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SDSilva94 — Dust to Dust Part 1
Published: 2012-12-15 19:29:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 46099; Favourites: 670; Downloads: 237
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Am I the only one that actually feels bad for this character? (I know I'm not
) This is what I think of her, she's got almost the perfect competitive, go-getter attitude. Yeah she is a bit mean at points, but Rainbow Dash isn't much of a saint either.She got in trouble for things that really shouldn't have been her fault. One being Rainbow Dash hurting her wing, why is that Dust's fault? RD is suppose to be one of the best flyers even I would expect her to shake that off.
As for the tornado I do think it was rather wreckless, but I think she didn't know that the balloon was there. Besides RD's friends shouldn't have been up there, they just intruded into an obstacle course. It's like if a person was intruding into a military base, but was using a target on a targeting range for hiding.
Everyone is going to have they're take on this character, but I really think she didn't deserve the treatment she got.
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Comments: 709
Sort of like this episode we're talking about.
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But she's a douche.
Yeah, okay, before you guys stab me to death, come on, I do have a point. She didn't care for anyone. And I know those attitudes may come from a screwed up childhood, but until I don't see any of that, she's still a douche to me.
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Yeah she might be, but with a big enough punishment and a chance to improve her attitude, she could be a very nice pony.
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I agree- but she made more than one mistake. She made a series of escalating mistakes.
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Awesome! I'm glad she noticed the problem and wrote an alternate ^^
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i have a feeling she's like the 'Trixie' to RD
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i don't think that she got kicked out, i just think that she became a wingpony or something.
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I like Lightning Dust, she's not cruel or mean she's just going about getting her dream in the wrong way. I hope she makes a return.
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when i used the words "villain and andagonist" i didn't mean evil(sorry for misunderstanding) and i agree with what you said they are not evil,they just have those"problems" with the others.i really hope to show us that other characters from the show finnaly learned their lessons and they got accepted back like trixie(thought we don't know what happened to her).as for what happened to LD in the end,i think it's more likely that she didn't understand her mistakes...at least this was the impression i got.
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Personally I loved Lightning Dust. She was a lot like Dash, who is my favorite pony, only more egotistical and less empathetic towards others. And yet instead of being an arrogant and annoying alpha bitch, she became Dash's friend. I liked that development a lot. I agree that Dash's wing was her own fault but Lightning could have been a little more caring towards her teammate. That being said, I am glad that Dash chewed her out because Dust did need to know that there is a difference between being competetive and just being a dick to your competition. Did she deserve to be reprimanded? Yes. A demotion? Possibly, but a warning should have sufficed. Being kicked out of the Academy? Hell no. That was overboard for me and I really hope to see her again.
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...and now we have Trixie 2.0 who will be coming back later for revenge on Rainbow Dash.
Doesn't help that they seem to use Trixie's expressions for her in the show. Take a close look at her when she's flying to the dizzatron and you'll see Trixie staring back at you
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Thunderdust didn't care what happened to anypony else, so long as she got to show off. Rainbow Dash IS the best flyer, not only because she can show off her best stuff, but also because she knows when NOT to show off. She learned that lesson from Mare-Do-Well.
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How can you be so certain that the balloon wasn't where it was supposed to be? It wasn't that close to the clouds the other trainees were working on, judging by the speed of the tornado. In regards to the smaller incidents, they did not cause much harms, but showed a fatal flaw: Lack of restraint. A good real-life example to this would be The US Navy's Commander during WW2 in the Pacific, Chester Nimitz, and his two best admirals, Raymond Spruance and William 'Bull' Halsey. Spruance thought through each plan very carefully and used the fleet conservatively when in charge. Halsey on the other hand took risks, which won him much glory, but his aggressiveness nearly blew the US recapture of the Philippines. He left the landing fleet unattended to attack the last of Japan's carriers (which by 1944 were useless since all of Japan's experienced pilots had died in combat and many aircraft had been lost by that point as well), leaving Spruce to defend the transports with only destroyers and small carriers to face the real threat, in the form of numerous battleships including the IJN Yamato, at the Battle Off Samar.
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It didn't matter that she knew nothing of the approaching balloon. Any pegasus could have just happened to be in the area and got caught up in the deadly storm she had Dash work up.
