Chapters Rainbow Dash sighed in deep relief as she trotted happily back through the familiar streets of her beautiful home town, enjoying the warm crisp air of the last days of summer before fall rolled in.
That long trip with the Wonderbolt's had taken a great chunk out of her, and while being a part of the renowned and exalted flight team she had idolized fervently since her childhood, she was glad for it all to be over at long last so as to catch some rest with the five friends who had brought her to where she was now.
She might have been a famous star, but she still had them to thank for helping her realize her true potential. Especially Fluttershy, who despite their differences had really pulled through for her when it mattered and had come out of her shell countess times just to show her confidence in Dash.
Occasionally Dash wondered if Fluttershy would ever be properly accepted by other ponies. It was true that her filly-hood friend had gained a lot of reputation and self confidence ever since joining up with the other members of their group of friends, but sometimes she still seemed awfully troubled and soft on the inside still. Not helping matters was how now that Dash spent less and less time around Fluttershy with Wonderbolt duties getting in the way, it seemed that Fluttershy was once again becoming a scapegoat for abusive ponies looking to go out of their way for the sake of being a jerk to anyone they could. Anyone that is, who sadly couldn't find the guts to stand up for themselves the way Dash could.
Fluttershy had made great steps, Dash had to admit that. But it was times like these when Dash worried that when she had left Fluttesrhy to the care of the other ponies, that they were never able to understand her on the deep level that Dash did.
Fluttershy had known Dash far longer than she had known princess Twilight and the others. And there was not one pony who Fluttershy felt more comfortable around.
"I hope Flutters hasn't missed me too badly. I really hope she's still alright" thought Dash worriedly as she made it to the castle princess Twilight now owned as an Alicorn, and where Dash and her other closest friends were always welcome.
Still panting slightly from her long trip back, she walked up to the large door and knocked.
It wasn't long before the door was eagerly thrown open to reveal none other than the purple mare, who Celestia kept as a personal student and recently made another princess, much to the delight of her friends.
"Oh good, you're here." she eagerly said upon seeing the blue Pegasus "Please come in Rainbow Dash. We've got a special surprise for you."
"A surprise?" asked Rainbow Dash eagerly, and yet somewhat worriedly. Had she really been gone this long to justify a big celebration. "What kind of surprise?"
"The pony who planned the surprise for you told me to keep it a secret and for you to go and find out for yourself." was the reply. "She says you'll find it in a back room waiting for you."
Rainbow Dash nodded slowly, still trying to comprehend why this return to the old castle and meeting place she had always been welcome to, had warranted so great a celebration. Sure she knew she meant a lot to her friends, but even so this was a bit sudden and unexpected.
And why Twilight had not yet put a name on the planner of the surprise, was another curiosity. There were only four other ponies who could have organized this surprise, and this out of nowhere"Surprise" seemed out of left field for even Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie Pie was the most devoted party thrower at least in Ponyville, as well as the element of joy and laughter whose entire life was dedicated to making others smile and laugh with a well planned celebration but Rainbow Dash really had only been gone for 2 weeks. Her friends all knew where she would be going to, and none of them seemed that upset to see her go, so why did any pony see a need to welcome her back so fiercely.
Rainbow didn't have the answer and it was clear Twilight didn't either.
Clearly Twilight did not plan this event and if she knew who did, was not at all eager to reveal the identity of the planner to Dash.
"Are you sure you don't know who planned this surprise Twilight?" asked Dash, still puzzled. "I'm pretty sure Pinkie Pie would have at least told you if she was going to throw a party for me when I got back."
Twilight thought for a moment before replying, clearly taking time and care to choose her words. "It might be better if you find out for yourself who threw the surprise. They told me not to reveal their name to you."
Dash shook her head, still trying to figure out what this all meant. From those few words alone, she could deduce that it wasn't any of her five immediate close friends who seemed eager to surprise and welcome her, since Twilight would surely have no problem revealing their identity to Dash if it really was one of them.
That was of course unless Fluttershy, who by now probably badly missed Dash (poor girl) was so joyful to see her back that she had consulted Pinkie Pie on the best way to make Dash feel welcome again and Pinkie Pie had given the shy and timid yellow mare some pointers.
Dash vowed to herself that she would find Fluttesrhy later to comfort her and applaud her efforts, however the surprise turned out.
"Where is the surprise then?" asked Dash after some thought. She was determined to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible so she could go and take some time with her friends who had probably gone out for the day.
