From Here to Home

by Railrunner

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life
Length: 18296

The best of pegasi face waves of pain to come at the Wonderbolt Academy, while things get quiet back at a place called home.

To make it into the Wonderbolt Academy is an achievement in itself. Only the best flyers get in, and that's what the cadets are determined to prove themselves as. Flitter and Rumble are so proud of their siblings being able to enter the academy, but Rumble feels bitter without his brother beside him. Flitter strives to gain the colt's affection, unable to measure up to her more successful friends.

Meanwhile, the pegasi at the Academy are struggling to keep up with the rigorous demands of Spitfire, and their own competition. It is enough to make the strongest of athletes think twice, and enough to break those unprepared. There's no limit to improvement when challenges aren't just addressed, but embraced.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-02-17 18:45:48 UTC

The Letters Home

Just outside the dull walls of the mess hall, Thunderlane continued his 'clop pushups', straining to keep his set going. The sound of his hooves beating against one another paced him steadily. That, and his loud breathing.

The large-framed bodybuilder sat close to him, tiredly hoofing at the ground next to him. Snowflake felt his large muscles aching from the earlier training. He turned his eyes from the other cadet, looking up towards the sky. It had darkened since the past hour, the athletes having done their work for the day.

“How much are you at right now?”

“Doesn't even matter!” Thunderlane gasped between motions. He pushed himself off of the ground once more. “More than I can count,” he breathed out, hitting his hooves together and placing them back on the asphalt in a swift movement.

Snowflake let out a sigh. Now even Thunderlane was one-upping him here. “I-I think we should head to the barracks by now. Everypony else is there. You look about done by now too.”

Thunderlane gritted his teeth, forelegs shaking as he pushed off into the air once more. He hit his hooves together and fell torso-first to the hard ground, laying there as he caught his breath.

“Are we going now?”

“Nope, not yet...” Thunderlane sighed, wearily swaying his head back and forth. “Besides, you should be working on your cardio by now. Spitfire already chewed you out on that before.”

“But I'm tired...”

“Oh jeez, suck it up. This is coming from the guy who I saw squat three-sixty kilo's!” The pegasus gave him a stare, which wasn't all too convincing, given his lack of energy. “Go out to the track, do some sprints, and I'll see you in an hour, alright?”

Snowflake shivered. Indeed, he was a small, frightful child in the body of a large, hulking stallion. His eyes darted around, before he whispered to his friend. “What if Spitfire's there? What if she yells at me?”

“Such a baby...” Thunderlane continued to take in air, heart beating rapidly. “Spitfire isn't a creepy old pony, she doesn't get scarier in the night-time. She yells at all of us, and if anything, she'll yell at you less for not being such a pushover. Just... get on with it.”

“C-Can you come with me?”

His eye twitched.

“What? No!” he shouted. Looking at his friend for a while, he saw the snow white stallion about to start bawling. Rolling his eyes, Thunderlane gritted his teeth and pushed himself off the cold ground. “Alright fine, I'll go.”

“Yeaugh!” Snowflake shouted as Thunderlane made his way towards the track. With a smile, he sheepishly caught up to his trusted friend, no longer fearing the scary drill instructor.

Cloudchaser passed the last ring of could as she completed her last aerial lap. She slowed the flapping of her wings, and set herself down on the asphalt runway. She knew her intervals were weak in comparison to whatever it was they were going to do tomorrow. Still, she was beaten for the day. Beyond her own erratic breathing, she heard somepony else's, steady and brief. Turning to face the noise, she saw the fastest lead pony in the Academy using one of the pull-up bars that Spitfire set up for them.

“Hi Rainbow Dash!” She waved out to her, causing the pegasus to glance to her side. “Can't say I've seen you do pull-ups before. Any good at them?”

“I'm decent, I guess.” Rainbow Dash turned her head back to the bar, and continued to put in her work. After all, it took more than just fast flight to be a Wonderbolt.

“Wow, 'decent'! I wish I were decent at those, but-” She chuckled briefly, rolling her eyes. “You know me!”

“Sure.”

Cloudchaser broke her grin. Somepony must have been in a crap mood. “Oh, am I talking too much? I tend to do that a lot, like right now. Uh, I'll just be quiet now.” She shifted her eyes awkwardly, forcing out a loud breath. “Sorry,” she squeaked.

“It's all good.” Rainbow quickly slid her hooves off the bar, landing gently on the ground. She had the kind of grace that would be hard to find in someone as athletic, or loud as she was. “So where's Snowflake at?”

“Oh, you mean Roid Rage? He went to hang out with Thunderlane.” Cloudchaser pondered for a bit, biting her lip. “Might be too soon to ask, but whatever happened to that 'Lightning Dust'? I thought she was being dismissed or something, but Flowershine told me she heard she was still here.”

“I doubt Spitfire'd just let go of a pony as fast as her.” She brought a hoof to her chin to settle on the idea. “Well, not as fast as me, but you get the idea. Whatever it is, she still gave me that badge, I'm the lead pony now.”

“Right, so I guess...you two are still at it?”

“Yep, can't just forgive her for being such an ass about what happened to my friends. If she's still here, Spitfire's probably gonna straighten her out... Listen, I don't really wanna talk about it.”

Cloudchaser quieted down by then. Once again, her tendency to talk too much got her on someone's nerves. “My bad, I shouldn't have asked.”

Dash shrugged it off. “So your sister isn't doing this with you? She did pretty good on Hurricane Day, from what I saw.”

“I know, I tried to get her in. Flitter told me she it 'wasn't her thing', and some other stuff. She can't fly a quick four-hundred metre or anything, but she's never out of breath, you know? She'd do good here. Rainbow Dash nodded intently, as Cloudchaser continued. “Meanwhile, I'm getting my ass kicked in like ten minutes of this training.”

