@Silver_lining  
This comparison lags.  
Dusty was not drunk and she made sure that she endangered nopony but herself (at least until the ending).  
She also accepted only former Wonderbolts; in other words talented adult fliers who could handle the risks and were more than willing to do that.  
You may not approve of that (I would also prefer her to look after herself) but that doesn´t make her wrong.
 
Until the ending she did nothing wrong and was also quite sympathetic.  
She was even amicable towards Dashie, talked with her about their time at the academy, laughed with her and offered her a spot in her team.
 
Then the convoluted ending came out of nowhere just to make her the bad mare for absolutely no good reason while ignoring everything what was established earlier in this very episode.  
That is just atrociously bad writing and beyond disappointing.  
It completely ruined what could have been a great episode.
 
Dashie and Dusty could have parted on good terms (FRIENDLY rivalry) while Scootaloo looks up to both of them.  
Dusty and the Washouts could even become part of the Scootaloo Fan Club and visit her from time to time whenever they come to Ponyville.  
Instead of another meanspirited ending we would have one that is much more uplifting.
 
Even in the actual ending Dusty was convinced that the stunt would work and never considered the possibility that it could go awry.  
Of course that is irresponsible, thoughtless and unjustifiable but not malicious.
 
And no, I´m not dilping Dusty.  
What impresses me is not only her flying skills but also the fact that she was able to overcome the crushing setback she suffered in Wonderbolt Academy and is now the captain of her own amazing team.
 
I know she is very flawed and has still much to learn but that doesn´t make her a lost cause.
 
Now I have to hope that the third time is the charm.  
After all, even characters like Discord and Neighsay were able to change for the better.

@genervt  
Being “more than capable” isn’t the same as being reckless. When you drive a car, you know the risks and you make sure to take as many precautions as possible to mitigate those risks. That’s “being more than capable”. But when you let yourself drive drunk, you’re taking unnecessary risks, both with your life and with the lives of others. That’s being reckless. It’s bad enough to risk your own safety, but risking the safety of others, especially against their will, is inexcusable. If Dust was “more than capable”, she should have acted like it, but she didn’t. When Scootaloo changed her mind, a proper, professional stunt pony would have let her walk away without shame or guilt. They would have acknowledged that it’s her right to take care of herself and to not partake in any activity that would endanger herself needlessly. And heck, they would have tested her capabilities before even letting her sign up.
 
Trying to defend recklessness is like trying to defend drunk driving. And being “gifted” is no excuse for recklessness, either. In fact, that’s all the more reason not to be reckless, because if something happens to you, then the world loses an allegedly “gifted” individual. Only, recklessnes can cost the world less “gifted” individuals as well, which is even worse.
 
I do feel bad suggesting the whole cast and straw scenario, because yes, Dust is a cute little pony, and I wouldn’t want any of those little creatures to get hurt. But it’s really hard for me to ignore the fact that she not only dismissed the harm her actions could have caused to Rainbow Dash’s friends - and regardless of the circumstances, it was wrong for her to act not at all concerned about the safety of other creatures endangered by her actions - and she bullied Scootaloo into performing a dangerous, untested stunt that could have killed her. And she didn’t even care. What if, Celestia forbid, Scootaloo had gotten seriously hurt, or worse? What would Lightning Dust have said then? What would she have done? Would she have learned anything? Would she have sought to make amends for the harm she caused? Or would she have just shrugged it off?
 
Dust may be a cute little pony, but that only gets you so far. And quite frankly genervt, I think you’re DILPing Lightning Dust something hard. You’re downplaying her faults and trying to find virtue in her vices. You’re projecting a more heroic interpretation of her character than what the episode gave us. And you claim the ending is convoluted, yet I see nothing convulted about it. Lightning Dust was not only reckless, but also petty. She knew taking Scootaloo away from Dash was going to hurt her and she enjoyed it. Combined with her already reckless, uncaring attitude, and Scootaloo’s desire to prove herself independent of Dash and the Wonderbolts, it all culminated in Dust forcefully endangering a scared little filly. She wasn’t acting out of character at all. What she could have done and should have done doesn’t change what she did and didn’t do.
 
It doesn’t matter how driven or daring you are if your actions get you or someone else needlessly hurt, especially if you don’t even care. That’s not virtuous no matter how you try to paint it. I’ll believe Lightning Dust has some virtue in her when she demonstrates some. So far, all I’ve seen is a reckless mare who doesn’t care whether anypony gets hurt as long as she looks cool.

