyes opened half way to investigate
>She seemed relatively more relaxed now
>You leaned down to kiss her, her eyes softly closing as she met you
>Meanwhile, your hand began to explore the rest of her body
>Her fur glided between your fingers
>She was so soft
>You dared to move lower, your hands gripping at her cutie mark
>She was incredibly fit, there wasn't much give
>Nice
>You silently hoped that she wouldn't hurt you when this got heavy
>Or maybe you hoped that she would, hard to say!
>You squeezed her once more, and a soft moan came from her
>You felt the vibrations run through your mouth
>You backed up
>You couldn't help but laugh lightly
>"What? Did I do something wrong?"
>You immediately assured her that everything was fine
>"It's just... cute seeing you like."
>She smirked
>"Shut up."
>She put a hoof on the back of your head and pulled your head back down, putting her mouth to your ear
>"Lower."
>Aye aye, captain
>You returned to the kiss and your hands moved between her hind legs as they widened for you
>You slid your hand down lower, touching her gently
>Her legs instinctively moved closed as she gasped
>You looked to her for approval
>She nodded gently
>"G-go slow."

>Of course
>Softly, you began to rub her lower lips, creating gentle circles and changing emphasis on different areas with varied pressure
>Lightning Dust's back arched briefly as her body pleaded for a more aggressive touch
>Her breathing became rapid once more, her mouth agape as her mind wrestled with the ever-increasing waves of pleasure
>She couldn't continue the kiss you had held with her up until now, and as you dared to delve your first finger into her, her forehead rested against yours for support.
>One finger quickly became two
>You hadn't needed Dust to tell you to continue, your fingers were soaked at this point, and you could even feel the bed sheets beneath her begin to dampen
>Faster and faster, you pumped your hand into her
>Her body quaked each and every time your knuckle met the walls of her body
>Her face became more red
>Her breath was hot
>And even her moans were becoming cut more and more short as you quickened your pace
>"A-Ah, A-Anon! I'm- I'm gonna-"
>You were aware
>"P-please! Don't stop! AHN!"
>Even through your pummeling, she found a way to let out a long moan, one that increased in volume as it reached its end
>Her legs wrapped your arm as you felt her tighten around you
>A fresh font of warm liquid flowed from her, onto your hand
>Her wings flared out from beneath her with her pleasured scream, and slowly began to retract as she breathed heavily
>You pulled your fingers from her and leaned down to her
>She grabbed your head with both forehooves and pulled you in for an especially sloppy kiss
>Her tongue danced around in your mouth with a lusty enthusiasm
>She was the first to pull away this time
>"Anonymous... I-I needed that more than you know."
>Your kiss continued, and caught in each other's passion, you rolled so that Dust was oriented on top of you
>Your arms were getting tired anyway
>You swore you could feel a faint drip on the other end of Lightning Dust pattering against your body as she laid on top of you.

>Lightning Dust's hips began moving instinctively, grinding against your lower body in rhythmic motions
>Her pace and force rose, her moist lips tracing where your hardened shaft laid behind your clothes
>You could feel them wrapped around you, urging you to satisfy her the only way you knew how
>With about two minutes of thrusting, and twenty minutes of apologizing!
>Here's hoping this wouldn't go so bad
>Dust failed to maintain the kiss, her grinding seemed to almost bring her to the edge of yet another climax
>Frankly, it was beginning to get too much for you to bear
>With the grace of a one-legged drunk, you managed to throw your own pants off with Lightning Dust situated on top of you
>Your erect member, now unblocked, stood at full attention between Lightning Dust's flanks
>Already, it was soaked
>You hadn't allowed Dust to finish herself off humping you, so she wasted no time
>She leaned in for a quick kiss, her tongue tracing the roof of your mouth
>"Ready?"
>You could only manage a nod
>Anticipation and libido coursed through you as you waited for her
>She pushed herself up, placing her forehooves on your chest
>She tossed her head, moving a loose strand of golden hair behind her
>Her mane was a mess
>And you'd be lying if you said that wasn't doing something for you
>She arched her back, lifting her lower half above your shaft
>She bit her bottom lip as your tip entered her
>She was warm
>And very, very wet
>Not wanting to deny herself any longer, Lightning Dust sat down on top of you, a wet sound emanating as your body's met
>Fully inserting yourself into Dust caused your own constitution to fail, a moan escaping you as you felt her from the inside
>She breathed heavily, letting herself adjust to the feeling of you within her
>Your hands went for her sides before they lowered to grab onto either of her flanks
>Feeling the hardened curves of her body spread across you made your blood burn

>You could feel yourself twitch inside her as you awaited her first movements
>Lightning Dust brought her hips forward before moving them back again
>Whether or not she was attempting to be quiet before hand, she could no longer maintain her relative silence
>Fresh beads of sweat fell from her as she lost herself in her gyrations
>Your whole bed began to creak as she grew more and more furious with her motions, her fluids pouring over you as she reached another climax
>While she screamed her approval, it did not slow her down
>Months of frustration and loneliness fell from her with each thrust
>She leaned backwards, placing her hooves on either side of the bed
>Her mane fell between her outstretched wings as she brought her head back
>She brought herself up and down, bringing you almost completely out of her before slamming back down on you with more force than before
>With each pump, she let out a louder and louder moan
>You had no idea how you lasted this long, but you thanked whatever divine being granted you with such endurance
>Before long, you felt her body tense once more as a fresh wave doused your already soaked lower body
>She stopped for a moment, her chest heaving from her exertions
>She brought her head back to it's natural position and looked at you
>Her face was red
>A smile crept across her face as she looked at you
>Her eye's adopted a wonderful harmony of sinister and sexy
>As she spoke, a single drop of sweat dropped from her face
>"Come on, Anonymous. I want you to finish me off."
>It would seem that you have witnessed the return of the more malevolent Lightning Dust
>What wonderful timing
>"I want you to push your limits."
>Oh man
>"I want you to grab hold of me, and give me what I need!"
>Whether it was supposed to or not, the next part nearly came out as a command
>"I want you to fuck me!"
>With zealous fury, you sat up and grabbed her, throwing her onto her back

>You took each of her hind legs in your hands and threw them behind you
>Leaning down, you wrapped your arms around her whole body
>Her forelegs reciprocated as she threw them around your neck
>Quickly, you inserted yourself into her, a moan erupting from her as you went to your hilt
>You will give her what she needed
>You will fuck her
>And god damn it, you will fuck her well
>With a awe-inspiring combination of force and speed, you pummeled her lower body
>Her wings firmly flapped each time you collided with her body
>Her eyes practically rolled to the back of her head
>"Y-yes! Yes, Anon! Ah-AH! AH! Fuck me! FUCK M- AH!"
>You moved your hands to her sides, gripping them as to move her body yourself, bringing her to meet you with each and every thrust you delivered
>While it had been a strange and trying journey for both of you, in this moment, the two of you could only worry about each other
>No Wonderbolts
>No Rainbow Dash
>Just the two of you, lost in each other's passion
>She must have noticed the look on your face
>"Just give it all to me, Anon! Don't stop! DON'T STOP!"
>You needed no persuasion
>What started as quiet moans, became louder and louder before you felt your shaft swell with the release it desired
>Doing only as she instructed, you pulled Lightning Dust close to you and thrust into her one final time
>You dug your fingers into her back as you held her, and her hooves clutched you for support
>Your heads were on either side of each other, and you could feel her hot breath across you as she breathed in unison with each pulse of your seed
>It took several seconds to empty yourself into her
>And you had never experienced anything in your life quite like those seconds
>You looked down to find that you filled her up rapidly, strands of white leaking out of her as you continued pumping
>Even after you finished, the two of you remained embracing one another, coming down from your ecstasy
>There was only the sound of your breathing

>The heat of what had just transpired kept your bodies against one another for some time before your grip slowly weakened on her
>You backed up from her and faced her
>Her eyes slowly opened
>She nervously chuckled
>"I got a little carried away there, didn't I?"
>You smiled
"Not a chance. I didn't really make a show of restraint either."
>She closed her eyes once again, leaning in for a kiss
>You met her, the two of you relishing the contact only briefly
"We need to get to sleep. I got a feeling tomorrow is gonna be one for the storybooks."
>She sighed wistfully
>"Yeah, you're probably right."
>She slid herself off of you and fell forward, bringing you onto your back
>She rolled off of you to one side
>Pulling the blanket over both of you, you turned to her and pulled her in close
>She huddled next to you, tucking in her wings so that she may fit as close to you as possible
>In similar fashion to the night before, you began to gently stroke her coat as you watched a smile spread across her face in tandem with her falling eyelids
>All was silent as you felt yourself ushered to sleep
>Just as you were about to give into your dreams, you heard her muffled voice
>"I love you."
>You opened your eyes
>For several moments you didn't act
>Did she just say what you thought she said?
>You were aware it was a phrase that was thrown around a lot, but when it came from her, something was different
>After only a few seconds of rumination, you realized why
>It's because you felt the same
"I love you too, Lightning Dust."
>You hugged her tightly
"I love you so much."
>In all truth, the future for you two was shrouded
>While you were hopeful, there was absolutely no guarantee that the Wonderbolts would ever give her the time of day
>And there was no guarantee that you would ever wield a blade for any reason other than formality
>Nights like these, however, felt possible
>And you saw them in your future
>As long as Dust was with you, little else mattered

>"Anonymous? Anonymous wake the hell up!"
>Your beautiful slumber was once again cut violently short as Lightning Dust threw you back into the land of the living
>She was sitting on the bed, beating your chest with her forehooves
>Was this really going to be every morning of your life now?
>Surely, she would let you sleep some days
>Right?
>She flopped down on top of you
>"Holy shit, you're like a rock, dude! It's like you're dead to the whole world!"
>You shoved her off
"Or maybe I'm sleeping like every normal fucking creature at this hour."
>She wasn't convinced
>"Oh come on! If the sun is up, you should be too! That's how it was intended to work, right?"
>You grumbled
"Not at all."
>She laughed
>"Listen to you! Whine, whine, whine! I need to get you acclimated to this kind of life before-"
>You blindsided her with a pillow, her whole body crashing to the bed
>A blue-green feather was flung loose with your assault
>It swayed back and forth in the air as it fell to the ground
>She scrambled to her hooves
>Her eyes crackled with the spirit of competition
>"Did you just fucking-"
"Listen to you. Whine, whine, whine."
>She couldn't believe your audacity
"I'm gonna go brush my teeth."
>You made it to the door right before that same pillow smashed into the back of your head
>You damn near lost your footing
>You turned to her slowly, mock anger on your face
>You stared deep into her eyes, taking upon the most serious demeanor you could
"You just screwed up so bad, you little shit."
>Without breaking eye contact, Lightning Dust reached for another pillow next to her
>She gripped it tightly
>"Come. The fuck. At me."
>There were worse ways to waste a morning
>And she did just wake you up in the middle of some well-deserved sleep
>You looked down to the pillow
>Then back to her
>Then to the pillow again
>You reached for it, and with speed deserving of her namesake, Lightning Dust charged towards you