“So I guess you're not ready what's happening before we go back to Ponyville?”

“Huh? What's going on?”

“We'll you know,” she flipped her rainbow mane, trying to play it off casually. “Before we go home this week, Spitfire's gonna wanna see who makes the cut, right?” Cloudchaser nodded. “Right. So, we're probably gonna get a killer evaluation some time soon. Just to see who can really push themselves harder, you know?”

Cloudchaser's struggled to keep her jaw from hitting the floor. The ache in her wings was enough to make them fall off, and her heart was on the verge of exploding. This 'killer evaluation' did not look good. The way her lip quivered was enough to make the cyan-coated pony smirk.

Rainbow Dash turned her back to Cloudchaser, walking away. “Shouldn't be a problem for me, but you know, just a tip.” With that, she spread her wings and flew off, leaving Cloudchaser to take in the news.

She shook her head, pacing back and forth in anxiety. The first three days were hard enough on her, tearing away at her body, and mind. Whatever was in store for them before the end of the week would not be pretty.

From what she knew of Spitfire, it would be far, far away from 'pretty'.

Hey Flitter, how's my favourite sister doing? Pretty good? Knew it.

Since I'm sure you're just begging to know what it's like being a top-tier athlete, I'll have you know it's pretty damn cool. Real tough too. You know Spitfire was gonna make us do five hundred laps on the first day? Thanks to Rainbow Dash and her friend though, we only had to do like two hundred or something. I dunno, I lost count after the first couple thousand, I mean, nevermind.

Other than that, it's pretty chill. We saved some lives, did just a few hundred one-hoof pushups, the usual. Rainbow Dash and that other chick must be on steroids or something though. They're both breaking records and making us all look bad. What else, what else... Ugh, why does writing have to be so hard? See, I'd write more stuff but writing is bad for my brain. Thunderlane probably made his letter really long and stuff. It's gonna make me look dumb, I know it.

Guess that's all, so enjoy yourself, alright Flitter? And send some of those chocolates you brought home too, I liked those. Oh, and keep that teddy bear I sent you safe, alright? Spitfire told Roid Rage he couldn't keep it, so hold onto it until we get back.

Cheers, Cloudchaser

Flitter wore a tired smile as she set the letter down onto the wood table. The gray colt sitting next to her had his head buried deep in the note he was reading. She got up, walking towards the kitchen counter as the foal continued to read.

“Could I get you something to drink, Rumble?” She received a slight nod in response, Thunderlane wrote more in his letter, a lot more. She poured herself a glass of water, and opened up the refrigerator to get Rumble some vegetable juice. He was one of the few kids to not have to retch after drinking anything with vegetables in it.

Flitter picked up a glass in her teeth and brought it to the table, glass clanking against the wood. Rumble put the letter down, and swiftly grabbed the glass within his hooves. The pegasus brought her own glass over, and got comfortable in her seat. Then it got quiet.

Flitter liked the quiet.

“Thanks for taking care of me, Ms. Flitter.”

'Ms. Flitter', that was cute. Rumble had that kind of effect on people. The two had known one another for how long? Still, the colt couldn't help but be shy around her.

“It's my pleasure, Rumble.” Flitter offered him a smile, prompting him to turn his head away. “So, how's your brother?”

“He's fine...”

“Is that all? But he wrote so much, you can tell me more than just that.” She received no more of a response than silence. Not the kind she liked though, it was the awkward, forced silence. “Are you tired?” The colt shook his head. “You just don't want to talk to me, right?” Then there was a nod, at least they could agree on that. “Sorry.”

Flitter sighed, mostly to herself, because she knew the only other pony in the room wasn't open to much discussion. He was always shy, but the last few days were pushing on it. Rumble would usually down his drinks, it'd save some time. Maybe he just wasn't in the mood to do that anymore.

“When's Thunderlane coming back?”

He was not only Rumble's older brother, but perhaps his father-figure as well. Not all foals in Ponyville were looked after by their parents, as was the case in their household. Flitter had lived with her parents, prior to moving to Ponyville with her sister when they became old enough to live on their own. She would sometimes wonder how it would feel like to be raised the way Rumble did, wincing at the thought of being raised by somepony like Cloudchaser.

“Uh... I think it's just a week, no big deal.”

His face lit up, Flitter was glad to spot a smile there. “Really?”

“Yep, they figure out who makes the cut in the first week. Those ponies get to stay for months if they're good enough!”

“Months!?”

“Yes, it's even longer for some other training facilities,” she said, not paying attention to the distressed colt next to her. “Hey, remember when I was training for long distance flight in the Canterlot Games, but the camp didn't accept me and I cried for a couple days?”

“Yeah yeah, what if Thunderlane makes the cut?” Rumble asked. “Is he going to be away for months?”

“Well, yes, but don't you think that's what your brother wants? He'd be really sad if he didn't make it. You can understand that, right?”

“I-I guess...”

Flitter noticed unrest in his eyes. She moved a bit closer and gave out a smile. "You'll be fine, Rumble. You're a strong pony, I know that." He nodded back. “Hey, cheer up. That just means we get to spend more time together!” She pulled the kid into her with a foreleg, to which he tried to squirm out of the embrace. Flitter giggled a bit before letting him go.

“Come on Rumble, let's get you to bed.”

Pacemaker

Flitter yawned as the daylight shone onto her pale blue coat. She moved the wooly blankets aside and rolled, quite literally, out of her bed like she'd seen her sister do from time to time. She spun around and toppled over onto the floor, maybe she wasn't as dextrous as she thought.

“Ouch...” She massaged her head, laying on the carpeted ground for a while. It was comfortable enough. “Stupid me.” She stumbled back onto her hooves, opening up the curtains to let some more light in. Turning around, she saw the colt groggily rubbing his eyes at the doorframe.

