Motivation

by gapty

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Shadowbolts (EqG), Lemon Zest, Equestria Girls
Length: 5853

Lemon Zest has a unique study method—her ant companions. However, her ants have to go into hibernation, leaving her on her own.

Lemon Zest has a unique study method—her ant companions. However, her ants have to go into hibernation, leaving her on her own.

Huge thanks to daOtterGuy for prereading it!

Published 2023-04-11 18:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2023-04-11 18:30:01 UTC

Motivation

The electric guitar solo was quick, the notes flying out of the amp with blistering speed. The guitarist's fingers moved in a blur as they played the catchy riffs intensely, each note ringing out with a fierce intensity that made Lemon Zest's heart race. She closed her eyes and let the sound wash over her, feeling as if she was right there on stage with the band.

The heavy pounding of the drums drove the rhythm forward with a relentless intensity that matched the guitar perfectly. Each beat felt like a punch to the gut, leaving Lemon Zest breathless and exhilarated.

As the song reached its climax, the guitarist launched into a searing solo that seemed to set the air on fire. The notes wailed and screamed, soaring higher and higher until it felt like they were piercing the very heavens.

Lemon Zest couldn't help but move her body in time with the music, her fingers twitching as if she was playing an imaginary guitar.

But then someone pushed her headphones away from her ears, and Lemon Zest was jolted back to reality. She opened her eyes to see the teacher entering the class.

“Thanks,” she said to Sour Sweet, despite being disappointed to be interrupted at such a crucial moment in the song.

All she got in reply was an eye roll.

The longer the lesson went on, the more Lemon struggled to concentrate. The teacher's rattled, monotone words seemed to blend into unintelligible noise, and the blackboard filled up with each blink faster and faster, leaving her unable to write everything down.

Looking around the classroom, she saw the faces of her classmates, most of them focused on taking notes rather than truly absorbing the material. When she turned her attention back to the teacher, she gasped as she watched him wipe away the notes she had been trying so hard to jot down.

In a panic, Lemon tried to smear down as many words as she could before it was too late, but the teacher had already moved on to the next point.

Rubbing her eyes, she suppressed a grunt and took a deep breath, before she left a bit of space on her notes and continued to write down what the teacher was saying.

After what felt like an eternity, Lemon glanced up at the clock, only to throw her head back in frustration and let out a just silent enough groan.

Only half an hour had passed, and she was already struggling to keep up. The thought of enduring another hour and a half of this mind-numbing class made her want to scream.

As the school bell rang, Lemon tapped Sour on the shoulder. Her classmate handed over wordlessly the exercise book with the notes, and Lemon quickly took a few photos with her phone.

“Thank you so much,” she said, handing the book back to Sour.

“Always happy to help,” Sour replied with a wide smile before it faded. “Do I get paid as your personal note-taker?”

Lemon chuckled nervously and began packing her school belongings into her bag. “You know I take notes, I’m just not as fast as you.”

“Don’t worry, everyone has their own pace,” Sour said as she pushed her chair in. “Maybe you just need to find the right class–or even school.”

Lemon rolled her eyes at the jab and put on her headphones. She knew Sour well enough to not let her sour attitude get to her.

As they left the classroom, Lemon selected a song and let it play through her headphones, drowning out her surroundings. Her arms began to move in time with the music, and she started to dance along as she followed Sour to the cafeteria.

A group of four students sat together in the school’s cafeteria, eyeing their fifth classmate who sat beside them, eyes closed and nodding her head forward and backward in time with the loud rock music blasting through her headphones. She even played air guitar with her hand, oblivious to the stares she was receiving.

“Does she do anything besides listening to her headphones?” Sunny Flare asked, rolling her eyes.

“She’s part of several sports teams from Crystal Prep, including the dance team,” Indigo Zap replied.

“Still obnoxious.” Sunny huffed, crossing her arms. “She’s louder than everyone else here.”

“Will she even eat today?” Sour asked.

“She’s never not eaten her lunch”, Sugarcoat replied bluntly.

“As long as she can keep up with the topics,” Sunny said. “How does any subject have room in her brain?”

