From Here to Home

“Last thing we're doing for the day.” Spitfire paced around the line of her cadets, sore and overworked from the days of training. “Some more cloud busting!”

Snowflake's ears perked up slightly after hearing it. Cloud busting was something he was alright at, as clouds were light, and he was far from light. So long as he didn't have to fly too far to get to them, they wouldn't be a problem. He just didn't like the pressure that a pony like Spitfire would give him.

“Now I think today, you actually didn't all disappoint me.” She chuckled lightly, before wearing her stern expression once more. “The agility course was alright, the laps were sub-par, but you guys pushed yourselves on the cross-fit. I could tell, your times don't lie.”

Nope. They don't... Snowflake lowered his eyes to the ground. He did push himself, but his time? It was far from impressive. Not with ponies like Raindrops or Cloudchaser outdoing him.

“Of course, I expected more from some of you.” Spitfire stopped in place to readjust her glasses. “Next time, alright?”

It made him feel out of place, being second last of seven ponies. It was nothing like entering a bodybuilding competition. The competitors were friends, and the judges were always impressed with what they saw. It didn't help to have a mean, scary drill instructor yell at him. Once again, his thoughts were broken by Spitfire's monologue.

“As for the others, I trust that you'll be able to keep up this kind of work. That's the effort it takes each day to be a Wonderbolt, got it?”

It was a collective shout. The cadets got used to saying it after a while. “Yes ma'am!”

“Good.” She stopped in place, turning to face the Wonderbolts in training. “Now, back to your task! You should all be able to work individually, with your partner, or as part of a larger group. That last one is what you're gonna be focusing on. This time, you're all going to be doing this together.”

The cadets curiously looked over to one another, promptly giving their attention back to Spitfire, when they noticed her stare.

“Organize yourselves however you want, but I want these skies cleared before any of you turn in for the day.” She gripped the whistle in her hoof, getting ready to sound them off. “It's as simple as that. Now, get to it!”

The cadets took off directly upwards, eager to finish the last of their work for the day. Though it wasn't mandatory, the wing-ponies stayed close to their leads, if only through tendency. As such, Snowflake soared alongside Cloudchaser, but more because he liked being close to friends.

The cadets continued upwards through the cloudless portion of the sky at a light pace.  They slowed down to a stop once they were high enough above the academy. They were surrounded by the thicker, tougher clouds that the place had a seemingly endless supply of.

“So, how are we going to do this?” Raindrops asked.

“Yeah, some of these clouds are so far away,” Snowflake commented.

The ponies looked towards Rainbow Dash. She was the one with the shiny golden badge, after all. “Alright then, I'll solve this. I say we split up with our partners, some of us taking the clouds close to the academy, some of us taking the ones far out.”

Thunderlane nodded. “Easy enough, anypony here good at distance stuff?” The cadets briefly exchanged glances. “Raise of hooves, show 'em.” He counted three; Raindrops, Rainbow Dash, and Milky Way.

“Sure, I understand.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “So, us three are gonna fly out and do the real work. Then you guys just mop up all the clouds close-by?”

Flowershine tilted her head. “But there's three of you.”

“So Milky Way and Raindrops can go together.” Rainbow Dash casually flipped her mane. “I don't need a partner, you know me.”

Cloudchaser rolled her eyes at the bragging notion. Always stealing my thunder up here...

“If you see anything too heavy, I believe this man can deal with it,” Milky Way chuckled, pointing a white hoof towards Snowflake.

Rainbow Dash lazily nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Is that it? You all know what you're doing?” The cadets nodded in approval, Rainbow Dash smiled. It was nice to know she had earned her place to lead the group. “Alright, let's do it!”

She took off into the distance, leaving only a trail of rainbow behind, and a rough gust as well. Raindrops patted Milky Way's soft, wavy hair, pulling him in the opposite direction. Unlike their unofficial leader of the group, they took their time reaching their destination. Cloudchaser and Roid Rage laughed in the distance, getting started on their portion of the work.

