”It’s not fair! Why does he always get to do whatever he wants with us?”

“It’s okay my little lighting bulb, your father is only trying to ensure your success as a good mare.”

Dark shadows crept their way through the jungle lairs of the house. Lightning Dust sobbed quietly lest her father hears her again. She was in her mother, Star Dust’s clutch. Star Dust was a medium sized pegasus gifted with proustite fur and a beautiful product of her family’s tangerine-maned allele. She originated from a middle class community on the outskirts of Cloudsdale called Lintucolto1.

A peaceful and pure town, Lintucolto boasts high living standards, as well as one of the highest satisfaction reports from the pegasi race. A tradition is held when leaving from the town for work or just in general: The ponies would travel through this strict “Milky Way” in order to make their exits. This pathway is bounded by heavy gusts that an ordinary pegasus cannot go against. As they go through the Milky Way, the pegasi would experience a cosmic hallucination of their emotions, worries, and expectations of what might stand before them.

Star Dust exited Lintucolto in search of a mate to start her family, and has not been back home since.

“No he hasn’t, mom!” Lightning Dust cried, “He hurts you too!”

Star Dust gently shushed her daughter and stroke her golden mane. The mane was already done by her this morning and quickly stumbled into a muddy mess after flight school.

“Oh deary, did you pick a fight with those bullies again?”

“Mooooom! I said I’ll be fine! And here I am.”

“But you can’t just waste your mommy’s effort to make you look more like yourself. You’re a beautiful little girl admired by everyone.”

Lightning squinted her eyes. “You mean some teachers whom I don’t even talk to plus yourself?”

“Nonsense silly!” She gave the filly a kiss on the forehead. Though, Lightning Dust was still gloomy from what happened earlier.

“When I mean everyone. I mean everyone.”

On the massive grass field of the Wonderbolt Academy, all trainees, including Lightning Dust and Meadow Flower, lined up for their first grand obstacle course. And after this, it's another thirty-one miles. Frightening as it might sound, Spitfire assured them that no casualties over this event had occurred throughout the academy’s history.

“It’s safe.” She pressed on the large group of over thirty juvenile flyers. “There won’t be such thing as a giant alien rock bowling another crater out of nowhere.”

Several trainees giggled. A small flock of older pegasi with navy blue and yellow attires landed around the inexperienced youths, creating an exciting commotion.

Spitfire continued, “These Wonderbolt members will watch your backs in case anything happens to you lot. But don’t be dependent on them! The point of this obstacle course is to test your endurance. If you didn’t complete it, that’s okay. It simply means you need to work harder than your fellow peers.”

Meadow Flower nudged Lightning on the shoulder. She managed to get the speedy mare’s attention despite the latter’s reluctance to even put an eye on her.

“Do you think we can make it? I don’t want to pull your heels”—

“Remember! This is not a race!”

— “Then make sure to keep up! I better not hear whining from you if tired.” Lightning Dust bared her teeth with a soft growl.

“On your mark!”

Spitfire’s call put the trainees’ distractions to sleep. Every pegasi was ready to take off and prove their Wonderbolt-made quality. Smirking, Lightning Dust flexed her wings and hooves, adrenaline pumped fresh warm blood all over her veins. She licked her lips as if her prey was only meters from her eyes. She didn’t bother to care one word Spitfire had said.

“Get set!”

She was here to win.

“GO!”

Once she left her mother’s warmth, Lightning Dust shivered with cold blood in frozen arteries as she walked past her father’s bedroom. But what doubled her intense curiosity was the heavy scribbling Ethereal Cloud was producing with his quill. Scratch scratch scratch. Scratch scratch scratch.

It was loud, at least it rang loud enough within her mind. Trembling hooves met the narrow gap of the door. Her father did not shut the door tight. Lightning Dust slowly opened the creaky door; but fortunately for her, Ethereal Cloud was too focused on the piece of paper. He was furiously writing, even accidentally knocking some of his group of items off the table.

“Crap my fucking ink ran out!” He slammed the table and got off his chair.

Panicking, Lightning Dust quickly shuffled away into her own bedroom, which was next door. Stomping against the wooden floor (also creaking), Ethereal Cloud grabbed some bits and opened the front door.

“Star, I’m getting some quills. Watch the house while I’m gone!”

Star Dust responded casually, but Lightning Dust frowned in anger. To her, he treated his wife with a tone as if she was an irresponsible child. The filly mumbled under her hot breath.

“Mom is the one who cooks and keeps the house clean. What the hell have you ever done?”

She went inside Ethereal’s room. Nothing of it impressed her asides the piece of paper on his desk with a dry quill.

She got on the chair and squinted at the thick lines emphasized on every single letter. A gulp plunged down Lightning’s throat as her eyes moved up to the first word wrote.

Author's Note

I deeply apologize for my inactivity. I had a ton of one-shot ideas spurring from my head for awhile and it distracted me from continuing this series.

I don’t know if I should force myself to plan a chapter per week, considering I’m preparing to enter college next year plus SYEP work hours throughout the summer .

P.S. Your questions revolving around the town of Lintucolto will be revealed in the later chapters!

1
Reference to lintukoto, a home for the birds during the winter to stay warm in Finnish mythology.