From Here to Home

Cloudchaser didn't know how long she'd been pushing herself through the course, but the sweat running down her neck was enough to tell her she worked hard enough. She was on her last set, the second set of shuttle flights. The mare spotting behind her stepped to the side as Cloudchaser got herself ready.

She stumbled towards the track on weary legs with the world spinning around her. Her wings started up without any prompt from her mind, dragging her body above the track, and closer to the end. Her breathing was heavy, and her heart was pounding in it's beaten up cage. Just as the dead sprint had been finished, had she started another one.

Almost done... Not long...

Now facing the starting point, she spotted Thunderlane catching up, yet he was still trailing behind. The sprinter pushed ahead a bit too fast earlier on, which left him too exhausted at the end. By that time, he had just made his way to the station filled with barbells.

“That's one, pick it up!” Cloudchaser's instructor shouted. She slightly nodded her tired head as she turned to the track once more.

She couldn't 'pick it up', the ache in her muscles was enough to tell her this. Regardless, she beat her wings, just a pinch faster. It was effort enough to maybe blow a few blades of grass farther. She reached the end, and made her way back. She was done two, faster than she'd expect, but slower than she'd like.

Cloudchaser kept going. Before she knew it, she reached the end of the track. And before she knew it, she reached the end of her third rep.

“Two more, finish strong!” her spotter yelled. The loud noise was already hard to decipher, all her voice did was make Cloudchaser's head hurt a bit more.

It was always easier when you could see the end in reach, when you knew just how much more you'd need to give. Cloudchaser started moving air with the paltry remains of her strength, breathing as loud as Snowflake on his max rep squats.

Nearly done, all I gotta do is... Not too long until I finish this, and it's gonna be pretty damn awesome when I do!

As she made her way back, Thunderlane was getting closer to the start line. He dragged along, looking dead; out of energy. Cloudchaser nearly toppled over as she met her spotter once more, her wings faltering as she sped along.

“Last one, give it all you've got!”

Cloudchaser grunted and pushed off with all her strength to the end of the line. She could make Spitfire proud with this kind of effort. This was more than just 'pushing herself'. Once she met the end of the long runway, she quickly turned herself around and took off in the other direction.

Thunderlane was flying in the opposite direction of her, on his first rep. She could see the look in the eyes, and knowing that sprints were his thing, it wouldn't take him too long to finish behind her. The strain he showed as they passed one another was that of a very hard working athlete.

She nearly blacked out, at least, she felt like it. She could see more ponies reaching the power cleans. Cloudchaser was so ahead of the rest of the pack, and she loved that thought. Reaching the end of her last rep, she threw herself onto the grass by the asphalt start line.

It felt so nice just to lay down for a while.

Her spotter picked her up with her bright-green hooves, seemingly ignoring the thick layer of sweat she held. “Twenty-four, seventeen! You did great.”

Cloudchaser weakly nodded, it was the most she could do.

Pulling cloud upon cloud over a long distance was a very tiresome job for most pegasi. Still, Flitter had no problem with it. A mare like her could do that work for the whole day without getting winded.

She was pulling a flying cart, tightly packed full of clouds, with another pegasus helping her out. Blossomforth was a calm pony,  still quite new to working for Ponyville's department. Flitter knew her as “the really flexible one”, when she first met her on Hurricane Day.

“These things are too heavy,” Blossomforth said, pointing white a hoof towards the cart behind her. “I'd much rather be clearing the clouds instead of putting them there. That way we'd get some more sun... I like the sun!”

“Yep, I know you do.” Flitter sighed as she looked away. She shook herself a bit to let her saddle adjust into a better place.

“So how long is it until we get there?”

“Few more minutes, that's all.” Flitter looked back at her friend, raising an eyebrow. “What? You're tired already?” Blossomforth averted her eyes. “We've only been doing this for ten minutes. We still actually have to put the clouds in place.”