"It's upstairs, through the left corridor and on the third door to the right." explained Twilight, pointing the the staircase that led to the upper floors of the gigantic castle. "Why don't you go and check it out while I go back to the library. I have a lot of books today that still need sorting, but come back and find me again if you need anything." And Twilight slowly turned and left.
Now by herself once again, Dash wearily climbed the steps to the next floor ,giving her weary wings a rest after so much flying had exhausted them out. Everything seemed eerily quiet as Dash followed Twilight's directions to the door in question.
"I wonder what all this could be?" the blue coated mare wondered as she cautiously opened the door and stepped inside.
The room was a homely bedroom, a well made bed in one corner and a intricately crafted wardrobe in another.
A pile of presents adorned the east wall by a window, and a gigantic piece of paper had been stuck onto the back wall.
"Welcome home, partner. Hope you like the presents." had been neatly written onto the paper in blue paint.
A gigantic Rainbow had also been drawn atop the writing, emphasizing that Rainbow Dash and no other pony was the one coming home.
Rainbow Dash stood fixated by all of this adulation, until she spotted a large blue envelope on the nondescript bed.
The envelope which had been stacked against a large pillow to make it all the more noticeable to the eye was soon shredded open. A neatly folded letter was soon discovered inside.
"Dear Dash." it read. "Congratulations on finally passing Spitfire and becoming a Wonderbolt. I knew you could do it from the moment I first saw you in action, soaring at top speed the way you did. I was sure you wouldn't let me down and even though I never got to see you as much as I would have liked, I'm sure you passed many complicated tests to get to where you are now. Your friend Fluttershy even told me that you did something we all thought was nothing more than an old mare's tale. The sonic Rainboom. She told me you managed to pull it off successfully twice. Once when you were a filly, and then once again when you went to the best young flyer's competition. You wowed the Wonderbolt's with your spectacular performance Fluttershy said, and put those nasty bullies back in their rightful place. Good on you partner.
It was signed "An old friend.".
"Clearly this is some hardcore fan of the heroic thing I've done" sighed Dash happily, taking a while to bask in the compliments she had just read about herself, still wondering why Twilight had let them use this room though.
But who cared when there were all these wonderful presents to get through first. That pile really was simply exciting to even look at, Dash thought as she rushed to the stack of boxes and unwrapped a small box on top of a pile of bigger ones first.
"Rainbow Dash is cool." Read the label on top of the box, which opened to reveal a small stack of Daring Do books. Three daring do books, which Dash had not even heard about, and which each looked far more shiny than any novel from the series before.
"Well this pony really knows me, huh" thought Dash, as she made a mental note to catch up on the three books she had been missing out on for who knew how long.
She unraveled another larger box, which was labelled "Rainbow Dash is epic." This one contained a box of chocolates, each one sprinkled with just the right amount of icing.
"In Rainbow Dash I trust." said the next present, this one containing a large box of cuddly plushies. Expensive and incredibly soft ones that was, which Rainbow Dash secretly struggled to sleep without, much to her own embarrassment.
The biggest box came next, this was stating "Rainbow Dash I love." had a purple robe. Simply touching the well made cotton, made Rainbow Dash feel sleepy. Much better than the old one which was getting tighter and tighter by now for some reason.
There was just one more present now. Quite small and placed in a well obscured corner where it would not easily be seen.
"So far whoever this pony is, they really know how to welcome a awesome hero like me." thought Dash, not caring anymore why Twilight had let a stranger into the castle anymore. "We'd probably be good friends if we met. Especially after they've gotten me all this stuff."
Rainbow ignored the ornately iced cake on a table which was sprinkled with the words "Rainbow Dash rules." and the delicious looking bottle of apple cider by its side. The very cider Dash would go to the furthest corner of the earth to find in case all of Applejack's apple trees burned down one day. She was much more interested in finding out what the last present had to offer.
"Prepare to be surprised like never before." it read, much to Dash's confusion and the present inside the box turned out to be much smaller than the box itself.
A tiny music box, colorful but otherwise very plain.
"That's odd." she said out loud. "If this pony knows the other things I like, then they should also know I hate quiet, gentle music like music boxes."
But curiosity had seized hold of the Wonderbolt pony, and she found herself unable to resist as she very reluctantly gave the box a wind.
Who knew, maybe it wouldn't turn out to be some silly lullaby but would actually be a good song that she could happily dance to. This pony did seem to know Dash very well after all.
