Weather Aces
Strong and bold!
Wings of steel,
And hearts of gold!
Weather Aces,
Heroes stand,
Wearing the Weather Ace colors, grand!
Weather Aces
Brave the storm,
Keeping your family safe and warm.
Silver Halo gazed at the poem, etched onto an opal tablet sitting nestled in the clouds in front of a tall, pure white building. Staring at it, she lifted her gaze to the gray sky. If anypony needed a Weather Ace, it would certainly be now.
She stared at the clouds beneath her hooves, gray and formidable. She had no idea why anypony would need a weather ace anyway, after all, normal weather ponies now controlled the weather in all towns in Equestria- certainly there weren’t any weather emergencies anymore? But if she was going to learn to fly, she thought, this was the place to learn.
Trotting alone into the building, feeling very much like she was swimming through the thick mist thrown up from the storm clouds below her, Silver Halo headed slowly up to the front door. Hearing voices inside, she cautiously lifted a light cyan hoof to the door and knocked.
The door was flung open almost instantly, and a harsh white light pooled onto the clouds in front of it, reflecting on Silver’s yellow mane, making it look like sunlight, starkly contrasted against the gray sky.
“Yeah?” A gruff voice from the pony who opened the door growled. Silver could already tell two things about this pony, one- he was most definitely the coach of the Weather Aces, and two- she wasn’t going to like learning to fly from him.
He was tall and large, but not fat, large due to the massive amount of muscle that rippled beneath his red coat. He had hard, steely gray eyes, the same color as the sky, and a coal black mane. He wore a blue whistle around his thick neck, and a blue Hoofball cap with the Weather Ace’s logo printed on it- a brave blue pony flying past a lightning bolt. His cutiemark was a large blue wave, looking as if it were about to crush a tiny brown hut.
Promising.
“Hello,” Silver said bravely. “My name is Silver Halo, and I want to become a Weather Ace.”
The coach looked her up and down as if she were a gala apple he was contemplating buying. Then, he began to laugh.
“You?” He chuckled. “You, a little filly with no muscle, on my team?” He snorted rather rudely. “Not happening, Filly. But come back in, say, twenty years, when I’m good and retired, and we’ll see.” He sneered, “I doubt you even know how to fly.”
Silver tried to look confident, but inside, she wilted. He was right, she didn’t know how to fly. She had only seen ponies flying from a distance. But she forced herself to stand tall. “How do you know?” she demanded.
The coach sighed. “Look, filly. I don’t have time for this. You don’t even have your parents around to sign for you.”
Silver reached back into her saddle bag, feeling around with her muzzle until she located a slip of paper.
“My-f paowents shigned aweady fwor meh,” she muttered around the paper.
He glanced at it. “Drop it,” he demanded.
Silver Halo dropped the piece of paper and it drifted lazily to the clouds, where the coach stopped it with a massive hoof, and began reading, his stormy gray eyes darting quickly across the yellowed page.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “But why couldn’t they show up to say all this stuff in person?”
Silver shifted uncomfortably. “They’re just…busy ponies, you know,” she lied quickly. “Had places to go, ponies to see.”
The coach laughed. “Yeah, sure, Filly.” He glanced back into the warm glow of the school building, then looked back at her, his eyes scrutinizing the two tiny saddlebags perched on her back.
“Is that all you need?” he asked gruffly.
“Yes.” Silver replied.
“Well.” He glanced at her one more time before turning around. “Follow me, and don’t lag behind.”
The lobby of the Weather Ace building was decorated with white couches on the left and right side of the front door, although they were quickly graying with use. Despite this, the lobby casted a homely, welcoming glow on Silver’s face, although the Coach didn’t. Directly across from the front door was a little light brown desk. A kind looking mare sat behind the desk, her white mane and coat fitting in rather well with the décor. She lifted beautiful sea-blue eyes to look at the Coach and Silver.
“Coach Wave,” she said, raising an eyebrow, “Who is this?” she questioned, nodding to Silver.
“New recruit,” Coach Wave grunted.