“Sunny, that wasn’t nice,” Sour countered. “But it’s surprising she can even leave her world.”

“Hey, as long as she gets good grades and is useful for our teams, she can do what she wants,” Indigo said.

“True,” Sunny agreed. “She’s still a Crystal Prep student, so she’s not stupid.”

“I have heard of people who can learn while listening to music, but with how she listens to them,” Sugarcoat nod her head in Lemon’s direction, “I doubt that.”

Just then, Lemon stood up from her seat, placed one foot on the table, and shook her head, her air guitar movements becoming faster and faster as her song reached its climax and abruptly ended.

“Uhh—yeah!” she exclaimed, lowering her headphones. “Sorry, gals, I had to re-listen to this amazing song. What were you talking about?”

Her classmates exchanged glances with each other.

“Nothing,” Sunny lied.

Everyone has their unique way of studying, and for Lemon, it was this year's developed routine that started after she showered and the clock struck 8 PM. She would gather healthy snacks such as berries and nuts, grab a bottle of fruit tea, head up to her room, shut the door, and switch on the desk light.

However, her desk was unlike any other; it was home to two formicaria filled with sand, dirt, and stones, one of which had a sizable piece of wood in it. Several insects crawled around on the ground or through the tube that connected the two formicaria.

These insects were a species of black carpenter ants called Camponotus pennsylvanicus, and Lemon was immensely proud to have them. Two years prior, she had caught the queen and nurtured the colony's slow growth in a test tube setup until this year, when it had grown to around 40 workers and could move into an acrylic nest that was connected to the formicaria via a tube.

Today was feeding day, so Lemon opened one of the formicaria and placed a small piece of apple and a drop of honey on the ground. She waited a bit, until she saw one worker ant having found their new food, and took out with a smile her school utensils out and placed them on her desk.

Her ants served as her “study companies”, motivating her to sit down and tackle even the most challenging subjects until she comprehended and memorised them. Sure, sometimes it took several hours for her to complete everything, but she maintained a strict study schedule of 50 minutes studying followed by a 10-minute break for snacks.

During that, Lemon avoided all distractions, including music and headphones, and focused solely on her work, much like her ants who tirelessly collected food until their task was finished. And when she finally achieved her goals, she couldn't help but feel a surge of gratitude towards her tiny companions, her unusual pets. With a smile on her face, she would give them a silent nod of thanks.

And then, she would retire to her bed, ready to face the next challenges that awaited her at Crystal Prep the next day.

Free periods.

There were no students, not even in Crystal Prep, who wouldn’t like to get periods with no substitute teacher. Why else? It was a gift of time to be used for anything useful or that needed to be done.

But it didn’t apply to Lemon. Sitting alone in the library, she read the school books, looked over her notes, and nibbled on her pen, but at the end only groaned in annoyance as she tried to gain the needed focus to concentrate on the subjects. The annoying whispers of other students forced her to put on her headphones, but with music, she caught herself again and again losing her attention and bumping her head to the blaring guitar riffs and pounding drum beats of rock music.

In short, the library was the wrong place for her to study. Too much noise, too much distraction, and no study companions to motivate her to keep pushing. Just turning on her headphones and dancing to the music would make her feel guilty for wasting her free time. But was it even fruitful? She didn't know. All she felt was frustration, anger, and exhaustion.

If only she could be back in her room with her ants. Their tireless work ethic was infectious for Lemon and unparalleled by any of her classmates. None of them ever seemed to smile, working simply because they had to, lacking any internal motivation. Worse still, Lemon barely knew any of them. With her ants, however, she had been there from the very birth of the colony, and she knew their work ethic was pure. The colony worked diligently, and she would study alongside them in her room.

When the school bell rang, Lemon took a glance at her progress and then threw everything carelessly into her bag, frustrated that these two hours had been a waste of time.

There was only one thing that could improve her mood, and that was choosing a song from one of her favourite rock bands and turning up the volume on her headphones. In less than a minute, Lemon was lost in the beat, banging her head and moving her hands rhythmically in the air, completely oblivious to the rolled eyes and disapproving looks of other students around her.

October was a month that was like any other for most people. And yet, it was a month that Lemon dreaded and pushed out of her mind whenever possible. But it came.

