Chapters Lightning Dust didn't mean for any of this. Engaged to the mare of her dreams with a filly on the way. Her whole life she'd been standoffish, a loner, but now... Now she had friends, a growing family, and a job she enjoyed; in short more than she felt she'd ever deserved.
The true beginning was her time spent at the Wonderbolts Academy training camp. But that alone is a story told: from her excellence in the beginning to her downfall and demotion to wing pony for rival ace Rainbow Dash.
She took the lesson that she didn't need to push herself to the point of endangering herself and other ponies firmly to heart. The only problem was she became fearful of pushing herself at all. She flew slower, cut her workouts in half. She became reticent to speak to ponies at all, thinking they'd find her 'too full of herself'.
"Lightning Dust! This is the third time you've been late this week, what's your excuse this time?"
The factory foremare glared over her glasses at the tardy turquoise pegasus, who for her part was inspecting the flooring between her forehooves. This whole situation was familiar, the demeanor of the foremare and her behavior mirrored a certain fire-maned Captain. Lightning wouldn't have been surprised to discover they were related.
"I... I overslept, and couldn't catch a cab in time. You know what it's like in this town..."
The other mare folded her glasses and rubbed her temples with an irritable huff. Still, so much like Spitfire when the Wonderbolt had chewed her out that the resemblance was uncanny.
She rested her chin on her hoof and glanced back at the pegasus, who was twitching antsily under the angry glance thrown her way. After a full minute of maintaining her glare, she threw herself back in her chair and splayed her hooves wide.
"Dusty, I don't know what I'm going to do with you. You're late all the time, you reek of booze four days out of five... Your wings are almost always bandaged tight against your sides. I could hire an Earth pony for what I pay you who would get here on time and work harder than you."
Dusty's left wing was bandaged today. She'd woken up bloody and with a mouthful of feathers. She said nothing, just kept her eyes down and waited to be told to get her things and leave. When the mare finished speaking, she'd numbly turned and started trotting towards the door. She would collect her stuff and head home, yet another disappointment her father could berate his wayward daughter over. He'd been the one who had helped her get this job in Fillydelphia, at a factory that built gasoline carriages.
A snort from her employer brought her up short after a few paces, one hoof halfway towards the floor. Already she was doing mental calculations to figure out how far her meager possessions and savings would take her. Hopefully she'd quickly find another job and figure things out from there.
"I wasn't done with you, Dusty." She rested her chin on her hooves as she glared over her horn-rimmed glasses at the turquoise mare before her, who settled back on her haunches. "Your father is a good friend of mine, and I've known you since before you were born."
The foremare sighed and rubbed her temples again, setting aside her glasses on the table as she took a moment.
"I talked to a friend of mine, a couple days ago. She... said she would take a chance on you, for whatever it's worth. Old Thunder Cracker would be rolling in his grave if I fucked over his granddaughter."
For the first time since she'd awoken, Lightning Dust felt a small glow of hope in her stomach. Or maybe it was the bourbon. She couldn't tell the difference anymore.
"The only thing is, she lives in Ponyville. Operates a small shipping company. Think you can handle making your way out there and running packages?"
Lightning suddenly grinned as she stood up straight-- that warmth was definitely hope. A new town, a new start... "Yes Ma'am."
"Great. Now get out of my office." The mare returned to her paperwork with a small grump as Lightning fairly dashed to the door before being held up by her former employer's voice. "Dusty? Good luck."
Lightning gave her broadest grin over her shoulder as she snapped off a smart salute, only barely missing hitting herself upside the head. "Thank you, Rainy. I'll make you proud."
Lightning's head echoed with the last words of the mare behind her as she ran home, weaving and staggering through the crowds that filled Filly at this time of day.
Don't make me proud, kid. Do it for yourself, make yourself proud.
It was midday when she finally made it to her apartment, skidding to a halt as she fumbled for her keys. There was nopony to really say goodbye to; Rainy Days was the only pony in the entirety of Fillydelphia that she knew more than obliquely. She was on a week-to-week lease, so there wasn't much for that, either.
She had no posters, no artwork, really nothing displayed or that even belonged to her. First things first, she hunted through her fridge for her last bottle, unscrewing the cap with a fluid motion of her hoof. A bright grin on her muzzle as she collapsed on her back, the neck of the bottle held firmly in her teeth. She spluttered once or twice, before settling into a rhythm of draining the entire bottle of whiskey in one go.
She would need the liquid courage for the rest of the day. She loosed a quiet burp as she staggered shakily back to her hooves. Her apartment required only the slightest bit of cleaning, she still prided herself on decent housekeeping. Once every surface was wiped down and the last of the garbage taken out, she dropped the box containing her documents into a satchel designed to sling between her wings.
Every other piece of property that she owned, that she'd be taking with her, fit inside one single olive-drab military surplus duffle bag.
She was good at running, after all, and lived sparsely.
The rest of her bits, both hard currency and the new strips of plastic that authorized the transfer of an agreed-upon number of imaginary bits from an imaginary bank vault to the recipient through an electronic terminal, settled neatly into her satchel.
Within ten minutes, she was standing in line to purchase a ticket on the last train out of Fillydelphia heading to Ponyville.
Within twenty, she'd snapped up the collar of her Wonderbolt Cadet jacket against the chill, flaring both wings as she looked over her shoulder at the receding city behind her. It wasn't likely that she'd ever return.
Inside of an hour, she was passed out drunk in her seat, dreaming of past failures and future successes.
