“NOOOOO!” Rainbow Dash screamed in horror as she witnessed the hot air balloon’s ropes snap, severing the basket and sending her friends plummeting to the ground below.
Her body was moving on autopilot as she dove towards one of the clouds below until she found one big enough to support all of them.
When she spotted it, she slammed against it with her elbow as she flew around it at top speed, forcing her wings to flap faster and harder despite her body’s protests desperate to prevent them from splattering to the ground due to her stupid recklessness.
Lightning had been quite proud of the tornado they had created to break the academy’s cloud-busting record, but she froze in horror the moment she saw those ropes snap.
She had no idea where those ponies had came from or why they thought it would be smart to interrupt an academy full of Pegasi that frequently practiced dangerous aerial stunts.
But there was one thing she did know-no record was worth risking the lives of others-seeing Dash spring into action was what snapped her back to reality.
Realizing what Dash was trying to do she wanted to help, but knew that another Pegasus would only get in the way.
Luckily, she was Lead Pony of the best team for the Junior Wonderbolts and that essentially made her Captain.
She turned to the other Pegasi who were frozen at horror at the nightmare that was unfolding before them.
Thunderlane, Rain Drops, Snowflake, Cloudchaser, and the other ponies whose names she couldn’t remember were closest.
“Alright,” she managed to choke out in as authoritative tone as she could muster given the stressful circumstance. “Once Dash finishes pressuring that cloud, those ponies are going to bounce off and they’ll need someone to catch them!”
They all took off immediately as Lightning felt a small sense of relief that they were actually listening to her, but just as quickly began to regret the way that she had been treating them and the things she had said behind their backs.
At this point Dash was circulating the cloud leaving a rainbow trail behind her as its sides were being squeezed into its center, causing the top and bottom of the nimbus to bulge considerable as if it were wearing some form of prismatic girdle.
This was a thought that Lightning would have found humorous under any other circumstance.
Just as she had predicted, the five ponies landed on top of the cloud before it bounced them back up into the sky like a gigantic spring where they were caught by their classmates.
Except for Snowflake, who appeared to have caught some sort of brown bag?
Well, whatever it was-it didn’t matter-these ponies were safe and that meant Lightning wouldn’t have to carry the guilt of their deaths on her conscience for the rest of her life.
Their classmates were fortunately able to fly the ponies safely back onto the runway as Rainbow Dash flew towards them.
“Are you guys okay?” she asked worriedly.
“Uh-huh.” The strange new ponies all replied in unison as Dash flew in to hug them collectively.
Wait, did she know these ponies?
The pink one with the poofy mane was lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious.
“PINKIE PIE!” Dash exclaimed her voice heavy with concern as the pony’s ears perked up and her lips quivered into a smile as her eyes began to water before jumping on Dash and hugging her neck.
“YOU REMEMBER ME!” She exclaimed happily.
“Well…yeah, of course I remember you.” Dash replied genuinely confused before turning back to face the others.
“What are you guys doing here?”
“We wanted to bring ya a care package.” The orange one responded as the group cantered over to her.
“We didn’t realize you’d be in the middle of some crazy tornado drill.”
Lightning pushed her way through the crowed as she felt her throat and chest tighten, these were ponies Dash knew and cared about and because of the stunt they pulled due to her insistence she had almost lost them forever.
“Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed worriedly. “Are you guys okay?”
“Yeah, we’re fine…” The purple one replied shakily.
“Wait, what do you care?” Dash challenged crossing her arms and glaring at her.
“Creating that stupid tornado to bust more clouds than anyone else was all your idea!”
This made Lightning wince-she knew she deserved that.
“WHAT THE HAY IS GOING ON HERE?” a familiar authoritative female voice demanded.
Everyone else made way as Spitfire trotted onto the scene.
“There my friends ma’am,” Dash began. “They just came to-”
“That was a rhetorical question, newbie.” Spitfire replied curtly. “I’ve been a Wonderbolt long enough to recognize the damage cause by an F5 tornado when I see it-what I mean is, why was there a tornado here in the first place when today’s weather schedule is supposed to have light cloud cover at the most?”
If looks could kill, the glare the Dash shot Lightning would have caused all of her vital functions to cease instantly.
“You two, my office-now.” She ordered.
The trip to Spitfire’s office had been relatively uneventful with the exception of Dash occasionally shooting Lightning a death glare whenever she dared to look over, causing her to try and avert her gaze from Rainbow entirely.
The silence was also a real killer as they walked through the halls, the only sound came from the echo of the trio’s hooves clip-clopping down the tiled floor of the academy’s halls.
Lightning’s anxiety increased with the knowledge of how badly she had screwed up, she had pressured her Wingpony into helping her perform a dangerous and possibly fatal stunt, which neither of them could control, almost killed five innocent ponies as a result, and now both her partner and fillyhood idol hated her.
When they finally reached Spitfire’s office she merely pushed the door open, in contrast to the way she usually had to unlock it in the mornings Lightning had seen her when she got up to begin training before anybody else.
Obviously, she was in a rush once she noticed all the commotion and either didn’t think she had the time or didn’t remember to lock up properly.
Lightning felt like she was a little filly again after being sent to the principal’s office in flight school for her ‘attitude problem’.
The major difference being she didn’t care about normal school, nor did she care about being there in the first place.
Getting this close to the Wonderbolts, however was something she felt her entire life had been leading up to and without the chance to join them her life would lose all meaning.
Spitfire’s office felt a lot like a principle’s, albeit much more militaristic with posters, awards, as well as piles both group and solo autographed photos with her signature and hoof print.
