never underestimate the kind ones
“Do you think this will be a suitable punishment for her?”
“Given how she treated me when she joined, yes.”
“How can you get her to come here?”
“I just need her to act out 1 more time to see if she really wants to keep her position or not. After that, we can determine her fate…”
Misty was in her castle up in CloudsDale.
It’s walls were sculpted out of crystallised clouds that were light enough to float above the city.
The blank flanked alicorn looked around her halls, looking for ways to make it more appealing to the Pegasi folk. Her ears folded back as she tried to think of ways to spruce up the place, before she heard a loud banging on the door of the room she was in, which was the castle library.
“Come on in!” The princess called out, her voice was soft and sweet, almost comforting, and it echoed elegantly throughout the room.
One of her guards walked in, it was a bright green pegasus with golden armour, and small white tufts on the top.
The guard bowed to the princess before standing up straight to give what he had to say.
“Ah! General Ascaron! How can I help you?” The princess addressed the green pegasus as she walked forward, standing over him in a very elegant fashion, her water mane flowing freely down to the ground, though no puddle ever formed at her hooves.
The guard took off his helmet, holding it to his chest, he seemed almost nervous as he opened his mouth, trying to find his words.
The alicorn sympathised with the pegasus and put a comforting hoof on his shoulder. Speaking up once more in a reassuring manner.
“Its alright General, take your time”
This put the guard at ease, as he put his helmet back on his head. After a few more moments, he managed to find his words and speak up.
“Your highness, there is one of my guards that wishes to have a word with you. She has a few concerns regarding your… Behaviour?”
The guard’s voice lowered a bit as he finished his sentence, almost as if he was expected to be scolded for what he just said.
The princess simply raised her eyebrow and nodded, smiling softly as she stood up straight, spreading her wings to give a command.
“Have her meet me in the castle dining room, we can discuss it over a nice hot drink”
The guard nodded and walked away after giving a 2nd bow, closing the door behind him with his wing.
Princess Misty made her way to the castle’s dining room, asking one of the chefs to set up a simple tea set.
A few minutes passed by and the chef brought out a tray with a filled teapot, and 2 teacups. There was also a small tray of sweet treats, like little cupcakes and cookies. The princess thanked the chef and let him help himself to one of the sweet treats before returning to the kitchen.
The princess poured herself a cup of herbal tea, and took a sip as the guard walked into the room that Ascaron mentioned.
“Ah, Lightning Dust. Come on in, I just got some tea and sweet treats made for us while we have our little chat. I hope you don't mind.”
“Of course not your highness.”
Lightning dust spoke with her usual scratchy voice, while taking off her helmet and walked over to the table, sitting opposite the princess, who poured her a cup. The pegasus thanked Misty before taking a sip and clearing her throat to begin addressing the situation. As Lightening dust did this, Misty turned her head to see a small group of guards standing in the doorway, they were guarding the room, but it seems like they were also listening in. She couldn't blame them, any guard would be curious about a talk like this.
“So, your highness” Lightning Dust began.
“With all due respect… I believe that you should really begin to take certain situations more seriously. Whenever you’re in meetings, you’re always so cheerful and giddy, when meetings like this are serious. You need to take things into consideration.”
The turquoise pegasus put her hooves on the table to speak to the princess, who seemed unphased with how, to the point Lightning Dust was being.
Princess Misty lowered her cup gently and leaned forward to the female guard, narrowing her eyes. Her tone became a lot more serious, and low pitched, seeming almost annoyed at what she was just told.
“If you must know, I do take all my meetings, greetings and formal events very seriously, and all the news I receive is very heavy. But I keep a smile on my face and make sure that no pony worries about me, while I attend to my royal duties. Do you understand Miss Dust?”
Lightning dust stood her ground, getting closer to Princess Misty and raising her voice, leaving hoofprints on the crystal table as she did so.
“Well it sure seems like a tough job. With how airheaded you must be, even I could run Cloudsdale if I was an alicorn. You don't seem very fit to be princess of this kingdom, if all you’re going to do is pretend like nothing’s wrong. Who cares if you’re kind, noone! You need to be assertive and–” She was cut off by Misty lifting her hoof.
