Soarin folded his wings back into his torso. A crisp boost of refreshment was generated from a tiny fan and into his nostrils. He turned back and observed the other Wonderbolt members, who supervised the obstacle course, entering the room. Fleetfoot, Fire Streak and High Winds chatted among themselves over the trainees who struggled with the activity.

“Did you see Maize Flour tripping over one of the cloud rings while attempting a three-sixty twirl? She was soooo ambitious!”

“Haha yeah! I saw her hanging over the thing before going to Kernel Flake and helping him get his direction right.”

“Boy, it’s such a struggle to help others become one of us. I wonder how our seniors thought about us when we screwed up so much.”

They laughed, giggled, did whatever to keep themselves happy. The stallion wanted to join in and find out more from them, but the quench for information quickly drowned when he noticed two mares’ silhouettes standing outside. They were having a conversation as well, but it seemed furious.

One droplet off his muzzle vaporized into insignificant substances.

Going through the backdoor, he trotted closer towards the two voices. As he finally found the duo, Soarin immediately noticed something wasn’t right.

There was a cherry furred pegasus, curled up against the building Soarin was just in. She sobbed, sobbed and sobbed more. Hadn’t the Wonderbolt helped her get back on her own hooves, the cold wall would erode with agonizing cries.

“Hey don’t cry now, what happened?”

Wiping the remaining tears from the corner of her eye, her hiccups had yet to cease. Soarin grimaced as if he saw gaps surrounding her reddened sockets. He decided that it would be best if they started walking so the mare can focus on other movements than crying.

“I’m Soarin, a Wonderbolt flyer. I have access to all of the academy and our headquarters if you need help. Spitfire knows me better than anypony else.”

The mare eyed to Soarin. “I’m... Meadow Flower.”

“What happened to you? I heard and saw another mare yelling at you from my room.”

“T-that was m-my lead pony, Lightning Dust...” Her voice ran cold and quiet. Aware of this new piece of information, Soarin’s relaxed position tensed. His rib cage spiraled into a cord. He knew about the speedy mare’s recent infamy too well. He wasn’t for Spitfire’s decision to keep Lightning Dust in the academy.

“What did she do to you?”

She took a deep breath and sighed. “I dragged her hooves down, and she had to slow down just to help me. T-that was what she was upset about...”

The stallion raised his voice in anger. “That’s not how a Wonderbolt should act! Putting yourself before others? Hasn’t she learned from her mistakes?!”

“N-no.” Meadow Flower stopped in her tracks, persuading Soarin to follow along. “That’s not it...”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

“She was, like, really angry at first... But she gave me a huffy apology and encouraged me to do better next time...” Meadow stopped in thought for awhile. “It was strange, because of how quickly her mood had swung from down to up.”

“Mood shift huh?” Soarin rubbed his muzzle. "Coming from somepony like Lightning Dust?”

"She was verbally swearing a lot at first, but she seemed to calm down with an assertive voice." Meadow continued. "I just hope that she'll be fine, I might have caused her too much trouble..."

Soarin looked away into the melting creamed sky. His fur stood in the icy particles of the cold breeze, yet quivered like algae. 'It seems I have to speak to her personally about the essence of attitude and humility... Right after what she had done to Rainbow Dash's friends. But it shouldn't be that bad'.

"No... No way..." The young Lightning Dust whispered to herself, "That can't be right!"

Scratches and scratches entangled the fabrics of space... Scratch scratch scratch... Scrat—

A door slammed open in the most disgraceful manner.

She let out a tiny shriek. But it didn't matter, for she had read enough to know a shard of the truth.

With her athletic reflexes scuttering on the oaken floor, Lightning quickly dashed out of her father's room with a single flap of her wings and into her own room. The house's entrance was just around the corner, Ethereal Cloud could've heard or walked up and noticed his daughter intruding his privacy.

Lightning Dust knew this, as she could've got beaten, leaving another long term scar across her face. Domestic violence was nothing new in the family.

"The hell? I swore I left the door shut..." He nevertheless walked back into his room and placed the quills into his utensil cup.

