Dust in the Wind
By Michael A.
Chapter: 5 - Dreams of the Past (Pt. 1)
Lightning's gaze remained trained on the the cloud floor, tracing the tile-like pattern set into the floor. Currently, she was in a semi day-dream state, trying to push away reality. Lightning didn't want to focus on where she was, or why she was there -- she was completely content was content staring at the floor, remaining ignorant to everything. But, the world doesn't work like that; one can't just slip into a limbo and live there until all of your real-life problem go away, and she knew it. On top if that, reality doesn't seem to like being ignored, and always has a way of slapping you back to it. Lightning's "slap" came in the form of loud, commanding voice yelling, "Lightning!" right into face.
Lightning's head shot up, instantly focused my attention on the mare in front of her. Spitfire, the current captain of the Wonderbolts, sat behind her desk, a stonic expression plastered upon her face. She wore her usual captain jacket; her rank, name, and Wonderbolts emblem stitched into it's fabric. Her yellow fur and orange mane contrasted beautifully with the jacket, and it made it seem like she was born to ware it. The Wonderbolts captain gave away no emotions, other the slight annoyance from having to yell to her attention. Lightning couldn't argue with here there, as she herself didn't like being ignored. But, even though Spitfire shared no outside hints of her emotions, Lightning could clearly tell that she wasn't happy. Which brings my brain back to thinking about why I am here…damn. Spitfire glared threw her authoritative sunglasses at Lightning, and she could feel her bronze eyes boring into her soul. The opal pegasus shuffled a little in her seat, trying to get at least a little comfortable. Spitfire suddenly let out a loud sigh, shaking her head slightly, before taking off her sunglasses and setting them on the desk. Spitfire clopped her hooves together a few times, seeming to collect her thoughts, before returning her focus to me.
"You know why you are here, correct?" she asked, her face unchanged.
The young pegasus nodded, knowing fully well why she was there.
Spitfire rubbed her temples with her hooves. "Kid, you bucked up. You bucked up really bad." She stopped rubbing her temples and looked back towards Lightning. "Do you know the impact of what you've done?"
"Well…not completely," Lightning answer truthfully.
"Well, I'll tell you. Your reckless behavior and ignorance of others managed to put nine ponies in the hospital!" she spoke, raising her voice, her stonic mask breaking slightly as anger could be seen flowing throughout her features. then turned her gaze from me to her desk, as she shuffled threw the papers that lay on it, obviously looking for one in particular. As soon as she found the one she was looking for, she immediately began to read it aloud. "Daisy Blossom: Sprained wing and dislocated right shoulder. Recovery time: 5 weeks. Thunder Head: Broken wing. Recovery time: 3 to 4 months. Spinning Vortex. Broken hoof, fractured rib, and sprained wing. Recovery time: 5 to 6 weeks." She slammed the paper down on her desk and immediately pointed her gaze at me, and I could see that he right eye twitched ever so slightly. I assumed that it was from her effort to keep at least some of her anger in. I tried to open my mouth to say something, but the death glare I got in response made my close it immediately.
"These are just three of the ponies you've hurt. And if it weren't for the actions of Rainbow Dash, you might have had some death's on that list, too. Your irresponsibility caused all of this. Their pain is all your fault. You are a disgrace to this academy, and you are a disgrace to the Wonderbolt name!" Her rage suddenly subsided, and she suddenly turned towards the other mare with a with a serious expression. "Lightning, do you know what we stand for? Do you know what the Wonderbolts stand for?"
Of put by the sudden change in tone, it took a few second for Lightning to recover enough in order think of an reply. It only took her a second to think of as answer, as it seemed obvious to her. "Uh... they represent the greatest flyers in Equestria?"
Spitfire deadpanned, indication that Lightning had given the wrong answer. "You don't get it, do you?' she began, shaking her head at Lightning. "We don't represent the best flyers in Equestria, we represent what teamwork can accomplish. Each one of the Wonderbolts has to work together in order to achieve anything great. Granted, we may be good on our own, but only in combination are we truly the Wonderbots." Spitfire took a deep breath, then scowled. "And your actions were exactly the opposite of what we represent. You are selfish, ignorant, and dangerous! I want you out of my office, and out of this academy!" she screamed, pointing a hoof at the door. "You are hereby expelled from this academy!"