The white mare smiled. “Oh how wonderful! It’s been almost a year since Willow-“
“Yeah, yeah,” Coach Wave cut her off. “I know.”
The white mare ignored his rudeness and looked down at Silver kindly. “Hello! I’m Cloudy Skies. Just call me Cloud, everypony does.”
“I’m Silver Halo,” Silver said, smiling back at Cloud.
“Well, Miss Halo, I’ll be happy to see you mature into a full-fledged Weather Ace!” She winked and went back to inspecting some papers.
Coach Wave grunted in annoyance. “Let’s go.”
Silver snapped back to attention and followed Coach Wave out of the lobby, into a hallway that immediately took Silver’s breath away.
As Silver looked at the floor of the hallway, she got the feeling she was back outside, walking through the clouds. But when she lifted her head up, her breath caught in her throat. A perfect painting of the daytime sky, with puffy white clouds and a lemony yellow sun, complete with happily swooping ponies, adorned the walls and ceiling of the walkway. At the end of it, two doors, one light blue and one white, broke the scene.
“It’s…beautiful,” Silver said.
Coach Wave looked up at the ceiling of the hallway as if he had never seen it before. “Yeah. I suppose.”
He then led Silver to the two doors.
“Now, understand this,” he said, as if she had just done something terrible and he was scolding her. “If you see a door that’s white, like this one,” he nodded his head to the white door, “You are not, hear me, not allowed to step a hoof inside until you’re a full-fledged Weather Ace.” He glared at her. “Got it?”
Silver nodded quickly.
“Good.” He stood back up to his towering full height, then he turned to the light blue door and knocked firmly with one hoof.
A muffled voice from behind the door sounded. “Who is it?”
“Open the door,” Coach Wave growled.
As if by magic, the door swung open, revealing a filly not much younger than Silver. She had almond shaped sea green eyes, and was small, with a lavender coat and a dusky purple mane, pulled back into a braid. Despite her size, her wings were well developed, and Silver suddenly felt embarrassed of her tiny, pathetic wings.
“C-Coach Wave!” she squeaked, shrinking back as if he had just caught her with her hoof in the cookie jar. “H-hi! What brings you here?”
He glared at her, and opened his mouth to speak, but a crash from inside the room they stood before stopped him. Pushing past the little lavender filly, Coach Wave stormed into the room, an aura of anger surrounding him like a storm cloud. Silver Halo, curious as to what was going on, followed him in, ignoring the sputtering and nervous “Ums” from the lavender filly.
As she entered the room, warmth flooded through her wings like somepony had just injected hot chocolate into her veins. A friendly looking fire crackled in a little gray fireplace, which sat in front of a little red couch. On the opposite wall were two doors, both cyan, one with a blue pony pictured on it, the other a pink pony. The whole room was covered in posters of famous fliers, Spitfire, Soarin’, Fleetfoot, Rapid Fire, and Hurricane, and many other faces Silver didn’t recognize.
“WHAT IN CELESTIA’S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!?!” Coach Wave roared, making Silver jump and whirl around to see what he was yelling at.
What she saw was…utterly confusing.
A young Pegasus colt was splayed out on the ground, wings and hooves all askew, looking a mixture of smug and mischievous. He had emerald green eyes, and a neon yellow body. His mane was short, spiky, and orange, with one yellow streak. He had ebony hooves that reflected Coach Wave’s angry face almost perfectly. At first, Silver couldn’t figure out what he was doing, but then she noticed he had thick cords tied to his wings, the other ends tied to nothing, but instead had pieces of ripped Swan Tape attached to the ends.
The colt smiled half-heartedly. “Just, ya know, stretching!” He stretched his hooves forward. “See? Very good for ya.”
Coach Wave glared at him, not accepting this answer. “If this is another of your stupid methods of making your wings stronger…” Coach Wave knitted his eyebrows together, “Then so help me, I will shave off any attempt you make at growing a goatee, and use the hairs as a toothbrush.”
The colt gulped and immediately stood up straight, the cords tied around his wings flailing around like tentacles. “Yes sir! Won’t do it again, sir!” he cried, saluting to Coach Wave clumsily.