“Did something fall, Ms. Flitter?”

Light sleeper, it seemed. “Yeah... That was me. Sorry if I woke you up or anything.” The kid nodded in response. “So uh, when does your school start again?”

“Thunderlane usually walks with me there in half an hour. He makes breakfast by now. He really likes pancakes.”

“Everypony does, I'll just get you something to eat.” Flitter walked out towards the kitchen, as Rumble followed behind.

It was a neater room than it had been previously. Cloudchaser tended to leave things a mess, especially when she got hungry. That happened a lot. She opened up the wooden cupboard and picked up the bag of rolled oats with her teeth. Some breakfast would be ready soon.

Rumble walked closer as Flitter prepared the oats. “Now that my brother's not here, who's helping the weather ponies?”

“We're trying, the ponies at Cloudsdale didn't send us much help to make up for your brother, and my sister... and Rainbow Dash.” Flitter rolled her eyes at that, turning on the electric stove.

Rumble pulled on her leg in an attempt to get her attention. “Maybe they need Thunderlane to help them. He should come back here.”

Flitter sighed. She obviously wasn't going to convince the child in any way, nor was she going to make him any more patient. “Sorry Rumble, things just don't work that way.”

“W-Well, they should!” Rumble pouted.

“Please, just be patient, you can talk to him when he comes back in a couple days.” Flitter picked up Rumble and placed him on a seat by the wooden kitchen table. “And besides, I miss my sister too!”

He quickly jumped off of the seat, and started to Flitter around back to her room. “But, you're a big pony. That's not fair!”

“So you can be a big pony too,” Flitter said as she took a pink hairbrush into her hooves. “No big deal, it's easy.” Thinking about her choice in wording, she rephrased herself, brushing her mane. “Don't you want to spend more time hanging out with your other friends then?”

He rolled his eyes at the question. It was an obvious answer, to him at the least. “But it's more fun to play with my brother. Now it's boring here.”

“How about me, I'm your friend, right?”

“Not really.”

“How can I 'not really' be your- nevermind,” she sighed, a hint of exasperation in her voice. “Uh, why don't you start packing up your stuff? I'll get your breakfast in a minute.”

“Fine.” He kicked the wall on his way out. Big attitude for such a small pony.

Flitter took in a deep breath as she set the hairbrush down. Rumble was going to be a hoof-full to take care of if he'd keep asking these questions. Though Flitter knew him as that shy, happy colt, he'd have to grow up some time.

She noticed the teddy bear that sat on the desk close to her. Snowflake sure loved that bear. Her sister would frequently call him Roid Rage, and Flitter thought it was a funny name too, but refrained from using it, lest she hurt anypony's feelings. From all she'd known from spending time with him, he was such a sensitive pony. He sure loved that bear, but she'd never ask Snowflake to grow up. That's what made him who he was.

Maybe he's having a better day right now...

“Alright, listen up!” Spitfire paced around on the runway, backed by several additional instructors. There were as many of them as there were cadets. It made their eyes widen; it made their skin crawl. They were anxious and aching, but they didn't show it. They couldn't, or they'd never hear the end of it from Spitfire. “To start today off, we're gonna be doing a cross-fit, since you ponies seem to be lacking some muscle! At least one of you's gonna have to be good at this.”

Thunderlane nudged Cloudchaser in the rib, and raised an eyebrow at her. Cloudchaser wrecked cross-fits when she was still in high-school. She was one of the fastest at them, capable of pounding out the intense movements without rest.

“Now, if you think this is gonna be a cakewalk like those high-school cross-fits, you're dead wrong.”  She turned to face her flyers. After a pause, she nudged her head to her left. “Take a look.”

Barbells, plates, bars, boxes, everything. They looked bigger than normal, at least, bigger than they were in high-school. The pegasi started to exchange nervous glances with one another. Spitfire chuckled to herself.

“And yeah, I'm required to give lighter weights for the lighter pegasi, I'd say weaker is a better word... But go ahead, just try to use them.” She walked closer to Milky Way, sweat about to drip from his off-white coat. “I dare you.” His partner, Raindrops continued to stare straight ahead, lest she get singled out herself.

“So, here's how it's gonna be. I want five hundred-metre shuttle flights to the end and back, fifteen power cleans, thirty pull-ups, ten barbell squats, twenty kettlebell swings, and thirty box jumps. All of that, then in reverse.”

“And you!” she continued, pointing at Snowflake. He would have jumped back in shock, had he not been so heavy. “You don't have to do those box jumps, I'm sure they'd break.” He nodded, relieved to get a break for once. “Instead, you're running ten laps on hoof, looks like you could use the cardio.”

She walked further away, giving her cadets some much needed space. “So, I'll give you guys five minutes to prepare. Stretch, curl up in a ball, whatever.” As she flew away into the distance, the cadets gathered in a cluster to get ready. There was a brief silence as everypony took in the news. This cross-fit was going to be brutal.

“Not gonna be a problem, I got this,” Cloudchaser reassured herself. “What do you guys think?”

“I think Spitfire's really mean to me,” Snowflake whimpered.

Flowershine interjected, whispering to the group. “I heard she's actually a real softie.”

“Really?” Thunderlane deadpanned. “And who told you that?”

She rolled her eyes, backing up a bit. “I'm just trying to lighten the mood.”

The cadets continued to stretch out, talking about anything other than the workout they were about to do. It helped calm their nerves, and steady their breathing. When they saw Spitfire start to fly back towards them, they all lined up, silent once again. As with any game, race, or match, the suspense started to push them over the edge.

The instructors walked up and paired themselves up with each cadet.  Somepony needed to count reps, and make sure that no cadet would cheat.

“Ten seconds!” Spitfire yelled.

Raindrops peeked her head forward, speaking just louder than a whisper. “Good luck, everypony.”

“Good luck, man.”