Flowershine glided along the air, quietly approaching Thunderlane. She poked at him with a hoof, prompting him to turn to her. “Looks like you're with me, then.”

“Guess so.” He reluctantly followed the pink pegasus as she made her way towards the closest cloud. “Not like I should be leading or anything.”

“You're not the only lead pony here,” she turned her head to chuckle softly, before bumping into a tuft of cloud. She raised her hooves up to disperse it. Thunderlane assisted, using his rear legs to smash it from the air.

“True, true...” Thunderlane continued as he drove his hooves into the cloud. He rolled his eyes, not that Flowershine could see it. “Doesn't really matter who's leading who anyway. Take your time.”

“There we go!” she smiled, taking off to the next cloud. Thunderlane followed, drafting behind her. Having reached it, she turned to the stallion, already punching holes in the cloud to soften it up. “But it's no big deal, right?”

“It's all good.”

She followed suit, driving her hooves into the cloud to scatter it into the air. “You're not upset about some small thing like that, are you? You can lead if you want.”

“Nope, why?”

Flowershine shrugged as they continued on their way. “You just seem kinda stressed. Something on your mind?” He sighed, flying slightly quicker. She followed suit to keep up with him. “Come on, tell me,” she nudged him gently. “Please?”

He stopped in flight, turning Flowershine to where he pointed. It was the familiar rainbow trail, starting and stopping as cloud after cloud had been taken care of. “See that?”

“I do, it's just Rainbow Dash.”

“Yeah, and that's who Spitfire's gonna be checkin' out when she makes the cut.” Thunderlane sighed, staring at his competition. “Then there's her Lightning Dust ex-buddy who got switched over to some other group, and probably a bunch of other jerks we haven't heard of.”

“Wow, that's...” Flowershine winced. “Kinda negative.”

“Yeah, sucks right?” He shrugged. “No point me complaining about it any more than I already have.”

Flowershine put a hoof around him, picking up the pace of their flight. “That's right, you've got nothing to worry about.” He gave her a puzzled look. “Come on, I'm sure you'll think back of this, and laugh about it when we're hanging out as real Wonderbolts later!”

“That'd be real nice,” he said. The two continued to their next target. Thunderlane watched as his temporary partner threw her hooves at the cloud, seemingly content. “Uh, sorry if I'm dragging you down or anything. I don't mean to.”

“Not a problem, you just need to lighten up a bit.”

He rolled his eyes, chuckling. “Cloudchaser tells me just that, all the time.”

“There's a smile...” she clopped her hooves together. “Now back to work!”

The two dashed into cloud after cloud, breaking each apart within a short matter of time. Cloudchaser and Snowflake cleared them slightly faster than the other two. Cloudchaser had mostly just laughed and talked, while Snowflake did the heavy work.

The rush of wind alerted the four as Rainbow Dash arrived. Having cleared her share of the sky, she moved on to help clear the larger clouds. The cadets could easily hear her zipping around, quickly breaking the clouds. On her own, of course.

Flowershine nudged Thunderlane softly. “I think I know what you mean.” He nodded.

With the help of Rainbow Dash, clouds dispersed much faster. The only individual to bust clouds faster than her was Snowflake. Eventually, the five cadets had taken care of the area, seeing the two remaining cadets coming closer.

The group gathered closer above the academy, waiting for Raindrops, and Milky Way who followed her. Snowflake could tell they were worried about something, he knew that expression well enough.

“Sweet, done already?” Cloudchaser grinned, getting ready to dip straight to the mess hall.

The golden pony pegasus shook her head. “Well, we're having a little problem...”

“Yes, although I would say it is more of a large problem,” Milky Way smirked.

“What is it?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Are you guys getting lazy?”

“Uh, no,” Raindrops answered. “Come check it out.”