@Silver_lining  
You did not really read my comment.  
Dusty is very gifted and more than capable to take the risks.  
Of course it would still be better to take some safety measures and if she get some friends outside of the Washouts she might be willing to do that for their sake.  
Nevertheless she did nothing wrong in this episode until the convoluted ending.
 
The only thing that this episode achieved is to make me hoping for a redemption more than ever.
 
I also had enough of this wing-and-body cast, drinking through a straw-nonsense by now.  
How about we simply forget that awful idea and don´t do this to anypony?

@CMC Scootaloo  

 
The problem is that she cannot consider the possibility that the stunt could have gone wrong.  
That is not being malicious, just irresponsible and thoughtless.  
Don´t forget that the first thing she said after the stunt was:  

 
Of course she still owes Scootaloo an apology and I hope we will see that one day.
 
 

 
That is no problem as long as Dusty doesn´t endanger anypony else.  
She is more than capable to handle the risks.
 

 
Siege of the Crytal Empire is not canon.  
If it were Dusty would be in Tartarus together with Iron Will, Flim and Flam.
 

 
That goes for villains like Tirek and Sombra but not for misguided ponies like her.  
She may have many flaws and still much to learn but she is not malicious and doesn´t try to harm others.  
Of all the antagonists she is the most redeemable, even if the Mane 6 have to help her out with her reformation.  
Even Discord was able to change for the better with a lot of patience; Dusty certainly won´t take that much time.
 

 
I disagree.  
And this is also very interesting:  

@Silver_lining
 
I also think she should. Right now, it doesn’t look like Rainbow Dash will turn her in, because she is gone now and Rainbow Dash hopes that she won’t become a threat for Scootaloo again, but she should turn her in and I hope the decision to not go after her won’t bite into Rainbow Dash’s (or Scootaloo’s) flank.

@genervt  
Being reckless is a problem, especially if it means making your friends and family worry about you getting hurt. That’s just selfish thrill-seeking. Professional stunt experts aren’t reckless; daring, maybe, but they take calculated risks. They test dangerous stunts out before trying them live in front of an audience. And they don’t force minors to risk their lives. Being reckless just means you’re taking unnecessary risks without any thought for the consequences, for yourself or others. It’s no different from DUI; it’s irresponsible and it’s likely to get someone hurt, even killed.
 
And forcing Scootaloo, a minor, to endanger herself even though she said no makes Lightning Dust a criminal. That wasn’t just irresponsible, it was disgusting and, I should hope, illegal. The authorities should put out a warrant for her arrest. Of course, knowing little miss arrogant thrill-seeker, she’d just decide to go full-on anarchist, risking even more lives and damage in the process. Right now she looks like a lost cause who just won’t ever learn. The best thing that can happen to her is winding up in her own wing-and-body cast, drinking through a straw, if only so she doesn’t keep endangering others, because I doubt even a crippling injury like that would teach her to stop being reckless and to stop taking chances with other ponies’ lives.

@genervt  

 
Was she? She admitted to Scootaloo that it is dangerous “a little”. And the whole point of her stunt team is risking their lives and performing with the possibility that they die for the sake of the ultimate thrill.  
That alone makes clear that she knew there is a possibility that Scootaloo dies during that stunt.  
But she also admitted that the stunt has never been tested before, which proves by implication that she had no idea if it will work the intended way, or not. That adds just more evidence for it that she wasn’t sure if Scootaloo will come out of that stunt unharmed.  
The verdict for this is definitely that she knew there was a risk of Scootaloo getting severely injured, of ending up even more disabled than she already is or even of Scootaloo dying as a consequence of that stunt.  
Then there is the fact that she knew that Scootaloo is flightless and that she, unlike herself, Rolling Thunder or Short Fuse, wouldn’t be able to fly away and save her life if the stunt goes wrong because of that, but that she let her do it anyway. While the above is already bad enough, that she let a flightless filly perform that stunt, makes her intentions even more questionable.  
Lastly, Scootaloo changed her mind when she realized just how dangerous it was, but Lightning Dust did not let her go and even bullied her into going through with it. That shines an even more bad light on her, bullying a filly into submission.  
And, prior to all of that, we already saw that she has learned zero from her mistake at the academy and instead, even made being reckless a profession by founding a stunt team. She even prided herself on it that she ignores “everything the Wonderbolts ever taught them about safety”.
 