Coach Wave nodded sharply. “Good.” He turned to the lavender pony quickly. “Willamina, show this new student here to an empty dorm. Familiarize her with our way of doing things, and be down for dinner on time.”
With that, he stormed out the door, leaving a trail of negativity in his wake. Silver looked around, her eyes round with confusion. “What…just happened?” she questioned.
The pony Coach Wave had called Willamina shot a glare over at the yellow colt. “Another one of Jack’s stupid attempts to make himself stronger.”
The yellow colt frowned. “You didn’t try to stop me earlier!”
Willamina raised an eyebrow. “Yes I did, you just didn’t listen.”
She glanced over at Silver as if she had just noticed her standing there. “Sorry. Jack over there is a nutcase.” She smiled warmly. “I’m Willamina Mist Windwings, but most ponies just call me Willow.” She jerked a head over at the yellow colt, “That brainiac over there is Yellowjacket Blaze, but we all just call him Jack.”
Silver nodded. “I’m Silver Halo. Call me Silver.”
Jack snorted. “Silver? How’s about I call ya Silv instead? That way we can have Will and Silv.” He grinned.
“Were you meaning that to rhyme?” Willow asked cooly, “Because Silv and Will don’t rhyme.”
A look of confusion crossed Jack’s face. “What are you talking about?”
Willow sighed. “Never mind.” She turned back to Silver. “I suppose I should show you around the student rooms.”
She trotted over to the two doors at the opposite wall of the room. “The door with the blue pony on it is the colt’s rooms. Jack and Blue sleep there.”
“Blue?” Silver questioned, following Willow over.
“Oh, great Celestia. I forgot to tell you about Blue.” Willow shook her head. “Blue Skies Sweepe is the other Weather Ace in training here. He’s been here longer than we have, but he’s our age,” Willow explained. “Although,” She lowered her voice, “I’ve never heard him speak once, the entire time I’ve known him. So I doubt you’ll get much out of him.”
Silver blinked. “He’s never spoken before? Is he mute?”
Jack, from behind her, chuckled. “He’s not mute. I’ve heard him talk before.”
“I don’t believe you one bit, Jack,” Willow said. “There is no way he spoke to you.”
“He didn’t,” Jack said, grinning as he came over to stand next to the two fillies. “I woke up one night and heard him muttering in his sleep. Really loudly too, it came right through the walls that separate our dorms. Couldn’t figure out what he was saying though. Doubt it really matters.”
Willow shook her head. “I still don’t believe you, but whatever. Anyway, the door with the pink pony on it is my room, and soon yours too.”
“Are we sharing?” Silver asked, confused.
“No. There are a lot of empty dorm rooms.” Willow looked uncomfortable. “Not many ponies come to study here anymore. It’s quite easy to see why.” She looked off to her side. “Nopony needs a Weather Ace, what with the fancy new weather control techniques every Pegasus in Equestria knows how to do nowadays.”
“Oh,” Silver said simply.
“Well…let’s get you a dorm room, shall we?” Willow said, pushing open the door with the pink pony on it. She looked as if she were going to step through, when she seemed to remember something. She looked back at Jack. “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”
Jack grinned. “No promises.”
At this comforting note, Willow rolled her eyes and stepped into the filly’s dorm, followed closely by Silver.
-
The main hallway of the filly’s dorm was a soft magenta, revealing nine or ten doors dotted along the hallway. Only one, however, had a name on it, proving it was occupied by a pony. Every other door seemed unoccupied.
Willow smiled. “You have no idea how happy I am to have another filly in the school. Between Jack and schoolwork…” She shook her head. “Blue’s not so bad, but he doesn’t talk.”
Silver nodded. “So…about Blue.”
Willow laughed. “I need you to understand, Silver. Nopony really knows much about Blue. He’s kind of a mystery. There are a limited number of facts I can tell you about him.”
“Okay…well…is he shy?”
Willow turned to Silver, frowning thoughtfully. “Not really. I don’t think he stays silent because he’s afraid of other ponies, per say. I think it’s more…he’s can’t talk because he won’t let himself talk.” At Silver’s confused look, she explained, “He’s come close to talking before. Sometimes he opens his mouth, but then seems to remember something and closes it again.”
