Skyborn

by That Avi Nerd

Turbulence

Aurora sat in the school's cafeteria during lunch with her friends. While Buck was asking her about the training and what it was like, Rose was more focused on who her friend was training with, particularly a specific stallion.

"All we did was sit in a box for three hours trying not to freeze our flanks off!" she told them for the umpteenth time.

"You guys were locked in a room together?" Rose tilted her head. "Sounds romantic!"

"Not really, we didn't even talk any."

"Oh," Rose's tone was one of disappointment. "What all are you guys doing today?"

Aurora shrugged. "Don't know, dad didn't tell us."

A few minutes of silent eating passed by until the bell rang, telling the ponies that their time was up and that they didn't have much longer to get to their next classes. Aurora and her friends filled out in a group and walked through the hall together. They made their way towards their biology class.

"Hey, Aurora?" Hearing her name called, her ears perked up. She looked behind them to see who wast trying to get her attention. To her disbelief it was Storm, coming up behind their group, struggling to carry a bunch of books beneath his wings. Rose took some in her magic to help him while she and Buck got out of the way. "I was looking for you at lunch but I couldn't find you!"

"You... you were?" Aurora slowed to a stop in the middle of the hall way. "For me? Why?"

"I found these books in the library, they're about the AIR Team and how they operate and their history. Do you maybe want to go over them with me some time?"

"Uh—" Behind Storm, both Rose and Buck were furiously nodding their heads. "Yeah... sure..."

"Sweet, where do you want to meet?"

Aurora continued to stand in shock, having never expected the conversation to go this far, or any conversation with him in general. Was this secretly a date? What if it wasn't and he really didn't like her? But what if it was and she was just too chicken? Where would they go? It would be so awkward! So many questions, so little answers.

"She can meet you at her place after you guys are done training!" Rose so politely suggested. "I'm sure she'll be free then!" Aurora tried to mouth her words to her friend silently, asking what she was doing. "Right?" The unicorn said sternly.

"Yeah, that works..." Aurora sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere with Rose present.

"Great!" Storm exclaimed delightfully. "Can't wait!" With his final words he took the rest of his books from Rose's magic and continued on towards the biology class room, leaving behind a very stunned and flushed white pegasus.

"What just happened?" Aurora asked, trying to snap herself out of the daze.

"Your crush is coming over to your house tonight," Buck said as he and Rose walked past her. Their walk showed just how satisfied they were with the turn of events.

The news took a while to set into Aurora. The bell ringing, telling her that she was late for class, was what pulled her the rest of the way out if her daze, sending her running for the biology class room. After being assigned extra work for being late to her lesson, Aurora took her seat in the room and started to count down the minutes until the next bell rung. The lesson was long, dry, and boring, per usual. Never mind the fact that Crystal Star was trying to get under her feathers the whole class period. But the satisfaction when the bell finally rang was well worth it. Aurora repeated the previous day's steps, and was quickly the first one out the door and to the gymnasium, ready to start the next day of training.

After donning their flight suits in the locker rooms, Aries took the students to a nearby classroom to meet the pony who would be their lead instructor, after explaining that he was only there to explain the course and introduce it to them. This left Aurora feeling uneasy. She had been under the impression that her father would be the one training them directly, not some other pony who she may not have known, or may not have known her. When they were introduced to their new instructor, she was relieved. At least until Aries further introduced the pony.

"This is Lieutenant Quick Wing," Aries explained, making sure to glance at all the cadets as he did. "He's the leader of one of my AIR Teams, my second in command, a good friend, and the best instructor we've got. Don't let that think he's going easy on you, though. I can guarantee it would be easier to have any other instructor here." The Lieutenant scanned his new students, his eyes hesitating when they reached Aurora, then moved on. Great, Aurora thought, Now that he knows I'm here, he's going to make it worse on my because I'm, well, me! "I'll leave them to your charge, Lieutenant. If you need anything you know where I'll be."

"Aye sir," Quick Wing nodded as the eldest pegasus left the classroom, heading for his office on the levels above them. "Normally this is where most instructors would take you into the class room and tell you about what was going to happen." He motioned with his head for the cadets to follow him as he walked down the hall. "I like to do things differently. I prefer more hooves on training."

