Strolling down the streets of Trottingham, a teal-colored pegasus held her head high, beaming her confidence at every passer-by. Lightning Dust proudly made her way towards the carriage station in order to travel to the prestigious University of Northern Trottingham. Her friends and family have insisted on her attending such a college because of her amazing talents and she was thrilled at the surprise of being accepted into UNT, even with the mediocre grades she made during her high school years. She felt like she was on top of the world, nothing can stop her; she rounded the last corner before her destination, lost within the forest of her own thoughts, only to be abruptly plucked from her thoughts and back into reality when she collides into a passing mare. Looking over her shoulder, Lightning gritted her teeth to look at the other mare scornfully.
"Watch where you’re going fea..." Lightning began before holding her tongue. She instantly recognized who she accidentally bumped into; the way she walked, the form of her figure, and the colors of her tail were instant giveaways. She could only stare in disbelief as the mare turned around to face her, Please don't be who I think it is... Please don't be who I think it is... No matter how much she prayed for her to be correct, the presence of Rainbow Dash was no illusion. Out of anypony I could've bumped into, why did it have to be her? the thought to herself.
Lightning quickly found herself entranced by the mare in question, who's eyes shot a gaze that had boiling rage engraved into the irises; her eyes were filled with the memories of the past. The fondest memory that stood out among the rest was the time when they were enrolled at the Wonderbolt's Academy, but this was the only memory she could sense that would arouse a negative atmosphere between them. For what seemed like hours, the two mares stood still, eyes locked onto each other; a pair of lush garnet eyes exchanging a death gaze with a pair of eyes resembling the bright dawn.
"What were you about to say to me?" the Rainbow Dash shot. Lightning felt fear beginning to swell in her chest as the mare slowly approached. The thought of what would happen caused her to sweat chilled bullets; she never thought she would ever see this mare again, but she wished she never would have to. "N... nothing," Lightning answered, slowly stepping backward in attempt to avoid any further confrontations, "I... I wasn't going to say anything." Rainbow was obviously unaffected by Lightning's lie, "Don't play me like I am stupid, you were about to say something and I want to know what it was going to be." "I wasn't about to say anything! I was just trying to stop something that would get worse very fast but you are being feather-brained and trying to..." Lightning was cut short by a fast blow to her abdomen, violently extracting breath from her lungs.
Sweet Celestia, my lungs are on FIRE! Lightning thought as she gasped for oxygen, her abdomen stinging from the pain and her heart pounding in her ears. Even though she had been trained to easily recover from a violent blow, a Pegasus' body can not offer enough protection; her body could not withstand a blow as violent as that.
Lightning lost her composure, "You... Fucking... Bitch..." Lightning managed between gasps, backing away slowly to avoid getting another dose of the same venom. Rainbow slowly stalked up to her trembling victim and leaned in close, whispering loudly into Lightning's ear, "the next time you try to start a fight with me," she sent another another jab at Lightning's chest, causing the teal mare to collapse onto the concrete and cough small drops of crimson in front of her muzzle. Rainbow lowered down to Lightning's ear and hissed into it, embedding the words deep within her victims psyche, "Remember what just happened because I can guarantee that there is much more where that came from" Rainbow Dash quickly resumed her original path, pretending to be oblivious to the violent scene that took place moments ago. Lightning helplessly watched her opponent abandon the scene as her vision progressively continued to be consumed by a sea of expanding darkness; the mare's sky-blue cyan coat, and her mane and tail resembling a spectrum of vibrant colors. Lightning's head fell onto the rough concrete as her mind slipped from life.
Lightning Dust was brought out of the unconscious realm of her mind by the prodding hoof of a concerned bystander. She opened her eyes and squinted up at the source of the voice through a darkened, blurry haze and can only make out a fiery mane and a dull-teal coat. The mare's lips were moving but her voice was muffled by the lack of oxygen being absorbed into her brain. "Excuse me, are you ok? You have been laying here for over an hour."