She tried everything possible in her power to postpone the natural reaction of the ants, like keeping the temperature warm, but their hibernation phase arrived and her colony went to sleep.

Lemon knew what she had to do. For the ants, she had to move the nest to the garage for the correct temperature (previously, when their nest was in the test tube, she had simply put it in the fridge), but she didn’t want to. She didn’t want her ants to hibernate. Who else will motivate her to keep pushing until she reaches her goal?

So she sat on her desk, the acrylic nest’s lid open for her to see her colony through the glass covering. A part of her hoped that they suddenly woke up, that they fought against their animal instincts and went out to explore their world and worked, just so that Lemon could work too.

But besides a few legs twitching, the nest was still. Each ant kept sleeping in their place, waiting till their inner clock would tell them to wake up.

Minutes passed, then an hour. Lemon had never kept sitting in one place doing nothing, but now she did, as she realised how much she screwed herself up.

Lemon was smart. One doesn’t become one of the best students chosen for the Friendship Games if one wasn’t one of the best students of Crystal Prep, but as the years passed, she realised that she couldn’t rely purely on her intelligence and memory anymore. She had to learn now; she had to sit down and study until she got the subject, but she never taught herself how to actually do it.

She had no motivation or discipline for it. All alone, she would slip, she would look up her phone, she would get bored and put on music, she would get frustrated by a difficult topic and then take a “break” instead of pushing through—which basically meant she stood up from her desk and then forgot about studying.

Her ant colony was her trick, her motivation and self-control, but now?

With a sigh, she disconnected the tubes and carried the nest to the needed place for the winter.

Sugarcoat surveyed Lemon’s room, being pleasantly surprised. She had to admit that she anticipated this room to be way messier and more disorganised, given Lemon’s rock band persona. However, aside from the expected posters and speakers, the room featured a shelf with non-fiction books, a tidy desk with two formicaria (which reminded Sugarcoat of her first disbelief when Lemon told her that she keeps ants), and other signs, showing that Lemon was still a Crystal Prep student after all.

“Sorry it took so long,” Lemon said as she brought a bowl with fruits, nuts, and drinks. “I wasn’t sure what you eat during breaks, so I took a little from everything.”

“It’s more than enough for both of us,” Sugarcoat replied.

“We’ll see about that.”

They both sat down at a table, their school books, notes, and pencils out. Sugarcoat eyed Lemon, surprised at how that rocker girl put away her headphones and her phone.

When Lemon had asked Sugarcoat if they could study together, Sugarcoat was surprised by that question. Her main lead agreeing to it was her curiosity to see how Lemon studied at all, and thus she glanced multiple times at the girl across from her, who was resting her chin on her hands and reading silently from the book before her.

No music, no talking, nothing that Sugarcoat usually associated with Lemon. It was a little strange for her to see that side of her, but that also meant that this studying session wouldn’t turn into a disaster as she expected.

As time passed, the only sounds in the room were the soft scratches of pen on paper, filling the silence. Sugarcoat became so engrossed in her studying that she occasionally forgot that Lemon was sitting across from her, and when she remembered, she was in awe of how that obnoxious girl was such a different person now.

She was even more surprised when the 50-minute mark hit and they took a break, ate the prepared snacks, and then went back to deep studying once the 10-minute break ended. Even Sugarcoat didn’t have that strict schedule.

However, as Sugarcoat finished learning (biology was her strongest subject) and took out her phone, Lemon shot her a disapproving look.

“What‘s wrong?” Sugarcoat asked.

“Why did you stop?” Lemon replied.

“Because I’m finished.”

Lemon’s eyebrows furrowed. “I didn't call you here to stare at your phone.”

“I thought you wanted to study together, with me helping you with biology.”

“I understand the material, I’m just not as quick at memorising it,” Lemon explained, crossing her arms.

“Biology does require memorisation,” Sugarcoat agreed. “But what does it matter if I'm finished and choose to use my time differently?”

“Because…” Lemon trailed off, glancing at the formicaria.

“Because what?” Sugarcoat prompted.

Lemon sighed. “Because then I can’t study.”

