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// I: Prologue 
// Story: Lightning Dust's Broken Dreams 
// by SirRage 
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“Ten minutes. I’ve been stuck in this office for ten minutes already!” thought Lightning Dust.

Lightning Dust was losing her cool. She needed to put on a good show for Spitfire, otherwise this would be her last day at the academy. Normally that would not be an issue for her; being cocky and confident came naturally to the athletic mare. However, Spitfire humiliating her in front of the other cadets had shaken her resolve.

“I don’t get it! Everything was going fine until twenty minutes ago! It was all just praise, praise and more praise! Then all of a sudden two instructors detain me, Spitfire gets in my face and rips the lead pony badge off of my chest! In front of everypony!

“I mean what in Tartarus was she thinking?! Sure, the tornado may have been a little –”

Spitfire slammed the door open, causing Lightning Dust to jump to attention. What little resolve she'd managed to gather in the last ten minutes evaporated instantly. Her hooves were trembling and her breathing began to falter. Spitfire didn’t say a word, instead she slowly walked around the cadet and behind her desk.

Spitfire was staring at Lightning Dust with an intensity she had never seen before. She could tell this was not good, and swallowed the enormous lump in her throat that had developed only moments before as beads of sweat started to form from the stress. Spitfire did not relieve the cadet from attention, instead she slowly took off her aviator glasses and folded them up. Setting the glasses down on her desk, Spitfire waited patiently for the door the close and click before having words with the cadet.

From outside the office, one could hear the muffled shouts of Spitfire reprimanding Lightning Dust. This went on for some time, before stopping as suddenly as it had started leaving a lingering silence in the hall outside of Spitfire's office. The door opened and a broken Lightning Dust left her office, head down. There was a letter tucked in flight suit pocket. No salute was given, nor were any other words exchanged as the door closed behind her. She slowly made her way to the barracks. In the sky above, the other cadets were busy practicing, but she could not bring herself to look. Instead, she continued to walk with her head held low.

The barracks were empty save for a few guards. There was no reason for other ponies to be there at this time of day, so it was to be expected. Still, she hated how hollow and empty everything seemed. Every step she took toward the locker room echoed through the empty halls. When she got to her locker, she sat on her haunches and looked at it for moment.

She glanced down at her flight suit pocket and pulled the letter out to read it once more. The letter was her admittance papers, and it had one bold red stamp on it.

Discharged.
Effective Immediately.

With a heavy sigh, she set down the letter and took her time opening her locker. When the door swung open she could see her yellow saddlebags in there, with all of her belongings unpacked.

Lightning Dust removed the bags from the locker and began tossing her things into them. With each passing item, her anger grew and she became more forceful. It wasn’t long before she was just shoving her things into her bags with no regard to their well-being. She peeled off her ripped flight suit and was about to stuff that into her bag as well before a thought stopped her. “What’s the point...?”

Letting her anger get the better of her, she wadded the suit up into a ball, took aim for the trash can at the far end of the row of lockers, and forcefully threw it in with a frustrated yell. Part of her hated what she had just done; up until an hour ago, that suit had meant the world to her. But now, that suit represented something different. It was all of her humiliation, pain, and failure in physical form.

She was still panting with anger when she turned and looked back at her locker. It was empty save for one item: her spare flight suit, hanging in the back. She stopped and gazed at the suit as she felt her anger melt away. After she had calmed herself, she gently reached out and picked the suit up and held it in her hooves.

This wasn’t just some piece of fabric. It was far more precious than that. It was untarnished, clean, devoid of the stain of humiliation. It represented a dream, her dream. She clenched the suit tight to her body in a tight embrace.

After taking a deep breath, she carefully laid the suit down and began to neatly fold it. Satisfied with her work, she smiled and gently placed it in her saddlebag. It was the last thing she put in, and the only thing she handled with care.

With her bags packed, she headed for the academy's exit. Once at the guard post, she gave the envelope she was carrying to one of the guards, who looked it over. He nodded and gave it back before returning to his post. There were no exchanges of words or salutes, just a numb look from the guard who simply didn’t care.

Lightning Dust took the air and flew in the direction of home. Home, it was the last place she wanted to be. Being discharged from the academy was a big setback, but Lightning Dust was far from ready to give up on her dream of being a Wonderbolt. As she left the academy she lowered her head, contemplating what her next steps should be. Mulled over all of her options, Lightning Dust spending most of her flight exploring in her mind what may or may not work.

“...No, that’s not going to work either. I definitely need to reapply next year, but what else can I do to make this better? Maybe Spitfire will reconsider after she has had a chance –”

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t even notice the carriage in her flight path.

Striking the carriage at full speed, Lightning Dust smashed through its side. The contents of her saddlebags tumbled through the air as she slammed into the other side of the carriage, causing the wall to buckle and crack. Her form went limp and she went crashing to the floor.

As she tried to come to her senses her vision blurred, she could hear voices around her but couldn’t make out who they belonged to or what they were saying. Lightning Dust struggled to get to her hooves and for a moment it felt like her body was doing what she asked of it. But then she felt the floor strike her in the barrel as she collapsed. The voices became more distant and her eyelids became heavy as the world around her slipped into darkness.