“Strange. Is he a good flier?” Silver asked.
Willow grinned widely at this. “Blue is the best flier I know. Don’t tell Jack that, but I’d bet even he would agree. Blue is a master.”
“That good?” Silver asked. Although she didn’t know Jack very well, she could tell how impressive it was that Blue could earn his respect.
“That good and more. He’s not a fancy flier…not Wonderbolt material, but a fantastic flier. When he takes to the air, it’s like he belongs there. The wind seems to do exactly what he wants it to. I’ve never seen him fall before.” Willow shook her head. “He’s pretty amazing. I’m sure you’ll like meeting him, no matter what Jack says.”
Silver smiled. “That sounds cool. Can I see my room now?”
Willow nodded. “I thought you’d never ask!”
Willow led Silver to the door next to the occupied one. “This can be your dorm, right next to mine.”
“Does it have a key?” Silver asked.
“No,” Willow said. “Not yet, anyway. I’m sure you’ll get one soon though. For now, you can just open it.”
“Okay. Can I see inside?”
Willow didn’t respond, but instead pushed the door open with one hoof, and revealed a large room, with high ceilings painted as white as the clouds. The carpet was white too, but the walls were a clear blue. There was a simple white bed and side table, and a small chest of drawers in the corner of the room.
“It’s perfect,” Silver said.
“Yeah. Follows the whole blue and white theme going on through this whole place.” Willow smiled. “Well, get settled in, and come down for dinner at about 6.” She nodded to a little cuckoo clock mounted to the wall. “And if you need anything, I’ll be out in the main room with Jack.”
With that, Willow turned and disappeared through the doorway.
Six o’clock came a little too fast for Silver. She felt like she was barely done unpacking when she glanced at the cuckoo clock and realized that it was five fifty already. With nothing left to do, she headed back into the main room, still a little shocked at the amount of important events that had happened in the past hour.
When she entered the main room, the first thing she noticed was Willow, lying on the ground, a scrapbook full of glossy photos in front of her. She looked up when Silver entered.
“Hi Silver!” she chorused contently. “Did you get all settled in?”
“Yeah. I don’t have much to unpack, in all honesty,” Silver said. She glanced at the scrapbook in front of Willow, “What’s that?”
“Oh, this?” she glanced down at it, “It’s a scrapbook of all the Weather Ace students who graduated.”
Interested, Silver walked behind Willow and looked over her shoulder at the pictures. Despite the fact she hadn’t been expecting to recognize any of the smiling ponies on the pages, she was still disappointed that she didn’t know any of them.
Willow flipped the page and pointed with her hoof at a picture of a happy couple. “You see these ponies?” she asked Silver.
“Yeah. What about them?”
“They’re Jack’s parents,” Willow said.
Silver blinked in astonishment, but at the same time she could see the resemblance. The mare was beautiful in a filly-next-door sort of way, with a gentle face, aquamarine eyes, and a peachy orange coat. The stallion was built in a way similar to Coach Wave, except there was less muscle in his chest and more in his legs. He looked like he would be suited more to playing professional sports than flying. But by his facial features, he looked uncannily like Jack. The mare was sitting in front of him, leaning into his chest and laughing, while the stallion was looking down lovingly at her. The description of the photo said Flora Blossom Apple and Thunder Flare Blaze.
“Wait a sec. Flora Blossom Apple? As in, Apple family?” Silver asked in surprise.
“Well, I suppose. Do you know the Apple family?” Willow asked.
“The Apple family is a big family I know from Ponyville,” Silver said slowly, “Did Jack’s mom come from Ponyville?”
“I don’t know much about Jack’s mom,” Willow said. “However, he talks about his dad all the time. His dad’s the son of Spitfire Blaze.”
“The Wonderbolt?” Silver asked, her eyes widening.
“Yep,” Willow said. “Jack won’t shut up about being related to a Wonderbolt. I’m surprised he didn’t tell you as soon as you walked through the door.”