“I'm scared...”

Spitfire looked back to her stopwatch, watching the needle click back into place. After starting the stopwatch again, she flicked the whistle up with a hoof, and sounded off for cadets to begin.

In a heartbeat, they were off.

It was a mad scramble towards the start line of the track. Rainbow Dash made it there first, and sprinted down the track faster than any other had planned. Cloudchaser and Thunderlane drafted slightly behind ponies when they found the opportunity. A hundred metres wasn't too much to fly. Then again, a shuttle flight would have them fly back to the start, then repeating this four more times. This one set could be seen as a 'kilometre-long sprint'.

The brown-coated instructor gaped at Rainbow Dash's speed. She cleared the shuttle flights before most cadets had finished their second rep. It was onto the power cleans for her. Grinning from her success at the track, she excitedly sprinted towards the padded area with the barbells. Her instructor struggled to not slow her down.

She glanced around at the assortment of barbells, they looked pretty heavy. Not that they weren't supposed to be, but it looked like too much for anyone that wasn't Snowflake. Shaking the thoughts away, she set herself near the closest one and wrapped her hooves around it. Ripping it from the ground, she stood on her hind legs and heaved it up to her shoulders as her waist dipped a bit lower. She dropped it back onto the ground, exhaling deeply. It was more than she expected, at least for a pony as light as she was.

Whatever. This is nothing... I think.

Once more, she grabbed the bar and heaved it up. Dropped it, grabbed it, lifted it, dropped, grabbed, lifted, drop, grab, lift, drop.

“Five, keep it goin'.”

Rainbow Dash continued, working with the disproportionally larger barbell which would make the most unnerving sound when it hit the ground. Before she knew it, Thunderlane and his spotter had already arrived at the barbells.

She peeked over to see how he was doing. He was winded, panting from the shuttle sprints, but he seemed to be pounding out the power cleans without much struggle. To her, that meant he was catching up.

“Two more to go, what are you waiting for?” Rainbow's spotter asked as she frantically gripped the barbell. “One more.” Grab, lift, drop. She blew out a large breath with that rep. “Good good good, let's go.”

As Rainbow flew away to the pull-up bars, every cadet had at the least, started their power cleans. Snowflake was the last to reach the barbells, which he was relieved, almost happy to see. His spotter burst out laughing as he watched the bodybuilder speed through the reps without any noticeable resistance. He was a monster, the heavy mass was but a toy to him.

“Doing good, keep it up buddy,” he chuckled. Snowflake was relieved to have an instructor not yell at him. He disliked being yelled at more than he disliked cardio.

Ponies gradually phased out towards the pull-up bars where the faster athletes already were. As time passed, Milky Way and Flowershine were the last ones still at the barbells, taking their time in an attempt at pacing.

As Cloudchaser gracefully pulled herself over the bar, she could see Rainbow Dash just having finished her set. Her spotter nodded, and the two took off to the next station. The golden coated pony next to her, Raindrops, she thought her name was, had been doing reps much faster than Cloudchaser would try to. She knew better than to let others throw her off her pace.

“Pick up the pace, let's go!” she heard Spitfire scream in the distance. In just seconds had the two ponies stuck at the power cleans caught up with the rest of the group. Spitfire fluttered closer to the bars. “Getting tired, Cloudchaser?”

“No ma'am!” she shouted. She still had some breath left over, she was set in pacing, at least for a small while.

Spitfire moved on, examining everypony else. “Snowflake! Wider grip, you're bending the bar! I know you're not pushing yourself hard enough Flowershine!”

“Done, keep moving,” Cloudchaser's spotter said. She quickly dismounted and took to her wings towards the next set of barbells. These ones were even heavier. Why couldn't squats ever be easy? She could see a couple ponies already there, but Rainbow Dash was nowhere in sight.

Only the fourth set, and Cloudchaser was already getting winded. At the least, she wasn't the only one. She slowed the flapping of her wings, descending onto the ground next to the barbells. This wasn't like high-school, nothing like it, and with Rainbow Dash on the field, she definitely wasn't going to finish first like she always used to. Still, giving it her best wasn't out of question.

It never was.

Ace

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.

Before the Day Ends

“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.

Downtime

Many ponies stood outside the schoolhouse, Flitter being one of them. There wasn't much space by the outside of the door, most of the ponies waiting for the foals would stay a bit too close to it. She leaned against the white picket fence, not wanting to get too close to all the other ponies and the noise they created.

I wonder how Cloudchaser's doing...

The bell rang, and kids crowded along by the inside of the door. As it opened, a swarm of foals scampered out as if they were fleeing from a dreadful air of boredom.

Flitter rose to her hooves and leaned her head over the other ponies, looking to see if Rumble was ready to leave. She spotted him talking to another colt, he had a gray coat and a cutie mark that was of a fork and a knife. Can't say I've seen that before. Must be my sister's real cutie mark. Rumble gave him a hoof bump before walking away, his smile fading as he left the building.

“Over here, Rumble!” Flitter called out to him. Rumble turned his head and scrambled towards her voice. “So, how was your day?”

“It was fine,” he shrugged. She had a hard time believing it, as the foals around him seemed to be enjoying themselves. Even he seemed pretty happy on his way outside of the schoolhouse.

“Who's your friend?” she asked as Rumble walked to her side.

“That's Truffle Shuffle. He's a cool guy.”

“Well, that's nice.” She petted his mane lightly, causing the other foals to glance at him. Flitter stopped when she noticed them watching. “Oh...” Rumble pouted at her, turning away from the view of the other children. “Sorry?”

He shook his head, sighing in disapproval. The green saddlebag he was carrying swung with the motion. She could hear the books and papers loosely shuffling around in it.

