Sky Bound

Part I - The Friendly Face

Thunderlane’s hooves steadily clapped themselves together as he waited for his wingpony, Lightning Dust, to wake up from her medically induced sleep. The hours that she had spent under the concerned looks of doctors and the local surgeon felt like years for the worried stallion. He couldn’t take it upon himself to just leave the building without making sure that his friend would make it through.

        It was his duty, after all. Thunderlane was the one to save Lightning Dust from a fall that would’ve killed her instantly upon impact. The fall, however, wasn’t of her doing. The blame was put on a storm that could’ve brought all of Cloudsdale to the ground hadn’t he, she and the rest of the Wonderbolt cadets flew out to meet the storm before it made cloudfall upon the city.

The events that led up to the fall of his comrade were clear in Thunderlane’s head. For something as traumatic as it was, his mind couldn’t let go of what had happened inside those clouds of grey.

        He had lead his flight, consisting of himself and Lightning Dust, towards the storm. All the while, he was plotting out how to dismantle the clouds so that it would collapse upon itself and avoid the possibility of having to go into the deepest part of the cloud cover. However, while his planning was voicing itself out in his head, Lightning Dust had made her own plans to simply dive into the darkness and disrupt the clouds anyway she could. If that meant having to dive and tackle one of the more dangerous lightning clouds, so be it for her.

        By the time that Thunderlane had seen his wingpony breaking away and flying towards the darkest part of the cloud formation, it was already too late to try and stop her. Instead, the Pegasus dove in after her, dropping his plans and adjusting his flight path to pick up the stray clouds that would be left behind in her wake.

        Surprisingly, it had worked for the both of them. Lightning Dust would smother the big clouds into smaller ones that Thunderlane could simply power through with a punch of his hoof or a buck of his hind legs. The speed at which both of them had achieved destroying a quarter of the storm was astounding, especially to the other cadets that had just shown up on the scene to see their handy work.

        Lightning Dust continued to break up the clouds that floated before them, and Thunderlane would simply skip to each one with a wave of his wings. Like clockwork, the whole storm was beginning to thin out. But nature, as anypony could be, was unpredictable.

        As Thunderlane was kicking and bucking away the small chunks of storm clouds remaining behind Lightning Dust, he heard a large boom of thunder. This shaking of the sky was both a sign of terror and, after he looked in the direction it came from, a sign of primal instinct. What he saw instantly make his wings begin to flap at an urgent pace, his snout angled in a dive towards the open sky below the storm and the city. ”Faster, you little shit!” Thunderlane commanded himself as he dove after a falling Lightning Dust. The smell of singed coat and incinerated feathers trailed the tumbling Pegasus as he flew after her with a speed unmatched to the other cadets breaking up the storm.

”I will not let my friend die. Not today, and not ever!” Thunderlane pushed himself harder, reaching out as far as he could with his hooves. He wasn’t about to let nature take away his own friend’s life. No. She was too special to be lost. The raw talent. Their ability to work in tandem. Her understanding of him… To lose her would be in vain.

        Pushing himself further, Thunderlane increased his velocity towards the falling mare. The closer the ground came, the more the worry for Lightning Dust empowered him to flap harder against the cold air. Good thing it hadn’t started to rain on them, otherwise his wings would’ve easily frozen up, effectively dooming the both of them.

        With one final push, Thunderlane’s forelegs and hooves caught grasp of the burned mare within only around 200 meters to spare. Without much clearance between them and the ground below, there was only one choice that Thunderlane could make. Tuck and brace for impact.

        He whispered a quick prayer to himself, hoping that they would both get out of this with their lives. In the last few meters, Thunderlane flipped himself on his back and pulled Lightning Dust to his chest before tucking his wings and closing his eyes tight.

        The landing was hard and sudden, but Thunderlane had not only prevented the lightning-struck Pegasus from falling to her death, but had also cushioned her landing to the point that she could barely feel a thing in her subconscious mind. After opening his eyes, he looked around the clearing they’d landed in. No pain, no scratches. He thought his prayer to the Princesses must’ve worked. Now, all he had to do was get his friend to any hospital he could.

        With Cloudsdale nearly three kilometers above them, the only other option was to seek out a hospital on the ground. Thunderlane wasted no time in putting the unconscious Lightning Dust on his back and galloping toward what civilization he could find.