Silver frowned. How could she not have realized it sooner? With a surname like Blaze, she should have known that Jack was related to Spitfire, yet…it hadn’t really crossed her mind.
“Wow. How do you know all this stuff?” Silver asked
.
Willow closed the book and stood up. “I leaf through the scrapbook all the time. I love learning obscure historical facts, especially family facts. My family is so boring.”
Silver was about to reply when the sound of hooves against the floor interrupted her.
“Hellooooooo Fillies!” Jack called out, drawing out the “o” as long as he could on one breath.
Silver turned around and saw that he wasn’t alone. Behind him was a tall colt who could only be Blue Skies. His clear blue coat surely lived up to his name, and he had wide, stormy ash-gray eyes and a spiky midnight blue mane, messy like Jack’s mane, although more of an organized mess.
Jack stepped aside. “Blue, this is Silver.” He grinned suddenly, as if realizing something. “Hey, you two both have color names!”
Willow sighed. “By Celestia, Jack, who cares?”
“Oh shut up,” Jack hissed.
Blue looked at Silver, and she got the feeling he was scrutinizing her, picking out every little flaw in her. Although, as she watched him, she realized he wasn’t staring at her. He was staring at her wings.
“Uh. Hello. I’m Silver Halo,” she said, smiling unconvincingly.
His gaze lingered on her wings a little longer before they snapped to her face. He gave a brief nod, so small Silver wasn’t sure if it had been intentional, and then turned and started towards the door.
Jack looked after him. “Wait, where are you-“ he began, before he caught notice of the clock mounted to the wall in the room. “Oh. It’s time for dinner.”
Silver glanced over to the clock. Sure enough, it read 6:00.
“We ought to go,” Willow said. “Or else Coach will be angry with us.” She looked positively terrified of this idea.
The four ponies, led by Blue, walked out of the main room, into the beautiful cloud-hall, which Silver gaped at as they walked through. Then, into the Lobby they went, only to collide into a small crowd of older ponies, chatting and laughing loudly.
Willow leaned over to Silver. “Those are the full-fledged Aces. My dad might be somewhere in there.”
Silver pricked her ears. “Wow, really, your dad’s an Ace? Does he live here?”
“Nah. Most full-fledged Aces go home in the evening, but sometimes they’re on night duty in case there’s an emergency, which there never is.”
“What do they do all day then?” Silver asked.
“They help keep the skies above Cloudsdale clear, and sometimes come in and teach us lessons,” Willow replied.
Silver almost began to ask another question, but before she could speak, a large stallion whom Silver recognized as the stallion in the photo album, Jack’s dad, stood up on what appeared to be one of the faded couches.
“Aces!” he shouted in a booming voice.
The crowd of ponies quieted down and turned towards him expectantly.
“I’ve been told by Big Wave down here that there’s a new recruit joining my son and his friends.”
Silver’s heart sank. She didn’t really want much attention, yet here was a crowd of some of the most experienced fliers in Equestria, staring at her, smiling at her, stamping their hooves against the floor in applause.
Jack’s dad continued, “Silver Halo’s her name. Well, make sure to say hello to her, don’t be unfriendly, make her feel welcome!” He smiled knowingly, “Although, I’d bet she’s already gotten a particularly warm welcome from Wavey.”
Coach Wave, in the front of the crowd, though clearly visible due to his massive size, pulled a disapproving face, but it didn’t quite look convincing.
“Anyway, I believe the thing to do now is show her how we Aces do things here.” He swept his gaze to Silver, who shifted uncomfortably but managed a smile. “Right?”
“Right!” the crowd chorused.
“Who are we?”
“The Aces!”
“What do we do?”
“We keep Equestria safe!”
“What do we do?” Jack’s dad repeated.
“We keep Equestria safe!”
“I can’t hear you!”
“WE KEEP EQUESTRIA SAFE!!” the crowd roared.
Silver couldn’t keep from genuinely grinning now, the crowd had managed to be louder than a group of ponies twice its size, all for her.
“Do they do this every night?” Silver shouted over the ruckus of the Lobby.
“Most nights!” Willow replied. “We’re like a big happy family here! Everypony knows everypony else’s name.”