Flitter put a hoof over her mouth, tilting her head. “Your bag's a bit low on you.” Rumble's eyes widened as he noticed the mare getting closer to him. “Here, let me get that for you.” She bit down and adjusted the strap, propping the saddlebag high on Rumble's body, tight and neat. “There you go, nice and proper.” She instinctively pet him once more, just as her sister would pet Thunderlane's mane.

She heard some snickering from behind her, as Rumble blushed intensely. Then it came, a full chorus of laughter from the kids. Flitter could have sworn she heard some grown voices joining in.

“Alright, settle down everyone.” Flitter turned to hear the voice. Upon this, she could see some of the kids still snickering, as well as the purple earth pony making her way out of the building. Flitter breathed a sigh of relief, unlike Rumble, who frantically shook his bag off. He circled around it, trying to loosen the fabric strap once more.

The rose-maned pony approached Flitter, who tilted her head at the distressed colt. “Excuse me, are you with Rumble? His sister, maybe?”

“Just a friend,” she chuckled. “One sibling is enough to put up with.”

“I can see why.” She turned to Rumble, still sprawling at his bag. She extended a hoof out. “I'm Cheerilee, I teach here.”

“Flitter.” She smiled and shook the hoof. “How does the troublemaker do?”

“Rumble does quite well. His grades are consistent, and he gets his work done fast.” she said. “It's always good to have a student as hard working and excitable as him.”

Flitter rolled her eyes, nervously chuckling. “He hasn't been too excited to see me.”

“He probably is, kids are odd like that.” Cheerilee raised a hoof off of the ground, waving it for Flitter to come closer. She whispered when she was close enough. “And he has quite the 'tough guy' persona going on too.” Flitter grinned upon hearing it, watching Rumble wrestle with his bag. “At least at school,” she said.

She nodded as more ponies started clearing out of the area, spilling out onto the roads back home. It got quieter, save for the sound of Rumble finally getting his bag down to good height. He weaved into it, standing up on his hooves and walking back to Flitter.

“Having fun?” Flitter asked. He looked up to her for a moment, shaking his head.

“I suppose I shouldn't keep you any longer,” Cheerilee said. “Oh, and I do wish your brother good luck. It's something I would be very proud of.” She ruffled Rumble's mane. Flitter sighed, noticing that Rumble didn't protest to Cheerilee doing it. “Well, it was nice talking to you, have a good day now!” she trotted back to the schoolhouse.

“Have a good one,” Flitter waved as the door shut. Rumble patted her leg, motioning for them to leave.

“Of course, let's get going.” Flitter settled for a brisk trot away from the schoolhouse. Rumble distanced himself from her as they made their way back home. After getting tired of walking on the uneven grass, he brought himself back to the road by Flitter's side once they were far enough from the schoolhouse.

“Man, this sucks.”

Flitter turned her head down to the colt beside her. “Come on, don't say that.”

“But it does,” Rumble pouted. “It sucks. Everypony's gonna be laughing at me for days.”

“Well, how was I supposed to know that makes you lame?” she asked. “It sure didn't when I was your age.” He tilted his head at the thought of that. “I'm sure you'll be fine after all, 'tough guy',” Flitter grinned, noticing her comment at the end made him shy away. “Hey Rumble, are there any girls you got your eye on?”

“N-No!” he shouted, blushing as Fitter laughed. “Stop that!”

“Alright, I guess that was enough. I can see why Cloudchaser does this stuff.” Flitter smiled as they continued along the dirt road in silence. For her, it was a nice place with lush grass and a quiet atmosphere. The quiet to Rumble was no more than awkward silence.

Better than having her embarrass me again like that, he thought. He couldn't blame her, though. Ms. Flitter would only try to help, or at least that's what his brother would say.

“Hey, it's pretty nice that you've got a cool teacher and all. She knows you're proud of Thunderlane. Do you talk about him a lot?”

“I don't do that stuff,” he said. “That's not me.”

“Come on, you can tell me what's on your mind,” Flitter said. “We're friends, right?” he sighed, looking away. “It's alright. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to.”

“Okay.”

The two continued walking as the schoolhouse faded from their sight. Flitter worriedly looked at the absent-minded Rumble next to her. “I'm not bothering you right now, am I?”

“Nah, it's alright.”

“That's a relief.” she sighed, brushing her mane out of the way. “I almost got the feeling you didn't like me being around, or anything.”

“Well, sorry,” he said, feeling slightly better. Flitter raised an eyebrow upon hearing it. Coming out of Rumble's mouth, it was pretty rare. “For making you upset earlier,” he added.

Flitter smiled from the sentiment. “It's alright, Rumble. That's very mature of you.”

“No, really,” he said, wanting to change the subject. “I guess I do talk about big brother, sometimes.”

Flitter saw the dirt road dispersing into cobblestone as they moved closer to the body of Ponyville. Maybe Rumble wanted to get back home earlier to be left alone, but she still wanted to know more. “Well, that's nothing to be embarrassed about.” She looked back towards him, taking a deep breath. “After all, he's been away for a while.”

“Well, I think it's just 'cause I miss Thunderlane,” Rumble said, looking to her pink hair bow, back to his bag, thinking of everything Flitter would do. “And you're not like him, so I guess...”

“Hey, of course I'm not.” Flitter slowed her walk. The houses were in view, thatched roofs lining across the air. “Nopony's going to replace your brother, I just want to do my best to keep you happy.” He nodded. “I'm sure that's what Thunderlane wants too. Does that sound about right?” He nodded once more, kicking the dirt in front of him.

“So, what do you say?” Flitter stopped and trotted closer to the gray colt, staring at the ground. She held a hoof out. “Friends?”

“Yeah, sure.” He looked away, softly shaking the hoof. He tried to fight back the grin that had surfaced. “Just don't do that stuff to me in public again.”

