From Here to Home

She couldn't believe it. Not the ache in her wings, or her rear legs from the day before. Not the sweat pouring like rivers down her coat. Not even the way her stomach churned from the hours of toil she'd endured.

Wrecked it.

The thought was cocky at best, but Cloudchaser believed she was entitled to it. Finishing a week of training from the Wonderbolt Academy was one thing, doing so without freaking out like all the other cadets did was another.

Poor Thunderlane, she thought. That ballsy stallion panicked here just as Snowflake would. Wonder how they're doing right now...

She started walking back towards the runway to meet anyone who finished the last event earlier. Her ego had stoked itself enough from the moment she had finished, having done her distance work sooner than she had even hoped to. “Must have been the carboloading,” she chuckled to herself, no longer feeling the stitches from the meal two days prior.

The proud cadet flared her wings open, still slightly numb from their overuse. Regardless of it, she felt carefree enough to flutter towards the runway that happened to be a place of fear for most ponies. It felt like nothing at that moment in time.

In the distance, she could see that the runway was not empty. Her eyes found the esteemed pegasus, the fastest in all Ponyville scrambling across it on her hooves.

“Hey Dash, hold up!” Cloudchaser took to her wings to catch up to her. It was a quick flight as Rainbow Dash booked it straight into the familiar, well-kept building, not very far from her. Cloudchaser tumbled towards her, nudging the restroom door open with her forehoof.

“Glad to be done or what?” Her voice echoed off the walls, but didn't receive a response. Once she stopped talking, she heard the rather unpleasant sound of retching. It came from the only occupied stall, no other pony being in sight. “Oh... man.” She winced and waved a hoof in front of her face. She didn't know what was more daunting; the mental image, or finally seeing a pony like Dash keel over.

A hoof sliding across metal rang in her hears with the toilet now flushing. The stall door flung open, Rainbow Dash coughing as she left it behind, leaning against the ceramic wall-tiles of the room.

“You alright?” Cloudchaser realized that by then, somepony should have been whining to her about having no sense of privacy.

“No, not really,” she gasped. “This doesn't feel too good...” Her chest rose with each breath, sharp and heavy. She didn't even seem to notice the wing anymore, yet Cloudchaser could clearly see how it was inflamed and beaten. It was not at all like that from the start of the day.

“Maybe you'd like some space?” Cloudchaser asked. “I'll be out if you need me.” The pale blue pegasus timidly made her way out the door. She never really liked overstaying her welcome, something she unfortunately did often.

She trotted outside. Still nopony in sight by the runway.

Cloudchaser set herself down on the soft grass.  It was nice to finally get some rest earlier in the day, as the practices were packed in a much smaller time schedule to handle the cadets leaving. She rolled around, leaving a trail of lingering sweat on the ground as the sun washed over her coat.

She broke away from her thoughts when she noticed the sound of hooves shuffling across the grass behind her.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

Rainbow Dash dropped next to her, resting her weight on the soft ground. “Like crap.”

“Well I just thought that your wing was fine today,” Cloudchaser said. “You seemed to be doing pretty good too...”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “It was all that aerobatics junk. All those flips and turns while my wing still isn't all too good. Guess the distance just added on to that.” She rolled onto her side, facing her fellow cadet. “Enough about that, I guess. Anyone else finish yet?”

“Think Milky Way and Raindrops are done already. Those two are king at this stuff.”

“Right,” she sighed. Dash wriggled slightly on the ground, she still didn't feel very comfortable. “Hey, and uhh...” Cloudchaser raised an eyebrow as she trailed off. “I know it's kinda late, but thanks for getting my back earlier at the tornado.”

Cloudchaser chuckled, slowly shaking her head. “No problem. I'm good at doing cool things.”

“You like cool parties, then?” she asked. Cloudchaser grinned widely, it was enough of an answer for Rainbow Dash. “My friend Pinkie Pie's definitely gonna throw one once we come back. You might remember her from when my friends came here.”

Cloudchaser brought a hoof to her chin. “She's the pink one, right?” Dash laughed to herself, not knowing that the question was serious.

“Anyway, Pinkie's all worried about me 'forgetting her', or something like that. So I guess the solution is partying. It'd be pretty awesome with you guys around.”

Perhaps it was by coincidence, but most of the cadets training under Spitfire were from Ponyville. All of them, except for Flowershine and Lightning Dust. Cloudchaser thought back to when she first moved to Ponyville. She never expected to train with those ponies, but there she was.

“Sure, when is it?”

“No idea, Pinkie's kinda weird like that,” she laughed. “I'll ask her to come bring you guys over. She remembers...” Dash put a hoof to her chin. “Well, she remembers everything.”

Cloudchaser tilted her head.

“Yeah, don't worry about it.” She rolled onto her stomach, pushing herself off of the ground.

“Sounds good.” Cloudchaser sighed, looking away. She didn't want to offend by saying it'd be weird for a pony to remember all that information. Such as, 'Where does that pony and her sister live?' amongst other things. “Where are you goin'?”

“To a bed, we still have a while before we gotta leave this place,” she replied. Dash trotted back towards the barracks, still weighed down by the pain.