Only two words penetrated the dense fog clouding her mind, "laying" and "hour." Lightning shot up from her prone position, but was greeted with a nauseous, weary and throbbing feeling from the core of her brain. She would've collapsed onto the concrete a second time if it wasn't for the other mare's quick actions to steady the half-conscious Lightning, "easy there, nopony needs to try something like that so soon." The other mare's voice was kind and beautiful, but still very concerned.
"Thank you, but I don't think we have ever met before," Lightning looked at the mare with glossed eyes; she was able to deduct that she was a pegasus but other than the obvious, her mind struggled to comprehend due to her feeling as if she was recovering from a magic grass adventure, giving her the illusion of a horrible hangover. The other mare let go after she was sure Lightning was able to stand on her own, watching as Lightning slowly regained strength in her feeble legs, unable to restrain a giggle of amusement at the sight of the pony stumbling and almost falling on her face.
"Then allow me to introduce myself, my name is Slipstream, what's your name?" Slipstream gave a friendly smile. "Lightning... Lightning Dust," that was all she can offer as a response as she tries to regain her bearings, "I'm sorry if I worried you Slipstream." "It's ok, it’s just not everyday you see somepony laying on the side of the road." Slipstream couldn't hold back another giggle of amusement. Lightning gave a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of her head, "Yea, I guess your right. Did you see anything that happened before I was out?" Lightning wanted to take her question back, she knew this mare didn't see the encounter; she should have expected not to get much of an answer from this pony.
"I saw the entire thing between you and Rainbow Dash; I don't know who started it, but that was the most intense stare-down I've ever seen in my life. I wasn't able to do anything but watch as Rainbow Dash swung a powerful jab into your chest and stood over you and whispered something into your ear; only if I knew what she was saying before she left. What surprised me was that Rainbow just left as if nothing ever happened. Since the past hour, I kept a privately-enforced vigil over you, waiting for you to wake up. I became concerned when you remained unconscious. If you were still unconscious after ten more minutes, I would've alerted the paramedics, but I'm just happy that you're ok."
Lightning couldn't believe her ears, Slipstream witnessed the one-sided fight from start to finish; her expectations were blown out of the water. She tried to isolate her focus on her thoughts, but her thoughts were occupied by another thought, the thought of helpless submission. She gave a slight blush at the thought of somepony looking over her while she was in a defenseless state; how she won't be able to reject anything that the pony did to her.
Lightning soon realized that her fantasy had enticed her wings to snap to attention. She managed to correct herself mere seconds afterward, Lightning Dust attempted to hide the thought's effects on her body. To her secret horror, it was too late, Slipstream was slowly inching away from her, blushing slightly with awkward embarrassment. Lightning thought about approaching Slipstream but dismissed the thought. The conversation was in the critical state where the wrong word or action can end the meeting and engrave the wrong impression in Slipstream's mind about her character; she had to fix this quickly, "I'm sorry if I'm making this a little uncomfortable," Lightning said softly, trying to cower into herself like a tortoise, but to no avail. "I-its fine, I didn't mean it in THAT way," Slipstream replied, emphasizing what she meant by her statement.
Lightning mentally sighed with relief, the conversation is salvageable, but she had to remove the awkwardness between the them. In attempt to eliminate the embarrassing atmosphere forming around them, Lightning decided to change the subject, "Do you know which way I need to go to get to the University of Northern Trottingham? I don't want to be late to my first class." Slipstream's sudden change in body language revealed that a change in subject was all that was needed to remove the cloud of awkwardness surrounding the two mares, "Yes I do, in fact, I am on my way there myself." Feeling the atmosphere lighten a little, Lightning took her chance to make the conversation and events afterward less awkward than earlier's, "Would you like to walk together and learn about each other a little bit?" At the sudden realization of what she said, Lightning uncontrollably blushed and gave a mile-long stare into the distance, eyes like small beads; she could only wish that she can take back what she said, No no no no no, that was not the right question to ask after such an embarrassing moment.