The doors that the crowd was facing opened, and the ponies began to make their way inside. When Silver finally got in, she realized that they were entering the Cafeteria. The room was spacious and echoy, the floors were blue marble, and the walls were covered in windows. To the left, tables filled the room. To the right was a line of ponies leading up to what appeared to be the kitchen.
A little overwhelmed, Silver followed Willow into the line.
“What’s on the menu?” Silver asked.
“There’s usually a variety of lots of stuff,” Willow said.
“What’s your favorite?”
“My favorite? They serve Cirrus Pie on special occasions…now that’s always heavenly,” Willow said with a dreamy expression on her face.
“Cirrus Pie? You ponies eat clouds?!?” Silver exclaimed.
“No, no, no, Cirrus Pie is a pastry with a fluffy marshmallow filling. It’s not actually clouds,” Willow said, giggling slightly.
The line moved forward steadily until finally, Willow and Silver entered the kitchen, where all of Silver’s senses were immediately attacked by the warm smells of food. There were daisy sandwiches and carrot stews and cranberry salads and more. Silver piled her tray with a tomato basil soup and a little raspberry side salad, then slid it towards the cashier, a peach-colored mare with an earthy green mane.
“Welcome to the academy, dear,” The mare said when Silver passed by.
“Thanks!” Silver said.
Willow led Silver over to a round table, already occupied by Blue and Jack.
“Where were you guys?” Willow asked after she sat her tray down on the table.
Jack tossed a grape into the air and caught it before replying, “We got ahead of you guys in line. Slowpokes.”
Willow’s face contorted into one of shock. “Sh-shut up.”
Silver frowned. “What’s wrong, Willow?”
She shook her head as she sat down, “Nothing, nothing.”
Silver looked across the table at Jack and Blue for explanation of Willow’s sudden mood swing, but Jack didn’t seem to have noticed, and Blue was staring down at his hooves, lost in his own thoughts.
“So, tell us about yourself, Silv!” Jack exclaimed.
“Well…I grew up in Ponyville,” she said, not sure of anything else particularly interesting to tell him.
“Woah, really? My mom’s family is from Ponyville,” Jack said.
“Right! Your mom is from the Apple family, right?” Silver questioned.
“Yeah! How’d ya know?” he asked.
“Willow was flipping through the scrapbook and showed me your parents,” she said.
When Willow suddenly tensed up beside her, Silver knew she had said the wrong thing. A slow grin began to spread across Jack’s face.
“What makes ya so interested in my folks, Will?” he taunted.
“I was just looking through and I saw them…” Willow trailed off, before finishing, “why do you care?”
Jack shrugged. “Just think it’s a little weird that ya know so much about my family, is all. Also that you’re willing to share it with other ponies.”
Willow’s ears seemed to be puffing out steam, but she didn’t have anything to say, so she simply stood up and stormed away, leaving her food untouched.
Silver looked after her, not sure of what to say or do.
“Eh, don’t worry about her. Will gets off on the stupidest things sometimes,” Jack said, popping another grape into his mouth.
-
After dinner, Silver walked behind Jack and Blue back to the student’s rooms, still feeling awful about causing Willow to storm off indirectly. They entered the main room, which was depressingly empty, but neither of the colts seemed worried about Willow. Jack said he was going to go listen to some music and disappeared into the colts’ rooms, and Blue went over and lit a fire in the fireplace. After getting a good fire going, Blue straightened up and sat down on the couch, beginning to watch the flames.
Silver, unsure of what to do now, watched him, feeling uncomfortable and lonely. Finally, she decided she ought to just go to bed, and started towards the fillies’ door.
She was about to open it when she heard something from behind her.
For a brief moment, she thought Blue had just said something, but when she looked at him, he was still watching the fire, unmoving.
How funny, she swore she just heard someone say "It’s not your fault.”
Shaking her head, Silver chuckled awkwardly to herself and opened the door, dismissing that thought. She was just tired and overwhelmed, that was all, and the voice was probably just her subconscious trying to remind her to be rational.
But still…it had sounded so real...
