One More Shot
By The Rated Ponystar
Edited by: Clavier and Mr. Minimii
Artwork done by: Zemious
***
I filled up the glass for what had to have been the sixth time tonight for my favorite patron, and I use the term loosely. She had been coming every night for the past seven months to my bar, carrying bits to waste. I wasn’t one to turn away a paying customer and, besides, she wasn’t that bad looking either. Pegasus, just like me, with a light amber mane that was combed back and a light opal coat that reminds me of a pond I once visited with my ex-marefriend. I think it was also the same one where she dumped me, literally. Other than her name, I knew only some bits about her life. She had no job and was living on her deceased parents income. Never bothered asking her how they died, figured it wasn’t my place. One thing about her that I did know was that she loved to bluster on about the ‘injustices’ in her life. Usually, cursing how she could have been a Wonderbolt, of all things, and that it wasn’t fair that she was left to rot in this hellhole of a bar.
Not the most imaginative story I’ve ever heard, but not a bad one, either.
Some tried to help her, become her 'knight in shining armor' as it were, while others just tried to shut her up. Despite her rude attitude, I couldn’t help but pity her. Sometimes I’d let her have a free drink once and awhile, or call a cab if she was too drunk to fly one.
“Another,” Lightning Dust demanded, slamming her glass on the counter. I sighed and obeyed, filling it for the seventh time. Glancing around my empty bar, I try to listen to the radio nearby, but my favorite drinker is already starting up on one of her rants.
“Damn, Spitfire…,” she muttered, eyes filled with rage. “I was the best. I proved it. Then she just turns heel and tells me to either fix my attitude or get the buck out. And you know what I did?”
Although I knew the answer, I shook my head just to humor her.
“I told her that I should be lead pony! Not like that prissy, backstabbing Rainbow Dash! So what if I wasn’t a ‘team player’, and so what if a few ponies almost got hurt, they made it out alright!” She gulped her drink down whole before throwing the glass against the wall. Oh, I am so charging her extra for that. “Well that wasn’t the smart thing to say to Ms. Buttfire! She tells me I’m on suspension and that she’ll be reevaluating me to see if I have what it takes to even stay at the academy! Well, I wasn’t gonna take that so I just bucking quit! Hay, I don’t need them… I don’t need anypony.”
The tear dripping down her cheek spoke differently. Just as I reached for a replacement glass, the entrance bell rings like music to my ears. Finally, another customer. Hopefully, this one would be more entertaining than ‘Dunky Dusty’ here. I turned around; ready to greet them with a smile, but instead I let out a silent gasp. I couldn’t believe it. It was one of them. I rubbed my eyes to see if I was dreaming but upon seeing the yellow and blue spandex pegasus I realized that it wasn’t a dream. My eyes turned to the winged lightning bolt sigil on the flanks that stood in place of the pony’s cutie mark and felt my inner child screaming inside. It’s a wonder I wasn’t bouncing off the ways at that point. After all, no pegasus grew up not idolizing The Wonderbolts, and now here was one of them in my very establishment.
Her mane was amazing. It was like a rainbow, with every color lined up in order. It was so bright and wild; it was like looking into the fire of the sun itself. Princess Celestia’s mane could only rival such wonder. I tried to say something, but words failed me.
The Wonderbolt calmly walked towards the counter and sat on one of the stools. “You got cider?”
I nodded. Good think I restocked last weekend.
“Give me a glass.”
I nodded again and grabbed a fresh bottle of Sweet Apple Acres Apple Cider. I poured the drink and gave it to the rainbow-manned Wonderbolt, who took a sip and smiled. “Applejack’s harvest must have been really good this year.”
I say nothing, just stand and watch her drink like it was the most glorious thing on earth. I must have looked like an idiot the way I kept ogling at her. My fascination is interrupted by groan, reminding me that I still have another customer. One who’s not only intoxicated, but hates The Wonderbolts with a passion. I started to wonder why I didn’t have a bouncer to kick ponies out. If Lighting Dust went on one of her rants again—in the presence of a Wonderbolt, no less—I could see my bar’s reputation going down the toilet. Granted, it doesn’t have much of a reputation to begin with, but even so.
She looked up towards the newcomer, blinked her eyes a few times. “I must be really drunk. I’m hallucinating.”
The Wonderbolt chuckled. “Sorry, Lightning Dust, but I’m as real as the hangover you’re going to have in the morning.”
Lightning Dust shot up and stared at the Wonderbolt, turning pale as a ghost. Just like I acted before, she opened her mouth a few times, but nothing came out. Finally, she glared at the Wonderbolt and hissed,” What the hay are you doing here, Rainbow Dash?!”
My eyes widened. They knew each other? I thought back to her previous rant and realized this was the one. The one she blamed for her misfortune. I didn’t know what to be more surprised of first: the fact that Lighting Dash was telling the truth in her tales, or the fact that they were meeting now after all these months.
The now-named Wonderbolt put down her empty glass and stared at Lightning Dust firmly eye to eye. “I’m here for you.”
Lightning Dust snorted. “What? So you can brag about how I bucked up and you became a Wonderbolt? Go ahead, it’s not like you can do much else to me,” she growled in frustration, closing her eyes so hard I thought for was sure they would bleed. “My dream is gone. My heroes hate me. And now I’m just a drunk loser. All because of you!”
“You brought this on yourself,” Rainbow Dash explained, casually. “You’re the one who quit.”
“I was going to get expelled anyway. Might as well get a head start,” Lightning Dust mumbled, flopping her head to the table. She turned to me and ordered another drink.
Before I could pour, Rainbow Dash held her hoof and shook her head. Not wanting to get involved further, I obey and step back. Dash put her hoof on Lighting’s shoulder and sighed. “Do you know why you got in trouble?”