“But I had like three more jobs like this yesterday...” she whined. “Well, the last few days have been like that actually.”

“It's mostly because of the ponies leaving for the Wonderbolt Academy,” Flitter said. “You'll get used to the work.”

“I hope so, being tired all the time isn't fun.”

The two continued flying towards Ponyville's town square. They could see everyone going about their daily business below them. Ponies looked so small from where they were. It was a simple thing Flitter would often think about to distract herself during longer flights.

Once they were close enough to the square, the weather ponies guided the cart down onto solid ground, removing the saddles they used to pull it. Blossomforth breathed a sigh of relief as the weight was taken off of her back.

Flitter motioned with her hoof for Blossomforth to come closer. “Alright, help me out with these heavier ones. We'll set them up first.”

She nodded and fluttered to the back of the cart, where she grabbed onto one side of a hefty looking cloud. The two took to their wings with the cloud, guiding it higher. They set it down in the sky, letting it float in place above the town hall.

Blossomforth patted a tuft of soft, white cloud down with her hoof. “For something that stays up in the air, you'd think these things would be lighter.”

“Well,” Flitter chuckled. “I think we'd be jobless if it were that easy.”

They flew back down to the cart, grabbing hold of the next large cloud, bringing it up into the air. The weather ponies repeated this, the task getting no less boring as time passed. The town square had darkened as a layer of clouds blocked the sun.

“The rest of these look small enough to be carried by one pony,” Flitter said. “Let's spread these ones out a bit farther away from the hall.”

“Got it!” Blossomforth clopped her hooves together. “Wait, can we have a break yet?” The vacant expression on Flitter's face was clear enough an answer for her. “Oh... Back to clouds then!”

The pegasi got to their work. Cloud after cloud had been placed into the sky from the large cart. Ponies seemed to clear out as it wasn't so sunny. It made things quieter.

Flitter liked the quiet.

It was the quiet that helped her concentrate better on her work. It made her fly steadier, and to her, it just made her happier. Just as quickly as the peaceful silence begun, had it ended from Blossomforth's loud, off-pitch humming.

Well, at least she's not still complaining about the work.

The white pegasus fluttered down back towards the cart. “Hey Flitter!” She looked up, waving her hoof. “This is some really hard work!” Flitter groaned. “But, it looks like we're about done now.”

She made her way back down to where they set the cart. It was empty, and wet from the remnants of cloud. “Well, let's take this back to the department then.” She hitched herself to the cart, as her partner did the same. With the flapping of wings, they brought it into the air, flying back to where they came from.

“You know, that was a lot faster than I thought it'd be,” Flitter commented.

“Really? I knew we made a good team!” Blossomforth cheered. “Hey, we should hang out some more. I don't see you or everypony else at the track either now. It's all quiet there.”

“Of course, I've just been kinda busy, that's all.” She sighed, letting her hooves drag limply across the air. “There's the extra work, then I have to take care of Thunderlane's little brother.”

“Sounds fun.”

“He's a bit of a handful sometimes.”

“Oh...” Blossomforth held a hoof up to her chin as she flew forwards. “Makes sense, I guess. So you're not still training long distance? Silverwing said you're really good at that stuff.”

“Yeah, not competitively anymore.” Flitter shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe some other time.”

“Well, I think you'll do really well in your next race, whenever that is.”

“Thanks. Speaking of races, you should try a 5-k if one comes up. You know, just for fun.” She smiled, looking back to her partner. “You'd be probably be good at it.”

She giggled at the thought. “Maybe, maybe. It's just more fun to hang out with you guys. Of course not everypony's here now.”

“Yep, but they're all coming back home this weekend, you know that right?”

“Great, can't wait to see everypony again! It'll be you, me, your sister, Thunderlane, and that cute young stallion who follows him around sometimes.”

Flitter chuckled to herself, making the cart she was pulling shake lightly. “Yeah, Rumble has to be cutest little brother ever. Can you believe he's still so shy around me?” She smiled and briefly let out a girlish squeal.