>The next few minutes were spent thrashing one another
>Through what you would call tactical retreats, the fight made its way to the living room
>Eventually, Lightning Dust expertly dodged one of your swings before spinning around into an overhead swing with her pillow
>She came down like a meteor
>Your vision became engulfed with fluffy white before shifting to a mixture of colored blurs as your senses tried to come back online
>Through the haze, you saw Lightning Dust put a hoof to her mouth
>You shook your head and the stars you were seeing began to fade
>It would seem Dust was worried her competitive nature got the better of her again
>"Oh my gosh, are you alright? I'm sorry!"
>You were totally fine, but you laid it on a little thick just to get a rise out of her
"I... I uh..."
>You exaggerated a swaying motion, threatening to fall over at any moment
>"Ah shit! Um! Hold on, I'll-"
>As fast as you could manage, you tackled Lightning Dust to the couch
>A playful scream erupted from her as you made contact
>You immediately abused your significant size difference and pinned her
>"Anon, you son of a bitch! You tricked me!"
>She was laughing
>"Let me go!"
"Admit defeat and I will!"
>It was way too easy to abuse her personality
>She struggled, but said nothing suggesting surrender
>You were afraid it would come to this
>Deflecting whatever thoughts of mercy came to you, you resorted to the greatest advantage your species had over this one
>Fingers
>You began tickling her
>There was little she could do to move from her current situation
>Lightning Dust's strength was her speed, and it would not save her here
>Her fate was sealed
>As you started, a look of horrified realization fell upon her
>"Wait, wait w-whAT ARE YOU DOING? A-ANON! STOP!"
>She wiggled beneath you, unable to break free from your oppressive form
>You really hoped Twilight wasn't waiting on you or anything
"I told you! I told you that you screwed up! Give up! Say it!"
>"NEVER!"

>You were unfamiliar with pegasi physiology, but you had a guess as to what might make her finally give in
>You worked your way up her body, arriving at her wings
>You put emphasis on the spot where her wings met her body
>She flapped them vigorously
>"ANONYMOUS! STOP! STOP! AH! I GIVE UP!"
>You continued
>You were truly a monster
"Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you. Some mare was screaming in my ear!"
>Through her laughter, you were able to catch subtle hints that as soon as this was over, she would feed you your teeth
>"I SAID I GIVE UP!"
>You relinquished
>She balled up into a defensive position
>She wrapped her forelegs around her knees and then wrapped herself in her wings
>You could see her nose and the tops of her eyes peaking out
>She was glaring at you, breathing heavily
>All was silent for a moment
>"I'm going to kill you."
>You broke into laughter
"Get yourself together Dusty, we got a meeting with the princess."
>She grumbled angrily
>"You know... I only gave up because-"
"Don't even start."
>This caused her to get even more defensive, but you did your best to ignore her while you prepared for the day ahead
>Soon after your bickering, the two of you left for the castle
>And whatever horrors awaited you there
>Honestly, you'd be surprised if Rainbow Dash even showed up
>More surprised if she showed up unarmed
>Lightning Dust and you didn't talk very much on the way
>There was little to say
>What exactly were you hoping to come of this?
>Each time you took a different angle to look at it, it seemed like a worse idea than before
>But you supposed the princess knew best
>Lightning Dust opted to walk next to you instead of fly
>The closer you got to the castle, the closer she seemed to get to you
>You're not really sure why
>If anyone was doing the protecting, it'd be her
>There's no way you could keep up with Dash if she decided to do something rash
>In no time at all, you arrived at the crystalline fortress

>The two of you stood at the door, eyeing it up and down
>Lightning Dust shifted uncomfortably
>"Well, go on. Knock."
>You swiveled to look at her
"Give me a break, will ya? I'm nervous too!"
>Reluctantly, you lifted your hand and struck the door
>Silence returned as you waited for an answer
>You secretly hoped there wouldn't be one
>You really wish you hadn't roped yourself into this situation
>However, as planned, the Princess of Friendship soon appeared before you
>What you saw made you very uncomfortable
>She was smiling wide, but her eyes betrayed her
>She looked incredibly worried
>You and Dust exchanged concerned looks before you inquired
>"Princess? Is everything alright?"
>"Um, yes! W-why would anything not be? Rainbow Dash is here! Yep! She's here alright!"
>Oh no
>What has she done?
"Twilight, I feel like you wouldn't be freaking out this much if everything was going according to plan. Call it a gut feeling."
>She looked quickly from left to right, biting her lower lip
>"Well um... you see, R-Rainbow dash really didn't want to come at first!"
>You could imagine
"Go on."
>"Soooo we made a deal! She argued that you and Lightning Dust had each other to bounce off of during the meeting and that she'd feel teamed up on if she didn't have a friend there with her."
>That makes sense
>Unfortunately, that didn't change how incredibly terrified you were now
"This whole thing is between me, Dash, and Dust! Nobody else! Who the hell did she bring?"
>A few beads of sweat fell from the princess
>Lightning Dust lost her patience
>"Spit it out! Who did she bring with her?"
>Twilight rubbed one of her legs with another
>"Oh nobody... just a uh... a Wonderbolt."
>You felt your heart sink
>You could already imagine Rainbow Dash's gambit to keep Lightning Dust out of their ranks forever

"Who did she bring Twilight? Which Wonderbolt specifically?  Come on, tell me it's Blaze! Nobody gives a shit about Blaze! She's like Diet Spitfire!"
>Twilight gulped
>"Actually... that is who she brought."
>You breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Dust
"We're good. There's no way that Blaze could ever-"
>Twilight interrupted you
>There was much more sweat forming on her brow now
>"N-no, I meant Spitfire. She brought Spitfire."
>The silence was deafening
>Lightning Dust was the first to speak
>You could see her shaking lightly
>"She b-brought Spitfire? The captain of the whole team?"
>Twilight nodded
>Dust brought a hoof to her head
>She was panicking
>Well, rightfully so
>"SHIT! Shit! Shit! Shit!"
>She flew over to you, hovering in front of you
>Her eyes glimmered with the sign of tears
>"Anonymous! We can't go through with this! I-I'm not ready! Rainbow Dash is going to use this opportunity to make me look as awful as possible in front of Spitfire and if she does that then there's-"
>You placed your hands on either side of Lightning Dust, grabbing her as hard as you could
"DUST! Get yourself together! Don't you see you're doing exactly what Rainbow wants you to do?"
>She was stunned
>"I- I don't-"
"If you walk away now, you'll look like a fucking coward! In front of Spitfire! If you don't want to face her, it must mean you think that you don't have what it takes to be a Wonderbolt, and if you don't believe you should get a second chance, why should she?"
>You could tell you were getting through to her
>"Being a Wonderbolt is more than being a good athlete. It takes heart! It takes guts! So show her that you have both!"
>You could see a fire ignite in her eyes
>She looked at you before bringing you into a hug that ate away at the integrity of your spine
>Poor Twilight was being sent on a roller coaster of emotions
>Dust pulled away and wiped her eyes
>She was smiling
>"Let's do this. Together."

>Twilight sniffled
>"Oh, you two are just adorable. That was so sweet! I should really write-"
"Twilight. The meeting."
>Her ears perked up with realization
"Right! They're probably tired of waiting. Follow me!"
>You and Dust smiled at each other before entering the castle
>Twilight lead you through intricately twisting hallways, eventually bringing you to the central map room of her castle
>She stopped at the door
>"Okay, they're on the other side."
>She took a deep breath
>"Are you ready?"
>Absolutely not
>You could hear muttered conversation on the other side
"We're ready."
>Twilight pushed open the door
>"I heard you the first time Dash. I'm sticking by my decision."
>That sure was Spitfire
>You really hoped she didn't mean keeping Dust out of the Wonderbolts
>"Okay okay, just make sure that- Oh."
>And that sure was Dash
>"Hey, Anonymous."
>She was not happy to see you
>Well, neither were you
>But you did not come this far to be a doormat now
>Spitfire be damned
>Now might be a good time to let your attitude get the better of you
>For once
>You sat down in one of the vacant harmony thrones
>You situated yourself into one across from Spitfire
>Dust took a seat to the right of you
>Across from Rainbow Dash
>Come on Anon, speak up
"It's good to see you Rainbow Dash."
>You turned to Spitfire
"Good morning."
>Her eyes narrowed
>"That's 'Good morning, ma'am' to you."
>You made yourself comfortable in the throne
"You're not my superior."
>Your statement was flat and to the point
>Your confidence actually seemed to catch her off guard
>It's possible that she thought very little of you in the past
>Just some monkey-boy trying to make a living by leaning on one of her prized cadets
>"I suppose I should take that as a formal notice of you quitting?"
>You shrugged
>"Fire me if it makes you feel better. I'm sure it would do well for your bloated ego."
>She leaned back and smirked
>Twilight had made her way to the edge of the room, watching with bated breath

>Dust looked to you with eyes pleading for you to tone it down
>Whatever
>Spitfire then greeted Lightning Dust
>She was visibly nervous
>She looked to you for comfort
>You smiled reassuringly
>It was the best you could do in this situation
>Lightning Dust collected herself as best she could
>"Good morning, ma'am."
>You kind of scowled at her formality
>But you weren't sure if that made you look bad or made her look good
>It was time you addressed the elephant in the room
>"Why are you even here? This is between me, Dust, and Dash."
>Spitfire remained stoic
>"You assaulted one of my cadets. I have a right to be here, Anonymous."
>She remembered your name
>Interesting
"Rainbow Dash is more than capable of handling her problems without her supervisor."
>You turned to Dash
"I know this doesn't mean much to you, and it shouldn't, but I am very sorry Rainbow."
>She broke eye contact with you, looking down
"You deserve much better than me. You've helped me out a great deal."
>You saw a faint smile on her face
"However, that doesn't change what you said to Lightning Dust. I overreacted, sure, but you did as well."
>Your words seem to sting
>You hadn't thought of the possibility that Rainbow Dash regretted her actions
>That just didn't seem like her
>"I-I'm sorry too, Anonymous."
>Was this really happening?
>Spitfire chimed in now
>"Which brings me to the answer to your question. Rainbow Dash told me everything, and judging by how poor her actions seem, I'm assuming she didn't leave out any details."
>Rainbow shook her head
>"If it were up to me, Anonymous, I'd crack your skull open for hitting her, but that's not why she brought me here. She insists that I remain composed."
>Spitfire's bravado always pissed you off
"Oh please, fly off the hook. Make my day."
>Lightning Dust whirred over to face you
>"Anonymous!"
>Spitfire raised a hoof, signaling her to stop talking
>"Dash brought me here to reevaluate Lightning Dust's candidacy for the Wonderbolts."