A new town, a fresh start.
It was evening, almost dusk, by the time the Ponyville's station would expect the train from Fillydelphia to arrive. Sparkler sighed, sitting back on her haunches with an unamused expression as her baby sister bounced in circles. Each time she fell, her hooves would strike the wooden platform with a harsh CLOMP, before she bounced up again, completing yet another revolution around her sister.
The elder unicorn rubbed her muzzle gently, the corners of her mouth turning down and eyes tightening a little bit as she felt the earth shudder beneath the approaching train. Finally. She'd only agreed to watch her sister and keep an eye out for her mother's new employee out of a filial sense of obligation, that and she loved her sister and mother. Maybe not this much.
She was utterly unphased when the engine rolled to a stop, whipping up wind that tousled her short-cropped rakish violet mane. Her hoof snapped out to the side, halting the hopping filly dead in her tracks and holding her still as the platform filled with ponies exiting the train. The younger sister froze and began inspecting the passerby. Both knew exactly who they were looking for, a pegasus mare by the name of Lightning Dust. They had been told she was distinctive enough they'd recognize her on sight.
Almost immediately Dinky began a line of patter, her attention flicking from one unfamiliar pony, arguing with her sister over which one it could possibly be. All of the sudden, Sparkler cried out and grabbed for her sister in her telekinesis a second too late as the worst possible thing occurred.
Dinky screamed out, "WONDERBOLTS HOODIE, THREE O' CLOCK!", and launched herself into a diving tackle at the pony in particular. Like their mother, one would be surprised by their density, so it was no real surprise that the turquoise mare was bowled off her hooves and slammed into the platform with a sharp thud.
And then, since this was Ponyville, the unintelligible shout spooked the crowd, and everything exploded.
Lightning Dust had awoken around four by her estimation, pushing aside the empty coffee mug on the tray in front of her. She'd had a little coffee to sober up, and napped maybe an hour. Weeks of overwork, overstress, too little food, too little sleep, and enough alcohol to kill a bull elephant took its toll on the poor pegasus. She had become prone to falling asleep if she sat or stood still for too long at a stretch.
With a small grumble, she stretched out of her seat, retrieving her duffle bag from the luggage rack over her head, slinging it across her shoulders and over her satchel. She entertained the thought of having another, better cup of coffee at the shop she'd seen attached to the platform, and then maybe a little sightseeing before going to meet with her new employer. She was still early, anyhow.
She managed a smile for the station attendant who punched her ticket, before joining the crowd filtering off of the train and melting off of the wooden platform into the town proper. She gave a snort at what she could see. So much for the new Princess living here, and what the newspapers had been saying about Ponyville being the next boomtown. Boom? More like backwater. She sniggered under her breath at the thought, weaving unsteadily through the crowd.
She was a little underweight from malnutrition, but she stood head and withers over most of the other ponies, mostly unicorns. She frowned at the errant thought that always flitted over her mind whenever her height was brought up. Her father's disgusted glances, comments of why she needed to act like a stallion, wasn't it enough she looked like one? She sighed a little and scuffed her hoof momentarily across the boards of the platform.
She never had a chance, never heard it coming, as a screaming ball of hurt collided with her midsection, the pegasus' head slamming into the ground with a harsh thud and a yelp of pain.
When she came to, she was laying on her back. Her whole body hurt, like she'd been on the recieving end of a stampede, her head ached where she'd hit the floor. The stationmaster was leaned over her, but she saw two unicorns she didn't recognize. One looked angry, the other looked sheepish. A small blonde-maned filly with eyes just a few shades off from her own and coat of a gray-purple, and an elder with a two-toned violet mane, a pale magenta coat, and purple eyes.
Lightning Dust slowly sat up, rubbing her head a little bit before rolling onto her stomach, getting wobbly legs underneath herself and hefting her duffle bag yet again. She didn't quite know what had occurred, but she wasn't sticking around to find out, since she automatically assumed it was her fault. Someone was angry, after all.
She had barely made it three steps when she realized the smaller of the two unicorns was keeping pace with her, blinking when the filly cut in front of her. She tilted her head, wings flaring slightly as she realized she was being carefully examined, before...
"AREYOUAWONDERBOLT!? THATLOOKSJUSTLIKETHELICENSEDPRACTICEUNIFORMTHATRAINBOWDASHCAMEHOMEWITHLASTYEAR."
It took her a full moment to parse, before she sighed and looked down at the ground, beginning to walk again. "Maybe in a different life, kid. It reminds me of mistakes I've made, so I kept it."
The kid was trotting next to her again, and now the other pony was flanking her on her other side. She huffed irritatedly, bandaged wing flaring out as she snorted, freezing again. "Hey, what gives?"
The older mare watched her for a moment, lips pursed. "Your name wouldn't happen to be... what was it... Lightning Dust, would it?"
That caused her to recoil. Her legs tightened like springs, and she grimaced a little bit as she looked around for the quickest way out of the area. "Yyyeah... Why? You heard I made an ass out of myself, you're going to laugh at me too?" Just like a screwhead, always horning in as soon as they could find something to press.
The mare smiled broadly, which surprised the hell out of her. Suddenly Lightning was confronted with a hoof thrust out before her. "Well... Let me be the first to welcome you to Ponyville, although Pinkie Pie will probably have my hide for stealing it from her. I'm Sparkler, and that's my sister Dinky. Our mom got word from her friend Rainy Days in Fillydelphia, saying you'd be coming to work for her today."
