Chapter 1: Homeward Bound
The skies were dark, empty, and endless. Lightning Dust coasted through a cloud bank, droplets of water sliding off her feathers as she dipped below to the ground. While the wind coaxed her to flutter her wings and stay level above the earth, she couldn’t help but feel herself being dragged further and further from the sky.
Her only guidance was the light of the moon, full to the brim and brightening the darkness of the night for a moment. A scattering of trees and open plains laid before her, still and empty just like the sky above.
It had been a lonely trip back from the Wonderbolt Academy, her departure riddled with jeers from her former peers.
Lightning Dust drifted on a sudden gust of air currents to propel her along an easy-going path back home. Not to Cloudsdale as per her usual route, but another home. Down in the distant town of Ponyville, where she was from.
Dipping her left wing, Lightning turned and dived to her destination, a house down in town square. Landing, she unlocked the front door.
Entering the house while wincing at the noise the door made, Lightning snuck inside, wary of making a sound. It was the dead of night, and she was hoping not to wake anyone up. Though, like always, that was not the case, for the only inhabitant of the house was upon Lightning the instant she stepped into the living room.
“Sis!” Scootaloo shouted, buzzing to Lightning’s side to tackle her in a hug. The filly’s forelegs could barely reach all the way around Lightning’s neck, yet Scootaloo still tried to wrap them around her sister.
“H-hey there Scoot!” Lightning said, nearly falling over from the force of the impact. Grunting, she stayed up and wrapped a foreleg around Scootaloo’s body in a one-armed hug. “Geez, kiddo, you’re getting too big to hug me like that anymore. Sooner or later you’re gonna break my back.”
“You’re too tough to get a broken back, silly!” Scootaloo said, hopping atop Lightning. Poking her with a hoof, Scootaloo nodded. “Why, I bet you can fly with a thousand pounds on your back, no problem!”
Lightning Dust rolled her eyes and smirked. “Well… maybe five-hundred pounds. A thousand on a good day.”
Jumping off, Scootaloo flapped her wings with all her strength, gaining some air before crashing on the couch. “Sis, sis, did you see? I’ve been practicing flying! I flew for almost ten seconds yesterday!”
“Well, lemme turn a light on so I can properly see your skills,” Lightning said, flipping a switch on the wall. The living room was now flooded in light, with the only furniture being an old, beaten up couch, coffee table, and fireplace against the wall. “Well, looks like you’ve been keeping the house clean while I’ve been gone. One less thing to worry about.” Relaxing on the other side of the couch, Lightning was immediately attacked with another hug from Scootaloo.
“Lighting, I missed you,” Scootaloo said, nuzzling against her sister’s chest. “You said you were gonna be here last week, but you never showed up!”
“So, you’ve been staying up late each night waiting for me?” Lightning asked, patting Scootaloo’s back. “Scoots, you need your sleep. I don’t want another word from your teacher about you sleeping during class again.”
“At least if that happened, you’ll be here,” Scootaloo said, her voice so low Lightning almost didn’t hear it.
Sighing, Lightning Dust petted Scootaloo’s mane and got more comfortable, adjusting Scootaloo to rest her body against Lightning’s chest. “Look, Scoots, I’m sorry about that. I know I promised that, but I’ve been busy.”
“You’re always busy,” Scootaloo said, looking up at Lightning with a pout on her face. “You only come around once a month, and even then I barely get to spend time with you.”
“Scoots, you know I have to work—”
“But that’s all I hear from you! Work this, work that, work everything!” Scootaloo crossed her forelegs together and huffed. “It seems that you like work more than me...”
“What? No, Scoots, no way. Just…” Lightning sighed, rubbing a hoof across her face. “I have to work all the time so I can afford this house and for you to go to school and to eat and to—”
“I don’t care about that stuff, sis!” Scootaloo said. “I just want you home. I hate having to be alone in this house all the time. Why can’t I stay with you?”
“Scoots, you just can’t, okay,” Lightning said, closing her eyes and holding a hoof to her temple.
“It’s because I can’t fly.” Lightning’s eyes shot open as she stared at Scootaloo. Scootaloo looked up at her sister, a small frown forming on her lips. “That’s why I can’t stay in Cloudsdale with you, isn’t it?”
“No, Scoots, don’t think that,” Lightning said, holding Scootaloo closer. “It has nothing to do with you not flying, okay.”
Scootaloo didn’t respond. She just laid atop Lighting’s stomach, not responding to her sister brushing her mane or back and instead remaining in a glum mood.
Lightning Dust swallowed a groan, gritting her teeth. Her sister’s already downtrodden spirits were now in the gutter, and Lightning was beginning to grasp at straws to find a way to cheer her up.
“Sis... did you make it into the Wonderbolts?” Scootaloo asked.
Lightning felt a shudder pass up her spine. Now came the moment she was dreading more than ever. “Oh yeah… the Wonderbolt Academy. I…” Lightning gulped back her words, unable to even speak.
“I mean, you’re such a great flyer and everything, I know it’d be crazy for them not to.” Scootaloo shuffled in Lightning’s hold, her tiny wings flapping feebly out in the open. “I know I’m not, but you definitely are, which is why I knew you’d make the team.”
“You know, I didn’t really wanna be a Wonderbolt in the first place,” Lightning said, rubbing the back of her neck. “I mean, it isn’t so much of a big deal, is it?”