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maybe i would like Lightning Dust more if she were not that ugly
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There goes her self esteem lol. Yeah she isn't my favorite, but she's alright.
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I love Lightning Dust. She shouldn't be banned from W.A. 
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I actually think she got what she deserved. She was being reckless, and fairly mean, like when she flew through the slower pegasi in front of her. She could have gone around couldn't she? And the tornado was reckless, with or without bystanders. And it's not like she was kicked out or anything, it made the punishment out to be a lot worse. All that happened was that she and Rainbow Dash switched places. So she became the wingpony and Dash became the wingleader. It isn't that bad.
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And technically she made no mistake. It was all Pinkie's fault since she's got the dumb idea of invading the camp. Balloons shouldn't fly there.
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Right, her being a complete bitch and knocking the other ponies around, mocking them, and then creating a tornado she should have known she couldn't control totally had nothing to do with it. She was wonderbolt material in terms of skill, but not in terms of maturity.
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Data vaenia. Those other ponies hadn't guts and skill enough to become Wonderbolts. They were really too weak, and they should've resisted the storm. And the tornado would be completely safe if dumbass Pinkie Pie hadn't the "brylyamt" idea of invading a militar camp with a balloon. Sincerely, LD wasn't a bitch.
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Are you kidding? They lost control of the tornado before Pinkie and the others even showed up. LD obviously pushed herself too hard, as usual, and as a result couldn't control her own creation.
Then she showed complete disregard for what she had almost done, and brushed it off as if it were nothing, while at the same time gloating and mocking the other pegasi. It was reckless and unprofessional, and she doesn't deserve to be a wonderbolt any more than the others, regardless of her skill.
I'm not saying she should never be a wonderbolt, I'm saying they don't need some showoff who only cares for herself and her own success, the wonderbolts are a team and they need a team player.
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The tornado would be harmless if the balloon wasn't there to be put down. It'd be nothing if no balloons were there. Well, regardless of skill everypony have the same chance of becoming a Wonderbolt, even earth ponies (flying can be considered a skill). Cap. Spitfire did the wrong thing.
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Captain Spitfire didn't give LD the wingpony badge. Most probably Lightning was banned from the academy. It's not fair, Lightning has the same potential to become a Wonderbolt than Rainbow Dash
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I don't think she was banned from the academy. Specialy since Spitfire thought that LD was doing the right thing until they all realized that caring about your grop is way more important for a leader than being the most skilled.
camaraderie, esprit de corps, empathy, humbleness and devotion are the values that the army (In my country) had always teached to it's soldiers and officers.
But something changed some years ago, I've seen many people that looks like they belong to their own team. Selfish and arrogant, they don't find the joy in serving the society and I never saw one of them helping or encouraging a comrade to carry on when they need it.
She's like that, a company NEEDS to be as weak as the weakest of it's soldiers.
Also, Spitfire wasn't very harsh with them at any time xD One mistake and you are out? I don't think so.
Anyways, why did no one write a letter to Celestia? They have to tell us exactly what's the moral of the story xD
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Yeah, looking by this point of view... And yes, there should be a letter being written, most of the story ending is unclear... BTW, I think there weren't any letters in season 3, were there? Some sutile changes happened when Lauren left the staff.
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This is pretty much what I visualized when she got kicked out for her reckless actions. Very nice comic!
In regards to the description:
Lightning Dust was a rather good character. She seemed to be a top competitor but had glaring weaknesses to balance her out, namely the recklessness part mentioned above and her arrogance.
But it was her fault that RD hurt her wing. See, in that part of the training, the teams were instructed to never break apart or they are automatically disqualified. As they were approaching the tight spot where the first flag was, RD said that they should slow down as they approached it because there wasn't enough room for them to fit. LD just laughed and kept going, forcing RD to follow close or they'd both get kicked out. In turn, that means LD risked injuring RD as well as them getting booted from the academy if RD chose not to follow for her own safety.