The angelic sound of the beloved song Dash had loved since the day she heard it in a concert her parents had forced her to go to against her will, came from the box at exactly the right tone and volume.
The song Dash would have given all she was worth just to have the chance of hearing it one more time. The tune she had searched for endlessly since that day which she thought would be just another boring symphony being played by a sub par band with no sense in taste, which had instead played a sound of heaven which inspired her to feel empowered in a way she never had before. She looked all over cloudsdale for any pony who just happened to know where she could hear it once more, but no pony could give her any help.
But here it was again. The toreador march. The tune Dash always played in her mind, when she felt sad or scared to bring her back to her usual bubbly self once more.
It played, only sounding better and better with each time it played again.
The only thing that prevented Dash from truly being completely blissful in that one moment, was the wardrobe door slowly creaking open.
It slowly crept open and a very faint light slowly emanated from within the darkness, revealing only two eyes and a creepy grin which seemed to observe Dash's every movement.
And gradually as Dash slowly managed to turn to face the wardrobe which by now was wide open, she could not help but freeze as an unexplained fear gripped hold of her very soul and the music box which slowly began to unwound, began to stop playing the beautiful song.
Leaving the room completely silent as Dash almost bit out her tongue watching the two eyes and mouth, praying silently to Celestia that whatver happened next would not cause her to regret her trust in the kind stranger who seemed so nice at first, even if they had never actually met.
Dash might as well have been praying to a stone statue outside Celestia's palace, for all the good that did.
Author's Note
Thank you everyone for reading. This story is a desperate attempt to improve on the characterizations and writing skills that I've been struggling with beforehand, as well as to an extent an attempt to start over from the many offensive and bad stories I've sadly written and published about MLP before now.
Dash rolled her eyes. It was clear that despite her initial surprise and enthusiasm were rapidly cooling.
"You're not my friend." she responded coldly, staring her former partner coldly in the face. "You put my friends in serious danger and after that, I stopped trusting you."
"You're not surprised to see me here then. I guess." the yellow maned pony sighed, nervously flapping her wings.
"I'm surprised" retorted Dash angrily. "Not in a good way."
"You don't like the welcome party I threw for you then. Partner? I'm sorry." the voice sounded far from arrogant or offended. If anything it was a lot like the apologetic tone Fluttershy used when she was being needlessly regretful for a mistake she played next to no part in.
But Dash was not convinced. She knew this pony well, and she knew this pony wasn't to be trusted. The best surprise party and stack of presents in the whole wide world were not worth having, when they came from a pony so untrustworthy and reckless.
"No." she responded, shaking her head "Not really. The presents are nice, but I still don't trust you I'm afraid. You really let me down back at Wonderbolt's academy, and last I saw of you Spitfire kicked you out for being a bad Wonderbolt. If Spitfire can't trust you, how can I?"
"i can see that you're still..." but before she could finish her sentence, Dash cut the other pony off.
Dash changed the subject. "You should know that I'm the element of loyalty by now. If you don't, then now you do. You should realize that just showing up without even asking me if you could, isn't exactly the best way to show you're sorry Lightning Dust."
The pony known as Lightning Dust nodded regretfully.
"But first tell me. How did you find me here? How in the hay, did my friends let you in so easily after what you did to them?"
She expected two kinds of response from her old rival in that instant.
What she did not and could not have anticipated was yet another surprise on a day where she had already seen too many surprises to expect anything to amaze her any more.
But what came next was somehow able to get Rainbow to reel in amazement once again as a tornado of thoughts began to quickly whirl in her mind, causing her to feel almost dizzy.
"You would be right not to trust me again partner." admitted Lightning Dust, clearly not at all fazed by Dash's brash demeanor "After what I did, you have every right to feel that way."
Once again Dash's blood froze to ice as she stood mesmerized by an unknown force she could make no guess to. Lightning Dust's words in the next second made her feel as if some pony had stuck a knife deep into her flesh.
"Sometimes I even feel I don't trust myself anymore." continued Lightning Dust, keeping her eyes fixed on Dash all the while.
Dash stayed silent, unable to form words to reply to that.
Lightning took this as a cue to keep explaining. "After Spitfire had me kicked from the academy..."
She pulled herself back together soon enough much to Dash's chagrin. "Let's not talk about what happened after that."
Dash didn't know whether to feel sympathy for what had clearly not been a pleasant experience for Dust, or more distrust that a pony trying to gain back the trust from Dash she had lost was now withholding more information and trying to put on a ruse to illicit pity.