>Okay, now you were thrown off balance
>There's no way you heard that correctly
>You looked all around you for validation
>You first turned to Lightning Dust
>She wasn't even looking at you
>Her eyes were fixated on Spitfire
>She was still processing the information
>It was hard to tell what she was feeling, honestly
>You then looked to the princess, who seemed just as dumbfounded as you
>Your eyes met and judging by your similar expressions, she had no idea that this was going to happen
>Lightning Dust turned to Rainbow Dash
>"I-I don't understand. After all of those things you said about me... after what happened at the academy... why?"
>Rainbow Dash smiled at you before turning to Lightning Dust
>"Well... I'd be lying if I said I have never screwed up."
>Spitfire nodded
>"Like that time you threw a storm cloud into our routine, endangering ponies much like Lightning Dust at the academy."
>She winced
>"Y-yeah."
>Her captain continued
>"And while it wasn't dangerous, there was that time you tried to impersonate your friends. That was one of the most-"
>"Okay, okay, I get it! The point is that I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't give you at least one other chance. And while it sucks to admit, I didn't even let Anon make a case before I jumped to a conclusion."
>She looked down for a moment, collecting herself before she looked to you
>"When you hit me, I-I felt so... hurt. I didn't know what to do so I just flew off. It wasn't long though before I realized how I acted. I wanted to make it up to you. Besides, if you're hanging out with Dust, she must be better now, right?"
>You were speechless
>This didn't feel right
>Dash had just done both you and Dust a massive favor
>Once again, she was looking out for you
>While you were sure it was genuine, it felt wrong that she seemed to be taking most of the blame
>There had to be some way you could make it up to her

>Spitfire looked to Dust, who was almost in tears
>"Not so fast. There are a few conditions first."
>Lightning Dust nodded
>"Anything!"
>Spitfire leaned forward
>"Don't think I share Dash's willingness to bring you back. You're a fantastic flier, but you showed little to no restraint in pursuit of your own self image."
>Dust's ears fell down as she heard Spitfire's criticisms
>You made no move to defend her, she was right, after all
>The veteran pegasus gestured to Rainbow Dash
>"However, that seems to be a running theme. So I'm willing to give you a chance."
>Dash seemed offended, but knew better than to voice her opposition
>"That is if, and only if,  you get your act together. You'll start at the bottom in the academy where you belong. You'll work your way up from there, and Celestia help you if I find even one chore that isn't occupied by your miserable form. I'm going to make your life hell Lightning Dust, are we clear?"
>Lightning Dust radiated determination
>"Yes ma'am!"
>If Spitfire was happy, she didn't show it
>"Good. Then that leaves one more thing."
>Rainbow was smiling now
>Spitfire continued
>"I need to make sure you're even qualified for admission. It's been a long time since we've seen you fly."
>Dust didn't seem scared at all
>"I'll pass any of those tests! The physical exam wasn't that-"
>Spitfire cut her off
>"I have something else in mind versus the normal physical test, and while we're at it, we'll put an old rivalry to rest. I want you to race Rainbow Dash."
>Dash couldn't contain herself
>"Awesome right?! You could argue I got made Lead Pony by default since you were kicked out. I say this is a good opportunity to settle the score, once and for all! It'll be just like old times!"
>Spitfire laughed for the first time today
>"I don't expect you to beat a full-fledged member of the Wonderbolts, but it will serve as a worthy evaluation for someone with your flight record. What do you say, Dust? You in?"

>Dust turned to you, her eyes sparkling with the revitalization of her dream
>It all sounded too good to be true, but you couldn't help but smile for her
>Her wings were flapping rapidly in excitement, and her smile lit up the room with its dominating presence
>"Yes! Yes, of course I'm in! I'll do whatever you need me to do!"
>Rainbow Dash jumped in the air, performing a quick loop
>"Aw yeah! It is SO on!"
>You could tell Dash was genuinely looking forward to this
>With Dust realizing her mistakes of the past, you had a feeling that the two of them would go on to become very good friends
>Who knows what heights they could reach if they continued to work off of each other?
>Rainbow flew over to Lightning Dust, who was now airborne as well
>"I'm not wasting anymore time! I'm gonna go get some warm-up laps in. Get ready Dust, 'cause I'm waaaaay better than I was when you met me at the academy!"
>She sped off to the exit of the castle
>Lightning Dust, laughing, was quick to follow her
>Twilight scowled as a few loose papers here and there took to the air as a result of their swift departure
>You were sure she had strong opinions about flying indoors
>An opinion you likely shared
>You stared at the door the two pegasi had flown out of
>You can't even imagine how Lightning Dust is feeling right now
>"You care about her a lot, huh?"
>You didn't turn, but out of the corner of your eye you could see the fiery figure of the Wonderbolt captain
"Yeah. I do."
>You weren't kidding. Without her and Dash, you effectively had nobody in this pastel world
>She was quiet for a moment
>"Well, I guess someone has to. What about Dash?"
>You sighed deeply
"I'm not sure how, but I'm going to make it up to her. Getting you here and somehow convincing you to give Dust another chance was probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."
>You looked over to Spitfire now
"I suppose I have you to ultimately thank for that though."

>She chuckled
>"I appreciate the sentiment, but that's not what I was talking about."
>You raised an eyebrow
>You weren't sure what she was getting at
>"Dash would do just about anything for you."
>Oh
>That's what she was getting at
>"Dash is... a good friend. A great friend. Probably the best I could ever ask for. And as far as burdens go, I am about as big as they come. Despite me walking out on the job she secured for me and even hitting her, she still goes to great lengths to make me happy."
>Spitfire smiled
>"Ya know, I hear they call her the Element of Loyalty."
>You rolled your eyes
>She had a point though
"I just... I just don't think I see Dash that way."
>Spitfire nodded
>She did her best to divert the conversation
>"Why did you walk out on the job anyway? And I promise not to bark at you."
>You didn't believe her, but whatever
"Rainbow Dash kind of pitched the job like it was a bodyguard position. Evidently, that wasn't the case. I mean, I should have seen it coming. You guys are probably more than capable of defending yourselves. I guess I just didn't envision myself counting tickets when I graduated the academy. This was during the Cloudsdale show, so you guys were pulling out all of the stops for the show. I got tired of standing there for so long so I just left to get a drink. That's it. I intended on coming back, but uh... I got a little preoccupied."
>Spitfire seemed to think better of you since you meant to return to your post
>"What exactly happened that kept you from coming back?"
>This was embarrassing
"I um... forgot to renew the cloud-walk spell thingy."
>You kind of trailed off
>Her eyes went wide
>"Wait. You fell from Cloudsdale? How did your survive?"
>You waved your hand
"Long story short, Dust saved me."
>She seemed surprised by your tale
>You couldn't tell if she was more shocked by your stupidity or Dust's compassion

>"Hm. I suppose that would keep you from being able to return to the stadium."
>You nodded
"Yeah. I don't have wings. Not to mention I was in pretty bad shape after the fall."
>The two of you didn't speak for a moment, until you heard Spitfire's quiet laughter
>"You say that we can handle ourselves, but that's not entirely true."
>You felt like there was story tied to this one
"Is that so?"
>She continued
>"Yes. The Wonderbolts have had plenty of bad experiences from fans and attention seekers. Soarin and I fair well enough, but not all of us have combat backgrounds, you know."
>You were listening
>"We have actually had a couple of bodyguards in the past, but the position generally isn't permanent because most of them come from the royal guard. We are considered VIPs after all. Sooner or later, they would return to their positions in Canterlot. Duty calls and all of that."
>You were very surprised by what she was saying
"Did you really require someone as experienced as a royal guard to protect you?"
>"We're the Wonderbolts. Just about everyone knows our name, for better or for worse. There are plenty of ponies out there who just want to make a headline, Anonymous. No matter how they do it."
>You were just going to choose to believe that that vague statement didn't imply that there have been assassination attempts on the Wonderbolts
>"Some things are less serious. Just the other day, some dumbass tried to attack Rapidfire. I don't even remember why. Something about waiting in line for an autograph. We got the guy off of him but not before Rapidfire was a bit roughed up. Our security personnel are generally stretched thin, it's no wonder it took them a bit to react."
>As interesting as all of this was, it was confusing why you were talking to Spitfire in the first place, stranger still that she vomiting all of this information onto you

"Why are you telling me all of this?"
>A faint smile crossed her face
>"How good are you with that, anyway?"
>She brought a hoof up to point at your ever-present sword attached to your side
>"You were talking a lot of shit to me back there. Not a lot of people do that. You got an attitude, but you got guts. That can be useful."
>There's no way she was doing what you thought she was doing
"Are you... trying to hire me as a bodyguard? Like, an actual one?"
>She shrugged
>"I'm just saying that if you really are good at fighting, then it could be a nice fit. Not a lot of ponies have seen your kind before. That alone would deter a lot of people who were thinking of getting uppity."
>She nudged you with one of her forelegs
>"Besides, it would be pretty cool to be a bodyguard for the Wonderbolts, wouldn't it?"
>You're god damned right it would be
>That's why you were hyped about in the first place when Rainbow Dash made it sound like you landed one of the coolest careers in Equestria
>On top of that, if Lightning Dust really did get back into the Wonderbolt ranks, you would almost never see her
>However, if you landed this job, it would be the start of the most incredible era of your life
"There's no way you can fulfill two dreams in one day. What's the catch?"
>"I need to know the guy protecting our members can do just that. I want to see you fight."
>You made a helpless gesture
"Well, unless you got a starved manticore lying around, I'm not sure how we could do that."
>To the side, you heard the voice of Twilight Sparkle
>"Hey! I could help with that!"
>You completely forgot she was even in the room
>"Anonymous, remember that spell Rainbow Dash had me do to help you train? The one with the magical constructs? That would be the perfect demonstration for Spitfire!"
>Now we've come full circle
>Just the other day you were seeking out that same training regiment from her before it lead to this, but now with Spitfire here, the pressure was on
>And you felt it