"What's up first?" One of the pegasi asked. Aurora could see the beginning of a smile form at the side of Quick Wing's mouth, even though she was behind and to the side of him.

"Probably my favorite simulator that we have." He stopped outside the viewing window of a small room. The same room Aurora saw a pegasus trying to hold onto a piece of metal while enduring blistering winds. "I haven't been able to think of any neat names for it, but its purpose is to simulate what its like being on the outside of Navis 7, in any situation, and under any circumstances that we want.

"Now I'm not going to throw the crazies of scenarios at you, especially the ones that have never been passed by ponies before. At least not at first. We'll be starting with the basics: how to move along the hull of the ship. You'll learn by using ropes and grapples to keep you tethered to the side of the hull; they're a life line. If you get tired or a gust of wind comes in, then being attached with that cord will save your life. The MDTs use it for their regular job, but we mainly use it for high risk situations."

"Like what?" another pegasus asked.

"Every so often a storm will pop up. The flight crew does their best to avoid it, but sometimes you can't. Depending on how bad it is and whether or not it's producing ice, it's likely that we'll have to go out in the middle of it and knock anything off that's damaging the ship. In the past there have been cuts that have been torn into the envelope and we'd have to go repair those too. Regardless of our skill, in those situations, everyone had their lines attached."

"Did they all come back? The Team members that wen't out?"

Quick Wing hesitated. "For the most part, yeah." The face of the pegasus who asked visibly paled, along with several others. Storm showed no external response to the situation, and Aurora already knew the risks. "Anyway who wants to be first?" Aurora and Storm both raised their hooves, both thinking they were first and giving each other accusing looks when they noticed the other. "Good," Quick Wing nodded, "no hesitation. I like that." He opened the door for them and motioned for the pair to step inside. "Real basic. You'll put the harnesses on, attach yourselves, and I'll add a little wind. From there I'll give you some tasks. Understood?"

"Yes," said Aurora while Storm nodded.

"Good, put your hoods on and head inside."

The two cadets did as they were told. Storm held the door open for Aurora as she walked by, at the same time they were pulling their hoods up. Storm came through after her and locked the door behind him so it was nice and secure. Through the window they could see Quick Wing standing behind a small control panel with various knobs and switches. The other cadets were around him in a half circle.

"Attach yourselves to the hull and we'll begin," Quick Wing said over a headset that he was wearing, transmitting his voice to the sets in Storm's and Aurora's hoods.

At the bottom of their flight suits was a metallic "D" ring, connected to what looked like a bungee cord. It stayed flush with their suit, but it was fairly easy to stretch out to a certain extent before it caught. Next to it was a second ring and cord. Aurora used her wings to give her an extra boost in jumping up onto the hull piece, shortly followed by Storm. They found that it was covered in half rings.

"Those are were you connect your tether," Quick Wing explained to them. "Start by positioning yourself over one of the attachment points." The pair did as told. "Then bring down one of your tethers. Pushing in on the hook end of the ring, slide the opening through the attachment point and let go. You have about eight feet of movement before they won't let you go any further. The way you move around is by keeping yourself connect to an attachment point at all times. You make the initial connect, then you move in the direction you want and find the nearest attachment point and connect your second tether to that. Then you go back and get your original tether, unhook it, and leap-frog past your second hook and keep going, repeating the process.

"I know that it's slow and that it's meticulous, but trust me it will keep you alive. Are you ready for your first task?" They said yes. "Good. detach yourselves and go back to the first point and we'll start." Quick Wing waited a few seconds for them to move, figuring out how to use the tethering equipment. Slowly he turned a dial. The result was that a large turbine on the far wall of the room began to spin, creating a simulated wind force.

Storm, having never experienced the winds before, staggered back a few feet, nearly slipping off the edge of the hull piece. Aurora faced the source and lowered herself to the hull, making herself more aerodynamic. The stallion was quick to recover however, seeing what the other pegasus was doing and mimicking her. Quick Wing gave them instructions through the radios to move from their starting point to the other end. Between them and their destination were outcroppings of metal and various other obstacles.

"They represent external pieces of the ships," their instructor explained. "The large one on your left, on the far side, represents an engine shaft. Inside is a shaft driven by a motor that spins the giant propellers on the tops of the ship to help with the lift, and the many smaller propellers along the side and bottom for propulsion. Be careful around them, they tend to build static electricity. Hit them with your pick and your liable for a shock.