I think I can see your point about believing in something good in Lightning Dust. After what she did at the Wonderbolts Academy, I didn’t like her for obvious reasons, but I thought she can learn from this and if she would have, I would have given her a chance to prove herself.  
But this is a belief that sunk nearly completely after she willingly endangered all of Equestria by joining forces with Radiant Hope and King Sombra to get revenge on Rainbow Dash. Which is unrelated to being reckless, but still showed that she, least up until this point, hadn’t learned anything.  
And now, with the things she did now, the things I listed above….. I have lost the last belief she could better herself.
 
Don’t get me wrong. Despite my judgement of Lightning Dust here, I am someone who is very much for forgiveness, more than most people are. Starlight Glimmer did horrible things when she went through her emotional trauma, but I don’t hold any grudge against her despite nearly wiping out Equestria, the place I love so much, forever, because she stopped in the last moment and started working on it that her traumatic experiences can’t cause her to do the same things again.  
I am willing to forgive everyone, no matter what horrible things they did, as long as they stop doing these things and help to undo the damage they caused. I am even that much forgiving, that I would forgive a rapist if they regret their horrible actions and if they devote their life to do everything they can to help their rape victim(s) to overcome the experience and feel better and to undo as much damage as it is in their power and make life for their victim(s) as easy as they can.  
I also forgave Diamond Tiara, despite that I hated her more than I ever hated anyone before and said a few times that I genuinely want to see her dead for the extreme things she did, because she decided to change and because I could personally relate to the abuse she suffered from her mother.  
But since Lightning Dust showed that she has not only not learned from what she did wrong, but also that she openly revels in being a reckless mare who endangers others for her own gain, my last remaining belief in her has died.  
There are people who enjoy being bad/evil and who never change because of that. Which is rare for Equestria, most ponies who live in it learn from mistakes they made and strive to be better because Equestria’s society is a higher and more progressed one than humanity’s, but Equestria still has its exceptions from this rule.  
With what we’ve seen from Lightning Dust here, it’s pretty clear she is one of those exceptions, I fear.  
I also know how it is to love a pony very much, I have several ponies/creatures I love like that, and that love can make blind. And there are a few ponies who I would still stick to and try to help become better ponies if they would do certain horrible things to others, ponies who I would still believe in to be able to become truly good, just like you do with Lightning Dust.  
But, as I said, there are also some ponies who never change. And Lightning Dust didn’t show one sign of redeemable quality during these events, only signs of stubbornness and of ignoring the lesson life tried to teach her.  
It’s als important to know when something is a fruitless endeavor.
 
I don’t know if we will ever see Lightning Dust again and IF Season 9 is the last one, chances are high that we aren’t. Her return into the show in this episode was already completely unexpected.  
But if we should see her again, be it in Season 9 or (hopefully) in a future season beyond that number or at least in the official comics, you shouldn’t hold your hopes up too high. Doing that would probably just result in more disappointment for you.  
I think, at this point, it is better for Lightning Dust fans to let her go. It looks like she is one of those irredeemable villains/antagonists.

@Silver_lining  
Being reckless is not a problem as long as she makes sure that she doesn´t endanger anypony else (that is exactly what she did until the end of the episode).
 
All she has to learn is to be a little bit more caring towards others.
 
It could easily happen if she ended up in a situation where she depended on Dashies help or at least had to work together with her (or maybe one of the Mane 6/Glimmy).  
A temporary handicap could be a possibility.
 
If she spends time with the Mane 6 she could have a positive influence, learn from them and start to care for them.
 
If it even worked for Discord I don´t see why it shouldn´t work for her.

@genervt  
Well, if Trixie can rebound after enslaving an entire village, and Glimmer can rebound after doing worse than that, then I suppose there’s still hope for Lightning Dust. But what in Equestria could possibly curb that reckless streak of hers?

@CMC Scootaloo  
I still have hope that the rivalry between her and Dashie becomes more friendly and that they will be on good terms with her in the future.
 
It is really impressive that she was able to overcome the heavy setback she suffered and even started her own awesome stunt team.
 
She was on a great way to reform herself until the ridiculous finale happened.  
Even then it was reckless and irresponsible but not malicious.  
Dusty was convinced that the stunt would have worked.
 
If she can become more reasonable and responsible and also reconcile with Dashie (and Scootaloo) a redemption should be no problem.  
It would be great if they ended up in a situation where they had to come to terms and work together in order to succeed.  
This is what I would love to see in a future episode.

@genervt
 
I was thinking about you since I got spoilered for Lightning Dust’s return a few weeks ago….. And I wondered how you will react to this episode.  
There is something I am curious about, what do you see in Lightning Dust? You seem to believe in the good in her, where do you take this belief from?  
And how can you still believe in her even after what she has done now?
 