>This had the potential to be the best or worst day of your life
>Even though you have expressed contempt for Spitfire in the past, it was hard to argue that she wasn't the vanguard of your and Dust's future at this very moment
>There's just one small issue
>You were completely unprepared to impress her with any sort of display of aptitude
>Dust was a different case
>She had been out of the game for a while, sure, but before hand there was nobody in Equestria that could match her
>It would take monumental neglect to bring Lightning Dust down to something the Wonderbolts wouldn't be dying for, and even then her natural ability for flight would probably still give her a chance
>You on the other hand, were a sad excuse for a potential Wonderbolt bodyguard
>Swordsmanship was certainly your strongest area of expertise in the academy, but then again, it would be kind of weird if it wasn't
>Two of the three types of ponies in this world had no reliable way of even holding a weapon
>You were a horrific excuse for a warrior, and after just starting up your training routine with Lightning Dust, you were in no way capable of performing how you needed to
>Ruminating on this fear, you had sort of zoned out
>You looked to Spitfire
>She was talking to Twilight
>Probably about the logistics of the spell she was talking about
>What it's capable of and all of that
>The part of you infected by your harrowing low self-esteem couldn't help but see Spitfire as patronizing
>Like she knew that you were going to embarrass yourself
>Like she knew you weren't as fit as you should be
>You maintained your stare
>They still didn't notice you
>This line of thinking was of course irrational, but it did well enough to stir a fire within you
>Regardless of whether or not she was being genuine, she was right about one thing
>You had guts

>You decided to tune into the conversation they were having
>Twilight was talking
>"Even Shining Armor used to have a really hard time with it, so it should be perfect in terms of difficulty."
>Spitfire seemed impressed
>"The captain of the Royal Guard struggled with it, eh? You still down to try it, Anonymous?"
>You guessed Twilight hadn't told her that you had been through it before
>You nodded
>"I'm ready."
>Spitfire held up a hoof
>"Easy tiger, we got ourselves a race to watch first. Come on, let's head outside."
>She made her way to the door before turning back to look at you
>"Here's hoping the two of them haven't killed each other yet."
>You stifled a shudder
>You got up to follow her when Twilight stopped you
>"Anonymous, are you sure you're up for this? You didn't exactly... do so well the last time you tried this."
>You laughed
"And I doubt that will change, but I have to try don't I?"
>She smiled
>"I'm hoping for the best. Who knows, you may do better than you think. I better follow you and Spitfire. I wouldn't wanna miss this for anything!"
>The two of you made your way to the exit, retracing your steps through the winding corridors of the royal halls
>As nervous as you were, you still had to take time to appreciate the beauty of it
>Eventually, you found youself outside once again
>You scanned the skies for Lightning Dust, and without warning she roared down from the clouds to the right of you, her landing deforming the earth
>You jumped
"Somebody's excited."
>This was a correct analysis
>"Of course I'm excited! I've been ready for this since the day after I got kicked out of the academy! I've done nothing but feel sorry for myself since that day and now I have a chance to make all of that stop. I have a chance to be happy again!"
>The small implication that you being with her didn't make her happy, but being a Wonderbolt did stung a little, but you chose to ignore it
>It's probably just that low self-esteem you were thinking about earlier

>She must have noticed the look on your face
>"Oh. I didn't mean it like that, Anonymous!"
>She giggled
>"Don't worry. You're better than any uniform I could earn."
>She floated up to you and kissed you on the cheek before backing away and brandishing a warm smile
>Her mood immediately dampened as her eyes looked past you
>You bit your bottom lip
>Judging by her expression, you knew exactly who was behind you
>More importantly, you know exactly who just saw you get kissed by Lightning Dust
>With what you hoped was confidence, but was more likely embarrassment, you turned around
>Rainbow Dash was staring into your damn soul
>She didn't say a word
>If you had to guess, you'd say that if she knew you and Dust were together, this whole scenario would have never happened
>You weren't about to be bullied into making an excuse
>You said nothing
>Spitfire walked up next to her, noticing her expression
>She looked to you
>She probably had an idea of what had just transpired, but she maintained her composure
>"The race is simple enough. Five laps around the whole of Ponyville. Just follow the track."
>Track?
>You looked up
>A ring of white clouds spun itself around the border of the town
>The way the light of the morning sun danced off the formation was captivating
>Twilight inquired
>"Wait, when did you do that?"
>Spitfire turned to her
>"Rainbow Dash and I discussed what the race was going to be before we got here. We thought it'd be easiest to form a nice and simple cloud track to keep the race fair."
>Rainbow completed her answer without removing her gaze from you
>"I made it a little bit ago. While you, Spitfire, and Anonymous were still in the castle. It was easy enough."
>You couldn't have been in there for much longer than fifteen minutes
>Holy shit, she was fast
>You were starting to doubt Dust's chance of even coming close to beating her
>And judging by how angry she must be, you doubted that she was going to show any mercy in favor of a good show

>You are Lightning Dust
>And even when she's not yelling at you, Spitfire is still intimidating
>You were paying attention the best you could, but you couldn't take your eyes off of Rainbow Dash
>She seemed very different now
>She had lost her jovial attitude
>Just half an hour ago she was completely ready to forgive Anon for any transgression
>But suddenly she figures out you and him have a thing, and it's like she's loaded her guns all over again
>You had to admit, after all of this time being second to her, it did feel good to beat her
>Arguably where it matters most
>A moment passed before you cursed yourself for thinking like that
>Anonymous wasn't some object of victory, he was much more than that
>But whether he liked it or not, you were about to thrash Rainbow in this race
>Some retribution was in order
>Dash finally discontinued her staring contest with him and looked at you
>Her magenta eyes narrowed in, highlighting her burning hatred
>You were going to keep your promise to Anonymous
>You were going to remain calm
>But it's time this cunt got the silver medal
>Spitfire called out
>"The two of you will start here and finish here on the final lap. I'm assuming you can both count to five. It's officially one lap when you're directly above the castle. Got it?"
>You and Rainbow Dash sounded off at the exact same time
>"Yes ma'am."
>You made your way to the spot Spitfire had designated as the starting line
>Before you completed the meager journey, Anonymous pulled you into a tight hug
>I guess he wasn't scared of Rainbow seeing it anymore
"Lightning Dust."
>You looked at him, your nerves beginning to crackle
"Give her hell."
>You smiled at him, fighting back how emotional this moment was for you
>"I will."
>You took your place beside Rainbow Dash
>Her stare was piercing you
>You stared back
>"Get ready, Dust."
>She grit her teeth
>"I'm not holding back."
>Your smile widened, the race would be legit after all
>"I'm counting on it."

>You could hear Anonymous talking to Spitfire in a low voice
>It would seem everyone could feel the tension of this situation
>Regardless, Spitfire wasted no time
>"Alright, I'm going to count to three."
>Anonymous immediately interrupted her
"Wait, are you gonna say 'one, two, three' or 'one, two, three, go'?"
>Spitfire turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised
>"Uh, why does that matter?"
>He was very serious
>Damn it, Anon
"It matters immensely."
>Spitfire didn't seem to share his concern
"You're supposed to go on 'go'. Everybody knows that."
>A wave of validation washed over you
>He sighed
"Whatever. Just do the countdown thing."
>She cleared her throat
>"One."
>You stretched out your wings, and narrowed your eyes
>You weren't looking at Dash anymore
>There was no time to think about her feelings
>"Two."
>Your gaze was glued to the white race track above
>Your launch could be everything here
>"Three."
>Just believe in yourself
>"GO!"
>You felt the ground give beneath you with the fury of your leap into the air
>Wind raged passed you, and the colors of the world swept to either side of you in vibrant blurs
>Faster and faster, the world fell beneath you as you breached the skies
>With each flap of your wings you found deeper and deeper reserves of energy
>You forced your mind not to wander, focusing only on the ever-increasing rhythm of your wings
>Eventually, you struck a zone of pure white, and moisture began to collect on your fur
>You took this as a sign to hang left
>Moments after you did so, you broke from the inside of the cloud ring, flying beside it
>The sun was high and shining, and the white, fluffy wall now to your right was little more than a blur as you reduced to a speed possible to maintain for a length of time
>With your wings kept at a slight tilt to compensate for the curve of the race track, you looked to your left
>Rainbow Dash was next to you
>She looked far less strained than you did

>you looked down her for an instant to see a brilliant rainbow trail following her flight path
>Turning your head further, you noticed the familiar gold lightning streak behind you, the ever-present proof of your high speeds
>Your eyes made your way back up her and you were met with a cold stare
>Accompanied by a confident smile
>What was this all about?
>If she really could leave you in the dust, why not do it?
>Did she just want you to see how much better she was than you that badly?
>The very same thoughts you were trying to block the invasion of now ran rampant in your head
>Before you knew it, you had flown over Twilight's castle for the first time, marking the terminus of the first lap
>As if she was waiting for the signal, just as you passed the structure, Rainbow Dash brought her wings to a far greater might, causing her to soar past you
>Your heart skipped a beat with the idea of your dream escaping you right before your eyes before taking things a step further yourself
>You began to wince at the sting of the wind, but pushed past it
>You had to catch up to her
>You had to show her you weren't the loser she claimed you were
>It's a shame really
>You were actually excited about Rainbow Dash coming to like you only a short time ago
>You could easily believe that in another life, the two of you were the best of friends
>And just as Spitfire said, who know's what the two of you could accomplish if you actually settled your differences
>You really hoped Anonymous wouldn't be the thing that came between all of that
>Still, you couldn't believe the way she was acting right now
>It made you furious
>It was that same anger that caused you to focus on your acceleration
>Electric energy began to crackle around you
>The distance between you and Rainbow Dash had minimized, but not by a large margin
>You passed over the castle again, concluding lap two

>You looked down
>All sight was unintelligible
>Now that you took a moment to evaluate your senses, you realized that you couldn't hear anything either
>Long before you reached your current speed, all sound had turned to a monotonous, deafening roar
>You kept your head fixated forward
>You feared that if you turned it even slightly, the wind would catch it and snap your neck
>That being said, the only thing you had to look at was Rainbow Dash
>More importantly, how far ahead Rainbow Dash was
>Your thoughts strayed to that of Anonymous
>And the story he told you
>You don't remember much about the events of his rescue
>Alcohol tends to do that
>But he way he described your descent to catch him...
>What did you call it? "A Sonic Rainboom with a little Lightning Dust flare added to it?"
>You increased your speed, and the wind began to sting
>Your thoughts strayed again
>Were you really that good under pressure?
>Were you even good?
>Or were you lucky?
>Or were you just really, really mad?
>At Spitfire
>At Rainbow Dash
>At the Wonderbolts
>At the world?
>You spent the better part of your time since the academy drinking and feeling sorry for yourself
>If you took a minute to gaze through your unwavering bravado, your admittedly gross ego, and your self-concerned personality, you'd realize that the only person you were mad at was yourself
>Rainbow Dash now had a glowing white aura about her
>She was really going to fucking do it
>On a race that didn't matter to her
>She just wanted this to be the biggest blow out she could manage
>A fresh spike of rage thundered within you
>In a moment of admittedly hectic clarity, you realized why you were so mad
>Why you hated yourself
>Because you knew deep down, you could do better
>That though you failed at the academy, you knew you were meant for more
>Your selfishness, your ignorance got in the way of that
>Not again
>Not this time
>This time, would be different
>You would not falter
>You would not fail