Moving behind her desk, she placed her elbows on it, pressing her hooves together as she glared at Lightning and Dash over her sunglasses.
“It was very lucky that nobody got hurt today.” She began. “But, that doesn’t excuse the fact that there could have been severe collateral damage and I fully intend to punish whoever’s responsible.”
Lightning sighed, she knew that Dash would more that likely sell her out regardless of loyalty due to her actions-and she couldn’t blame her one bit for it.
The best thing she could due to maintain some shred of honor and respect in the eyes of the Wonderbolts would be to take the high road and own up to it.
It was actually pretty ironic, ever since she could remember she knew that the Wonderbolts accepted nothing less than the very best athletes and Pegasi in Equestria into their ranks.
With this knowledge, she had always pushed herself to the limits of her abilities-and even beyond on a few occasions, but never once did she stop and thing about the consequences or her actions-at least, not until today.
“It…was me, ma’am.” Lightning replied bashfully as she stepped forward. “The tornado was my idea.”
Although she couldn’t see it, Dash’s glare changed to a look at shock at hearing these words.
“I wanted to prove that you made the right choice in making me lead pony and thought that if I did something that would completely leave everyone else in the dust, you might see me as having enough potential to ask me to join you and the other Wonderbolts.” She explained.
“I don’t care how talented you are Lightning, a single Pegasus can’t create a tornado of that size or power without help of some kind.” Spitfire replied, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
Lightning lowered her head in shame.
“I…talked Dash into it.” She admitted. “I don’t think she even wanted to do it, since she pointed out that we were already way ahead of the others…but, I kept pushing her to try and help since you made me Lead Pony for pushing myself so hard.”
Never averting her gaze, Spitfire took off her sunglasses before folding them and placing them on her desk.
“Well, as ‘noble’ as you’re intentions may have been this is not the type of behavior neither I nor the Wonderbolts are willing to tolerate, let alone support.” Lightning’s ears flattened against her skull at Spitfire’s words.
“I want you to turn in your badge, pack your things and get out of my academy within the next twenty-four hours, if you are have not vacated the premises by then-we will remove you by force.”
Lightning’s eyes began to water and she fought back the urge to burst into tears in front of her idol and former Wingpony as her dreams shattered and her heart broke, while she ripped the badge from her uniform and shakily placed it upon Spitfire’s desk.
She then quickly turned around to leave as tears began to stream down her cheeks, despite her best efforts to hold them back.
Dash couldn’t help but pity the other Pegasus as she watched her slowly walked out of the office.
In a lot of way she and Lightning were a lot alike; they were athletic, competitive, and becoming a Wonderbolt meant the world to them.
“Ma’am?” Dash ventured once she was certain that Lightning was out of earshot. “With all due respect, I think you’re being a little harsh.”
“What are you saying, newbie?” Spitfire asked, look of irritation faltering into one of confusion. “Wasn’t it your friends who almost got smashed to pieces as a result of her actions?”
“Well…yeah.” Dash conceded, scratching her mane nervously. “But, like Lightning pointed out it-she was only trying to push me and herself to be our very best-isn’t that why you promoted her to Lead Pony in the first place?”
It was now Spitfire that was shooting Rainbow Dash a death glare.
“What I mean is,” Dash continued quickly. “The whole reason I agreed to help Lightning create that tornado for cloud-busting was because when I asked you about why you promoted her over me the other day, you told me that it was because she liked to push herself more.”
“What’s your point?” Spitfire pressed, getting agitated.
She didn’t like having her authority challenged or being criticized, especially after she tried to help this mare get justice for the potential harm that could have afflicted her friends as a result of Lightning Dust’s actions.
“My point is that what you told me that day is the reason I decided to go along with Lightning’s plan, even though I knew it would be unfair to the others.” Dash explained.
“And after all that, don’t you think it’s a little hypocritical to punish Lightning like this without even giving her a warning or admitting that you may have been wrong.”
The two stared at each other for a while, neither of them daring to blink.
Before today, Rainbow Dash never would have believed that she would be capable of speaking to Spitfire, the Captain of the Wonderbolts and her fillyhood idol in such a tone.
Despite her actions, Lightning had been her partner and one thing Dash prided herself upon more than her athletic abilities was her strong sense of loyalty and given their similarities, she could have easily ended up just like her if it weren’t for her friends.
It surprised Dash when Spitfire leaned back with a smirk.
“Well, I have to admit that you have a lot more guts than the others have given your credit for; you really are the ‘Element of Loyalty’ and after saving our flanks back at the ‘Best Young Fliers’ competition in Cloudsdale two years ago, I guess I can justify re-instating Lightning.” She replied thoughtfully.
Spitfire leaned forward once more.
“On one condition...”
The next day, Dash fastened her new Lead Pony badge on her uniform before looking over at Lightning, who was wearing Dash’s old Wingpony badge.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “After that awesome stunt you pulled and the way stood up from me after I acted like such a selfish jerk…you deserve to be Lead Pony, partner.”
She then looked at Dash again sadly.
“I’m so sorry about everything, I was completely out of control I…do you think you could ever forgive me?”
“Hey, don’t sweat it-partner.” Dash replied with a cocky grin as they shook wings.
Author's Note
The original ending for 'Wonderbolts Academy' involved a character redemption for Lightning Dust, but was unfortunately cut from the episode due to time constraints.
About a week later, Meghan McCarthy posted the script for the original ending on Equestria Daily; Here.
(Personally I prefer that one to the ending we actually got.)