Blossomforth stopped her with a hoof. “Heh, calm down. I'm not talking about his brother, silly. I mean that one handsome guy who comes to the track sometimes.”

Flitter stopped mid-flight, as her partner did the same in response. The cart bumped back into them, gently rolling back along the air. She wracked her mind for answers, but found none.

“I'm sorry, what?”

“Well, Snowflake or something, is that his name? My bad.” She was greeted with dead silence. “You know what I'm talking about, right?”

“Yeah, totally...”

GROUP 1 CROSS-FIT TIMES

21:02     Rainbow Dash

24:17     Cloudchaser

25:12     Thunderlane

26:50     Raindrops

27:59     Flowershine

28:43     Snowflake

29:35     Milky Way

Cloudchaser and Thunderlane sat on the grass next to the wooden signboard by the runway. Nailed to it was a sheet with the times of their group. A lot of room had been left on the board, most likely for the other groups of cadets, who would eventually undergo the same training they just went through. Most of the other cadets surrounded Rainbow Dash further away, happy to take in the admiration.

“Hey,” Cloudchaser butted Thunderlane in the rib. “Look at that, I'm only like, three and a half minutes behind Dash.”

He winced from the elbow he took to his side, rubbing it with his hoof. “Yeah, well I'm less than a minute behind you. Could've been better."

“Seriously though, only three and a half minutes?”

“Beast mode, Chase.”

Cloudchaser shook her head, pushing him away. “Am I really that good? Hang on, you can answer that one for me. Do it, come on.”

“Well uh...” he rubbed the back of his head, trying not to provoke her fury. “Rainbow Dash seemed to be having some trouble herself.”

“What a load of crap.” Cloudchaser turned his head towards the blue champion in the distance. She was still occupied, being showered in praise. “Look at her, twenty-one minutes is an awesome time for what we did, and I'm not far off from it!”

Thunderlane blew it off, as he distanced himself from the mare. “I dunno, she seemed to have some trouble with the cleans. I would know, I was the second one there.” He puffed his chest out in pride.

Cloudchaser rolled her eyes, nowhere close to being impressed. “Yeah, whatever. I still came in a minute earlier than you did.”

“Then the squats too,” he continued. “Pretty much anything involving weights must have killed her time.”

“So what are you saying, twenty four minutes isn't good enough?” Cloudchaser sharply pushed Thunderlane back with a hoof. “Think you can do any better, tough guy?”

“Taking this a bit seriously, aren't you?”

“Just kidding, you big softie!” She giggled, rubbing Thunderlane's mane. “But admit it, twenty-four minutes.”

“Yeah sure, it's alright.” He received a vicious glare in response. “Fine, fine! It's go- awesome.”

“Much better.”

In the expanse far from the two pegasi, were the cadets hanging around Rainbow Dash. She was more of a leader to them since Lightning Dust had been moved to a different group. Without a wingpony, she'd need someone to help out, and she was good enough a role model for the whole wing. At the reach, a large mass of muscle fluttered away from the crowd.

“Here comes the big guy,” Cloudchaser commented. “Oh, and speaking of big, there's probably gonna be something big for us later this week!”

Thunderlane raised an eyebrow, turning to his friend. “Big? What do you mean by 'big'?”

“Well, I talked to Rainbow Dash last night, and she gave me a heads up on something.”

Snowflake slipped in next to the blue mare. It was a surprisingly quiet movement for somepony his size. “Hi,” he said, grinning.

Cloudchaser coarsely rubbed the stallion's head. “How's it going, Roid Rage?”

He ignored the remark, having gotten used to it over time. “Did I do good on the cross-fit?” he excitedly asked. “Are you proud of me, guys?”

Thunderlane nodded. “Yep, we're proud. Everyone's proud of you.”

“Yeaugh!” he cheered, before quieting down. “So what's going on?”