>Narrowing your body as best you could, you pushed your wings to their limits
>They ached in protest, but you pressed on
>Flickering arcs of lightning danced around you as white streaks began to form in front of you before vanishing to either side
>You weren't about to push your limits
>You were about to utterly fucking break them
>Even if it kills you
>A brilliant colorful glow emanated from Rainbow Dash as she finally let go
>The first sound you had heard other than the shearing wind was the ear-shattering boom of Dash's signature technique
>All colors known shot out from her in a dazzling ring as she sped off into the distance, a similar trail following her close behind
>You closed your eyes
>Your thoughts went out to Anonymous
>The things he's said to you
>His belief in you
>...
>You heard a sound
>It was a boom, for sure, but it wasn't quite the same
>It was as if lightning had struck directly on top you
>Your ears were ringing
>You opened your eyes and looked back to find a crackling gold lightning ring coming from where you had just been
>A streak of lightning with intensity rivaling the sun was left in your wake
>The clouds grayed as you passed them, feeding on your own electric energy
>You grinned more and more and more as it dawned on you what was happening
>You weren't sure because of the speed you were going, but you think you had completed the third lap some time ago
>The fourth wasn't far behind
>You smiled with pride to see that the cloud track remained blackened like a storm
>The fifth lap reached it's end when you realized something
>You were aiming yourself towards the ground to land, and had no idea how to decelerate from such a speed
>You tilted your wings and flapped vigorously to slow your descent
>This was unfortunate
>You still hurt from the crash the other day
>The last thing that went through your mind was the utter confidence of your victory

>You are Anonymous
>And you were on the border of a psychological meltdown
>This was all a lot to take in, really
>Rainbow Dash stood next to you, completely ignoring your existence
>She stared, watching Lightning Dust complete the final lap
>She wasn't smiling though
>Sure enough, the golden comet you had been staring at turned here to land
>Twilight spoke up
>"She's going a little fast isn't she?"
>Oh no, not again
>Although you couldn't see it, you could imagine her panic
>The streak slowed dramatically but the end result was inevitable
>You'd wager the damage wouldn't be fatal though
>Well, you hoped
>Lightning Dust collided with the earth like a falling star
>The energy around her danced off in glowing, electric sparks as she skipped like a pebble across the ground
>She tumbled to a stop, face down in the dirt
>She was motionless
"Dust! DUST!"
>You sprinted over to her, collecting her in your arms
>Her eyes opened half way
>She smiled, coughing shortly after
>"I-I'm fine. I'm fine. Hehe..."
>You looked her up and down
>She seemed mostly okay
>Her wing might be sprained pretty bad, but nothing that would end her career
>You fought back tears
"This is... This is pretty similar to the forest thing, huh?"
>She laughed, coughing once more
>"I uh... I guess so!"
>Spitfire appeared next to you
>She must have noticed that Dust seemed remotely fine, because she didn't seem to care
>Dust removed herself from your care, shakily standing up
>She looked filthy
>She smiled wide at Spitfire, immensely proud of her assumed victory
>Rainbow Dash stepped out from beside her
>"Pretty good. Not good enough."
>Dust's face fell dramatically
>"W-What? How did you-?"
>It was Spitfire who answered
>"That was some impressive stuff Dust, really. But you didn't really think you were going to beat Dash, did you? Shortly after you both Boomed, she lapped you. Twice, actually."
>The captain's words cut like knives
>"S-she lapped me?"
>Rainbow nodded and reiterated
>"Twice."

>Dust's eyes raced from side to side as her mind looked for an explanation
>"B-but I did the-"
>Dash cut her off, flying close to her
>She maintained a height that had her look down on Lightning Dust
>"The Sonic Rainboom? Or whatever your version of it is?"
>She laughed
>"I've been doing it waaaaay longer than you have Dusty, you didn't stand a chance!"
>Lightning Dust looked as if she were about to crumble into pieces before Spitfire jumped in, clarifying what she had already stated before
>"Hey, don't feel so bad! I didn't expect you to beat her, remember? Besides, that was absolutely AWESOME! I'm still trying get a grip on it! Do you realize what you even did?! You managed a Sonic... er... whatever! I'd be crazy not to get you back in the academy! Think of the routines we could do with both you and her!"
>Spitfire did her best to reign in her excitement and maintain a professional look
>"Um, that is of course, if you make it through basic training."
>Meanwhile, you did your best to manage your panic attack
>Dust crashing like that got you really worked up
"You see, Dust? You're fine! You get to go back to the academy! It's gonna be okay!"
>Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes
"Oh come on, we don't need her that bad! Besides, having two Sonic Rainbooms kinda ruins the mystique, dontcha think?"
>Lightning Dust, covered in dirt and trace amounts of blood looked to Rainbow Dash
>Behind her sun-colored eyes, you saw something snap
>Something big
>"What the fuck is wrong with you?"
>The silence that followed her question worried you immensely
>If Dust was about to screw up her second chance, you may just kill her
>With no immediate answer, she asked again
>"No seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you? What did I ever do to you? I put your friends in danger, yeah, but that was on ACCIDENT! I know I was being reckless, but I still didn't do it intentionally!"
>She was yelling now

>"And then I got kicked out because you convinced Spitfire to give me the boot. You won. You could have stopped there, but you didn't! Even though I've tried to be better, even though I've done nothing wrong to you since then, you still don't like me! You were all smiles a while ago but ever since Anon and Spitfire came out here, you've been horrible!"
>Now she was screaming
>"Combine that with your enormous fucking ego and you are nothing but a completely insufferable bitch around me! AROUND ANYONE! And nobody is willing to call you out on your bullshit because you've saved Equestria so many times or because you're such a good fucking flier."
>She looked at Spitfire with great disdain as she finished her sentence
>She stomped her hoof
>"Well, I'M calling you out! I'M telling you that despite your accomplishments you're a miserable person inside! And that's all that matters!"
>She closed her eyes before they shot open once more with pure fury behind them as she shouted her final piece
>"AND MAYBE IF YOU TOOK A FUCKING MOMENT TO REALIZE THAT, YOU'D REALIZE WHY ANONYMOUS CHOSE ME INSTEAD!"
>You weren't sure if you'd ever seen Rainbow speechless before
>She was always so hot-headed
>But here she was, staring at Dust
>Completely quiet
>While everybody had noticed you and Dust were together, Dust was the first to really bring it out in the open
>You could see the weight of her words on Rainbow's soul
>The stunned silence gave you an opportunity to appreciate another rare sight
>Spitfire, a drill sergeant, had nothing to say either
>Hell, if you didn't know any better, you'd say she felt shame
>Dust continued
>She wasn't yelling anymore, but she still wasn't happy
>"I can't win. You'll always hate me, and you're the favorite."
>She looked over at Spitfire
>"I take back nothing I said to your star student, and I'm not sorry. So keep me in the academy, or don't."
>She was deadly serious
>"Because I don't give a shit."

>It was at this moment that you realized that Lightning Dust never knowing when to stop was one of her defining traits
>She had guts
>It was probably what you liked most about her, really
>She was never one to compromise
>That being said, she must have been in a terrible place mentally when you found her at the bar
>Dust is currently telling Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, and Spitfire, the captain of the Wonderbolts, that they're full of shit
>Despite that, she was still in a spiraling depression when you met her
>But there was a reason this was all so admirable
>Spitfire and Dash are like any other ponies, they can make mistakes
>They can even screw up pretty bad from time to time
>The difference is that their positions gives them social immunity that others don't normally get
>Dust didn't seem to care though
>And while right now, you wanted to strangle her until her eyes rolled to the back of her head, you had to give her credit
>She was telling it like it is
>Well, someone had to tell them
>Spitfire stared her down
>She knew Dust was right
>At least, to a degree
>The words probably even stung a little
>A drop of rain hit the ground to your left
>a few more followed shortly after
>You looked up, noticing that the cloud ring that made their race track was still blackened from Lightning Dust's earlier Boom.
>The clouds began to drift from their circle formation, carrying light showers of rain within them
>Rainbow Dash turned to you
>She blinked, her eyes shimmering with tears
>"I-I just..."
>Spitfire turned to her
>She kept her poker face
>Her voice broke as she began to sob
>"I DON'T GET IT! Why are you with her, Anon?! I- I thought that you... after all I've done for you..."
>You felt a crack run down your heart
>You felt like a massive piece of shit
>"You've known her for what, three days? Four days? What the fuck is wrong with you?!"
>She sat on the ground
>"What's wrong with me?"

>Well shit
>I guess that confirms your worst fear
>You couldn't help but feel bad for Spitfire
>Poor girl was dealing with an incredibly over dramatic romance plot
>Rainbow Dash's question echoed multiple times in your head
>That's just the issue
>There was nothing wrong with her
>Well, she was kind of a bitch, but you could easily argue Dust was similar
>What kind of excuse is that?
>How do you tell someone that they're just not good enough for no discernible reason?
>If you had to guess, it's that you just related to Dust more
>Finding her as low as she was helped you drag yourself out of your own stagnation
>Rainbow always seemed untouchable, so out of the realm of possibility
>She was the best flier in the world, and on top of that she represented an Element of Harmony, a title that has carried her to the defeat of many villains
>Dust didn't have any of that
>She had only her grit to push her
>You didn't fault Rainbow Dash for this, but it certainly always made you feel like you were mooching off of her or living in her shadow
>It didn't help that she was immensely proud of all of that
>You didn't know what to say
"Dash... I'm sorry. I can't change how I feel about her. You know it doesn't work like that."
>She sniffled
>"I-I know."
"You can't take that out on Dust. What happened in your past with her is over, and she's trying to make amends. She suffers because of her actions at the academy every day. For crying out loud, she was borderline an alcoholic when I met her. Isn't all of that enough?"
>She was quiet
>Lightning Dust seemed slightly offended but let you continue
"Being mad at Lightning Dust won't change anything. If you want to be mad at anyone, be mad at me, but you did a great thing bringing Spitfire here to reconsider Dust for the Wonderbolts. Don't screw it up now. Do the right thing."
>You knelt down in front of her, offering your hand
"I know it hurts. But you have to trust that life will inch along and get better. It always does."