Lightning Dust stared blankly into the ceiling above. She was worried, for nopony will be her savior. She wished she had elsewhere to reside in, but all hope seem to be clenched into specks of dust, lost in time. Unwilling to the filly, her ears perked straight into the rigid and cracked wall, towards the room where she was just in.

"What the hell am I gonna tell my boss now...?"

He sat on the chair, and continued "scratching"...

Whatever she once placed her mark on, she won't let go of her grip until she's there. Such determination leaks recklessness and immaturity, like a green banana that could not be consumed in satisfaction.

Once she entered her academy room from a shower, Lightning Dust cleared the floor with a single swipe of her hoof. She finished the obstacle course in fifth place, thanks to that—

one brat who could not keep up with me.

She wanted to slam the door behind her, but for some reason she decided it was best to keep it open at a nose gap, in case she suspects of anypony else trespassing her privacy. 'Now I don't have to fuss over who opened the goddamn door...'. She lied on her bed, and attempted to take a peaceful nap. But whatever she tried, there's always that feather fluttering above her in a disturbing manner: a panicking butterfly...

"Quills..." She muttered.

Lightning Dust rolled over her bed like an insomniac madmare. The torrent passion for fiery hatred remained within her heart. She wanted to scold her, slap her, beat her...

No...

'I will kill her. I'll make her know what she will get for messing with me!'

She rolled to face the wall. 'But then again, did she mean to harm me? I kinda promised to help her become a Wonderbolt...'

'Should I even bother...?'

Three wooden knocks snapped her brain back like a plastic ruler.

Grunting, she reluctantly trotted towards the door. Even as she was walking, the knocks continued on impatiently. Blood once again pumped through her thick veins, how many pests does she have to still tolerate? 'It could be Spitfire again,' she reminded herself, so she continued walking towards the door without stopping. Yet, such action only resulted in regret as she was now face-to-face with another Wonderbolt at her doorway.

Meadow Flower sat silently in the cafeteria. She hid her face from the trainees nearby, but would occasionally look up to check her hooves. She knew what she did today, and according to somepony who is capable of changing the flight rules at her own will, she failed.

Her pink cherry fur was almost pale compared to her original self. The same depression briskly blanched her golden mane, as if she was aging. How much time she remained on her hooves was still a question, but it was no short of a sweat's droplet between her muzzle and the ground. Soon, a mysterious voice would overtake her as she asked herself,

'Had I sinned?'

As guilty as she was, Meadow Flower would never speak in such tone. She started eyeing on other trainees. Ponies were ignorant of her depressing presence. They chattered about like another day in life, not caring nor aware of how long they'll be around. Then, a gray furred mailmare was outside the window writing on an envelope with her black marker. Meadow Flower was soon entangled in the cross-eyed pony's movements. Every stroke the mailmare traced down left evidence screeching in her mind.

Scratch.

Scratch scratch scratch.

Scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch.

Panicking with excessive sweat, Meadow Flower ducked below her table and covered her ears. The marker's disturbing echoes continued. Subconscious, she kicked the metal bars of the table to distract herself from the noises, only to leave her with a cracked limb.

Scratchscratchscratchscratchscratch

Scratchscratchscratchscratchscratchcratchscratchscratchscratchscratch

Stuttering helplessly, she felt as if she was backed into a corner. And in her Maya blue pupils, a dilapidated wooden doll in the size of a giant towered over the mare with two carmine dots screaming for death, was evident after its sadistic smile hanging below. It looked ancient, prehistoric and maybe terrifyingly impressive, but nothing would describe the doll as innocently amiable.

Soon, the doll's eerie voice would tear her skin and fur away.

"Meadow Flower..."

And then she would see a bonfire for corpses flickering bright. Piles of them stared at her with voided darkness between their eyelids.

Scratchscratchscratchscratchscratchcratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchcratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchcratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratchscratch—

"Meadow Flower..." The voice emphasized for attention once more. The poor pony did not know what to do. She curled up against the imagined corner waiting for the demonic spirit to splash its crimson painting.

Scrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttch!

"Meadow Flower!"

She tried grasping for air. She tried holding her breath. And it was working thanks to the turquoise figure holding her shoulders under the table.