“As much as I appreciate the lecture Lightning Dust, I'd rather not have you shouting in my face about how to do my own job. I run this kingdom with the purpose of being as kind as i can to others, making them feel welcomed and appreciated.” Misty tried to explain more, but Lightning Dust spoke up again, cutting her off.
“But who cares about that?! You’re a princess! And as far as i can see, a very boring one at that. It's almost insulting to have you as our princess. You’re never going to be able to protect us if you welcome the enemy in with open hooves! You’re an idiot!”
Lightning Dust shouted at the princess, which only aggravated her more. Lightning stomped her hooves onto the table, causing the tea to spill, and cracks to form in the table.
Misty sat there in silence for a moment, her ears folded back, before her horn lit up with her navy blue magic, taking Lightning Dust’s helmet and armour off of her, and handing her an empty briefcase.
“Lightning Dust I do not appreciate how much disrespect you have for royalty. You were hired into this guard to make a positive change. But it seems like i've hired the wrong kind of lady. Lightning dust you are hereby Honourably discharged from the royal guard. Please go to the guard’s dorms and pack your things, and go home. That is an order…”
Misty spoke in her princess voice as she said this, her bellowing voice echoing throughout the castle, causing many of the other guards to hear her.
The turquoise pegasus growled and left the room, but not without bucking the princess in her front legs, causing her to fall down onto her knees a bit.
Once she was gone, 2 guards rushed in to help Misty to her hooves. She thanked them and sent them back to their post, before she made her way to her bedroom.
About a week had passed since the incident, and the Princess had asked for 2 guards to retrieve Lightning Dust and bring her to the castle.
Misty stood outside of the entrance to the castle, the guards bowing to her before leaving herself and Lightning Dust alone.
“Lightning Dust i want you to know that i have taken our talk into consideration. I'm not going to allow you back into the guard, but I have a new opportunity for you. If you would be so kind as to follow me…”
Misty’s tone didn't change from before, it was still low and almost intimidating, the turquoise Pegasus reluctantly followed the princess through town, hearing distant calls out of greetings and young pegasi waving to the princess as she flew over the towns. Misty of course waved back to them all as they passed, causing Lightning Dust to roll her eyes.
The 2 ponies flew by all of the towns, past the weather factory, and far out of town, much to Lightning’s confusion.
They went to a large factory with a large rainbow coming out of the top. There was the sound of grinding gears and steam being released from inside, and Misty landed at the entrance. She spoke up once more.
“This is the Rainbow Factory. It's another branch of the Weather factory, as they did not have the space in cloudsdale to make them there. So they built another factory here outside of town, so it was out of the way.”
Misty opened the door and Lightning followed, the doors shut and locked behind them. The main lobby, if you can call it that, was very dark in colour, the walls were lined with many, many different photos of staff, the decoration was fairly difficult to understand, there was a shelf unit with many rewards on it, potted plants in the corners of the room. In the centre was a large pillar, with the colours of the rainbow on it, almost as if it was there in a failed attempt to make the room look nice. But upon closer inspection, it was actually a large glass tube of liquid rainbow, ready to be sent out into the skies of Equestria.
Lightning was impressed with the centrepiece. But she continued to follow the princess, before she came face to face with… Rainbow Dash? The blue pegasus had an official Rainbow Factory uniform on, with many multicoloured stains on it, probably from making Rainbows.
“Welcome back Princess Misty” Rainbow Dash said, bowing to the princess before looking at Lightning, a small grin spreading across her face.
“Is this the new pony you mentioned?”
“Yes it is, I believe she will be a great attribute to your rainbows.” Misty explained, giving Lightning a wink before turning back to Rainbow Dash.
The blue pegasus gave a chuckle and a dismissive wave.
“Aw shucks, you know what they say, only the best for cloudsdale!”
Rainbow then led the pair deeper into the factory. There were large containment units that had a tube at the bottom of them, almost like an automated tap. It would occasionally release small amounts of neon rainbow colours into smaller containers, ready to be processed into actual rainbows.
The room also had a very dark decor to it, still having nice looking potted plants, with small units with staff photos on each one. There were conveyor belts on each side of the room, all moving some kind of red material into a waste disposal unit. But what was it? Lightning couldn't tell from so far away, as she followed Rainbow and Misty up the stairs.