"Sure," Slipstream responded delightfully, seemingly unaware of the double meaning Lightning recognized. Whew, I'm glad she didn't notice anything odd about what I said, Lightning gave a sigh of relief. "It would be nice to have a friend while at school, you never know what kind of help a friend might need," Slipstream said, giving a friendly nudge, referring to the earlier event. Slipstream skipped down the walkway, giggling to herself, letting her response sink into Lightning. "Yea... wait WHAT!" Lightning squeaked, blushing with embarrassment now knowing that Slipstream is referring to her 'pomf' a few minutes ago. "Are you going to join me or not?" Slipstream asked, calling over her shoulder. Lightning quickly caught up to Slipstream and the pair trotted over to Northern Trottingham, establishing a sound friendship along the way. What the pair didn't know was that an even bigger relation is in the making; events that have begun to weave together, starting from the encounter of Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash.
Lightning Dust entered the administration office to retrieve her long-awaited schedule, and a campus map. Lightning excitedly bounced out of the administration office toward her friend, who was also wielding her own schedule and map, "I hope we have a class together." Lightning enthusiastically exclaimed, unable to control her excitement. "I have Gymnastics, Astronomy, Drawing, and Weather Control." listed Slipstream, sounding only excited about Astronomy. Strange, Slipstream doesn't seem like the type of pony who would enjoy such a thing, Lightning Dust thought curiously, but dismissed the thought and listed her own schedule, "I’ve got; Photography, Drawing, Creative Writing, and Gymnastics." Slipstream's expression brightened at the mention of "Gymnastics" and "Drawing," "We both have Gymnastics and Drawing! I hope we get a class together." Lightning responded, just as excited as Slipstream was, "Me too, that would make this place so much cooler! You and I in the same class would be the coolest thing ever!" The two mares couldn’t hold their excitement in as they gave each other a friendly hug. After a few seconds, the mares pulled apart and sat next to each other on a bench, reviewing their schedules. “Why did you pick ‘Photography’?” Slipstream asked, looking over at her accomplice. Lightning couldn’t help but puff out her chest in pride, “When I was in high school, everypony in my school said, 'my pictures were the best they have ever seen.’ Once, a professional critic took a look at my pictures and said that my work can rival that of Photo Finish.” After she said that, she got up and bounced with joy. “Wow, you must have an amazing talent with photography. I only have one question: Why is your cutie mark a lightning bolt with three stars rather than something that represents photography?” Slipstream asked, curious as to how she acquired her cutie mark in the first place. Lightning Dust slowly stopped her joyful bouncing and came to sit next to Slipstream, slouching in confusion a little bit, “I-I don’t know either. I just don’t know.” Lightning sunk her head into her hooves, lost in thought. A hoof rested on Lightning’s shoulder, looking up to see that the owner is none other than her friend, Slipstream. “I’m sorry I asked, it was none of my business anyway.” Slipstream said, trying to reassure her saddened friend. Lightning Dust looked up at her fiery friend and smiled slightly, “It's ok, don’t blame yourself Slipstream. You just didn’t know.” Lightning leaned up, and the mares gave each other an affectionate hug. "I have to go to my dorm and settle in.” Slipstream whispered to her friend, sliding out of her friend’s embrace to route her path to her dorm.
Lightning Dust got up, storing her map and schedule in her saddlebag. She routed her path toward the student coordinator for her dorm room. Along the way, she couldn’t help but admire the campus’ student grove; the trees spotted the ground randomly, yet beautifully. The trees were majestic and stood tall, not bowing to anypony and stood at attention against the sky. In the center of the grove, stood a beautiful tree with magenta leaves and the bark looking like a cream color. Under the beautiful tree sat a single pony. Lightning drew closer to the individual and gathered more details about the pony; the pony was a stallion, of the unicorn variety; his coat was the color of milk, and his mane and tail were that of deep rose cloaked with milk chocolate. Lightning slowly approached the stallion, curious as to what he was doing. As she slowly trotted over to him, she could see that he was writing something on scrolls; her curiosity temporarily satisfied, Lightning strolled past the stallion, returning to her original plan. “Hello there,” A voice called from behind her, the voice sounded how a baritone would sound when finely tuned. Lightning looked behind her to see the mysterious stallion looking up at her, gazing at her with eyes the color of perfectly simulated jades. “H-hello.” Lightning responded, trying to hide her nervousness without success. “My name is Dawn Fade, by the way.” Dawn Fade motioned Lightning over to him, “Come here, I wish to speak to you. If we are to be good friends, we have to know each other a little better.” Lightning giggled to herself, His accent sounds funny, but charming at the same time.