Cloudchaser flapped her wings steadily, feeling stitches in her stomach from all she ate the night before. A red-faced Snowflake strained along behind her, sweat dripping from his short mane. The last ring of cloud they passed gave them a feeling of satisfaction. Their work had been done, and the academy had surfaced into their sights.

Snowflake's eyes widened as he saw it, and he picked up the pace to get back on solid ground. His lead pony chased after him, getting back to his side. Spitfire wouldn't be too happy to see them out of order. Cloudchaser breathed a sigh of relief as she was the first to touch her hooves on the ground. Snowflake quickly followed, struggling to catch his breath.

“Fifty, thirty-nine. An improvement for both of you,” she heard. Spitfire wrote some numbers into the sheet on her wooden clipboard. “Especially Snowflake.” Cloudchaser looked towards her wing pony. He was staring at the ground as his sweat dripped onto it. She butted him in the rib, causing him to look up towards their drill instructor.

“On your way, then,” Spitfire moved a foreleg out. “Remember, weight room at five. Don't be late.”

“Yes ma'am,” they said in unison.

Cloudchaser cantered along the runway, only slightly fatigued from the flight. She enjoyed the feeling of her hooves holding her weight up, rather than her wings for the long, casually paced flight. Snowflake's breathing steadied, still loud as he followed Cloudchaser.

“You alright?” she asked.

“Y-Yeah. I'm fine, I think.” His face remained red, wings limply hanging along his body. “How about you?”

“No big deal, since I only had to keep up with your pace.” She noticed her partner frown. “Oh, my bad. But hey, weight room soon. You know what that means!”

“Yeah, I guess I should be excited,” he said. Once more did he take in a large breath of air, exhausted from the recent cardio session. “I thought you ate too much yesterday, or something like that.”

Cloudchaser looked down to her slightly larger stomach. “Hey, it's not like I puked...” She grinned. “Yet. That means I'm doing it right! You really should have taken my advice, you didn't eat too much.”

“Oh, right!” Snowflake's eyes widened as he tried to remember if he ate enough carbohydrates. He tried to think of anything else, but he could not remember any more than the two ordinary plates. “What if I start loading today? Too late?”

The lead pony stopped to pat Snowflake on his back. She stepped aside to the grass, as Snowflake left the runway to join her. “Sorry man, you'll get stitched up like me today. Don't try that.” She noticed his lip quivering. He panicked quite easily, especially in an intimidating place like the Wonderbolt Academy. “Hey, who knows if I really needed to load in the first place? You'll be fine.”

“I-I hope so,” he said.

“Yeah,” she chuckled. “And once we're done this, we finally get to go back home! Maybe not for long, but still... Home!” she squealed. Snowflake thought she said more, but whatever noises followed that were indecipherable to him.

“You seem pretty excited.” Snowflake raised an eyebrow at the gushing mare. “I understand, I want to get back home too... Can't wait to see Chocola-” he stopped himself short, looking flustered at the ground.

“Chocolate?” Cloudchaser asked, invoking a sigh from the large stallion. “Chocolate's an awesome teddy bear! Man...” She chuckled to herself, flipping her mane back. “Don't you worry, Flitter told me she's keeping him company while you're gone.”

Snowflake sighed. “Can you stop that, please?”

“Oh, come on!” Cloudchaser punched him in the shoulder. “Hey man, why you gotta be so embarrassed? I got cutesy things too! Like, I have this yellow, stuffed parasprite. I call him Guppy!”

“Guppy...” Snowflake nodded.

“Only difference is I'm a girl, and you've got like, two hundred pounds on me,” she chuckled, noticing him roll his eyes. “Come on, man. You know I don't take this stuff seriously, lighten up!”

“Can we please change the subject?” Snowflake asked. He rose to his hooves, turning to the runway. In the distance he saw three figures slowly getting closer. What a relief...

“Hey, the other guys are coming!” He pointed, eager to get rid of the unwanted attention. Cloudchaser fluttered next to him and stared in Spitfire's direction. She walked closer as Snowflake reluctantly followed.

She could see the three touching down on the runway. Thunderlane and his wing pony, Raindrops were the first to settle on the ground. Rainbow Dash limped slightly behind them, stumbling across the end of the runway. “Hang on, she's done already?”

Snowflake shook his head. “They probably cut it short. Look at her.” Her expression was that of one in pain. He could tell that perhaps she regretted coming out to practice today. Even Spitfire had allowed her to take that day off. Of course, she wouldn't be the one to protest when Dash just had to say she'd participate anyway. Nobody would.

Thunderlane and Raindrops made their way back, and Rainbow Dash stayed behind with Spitfire. Cloudchaser looked towards the injured pony, rubbing her left wing from the beating it took. Yep, not the smartest idea, Dash.

“In case you're wondering,” Thunderlane spoke as he fluttered towards Snowflake. “I didn't ask to take her with us. Can't have a crippled pony flying so high by herself. Safety first, I guess.”

“Wasn't so safe when you had us create that tornado,” Raindrops said, prompting her lead pony to roll his eyes.

Cloudchaser took her eyes off of Rainbow Dash and brought her gaze to Thunderlane. “So how'd it go? Are you wheeling her yet?” She smiled. Watching him blush like that never got old.

He was quick to shake his head. “Please, please don't start this,” he sighed.

“Wheels,” she coughed out, later making revving sounds to further embarrass Thunderlane. Snowflake giggled along, much to his displeasure.

“I don't know.” Raindrops shrugged. Thunderlane was glad she didn't join in on Cloudchaser's idea of 'fun'. “All she really did on our flight was complain. She's not too happy about that wing, and with the cross-fit.”

“What about the cross-fit?” Snowflake asked. He shied away when he remembered his time for it. “I mean, didn't she do really good?”