>Rainbow Dash finally managed to look up at you
>Slowly but surely, you could see the faint signs of regret on her
>She smiled
>"I..."
>She choked up
>"I can't change how I feel about you either."
>You nodded
>You'd be stupid to expect anything else
>"Are you happy?"
>You looked back at Dust
>A few more drops of rain begin to hit the ground
>She smiled at you, and much to your surprise, she wasn't overly enjoying Rainbow's low moment
"Yes, Rainbow. I am. But don't think any of this is lost on me. I wouldn't have any of this if it wasn't for you. I wouldn't have even met Dust if you didn't hype up that shitty job with the Wonderbolts."
>You managed to get a chuckle out of Spitfire
"I can't thank you enough for the kindness you've shown me. Or should I say loyalty?"
>She wiped her eyes, laughing lightly
>You stood up, and moved to the side
"The two of you need to move on from this. No more bickering, no more fighting. Enough is enough."
>Dust looked towards the ground, a small amount of shame beginning to form within her for her earlier words
>With what you can only assume was a titanic amount of willpower, she spoke
>"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash."
>Even you were surprised
>Not only was this Lightning Dust, she had just got done saying that she wouldn't apologize
>Dash shared your shock
>Every one of your muscles tensed as you waited for her response
>She sighed
>"I'm sorry too, Lightning Dust."
>You felt like there should have been something more
>A speech of friendship from Twilight
>A long monologue about how they were wrong
>A sappy "Oh, we're friends now!" moment
>Anything
>But in the silence of the two apologies you came to a realization
>Or at least a slight paradigm shift
>Life wasn't an episodic adventure filled with heroic comebacks, cheesy lessons in morality, or even something as simple as confident apologies
>Life was just a road of horrifically uncertain events
>And all anyone did was stumble down it

>No matter how sure anyone was of anything, no matter how perfect or confident anyone seemed, everyone was uncertain
>Everyone stumbled
>Everyone fell
>What separated anyone from anybody was how often you got back up
>How often you decided to keep stumbling
>You were satisfied
>Something about the awkward vulnerability of the situation felt humble
>It felt real
>There was no spectacle
>Just two stupid mares
>Lightning Dust shifted uncomfortably
>"I just think we... got off on the wrong hoof."
>She smiled reassuringly
>"I think the fact that we can keep up with each other alone is reason enough for us to be friends."
>Rainbow was having a hard time adjusting, but she managed a grin as well
>"I wouldn't say you can keep up! Give it time though. The Sonic Rainboom was a good first step."
>She winked
>Spitfire breathed a sigh of relief
>"Tell me this nonsense between you two is over. You both have a real chance of taking the Wonderbolts to heights they've never reached. Are you ready to make history?"
>Dust and Dash exchanged looks
>Lightning Dust flapped her wings excitedly
>"We're ready for anything you can throw at us!"
>Spitfire smirked
>"Then consider this your admission into the Wonderbolt Academy, Lightning Dust. I wasn't kidding when I said I was going to make it hell for you though."
>Rainbow Dash echoed her sentiment
>"You've earned it."
>Only a moment later, Dust lost her composure
>Whatever tough girl act she had been pulling to seem intimidating to Spitfire and Dash had completely left her
>She flew upward, turning sharply around midair before colliding into you
>You saw it coming, so she didn't knock you down this time around
>You wrapped your arms around her
>Her voice was muffled and tinged with sobs, so it was incredibly hard to understand her
>You got the last bit though
>"We did it! We did it! WE DID IT! WE DID IT!"
>You pulled her in tightly
"You did it."
>The rain began to pour

>Twilight Sparkle, who had stood on the sidelines until now, finally spoke
>"This is amazing and all, but can we please go inside?!"
>Without much second thought, Spitfire, Rainbow, and the princess made their way indoors
>You and Dust decided to stay behind for a moment
>The two of you still held to your embrace
>Dust flipped her now wet mane out of her face
>She giggled
>"Anonymous, we're gonna be soaked!"
"Who cares?"
>You pulled her in for a kiss
>To your surprise, Dust met you with eagerness
>You guessed she had felt that the atmosphere was nice too
>She pulled away for a moment and looked at her surroundings
>Your gaze followed hers
>It was raining only in a small radius of here
>The rest of the sky was a brilliant sunny day
>The rare collision of sunlight and rainfall made for a dazzling display
>You looked back down at her
>You could see fresh tears on her face before the rain swept them away
>"I love you so much, Anonymous."
>You kissed her again, making sure to return the sentiment once the contact ceased
"I love you too, Dust."
>You laughed
>"Let's get inside."
>She nodded, reluctantly pulling herself from your arms before flying to the entrance of the castle
>You were running close behind
>You finally made it to the main hall, albeit several seconds after Lightning Dust
>You were noticeably more winded than she was
>You did your best to conceal it
>Twilight and Rainbow Dash seemed confused as to why it took the two of you so long to get in here
>Spitfire, however, wore a sly smile
>Whether it was to make a point or deflect any questions that may come your way, Spitfire began to speak
>"As much as I hate to cut any celebrations short, we're not done just yet!"
>She seemed excited, actually
>"Oh no, in fact, we're only at half time!"
>Rainbow didn't understand, and Dust seemed worried
>Spitfire assured her
>"Don't worry, Lightning Dust you're off the stage now. Him however..."
>She pointed to you
>Fuck, you totally forgot
>"He's up next!"

>Twilight clapped her hooves together
>"Oh this is so exciting! Meet me in the library, when you're ready Anon. I need to go prepare the spell!"
>Dust turned to you quickly
>"Spell? What is she talking about, Anonymous? What's happening?"
>Spitfire brought her and Dash up to speed
>As her explanation went on and Dust's face fell to greater worry, you began to become nervous yourself
>She finished and Lightning Dust immediately flew up to your level
>"Are you fucking insane?! You're going to fight simulated magical monsters that even the captain of the royal fucking guard had trouble with?! The same guy who's so awesome he fathered an alicorn?!"
>She really wasn't helping your composure
"Well uh... when you put it like that it sounds a little stupid."
>Her eyes blazed with anger
>"That's because it is very, very stupid!"
>Rainbow Dash flew over now
>"Are you kidding? This is going to be AWESOME! Anonymous versus the minions of Tartarus!"
>She began jabbing at mock opponents in the air
>"I can't wait! You're gonna kick some serious ass, Anon!"
>That was highly unlikely
>If you picked any guard up off the streets, it was likely that they could do a better job than you
>Dust seemed to agree with your train of thought
>But you weren't about to back out now
>You may not get another opportunity like this
"Hey, have a little faith, okay? I believed in you! This is a dual effort, remember?"
>You could tell that she wanted to protest that this was very different
>And she was right
>"I'm worried, Anonymous. What if you get really hurt?"
>Rainbow chimed in
>"Oh he TOTALLY will. You should have seen him the last time he tried this!"
>Dust glared at her
"It would be pretty sweet if I get to work so close to you though, right?"
>She had to admit it
>"It would be great... We could hang out immediately after each show once I become a Wonderbolt!"
>Rainbow shrugged
>"Well, there's a lengthy tear-down process after each show but yeah, basically!"

>Lightning Dust sighed
>"Are you sure you want to do this? Now, of all times?"
>You knew she was right, but you had thought this over enough
>Time to let instinct kick in
"Yes, I'm sure. Now let's go, we wouldn't want to keep Twilight waiting."
>Spitfire seemed happy that you didn't back out
>It bothered you how excited she was to see you get thrashed by holographic monsters
>You followed what you could remember of the path to the library
>You hadn't said a word to anyone
>As the time to act neared, you found yourself getting more and more nervous
>You rubbed your side, remembering where you took a particularly nasty blow from a minotaur the last time you tried this
>It was weeks before you could take a deep breath without hurting
>And unfortunately, you weren't much different in skill now compared to yourself back then
>Lightning Dust must have caught on to how you were feeling
>"Ya know, it will at least be cool to see you fight."
>You rubbed the back of your head
"Um... well... It's not going to be that impressive."
>She laughed
>"Give yourself SOME credit! Was it really that bad last time?"
>Rainbow Dash answered
>"Oh yeah! Dude got knocked around like crazy! I'm surprised he lived!"
>She blushed and smiled nervously after she realized what she had said
>You and Lightning Dust said nothing, but the two of you were very uncomfortable
>Eventually, you entered the library to find a mass of glowing purple energy in the center of the room
>Occasionally arcs of energy would spring from it, striking at nearby objects harmlessly or simply turning back to the source, forming an arch before fading away
>Twilight wiped a small bead of sweat from her brow before turning to you, smiling wide
>"Everything's ready when you are, Anon!"
>Lightning Dust put a hoof to her face
>"This is too much stress for one day."
>You nodded, agreeing emphatically

>Spitfire made her way to the edge of the room
>"I want to be clear: we aren't going to stop the spell unless you say so or seem unable to say so. I want to really see what you can do. You got that, Anon?"
>You nodded
>Twilight gestured to the side of the room where Spitfire was standing
>"Lightning Dust, Rainbow Dash, could you please stick to the edge of the room? We wouldn't want anything interfering."
>Oh yeah, we wouldn't want anyone else getting sheared in half by a dragon
>Twilight looked to you now
>"I promise you won't be mortally wounded, Anon, but are you still one-hundred percent sure you want to do this?"
>You hesitated, but you nodded once again
>"Do you have any last requests before we get started?"
>You thought for a minute before your eyes went wide
>"My helmet! I left it last time we did this and I never came back to get it. Is it still here?"
>Twilight perked up
>"Oh, yes! It's right here."
>She floated over a steel helmet and dropped it into your hands
>You looked it over
>It had lost most of it's shine
>This thing was probably one of a kind
>To your knowledge, there wasn't another human in Equestria, so there more than likely wasn't anything similar to it
>While wearing it made you feel really cool, it seldom had it's uses for the average job
>It had a movable visor that served to cover your entire head with metal, and that just wasn't practical for normal guard duty
>However, you were sure it would have many uses when deflecting a full on assault from various random creatures
>You placed it over your head
"I'm ready."
>You took a deep breath, and looked over to Lightning Dust
>She was worried, but she was smiling
>You looked over to Rainbow Dash, who was more vocal
>"KICK SOME ASS, ANON!"
>At your word, the violet orb began to crackle with greater intensity as Twilight began the first part of the summoning process
>You drew your sword and brought down the visor on your helmet
>Well, here goes nothing

>Twilight shot a beam of magic into the center of the orb, causing it to crackle and shimmer
>"We'll start with the simple stuff!"
>You gulped
>Three smaller arcane orbs floated out of the central one before coalescing into something reminiscent of anything you knew
>Their forms elongated, with claws and teeth sprouting from appendages that started to mold
>Timberwolves
>Hopefully this wouldn't be so bad
>You felt like they were a lot bigger than you remember them being in real life
>They came to their artificial existence one by one
>The first glowing, purple wolf to spring to life was the one closest to you
>It's solid eyes shined in different areas as it searched its surroundings before locking its gaze onto you
>With a vicious growl, it moved its legs rapidly, making it's way across the large library with intimidating speed
>Only now did you realize you didn't have a shield
>What the fuck were you thinking?
>An empty hand is a useless hand!
>Your train of thought was cut brutally short as the first wolf leapt at you
>With relative ease, you stepped to the side and brought your blade down in an overhead arc for a decapitation
>Your sword passed through the neck of the construct, creating a rift between its head and and body with a satisfying hum
>The body continued forward, crashing into the ground before turning to arcane sparks, causing the creature to fizzle out of existence
>You could feel your rocketing heart rate
>You began to wonder if you had any amount of PTSD from the other times you did this, because it had been horrifying
>Unfortunately, the shock over your dance with death had let your guard down
>You were tossed onto your back as the second wolf tackled you to the ground
>It's jaws wrapped around your left arm
>Magic or not, you felt the teeth sink into your flesh
>You felt it tear as it thrashed its head back and forth
>You felt the leather parts of your armor soak with blood
>And you felt the pain