The spiky-maned pony nodded as Dash left. “Suit yourself, this grass is where it's at.” She decided to sleep right there, it was comfortable enough. Besides, getting to a bed would mean she'd actually have to move. More work was not something she was looking for.

Her eyelids soon closed. It was nice being out there, out on the grass, and out of Spitfire's training. She loved being out in the sun, not as much as Blossomforth of course, but she knew that was obvious. Right, and I'll get to see her too when we all get home, she thought. Man, this is gonna be so awesome.

She drifted off into a tired sleep, giving her weary muscles some much needed rest.

“What's she doing out here?”

“She probably thinks that grass is comfy.”

“Could have at least picked a cloud or something...”

Cloudchaser turned onto her side as she opened her eyelids. The sun was no longer held above them, but setting across the horizon of cloudy mist. She felt a hoof tap onto her exposed side. The motion was gentle, yet she knew who it was from its weight. “What's up?” She lightly groaned, turning to Snowflake.

“Just wanted to know if you were awake,” he replied. Thunderlane was standing by his side, eyes drooping from what she thought to be exhaustion.

“Well, I am now.” She rubbed her eyes, sighing. “Thanks to you guys. Man, getting done early sure has its perks.” Cloudchaser briefly chuckled. “Right, and when did you guys finish?”

“Late,” Thunderlane said. “Whatever, at least we're done this by now.”

Cloudchaser fluttered between the two, slowed by her sore muscles and the drowsiness from her brief sleep. “Come on guys, it's good. I mean, you're a sprinter, and you're a bodybuilder. That's not your suit, so don't start whining about making the cut again.”

“Yeah, I know, I know.” A tired smile spread across Thunderlane's muzzle. “What, you think all I do is complain?” The other two nodded in unison. “Well, I did good. We all did.” He felt lighter upon saying it, his wings and legs relaxing to comfort him. “I know I made a huge fuss earlier, but now that I think about it, we really got nothing to worry about.”

Snowflake peered his head out in curiosity. “Not even Rai-”

Cloudchaser placed a hoof over his mouth, dragging the large stallion away as if he said nothing. “Yep, nothing to worry about.”

Thunderlane sat himself on the ground. He made himself at home with thoughts of receiving 'that prized letter', telling him to get back to the academy. “Not even her. This is what training is meant to work on, and Spitfire knows we work hard. She's on our side, I'm sure of it.”

Snowflake frowned and carefully himself next to Thunderlane. He didn't understand how the other two thought differently, as he still didn't feel comfortable. “I don't think she's on my side.”

“Don't be ridiculous.” Cloudchaser rolled her eyes. “You'll be fine.”

'You'll be fine.' He looked towards her to see how sincere those words were. She didn't seem to be the least bit concerned. “Are you sure? She yells at me a lot more than she yells at the other ponies.”

Thunderlane got his attention once more, he seemed more believable. “Take it easy, buddy. She just wants to toughen you up a bit earlier, that's all.” He received a shrug in response.

Cloudchaser fluttered next to the two. “Enough with all this gloating, Snowflake. Thunderlane just got finished whining, so you should be happy too.” Thunderlane rolled his eyes, embarrassed by the truth in her statement.

“Sure, I guess so,” Snowflake said, if only to make sure he wasn't bothering Cloudchaser.

“There you go!” She ruffled his short mane. “You just gotta keep quiet for now until we get back home. You'll forget all about this Wonderbolt crap.”

Quiet... I can do that.

Thunderlane's eyes widened, a grin spreading across his muzzle. “Home... We're goin' home today!”

“Excited?” Cloudchaser asked.

He grinned sheepishly, attempting to remain impassive and reserved. “Right, just a bit.”

Snowflake found that within such a short amount of time, his friends at forgotten about their worries of becoming Wonderbolts. Especially Thunderlane, who had previously been the one to make the biggest deal out of his competition. It doesn't really bother me, but...

“Well, guess what?” Cloudchaser wrapped her forelegs around her two friends and pulled them in. “I'm excited too, everypony back home's waiting for us!”

Thunderlane sighed. “Yeah, Rumble's probably not meshing too well with Flitter. I know it.”

“It's all good,” she said. “Flitter told me she's handling everything just fine,”

“Flitter's keeping Chocolate safe.” It caused the other two to look to each other momentarily and laugh. Snowflake shied away.

Cloudchaser stretched her forelegs out in front of her. The hooves got a bit too close to Snowflake's face. “That too. This is gonna be awesome.”

The thoughts still remained in Snowflake's mind, as once again, he carried the shame of finishing last. Well, at least it's over now, he thought. He didn't want to stay in a place that made him so uncomfortable any longer. It didn't help when ponies like Rainbow Dash or her friends were getting hurt.

Thunderlane rubbed his hooves together. “Man, I just can't wait...”

“Well, we can finish waiting if we pack up right now,” Snowflake said. The others nodded in agreement.

“You got it, let's go.” Cloudchaser flapped her wings in excitement. Thunderlane groggily took into the air next to her, shaking off his tiredness. Snowflake followed to his side.

The fear of the last few days had vanished from their minds, if only for a brief moment. Their exhaustion washed itself away as the three flew to the barracks. On their way, the friends shared the same thoughts, warm and serene. Thoughts of a place called home.