| “ | Let me show you what I've got, ma'am. | ” |
– Wonderbolts Academy, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Lightning Dust appears in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic's third season in episode 11, Wonderbolts Academy. For more information on her MLP:FIM canon, see her article on the MLP:FIM wiki.
Lightning Dust at the Wonderbolts Academy
Depiction in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Lightning Dust is shown to be a vigorous and highly competitive flyer who loves to test her limits. With her strong attitude, speed, and love for flying, she quickly forms a friendship with Rainbow Dash.
However, because of her competitive spirit, Lightning Dust is also very reckless and shows little concern for anyone who becomes a victim of her actions. This is shown when she ignores Rainbow Dash's injury during a team exercise, and again when she brushes off the fact that her tornado put Rainbow Dash's friends in danger. She also seems to be the only pony depicted in the series to have a bigger ego than Rainbow Dash.
Lightning Dust's recklessness and utter disregard for the safety of others eventually lead to her team leader status being taken away and given to Rainbow Dash.
In Sidestories
Lightning Dust did not appear in Fallout: Equestria but appears in several sidestories.
| Appearances of Lightning Dust in Fallout: Equestria - Rising Dawn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Fallout: Equestria - Rising Dawn
Lightning Dust, first introduced in Chapter 12, was pegasus mare who lived before and during the Great War. She joined the Equestrian military sometime during the war, and served until its last day. She is a minor recurring pre-war character that appears in Fallout: Equestria - Rising Dawn.
Personality
After getting expelled from the academy, Lightning Dust spiraled into a depression, her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt crushed. During this time, and between the Great War, she worked to turn her life around and eventually found redemption in the Equestrian military. Since then, many of her negative traits have slowly faded away. Though still a hot-blooded mustang, Lightning Dust's temperament has cooled over the years. She has notably matured, her reckless and cocky behavior ironed out over the years and during her training in the military. Lightning Dust is still unafraid to push herself beyond her limits - both physically and more - to accomplish tasks, even going so far as to question direct orders from an officer when she believed his orders were unjust. Lightning Dust, aware of her shameful past, is rather defensive of her wrongdoings, easily offended by the mentioning of it and quick to rebuke the offender. She is ashamed of what she did to get expelled from the academy, and strives to put that behind her and erase that memory with battlefield glory and great deeds. Before the War Lightning Dust attended the Wonderbolts Academy with Rainbow Dash when the two were younger. Shining and soaring high above the other cadets, Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash proved to be a formidable team of fliers, passing each test and completing each exercise Spitfire threw at them. Lightning Dust was eventually promoted to lead pony and Rainbow Dash flew with her as her wing pony. Her pride swelled greatly after this, and her hunger to succeed and be better than everypony else got the better of her. Several days later, she and Rainbow Dash performed a dangerous cloud-busting maneuver that created an immense twister that nearly killed the soon-to-be Ministry Mares. Only through Rainbow Dash's skill was the twister dissipated, and with the help of several other cadets, were Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy were saved. Lightning Dust's transgression did not go unnoticed, and she was later expelled from the academy - personally - by Spitfire, for endangering the lives of Rainbow Dash's friends. Lightning Dust spiraled into a depression, her dreams of becoming a Wonderbolt crushed in the wake of her expulsion. This period of Lightning Dust's life is currently unknown. During the War Later during the Great War, Lightning Dust joined the Equestrian military, seeking redemption for her shameful past. She served several years with her fellow pegasi in the Northern Campaign in Equestria's winter front in an effort to drive the invading Zebras out of the Crystal Borderlands until the war's last day. On the final day of the war, Lightning Dust participated in the evacuation of Poneva city, and helped rescue Ponevans from the zebra onslaught. Approached by Holly and the filly's older brother, Sparen, Lightning Dust did not hesitate to take them into her squad's sky-tank for evacuation. However, her Captain, Sunspot refused to let them into the cabin because the sky-tank had reached maximum capacity, much to Lightning Dust's disgust. She disobeyed his orders and decided that she'd save as many ponies as she could. Despite the sky-tank's carrying capacity, Lightning Dust was only able to accomodate Holly, leaving Sparen behind as the sky-tank took to the skies. While inside the sky-tank, Lightning Dust bore witness to the balefire bombing of the Crystal Empire, panicking as she realizes that most if not all of her friends, both Equestrian and Imperial had perished or will perish in the balefire. Not long after, Lightning Dust watches as a balefire ICBM strikes the heart of Poneva city. In the wake of the balefire bomb's explosive, cloud-busting shockwave, Lightning Dust's sky-tank stutters and plummets out of the sky. As it is tumbling back to the earth, Lightning Dust is thrown off her hooves and into its hull, snapping her neck and dying instantly. Present Day When Red Dawn and Candy Cane venture into Poneva's Inner City in hopes of finding the Orphanage. There they are attacked by a swarm of enraged, restless spirits and separated in the process. Red Dawn, cornered by the blast shadows, is attacked en masse, and before several spirits could possess him, he is saved by the spirit of Holly. Her soul brushes against his and induces a vision into the past, which depicts Poneva's last days, including its evacuation. Lightning Dust is seen in this vision, trying to save ponies from the invading zebras.