"We're here to pick you up from the train station and make sure you feel at home before going to meet our mama," the little one chimed in.
Lightning was certainly nonplussed; so much so she was almost minused. She shook her head a little bit and relaxed the tension in her leg muscles, folding her wings tightly against her sides as she looked between the two. "I was under the impression I was meeting with a pegasus for some reason. No offense." She wasn't sure how comfortable she felt working under a unicorn... every horner supervisor she'd ever had felt themselves a little too closely removed from Canterlot and forgot they weren't royalty.
"Our mama is a pegasus," deadpan, again from the younger one. She was starting to grow on her, in fact both of these fillies were. She smiled a little bit and looked over her shoulder at her bags.
"Shouldn't I settle in at a hotel or something first...?" Lightning's eyebrows furrowed when she was met with shaking heads and wide smiles.
This time the older one commented. She rather liked the unicorn's voice, it was brash and self-assured. She was even pretty, as well... "Nope, our mom was pretty adamant about not letting you rent from anyone here but her. She's got a spare room already set aside for you, said something about out of towners being taken advantage of here." She shrugged a little bit. "You'll find that Ponyville is a nice place, real friendly. Or go crazy from stupid stuff happening weekly."
That last-second substitution of a curse was much too quick. Lightning's eyes narrowed a little bit as she turned to start following the pair, her ears twitching a little bit as she watched Sparkler's tail and hips sway with each step.
It only took them about twenty minutes for the sisters to bring their charge home to their mother, the blonde-maned gray pegasus looking up from the book she was reading to a pale sky-blue filly whose mane carried a lighter variation of Sparkler's own colors. One golden eye remained down on the book, the other inspecting the mares and filly that trotted in. Sparkler was very aware of Lightning's eyes on her, and was duly flattered... but not blind- she could see the mare was intoxicated.
The filly wriggled up from the sofa and dashed across the room, leaping onto her mother with a loud giggle, the elder unicorn throwing forelegs around her daughter as she rolled onto her back with her. Lightning's eyebrow raised a little bit, and she paled at the eyes of the other pegasus scrutinizing her. She knew that look. That look burned, and her eyes stung as she thought of the last time she'd seen it.
The filly's hooves crunched in the snow, boots cutting holes through the drift as she trotted up to her grandparents' small home. Her mane loosed the white as she shook her head, knocking on the door and calling out before trotting inside the house, and the warmth.
"Ahoj!"
"Dobrý den, Blesk Prach! Pojďte dovnitř, pojďte dovnitř!" The deep, gruff voice of her grandfather Burácení Prasklina - Thunder Cracker to the Equestrians, called out as the stallion himself scooped her up. That piercing, eagle gaze of his looked her over when he set her down, measuring her against his barrel and declaring her a mare...
She shook her head in the present, before taking a small breath. "So uhm. Rainy Days said you would have a job for me delivering... packages and mail and stuff." She was suddenly nervous. Why was she so nervous?
Haltingly, and then faster, her voice oddly cracked and warbling. "Doo. Ditzy Doo's my... name. Yes, I have an... aperture- opening, and Rainy had only good things to say." The mare sounded cheerful. Lightning Dust couldn't believe her luck.
Then her nose twitched, catching the unmistakable scent of... carp. Knedlick. Home. They must have gotten a lot more information about her from Rainy. Fatigue caught up with her as she dropped right where she stood, hitting the ground. The last thing she thought of was how pathetic she must look, fainting before her new employer and surely crying...
When Lightning awoke, she was stretched out on the sofa with a cool cloth on her forehead. Dizzily she rolled off, shaking her head a little bit to clear it, beginning to come down from her buzz. A glass of water rested in front of her on the coffee table and she downed it greedily, feeling rather thirsty.
She smiled as she took in the room, the clutter of knicknacks on the shelves across the room. She suddenly became aware of eyes on her and frowned, brilliant orange eyes scanning her surroundings before spotting a pair of unicorns leaning around the corner. She scowled for a moment and shakily rose to her hooves, trotting towards them. Intent on speaking her mind clearly about being stared at like that.
She winced and folded her ears down, recoiling when near-identical voices screamed out as the fillies bolted off.
"Gram-" "-Mama!" "She's-" "-awake!"
Her head reeled, and she slowly stood back up with care so she wouldn't fall again. Clicking hooves grabbed her attention, before her chin was lifted by a gray hoof. She looked up, her eyes meeting cheerful golden ones not too far removed from her own. The left drifted a little, before snapping back into full attention. There was no judgement in that glance, just a warm smile.
Dusty couldn't help but think she'd met this mare before. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she rested her hoof over the older mare's, slowly lowering it back down to the floor. The other mare gently tugged the mare with her, a coy smirk folding her features as she lead the brash flier to the table, even going as far as pulling out her chair for her. Dinner was simple; pickled beets, baked carp, mashed potatoes, plenty of rich gravy and of course knedliky. She carefully soaked up a little bit of gravy with a bit of the steamed bun, finding everything just like her Sainted grandmother would have made.
She found herself book-ended between the foals that had screamed at her, who were now asking questions and talking faster than even she could follow, arguing behind her back and making a general nuisance of themselves. The matron of the family, the gray pegasus, clopped her hoof against the table and cleared her throat before returning to her meal. The two fillies took a collective deep breath before asking questions at a more reasonable pace.
The purple one went first. "Are you here to help my mama with work?"
