"Say hi to Spitfire for me!"







the latest episode of MLP season 8, "The Washouts", caught my attention when *SPOILERS* I heard Lightning Dust was going to be making a return. To sum up, in the episode, Lightning returns as the leader of a daredevil performance team The Washouts, all of whom were kicked out of the Wonderbolts. Scootaloo becomes enamored with the new team and ends up joining them, all while Rainbow Dash grapples with jealousy and suspicion of her old rival Lightning Dust. Her attempts to control Scootaloo end up pushing Scoots further away, and Scoots agrees to perform a dangerous daredevil trick that would no doubt get her killed. When Scoots realizes this and tries to chicken out, Lightning Dust literally shoves her into the stunt, but Rainbow swoops in to save Scoots last minute. Lightning gets her comeuppance (she gets blasted off into the sky Team Rocket style) and furiously declares herself and Dash "RIVALS FOR LIFE!"







I watched it and liked it, but I saw that lots of people were unhappy with the episode, griping that the episode kind of teases a redemption, or at least some character dimension for Lightning, then in a jarring move at the end of the episode, Lightning returns to being a flat, one-note antagonist, deliberately endangering Scootaloo for shits and giggles I guess, all so Dash can save the day. And yeah....the criticism isn't entirely unfounded, the episode does kinda unravel at the end. I'm cool with Lightning being a one-note reckless ass, but I'd really enjoy a justification for her behavior. In the episode, she's described as "only the most reckless ex-Wonderbolt of all time"...well, why?





Headcanon ahoy!





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Lightning Dust is the only child of decorated Wonderbolt veteran, Wind Rider. (this guy: Rarity Investigates!) is the only child of decorated Wonderbolt veteran,(this guy:, debuted in the episode





Lightning's parents split when she was a filly, and her mother was quite clear about her desire to have nothing more to do with Lightning or her father. Due to this abandonment, Lightning developed a fierce attachment to her remaining parent, Wind Rider. This was fine by him, as his little "Dusty" is one of the few ponies Wind had a genuine soft spot for. Lightning was happily raised by her father, and spoiled absolutely rotten. Tiny Lightning would often make "medals" for her daddy out of bottle caps and glitter, and he'd proudly wear them on his coat alongside his official Wonderbolt regalia. Young Lightning began to show real promise as a flier, so Wind Rider enrolled her in flight camp and began training his daughter himself. Things were good.





Except I'm the one writing this, so things never stay good for long.





The older Lightning grew, the better she got at flying. She'd leave all the other foals in the dust during relays. By the time she was a teenager, she'd collected more junior flight medals and trophies than she could count. But the thing is....it never seemed to be enough. No matter what, she couldn't escape the great, looming shadow of her father. Wind Rider, the Living Legend. Best of the 'Bolts. None of Lightning's paltry victories could measure up to Wind's accomplishments....and even when Lightning did receive praise, it was often accompanied with a grumble that she was only talented because she was Wind's kid. Forget the years of training, her trophies must have only been the result of Wind's champion bloodline....or worse, perhaps the coaches were only awarding her medals as a favor to her father.





Lightning hears the whispers around flight camp. At first she doubts them....but then, inevitably, she begins to doubt herself.





Wind Rider is often away for races and tours, and Lightning doesn't feel comfortable bringing up the subject. Instead, she commits herself fully to training for her first real race out of flight school, the Windy 500. Lightning trains for months, forgoing sleep and even meals, until the day comes....and she wins, shattering the former speed record. As she stands there panting and grinning, the first place medal around her neck, her father approaches with a bouqet of roses. They hug, and she beams at him, "I won, Pop!", and Wind Rider chuckles and ruffles her mane. "Of course ya did, Dusty. You're my daughter."





That makes Lightning falter. And suddenly, the pair are swarmed by cheering fans looking to get a photo of the champion and the great Wind Rider himself! As the crowd's attention turns to her father, he cranks up his natural charm and charisma, eagerly bragging about his daughter, bragging about his own accomplishments....and Lightning goes silent. The crowd is hardly paying attention to her anymore. The medal begins to feel heavy around her neck.







Her father didn't mean to do it. But her moment in the spotlight is stolen.





Lightning begins throwing herself into more races. More relays, more obstacle courses, more marathons, more stunts. Desperate to escape her father's shadow. Desperate to get ponies to notice her of her own merit. Tired of ponies dismissing her victories. She gets more and more impatient, more aggressive, more reckless. She shrugs off injuries, flies every day until she collapses onto the nearest surface, pushes away her friends. She's going to be the best. She'll be better than her father. She'll become a Wonderbolt, and she'll out-fly every single one of those losers, be the best 'Bolt to ever live.







Unfortunately, as we know, it was that slow, soft-headed idiot Rainbow Dash that went and got poor Lightning kicked out of the 'Bolts. She can't return home in disgrace. When she meets up with fellow ex-Wonderbolts Rolling Thunder and Short Fuse, she gets the idea to form a new flight group even better than those stupid Wonderbolts. She leads the new team, The Washouts, and their shows enjoy surprising popularity across Equestria.....until that damned Rainbow Dash pokes her nose into Lightning's business, again. This encounter doesn't even take place a year after Dash got Wind Rider kicked out of the 'Bolts too (so what if he tried to frame her to preserve his flight record? Dash probably deserved it!). As revenge, Lightning steals away that one adoring idiot fan-filly of Dash's (Scooter-loop, or whatever her name is), then tries to push her into a dangerous stunt just to ruffle Dash's feathers (the stunt was safe, honest! Lightning's survived riskier, that kid was just a scaredy-cat!), but Dash ends up making a fool of her again. Celestia damn her. Rivals for life.





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Later on, Rolling Thunder will introduce Lightning to her cousin (and current distinguished Wonderbolt), Thunderlane. Lightning's interactions with Thunderlane begin as an underhanded attempt to possibly get her father (as well as herself) reinstated in the 'Bolts. Thunderlane holds no clout to do this (damn it), but is sympathetic to her plight. In the presence of this friendly stallion, Lightning ends up pouring out her frustrations, her dreams....her loneliness. Thunderlane resolves to be a friend to this flashy little jerkwad. They cross paths again and again, until Lightning gets fed up and demands to know when the hell he's planning on asking her out already. Uh, if he's got nothing else to do, that is.....well, c'mon, she's not getting any younger here!







In the future, although Thunderlane is a bit of a hen-pecked husband, he and Lightning do genuinely love each other. She is secretly very grateful for him and maybe feels she doesn't deserve his love and patience and considers him her single safe space to be vulnerable, unsure, and just a little sweet. Sometimes.





They have one son, Zipperflash (), onto to whom Lightning will pass on her ludicrous speed....as well as her crippling anxiety and esteem problems but that's a story for another day





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