Lightning was speechless. More then that, she couldn't even function. Her mind raced with trying to comprehend what had just happened. How... how could this... How could this have happened? She thought to herself, completely in disbelief with what she'd just heard. No. Lightning turned her gaze from the floor and to Spitfire, tears beginning to sting her eyes. "You can't do this to me!" she screamed, the tears now flowing freely and down her cheeks. How could she do this to me...? How could she do this to me!? Her sadness was suddenly replaced with anger as Lightning wiped the tears away from her eyes. She glared daggers at Spitfire, who simply raised an eyebrow.
"I hate you! You were my hero once, but now you are dead to me!" the opal pegasus screamed, getting out of her seat and trotting towards Spitfire's desk. As soon as she got to he edge, Lightning jumped up slightly, slamming her front hooves into the desk, making files and other items on her desk shake and fall to the floor from the sheer force. A soft "crunch" could be heard over the sound of slamming wood. Lightning looked down to see the crushed remains of Spitfire's glasses under her hoof. A small trickle of blood began to pool under her hoof, most likely coming from wherever the shattered lens had dug into her hoof. But the adrenaline that coursed threw Lightning's veins was more then enough to mask the pain, as she turned her gaze back to a very shocked Spitfire.
The Wonderbolt captain had dealt with angry recruits before, or ex-recruits, but never had she seen one this, well, violent before. With a shake of her head, Spitfire regained her stonic composure, and glared back at Lightning Dust. "What do you think you are doing?" she asked. "I told you to get out, didn't I?"
Lightning, instead of replying, reached her hoof over the desk and grabbed the collar of Spitfire's jacked, and yanked her closer so she was only inches away from her face. "You ruined my dream... you ruined my life..." she spoke threw gritted teeth.
Spitfire, scared that the mare who was grabbing her was going to do something stupid, immediately screamed out, "SECURITY!!!"
Moments later, two large pegasus bucks rushed threw the door--one brown with a black mane, and the other black with a white mane--and tacked Lightning Dust, who managed to hold on to Spitfire enough to send her toppling forward. Lightning tried to flail her limbs as the two pegasus bucks pinned her to the ground, restraining her. She had been no match for their brute strength and training, but she had put up one hell of a fight. After about another minute or so of the security stallions wrestling with Lightning before they had her completely restrained and began to drag her flailing body out of Spitfire's office. The entire time screaming, "I hate you!" at the top of her lungs. As Lightning's cries died down as she was dragged out of the office, Spitfire remained in a seated position on the ground, eyes wide and both shock and confusion painted across her face. She'd gotten a few bruises from being dragged when Lightning was tackled, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. The only major damage had been done to her jacket, which was torn where Lightning had grabbed it.
Several minutes later, brown security buck from earlier walked into Spitfire office. "Miss Spitfire, are you okay?" he asked, his gruff voice holding concern.
Spitfire shook her head. "No... No, I'm fine. Maybe a few bruises from that fall, but nothing I can't handle."
The buck winced. "Yeah... sorry about that," he said, rubbing the back of his head with a hoof.
Spitfire chuckled. "It's all right, you were just doing your job."
"Thank's, Miss Spitfire," he said, visibly relieved. He turned and was about to walk out the door before he stopped, and turned back to face Spitfire. "If I may asked...why did that mare attack you, anyways."
Spitfire sighed, trotting over to her desk and sitting back in her see. She glanced at her shattered, slightly bloodstained glasses on her desk. "I don't know... I want to say that it was because I kicked her out of the Academy... but her eyes looked like there was so much more then that," the Wonderbolts Captain said with a shake of her head.
The buck shrugged. "Well, my job isn't to figure out this stuff," he said as he walked out of the office, shutting the door behind him.
Spitfire remained silent for some time after that, contemplating a few things in her head, before shaking her head and picking up her papers that had fallen to the floor...