For the second part, that one is kind of debatable. The tornado was LD's idea, but RD had to agree and join in to form it. I guess the way they put the blame on LD was because she as a leader attempted to do a move that she could not control that could have hurt anyone in the area, including the other trainees (the recklessness part again) and RD had to follow her because she was the leader of the team. So I think they were saying LD's strategy to clear the clouds was a dangerous one which was not something a good leader would coordinate.
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It depends on whether she was actually kicked out or not. It was kind of left open-ended, with nothing stated specifically. I'd like to think she was demoted and probably had some kind of suspension that would keep her from finishing the camp right away.
Of course, when you **** up with this kind of life-or-death maneuvering, the stakes are high and you generally don't get many chances. Whether or not Dash's friends were supposed to be there or not, they created and lost control of a tornado. That's like if someone got loose on a tank training course; yeah, they're not supposed to be there, but whether or not they are doesn't matter if the idiot behind the wheel of the tank lost control and can't stop it from crushing things one does not want crushed.
Nice comic, though.
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Absolutely true my dear sir
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I really like how you made this, very touching, It makes you want to think about your own actions!
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Awesome, please stick around for part 2 ^^
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Hmm, I bet you thought that people were gonna comment great thing about this Art, but no, just reviews and wat they thought about it XD
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Yeah doesn't surprise me really.
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Hmm...
yep.
Yep.
I'm going to be annoyed over this.
This mostly has to do with another argument I had with someone else over the Mare Do Well episode, and how I thought that Rainbow acted a lot more like herself in this episode.
The Rainbow Dash who was willing to quit the Wonderbolts and throw her dream away just in pure rejection of any organization that prized reckless showboating over any regard for safety, and the Rainbow Dash who BLEW KISSES at the crowd as Lily's balloon fell to earth (a move which only makes sense if Dash KNEW that Lily and all the onlookers were terrified, and she was purposefully trying to milk it for all the drama she could, WHICH IS COMPLETELY HEARTLESS!), are simply are NOT the same pony.
But getting back to Lightning Dust. First of all, Dust IS responsible for Dash hurting her wing.
Both teammates are supposed to stay together or they will be disqualified. Or did I mishear Spitfire in the episode? This means that if Dust pushes ahead in full recklessness, Rainbow Dash HAS to keep up.
(Here, click this link, an skip ahead to 10:39)
[link]
"Leaders and Wingponies must fly together! If any pair splits apart, they will be immediately disqualified! Do you understand?"
*Stands at attention* MA'AM! NO, MA'AM! I THINK SILVA'S EARS NEED TO BE CLEANED OUT, MA'AM!
Anyway, in my approximation, Lightning Dust is roughly Dash's equal in terms of pure speed, but when Rainbow tries to exercise even a little caution, and Lightning DOESN'T, and Rainbow Dash (not being the "leader") doesn't have the authority to reign Lightning in....then it puts the poor, beleaguered "wingpony" to play catch up. Paying dangerously more attention on Lightning then on the obstacles in her way.
If Dash falls behind, she's "letting the team down."
But Dust? Dust wasn't paying any attention to Rainbow, just expecting her to keep up. Rainbow SAYS "We should slow down, I don't think we can make it at this speed." And Lightning just scoffs at her "cowardice."
But notice that there. She says "_We_ should slow down down", not "_I_ should slow down and do things at my own pace." Because there is no "I". If they get separated, they LOSE.
So that was ALL Lightning's fault. She made Rainbow take a risk that she otherwise would not have had.
I don't know if Dust's mistakes warranted throwing her out the moment she was caught. And they ALMOST CERTAINLY did not warrant her NEVER getting another chance to prove herself....
But I do think it proved that she wasn't fit to be the "leader."
Although, I do wonder why their teams are constructed like that. Hence why I keep putting the word "leader" in quotes. I mean, the second I heard about this Leader-Wingpony crap, I immediately thought: "Aw hell no." Because I could see where it was going.
Heck, I sort of wonder what kind of responsibilities this "leader" could have on a two-pony team. It just sounded like a recipe for pointless ego-driven fiction and discouragement.
And....maybe if Dash was considered an equal partner to Dust, she could've just confronted Dust about how she felt. And WORSE! The only reason she went along with the worse stuff Lightning Dust did was because Spitfire had made Dash feel inadequate compared to the stupid risk taker and need to prove herself!