Raindrops flapped her wings, heading towards the signboard by the runway. “Not good enough, she told us she's being beaten out by Lightning Dust.” The others followed along, flying along the empty runway. The ground was free from all the equipment they had used yesterday. All of the groups must have taken the cross-fit shortly after them.

They set down on the grass in front of the wooden signboard. The four scanned their eyes over the new sheets, nailed to the signboard. Snowflake pointed his hoof to the sheet below their own to catch their attention.

GROUP 4 CROSS-FIT TIMES

20:46     Lightning Dust

24:52     Hasty

26:02     Sunny Seeds

26:35     Lily Spring

28:15     Helium

28:34     Fleet Feather

28:42     Kettlebell

30:14     Clearwater

“Roids, calling it.” Cloudchaser browsed through the times of the other cadets. “Hey look, nopony else from there's beating me!”

Thunderlane shook his head. “It's not roids, just hard work. Enough to beat out Dash, I guess.”

“I don't see what she's so mad about.” Raindrops flipped her cyan mane, looking back towards the mare in the mare in the distance. “Lightning Dust isn't even that far ahead.”

“And some of us have it a lot worse...” Snowflake frowned. He looked back at his own times, in comparison with the other cadets in his group.

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

Thunderlane winced, patting Snowflake on his back. “Sorry, bud. Must have been the laps Spitfire made you do. Trust me, you had it harder. We just had to do box jumps.” He wasn't sure how close Snowflake was to believing him.

“So, she's only behind by maybe twenty seconds.” Raindrops shrugged, pulling her eyes away from the sheets. “Is she really that determined to catch up to her?”

“Come on,” Thunderlane said. “You know how much she used to brag back at home. How's she gonna brag coming back, when now she knows about ponies like Lightning Dust?” He sat himself down on the grass, leaning his head against the leg of the signboard. “Now apparently, I'm the problem. Even though Dust was already beating her before the tornado happened.”

“Well, we have our own problems, right?” Snowflake beat his hoof against the board. “Rainbow Dash doesn't have to worry about making the cut...” The others nodded.

“Well, she's probably just really grumpy,” Cloudchaser said.

“You think?”

“I'm just saying, she just needs somepony to let her know she's got nothing to worry about!” she said. The other cadets looked to her, none willing to help. Cloudchaser chuckled, turning to Rainbow Dash who had started walking towards the mess hall. “Fine, I'll get her off your back, Thunderlane. Cloudchaser's got it in the bag.” She rubbed his mane once more, before taking off and giving him some much needed space.

“Down,” Spitfire called out, lowering her hoof. She had taken a seat directly in front of the power rack, having a clear view of the pony squatting.

Thunderlane bent backwards, the barbell descending as he did. Two spotters standing outside of the rack held their hooves under the bar, in case something were to go wrong. Thunderlane reached the bottom of his squat, holding his position for Spitfire to speak.

“Rack.”

He pushed off on his thighs, easily moving the barbell up to a good height. Once he had it under control, he stepped forwards, mounting the barbell back onto the rack. He stepped away, walking back to the crowd of cadets behind the rack.

“Nicely done,” Milky Way held a hoof out for Thunderlane to shake. He was slightly puzzled when Thunderlane hoof-bumped it instead.

“Nothing much, we're only at like...” Thunderlaane paused to count the metal plates on each side of the barbell. “Three fifteen, about.”

The weight room was only half-filled. The only other cadets there were those working out in their free time. Even those ponies were short in numbers, since the mandatory training was taxing enough on the cadets. Nevertheless, it had filled Snowflake with much relief, and the gym with much noise.

“Flowershine, you're up.”

She nodded as her wingpony patted her on the back. She trotted towards the bar, standing up to let it rest across her shoulders.

“Down.”

Flowershine's legs quavered. She was arguably the lightest of the group, besides maybe Rainbow Dash. The spotters got ready to catch the barbell as she made her way down. Upon reaching the bottom, she let out a grunt, nearly losing her balance as she strained to hold herself in place. Once she heard Spitfire speak again, she let out another yelp, shakily pushing herself back up. The cadets clapped their hooves for her.

“Nice.” Cloudchaser widened her eyes. “Didn't think she could handle it.”

“Yeah. Can't take off too quickly without strong legs,” Snowflake commented. He looked back to check out his enlarged quadriceps.

“Alright, none of you failed three fifteen.” Spitfire said, writing on her clipboard once more. “We're moving it up ten pounds then, same order. Let's get going.” The two stallions at the sides of the barbell nodded, starting by removing the ring bearings from each side of it.

Cloudchaser looked around, seeing that Rainbow Dash was outside of the group's space, paying attention to her own little world. She pulled Thunderlane a little closer, still not at all sweaty from the squats. He was a sprinter, he did them all the time. “By the way,” she whispered to him. “I think I got Dash off your back.”

“Really?” he smiled towards her. He pulled her in for a quick hug. “Thanks Chase, I appreciate it.”

“No problem,” she kept her eyes ahead.

The stallions placed a five pound plate on each side, rolling the bearings back onto the ends. Milky Way was the first in order, already approaching the bar. He watched as Spitfire let her arm down, squatting the extra ten pounds on his already tired legs.

“Rack.”

“Told you she'd trust me.” Cloudchaser smiled. “Mostly 'cause I saved her life.”

“Yeah, that you did.”

Milky Way grunted, trying to lift the barbell back up. Once it clicked into his mind that it was out of his league, he bent forwards, letting the barbell crash down on the rails of the power rack. The spotters were slow to act. Milky Way sighed, keeping his head down as he made his way back towards the group. Snowflake patted him on the back in consolation.

Dash was quick to trot up the bar, waiting to for Spitfire to give her the signal. She couldn't impress anypony with her wing, but the least she could do was show that she wasn't weak. Not for her weight, at the least.