This isn’t meant as criticism. I’m just curious to know what motivates you to stay by her side like this.

@Silver_lining  
What she did deserve was a better episode for her return.  
The horrible ending came out of nowhere and simply made no sense at all.
 
I still have hope for a redemption in a future episode.

@Badumsquish  
@genervt  
@shitsandgiggles
 
Well now we’ve seen The Washouts, and now we can add “willingly, knowingly, and callously endangering a filly’s life” to Dust’s list of sins. Not only did she emotionally bully Scootaloo into trying to perform a dangerous, untested stunt, when Scootaloo had the sense to back out, Dust forced her to perform the stunt anyway.
 
Say what you will about the circumstances behind her being kicked out from the Wonderbolts, but can anyone seriously disagree with me that Lightning Dust deserves prison now? I started to feel sympathetic about her being kicked out despite the fact she showed not one ounce of concern over endangering other ponies, but after the way she endangered Scootaloo, I dislike her more than ever. She is a villain and she deserves one hell of a wake up call.

@Badumsquish
 
@shitsandgiggles  
I have no idea what they were thinking.  
But I insist that they fix this mistake.

@genervt  
Why the hell would they change that? Did someone watch a bunch of Don Bluth movies the night before and said “No we need a cry your eyes out moment in this episode”

@genervt  
I wonder why they changed it :/

@Badumsquish  
The alternate (and far superior) ending is this  

@Silver_lining  
I’ve heard that it literally originally ended with Dust’s punishment being demoted to Dash’s wingpony to learn basic camaraderie, but they changed it for whatever reason. Like, I even am friends with a guy on here who is military and honestly thinks Dust is the better candidate, like he feels her negative qualities are fairly minor and fixable (He said he’d “PT the fucker to within an inch of her life until she knocked that shit off” XD) while she otherwise had tons of really good qualities and potential, y’know? :D
 
Basically, I want this to happen because it addresses both sides. It lets the punishment stand which acknowledges she did wrong, while also reducing her harsh punishment to a fairly mild one because she ultimately ended up in a good scenario and acknowledges that Spitfire was in the wrong too. It balances everything out without demonizing or even really blaming anyone :D

@Silver_lining  
If you want to read that into the scene. From where I’m standing, it could just as easily be concern over the fact she’s in trouble and crushing disappointment over being kicked out, respectively. I suppose we’ll have to wait until she sees the Mane Six again to know what her sentiments were.  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
Actually she did not expected the expulsion at this time and was shocked when it happened. She also waved Rainbow goodbye which means that she felt bad about what happened between them.
 
I think the episode could have used a few edits to the script to make the matter more clear, like mentioning in passing that RD’s friends got clearance to visit so they wouldn’t be guilty of trespassing (assuming of course the academy has a policy against unannounced visits, which again is something the writers evidently weren’t thinking about or didn’t have time to address, otherwise they should have addressed it one way or the other). And ultimately, yes, I agree it would have been nice if the episode could have ended on a more positive note with Lightning learning her lesson and getting to stay at the Academy as Dash’s wingmare, but again, she was meant to demonstrate the danger of going too far in the pursuit of excellence. The writers bungled the script a bit given all the (unintended, I should hope) backlash against Spitfire and the Mane Six.  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
I really would have prefered the alternative ending. The lesson could have easily been learned without an expulsion.
 
The best thing they can do now is to write an episode that treats Lightning a little better without going out of the way to punish other characters , as then it’s going to feel like one of those wretched “Draco In Leather Pants/Ron the Death Eater” fictions. By all means, show the Mane Six feeling sorry for Lightning, show them feeling responsible for her expulsion, call Spitfire out on her flawed leadership, but for the love of Celestia, do not turn the story into a punishment episode (and I mean no having to kiss up to Lightning and saying she’s better than RD, no firing Spitfire, no “reason you suck” speeches about the Mane Six – who I will remind everyone have risked their lives multiple times to save Equestria and have helped countless ponies and other creatures improve their lives – nor towards any other pony, none of that petty ego-stroking bullapples), that’s going to leave even more bad feelings than before. Get Lightning her apologies and reinstatement, and leave it at that.  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
I don´t want to put the Mane Six in the stocks (I love all of them), I just expect them to help Lightning back into the academy (they own her that much). An apology (at least from Spitfire) would not hurt either, after all she went out of her way to make the public expulsion as humiliating and scathing as possible.  
I would also love further appearances fom Dusty.
 