So she only grunted in acknowledgement and gestured for her partner to continue her story.
"Your friend found me. Hungry, cold and injured one day, she found me and decided to help me despite knowing me well."
Rainbow Dash didn't buy the "cold and injured" part of that sentence one bit. But she did wonder which of her friends would be silly enough to fall for Lightning's act after being a witness themselves of what she was capable of.
Applejack certainly didn't seem like the type to quickly forgive, and Twilight was clearly book learned enough so that even the most conniving con artists would have trouble even tricking her slightly. She had been the first pony after all to realize that something was not right with the false Cadence back in that Changeling situation in Canterlot.
"She saved me." said Lightning, clearly close to tears even as she spoke those words "She took me back to her cottage and took care of me until I was better. She fed me. She sat at my bed side and she told me that she forgave me for everything I did."
Rainbow Dash did not need to ask which pony that had to be. She had been with her friends long enough to know that only one of them owned a cottage, and by pure coincidence that was the only one who would be naive and gullible enough to believe Dust's evil lies. But she kept her thoughts for herself for the moment in the hope of gleaning more from whatever parts of the story Dust had yet to get to.
She could have bet her rank as full time Wonderbolt which she had worked all her life to earn, that every word that came from Lightning Dust's mouth was a filthy lie made to deceive her.
From her past experience with even seemingly trustworthy and reputable ponies like Wind Rider turning out to be another fraud caring only about personal gain, she knew that any story that sounded too sincere was just as doubtful as one that was made without any feeling at all.
Lightning Dust sounded sweet and indeed very honest from the way she looked straight at Rainbow when she spoke, and how she never once tripped over her words. But silver tongued deceivers were as much a common sight in Rainbow's line of work as a protector of Equestria, as bad liars.
"That friendly pony told me that it was alright. That she thought I was a good pony despite all I had done both at the Wonderbolts academy that time, and back at flight school when we were a lot younger. She..."
"Stop" barked Dash, bringing Dust to a dead stop. So far what Dust had been saying already made no sense but that detail there really took the cake.
"I don't believe that. If Fluttershy did know you from back then, she would have told me. And she never once mentioned anything about you Lightning Dust. I think you should stop lying now." insisted Dash, carefully studying Lightning's expression for any sign that she was trying to make up all these details on the spot.
Dust was clearly taken aback by Dash's accusation, and visibly shrank back. Though when she did speak again, her voice was still mild and quite, while yet still as clear and unbroken as it had been throughout this entire less than amiable conversation.
"Yes. I did know a pony called Fluttershy back in flight school when I was younger. She was quite nice compared to the other ponies there actually, and though we never really spoke or got to know each other better, I always sort of wished I could have been her friend and helped her out with her problems."
"What problems were those and how could you have helped?" demanded Dash, deciding to humor Lightning for the moment and to give her a fighting chance of at least making her clearly fake tale look at least somewhat plausible.
Rainbow was more than expected to be met with silence or a change of subject from Dust, now that she believed that she had finally trapped her in a corner from which there was no escape. This was the best way to find out whether a pony really believed in what they were saying.
What she could not have anticipated was for quiet yet dangerous rage to enter Dust's otherwise calm and soft tones. The first signs of anger that Dust had expressed thus far.
"So you didn't know that Fluttershy was bullied and picked on very badly during Flight school?" asked Dust in response to Rainbow's question "You as Fluttershy's closest friend did not realize that a lot of the other ponies loved to make fun of Fluttershy simply because she couldn't fly well and because she was too nice of a pony to try and defend herself."
Rainbow Dash's hard eyes softened a little at that. Clearly Lightning's story at least held some grain of truth after all, though she doubted it was much.
Lightning was more than correct when she mentioned the bullying. And Fluttesrhy had confided in Dash about the bullying no grown pony listened to her about.
"So why didn't you help then?" asked Dash. She had to know if any more of Lightning's narrative held any sense, and from her past experiences with the many enemies she had to deal with, she had learned that nonstop interrogation was the best way to parse truth tellers from liars.
It was how Pinkie Pie had dealt with an obviously hiding Applejack who had failed after all to win the rodeo and bring back the prize money the town counted on her to win, among many other past experiences.
Lightning Dust took a brief moment to bow in shame as she surveyed the ground and sighed.
Then she looked back up again, her expression far more taciturn and serious this time despite the clear regret she still held.