Lightning Dust is an incredibly skilled flier, perhaps even rivaling that of Rainbow Dash. She is skilled in the use of her power armor's twin-linked magical energy casters, combining her marksmareship and agility to defeat foes both in the air and on the ground. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances of Lightning Dust in Fallout Equestria - Forget | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Fallout Equestria - Forget
Lightning Dust is mentioned many times throughout Fallout: Equestria; The Airborne Chronicles and is the central character of Fallout: Equestria: Forget
After her expulsion. Lightning Dust became a reclusive individual who lost all interest in her day to day activities even going so far as to not bathe. Eventually with Thunderlane's help she was roused from her depression and became much like her old self again. She and Thunderlane became inseparable and they were so married shortly thereafter. The few years prior to the outbreak of the War were some of Lightning Dust's happiest. She soon gave birth to her son who she named Noctilfire. Lightning Dust had desired to apologize to Rainbow Dash for her mistreatment in their time together but never got the chance to before the war. Her Wartime Service As the War started she and her husband volunteered for service in the Equestrian Military. Lightning Dust saw the war as an opportunity to redeem herself if she managed to distinguish herself in the conflict. She spent the early months of the war not seeing much action until the Battle of Shattered Hoof Ridge when the war escalated to a new level. She was posted to the coastal city of Mareston, where her unit was to help in the evacuation of civilians before the Zebra forces overran the city. While attempting to evacuate a family of ponies who refused to leave their home on the outskirts of the city, Lightning Dust's watched in horror as a member of her squad was killed and she was wounded. She personally flew his body back behind friendly lines despite being injured. When Thunderlane came to visit her in the hospital she saw that the war had started to take its toll on her beloved. She was horrified to learn that his entire unit with the exception of him and another pony had been wiped out. He looked exhausted and tired from harsh realities of combat. As soon as Lightning Dust was fit for duty she returned to the frontlines in Mareston. While in camp she saw the sister of one of her former classmates at the Wonderbolt Academy and learned that her sister Cloudchaser was missing in action in the city. This revelation lead to a confrontation with Cloudchaser's sister Flitter who thought that Lightning Dust's apology at learning about her loss was disingenuous and that she wasn't interested in her sympathy. Flitter eventually apologized to Lightning Dust after she showed how sincere she really was. Lightning Dust promised Flitter that she would look for her sister in the destroyed city and bring her back to her. Following what little information Flitter had provided to Lightning Dust about her sister's last known whereabouts she set off into the ruined city to find her former classmate. Eventually she found Cloudchaser near one of the cities government buildings hanging in a cage with her wings horribly mutilated. She rescued the wounded Pegasi and helped her get back to camp where she could received treatment for her wounds. For her actions in helping to rescue Cloudchaser from the Zebras, Lightning Dust was given a medal for valor by Princess Celestia herself. While the war took its toll on both herself and Thunderlane her home life too was affected by the war. She rarely got to see her son while she was on duty, while her husband and his brother had a falling out with both of them not speaking to each other. Lightning Dust only ever saw Rainbow Dash once during the war and it was when Rainbow Dash visited Cloudsdale on a speaking tour to raise bonds for the war. Lightning Dust was unable to fulfill her desire to speak with Rainbow Dash and still regretted her actions at the Wonderbolt Academy. The Cost Of War As the war dragged on it spilled over into the Crystal Empire which had remained neutral for most of the conflict. Lightning Dust and her unit were posted to the Crystal Empire initially to help keep order in the capital city which became flooded with unruly refugees who were starving from the lack of basic food supplies. She spent a lot of time helping to remove the bodies of her fellow ponies who had committed suicide due to the worsening conditions found in both Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Her unit was then reassigned to the outskirts of the Crystal Empire to help stem the tide of the Zebras invasion. The wholesale slaughter of so many ponies during her time fighting in the Crystal Empire changed Lighting Dust. She no longer wanted to prove herself on the battlefield in order to redeem her good name but instead became more focused on just trying to survive. She became detached and stayed away from her family fearing that she was neither a good mother nor wife to Thunderlane. She and Thunderlane's relationship degraded to the point where they only nodded at one another while passing through the trenches. It was during her time fighting in the Crystal Empire that she came face to face with her enemy. Lightning Dust truly felt no remorse everytime she squeezed the trigger as she snuffed out the life of another Zebra. She became convinced that they were monsters who were only capable of inflicting atrocities on ponykind. While retaking a previously lost position Lightning Dust was wounded through her right hind leg. As she waited to be carried off the field by some medics, a lone Zebra soldier crept towards her. She managed to subdue her opponent she saw that it was in fact a very young Zebra. She found herself unable to kill him as she saw that he was just as frightened as she was. She spared his life and in return they promised not to kill each other. She learned that his name was Zetes and that he had been taught that all ponies were just mindless monsters just as she thought of his kind as being