>You cried out in agony
>The feeling was excruciating
>You heard someone shout
>It was hard to tell who it was, but they sounded very worried
>Your sword had been knocked from your grip, clattering somewhere off to the side
>Your vision began to fade
>Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the third wolf running up to join its friend in ripping you apart
>You forced yourself awake, concentrating on the pain for a rush of adrenaline
>You kicked your right leg, your boot colliding with the nose of the third wolf
>The crack of bark confirmed that damage had been done, and the beast recoiled in simulated pain
>You took this opportunity to attempt to free your arm from the jaws of the other timberwolf
>With strength you didn't know you hard, your gloved hand grabbed the face of the beast
>You shouted as you gripped with all your might, pressing your thumb through its eye
>You felt the rest of your fingers break through the wood in tandem on the other side of its head
>You ripped your hand away, taking a large portion of the creature's head with you
>In a fairly barbaric display, you used the chunk you had taken off as a blunt object with which to bash the rest of the creatures head apart
>It wasn't until it dissolved into arcane dust that it finally let go of your arm
>You didn't let yourself get comfortable
>Only moments after you destroyed the second wolf, the third had recovered enough to leap at you
>With little time to think of any consequences, you ducked and charged
>Your body collided with the final wolf, bringing it to the ground
>It's jaws snapped at you in protest
>Your left hand forced its head to the floor as your right balled into a fist
>You felt the claws of the creature dig into your back as punch after punch collided with it's head
>The bark wavered and caved under your assault, with the struggle of the wolf weakening further and further until it too faded away, marking the end of this portion of the fight

>You immediately fell to one knee, lifting up your visor to get a good look at your arm
>The teeth made it through the armor, but not deep enough to render your arm completely useless
>It hurt immensely each time your muscles flexed, but you were by no means crippled
>It was very likely though that this would become a problem as the fight went on
>You tried not to think about it
>"Anonymous!"
>You looked over to the direction of the voice and you saw a piece of metal being hurled at you
>With barely enough reaction time, you caught it with your good hand
>It was a plain iron shield
>You looked up to see Rainbow Dash smiling wide
"Where did you even get this?"
>The purple orb began to crackle again
>It was much louder this time
>"It was just laying around, man! You probably left it here last time!"
>Twilight turned to her
>"Hey! That's one of Shining Arm-"
>A single orb was produced from the central one with a thunderous sound
>It began to static as it mutated into a creature much bigger than yourself
>Something resembling a lion's body began to form
>You scrambled to place the shield on your arm
"Are you serious?! I was just joking about the manticore!"
>Twilight began to panic
>"I-It's randomly generated, Anon! I don't have control over what it makes! I can shut it down, though!"
>You watched the wings on the beast form shortly after its claws and mighty tail
>It was an unbelievably tempting offer
>You looked over to Spitfire
>Although she was looking back at you, you couldn't read her expression at all
>She waited patiently for your decision
"No. Keep going."
>With a nod of your head, you brought the visor back down over your face
>You gripped your sword and newfound shield tightly
>The manticore came to life, roaring loud enough to make everyone cover their ears
>With considerable rage, the creature charged towards you, clawing apart the floor with each stride
>Holy fuck, this was terrifying

>Forgetting your fortitude for a moment, you ran to the side, jumping into a roll that allowed you to just barely escape the monster's strike
>His charge continued, slamming him into one of Twilight's bookcases
>The shelves were shattered on impact, and several books must have been ruined
>Twilight really didn't think this one out
>The manticore turned to you, letting out another bone-chilling roar
>Surveying the room for a place to move, you realized that, while large, the library wasn't nearly spacious enough for an enraged manticore
>At this point, they could do little to blame you in the case of collateral damage
>You sprinted for the door
>Lightning Dust shouted after you
>"Anon, where are you going?! Do you want us to stop the spell?"
>Before meeting the doorway, you turned back and called to her
"Not running! Tactical retreat! Keep it going!"
>You weren't sure whether or not that they were okay with the idea, but you didn't take the time to listen
>You focused all of your adrenaline on your legs carrying you as best they could
>And with the floor rumbling close behind you, there was plenty of adrenaline to go around
>You skid into a tight turn, taking you down the hallway to the exit of the castle
>About halfway down, you heard the manticore take a mighty leap into the air with its wings
>Shortly thereafter, it landed directly in your path, its right paw brought back for a swipe
>With what felt like nanoseconds to spare, you brought up your shield
>The beast's claws hooked around the rim, carrying you as it finished its path
>Unable to remove your shield, the creature brought you through the air, flinging you into another branching hallway
>To your surprise, you rolled only once when you hit the ground before finding your footing
>Hm
>Maybe you were more dexterous than you thought!

>However, the cramped hallway was a far less advantageous battleground than the library, and your two options were to head straight into the manticore, or to turn around and book it to an unknown area
>The decision was simple enough
>You whirled around and continued your hellish sprint towards your assumed salvation
>As the hallway slowly reached its terminus, you realized where you were headed
>The door on the far end was open slightly, and through it you could see the large balcony that accompanied the far end of the Castle of Friendship
>It was less than ideal, but you had little choice
>At one point you passed an open doorway to your left
>There was a pink pony in there, but you didn't seem to recognize her
>Her violet mane whirled around at the noise of a rampaging monster through the halls
>"What the-?!"
>You waved before passing her swiftly
"Good morning!"
>You saw only a glimpse of her immense confusion before she was out of your sight completely
>Maybe that was Twilight's student you had heard so much about
>What was her name?
>Sunset Glimmer?
>Something like that
>Just as you were about to give out from exhaustion, you manged to squeeze your way through the door to the balcony
>You abruptly stopped as you took in the menacing drop below
>It was hard to tell if it would be fatal or not
>A loud crash erupted behind you
>The manticore had not been able to fit through the door, so it decided to make some adjustments
>Shards of wood and crystal showered onto the balcony before you
>This was really getting out of hand
>It stamped it's paws a few times before letting out another roar
>Well
>This was it
>You assumed a defensive stance as it charged towards you once again
>Its maw opened wide for a bite once it was only a few yards in front of you
>With little choice, you brought up your shield, readying your sword for a counterattack

>You did your best not to wince as the jaws of the creature closed on you
>You adjusted your shield accordingly, causing the manticore to wrap it's mouth around your shield
>You heard the creak of bending iron as it's applied greater and greater pressure
>It was mere moments away from biting your arm off
>With what strength you could muster, you lifted your shield arm so that the beast's head would follow
>You only managed to move it a few inches
>Good enough
>With your sword arm, you slashed at the manticore's neck
>It was hard to tell what damage you were doing considering it was a magical construct, but the reaction it got was enough to inspire some form of morale in you
>Your blade cut across the creature, the familiar static hum ringing out once more
>It released its hold on your shield, backing up as it roared in pain
>Or rage
>Probably both
>This was your moment
>You had it on the back foot, you couldn't stop now!
>Letting out what you considered a meager war cry, you charged towards the monster
>You rolled forward, dodging a swipe from it's massive tail
>You came out of the maneuver with an overhead slash
>Your blade connected with its back leg, creating a rift where the mock flesh was shortly beforehand
>You didn't let up
>Knowing the manticore would turn violently to face you, you swung your shield to meet him
>As the construct turned, your plan came to fruition as the surface of your shield collided with its head
>An arcane tooth flung loose
>It's eyes lost focus as it attempted to recover from the bash
>Feeling the victory rush, you swung your sword towards the dazed creature's head
>Unfortunately, you did so as it's paw came around for it's own strike
>It swept across your body, carrying you several yards away
>Your armor split open with ease, and a crimson font of blood flew into the air before spattering onto the ground along with your motionless body

>All of your senses were dulled
>Miraculously, you found the ability to get onto your hands and knees
>Your vision faded in and out from black
>You heard a lot of noises around you, but they reached your ears muffled and distorted
>You think someone was screaming your name, but it was hard to tell
>You now noticed the blood pooling on the floor as you held this position
>Looking down, your eyes met three large gashes across your chest and abdomen
>The deeper cut was on your chest, with the wounds becoming more shallow as they went down your body
>Probably for the best, you liked your guts best when they remained in your body
>A muted vibration rung out across the balcony
>You could see your blood ripple on the floor
>Turning your head, you noticed the manticore roaring once more as it prepared itself to charge you
>And kill you
>You felt like if there were ever a time for the spell to stop it should be now
>Each passing second continued to confirm the continuation of the creature's existence
>Your gaze fell back to the red pool of blood
>You were fairly disappointed
>Granted, you had done better in this run of the simulation spell than ever before, but you couldn't shake the embarrassment
>You wanted nothing more than to make yourself proud
>To make Lightning Dust proud
>You were not as talented as her by any stretch of the imagination, but if you were going to die here, then you were going to at least stick to your own advice
>You had to keep trying
>It felt as if gravity had increased its hold on you by an immense multiplier, but you stood up
>You dragged your sword across the floor as you brought yourself to your full height
>You feebly readied your shield
>Looking to your right, you saw the group catching up to you down the hallway
>Lightning Dust took flight to come help you
>They must have just seen you get thrown around

>It was unlikely there was anything they could do to help you though
>The manticore was currently blocking the doorway with its form, and you had a feeling that if Twilight could shut off the spell, she would
>Then again, there shouldn't be any reason that she couldn't turn it off
>Right?
>Maybe Spitfire was insisting that she doesn't
>There's a lot of variables
>Regardless, you had a life to fight for
>The manticore began its charge
>You always heard that your life was supposed to flash before your eyes in the moments before death
>You didn't get any of that
>Just terror, mostly
>You let out a scream as you ran forward, the gashes in your chest tearing just a bit further with each stride
>You discarded your shield
>It hadn't done you much good anyway
>You gripped your sword with both hands, your last thoughts going out to Lightning Dust as you swept in a mighty arc
>Your sword struck across the creature's face, and using the momentum of the first swing, you turned the sword back towards your enemy and brought it downward
>It embedded itself diagonally in what would be its skull
>It thrashed about in pain, turning violently
>In doing so, the scorpion tail of the beast collided with you, sending you flying once more across the balcony
>Your eyes widened as the floor disappeared beneath you, giving way to the grass below
>Time seemed to slow down
>You looked forward to the manticore
>It fell to the ground, dissipating into arcane residue
>You did it
>You actually did it
>The group was filling out the balcony now
>You could see Lightning Dust scream in protest of your fate
>You imagined there was little she could do now
>It's possible you could have survived this fall normally
>But wounded like this?
>It was unlikely
>But who cares?
>Lightning Dust had her future ahead of her
>And you proved to yourself, once and for all, that you're worth more than a job counting tickets
>You suddenly weren't so disappointed
>You are Anonymous
>And you can die happy with that