Sugarcoat raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? I just saw you studying.”

“That’s because you did.”

Sugarcoat tilted her head.

“Look,” Lemon said, “previously, my ants helped me to focus on studying, but now they are hibernating and now I have no one else who would work while I’m working too. I know it’s psychological, but it’s the only thing helping me to learn.”

"If it's just psychological, you might consider learning to study on your own," Sugarcoat suggested. “Especially if the psychological trick were your ants.”

Lemon shot her a threatening look in response.

"Just saying." Sugarcoat shrugged and returned to her phone.

Lemon groaned and went back to writing in her exercise book. Sugarcoat noticed the glances the rocker girl gave her, as well as how Lemon would write something down, only to cross it out the next moment, throw her pen away, and lean her head backward in frustration.

Less than five minutes had passed before Lemon stood up, grabbed her phone and headphones, and turned on some music before returning to the table. Sugarcoat watched her as Lemon quickly retreated into her own world, banging her head in rhythm to the music.

“So that’s how it is,” Sugarcoat muttered.

“I can’t take it anymore!” Sour groaned, slumping down at the table with Sugarcoat, Sunny, and Indigo.

“Lemon?” Sunny asked.

“Yes, Lemon!” Sour clenched her fists. “She studies all at once, which is fine, but…” She exhaled. “I don’t do it like that. I study for at most one and a half hours, but every day. And she? She sits down and doesn't stop until she gets everything done.”

“That is a desirable trait for a sports team member,” Indigo replied.

“Sure, but not if she forces you to do the same!” Sour said. “And she has no discipline on her own! As soon as you stop, she stops too, leaving you feeling guilty because it’s now apparently your fault she’s not studying anymore.”

“How did she even study before that?” Sunny asked.

“Her ants used to keep her motivated before their hibernation phase,” Sugarcoat answered.

“Ants?” Sunny rolled her eyes. “It's still hard to believe that a rocker girl like her would have ants.”

“But it’s so sweet,” Sour smiled before the corners of her lips lowered. “Until her problem becomes ours.”

“I don’t get it,” Indigo said. “She’s enthusiastic and proactive in our teams and always takes the initiative.”

“Self-discipline,” Sugarcoat replied. “As soon as she is doing something with someone, she's all in. On her own? Listening to music.”

“But she must have discipline,” Indigo responded. “She was disciplined enough to be motivated by ants, after all.”

“But that’s the problem,” Sunny chimed in. “She doesn’t understand that.”

“Then how can we help her?” Sour asked. “I, for one, can't deal with her crammed study schedule anymore.”

“I might have an idea,” Indigo stroked her chin.

When the door opened, Lemon saw Indigo leading Sunny into the room.

“Oh, hey, Sunny! It’s good to see you here too!” Sour greeted her, before crossing her arms. “And as usual, you’re late.”

“Hey, be glad I made it! My piano lesson ran longer than usual.”

“It’s a wonder we all found the time to gather together,” Sugarcoat said.

“That’s why we have to make this study session count!” Indigo exclaimed, raising her arms in the air. “Are you ready, Shadowbolts?”

“Yes!” Lemon exclaimed with a smile, while the others joined in with less enthusiasm.

Time passed, and each student was focused on their subjects, occasionally asking questions if something wasn't understood. Lemon made sure not to let any distractions interfere. She knew her friends were doing this for her, and she couldn't let them down.

However, after their first break, Indigo checked her phone. “Oof, Suri and Upper are calling for help.” She scrolled through her messages before shaking her head. “These two are always causing trouble. Sugarcoat, can you come with me?”

“Sure, I’m almost done anyway,” Sugarcoat replied and got up from the table.

“We’ll be back soon,” Indigo said and went to the door. “Hopefully.”

Lemon looked at the two remaining girls. “What do you think happened?”

“Who knows,” Sunny replied. “Knowing them, they probably messed up with the lighting or anything technical again.”

“Going to gym halls for sports activities for their health,” Sour said, before rubbing her temples. “And then wasting everyone’s time for their own mistakes. Typical.”

Lemon shrugged her shoulders and went back to the exercise task before her. It was a difficult one, but with the others around her focused on their studies, Lemon kept pushing. She knew she could do it; it was all a matter of learning and doing these tasks over and over again.