The partners lead the way, with the rest of the group drifting behind. The sighs of the group sounded off constantly through the short trip. They didn't care about the problem, they just wanted to get it over with so they could turn in for the day. This 'problem' eventually surfaced into their view, the group coming to a stop as they laid their eyes over it.

“Oh come on!” Cloudchaser pouted. Snowflake nervously drifted behind her. “What in Equestria is that supposed to be?”

“Obvious,” Thunderlane said. “It's one huge-ass thunder cloud.”

“Yes, exactly that.” Milky Way frowned. “Does anypony have an idea?” It was not for long that the cadets tried to come up with their own solution. Eventually, they turned to their spearheading leader for help.

Rainbow Dash took one more look at the giant, dangerous cloud. “Yeah, I got nothing.”

Raindrops butted in, raising her hoof. “When we were coming back here, I thought that maybe this isn't part of our work. Maybe it just kinda... got here.”

Milky Way fluttered next to her, sighing. “Of course, I said to her, that it would be ridiculous to have some beast like this blunder into a paramilitary airspace.”

“Maybe Spitfire wants to see if we know when it's time to quit?” Flowershine asked.

“Nope,” Rainbow Dash interjected. “We can't. Spitfire would never make us dip on purpose. Wonderbolts aren't quitters.”

“Any other ideas then?” Cloudchaser asked. “Besides flying into it and getting electrocuted?”

Snowflake peered out, motioning lightly with his hooves. “Maybe we could take it apart piece by piece?”

“It'd take forever,” Raindrops said. “I think I'd die from frustration instead.”

“Hang on guys.” Thunderlane raised a hoof by his head. “How does a tornado sound?”

“Really?” Rainbow Dash winced. “After what happened last time?”

“Yeah, I remember that,” he said. “But we got enough ponies here, don't we?” She looked away, biting her lip. “No one's gonna get hurt this time.”

Cloudchaser hovered over to Rainbow Dash. “Yeah, you can make it happen, right?”

She looked over to the rest of her group. She was a cadet, just like them, but being able to impress them, to even lead them was much different. She couldn't let them down now.

“A-Alright,” she gulped, shaking her thoughts away. “Let's get to it, then.”

It was on her mind, perhaps from the previous occurrence, that no good could have come from her decision.  But she had to, backing down wasn't an option. She flew upwards in a spiral, the line of ponies following behind her. There weren't many of them, but the group was strong enough to create a small tornado from their own strength.

Rainbow Dash then moved upwards, taking on the overshooting top by herself. The rest of the group spread out accordingly, shaping the tornado's body. The thunder cloud inside started pulling itself apart, dangerous bits of it nearly approaching the pegasi before dissipating harmlessly into the air. As the tornado spun faster, larger fragments of the cloud narrowly passed by, entering the tornado and getting in the way.

“Slow it down, guys,” Rainbow Dash ordered. Safety first, after all. She didn't notice any difference. “Hey, I said to slow down!” There wasn't a response, she must have been too far away. It was hard to hear amongst all the wind in the first place. Impatiently steering from her direction to reach the other cadets, the top of the tornado broke apart.

This is Thunderlane's fault. Messed us up at Hurricane Day, and now here too! She gritted her teeth, making her way downwards, closer to the other cadets. The flawed tornado's rush of wind blew more roughly, she struggled to keep herself balanced. Either that's my fault, or somepony's having trouble... She dodged a portion of thunder cloud speeding at her. The cadets could be in trouble if she didn't hurry up. Narrowing her descent, she struggled to balance amongst the tornado's pull. She looked downwards, hoping she was close enough for the other cadets to notice her.

She soon found herself speeding straight towards the largest mass of the cloud.

The Wonderbolt Academy's clinic was relatively small. There was no waiting room, and a minimal amount of beds. All were vacant. Cadets were expected to be able to handle themselves, most of the time, at least.