“Because I hurt your poor little wing?” Lightning mocked, her tone similar to that of a spoiled, rich brat. I was starting to wonder if I should say something, like tell her to respect their celebrity guest more. I could have just kick her out completely, banning her from ever entering again. It wasn’t like there weren’t other ponies who didn’t come here. Instead, I decided to stay silent and watch the conversation continue.
“Because you were becoming a risk to everypony,” Rainbow Dash answered. “I can handle getting my wing messed up. I kept that to myself at first. However, you started mocking our fellow cadets and put my friends at risk.”
“They were fine.”
“They could have died.”
Lightning Dust winced, as if she had been slapped in the face. “Okay! So I messed up! I just wanted to prove myself!” She shouted, her face turning redder than the red wine stored in the back. “Keep pushing past your limits, never slowing down for anything or anypony! That’s how my life has always been and anypony who can’t keep up deserves to be left in the dust!”
She tried to poke at Rainbow Dash’s chest, but the intoxication caused her to miss and hit Dash’s shoulder instead. “I thought you were like me! I thought you knew what it meant to be the best and go all out! You were my Wingpony! But then you turned around and stabbed me in the back! How could you?! How could you end my dreams like that?!”
Rainbow Dash smacked Lighting’s leg away and flew up, towering over the panicking Lightning Dust. “What are the Wonderbolts?”
“What?” Lightning Dust asked, tilting her head.
“Answer the question,” Rainbow Dash demanded, pointing down at her.
“… They’re the fastest fliers in Equestria.”
“Exactly, fastest fliers!” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “As in, more than just one. They’re a team. Every flier, from the strongest to the weakest, is all part of a unit. All working together to show the world how we pegasi are the masters of the sky. There is no single pony that stands out. You and I worked together perfectly. Hay, we were so alike, it’s scary.”
Rainbow Dash slowly floated back to the seat, but kept up her scolding glare. I could feel my brow sweat just from looking at it. “But not once did you care about our other teammates: Cloudchaser, Thunderlane, Snowflake. You didn't care about any of them, or even try to work with them. You just belittled them, when each of them had their own talents and their own abilities. They looked up to you! They looked up to both of us! And what did you do? Act like a jerk.”
Lightning Dust turned away, biting her lip. “They… they were competition. Not all of us were going to become Wonderbolts, and each of them was a liability.”
“They could have been your friends. Next to my five best friends, they are the best ponies I have ever met. Cloudchaser and Thunderlane are married and I’m their kid’s godmother, Snowflake is my second in command for B squad, and all the others I am proud to call my teammates.”
“What difference does it make?!” Lightning Dust shouted, tearing up. “I’m not you! I’m not ‘The Youngest Wonderbolt’ ever to graduate from all four Academy levels! I’m not The Element of bucking Loyalty! And I sure can’t do a bucking Sonic Rainboom in my sleep!”
The two continued to stare at each other, one with calmness and sympathy. The other was close to breaking down and tearing up. Never before had I seen such a thing before in all my years owning this bar.
“You’re right,” Rainbow Dash said. “You’re not me, despite our similarities. What you are is a pegasus who has so much talent that it’s a crime for you to be wasting it in this bar. You should be out there flying, trying to get as far as you can. Are you a quitter, Lightning Dust? If you just give up now then you really are nothing more than a loser!”
“What does it matter,” Lightning Dust muttered, lowering her head. “I’m expelled.”
“You’re not. At least, Spitfire wasn’t going to...” Rainbow Dash revealed. Lightning Dust snapped her head towards Rainbow Dash, eyes wide in shock. “She was going to, believe me. Especially when she learned that you almost got five innocent civilians seriously harmed. But I managed to convince her to give you three months in disciplinary training, so you could learn how to work on a team. I was willing to help you, but you just quit before any of us could say anything.”
Now my favorite drinker was sobbing, and not from the drinks she’d had earlier. It was a genuine, regretful cry. I couldn’t help but sympathize with her. Eying a box of tissues nearby, I gently placed it near her which she used abusively. After many tears and nose-blowing, she calmed down and turned to Rainbow Dash, lost and confused. “What… what do I do?”
Rainbow Dash pulled a letter out of her suit’s pocket and placed it on the counter. “It’s an invite to retake the Academy, with recommendations from me and the rest of our class. Spitfire agreed, after a lot of arguing. She’s willing to give you another shot if you can buck up and learn from your mistakes. We want you to try again, Lightning Dust. I want you to try again. Only, do it right this time.”
Lightning Dust slowly took the letter and stared at it, her expression unreadable. Rainbow Dash got off her seat and threw a few bits on the counter. “I’m gonna get going. I hope you make the right choice.”
She was about to leave out the door when Lightning Dust spun her seat around and shouted, “Rainbow Dash!” The Wonderbolt stopped. “Why… why are you doing this?”
She turned around and smiled. “Because you’re my Wingpony. We’re partners to the end.”
With that said, she left. I blinked his eyes and cursed myself for not taking a picture of the Wonderbolt to hang on the wall. Turning towards the stunned Lightning Dust, who was staring at the door, I tried to think of something to say to her. While I thought about it, I took her glass and filled it up. She took one look at the drink, and then at the letter she still held in her hoof. A second later, she put down her bits and left with her glass still full.
I watched her leave and then looked back at the drink on my counter. Not wanting it to go to waste, I drank the whole thing and smiled. I had a feeling that I just lost my favorite drinker for good. A shame too, she was one of my best customers.
And yet, I’m okay with that.
Author's Note
I made this one shot after reading Ace's High by Shadow_Wolf and I wanted to also write a Lighting Dust story.
I'm surprise not many people make so many here. The character has a lot of potential.
Hope you enjoyed.