About ten minutes later, Sour's phone rang, interrupting them. Lemon observed as Sour picked up the phone and listened silently to the person on the other end. It was comical how Lemon could see a rising annoyance and anger on her face.

“Are they stupid?” Sour suddenly exclaimed, clenching her teeth. “Fine, I’ll bring it to you.”

After hanging up, she groaned in frustration.

“What’s going on?” Lemon asked.

“They want me to bring a multimeter, which I don't have.”

“I have one at home,” Sunny offered. “It’s in the garage among my father’s tools.”

“Can’t you drive?” Sour asked.

“Sorry, no driver’s licence.”

Sour threw her hands up in the air.

“Hey,” Lemon interrupted them. “Both of you can drive, can't you?”

"Really?" Sunny asked. "At this point, you could come with us."

"Nah," Lemon shook her head. "I'm not interested in dealing with electrical stuff."

“Will you be okay on your own?” Sour asked.

"Sure," Lemon said confidently. "Indigo and Sugarcoat are busy, and you two can help them out. I'll be fine and make good use of this time too."

“If you say so,” Sunny said, standing up. “Let’s go, Sour.”

“If we must,” Sour grumbled, following her out.

Lemon chewed on her pen as she struggled with the maths exercise. She was on the last task assigned for practice and had to look up how to do it multiple times.

Despite the silence and being alone, she persevered. The urge to put on her headphones and break the silence was strong, but she resisted. Her friends were working diligently, and so should she.

Then, a moment of clarity hit her and she solved the final task. She let out a sigh of relief, glad to have completed everything she had planned.

Checking the time, she realised her friends had been gone for almost an hour. What could Suri and Upper have done to take so long?

Nevertheless, Lemon refused to stop now. With maths out of the way, she moved on to the next subject, determined to make the most of her time. As she settled in, she heard footsteps approaching up the stairs—perfect timing.

“Hey, gals,” she greeted them. “How was it?”

“All good,” Indigo replied. “Were you able to study?”

“I was,” Lemon showed off her exercise book. “All tasks finished.”

“Perfect,” Sour said. Lemon scratched her head seeing her grin. On further notice, Sunny had the same expression too.

“Is there something?” Lemon asked.

“Well,” Indigo said but got interrupted by Sugarcoat.

“Suri and Upper didn’t call us for help. We invented the story and instead spent the time by going to an ice cream shop, then to a park, and afterwards we went to the fair and scammed some scammers in their games.”

Lemon blinked, as the words crashed onto her. She knew Sugarcoat well enough to know that this wasn’t a joke.

“What?” Sugarcoat asked when Indigo gave her a threatening stare.

“Listen, Lemon,” Indigo said. “We—”

“So you didn’t work?” Lemon asked.

“We didn’t,” Indigo replied. “What Sugarcoat said is true. We made this story up to make you believe we're doing something useful.”

“But why?” Lemon fell back on her seat. “I… trusted you.”

“We did it to show you that you are capable of studying without needing us to be there for you, and you just proved that.”

“That’s because I thought you were helping out!” Lemon extorted. “How dare you backstab me like that!”

“Oh, you shut up!” Sour replied. “Don’t you see that you have that self-discipline in you all along? Why else would we tell you what we did?”

Lemon gritted her teeth.

“Lemon,” Sunny added. “Please, think over it.”

“Liars!” Lemon grabbed her belongings and threw them into her bag. “You just want to get rid of me!”

“No, we don’t!” Indigo grabbed Lemon by her arms. “We’re trying to help you!”

“If you don’t want to help me study, I‘ll do it on my own!”

“Your whole deal was that you couldn’t do it,” Sugarcoat replied.

“Sugarcoat!” Everyone exclaimed.

Said girl rolled her eyes.

“Lemon,” Indigo said. “I know that now you’re angry, but see it objectively. You just studied all on your own, without anyone on your side to motivate you. You indeed can do it. You can sit down and finish a task till the very end. You can focus and overcome getting distracted and putting on your headphones.”