“You're dismissed,” Spitfire said to Cloudchaser. “Good work.” The persian blue pony quietly tipped the heavy doors open, slipping outside.

Thunderlane sighed. “As for you.” He looked up to Spitfire, expecting the worst. He raised an eyebrow, finding that she faced Rainbow Dash instead. A stallion in a white coat, a physician worked on the rainbow-maned pony as she spoke. “What were you even thinking, flying into a thunder cloud like that?”

“I-I...” That had been the first time he'd heard Rainbow Dash stammer. It was oddly unnerving.

“You what?” she asked.

Thunderlane could see the burns coating her left wing. He vaguely remembered seeing her twist to the side, rolling her wing over the rest of her body to protect herself. After the collision straight into the cloud, she tumbled downwards, hardly able to fly on just one wing. He couldn't help but wince at what happened to her. Is Spitfire really berating her while she's hurt?

“I was in a rush,” she admitted. 'I wasn't thinking straight.”

“And because of that, you compromised the safety of the rest of your group.” She sighed. “You are a leader, you should know better.” She waited for Rainbow Dash to answer.

Thunderlane gulped, hesitantly speaking out. “To be fair, she was just trying to get us to slow down. The rest of us could have been hurt instead.”

“This is why coordination is important, something all of you could have improved on to prevent this from happening.” He bit his lip, asking himself if he did the right thing. “Had you taken a bit more time to think this through, this wouldn't happen. For future reference, pulling the cloud apart until it was workable, and then mopping it up with a tornado was the correct answer. So don't think you're not at fault.”

He nodded patiently. Right. Right...

Dear Cloudchaser,

Everything back home is fine, Ponyville hasn't collapsed just because you're not here. We just have a bit more work at the weather department now that you guys have left, that's all.

Rumble's doing okay. I never really knew he could get so moody without his brother around. Oh well, I'm a responsible pony, it'll be fine. Snowflake's bear is safe with me. Is he doing alright? Nevermind, everypony knows you're not good with feelings, I'll just write a letter for him too.

You didn't already expect any other pegasi like Rainbow Dash to be there? It's a professional training facility, of course those ponies are gonna be there, you clown! So is it just one other pony like her? In any case, I'm sure you guys will do fine. You and Thunderlane are some of the fastest ponies I've seen! As for Snowflake, we all know he's just an inch away from winning Mr. Equestria. Maybe next year, for him.

Nope, I'm so not going to send you some chocolates with this. By the time you read this, you're not even going to be at the Academy much longer. Besides, you wouldn't want to eat them too fast anyway, can't be putting on a belly in the Academy. Just kidding, I know you get worked up on that sometimes. You have nothing to worry about.

I'm doing fine, of course. I suppose you already knew, but I am very proud of you. You just have to try your best up there before everypony comes back home, alright?

Love, your favourite sister

Flitter let the quill fall into place, neatly beside the letter. That's enough writing for today...

She heard a voice from behind her. “What's that?”

“Oh,” Flitter whirled back slightly. “I didn't see you there, Rumble. It's just a letter to Cloudchaser.” Rumble slowly nodded, looking more towards the wall than the pony talking to him. She tilted her head, waving a hoof in front of his face to get his attention back. “What's wrong?” Please don't start whining about Thunderlane again. Please, please, please.

“I'm bored.” Flitter breathed a sigh of relief. “I've been doing homework for like, ten minutes but homework's boring.”

“Ten minutes...” she chuckled. “Do you need help with anything?”

Rumble shook his head. “It's just a writing assignment. Easy and boring.”

Flitter reached out and pulled Rumble closer in. “Can I read it? It's probably something pretty cool.”

“N-no...” He looked away. “I don't like writing, it's not so fun.”

“Oh, come on.” She grinned, pulling Rumble in with a hoof. “You're not shy about it, are you?” Of course, she already knew.

“No!” Rumble squealed out, and away from the touchy-feely mare. “It's just boring. All homework is. I wanna do something fun, Ms. Flitter.”