"The same applies to the antennas. We use them to pick up radio signals from the other Navis ships, to help determine our position, and to gauge the weather around us. They can hurt you if you get to close with their radiation, so if you feel yourself buzzing then back away. Its best to use chemical sprays on these when the ice is thin. That goes for the envelope of the ship too. The only time we use the picks is when we are in a hurry and the ice is thick. If you're not careful with them you can punch a hole in the envelope and damage equipment. Now get moving."

Aurora took the first steps. It felt like several ponies were holding on and that she had to drag them forward with her too. The first steps were frustratingly slow, but she got used to the resistance. Storm, on the other hoof, demonstrated his superior strength by passing her. His coordination though wasn't as good. So when he went to attach his second tethering ring in front of him so he could progress, he missed, and slipped along the surface of the envelope. Caught by the wind he tumbled backwards until the tether he was connect to went taught, violently stopping him in place.

"That hurts!" he said with little breath.

"It keeps you alive," Quick Wing added from outside.

Storm caught back up to Aurora while she waited for him at the end where she completed their assignment first. While catching their breath, Quick Wing gave them another objective. Survive. That's all he said.

Aurora felt something comparable to a rock slam against the side of her face. Then something hit Storm. Aurora could see the mark it left, a dark wet spot. It was water. Looking at the source of the wind Aurora could see that there were sprinklers built into the air ducts, and that they were starting to turn on. The lights in the room dimmed, to a level of light akin to a stormy day. In a flash they went to their full brightness, quickly dimming back down to simulate lightning. Predicting what was next, Aurora covered her ears from the thunder that shook the entire room.

The rain picked up, pelting the two ponies. Quick Wing said that storms tended to create turbulence that could become fairly severe. His words foreshadowed the envelope moving beneath the ponies' hooves. Aurora would have described it as an earthquake from the books she's read. They were knocked into the air where the wind caught them. It blew Aurora into Storm, who caught her, but was in turn blown into the propeller shaft casing, which began to shock his back, through his arms and into Aurora. She scrambled to get off of him, grabbing on to his tether and pulling him away from the device.

"Thanks," he panted.

"Don't worry," she said, getting back on her hooves. At the same the envelope they were standing on began to rotate.

As the two ponies found themselves at a thirty degree angle and ready to slide off of the wet surface, Aurora acted quickly. She moved next to storm, taking one of her tethers and stretching it out as far as she could to her left and attaching it, then doing the same to the other tether but to the right so that it crossed over Storm. The tension of her straps kept the two ponies glued to the envelope ever as the ship continued to rotate to where they were completely up-side-down.

It didn't matter how hard the two ponies held on though. The rain was chipping away at the straps, and the storm was only growing more severe. Aurora looked to her right and left to see that her tethers were starting to fray, cut to pieces by the water. At these speeds, the rain might as well have been rocks.

Storm and Aurora held together when the tethers holding them to the envelope finally broke. They fell a foot and a half and landed on the hard floor on their backs. The wind caught them and pushed the two up against the back wall.

Quick Wing shut everything down once he saw the straps break. It took several minutes for the wind turbine to spool down before it was safe to enter the room. When it was, he was the first on to open the door and step inside.

"That was highly impressive," he said to the ponies as he helped them up. "It doesn't count as a fail. By that point the entire ship would have been lost." Quick Wing nodded at Aurora with a smile. "That was some quick thinking. Bought you extra time. Most of the students I put through here and do that too will panic and end up falling off. Nicely done."

"Thank you, sir," Aurora panted, trying to regain her breath. Both her and Storm were barely able to stand, having been fatigued by the simulated conditions.

Quick Wing instructed the two to lay down on the benches in the hall way outside of the simulator while the other students took their turns. Storm passed out almost before he could hit the bench. Aurora started to doze off, listening to the drone of the turbine in the next room, imagining herself being on the outside of the ship. It wasn't long before she too fell into a deep sleep, one that she would be in for hours while the other ponies tried and failed multiple times to complete the first stage of the simulator. Proud of her efforts, Aurora slept with a smile.