Lemon pulled herself out of Indigo’s grip and dashed down the stairs, her heart pounding in her chest. She didn't even look back to see if her friends were following her. She didn't want to see their faces right now.

As she reached the front door, her vision blurred with tears. The door yanked open as she stepped outside into the fresh air, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself down. She felt so hurt. She had trusted her friends, and they had betrayed her just to prove a point.

Lemon wiped away her tears and started walking, not sure where she was going.

During the lunch break, four girls sat at their table, glancing at Lemon who walked past the tables. They noticed how this time, she didn’t have her headphones on, but resting around her neck.

Their eyes met, and the girls could see how Lemon considered if she should sit with them. In the end, she didn’t and chose a free table to sit alone.

“She’s still angry?” Sunny asked with concern.

“Well, we did lie to her,” Sour admitted, but then rolled her eyes in frustration. “But if she can't understand our reasons—”

“No, we overdid it,” Indigo said. “I didn’t realise how much we would be playing with her trust by going along with this plan.”

“Of course it’s playing with trust,” Sour replied, “but how else would we be able to show her what she’s capable of?”

“I don't know,” Indigo sighed. “I just hope that we can find a way to mend things with Lemon.”

“Waiting for her to approach us isn't going to solve anything,” Sugarcoat pointed out.

“Well, aren't you full of grandiose ideas,” Sour said before her eyebrows furrowed. “If you're so confident, why don't you take the first step?”

“You think that I’m the right person for it?” Sugarcoat retorted.

“You're right, maybe you should have remained silent,” Sunny said, her tone laced with irritation. “Or better yet, don't say anything at all anymore, because you just ruin everything.”

“You were the one who said to me that I should tell her the truth,” Sugarcoat said, crossing her arms.

“Yes, we did,” Sour agreed. “But there's a difference in how you tell the truth. You only do damage with the way you do it”

“As if you’re any better,” Sugarcoat shot back.

“I at least start with something nice.”

“You?” Sunny laughed. “We all know how you work. Whenever you say something nice, we're just waiting for the inevitable insult.”

“Enough!” Indigo's voice cut through their argument. “It was my idea, and I'll fix it myself!” She picked up her tray and walked over to Lemon.

The others watched her go, remaining seated and silent.

When Indigo sat down, Lemon was about to put on her headphones, but Indigo pushed them down.

“Please, hear me out,” Indigo pleaded.

Lemon gave her a cold stare. “What do you want?”

“I…” Indigo took a deep breath. “Listen, we’re sorry for what we did. It was my idea, and I didn’t consider how you’d feel after that. I had this idealistic vision in my head that you would see what we were trying to show you.”

“Well,” Lemon snorted, “all you did was make sure that I wouldn’t study with you anymore. Admit it, that was the thing bothering you, what you wanted to achieve.”

Indigo winced.

“Come on, say it,” Lemon demanded.

“Yes, we wanted it,” Indigo replied, her voice calm but firm. “But it wasn’t because of you. It was because the way you study is not how any of us can. You push through everything all at once, willing to spend multiple hours until you finish the subject. But none of us can do it like that. I have several sports teams I have to take care of, Sunny has her piano, violin, and fencing lessons, Sugarcoat is working on science projects along with her studies, and Sour studies piece by piece, because too much at once is overwhelming for her. We’re all ready to study with you, but you can’t expect us to reserve three hours for you alone because that’s how you do it.”

Lemon stared down at her plate in silence.

“That’s why we wanted to help you,” Indigo added. “You said that your ants helped you study because they worked on their tasks, and you yourself said that you know it’s merely a psychological effect. But if your ants or us help you study the way you do, then you’re also able to do it on your own. You’re a Crystal Prep student, after all, and one of the best. You don’t achieve that by doing nothing.”

Indigo paused, waiting for a reply from Lemon, but it didn’t come, so she continued.

“But once again, we’re all sorry for lying to you like that. We hope you can forgive us, and also hope that you’ll realise what you’re capable of.”

Indigo stood up and walked away, leaving Lemon sitting alone at the table.

Freshly showered, Lemon went straight to her desk and powered up her laptop, before taking out from her school bag her geology book. She groaned in frustration about thinking of finishing that presentation due tomorrow.