"You have friends, a reputation and in general a good life." she said, choosing her words carefully. "So do most of your friends, Dash. Especially princess Twilight. What are the odds after all that Celestia would just pick any lucky pony from off the street to study under her wing."
"How is that relevant to anything?"
Dust looked at the doorway briefly to check it was still empty. It was clear she wanted Dash and Dash alone to hear what she said next.
"As long as you have a good life, you really can't complain about anything and..."
"Cut to the chase. What exactly are you implying here?"
"Ponies like me and Starlight" here Lightning's voice broke briefly "Ponies like me and Starlight, don't have good lives. To put it simply Dash, the flight school me was nothing like the one you saw in the Wonderbolt academy."
Dash had to give credit. Unless Dust was very good at acting, she was beginning to sound more and more convincing. Convincing enough, that Dash would consider trying to believe and even to empathize with who she previously thought was nothing more than another remorseless and selfish bully concerned only about showing off and self gain.
But she quickly forced those feelings out of her mind as she remembered the gigantic tornado that very nearly took out her friends, and could indeed have gone on to cause much more catastrophic damage if she was less fortunate.
"I heard about you first when you did the sonic Rainboom in a race. You were already Wonderbolt material and a great flyer even then. I wasn't." Dust smiled at Dash approvingly.
"What do you mean?"
"I could barely lift myself off the ground by the time everyone started talking about you as the best flyer in Cloudsdale. It wasn't until much later that I got a fraction as good as you were by then."
Dash closed her eyes in deep thought. This conversation had gone on far longer than she had anticipated and she needed time to mull over everything she had just learned.
What she thought would be a simple "go away" to her old rival to get her out of the scene the moment this talk began had instead turned into a convoluted and detailed confession where despite all her expectations, Lightning had shown not one bit of malice as she described in ever more complex detail the events that had led up to this meeting.
Many of these details, Dash had never thought Lightning would be comfortable admitting to. If there was one thing Dash had grown to respect, it was that Dust was clearly putting all her cards on the table.
Whether it was because she really did feel sorry for the tornado incident, that was yet to be determined.
Yet one looming question still remained.
What was Lightning Dust still doing here. And why did she seem so anxious to get back into Rainbow Dash's good side when it was Rainbow Dash who grassed Lightning up to Spitfire.
Author's Note
Thanks once more for reading. I'm sorry the last chapter was a bit short and pointless but I accidentally hit the publish button when I didn't to and after some thought, I decided just to leave it as a cliffhanger episode since changing it would take too much work. I hope you like the story so far. I know I'm not a very good writer, but I do my best.
However I would now like to hear your thoughts. What do you think Dust's true motives for returning are? Do you think that Dust is genuinely regretful or really just pretending? I would now like to hear your opinions in the comments below.
Rainbow Dash knew what this was. She had been to enough of Pinkie Pie's crazy parties to know that this was one of her oldest tricks in the book. But that did not make what she knew was bound to ensue seem any less frightening, as she stood shivering in the silent room, teeth clenched tightly in anticipation and heart racing at a speed that would put even the sonic Rainboom to shame.
She knew it was coming, she just didn't know when and that was what made it so intimidating.
Her teeth clattered as the light in the closet dimmed, and closed her eyes as she braced herself.
She prayed for it to be over quickly.
Closing her eyes turned out to be a great mistake, as a loud ear piercing shriek which seemed to rock her very world shattered the silence.
Pinkie Pie had clearly trained this pony well in the trade of how to put the word "surprise" in a surprise party. That was one compliment Dash could offer to the other pony who she could now tell was in the room with her, despite her eyes still being tightly shut.
"Surprise. And welcome home partner." came a quiet and pained mutter. A voice Dash could swear she heard somewhere before but couldn't quite put her hoof on.
"I'm sorry if I went too far with that surprise. But your friend Pinkie told me you loved loud surprises. I didn't mean to scare you all that much." came the voice again.
Finally beginning to pull herself back together, Dash allowed her eyelids to creep open a tiny fraction.
She wished that she had kept them shut, forever and ever if it meant never having to see what she now saw standing in front of her. She certainly was surprised, but not in a good way.
A beautiful mare about the same height and build as herself stood nervously in front of her, eyeing her with concern.
The emotion on the stranger's face, a frown it was but a very attractive one.
Dash's last thoughts about having anything to do with the supposedly kind stranger who threw such a great welcome party, were gone in that instant.