“Of course it is! The Wonderbolts are the greatest flying team in Equestria!” Scootaloo pressed her hooves against her cheeks as her eyes twinkled as she stared into the distance in awe. “Flying faster than anypony else, better than anypony else, and cooler than anypony else! They’re the best team in all of Equestria! And it’d be so awesome if I was—” Scootaloo stopped, blinking several times before she stared dejectedly downward. “I mean, it’d be so awesome if you were on the team, sis. Because you definitely deserve to be.”
Lightning Dust sighed, patting her sister’s back, no words coming to mind to make the disappointment any less awful.
Instead, it was Scootaloo who spoke first. “Sis, why don’t you wanna be a Wonderbolt?”
“Because, I, uh, don’t need it?”
“What do you mean?” Scootaloo said with wide eyes.
Lightning bit her lip. “What I mean is that I… don’t need to be a Wonderbolt to know I’m an awesome flyer. I already know I’m the best of the best, and no uniform can make it anymore obvious.”
“But the Wonderbolts—”
“But nothing! I’m a better flyer than all those pegasi combined! Heck, I have more flying ability in one feather than the entire team!” Lightning grinned confidently, sticking her chest out in pose. “Which is why I don’t need to be on that team to know I’m one of the best flyers in Equestria, and you don’t either!”
Scootaloo titled her head as she stared at Lightning Dust. “So you didn’t make the team, right?”
Lightning’s lips pursed and she coughed awkwardly into her hoof. “Well… not exactly. I was offered but, I, um, didn’t join. They were all heartbroken about it, of course. They were begging by the time I turned them down. Practically threw themselves at my hooves for me to stay.”
Scootaloo threw her hooves up in the air. “But why not? You could’ve been a Wonderbolt!”
Lightning Dust winked. “Like I said, Scoots, I don’t need no team to tell me how great I am.” Lightning drew Scootaloo closer and gave her a noogie on the head, the smaller filly giggling uncontrollably as she tried to push Lightning Dust away. “That’s what I have you for. Besides, if I joined then, I wouldn’t be able to hang out with you ever again. What with all the lame-o races and boring parties I’d be forced to attend. It’d be a real drag and totally uncool for someone as awesome as your big sis.”
“Wow, I guess you’re right. If someone as awesome as you doesn’t want to be on the team, then neither do I.” Scootaloo finally managed to wiggle out of Lightning’s grasp, jumping off the couch and fluttering her wings so that she drifted over the ground for a few feet, before landing on the other side of the coffee table. “Sis, look, look, I flew!”
“Yeah, Scoots, I saw.” Lightning got up and stretched out her legs and wings. “We can do more flying in the morning, if you want. I bet we can get you soaring in no time.”
“Whoa, seriously?” Scootaloo buzzed a few inches off the ground with a wide grin on her face. “You won’t just leave in the morning like you usually do?”
“Yeah, I was supposed to stay at the Academy for another week or so if I hadn’t turned them down, so now I can spend plenty of time with you to do whatever. Don’t need to be back at work anytime soon for once in my life.”
“Does that mean you’ll give me flying lessons too?” Scootaloo asked, jumping up and down in place.
“Sure, why not? I can teach you a couple of tricks and tips. Get you up to flying shape in no time.” Lightning yawned. “But right now, bedtime. The early bird catches the worm and whatnot. Though, don’t actually try to eat worms, because that’s nasty.”
“Aww, come on!” Scootaloo said in protest.
“You know, the sooner you go to sleep, the sooner you get to wake up so we can go flying,” Lightning suggested, a devious grin appearing on her lips.
“I’ll race you to bed!” Scootaloo cried out, already bounding upstairs as fast as her small legs could take her.
Lightning Dust chuckled, shaking her head as Scootaloo went to her room. “Well, Lightning, looks like you dodged another bombshell today.”
Trotting upstairs, Lightning went to Scootaloo’s room, the filly already buzzing with excitement in her bed under the covers. “Hey, Scoots, want me to tuck you in?”
“Sure thing, Dusty,” Scootaloo said, snickering.
“Ugh, not that nickname again,” Lightning said, rolling her eyes as she went to Scootaloo’s side. “Keep it up and I’ll be calling you ‘Looster’ again. Or how about ‘Scootinator?’ Ooh, I know how much you hated ‘Loony-loo.’”
“No, anything but that!” Scootaloo begged.
Lightning pulled the sheets down and tickled Scootaloo’s side, causing her to roll in bed and laugh, begging her to stop.
“Well, I think you’ve learned your lesson now,” Lightning said, pulling Scootaloo’s sheets back over her. Kissing her little sister’s forehead, Lightning Dust whispered, “Love you, Scoots.”
“Love you too, sis,” Scootaloo said, sighing as she snuggled in her sheets.
Turning around Lightning was just about to exit Scootaloo’s room before her lamp turned on, illuminating the dimly lit room. “Hey, sis, can you get me a glass of water, please.”
Looking over her shoulder, Lightning smiled and said, “Sure thing, Sc—”
Lightning Dust’s eyes opened wide. Surrounding her were pictures, posters, and even banners of Rainbow Dash. All four walls were covered in multicolored images of the flyer Lightning Dust had the displeasure to get acquainted with at the Wonderbolt Academy.
“Hey, um… Scoots, you wanna paint your room tomorrow?”
“Can we paint it rainbows?” Scootaloo asked excitedly.
“What about green and then I take you out for ice cream?”
“Yay!” Scootaloo cheered.