>You stared at the balcony
>It was above you now
>As it drifted further and further away from you, you knew that the ground was close behind
>Still no Lightning Dust to save you
>You guessed this was death getting back at you for cheating your last fall
>You noticed it was about noon
>The sun was high in the sky
>And directly in your face
>An unfortunate discomfort before you die
>As you marveled at how something so far away could be so bright, the silhouette of a pegasus with their wings spread moved in front of the sun before turning into a steep dive towards you
>Surprisingly, two more pegasi showed up behind the first
>Lightning Dust's figure came into view as the front runner
>You appreciated the sentiment, but you felt like it was a little late
>And judging by the fact that the other two pegasi, who you could now identify as Spitfire and Rainbow Dash, abruptly stopped their descent, you were very close to the ground
>It wasn't a very long fall, after all
>Lightning Dust didn't seem deterred
>You found yourself smiling
>It seemed poetic that this was happening again
>As both your futures hung in the balance
>Lightning Dust closed the distance, inches away from you
>She wasn't drunk this time, so it seemed far easier for her to gain control of you once she grabbed you
>There was another crucial difference though
>She didn't have the distance to do anything with that control
>What could have been a valiant rescue attempt turned into a desperate hug, one that showed her desperation for you to live
>She flapped her wings as much as she could to dampen your fall in the second you had before landing
>Surprisingly you seemed to slow a reasonable amount
>You hugged her back as you met the earth below
>Consigning herself to your fate, Dust tumbled with you as the force of your fall dispersed
>You felt various parts of your body give and crack as you rolled

>You had not fallen incredibly far, so your bodies came to a stop fairly quickly
>Amazingly, your vision had not gone to black
>You were still conscious
>And you were not dead
>But as the adrenaline of the battle wore off, you realized you were in a colossal amount of pain
>You had no doubt in your mind that Lightning Dust had taken a beating of her own
>You relinquished your grip on her gently to look at her
>Her eyes looked up to you
>"Anonymous?"
>You placed your forehead against hers
"I'm here, Dust. I'm here."
>She buried her face into your chest once more
>"I- I thought you were going to- I was so-"
>You stroked her mane, shushing her
"I'm okay. Don't think about all of that."
>Were you okay?
>You took mental stock of yourself
>You were pretty sure you had broken a couple of ribs
>Maybe a leg?
>Your right arm was numb, so who knows what was going on there
>A thought just struck you
"Dust?"
>She looked up at you
>"Why didn't the simulation stop after I got my chest clawed open?"
>Lightning Dust winced as she tried to form a sentence
>She also seemed very reluctant to answer
>"I... well..."
>You waited
>"I believed that you could still do it. I told Twilight to keep it going."
>You weren't sure you heard that correctly
>"I- I'm sorry! We were trying to catch up with you when we saw you get hurt like that, but I knew you could do it, Anon. I just knew it!"
>She released herself from your grip
>"With the way you talk to me, with the way you keep me going, I just knew you had it in you. I knew you wouldn't give up."
>She wiped her eyes
>"I wasn't so confident when you went over the edge of the balcony. I knew it was all my fault..."
>You touched a hand to your wound, studying the blood
>"...I'm sorry Anonymous! It was stupid! I- I almost got you killed! P-please don't-"
>You chuckled
>She was still a reckless little shit
"You're fine, Dust. Just quit your crying"
>You let your head slump back to the ground
"It was pretty cool, wasn't it?"

>Lightning Dust seemed to be at a loss for words
>"Pretty cool?! You almost died and that's all you have to say is that it was pretty cool?! Ya know, sometimes-"
>She trailed off as she felt a fresh wave of tears coming on
>"I'm just glad you're okay."
>She gripped you in a hug once more
>You could see her coat stain with your blood from the embrace
>You studied your wound as you pulled her away
>Now that you had a chance to look at it, you realized it wouldn't be fatal
>You probably have your armor to thank for that
>It would leave one hell of a scar though
>You looked up, torn from your inspection as a violet orb floated down gently in front of you
"D-Dust?"
>She turned around to face it, backing up and letting out a short scream when she realized what it was
>The orb was massive
>The pitch of the magical hum was low enough to rattle your bones
>It contorted and shifted, sprouting massive wings and claws
>It began to resemble something you were familiar with, but hadn't seen yourself in person
>Lightning Dust pointed out the obvious
>"Is that a fucking-"
>A dragon of pure energy spawned from the orb, roaring loud enough to deafen you for a few moments
>Without thinking, you pushed Lightning Dust behind you and brought yourself to a standing position, using your sword for leverage
>You readied yourself for the greatest conflict of your life before the beast began to collapse
>You heard Twilight from the balcony
>"I GOT IT! I got it! Sorry! Hehe..."
>You sighed, feeling every one of your muscles relax as you fell back to the ground
>What exactly were you expecting to do anyway?
>You need a nap
>You must be losing it
>You heard hooves gently land behind you
>Spitfire's trademark raspy voice came at you
>"What the hell were you expecting to do to that dragon? You've got guts, I'll give you that!"
>You didn't have the energy to respond
>"You might be lacking some brain power, but hey, that's not what I need you for."

>She gestured to Lighting Dust
>"That was sweet of you. Trying to protect her like that, I mean."
>Rainbow Dash and Twilight now flew down to your side
>Twilight took the more sensible approach
>"Anonymous, are you okay?! You look-"
>And there was Rainbow to interrupt her
>"THAT WAS SO AWESOME! Did you guys see it when Anon killed that timberwolf with his bare hands?! Or when he was all 'I'm not done yet!' and he stood up after getting clawed open to take out that manticore?!"
>Spitfire laughed
>"I did see it Rainbow Dash, not to mention he was ready to keep going. You sure do have an indomitable spirit, Anon."
>That's probably not how you would describe it
>You'd argue that you were just dumb
>"I think that you've more than earned the position."
>You wanted to be happy
>You wanted to be fucking ecstatic
>But damn, you're body wasn't having any of that
>Rainbow Dash and Dust were plenty excited for you anyway
>The two of them pulled you upward and sandwiched you with their hugs
>Dash was over the moon
>"YES! DID YOU HEAR THAT?! YOU'RE GONNA BE A BODYGUARD FOR THE WONDERBOLTS!"
>Her screaming was probably worse than the roar of the dragon
>Dust nuzzled against you, kissing your cheek
>"You did it! YOU ACTUALLY DID IT, ANONYMOUS!"
>She looked over to Rainbow Dash
>Then to Spitfire
>She knew who the real composers of your future were
>Her future as well
>"Thank you. Both of you. For everything."
>Twilight seemed beyond proud of this moment
>Rainbow Dash smiled
>Maybe they could get along after all
>"Eh, don't mention it."
>You laughed before shouting
"This is all very nice, but can I please go to the fucking hospital now?!"
>There was a resounding agreement that that would be the best option
>...

>...
>This was your favorite part of the show
>It took them months to get it right
>Training had been hell on both of you, really
>But damn, was it worth it
>The ticket sales supported your opinion
>You were leaned up against a pole
>You were out of sight, but keeping a close eye on things
>The Cloudsdale stadium roared with excitement as the Wonderbolts' most famous maneuver began
>Most of the team spread out, leaving a capturing design with their smoke trails
>The last two members, Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash began to rocket higher into the sky
>You heard that they have a personal competition to see who can reach the right altitude first, but you had never asked her to confirm that rumor
>Personally, you saw no clear winner this time
>Going nearly out of sight with their distance, the two pegasi began their dead drop that turned into a furious acceleration
>This was so fucking cool
>A trail of Rainbow and Lightning formed behind each of them respectively before they reached their max velocity
>A speed they reached right around the time they were just above the crowd
>Perfect
>An incredibly loud boom rung out across the entire stadium as an electric ring of every color you could think of shot out in all directions
>Simply beautiful
>And judging by the resounding cheers, everyone agreed with you
>They turned just before hitting the ground
>You felt the wind catch your clothing as they passed by
>This was never going to get old
>But with the end of the show signaled, it was time for you to head over to the team
>Fans always seemed to get a little antsy during the autograph signings
>You met up with Lightning Dust
>You waited patiently for her to finish signing an autograph before she noticed you
>"Anonymous!"
>She flew from the table, jumping into your arms
>The familiar warmth brought a smile to your face

>You greeted her in turn
"You were great out there, Dust! As always."
>She smiled
>"Thanks, Anon. I-"
>She yelped, turning as someone yanked on her wing
>It was a male pegasus
>You had never seen him before in your life
>Some ponies were unbelievable
>This job had taught you that
>"Hey, some of us have been waiting in line for a while! Get back to it, will ya?"
>Dust's eyes narrowed
>"Anonymous."
>You stepped between the two of them
>You were much larger than him
>Ponies were so adorable
>You were very proud of how stern your voice could be now after so much time trying to be intimidating
"Sir, step away from the Wonderbolt. She'll resume signing autographs shortly."
>How many times have you said that?
>You'd love to know
>He shoved you
>"And who are you supposed to be, monkey? I'm within my-"
>You stopped paying attention to him as you looked across the lines of fans to Spitfire
>She nodded
>Training certainly had been hell on both of you
>And the results were fantastic
>You brought your knee into the stallion
>His breath went out immediately, and he collapsed to the ground
>You were kind of hoping for something a little more
>Lightning Dust laughed
>"I'm gonna enjoy that from now until the day we retire!"
>Her eyes widened as she remembered something
>"Hey, me and Rainbow Dash were gonna go to the bar after the show, you wanna join us?"
>She brushed up against you
>"It's the same one you met me in. Ya know, for old time's sake!"
>You smiled
"I'd love to! Is anyone else-?"
>Your eyes widened as you remembered something as well
>It had almost been an hour
>You turned, stepping over the pegasus as you began to fast-walk elsewhere
>Dust, confused, called after to you
>"Anonymous? Where are you going?"
>"I'll be right back!"
>You looked down at your feet
>And the clouds that they touched only through the graces of magic
>While the bar sounded nice, it would be best if some things from that night didn't repeat

>The End