the same way. They traded stories about their respective lives growing up in both Equestria and the Zebra Empire. Just as Zetes was pulling out a small clay flute he was shot and killed by Thunderlane. Lightning Dust cradled the dying Zebra in her hooves and watched the light disappear from his eyes. She became angry at her husband for killing somepony who wasn't even a threat to her. She and Thunderlane stopped seeing each other after that moment. Lightning Dust became more focused on her duties as a soldier and developed a reputation as a tough as nails leader who didn't tolerate anypony from not doing their duty. While defending a position on the outer fortification the unit that Lightning Dust was in charge of was overwhelmed by a superior force of Zebras. During the fierce fighting, Lightning was severly wounded and lingered near death when friendly forces found her on the battlefield. It was only the voice of her husband Thunderlane that kept her from slipping away. Away And Alive Lightning Dust was transferred to a hospital in Cloudsdale where she could recover from her wounds. It was during this time that she became determined to become a better wife and mother to her child. She had enough of the numbness she felt during the war and had lost sight of the reasons why she was fighting in the first place. Lightning Dust's physical recovery went well but she found herself unable to sleep because she was haunted by nightmares of her time in combat and of all those she had killed during the war. Because she was unable to sleep her body began to weaken. While trying to due some wingups, Lightning Dust suffered a relapse from her injuries. She found herself floating somewhere between life and death. She watched from afar as some doctors and nurses worked on her dying body. She then found herself confronted by both Princesses Celestia and Luna who explained that a dark spell had lingered inside of her gradually siphoning away her life not allowing her body to heal properly. They explained that it was from a dark Zebra magic spell that had attached itself to her when she was wounded. They broke the spell and allowed Lightning Dust to return to normal. A Forgotten Legacy The next day she spoke with her husband about getting her son into one of the many Stables that were being built around Equestria to shelter ponies in case of megaspell apocalypse. Thunderlane had made up with Rumble who had made it possible for them to find a place in a Stable once Lightning Dust had healed. Thunderlane then revealed that he was being stationed in Manehattan for a few days to help with additional security. Lightning Dust spent that day reading her favorite Daring Do book when suddenly there was a bright flash and the windows of the hospital shattered sending shards of glass flying through the air. The next thing she knew it felt like her skin was on fire then she felt no more after that. She found herself in a large white space that revealed a large grassy field with a tree line beyond. It was in this place that she found Thunderlane at her side with numerous other confused ponies. Thunderlane revealed that a large mushroom shaped cloud appeared over Manehattan before he lost his sight. Lightning Dust then found herself meeting with friends and family who she quickly figured out had been dead a long time. She came to the realization that she had died in a firestorm of magical fire but was relieved when her son didn't appear in the same Place she was. Over the years she watched from the afterlife as her family struggled with the legacy of her Pre-War expulsion from the Wonderbolt Academy. Her legacy became theirs and no matter how many generations passed her Pre-War reputation shaped her families lives. It was this same legacy that spurred her descendent Airborne to finally clear his great-grandmother's name.
Lightning Dust before the war was very cocky and reckless to the point of placing other ponies in danger which lead to her expulsion from the Wonderbolt Academy. She became very depressed and reclusive after her expulsion living with the shame of her actions. Through her relationship with Thunderlane she became determined to redeem herself in some way in order to make up for the way she acted in her Academy days. The Great War provided her with ample opportunities for personal glory on the battlefield and she along with her husband volunteered for military service. She was awarded several times for valor for her service during the war. As the war dragged on she truly began to see the dehumanizing effects of combat during several brutal campaigns. She became detached and aloof from her family feeling unworthy of them because of her military service. She became almost like a machine who's only concern was her military duty and as such she stayed away from home despite having the choice to go on furlough from the battlefront. Eventually she changed her views on life after having a near death experience after fighting in the Crystal Empire. But this revelation came to late and she died during The Last Day. Her only legacy that she bequeathed to her descendents was the shame of her Pre-War expulsion from the Wonderbolt Academy as her wartime service record was cleansed from the pages of history by the magical balefire bombs on the day Equestria died.
Lightning Dust before the war was an exceptional flier who delighted in showing off her skills. After her expulsion from the Wonderbolt Academy she joined the Equestrian Military where she became an excellent marksman and a talented soldier. She found her flying talents paired with her military training made for a deadly combination on the battlefield and allowed her to survive in the worst conditions the Great War had to offer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lightning Dust in Fallout Equestria: Hidden Legacy |
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Most of Lightning Dust's actions during the war are unknown for the time being, however she is stated to have been one of the ponies that entered Stable 21 in New Pegasus. Rain Runner encounters her descendant Saffron who works as a doctor in the city. |