Author note: I originally started this story to be about long nights sitting around waiting for something to happen but then it morphed into something vaguely about the real Topgun school. Somewhere between the two, it lost its way.
Trade Winds named by Majin Syeekoh.
I wrote most of this on a phone with one hand while eating lunch with the other. Sorry.
Soarin’ sat in the weather office in Seaddle, drinking coffee and waiting. A storm was on its way.
He glanced at the clock. It was nearly two a.m. He looked at his coffee cup. It was half empty. It wasn’t his first cup.
He looked around the room. The shift tonight was six ponies. He saw there was another patch present. Her name was Glider Rider. Her team jacket had insignia from half a dozen cities.
Soarin’ preferred to stay in one place. Maybe that made him a terrible pegasus. He got enough travel with the Wonderbolts.
The printer in the corner buzzed and ran its track back and forth a few times as if stretching before grinding out a page. Trade Winds walked over and pulled the perforations off. He scanned the page and announced, “Still on track.” No one acknowledged the report, but they all heard.
The night shifts were always quiet. They were all alert, but something about the hour naturally led to introspection. It couldn’t have been lack of sleep. Weather teams were not allowed to be tired.
One of the newer guys, Hailstorm, let out a long sigh. He looked at the clock. Soarin’ glanced at him. Their eyes met. Hail got up and came over. Soarin’ saw his eyes go to the patches on Soarin’s jacket: Seaddle Weather Team, Cloudsdale Equestria Games, Wonderbolts, Sweet Apple Acres frequent customer. Entire stories could be told from the back of one’s jacket.
Hail sat down, still focusing on the simple black and white patch on Soarin’s shoulder. He said, “I wanted to talk to you about going to All Weather school.”
Soarin’ looked across the room. “Glider.”
She looked up. Soarin’ tipped his head. Glider got up and came over, taking a seat with the two of them. Other than the Seaddle Weather Team, the only decoration her jacket shared with Soarin’s was the All Weather patch.
Soarin’ said, “Hailstorm wants to go to the school.”
The school, the patch. Glider nodded. “Well, you know what they say…”
“…the best of the best go there to get better,” Soarin’ finished. He smiled.
Hailstorm leaned forward. “I want to do that.”
“They’ll teach you some advanced techniques, but mostly they’ll teach you how to teach others,” said Soarin’. “Actual job performance is mostly up to experience. Take Trade Winds. He’s not a patch, but he’s been around longer than I have.”
“So…should I not?”
“If you want to, you should,” said Glider. “But it’s just another tool in the kit. You’ll be cooler for being good at your job than for having been to the school.”
“Unless you’re just hunting for achievements.” Soarin’ gestured to his back and chuckled.