That was an easy question to answer. "Yes, my old boss Rainy thought she could use me here."
The blue one went second, with a much harder question. "Will you sign my Wonderbolts card?"
A small rectangle of cardboard settled on the table next to her plate. She frowned at the picture, which depicted a scowling turquoise pegasus. She took a deep breath and slid the card away. "Maybe after supper, kid." She didn't want to look at her rookie card anymore. She used to have a copy, it had tickled her silly to see it. Now however it was just a reminder of bad memories.
The fillies apparently realized that she wasn't much of a conversationalist, and left her alone for the remainder of the meal. Dusty helped clean up, intent on being a conscientious houseguest. Or tenant. Or employee. She wasn't sure how it was going to work out just yet. The gray mare smiled at her as they stood side by side at the sink, washing dishes. She returned the small smile as they finished up, letting the water out of the sink and drying her hooves.
A couple hours later, Lightning Dust was sitting in a small room with Ditzy Doo as she learned the mare's name was, painstakingly creating a route for the next morning and sorting out the mail for ease of delivery. She had a map of the town open, and had drawn what she felt would be the most efficient flight path on it, with the letters arranged and banded so that each packet of letters could be dropped at each stop without slowing down too much.
"I've been looking for helpers for quite a while," the other mare began carefully, "but nopony seems to want to work for me because of my... disability."
Lightning gave a snort, and shrugged as she sorted through the last stack of letters. It really was a painstaking process, and required a little more hoof dexterity than she could summon at the current moment. "I've worked for worse managers than you, I'm sure. A lazy eye might be a little creepy to some shallow ponies, but it's actually pretty cute."
Ditzy sniggered a little bit and rubbed her muzzle, shaking her head as she buckled her own saddlebags up ready for the morning. Lightning's face turned all colors of red as the mare's hooves splayed her own forelegs and prodded along her barrel, before trotting off to a closet. Dusty canted her head, chewing her lower lip slightly as the mare returned with a jacket on a hanger in her teeth and a pair of boxes on her hip.
The first fit her snugly while remaining maneuverable, and she rather liked the stylish shade of blue. The boxes proved to contain a flat-topped cap that rested between her ears and slicked down her rakish mane, and a set of winged ponyshoes that also fit nicely and she rather liked. For the first time in a year, Dusty smiled as she inspected herself in the mirror, a real honest to Mothers smile. She posed, cocking a Warden-may-care smirk, before removing the clothes carefully and launching herself into a full, tight hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you... I can't ever repay you for this."
The other mare smiled a little bit and ruffled the mare's mane. "No need. I know what it's like, I've been working delivering the mail for years now. I've watched this town grow into something beautiful, and I know you'll only add to it." She settled back on her haunches when she was released. "I knew your grandfather, too. Lot of Equestrians shed a tear when he passed. Celestia herself went into mourning for a full year, and ponies were concerned the Wonderbolts Derby would never be held again."
Lightning fought back a small tear, shaking her head a little bit as she took up her uniform. "Thanks, Ditzy. I'll try my best. It's what he would have wanted."
Ditzy shook her head a little bit and tapped the mare on the chest. "He was a good colt. He's proud of you, I'm sure. Just because you have gone astray doesn't mean anything. Love from a parent or grandparent is forever."
Dusty unpacked, staring down at the rookie card that had been left on her nightstand. She mulled over the mare's words in her mind, coupling them with what Rainy had said about doing this for herself. She didn't need to make her father proud, the only person whose opinion mattered was her own. She stared for a long minute... and signed her name with a flourish and a small doodle of her cutie mark.
"Good morning race fans, and welcome back to the Canterlot 500! We experienced a little bit of a delay earlier in the race due to a collision that lead to only a few racers being able to continue the race, but it looks like those lucky few are ready to restart."
Young Lightning Dust sat in the stands, wings flared wide and making enough noise for ten fillies her size, plus two full-grown stallions. The pegasus on the lineup wearing a black jumpsuit heard her calling and waved his hoof over his head with a Warden-may-care smirk crossing his features. He appeared calm, ready to restart the race.
"Good thing, too. Looks like we're going to get washed out if the race doesn't finish up soon," murmured her mother into her ear. She was worried, her husband stood next to his father on the lineup and was antsily tapping his hooves in place.
With a wave of the green flag, the racers took off sprinting. There wasn't much left of the race, and after a short break everypony was racing all out. Grandfather was in third place, but she wasn't worried. He never lost. The patter of the commentators faded out of her mind as it started to rain...
Lightning Dust was at the edge of her seat, leaned against the row in front of her, much to the chagrin of the colt in the seat. She chewed nervously on her fetlock, ears pinning as she watched the race unfold. Grandfather was in fifth, jockeying for the next position while making himself five lanes wide to stymie the advance of the mare behind him.
She shouldn't be worried, Grandfather always won. He was too fast, too aggressive, to ever lose. Knew exactly his limits, how sturdy he was, often nudging or openly slamming against his competitors in passing. His tactics had earned him the title of "The Terrorizer" among his fellow racers and the media. It was even stitched onto his flight suit, just underneath the race number he always wore; a large number 3 positioned over his flanks.
Partway through the last lap he saluted the crowd, climbed a few dozen feet, and started to describe a slowly tightening barrel roll down the straight, taking the curve on his side. Everyone's hearts leapt to their throats, and little Lightning's ears twitched as she stared with awe. The legendary Thunder Roll had begun.
