See you next year, Dusty.

And don’t come back!

@ILoveMyoozik
 
DONG!

@Background Pony #570D  
technically, its true she didn’t want to hurt anyone. What it is is that she doesn’t CARE if she hurts anyone.
 
She’s basically completely apathetic to the harm she might cause around her, while not actively enjoying causing it (like someone like chrysalis who would cause harm to ponies due to sadism). If you pull off the stunt? cool, alright! You fail the stun? eh.

Technically only Lightning Dust is blasted off.  
The other two Washouts didn’t do anything wrong, and didn’t get any villain ending treatment.

Wonder if Lightning Dust likes bananas…

@darknessRising24  

 
That’s pretty much what I was going to say. A lot of it is whether the characters show remorse or wish to change. Trixie sure did after the Alicorn amulet. Luna became a villain through indirect means and showed remorse.
 
But LD chose not to. Her attitude only got fortified and it’s clear she doesn’t want it any other way. Instead of showing remorse and feeling bad, she doubled down. Now I guess it you could have a third episode, in which there’s more at stake, and maybe at the end of it, somehow she gets injured pretty bad because of her recklessness, and maybe that’s what it takes to get her to come to.

@darknessRising24  
“but muh, muh headcanon”  
“She’s only reckless, didn’t mean to hurt anypony”

@genervt  
Not every single antagonist can be redeemed. Certain characters have flaws that keep them from changing because they themselves refuse to change.
 
Lightning Dust is one of those characters. As shown in both her debute episode and this one, she refrained from learning from her mistakes and it nearly cost Scootaloo big time in the long run.
 
The fact that she showed no empathy for anyone she put in danger showed that she was too much of a loose cannon to actually be put on a military force like that. keep in mind that when Rainbow Dash try to dissuade her from making the tornado and then called her out on it she brushed it off as if it wasn’t a big deal, despite the fact that several ponies could have died.
 
A lack of empathy for civilians or the well-being of your respective comrades in general are not the ideal qualities for members of a military organization.
 
And back to Lightning Dust herself, even long after she was kicked out she clearly shows no regrets for what she did or seems to understand the ramifications in general. The fact that she put Scootaloo in grave danger proves that even further.
 
Like I said before, Lightning Dust is one of the Prime examples of letting your ego and apathetic nature eclipse your actual good judgement and empathy for those around you. Especially when others can get hurt because of your actions, and even more so when you acknowledge what could have happened and act like it isn’t a big deal as long as it doesn’t affect you personally.
 
Here’s the difference between the characters who were reformed and characters like Lightning:
 
Empathy.
 
At the end of the day those characters not only expressed regret for their actions, but understood the ramifications and at the very least made attempts to better themselves in the long run.Yeah people may get on Starlight’s case for her quick Redemption, but at least she worked through it, earned it in the end, and actually showed empathy for others when she realized just how badly her actions would screw over Equestria.
 
 
As for the characters who stayed exactly the same way they were despite being given chances to change their ways? That’s nobody’s fault but their own.

@Background Pony #570D  
Very well.  
But he really let me down today and better makes up for this in the future.

@genervt  
Because of one bad episode?  
How about Forgotten Friendship, No Second Prances?
 
FiM writing credits: Party Pooped, Hearthbreakers, No Second Prances, The Saddle Row Review, Dungeons & Discords, Rock Solid Friendship, The Maud Couple, The Break Up Break Down, and The Washouts.
 
EG writing credits: Fluttershy’s Butterflies, Forgotten Friendship, Rollercoaster of Friendship and The Other Side.  
Story editor for My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Choose Your Own Ending.
 
Has the honor of reforming Trixie twice - once in the Equestria Girls series and again in the Friendship is Magic series.

@darknessRising24  
This is exactly the point.  
There could have been some really great bonding between Scootalo, Dashie and Dusty but of course that would have been too challenging.
 
 
@Background Pony #570D  
I have no confidence in him.

@genervt
 
Nick Confalone (writer of this episode)
 
>gets what fans always wanted and not only bring up Lightning Dust but also keep her unreformed as many had bitched to him on Twitter about for years
 
>still hated because Lighting Dust isn’t reformed
 

@genervt  
Screwed over implies that she actually did anything Noble in that episode.

Poor Dusty getting screwed over for the second time.  
Isn´t friendship magic?

I somehow knew this meme would come.
 
@Background Pony #3204  
Eeyup.

And she’ll be in a full wing and body cast drinking through a straw, or whatever Spitfire says.
 
She’ll probably recover within days, but it’ll give her something to think about.