“Oh, right.” Cloudchaser spoke again, getting Thunderlane to bring his eyes back to her. About Rainbow Dash... I might have said you were trying to get with her.” He noticed him grit his teeth, narrowing his eyes at her. “Might have.”

“You didn't.”

“Think she feels a bit guilty about lashing out at you now,” Cloudchaser chuckled, watching her manage the weight with some struggle. “What did I tell you? You got some mad wheels.”

“For the last time, I'm not into her,” Thunderlane sighed, shaking his head.

Cloudchaser rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. I still did just what you asked.”

He noticed Rainbow Dash trotting back towards the group, having completed her squat. “Hey, nice work,” he said to her. Dash shyly nodded, trotting back towards the other side of the group.

“See?” Cloudchaser butted Thunderlane in the rib. He didn't bother to look back at her. “It worked!”

“Yeah, because this is much better...”

Spitfire broke the awkward silence, having leaned over to see the cadet in question. “Next, Snowflake.” He looked towards Cloudchaser for approval, who waved him onwards.

Thunderlane peeked his head outwards. He saw Rainbow Dash look away upon noticing him. “Cloudchaser, seriously.”

“Yes?” she sang along.

“Please, never do that again.”

Blossomforth walked across the field with Flitter and the gray colt who held a ball in his mouth. It wasn't as sunny as she would prefer, but she liked hanging out with them anyway, especially with the shy colt who had come along for once.

The grass along the expanse had been cut perfectly, Ponyville had a knack for making places look pretty. They headed towards the playground in front of them. It was very colourful; very appealing to the children of the town.

“Here we are,” Blossomforth said, fluttering towards short plastic slide. “It's been a while since I've been to one of these.”

Flitter made her way closer to the playground, scanning her eyes over the vast area. “It's a lot larger than the one at the schoolhouse...” She looked back to the Rumble. “Lots of things to do here, what do you want to try first?”

He dropped the football from his mouth, letting it pivot along the ground. “That one, the swing!” He pointed towards it, as he ran towards it.

Blossomforth giggled and dashed towards the swingset, seating herself next to Rumble. She barely fit into the small canvas seat. “Push me too, Flitter!”

She rolled her eyes, joining the two. She pushed Rumble first, and then Blossomforth, who was unsurprisingly heavier. Rumble flapped his wings in excitement, seeing the mare next to him swing herself higher.

“So Rumble, let me know about you,” the white-coated pony said. “How's school going for you?”

“It's boring.”

“Apparently, writing assignments are boring enough for him not wanting me to see it.” Flitter smirked, pushing Rumble higher into the air. “Hey, what was that about, anyway?”

Rumble looked away to where neither Flitter or the friend he didn't know could see him blushing. “I-I don't want to say it.”

“Come on.” Blossomforth poked a hoof at him from one swing to another. “It's probably really smart, or nice, or both!”

Flitter smiled, though neither of them were facing her to see it. “We're friends though, right? You can tell me.”

Rumble rolled his eyes, spreading his wings and flying as he pushed off from the metal chains holding the swing seat. He flipped himself over the metal bar of the swingset before landing. Blossomforth marvelled over the athleticism shown from somepony so young. Then again, she knew from the track that his brother was a very fast sprinter.

Rumble took small steps towards Flitter. He pulled at her leg, getting her to bend closer to him. He whispered to her ear, “It's about Thunderlane.” Blossomforth instinctively tried to listen in on it, unsuccessfully. Flitter brought a hoof to her mouth as she wondered what he would write of.

He removed himself from the blue mare, sighing. “Cheerilee called it, 'Somepony Special'. I handed it in already.”

Flitter grinned, momentarily looking to her puzzled co-worker. “Aww.” She walked closer to Rumble, who edged away, knowing what would follow. She pulled him in for an unwanted hug. “That is so sweet!” He shook himself off once Flitter put him down. “Feel better? Telling me wasn't so hard.”

“Telling you what?” Blossomforth worriedly asked. “What is it? I want to know.”

Flitter opened her mouth, but Rumble was the first to speak. “It's nothing.”

“Well, can't tell you now,” Flitter said, ruffling Rumble's dark gray mane. “I'm a good friend like that.” He cheerfully nodded.

“I didn't keep secrets when I was young!” Blossomforth crossed her eyes, pouting. “Well, it's alright.” She walked across the soft grass towards Rumble. “So the swings are done, what's next, buddy?”

He looked towards the ball he had dropped on the ground. “Catching?”

“Ice cream!” Blossomforth shouted, throwing her forelegs into the air.

Rumble nodded, throwing the football over to Blossomforth. “Yeah, that first.”

“We're already here, though.” Flitter noticed the looks of disapproval in two pairs of eyes across from her. “Well, alright... Only if you guys are having fun.”

The other two cheered for the upcoming ice cream, briskly trotting back from where they came. Flitter happily tagged along.

“Man, today is awesome!” Rumble fluttered into the air momentarily.

Flitter tilted her head as she looked towards him. Does he not remember what happened after school? Oh well, that's even better.

“You know what else would be awesome?” Blossomforth asked. “If you could beat me there.”

“Are you kidding? Sure I can!” Rumble grinned. He paused momentarily, zipping into the air as Blossomforth slowly paced with him, taking it easy to give the colt a chance at winning.

“Come on,” she looked back to Flitter, still on her hooves. “You're in this too!”

Flitter sighed, reluctantly taking to her wings. “Fine.” She laughed as the two sped up towards Rumble, straining to fly as fast as he could. Blossomforth sped in front of Rumble, taunting him. It was going to be a long day, one that she enjoyed.

Cloudchaser would really love to be here right now... I wonder how she's doing.

Her stream of thought broke when Rumble pulled Blossomforth's wing, sending her to the ground. She was quick to tackle him, the two laughing as they playfully shoved each other, forgetting about their 'race'.

It can wait.

No Room for Worry

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.