The roll tightened further, until he was spinning in place as he rocketed down the second straight towards the finish. The softly falling rain couldn't dampen Lightning's spirits, a dull itch rising in her wings. Her favorite relative was going to perform her favorite trick, and win the race. She just knew it.
Unnoticed to everyone but her mother, sparks danced between her ears, legs, and wings.
There was a flash, and a crash of thunder. Cheers turned to screams as a lance of lightning forked the Wonderbolt through, the filly calling out over the crowd noise...
"Dědeček!"
Lightning sat up straight in her bed, panting. Her throat hurt, her eyes burned, and her face was drenched. She shook her head and rested her muzzle in her hooves, choking back a sob. She didn't cry. She couldn't cry. She took a deep breath and trotted out of her darkened bedroom for a quick shower, before back to her bedroom to wriggle into her new uniform.
Taking care not to wake the house's other inhabitants, she grabbed her mailbags and slipped out the front door as quietly as she could, locking it behind her. Finding the sky of the breaking dawn to match her mood, gray and cloudy, she gingerly kicked off the cobblestones of the little walk and took to the air. She winced at the wind flowing over damaged wings, and wobbled slightly from patches of torn-out feathers, but she managed a reasonable altitude and pace.
As she flew through the town proper, dropping off a bundle of letters at almost every house she passed and more than a few businesses, she found her mind dulling. The exercise was good for her, she felt. She didn't have to think, just concentrate on her pacing and pathing, like Grandfather had taught her. She even found herself grinning slightly.
Her slowly brightening mood was matched by the wild sky above her, as the weather team worked to clear the clouds away ahead of the rising sun. So it was that she whistled under her breath as she altered her flight path to follow her nose down the scent of baked goods that had her mouth water. She pulled up and landed before the building that smell emanated from, which was shaped like a giant gingerbread house. She snorted at the design and pushed her way through the swinging doors.
This early, the establishment housed only a few construction workers, a few ponies in jumpsuits marked "Ponyville Sanitation", and a tired-looking constable. Other early risers, or ponies who hadn't yet gone to bed. She smiled as an earth pony tipped his mug in her direction and returned his nod, stepping past the tables towards the counter.
Her hungry tummy grumbled as she looked at the assortments of cupcakes, donuts, danishes, petit-fours, trifles, tarts, and other assorted sweets and baked goods in their glass case. She was brought back to reality at a feminine voice clearing its throat. Her attention snapped up to a blue Earth pony with a pink mane styled like soft serve ice cream for some reason. Or maybe Dusty was just that hungry and seeing things. She smiled weakly and rummaged for her pouch of bits.
"Eheh... Sorry. I'm easily distracted on the ground. I'd like uhm... two crullers and a black coffee, please." She smiled a little bit more strongly as she found her pouch, drawing it out between her teeth.
She was rewarded with the sight of the mare digging through the display case and wrapping two of the delicious cinnamony treats in wax paper, before dropping them into a white paper bag that got folded at the top. A disposable cup filled with the thick dark lifeblood of morning workers joined it.
"Four bits. Say, you're the pony Ditzy was talking about, aren't you dearie? She said her niece would be coming to town soon."
Lightning almost dropped her bits, but managed to stack them neatly on the counter before folding a wing around the cup and settling the bag into her saddlebag for safe keeping. She took a sip of her coffee as the mare dropped her bits into a cashbox below the counter with a quiet clink. If she was quick enough she could fly to the door and avoid this conversation... But that would involve dropping her coffee, which wasn't an option.
"Y-Yeah, good old Aunt Ditzy heard I was in a bit of a bind, invited me down to Ponyville and got me a job with the postal company. She's really the only family I have left, so I'm really grateful." Lightning chose her words carefully, taking another sip of her coffee as she took a step back towards the door. "Hey, not to be rude or anything, but I really only stopped in for a bite to eat. Got about half of my run left, gotta be done and back by nine."
The blue mare nodded and waved her off, getting back to work and serving the next customer. She was brought up short by a lanky yellow stallion in a white apron, who leaned towards her and whispered. "Pinkie'll be mad that I spoiled the surprise, but... since you're new here to town you'll most likely have a "Welcome to Ponyville" party thrown for you before the end of the day. Beware of Pink and save yourself a heart attack."
Dusty was entirely nonplussed, so much so that she was nearly minused. She shook her head a little bit as she trotted past him back onto the street, taking sips of her coffee every now and again and trying to figure out what the colt had meant as well as figure out where she was right now. She never noticed the pink earth pony mare watching her from a distance, muzzle screwed up in an expression of utter concentration as she watched her quarry through a pair of binoculars.
The rest of the run was uneventful, even if Lightning Dust swore she could feel eyes on the back of her head the entire time. But, she reasoned, she was a postal worker. They were supposed to be invisible. She'd certainly never noticed them. The most interesting part of the morning was a delivery made at the edge of town, to a mailbox situated directly below an expertly crafted cloud-house. Whomever lived there had to have at least a passing interest in Pegasus history and an eye to detail, as it wouldn't have looked out of place in Hurricane's Pegasopolis. She felt herself wanting to meet that pony, even if they had gone a little overboard with the rainbow juice falls.
She stumbled into her new home at half past eight, to find the rest of the household awake. She smiled as she paused in the doorway, watching Dinky argue good-naturedly with her mother on the subject of getting ready for school. She shook her head a little bit as she trotted upstairs to the mail room, beginning the painstaking task of sorting mail for the afternoon run, feeling happy and centered for the first time in months.
