The bar was a dusty old place in the dregs of Cloudsdale. The wood paneling on the walls was moldy and peeling, scratches littered the tables, chairs, and stools, and the turquoise mare could've sworn she saw a rat skitter in the shadow of one of the room's corners. That was impressive considering that the bar was in a flying city made from clouds.
She sighed and took a long swig from her cider. It was gross, likely a little expired, but she couldn't afford much else and didn't care for anything better even if she could have. Her mood didn't call for anything fancy or smooth or even something that warmed her whole body. A lukewarm shitty cider was much more fitting.
The mug was emptied by the time she finished, her second so far as she set it down and wiped her muzzle with the back of her hoof. The night was still young and she had a lot more time to get smashed, but first the thoughts and memories she was trying to drown momentarily distracted the young athlete and she ran a hoof through her orange and yellow mane.
She'd been on top of the world. On the fast track to her dream, smashing through record books, and looking badass while doing it. Now she was a wreck and couldn't even remember the last time she showered. Her golden eyes had shone bright with a promising future of fame, fortune, recognition. Now they were dull and lifeless with no focus on anything in the physical world.
But betrayal stung hard and fast before even she could have time to comprehend it, let alone fight back. Her friend had pinned it all on her. As if the damned rainbow head hadn't agreed to do the tornado with only a moment of hesitation. As if she hadn't lost control too. As if it was her DAMN fault that some civilians that happened to be the Elements of Harmony decided to fly unannounced into Wonderbolt airspace in the slowest air vehicle in existence.
The Captain didn't even give her time to speak, she kicked her out at the word of the traitor just because she was some Element. Loyalty... Yeah right. The thought made her want to laugh and scoff at the same time. There wasn't a drop of loyalty in that mare, and now she was a bucking Wonderbolt. Welcome to the magical land of Equestria, hope you're a fan of hypocrisy and dreams being crushed.
She sighed as the anger drained from her body again and her wings drooped. Her head slumped to the table, her chin resting on the rough, cheap wood. She just didn't understand why, in the end. Sure she had been a bit overly reckless and screwed up, but why would her friend pin everything on her? They'd been so like minded, agreed on pretty much everything. They had never really argued, the traitor always seemed to agree with her after a moment for some reason. Had it all been a plot to set her up to fall?
It made sense, they were the only two that could really compete in the whole academy, the traitor probably wanted to remove that competition. Well it definitely worked, nopony ever believed her side of the story. If they were even willing to listen in the first place. Now she'd been blacklisted and she had nothing left. Well nothing but cheap rotten cider. Speaking of...
"Hey! Ge' me 'nother cider!" she ordered lazily without removing her head from the table. She only lifted her head when she heard the thunk of a full mug to drain a few gulps from it. After that her hoof clutched the mug like a lifeline while she but her head on her free hoof. Her thoughts drifted back once again to the death of her dream.
After everything that happened she had drifted around in search of a job. She occasionally found a job on a weather team in various cities but they never lasted long. Eventually news spread of the only pony to get dishonourably discharged from the Wonderbolt Academy in a week. A week. Such a pitiful length of time. After long enough of getting fired she gave up and returned to Cloudsdale, using what meager savings she had and money from her parents for a cheap apartment that probably gave her a disease or two and the cheap ciders that probably added five more diseases.
Her parents were understanding, too much to be frank. It had been months, one of the ponies she'd nearly killed, the idiot that piloted a balloon into Wonderbolt airspace, had become a princess of all things, and still she drowned herself in this disgusting bar.
She went to take a drink from her cider, but it was empty. She must have finished it without noticing. That was a sign to probably go back to her apartment and sleep before she woke up with jackhammers doing anal in her skull. She slid out of her seat and slammed the bits onto the table, she'd memorized the price quickly and knew what she owed. She wasn't that drunk yet so she managed to stumble out with a little wobble and fly back to her apartment without trouble.
Her arrival was without ceremony, nothing about the washed up 'Bolt had any ceremony left to it. She didn't notice something get stuck on her hoof after she locked the door and fumbled over to her bed where she fell face first onto the mattress and swiftly passed out. At least in her sleep she wasn't a failure.
Later she awoke with a groan, the morning sun burning her eyes through the window. She moved a hoof to shade her vision and frowned in confusion when she felt something that was stuck to her fur. More groans and grunts escaped from the blue-green former athlete as she forced herself to roll out of bed and deal with whatever had gotten stuck on her foreleg.
When she looked though she was surprised to see, of all things, a note. There was tape, whoever wrote it probably originally stuck it to her door. Somehow it had ended up on her instead. Her teeth grit and a growl vibrated her throat as the pegasus mare removed the note and tape along with some of her precious fur. The damn thing had better be worth it.
As she began to read though her golden eyes widened with shock. This couldn't be real. It had to be a fake. A prank. No, the hoofwriting was unmistakable even after all this time. A wide grin split her muzzle and soon the note was tossed into the air as the mare bolted to the shower. Fifteen minutes later it was thrown up again as she zipped out the door fast enough to toss up any papers. All that could be seen in the apartment as the note drifted back down to the ground was a fading contrail, turquoise with a gold and yellow jagged streak often compared to lightning.
Hope was restored in the mare thanks to that little piece of paper with a strip of tape at the top that sat discarded in her rundown apartment.
Hey Lightning Dust
Been awhile, huh? Sorry, I'm not great at this stuff, not super sure what to say. A friend of mine you might've heard of, Twilight Sparkle, she talks about forgiveness and second chances a lot. That got me thinking, about my days back in the academy. I realize now that I never gave you that, and neither did Spitfire. But... I talked to her. If you're interested I think I can get you back in, help teach you how to be a Wonderbolt instead of rejecting you for a mistake. Come talk to me back at the academy. I don't leave friends hanging, even old ones.
Rainbow Dash
Author's Note
Hey, thanks for reading my story. This is my first real attempt at this sort of thing and I kinda did it on a whim because of how little Lightning Dust stories there are, she's a very interesting character to explore so I wanted to try it. Please feel free to leave any constructive criticism, grammar tips, or in general anything to help me improve. I'd appreciate it.