But she had to; there was no other option. She glanced over at her empty formicaria, letting out a sigh before tossing her headphones and phone onto the bed and taking a seat at her desk.

Just keep pushing.

Over and over she said that phrase out loud. Whenever the silence around her was too much and she caught herself looking at her headphones, she took a deep breath and counted to ten.

Keep pushing.

Lemon made progress with the presentation. She had worked on it a few days ago, so she didn't have to start from scratch, but there was still much to be done. Lemon preferred to use the strategy of adding anything that fits into the slides first, and only then focus on editing and formatting the whole presentation. She wasn't sure if making everything perfect from the start was faster, but if she did it that way, she knew she'd get stuck on one slide for too long and disrupt her flow.

She just had to keep pushing.

Slide by slide was added. More information and pictures filled into them, a loose thread that would be refined later. By the time the first 50 minutes passed, Lemon was almost finished with the first draft.

She grabbed the bowl and chewed its content. Her chair turned around, she looked at her headphones lying on the bed. It was a break anyway; it wouldn’t matter if she put her music on, right?

And yet, may it be by trained schedule, she kept sitting on her chair and stared in silence until the break finished and she had to return to her work.

Keep pushing.

After finishing the first draft, Lemon reviewed it to get a sense of how it worked as a whole. In her mind, she could already anticipate what each of the Shadowbolts would criticise: Indigo for presenting too much information at once, Sunny for the bland visuals, Sour for having to sit through the presentation (a joke Lemon had to do), and Sugarcoat for using language that was too informal.

She got reminded of the betrayal. It still hurt her, but when Inido talked to her afterwards, Lemon couldn’t stop thinking about one sentence that stuck with her: None of them could study as she could.

Lemon knew why she approached studying in that way. She despised the activity, so she preferred to complete it as soon as possible to avoid the prospect of having to do it later—hence the reason it was a burden for her to resist putting on the headphones. Another issue for her was starting at all. If she stopped, then she felt guilty for not completing the task and knowing that it would need to be done later, yet she’d continue to procrastinate until it was too late.

With no one else besides her, Lemon felt like she could let herself slip. Having someone there, whether it was another person or just her ants, provided her with a sense of accountability that motivated her to work.

But now, she was alone. As she looked at her completed draft, she wondered if it was good enough to pass. Despite these thoughts creeping in, Lemon took a deep breath and shook her head.

Keep pushing. No one can do it like you.

Lemon meticulously edited each slide, carefully considering the information and pictures displayed. She shortened sentences where necessary, removed unnecessary content, and ensured that each picture served a clear purpose.

Once the content was refined, she turned her attention to formatting and aesthetics. She chose a clean and simple layout and adjusted the font sizes to enhance readability.

After completing the first editing phase, Lemon leaned back in her chair to review the result.

The presentation was now visually appealing and informative, likely to receive a good enough grade. She bit her fingers nervously, her eyes wandering over to her headphones on the bed. Why should she push? No one else was here anyway.

And then her timer rang, notifying her that it was break time.

Lemon stared in surprise at her clock. There was no way that another 50 minutes had just passed.

But yet, it did. Lemon munched on her snack dumbfoundedly, pondering how she managed to keep pushing for another working period.

Didn’t she get too easily distracted? She was almost there losing her discipline, but she had kept pushing till the next break. How? She was Lemon, she couldn’t study and work alone!

And yet, she just did.

You are capable of studying on your own, they had said.

She didn’t believe them, but this fact was just before her, undeniable and true as ever.

She smiled, feeling a wave of motivation coming over her. Now she was more ready than ever to finish that presentation until she would achieve that A+!

With her break session over, she plunged back into her work, determined to file the last details until it was perfect—no headphones, music, or distractions allowed.

Another half an hour, and she finished. Proudly, she made sure to save her work and went to bed, as her thoughts came back to her friends. She imagined the surprised looks on their faces when she’d sit with them and show them what she had accomplished.

Well, it would still be nice to study with them. After all, together is nonetheless more fun, but at least, Lemon wasn’t depending on them or her ants anymore.

She fell asleep, ready to face the next challenges that awaited her at Crystal Prep.