        By the time he had stomped into Ponyville General Hospital, another kilometer from where they had crash landed, the sun was already falling behind Smokey Mountain. And from there, Thunderlane was now brought into the room which his friend was fast asleep in.

        A scruff of the bedsheets, however, brought him back from the events of yesterday to the sun-lit face that belonged to Lightning Dust.

        “T-Thunderlane?” She asked, unsure of where she was or what she was doing in a hospital bed. When she tried to move, however, the pang of pain that followed affirmed her inquiry of location. “Sweet Celestia!” Dust whailed as her wingpony flew to her side.

        “Easy Lightning,” Thunderlane calmed her, keeping his own cool from seeing her wither in pain, “Do you remember what happened to you?”

        Wincing from her electrocution act high in the skies above Cloudsdale, Lightning Dust shook her head. “All I remember-” She hissed as she tried to clench one of her forelegs, “Is diving into the clouds and going through and breaking up whatever I could. Next thing I knew, I heard a loud clap of thunder and I lost all control of my hooves and wings.”

”Sounds just like what I heard and saw,” Thunderlane thought to himself as he pulled up a chair and sat down next to her cot. “That loud clap of thunder was you being struck by lightning. You’re lucky that featherbrain of yours didn’t get zapped,” he cracked a smile, hoping to lighten the mood.

        “How’d I end up here? Where are we?” Lightning Dust noted Thunderlane’s cadet uniform, thinking that they were back in Cloudsdale in the Academy’s infirmary. His response, however, came to her as a surprise.

        “We’re in Ponyville’s general hospital. I brought you here after I caught you.” Thunderlane sat back in his seat, using a foreleg to rub the back of his neck. This wasn’t out of embarrassment, but rather from the fact that they were far away from home. As a matter of fact, the two wouldn’t be able to attend roll call for the Wonderbolts this morning. Saving a life was more important, however. He was sure the Captain would understand.

        “I fell? I fell that far?” Lightning Dust was slightly shocked. From what she remembered, Spitfire had pinpointed the storm at four kilometers above the earth. And is she had fallen from that high up… “Geez Thundy, how long did it take you to catch up to me?”

        Thunderlane seized up a bit from Dust’s mention of his nickname for her. Thundy. It had a nice ring to it. But that didn’t matter at the moment. “It took me a second to realize what the hell was going on, and you’d fallen half a kilo before I could even start diving down.”

        Lightning Dust’s eyes opened a little wider than they had before. “How… What height did you catch me at?”

        “Does crash landing close enough to Ponyville answer the question?” Thunderlane looked between the cracked blinds and Lightning Dust’s face. The yellow seemed to accent her coat, much like the mane she had. Too bad it was a frizzy mess at the moment.

        “Good grief…” Dust fell silent. He too had only just realized how bad it could’ve ended up hadn’t he pushed himself as far as he could. And to end up unscathed from the event was a miracle that only Celestia could produce. “Well… I uh…”

        Thunderlane’s hoof fell upon her muzzle, effectively silencing her. His expression was endearing and understanding. “You don’t have to thank me. I was just doing my job, alright?”

He smiled warmly, just as the sun’s rays shone warmly into the room. “A real Wonderbolt would’ve done the same thing.”

Lightning Dust’s forelegs wrapped themselves around Thunderlane’s neck. Through the pain that she felt in the sudden contractions, there was a sense of comfort with him being there. Unknown to her, the stallion’s cheeks had flushed a bright crimson from the gesture. This was a lot better than saying thanks, after all.

When Dust began to grit her teeth, Thunderlane for her to lay back into the cot. “You need to rest up and heal. That storm did a number on you.”

A nod of pained agreement came from his friend, followed by a small smile. “You look like shit, Thundy.”

She was right. His eyes were bloodshot and his coat was ruffled beyond all belief. Little clumps of dirt could be seen throughout his mane and coat. Must’ve been one hell of a landing.

“I’ll live. I’m just glad to know that you’re okay now.” Thunderlane leaned forward in his seat, pressing his forehead against the white bedsheets of Dust’s cot. He was tired after all, having stayed up all night in the waiting room and her hospital room.

A hoof fell upon his head, gently rubbing his wind-swept mane and the tired coat beneath it. A faint smile grew in place of his sleepy grimace. “Your turn to rest, Thundy,” Dust giggled quietly, “You’ve earned it.”