Lightning allowed a little time to talk to Dawn and trotted over to him, resting close to him. She can now see that his cutie mark resembled that of scrolls and quills. “What does your cutie mark mean?” Lightning Dust asked Dawn curiously, looking up at him. “My cutie mark represents my love to write stories. My tales are always enjoyable to read, as I have heard from those who have read them. One of the ponies that read one of my stories said that, ‘His heart’s strings were played like a violin as he read my story, and he couldn’t wait to read my next story.’ I am currently working on my latest masterpiece. This story will top every other story I have ever wrote during my career as a storywriter.” Lightning watched him with bottomless interest as he said these words. She looked over at what he was writing, watching him twirl his quill with expert precision. “Your hoofwriting is very beautiful, what kind of writing is it?” Dawn Fade looked over at his spectator and smiled, “This style is what is known as ‘Calligraphy;’ Calligraphy is a very beautiful font. It took me several moons to master, but in my opinion, it was worth every pain-staking moment.” Lightning Dust was hypnotized by the silver aura his horn was producing to control the quill that was twirling to form the elegant font. A thought shot into her head and she snapped out of her trance. “Why do you sit in this grove? I can see that this place is very peaceful and beautiful, but isn’t it uncomfortable leaning against this tree for a long time writing like that?” Dawn paused his writing to formulate his response. A few moments later, he looked at the teal mare; he resumed his elegant writing as he gave his answer, “This grove is where I am able to think peacefully. My dorm is considerably loud, especially when my roommate is in there. Although I usually spend hours on end leaned up against this exact tree, in this exact spot writing in Calligraphy, I am surprisingly comfortable like this. Another reason why I choose to write my stories here is because this place provides me with the inspiration to create my stories. Watching nature in perfect harmony soothes me; which in turn, provides me with the ability to focus on creating.”
Lightning felt like she was being serenaded by his statement, his silver tongue formed words and put words together in a way only he could. She became rather depressed inside to see him packing up his work in his saddlebag. “It has been nice talking to you ma'm, but I must leave; the day is fading away and my roommate will begin to worry about my whereabouts.” Dawn Fade said, rising to his hooves, helping Lightning Dust to her hooves. “Sorry, my name is Lightning Dust; it was nice meeting you too.” Lightning said, looking at him; blushing soft red. What about this makes him this interesting? Is it how he acts? Is it how he speaks? Or is it something more? Dawn Fade wrote something on a small slip of paper and held it out to Lightning, who has just snapped out of her thoughts. “This is my dorm room number; if you want to talk again, you are more than welcome to visit me.” Lightning took the piece of paper with trembling lips, the room number had been written in that beautiful writing he wrote in earlier. ‘Dorm complex 2, Floor 3, Room 312; Right Wing’ is what the slip of paper read. “I wish you a good evening, Ms. Dust.” Dawn Fade said, before bowing and exiting the grove to return to his dorm.
After he left, Lightning Dust’s wings shot skyward, pulling on the joints to pull higher; her blush slowly shifted to deeper shades of red. Her limbs were immobilized by an unknown force, her numb brain preventing even her lips from doing anything but quiver with the slip of paper lodged between them. Lightning’s paralysis lasted uncountable minutes before her eyes shifted slightly to the sky, seeing that the color of the aerial expanse had shifted into a lavender color. Her body regained feeling by a new sense of urgency, Mother of Celestia, I need to get my dorm room key! Lightning Dust thought as she stuffed the slip of paper in her saddle bag and took to the skies, soaring toward the Students' Coordinator’s office.