Aurora and Storm were finally brought from their slumber when the others' lessons had finally ended, hours after theirs. Feeling groggy it took the two pegasi a few minutes to get to their hooves. Quick Wing explained to everypony what all they did right and wrong, and what they could improve on in the future. For most he covered their coordination and strength, but there wasn't much advice he could think to give to Aurora and Storm other than "Use more straps." Then they were all dismissed.

The ponies trudged their way to the locker room, taking their time when removing their flight suits. Having been pelted by the wind and rain, the ponies were sore and throbbing. Any time something brushed against their fur it hurt. Having finished putting away her gear, Aurora sat on a bench in the room, regaining her strength so that she could head home. With time it was only her and Storm who remained.

"So are we still good for tonight?" Storm asked, pausing at the door way. "If not I completely understand. Today was rough and if you just want to sleep it off its fine by me, I'm about to go do the same!"

"No," Aurora sighed, "it's fine. I want to get ahead of everypony else anyway."

"Great, see you later then!"

"Yup..." Aurora could feel herself ready to pass out. Then the full weight of the conversation came down on her. "What?"

Several hours later Aurora was sitting with her family at the end of dinner. Dishes were being put away and the ponies were beginning to wind down, save for Cobalt, who was rapidly becoming energetic. Ariel had been quick to ask how everything went when her daughter first came home. Aurora told her about the simulator and what all had happened, about the praise she received from her instructor for her quick thinking, earning her more praise from her mother.

Aries told her how proud he was, and that Quick Wing was too. She had done better than most of the cadets to have ever gone through there on their first try. But he also warned her that she wasn't anywhere near to being done and to not get complacent. She wouldn't be the best at everything, and they both knew it. A knock at the door caught Aries' attention.

"Now who could that be at this hour?" he asked, walking towards it.

Aurora's eyes grew wide with realization. She ran in front of her father to stop him. "You know," she said. "Maybe I should get that! You uh— you can go get some coffee or talk to mom. Or something other than answer the door!"

Aries squinted his eyes. "Why don't you want me to answer the door?" There were more knocks, and his head tilted to the side. "Who is it...?"

"Nopony!"

He pushed his way past her. Aurora was helpless to stop him as he turned the door knob and pulled. A few feet from the porch, Storm stood in the pathway, his face paling, and his ears falling back on his head. It was clear that Storm wasn't expecting to see the captain of the AIR Team on the other side of the door.

"I can explain dad—" Aurora said, interrupted by her father.

"What do you think you're doing?" Aries asked with a squint in his eyes. Storm seems to lower himself, cowering form the stallion's gaze. "Why are you standing outside my door... When you could be sitting in my house? Get in here!" Aries' voice went from serious to chipper in only a sentence, taking both Aurora and Storm by surprise. "Why didn't you say he was coming earlier? Ariel and I could have made a plate for him too!" The elder stallion walked out to the younger one, ushering him inside from behind with a wing. "Your name is Storm, right?"

"Uh, yes—yes sir, it is."

"Great! I heard you and my daughter kicked flank in the simulator today! First time too, eh?" The two walked past Aurora, who's jaw was hanging open. "Come now dear, you're going to catch a fly! Join us in the kitchen so we may learn more about this young colt."

Aries reached the room first and pulled out a chair, motioning for Storm to sit in it. Then he did the same for Aurora with the chair beside the first. Just as he was about to sit down a phone on the far wall began to ring. The stallion went over to answer it, speaking several affirmations after a few moments of listening to what was said from the other side. "I'll be right there," where his final words as he hung the phone back on its cradle.

"Dad?" Aurora looked up at her father in question, though she already knew. This wasn't the first time a call like this had come through.

"I'm sorry sweetie," Aries gave his daughter a kiss on the forehead, moving with a lowered head towards the door. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Promise?" she called back causing him to pause before closing the door.

"Promise."

And like that, he was gone, leaving Aurora to return to her original position and sigh, sinking into her seat. Storm could see the disappointment on her face. It was clear that this isn't the first time something like this happened. Not by a long shot. He felt pity for her. He had been lucky enough to have his parents around all of the time. But her father was likely going in and out of her life, at the most random and most inconvenient moments, with no guarantee to return.