She chuckled again. “Alright, do you have any games or something here? I play a real mean game of Chess, you know?” The colt rolled his eyes. “Well, what else do you like?  Would you like me to take you to the park?”

“Nah, something less boring. I wanna work on some catching,” he said, making Flitter smile. “My brother keeps some balls in his room.”

“Sure, we can do that.” The light blue mare pulled her desk drawer open, neatly placing the letter she had written inside, and taking a key chain out. “Come on, Rumble.” She left her seat, making her way out of the house. The gray colt followed shortly behind her, grinning slightly.

Flitter locked her door shut as they left the building. It was quite dark out, yet not enough for her to want Rumble to stay inside. She walked towards Thunderlane's house, Rumble staying close to her.

“Thunderlane says I'm good at catching,” Rumble flapped his wings in excitement. “He told me I should be a wide receiver when I grow up.”

Flitter giggled at the thought of him being all grown up, playing professionally. The tiny colt decked out in several pounds of padding. “Well, he's right. You'd be good at it.”

“But you haven't even seen me yet!” Rumble jumped forward. “I'll show you once we get there.”

“Sure you will,” she said. “Everyone in Ponyville already knows you're Equestia's best receiver.”

He turned his head. “Are you making fun of me?”

“Just a bit.”

Rumble felt the readiness in his legs, as they moved with each step across the paved road. It had been long enough to do anything fun since Thunderlane left, and not many of the foals back at school liked anything he did. Whatever, I don't like them anyway...

It wasn't too common an occurrence, but Flitter wanted to break the silence. She liked talking to Rumble, especially when he didn't seem upset like he had been for the past few days. “Something on your mind?”

“Yeah,” he responded. “What did you want to be when you were little?”

“Me? I uh...” She trailed off, recollecting her thoughts. “Nothing, I think. I just didn't worry about it at that time. Why?”

“But I thought you liked flying far. And then you wanted to go to the Canterlot Games, but the training ponies didn't let you in. Don't most ponies start training early?”

Flitter twitched her wings lightly. He had wiped the smile off her face that quickly. “Of course. I do like flight, I just didn't realize it back then.”

“So now everypony else has a head start on you.”

“Well, yeah...” she admitted. She turned her head away, sighing. “It's not a big deal. I just do it for fun, as a hobby, not a sport. Don't always have to be the best at everything, you know? Well, my sister doesn't...”

“Is that why ponies do weather work instead of flying competitively?” he asked.

Flitter took her time to observe him, he didn't seem to be putting her down intentionally. “Please Rumble, you're not being very nice about this.” The colt rolled his eyes, which only served to frustrate her further.

The house came into view, prompting Rumble to ruffle his wings. “Oh look, we're already here!” Flitter quickly galloped ahead to unlock the door. What a relief...

The mess hall was brimming with noise, as discussion was not of short supply. Some ponies looked towards Cloudchaser, standing in line next to Snowflake. He took a plate in his mouth, making his way towards a vacant table.

He set his plate down and took a seat, sighing as he relaxed his muscles. He quickly dug in, it must have been the cross-fit making him so hungry. Cloudchaser soon joined him, expertly balancing two full plates on her wings, and sliding them down on the table.

“Who's that other plate for?” Snowflake asked.

“They're for me!” she smiled. “Taking the other plate saves me some time waiting in line.”

Snowflake looked at his plate, and then to Cloudchaser's. Steam rose from the one with pasta, and the other held a large amount of bread and salad. “Are you going to eat that?”

She grinned. “Yep then I'm gonna get some more later. Two days prior's the best time to carbo-load. You should get onto that too.”

“Right,” he said, watching Cloudchaser bear down on her poor, hopeless food. He dug in too, being greeted with the unpleasant sound of everypony talking, possibly about Cloudchaser. “So what happened when you brought Rainbow Dash back?”