Remember what Dust said when Dash was reading her the Riot Act?
"The Wonderbolts don't seem to think so. After all, Spitfire did make ME the leader, and YOU the wingpony."
See? This whole leader nonsense has caused nothing but grief. Spitfire basically endorsed Dust's showboating and gloryhounding. And Dust seems to think so too.
...Oh my god. You're right. It would be just EVIL of Spitfire to throw her out forever. She encourages and rewards this behavior (also basically MARRYING Rainbow Dash to her as well saddles Dash with the expectation to shadow her flawlessly and without argument since Dust is the "Leader") and then drops the guillotine on her the second it leads to trouble.
But it still goes to show that Lightning was simply not responsible. And THAT is why Spitfire demotes her. (and possibly cast her out, but the episode's kind of vague on that point.)
I'm not saying she's pure evil....but she displays a startling lack of remorse for her actions I'd have trouble imagining Rainbow Dash ever displaying. ("Mysterious Mare Do Well" doesn't count because, along with so many other reasons, Dash still apologized. She apologized even though the ponies don't seem to have catch, and therefore made Dash AWARE of how her showboating put ponies in danger. Which she only did once because it pushed Mare Do Well's moral ground up by pushing Dash's down to the point of villainizing her. God I hate that episode.)
But its okay to make a story that's all about showing another side to Lightning Dust. As I said, destroying her dreams for life is a little excessive. And we have hundreds of stories that portray a Sympathetic Trixie, sympathetic Gilda, sympathetic Blueblood, Discord, Nightmare Moon in child form, Pinkie Duplicates, CHANGELINGS, etc...
Its just that Lightning Dust REALLY DID DO everything she's blamed for, or at least everything Rainbow Dash blamed her for. (Time with each) :
-Knocked classmates out of the sky (15:01)
-"Unleashed a tornado that nearly DEMOLISHED my friends!" (17:00)
-Made Dash Clip her wing. (10:39. 10:39. 10:39. 10:39.....)
I'm sorry. Dash had misgivings about doing all of that stuff, but felt like she would be cast aside (and SHE would be the one with her dreams ruined!) if she ever flat out refused.
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I have no clue what you said above, but 'The Hell' thats one long comment! o_O
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Also, Ironlenny nailed it. In the leadership position, she is responsible for Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash is supposed to trust and follow her judgement, and RD got injured because of it. Lightning Dust knew she was injured and brushed it off. She ignored all of RD's valid concerns, when, as a leader she should have listened and taken those into account. Lightning did not care about or support her fellow cadets either.
I mean think of being on a sports team (or being a captain of a sports team) you don't treat your teammates like that. Think of what a good coach might do in that case.
Lightning should have considered what damage a tornado could do if she lost control of it, even if RD's friends hadn't been up there, it still caused a lot of damage. I wouldn't equate the 'cloud busting' to be like target range either, since the pegasi do it all the time to clear the sky and they never use a tornado. The tornado was just unnecessary and a reckless move. That was not the time to experiment with 'a tactic' so dangerous.
Also, we don't know if her friend's had permission to be up there or not.
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Her actions sent five ponies falling to their deaths, and she didn't even care. (luckily Rainbow Dash saved them, along with the other cadets) That is very callous. Not even Rainbow Dash back in her 'cockiest' days would have nearly -killed- other ponies, or not have cared about it if she had. That event should have been a wake up call for Lightning Dust, but no, she did not care.
It took Rainbow Dash reporting her and action taken against her by Spitfire and the Wonder Bolts for her to care. Not saying she should have gotten kicked out, but she needs some serious counselling. She definitely needed to be removed from any sort of leadership postion, she was definitely not leader material by any means.
She didn't even apologize to the 'mane six' at the end when she got her badge ripped off and was sent on her way. She may have not even been remorseful then for what she did even by that point, just sorry for herself!
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Once upon a time, Rainbow Dash was as cocky as her; she needs to learn the lesson that RD did...even if it's the hard way.
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I agree. I think she deserved a lecture and to be switched with RD, but to be kicked out... yeesh.
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also, just wanted to say that morals and consequences aside; you totally nailed the art. Great work
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