The ceiling consisted of a giant spider's web of pipes, each one having a different neon colour in it. The joints gave the occasional hiss as the liquid moved through them.
The giant container units gave hisses of their own, but they were deeper. The room was filled with chatter from staff, the occasional chuckle could be heard, as well as the clinking of glasses as staff drank water in the open break room.
Once they reached the top of the stairs, Misty stopped Lightning with her front hoof, showing that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were standing in front of them.
“So why am I here again? And why do you need a separate factory only for rainbows?” Lightning asked, with visible confusion on her face.
“Oh, well that information we can't disclose, in case you ever leave this place. But, i'm sure you’ll find out sooner or later.” The yellow pegasus spoke up before giving a sinister smirk, Rainbow Dash responded with a sinister grin of her own. They shook lightning to her core.
The turquoise pegasus attempted to fly away, but Misty nonchalantly held her wings shut with her magic, causing them to freeze over in a thick layer of ice.
“I may only have elemental magic Miss Dust, but that doesn't mean I wont use it on my own residents…” The princess spoke in an intimidatingly scary tone.
Lightning Dust began to panic, as the blue and yellow pegasi began to advance on her, lifting her up with relative ease. With quick movements, lightning was quickly secured down on some kind of machine, in a large star shape. Fluttershy secured additional metal straps around her waist and chest, leaving her stomach fully exposed and immobile. Rainbow gave a small chuckle as she strapped Lightning’s head down straight.
The turquoise pegasus began to tear up as she tried to look around for anything that was happening. Before it hit her, the stench of old blood and guts filled her lungs, causing her to cough, and her fear to build. That's why Pegasi never returned after being fired from the royal guard. They were sent here for the use of rainbows!
Misty’s magic lit up the dimly lit section of the room, pulling a red leaver, and the machine Lightning was currently strapped into, came to life. A large metallic arm extended out of the top, with an almost comically oversized needle on the end. The machine aimed the needle against the centre of Lightning’s stomach.
The pegasus attempted to cry out for help, but it was blocked out with the psychotic laughter of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. They were laughing at her attempts at calling for help. Before the rest of the factory staff erupted in laughter also.
They were too far away from Cloudsdale to be heard by anyone. She was doomed.
The machine gave a loud beeping noise before it plunged the needle into Lightning’s stomach. The poor pegasus let out a scream of agony as blood flowed from the puncture wound. The glass container of the needle began to fill up with Lightning’s fur colour, causing the pegasus’s colour to fade, slowly going fully grey, as if she were corrupted by Discord’s magic.
Her eyes began to close as blood continued to flow from her at a rapid pace, a large crimson puddle forming on the ground beneath her back hooves. Whatever life Lightning had in her, allowed her to keep her eyes open, locking eyes with the princess as the needle continued to fill with her colour.
The needle was suddenly ripped out by the machine, spraying blood all over herself and Princess Misty, who did not flinch when the warm life source landed on her face and chest.
The giant gash in Lightning’s stomach sprayed blood in all directions, exposing her organs and ribs as lightning continued to scream in agony, it was all she could do as her life soon faded from her body.
Misty’s horn lit up once more, pulling the pegasus’s body from the machine, looking over at the neon green container as the needle released the greenish colour into it.
She put the greyed out body over her back, not caring that the blood stained her wings, putting it onto the conveyor belt, watching as it passed each staff member’s unit, seeing a hatchet swing down, cutting the body into separate parts. Each pony giving a guttural grunt as they swung down, guess she wasn't the only one who lightning disrespected.
Princess Misty gave a satisfied sigh before turning to Rainbow and Fluttershy, who offered her a key to the staff’s shower room to wash off. Which she thankfully accepted.
After she was done washing up, she thanked the 2 pegasi for their services, and left the building to attend to her royal duties. Besides, she had a meeting with Twilight sparkle later that day.
“Oh dear… Lightning Dust was fired from your guard? That's terrible, I do hope she’s doing ok.” Princess Twilight exclaimed as she lifted her cup of tea.
“It's alright Miss Sparkle, I can assure you she has found an amazing job elsewhere, outside of town! She’s doing remarkably for her first week on the job.” Misty explained as she took a sip of her tea, discreetly using it as a chance to wipe a spot of blood off of her muzzle.