Halfway across town, a runaway-rock-farmer-turned-baker by name of Pinkamina Dianne Pie was excitedly chattering to a gormless purple-eyed alligator as she bounced around her confetti-strewn bedroom.
"Let's see... We'll need to go over to Berry's, we'll need a hard punch and plenty of drinks. Sugarcube Corner won't be able to hold everypony anymore, we'll have to talk to Mayor Mare about hosting it in the park. I really hope she's happy with all the new friends she'll have after tonight, there's so much we still have to do! I can't help but feel like I know her from somewhere though. What do you think, Gummy?"
The alligator blinked exactly once, each eye in succession, before returning to vacantly staring at... something far beyond its empty expression.
"You're right. It's probably nothing." The Priestess of Party suddenly jolted and glanced around quickly, snatching a headband supporting a multicolored umbrella from under her bed, settling it on her head. "Twitchy tail... ear flop... Not a combo, something going to fall, someone’s going to need a bath... It was a doozy too, Gummy, I wonder what it's going to be?"
At another blink, this time accompanied by a brief flick of tail, she shrugged a little. "You're right, we'll just have to wait and see."
"Anyone who dares to be, can never be weak."
Today was a Tuesday, which mean all of Rainbow's other responsibilities for the day took a back seat to spending lunch with her quasi-adoptive little sister Scootaloo.
She'd sacrificed her afternoon nap for such an endeavor, after getting all of her work for the morning done in record time. As she rode the thermals over Sweet Apple Acres, watchful of the budding storm system gaining power over the orchard, she smiled at a task well completed and a promise to a friend fulfilled. She tilted, graceful wings flaring and cupping the air, as she banked towards Ponyville proper.
In the time since she'd migrated here, nearly five years ago, she'd seen the small hamlet grow to a township in its own right, met few enough fast friends to suit the solitary-minded pegasus, and had maybe an adventure or three. And aside from the occasional dragon, Parasprite infestation, or troubles caused by one or another of those same friends pushing themselves too hard in the wrong direction, life was sweet in Ponyville. She enjoyed her job, lived a life with meaning, and took joy in every passing second. Sometimes, the sun breaking over the hills to the West almost brought her to tears when viewed through the opaque cloud-stuff that made up her home.
Shaking thoughts nopony would ever think the sporty pegasus of being capable of from her mind, she turned her lips into an almost feral grin as she angled towards the schoolhouse and tilted her wings in to a diving position with practiced ease. Something twinged at the back of her mind with the motion, the sight of a turquoise pegasus a few ponylengths ahead of her flashing unbidden across her imagination. A pony she hadn't thought of in some time now.
Lightning Dust, her lead pony during her training weeks at the Wonderbolts Academy. The only pegasus- no, pony- that Rainbow knew to push herself harder than she herself did. One of a hoofful of ponies she knew to be able to keep up with her, sitting comfortably this side of the Mach line.
To Rainbow, the spirits of the air currently holding her aloft were an old friend, a comfortable lover. They bore her up joyfully, loving to flow through her mane and under her wings. To Lightning, they were a force to be conquered. A limit to push. Something to grab ahold of and drag kicking and screaming down the finish line.
Things between them had grown tense. It became clear, especially after confronted about her recklessness, that the other did not consider her a friend. Even for a pegasus, Lightning was bull-headed and standoffish. When demoted by Spitfire to Rainbow's Wing pony, she'd preferred to keep her own counsel for the rest of the session. Conversations with a bright, electric pony as like to her as a twin over meals had given way to that same pony sitting by herself with a buffer zone of empty space and quiet air she didn't seem to notice. She'd thought they'd parted on good terms on the final day, when Lightning finally spoke again to her and conceded that she'd been out of control and Dash had been right to tell someone about it. Something about her expression had worried her, but a good last flight had quelled her thoughts.
And then Dust had left in the middle of the night, telling nopony but her direct superiors where she was going. After that... she'd disappeared, and Dash hadn't seen or heard from her since. Later she realized they'd never spoken of anything of direct importance. No family matters, no childhood anecdotes, nothing about where she was born or grew up.
Realizing she'd come to a full stop, she shook bad memories from her mind and pointed her nose downward. She had a sister to see. She flashed that Warden-may-care grin again as her introspective mood passed, angling her whole body into the dive. She often made a game of these visits, racing Scootaloo to the outdoor lunch area. By unspoken agreement she limited herself to the same timeframe that Scootaloo had- she didn't start until the first roiling notes of the bell had faded. They usually met just as the last notes of the final twelfth bell rang out.
Today, however, when she snapped to a glide to bleed off speed and lit onto the soft grass near one of the picnic tables, Scootaloo was waiting for her with a wide grin on her face and a buzz to her wings. Rainbow knew, in that sixth-sense way of all sisters, that her behavior meant I Have Something To Show You. To show she wasn't a sore loser, she ruffled the filly's mane with a soft chuckle, before tugging their lunch out of her saddlebag.
"Hey Squirt, you finally beat me!"
The filly nodded with well-earned pride, seeming nearly to burst with her secret as Dash laid out a mixed green salad with almonds and cranberries complimented with slices of Granny Smith's chicken still hot from the fryer. The elder took her seat and took a few bites, before gesturing with her fork and giving the younger a pointed look spoiled by her mouthful of food.
"Alright. Spit it out. You look like you're gonna pop," her mock-stern voice muffled by her mouthful, and curtailed by the fact she couldn't even pretend to be stern with this filly.