Unsure of what he could possibly say to comfort the mare he looked around the house awkwardly. In the living room, sitting on top of the hearth next to the door, he could see a picture of a stallion he hadn't seen in the house. Beside it was a candle that had been lit for quite some time. Next to that was a triangular shadow box, the glass of which contained a folded AIR Team flag. It didn't take much more than that for it to click inside his head. That photo was of somepony in the family, who was a member of the AIR Team, and hadn't returned. He stared at the side of Aurora's head wondering what the mare was thinking. He could tell she was afraid that her father wouldn't return, and that one day she may not return. His sorrow for the mare expanded slowly to the other members of the family as well, to what this household must have had to endured on a nightly basis.

"Is there anything I can do?" he couldn't think of anything else to say. Everything felt awkward.

"No..." It shocked him how incredibly soft and empty Aurora's voice felt. It lacked her usual pride and bearing.

"Do you want me to go? Its okay, I underst—"

"No!" Aurora looked at him with wide eyes, her sudden answer catching them both off guard. "It's just that... let's just study, okay?"

"Okay."

Storm went to the living room and sat on the floor, immediately being tackled and harassed by Cobalt while he waited for Aurora to return from the second floor with all the books she had on the AIR Team. So many in fact that it took her several trips. She set the books in front of him and sat on the opposite side. Just as she plumped to the ground, everything shook slightly for just a second, so much so that vases and glasses shifted. Storm raised an eyebrow.

"Don't give me that look," Aurora said, "I'm not that big; ask my sister if she did it."

"I'm not!" Storm was quick to defend himself from any possible rage she may throw against him.

A few seconds again, what the ponies knew was turbulence struck again, only a little more powerful this time. Aurora sighed, knowing exactly where her father would be about now. Moving past it she opened to the first page of the first book in front of the two, beginning by discussing the fundamentals of the deicing chemical agents used on the envelope of the ship and how to use it so that it didn't eat away at the surface and create a tear that they would have to fix. The two became transfixed in there studies that they no longer noticed the turbulence, only each other.

Many hours would pass by. Everypony else had long since gone to their rooms for rest, but Aurora and Storm stayed in the living room, reading through nearly every book. She would eventually lay her head unconsciously on a stack next to her, pulled into the soft embrace of slumber. Storm remained, however, reading through the rest of the texts, waiting to be there for her in the event that she awoke and her father hadn't yet returned.

Storm himself was about to lose the battle against sleep when the door opened, stirring the two ponies from their dazes. They saw Aries step inside. In the light they could see that he was battered and bruised. His mane was a mess, his feathers disturbed to the point that they could no longer possibly provide lift, and his face showing severe signs of exhaustion. It looked as though the stallion had flown through hell.

"Dad..." Aurora ventured, bringing herself to her hooves and taking a step towards her father, who didn't seem to hear her and continued to the kitchen. "Dad?"

Still, nothing. The stallion took a seat on the table, resting his head in his hooves and letting out a tired sigh. Both Aurora and Storm could hear a sniff as Aries took in a large breath. It was clear to both of the young ponies that something had gone terribly wrong.

"You should go..." Aurora said mornfully to Storm, casting a slight glance to him.

"Are you sure, maybe there was something I could do?"

"No... there's nothing. I'm sorry."

"I understand," Storm sighed, heading towards the door. "I'll see you in class?"

"Yeah. And Storm?" She caught the pegasus before he could leave. "Thank you."

He nodded, exiting the home and shutting the door behind him. He paused for a moment and sighed, making sure everything would be okay. A moment later he heard a plate shatter from inside and saw that the upstairs lights turned on. He was tempted to return, but thought that maybe he would only cause more damage. Nothing could be done but wait till the morning.

Author's Note:

And with that I leave you with Chapter 4! Sorry it took a little longer than I wanted to, had some stuff go on lately. Anyway I really hope you guys like this. As apart of me trying to get y'all more familiar with the side characters I tried to give Storm some more personality, so I hope that all worked out well. Tell me what you think, and what all you'd like to see improved on!

Loyally,
-Sam

Up Next: Aurora goes on an adventure.

Comments

[bastiaan]

Rose was more focused on who all the pegasus was training with

this sentence needs a little tweaking

Their walked showed just how satisfied they were

*walk

Aurora's eyes crew wide with realization

her eyes have a crew! i need to get me on of those.

Why are you standing outside more door

one dos not simply walk in to more door!

all fun and games aside good chapter, great setup.
an adventure you say? cant wait for the next one!

faithfully,
-basbr