Cloudchaser yawned. “Well, I was just telling Thunderlane a secret abou-”

“I like those!” Snowflake commented, before noticing Cloudchaser's look of disapproval. “Sorry.”

“Anyway,” she continued. “What Rainbow Dash told me, is that since we're all going home this weekend while the guys up here choose who's making the cut, Spitfire's gonna make things easier to decide on by testing us harder.”

“But that's not a lot of time, we only have two days after this one,” Thunderlane said. “You couldn't tell us this earlier?”

“No big deal, we'll make the cut anyway, won't we?” She smiled, glancing between her two friends. “The way I'll see it, all three of us, and then Rainbow Dash are gonna move up.”

Thunderlane sighed, shaking his head. “Can't be that easy, that's four of us from one group. Unless everyone sucks real bad in the other groups, it's not happening.”

Snowflake peeked his head in, quietly interjecting. “You never know.”

“See?” Cloudchaser chuckled. “Snowflake's got the right idea!”

“Thanks for not calling me 'Roid Rage' that time...”

Cloudchaser's smile became less apparent as she heard him speak. “Hey, that doesn't really bother you, does it?”  He shook his head. “Come on, you can tell me.”

Thunderlane rolled his back onto the ground. “I've been telling you time and time, Cloudchaser, it does.”

“Oh... Sorry.” Cloudchaser patted the wall of muscle on his back. “I didn't really think so. You know, it's not like Thunderlane knows how ponies feel or anything.” Snowflake barely nodded. She could have sworn she heard him sniffle. "Hey come on, Snowflake. I didn't think it was a big deal or anything!"

Cloudchaser looked back to Thunderlane, trying to communicate with him silently. She groaned when he rolled over to his side. “Promise not to call you that again, if it makes you feel bad, alright?” She fluttered in front of him, and extended a hoof.

Snowflake looked at the hoof for a long while, it was really mean of her to keep calling him names. Of course, he was too scared of the loud pony to actually ask her to stop hurting his feelings. He was scared of a lot of things, really. Cloudchaser though, never meant to scare him.

She's a friend, Snowflake... She's a nice pony.

Looking to her eyes, Snowflake could see that Cloudchaser did care. She never usually seemed concerned, so that must have meant something. He was first reluctant to bring his foreleg out, eventually making his way to shake her hoof. “O-Okay”.

“There you go!” Cloudchaser smiled once more, effortlessly pulling the several hundred pounds into an embrace. The larger stallion seemed content afterwards.

“Should have listened to me earlier, Cloudchaser.” He sighed, laying on the soft grass by the runway. “So as I was saying before you got all emotional...”

“I don't get emotional,” she snapped. “I'm just a very caring pony.”

“Yeah, sure.” He ignored her, seemingly relaxed. “Anyway, four of us moving on from one group, what's Spitfire gonna think about letting that slide?”

“What if our group's just really good?” Snowflake asked.

“Right! We'll show her what we're made of when the time comes, and I'm telling you, we're gonna make that cut.” Cloudchaser waited for Thunderlane to comment, not receiving an answer. He could be awfully negative at times, she didn't like how that would throw off her 'good vibes'. Some ponies just needed to learn how to not overreact to stress. “Come on guys, we can do this.”

“You know what? I guess...” Thunderlane lifted himself off of the ground. He groggily rubbed his eyes, readily hitting his hooves together. “Yeah, sounds good. Let's do it."

“Yeaugh!” Snowflake cheered.

Cloudchaser grinned at her support. “So that's how it's gonna be, alright? The three of us are gonna be Wonderbolts by the end of this week!”

Two and a half more days of her hardest work, and it would all turn out for the best. She, and her friends would make it as Wonderbolts. They'd all get in, making the cut with no problem. They'd train there with the best of the best, rivaling the likes of Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust. One day, they would be soaring through the skies above fans who came out to see them. All three of them, living out their dreams.

Together.