"Liza brought in a signed Wonderbolts rookie card, CN-160 Lightning Dust. She wouldn't let anypony touch it, she said it's really old but I don't believe that much, the edges are all straight." She thought for a moment. "And I got an A on a math test, a B in history, and..." She grinned even more widely than before, if such a thing could be believed. "And I flew! All the way from Miss Cheerilee's classroom to the front door! Then i got tired and ran the rest of the way, but still."
Rainbow beamed with shared glory, holding her hoof out for a bump before the rest of the sentence fully kicked in. Amid coughing and nearly choking on her mouthful of food, she managed to cry out a single question. "WHO!?"
Lightning Dust's day was not going so well. Ever since leaving the house with the afternoon mail, she felt like she was being watched. This feeling didn't go away until long into the afternoon, as she sat with a hastily-gotten lunch of hayburgers and fries and stared at skies growing as dark as her mood. Despite her earlier cheer, she'd slumped quite a bit, and it was only the constant motion that kept her from reflecting on her nightmare of the previous night, or how she'd been shipped halfway across the country on a whim.
She sighed as she cleared her trash, regarding a few small fillies and colts who dashed off when she took notice of them. Well there was that mystery solved. Gathering up her saddlebags, she adjusted her cap over her increasingly flat and mussed mane, and took off into the graying skies.
"Neither wind nor rain nor... hell." She muttered, really hoping to get her run done before the shower scheduled for the evening.
A few hours later, she found her stomach grumbling, and herself racing the storm. Lightning flashed overhead and thunder crashed, but the rain had not yet begun to fall, but each pony she met on her route had a package or letter that absolutely had to get clear across town this instant. Before long she found herself hopelessly lost and wildly off schedule. She yelped as the skies opened up, drenching her within seconds, and dove sharply to the right, ducking under the awning of a large building to get out of the storm and try to save the letters in her bags.
Her hooves struck something placed on the planking, and instead of a neat landing, she skidded through the doors and into the darkened building itself as she rolled and tangled herself up in the object. When she arose, she was suddenly confronted with all the lights being tossed on at once, and a loud shout of "SURPRISE!" welling up from altogether too many throats.
Her hindlegs knocked together, her expression froze, as she stared at the biggest banner she'd ever seen. Upon it was inscribed her cutie mark, and "WELCOME TO PONYVILLE / HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIGHTNING DUST!"
A difference, to be a difference, must make a difference.
More tea?
Once the initial shock had worn off with the aid of a couple minutes hiding out by the snack table and a cup of punch, Dusty had to admit the idea of a party just for her was pretty cool. She had yet to see anypony present that she personally recognized, but there was a couple watching her with an expression she wasn’t unfamiliar with. She felt like she should know them.
All at once she became dimly aware of someone trying to speak to her. Her eyes rose from the gold leaf on her shoes’ wings, to be met with the most intense blue eyes she’d ever seen, framed by a pelt of fluorescent pink.
“-so then I was asking everyone I knew about you and that’s a lot of ponies since I know everyone in town and nopony seemed to know anything about you well except Thunderlane and Cloudchaser - or is it Flitter? I can never keep the two of them straight but anyway they didn’t seem to like you but I’d never met you so I didn’t really pay too much attention…”
Lightning wasn’t quite sure of what to do, so as the sentence dragged on she just stood and blankly stared. The only thought she could keep in her head in the wake of such bubbly, annoying cheer was ‘Mothers, she’s still talking? Is she ever going to breathe?’
“So then I asked Rainbow Dash and she seemed to know you a little more and she thought you were nice so she told me that Scootaloo told her that Liza told her that you were working for her grandma and staying in their spare bedroom and-”
A millisecond of blessed silence was interrupted and brutally murdered by a high-pitched, keening inward squeal as the Pink One filled her lungs with a sharp breath.
“-signed her Wonderbolts collector’s card of you so you couldn’t be as bad as Thunderlane said and Missus Cake said you’d came in early today and were nice to her so you must be alright so I talked to Ditzy and she said she knew you a lot which is how I knew today was your birthday and that you’re really sad and lonely and I know that’s no fun at all so I decided to put together a big party so you could meet lots of Ponyvillians and have lots and lots of friends I mean I know it’s hard moving somewhere new where you don’t know anypony so- hey, why are you crying?”
In the face of such raucous cheer, there was really nothing she could do. Poor Lightning Dust had been accepted by very few ponies in her life, so the fact that a mere stranger would go through such lengths… was as touching to her as it was creepy. Slowly she straightened and wiped her eyes with the back of one hoof.
“I’m-- I’m not crying. ‘s water from my mane, got in my eyes. Yeah.” She cleared her throat and tugged off her flat-topped cap, slicking said mane down and letting it rest around her neck and ears. “So uh… What’s your name? What’s with the party? Did you set up all those ponies to stall me all day?”
The pink one turned to the snack table and quickly drew a cup of punch and produced a cupcake, pressing the former into her hoof and the latter resting on the turquoise mare’s snout. “Didn’t I introduce myself? My name is Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you! Normally I just welcome new ponies into town at the bakery or whenever I first encounter them. But you’re a special case.”
Pinkie grinned widely, throwing a leg around the pegasus’ neck and pulling her into a chokingly tight embrace, nearly making her drop the cupcake and spill her drink. “Yes. Yes I did. I needed to time you being right here right when the storm was supposed to start. I’d say I did pretty well, not to toot my own horn or anything.”