"L-Lightning Dust...?"

The other mare groaned, "What the hell are you even doing down here? I'm working my ass off just to get your attention."

"What are you doing here?"

"To tell you something important, kinda..."

Meadow blinked, confused as ever.

Lightning Dust took a deep breath. The air was intolerable of such extreme heat and pressure. They both could feel it burning well within them. It was only the two of them standing face to face. One mare was injured behind her thin layers of skin as well as abrupt fear; the other one was psychologically distraught in her own closed off comfort zone.

"Look, just because I've raised my voice over you, doesn't mean I hate you. It's just, you and I are leagues apart and it's hard for both sides to accept it."

A boulder slumped down her throat as she tried to articulate yet another inspirational sentence. Yet, Meadow Flower bit her lips as if she was in the wrong. Lightning Dust released a huffy breath before continuing,

"I could've been less harsh on you, honestly. I thought my peer-pressure influence thing could'a... uh, make you go faster."

Meadow raised a brow. "Faster?"

"Erm," she took a quick pause, "as in, making you put in more effort to break your limits."

"Oh..." the novice flyer looked away, bringing her pale-colored wings to her chest and staring down at them. Her scleras caved inwards, leaving slightly more gaps between her eyelids and pupils than before.

"But goddamn, just look at me!" She shook Meadow's shoulders. "You can do better. I know you can!"

The mare's eyes slowly returned to normal as she heard those words. "I-I can?"

"Yeah! Even if it... ruins my reputation..."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Forget about it." Lightning took a deep breath and continued.

"The trick to get you to start flying again instead of worrying about what others think of you, is to remind yourself how far you have arrived to. You successfully became a Wonderbolt trainee, and is capable of handling speeds faster than any normal pegasus. Most ponies haven't even tasted a single dew of a Wonderbolt life yet."

Her amber gaze glistened on and off. She seemed lusting for a great passion that was more than athleticism. A faint voice loomed around them, followed by more scripts on paper. But they kept talking, because why would they believe in such foalish fantasy?

"Do you believe in ghosts... or paranormal activities?"

"I, don't." Meadow frowned." But as fillies most of us must had."

Lightning Dust looked away with a blush puffing on her cheeks.

"What is it?"

"I... still do."

"Really?"

Closing her eyes, the speedy mare nodded. "Ponies would laugh at me for believing such bullcrap. What's worse was that I didn't have anything to prove to them."

She wrapped her hoof around her chest. "But deep down I'm not ready to accept that. I will one day make sure they will pay for their mistakes."

"But why are you so stubborn to keep this up?"

"B-because," she stammered, "I hate losing! If I stopped believing in ghosts, then what was the point of putting my front hooves against everypony else? What defines me if I jump on the stupid bandwagon with them?"

Meadow Flower scratched her head. "So... how exactly did you come up with such theory of paranormal events?"

"I..." she sighed in defeat.

"I hear scratches in my head..."

She paused. A locked stare, like a sharp hook piercing her eyelids, was Meadow's only response.

"... I..."

She bit her lip. "I heard them too... when I saw Derpy delivering mail right outside the cafeteria door."

"You don't say?"

She nodded depressingly.

Sweating, Lightning Dust took another deep breath. "Look, that's not the point here. All I'm saying is that despite not being able to prove stupid ghosts, I proved them wrong when they called me frail, slow, whatever. Because by being the best of the best, I outclassed every other pegasus in flight school. So far, the only pony who barely reached my level was Rainbow Dash."

"What's different between me and you, is that the only obstacle is yourself. You think you're a good-for-nothing showpony. You have no faith in yourself. You care about what others think of you. Everything's revolved around you, and now you can't think outside the box."

She put a hoof on Meadow's shoulders once more. "But that one obstacle is harder than a bunch of others putting you down. Where are you going to get respect if you can't even respect yourself?"

"... I guess you're right on that one." She grinned slightly. "Thank you."

"Yeah of course... that's what a lead pony's for."

"Hey you two!"

Both mares turned around and saw the giant hooves of the chef standing by them.

"Stop hiding under the table!"

Author's Note

Sorry about the scratches, I couldn't help but use them :3