Lightning stepped into the Student Coordinator’s office, and walked up to the deep-sea blue pony. “Hello sir, I am wondering which dorm room is mine.” Lightning couldn’t keep her nervousness out of her voice.
“Name.” the pony behind the desk asked, holding up a clipboard, looking over it at the shifting teal mare in front of him.
“Lightning Dust.” She said with a little more confidence.
The coordinator flipped through several pages before coming to a rest. he ran his hoof down the page and looked up at Lightning Dust. “Dorm complex 2, Floor 2, Room 212; Right Wing,” He said before storing the clipboard and handing her a key, “Here is the dorm room key, keep up with it because you will not receive another one.”
Lightning Dust took the key with her hoof and stored it in a pocket on her saddlebag. “Thank you, sir.” Lightning Dust said as she walked out of the room.
The coordinator remained silent even after she closed the door and walked away from the office. Dear Celestia, that stallion was the most boring pony ever to live. He really needs to go to a bar and get drunk or something! Lightning thought as she strolled down the hallway towards the exit.
Lightning trotted toward the dorm complexes, staring in awe at the massive size of each of them. Each building stood about six stories high; two large bulges consisting of windows were connected by several extensions between the two in the center of each floor. She entered the dorm complex marked with a “2” and checked herself in, but she couldn’t help and notice that she will also be having a roommate, I hope this pony is tolerable. Lightning thought to herself, carrying her weary bones up the stairs to the second story. She trudged through the corridors, every door marked by a set of three numbers until she reached the one marked “212.”
Lightning inserted the key into the lock, turned the key to unlock the door and opened the door, stepping inside and closed the door behind her.
“Who is it?” A voice called from the bathroom.
That voice… it sounds similar. The voice is obviously a mare’s, but where have I heard it from? Lightning questioned her memory. “It’s your new roommate, Lightning Dust.” She called back to the voice.
“What are you doing here?” The voice sounded a lot more hostile toward the visitor.
“I would at least like to know who you are.” Lightning responded, shocked at the tone of the voice without the owner even seeing her yet.
A mare stepped out of the bathroom cloaked with a haze of steam. Lightning Dust was frightened and shocked to see her new roommate. The mare was a vibrant cyan blue, her mane projecting a beautiful rainbow, along with her tail. Her roommate was the same pony who attacked her this morning in response to her insult, Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash stood on her hind hooves and threw her front hooves in the air, obviously infuriated and sped over to Lightning Dust, pinning her against the closed door. “Did you request to have the same room as me just to torture me throughout college with your weak insults!?” Rainbow Dash yelled, questioning the slightly frightened teal Pegasus she had pinned.
Lightning Dust shook her head, “No I didn’t choose this as my room, I was just told that this will be my room. If I had a choice, would I have chosen to be in this room if I knew you were in here?” Lightning asked the angered Pegasus.
The cyan Pegasus released her prey from the door and backed away, “No, I guess not.” The cyan Pegasus walked over to the two beds and pushed one over to the wall on the opposite side of the room. “I just ask that you don’t bother me too much while we are roommates. If you do bother me, I will finish what I started this morning.”
Lightning nodded her head in agreement. “I will hit the hay early tonight; I don’t want to be late for my first class.”
Rainbow Dash only acknowledged the teal Pegasus with a wave of her hoof. “You don’t need to tell me what you’re going to do, you’re a grown filly.”
Lightning slipped her saddlebag off of her back and climbed into the bed Rainbow Dash pushed to the opposite side of the room and laid her head against the pillow. “Rainbow Dash, I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I was just preoccupied and I just over-reacted to something that wasn’t worth it. I hope you forgive me.” Lightning closed her eyes and began to drift to sleep.
“I guess I could forgive you… this time.” Rainbow said, it was obviously forced and with a hint of uncertainty. Nonetheless, this caused Lightning to smile to herself a little, knowing that their hostility toward each other is beginning to resolve.