And if RD was capable of causing such a mess over her pet, you know dyay well Lightning would have too. She probably would have caused more damage, if anything. That said, I really think the hibernation, and for that matter, zombie prank episodes belonged a little earlier in the series as they definitely felt out of character for Dashie by that time. I always despise when they distort a character’s personality for the sake of having a conflict, like what happened with Twily in “No Second Prances” (and I despise when they have a designated problem character like has happened in How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, Captain Planet, etc.,). I know no-one’s perfect, but they don’t have to be uncharacteristically or forcefully flawed either. Let the characters’ natural flaws write the story and not the other way around. And make sure every character has flaws and makes mistakes, don’t concentrate it all on one character all the time.  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
I didn´t like “28 Pranks Later”, but I loved “No Seconds Prances” (Trixie).

@genervt  
If you want to read that into the scene. From where I’m standing, it could just as easily be concern over the fact she’s in trouble and crushing disappointment over being kicked out, respectively. I suppose we’ll have to wait until she sees the Mane Six again to know what her sentiments were.
 
@Badumsquish  
I think the episode could have used a few edits to the script to make the matter more clear, like mentioning in passing that RD’s friends got clearance to visit so they wouldn’t be guilty of trespassing (assuming of course the academy has a policy against unannounced visits, which again is something the writers evidently weren’t thinking about or didn’t have time to address, otherwise they should have addressed it one way or the other). And ultimately, yes, I agree it would have been nice if the episode could have ended on a more positive note with Lightning learning her lesson and getting to stay at the Academy as Dash’s wingmare, but again, she was meant to demonstrate the danger of going too far in the pursuit of excellence. The writers bungled the script a bit given all the (unintended, I should hope) backlash against Spitfire and the Mane Six.
 
The best thing they can do now is to write an episode that treats Lightning a little better without going out of the way to punish other characters , as then it’s going to feel like one of those wretched “Draco In Leather Pants/Ron the Death Eater” fictions. By all means, show the Mane Six feeling sorry for Lightning, show them feeling responsible for her expulsion, call Spitfire out on her flawed leadership, but for the love of Celestia, do not turn the story into a punishment episode (and I mean no having to kiss up to Lightning and saying she’s better than RD, no firing Spitfire, no “reason you suck” speeches about the Mane Six - who I will remind everyone have risked their lives multiple times to save Equestria and have helped countless ponies and other creatures improve their lives - nor towards any other pony, none of that petty ego-stroking bullapples), that’s going to leave even more bad feelings than before. Get Lightning her apologies and reinstatement, and leave it at that.
 
And if RD was capable of causing such a mess over her pet, you know dyay well Lightning would have too. She probably would have caused more damage, if anything. That said, I really think the hibernation, and for that matter, zombie prank episodes belonged a little earlier in the series as they definitely felt out of character for Dashie by that time. I always despise when they distort a character’s personality for the sake of having a conflict, like what happened with Twily in “No Second Prances” (and I despise when they have a designated problem character like has happened in How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, Captain Planet, etc.,). I know no-one’s perfect, but they don’t have to be uncharacteristically or forcefully flawed either. Let the characters’ natural flaws write the story and not the other way around. And make sure every character has flaws and makes mistakes, don’t concentrate it all on one character all the time.

@Silver_lining  
If nothing else the point I want to make is it’s absolute bullshit for her and only her to be treated so harshly for the events of that episode. There are so many reasons she deserved only a warning: she was encouraged to push herself to that level, her actions were only dangerous because of people who really should not have been there in the first place, Rainbow Dash was also guilty of all the same things, Spitfire changed the standards to which the cadets would be held and then punished Dust for doing things that were only wrong according to the new standards without giving her a chance to conform to them, and the actions really weren’t that bad in the first place. Yeah, she did wrong in that episode, but nobody did right until after the tornado incident :/
 
@genervt  
It’s practically a given that she’ll get a second chance. Like, how would they justify giving Starlight Glimmer and even offering Queen Chrysalis a second chance after all the crap they pulled but refuse to give one to a slightly more callous Rainbow Dash (I won’t say “more extreme” because Lightning Dust never blew up a factory because her pet was going to hibernate) :P

@Silver_lining  
She already did that (At this time she did not see the the expulsion coming and felt bad anyway).  

 
She also regret losing her friendship with Rainbow  

@genervt  

 
If she demonstrates genuine compassion, sure.

@genervt  
Absolutely

@Silver_lining  
Can we at least agree that Lightning deserves her second chance at Rainbows friendship and a place in the Wonderbolt Academy after all this years?