Cloudchaser drew her face away from the pasta, a bit of sauce remaining around her mouth. “Well, Spitfire didn't make me stay for long. She said 'good work', for once, and it was to me! I guess that means I'm safe.”

“What do you think's happening to Thunderlane?”

“Him?” she raised an eyebrow. “Oh, he's probably getting shat on by Spitfire for doing something to Rainbow Dash... Who's life I totally saved, pound it!” She shot a hoof out.

Snowflake reluctantly returned the hoof bump. “Aren't you at least a bit worried? He probably wants to be a Wonderbolt more than either of us, more than I, at least.”

“Relax, that still doesn't make up for the fact that he's an ultra-fast sprinter. And what do you mean, 'more than you'?” she chuckled. “Man, you gotta cut that crap out.”

“I-I like lifting so much better,” he said. “And I'm sure you like the track much better. This place makes me feel uncomfortable.”

Looking into Snowflake's eyes, she could tell he was being serious. Wow, somepony's getting soft. Cloudchaser rolled her eyes, getting back to eating. She turned to the noise of the seat next to her being occupied. There sat gray stallion, already having sprawled himself out along the chair.

“Wow, sneaky guy,” she said, brushing Thunderlane's mane. She loved the way those spiky hairs felt. “So, tell us all about it!”

He took in a deep breath, sighing. “Well after you left, Spitfire got onto Rainbow Dash. Mostly her fault for driving straight into the cloud, not like I made her do that.” The two looked at him inquisitively. “Then I tried to defend her a bit, and Spitfire started giving the lecture to me.”

Cloudchaser struggled to hold in her laughter. “You're such an idiot!” She started feeding him fake punches, throwing an elbow uncomfortably close to his face. “Should've just let Dash take it.”

“Are you going to be alright?” Snowflake asked.

“Yeah, I'll be fine. Spitfire thinks we all did pretty crap in taking care of that cloud.” He shrugged, taking a piece of bread from Cloudchaser's unused plate, prompting her to pout at him. “Only thing is that Rainbow Dash must be really, really pissed at me. It doesn't seem like anything I said to Spitfire's gonna make her hate me less."

"Well, some ponies you just can't deal with," Cloudchaser said, pushing her extra plate closer to Thunderlane. "So how's she doing now?"

"She's gonna be alright and all, but she'll probably have to take tomorrow off. I don't think she'll be doing good on our last day here..." he sighed, twirling the fork in his hoof. "So once we get back to Ponyville, I have no doubt that she's gonna kick my ass.”

“I can hide you. She's not gonna question the pony who saved her life,” she bragged.

Snowflake tapped Cloudchaser's shoulder. “I think you're just jealous that you 'saved' the only pegasus from Lightning Dust's tornado.”

“Better than saving the care package,” she chuckled. “Anyway Thunderlane, that's less competition, no reason to get worked up over it.”

He shook his head. “No matter how crap she does two days from now, she's still getting in before we do. This is a training facility anyway, they can just work out the flaws later. It's what this place is meant for. If any of what happened today even matters, it's gonna be that you...” he stopped speaking, lest he never hear the end of it from Cloudchaser.

“Say, it.” She grinned. Thunderlane paused to look at her, briefly shaking his head as he blew off the notion. Cloudchaser knew better, she could spot the slight grin. "Come on, don't be shy.”

“You saved her,” Thunderlane barely cracked a smile, still staring at the table.

“Saved who?”

“You saved Rainbow Dash,” he chuckled. Humoring her wasn't so bad. “You're destroyed the root of all evil, became the new lead pony, and the Princess of Equestria.”

Cloudchaser burst out laughing. “Right, and you two get to be my royal bodyguards!” she squealed. Snowflake held in a laugh, Thunderlane could tell he was having fun too. Cloudchaser got their attention once more, going on about her fictional life of nobility as they wound down for a day's work done well.

They never did hear the end of it.