Lightning managed a small smile of her own before pulling the cupcake off her snout and taking a bite, finding it to be chocolate cake with vanilla creme center.
“I… See. That’s pretty nice of you,” she said, eyes turning down towards the floor as she took a small sip of her punch.
“Sooo…. how’s the cupcake?” It should be a crime for one creature to be so incredibly cute, beaming as wide as Pinkie Pie did mere inches from Dusty’s own snout.
“It’s, uhm… Nice. I like it.” She rubbed the back of her neck and managed to return a small smile, before withdrawing back into herself, eyes falling back to her gilt shoes. As the silence stretched until becoming uncomfortable, Dusty idly scuffed the leading edge of her hoof against the wooden floor of the town hall.
“Oh look at how selfish I am, hogging the birthday mare. Now, Ditzy told me all about some of the things we should do for your birthday an- AWP!” She was cut off, as it was now the turquoise pegasus’ turn to grab Pinkie and squeeze her tightly, burying her wet face into the pink mare’s neck.
She let out a slow breath and patted Pinkie’s shoulder as she drew back, nodding a little bit, that small smile of hers spreading slightly. “I remember you, I think. You’re the friend that came to visit Dash at the Academy, right?”
Pinkie nodded and took a bite of her own cupcake. So far her plan to lift the mare Ditzy said always seemed depressed was working out. Or at least she was starting to open up, which was progress.
“Yeah… we saw you get reprimanded. I felt really bad about it and…” She stared as Dusty almost compulsively tugged a flask from her jacket and took a long pull from it.
“Look, Pinkie, I appreciate the gesture… but I don’t know these ponies. Don’t intend to either. I’m not planning on staying in Ponyville long. Until Ditzy gets tired of me or I fuck something else up.” She sighed and flicked her wing in a dismissive gesture, setting her cake and drink down and abruptly turning towards the door.
Pinkie’s protestations at her leaving fell on deaf ears. She reached after the turquoise pony as she slipped out into the blinding rain still falling outside. Rainbow Dash noticed her friend’s sadness, and moved to embrace her, whispering into her ears.
Dusty was still outside ten minutes, leaning on the railing and staring out at the main square. The rain hadn’t abated, so she was still stuck. The sounds of the party rumbling behind her made her ears twitch, her lips slowly curving down in a frown. One hoof absently dug in her saddlebag for her flask.
She didn’t notice when a white unicorn left the party and settled in beside her. Something cold and metallic nudged against her side, just under her wing. She took the flask and allowed her eyes to track sideways, meeting the icy blue eyes of a knock-down drag-out gorgeous mare who took Dusty’s breath away for a second.
It took Dusty several moments to realize a question had been asked her, the perfect lips of the other mare embracing an ebony parliament.
“She’s quite taken with you, you know,” The white pony shrugged as a lighter sparked to life, igniting the tip of a cigarette socketed into the long holder. “You’re the Wonderbolt, yes? Lightning Dust?”
Lightning simply shook her head and took a long sip from the flask that had been offered her, grimacing as the burn of bourbon cut her throat. She handed it back and cleared her throat, fanning her wings slightly and wincing as one of the bandages flexed.
“No ma’am. I have an honorary rank, but I’ve never made it through the Academy myself.”
The other pony seemed to know more than she let on, as she probed more deeply with her next statement.
“I was simply making small-talk, darling. Dash told all of us about you.” Her smile turned the warm butterflies in Dusty’s stomach to an acidic soup. Dash had no doubt informed them all of her disgrace. Her recklessness that had driven her from the Academy and lost her rank.
When Lightning didn’t respond, and looked away with disgust plainly painted on her muzzle, Rarity rested a hoof upon the turquoise pegasus’ shoulder.
“She thinks very highly of you. By the time she came home, all she could talk about was ‘Dusty this’ and ‘Dusty that’,” She covered her mouth with a hoof to stifle a girlish giggle that had Dusty’s stomach roll again. “We hadn’t been that fed up with her mouth since the time she got it into her head to become a superhero.”
Sitting in total rapture, Lightning took another deep pull off the flask and hoofed it back, tugging her cap from her head and tugging it between her forehooves for something to do. She felt quite like a fly trapped in the web of a spider.
“I suppose, now that Pinkie Pie has given you the official warm Ponyville welcome, I feel as though I should give you a reason to stay, after all.”
That was the final straw that broke Dusty’s resolve. She cleared her throat and slowly nodded, wordlessly following the curvy unicorn through the streets of Ponyville. The umbrella that they shared wasn’t quite big enough, so Lightning had to walk with her flank almost brushing the alabaster unicorn’s, with one wing draped over her withers.
Inside the town hall, the party was starting to wind down once they all realized that the guest of honor had ditched. Pinkie and Dash stood on the front steps, profusely apologizing and thanking everypony for coming. Pinkie stifled a sniffle as she trotted back inside to start cleaning up and organize the unopened presents, while Dash flashed off to lead the local weatherponies in busting up the rainstorm.
A pony not enjoying a Pinkie Pie party? This concept was utterly inconceivable to the pink pony. She resolved to bring the presents by Ditzy’s house in-pony and wait for the mare to return home. The only explanation that Pinkie could think of was that she was overwhelmed; Ditzy had said Dusty was really standoffish, and Dash had spoken of how Dust had really only gotten along or attempted to befriend her, and then grew distant after they’d all visited the Academy.
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