Lightning Dust has been in a bit of a rut ever since getting kicked out of the Wonderbolt Academy. Day after day, she's been sticking to a strict exercise regimen under the guidance of Cloudsdale's premier personal trainer, Haymaker. Her hope is that she'll unlock her true potential and show Haymaker how awesome she is, thus prompting him to use his connections to get her back into the Wonderbolts. No matter how many times Haymaker tells her it's impossible, Lightning simply refuses to listen.

Then one fateful night, Lightning Dust's training is interrupted by the appearance of her greatest idol, Wind Rider. It turns out he too has difficulty accepting reality, and he has his own, more nefarious schemes to get himself back in the game. Haymaker sees this as his last chance to save Lightning Dust from walking Wind Rider's path. And if that means rubbing salt in a few wounds and shattering a few dreams, then so be it.

Cover art provided by the amazingly talented Cyrano.

After finishing her portion of the day's harvest in record time, Applejack heads home early to check on how Apple Bloom's doing alone in their house. What she discovers once she gets there shocks her right to her core, and what happens afterwards changes the way she sees her little sister forever.

First runner-up in Obselescence's The Most Dangerous Game contest, using the prompt "An OC and a major canon character (in this case, Apple Bloom) fall in love with each other."