//------------------------------//
// More Talk 
// Story: Society as We Know It 
// by Comma Typer 
//------------------------------//

A pegasus was in the sky, moving a medium-sized cloud in the open, blue sky. On the ground was the grass with its vast coverage of the land; there were trees that were tall and stood proudly with their leaves and their height. A few ponies were walking on the grass—a group had a nice picnic mat with food on it as the ponies there talked and talked and ate.
The blue pegasus with the blue and violet mane and tail stopped moving the cloud and looked down. Then, he looked ahead.
A zooming figure was fast approaching.
The wind was becoming fast, a breeze.
Then, the pegasus in front of him stopped mid-flight, bringing lots of air towards the blue pegasus.
The blue pegasus blocked the wind with his cloud.
"Woah, sorry to bother you!" the other pegasus said as he recovered from the stop. He took a look of the blue pegasus who was trembling and shaking a little. "Were you on official weather duty?"
"I wasn't" the blue pegasus said. "Say, you look familiar." He narrowed his eyes and focused on the pony's mane cut—it was flat. "Do you have a position in the Wonderbolts?"
"Trainee," the other pegasus said, pointing a hoof to himself as he made a smug smile. "Soon-to-be official Wonderbolt just like Rainbow Dash. The name's Sky Stinger."
"Ah, my name's Open Skies." The blue pegasus extended his hoof.
And the two pegasi shook hooves.
"Not to be offensive, but your name might cause some problems," Sky Stinger said as he hovered in front of Open Skies's cloud. "I mean, what happens when they have to report about the weather?"
"Yeah," Open Skies said, casually gesturing with a hoof. "That's why I feel slightly better when the weather is rough. They won't be reporting my name and I won't be getting confused."
"Any hang-ups?" Sky Stinger asked.
"Not really."
"So, why are you here with that cloud?"
"Just relaxing with the cloud," Open Skies said. "I'm taking a day off from weather duty, weather business. The Earth ponies want their food, the unicorns want their weather to be just right, and I just want to rest." He paused. "How about you? Are you taking a day off from Wonderbolt duty? Are you allowed?"
"We're responsible," Sky Stinger declared, crossing his front hooves. "We're supposed to be. We're representing the best flyers' organization in all of Equestria." He made a smug smile again. He closed his eyes and went up. Then, Sky Stinger opened his eyes and looked at Open Skies. "I'm just taking a responsible rest like you, Open Skies!"
Open Skies nodded and followed Sky Stinger.
Now, they were beside each other.
The cloud was still there.
"So, how is it at the Wonderbolt Academy?" Open Skies asked. "I've only visited the place a few times with my parents when I was young."
"Visiting is the least you could do." Sky Stinger flapped his wings and did some aerial tricks. Open Skies followed the pegasus's movements. "When you're a part of the Wonderbolts, or at least a trainee of the Wonderbolts, you're the one who gets to be doing all the cool things that every young pegasus wants to do! You get to have your own bed, your own locker, and you get to be sleeping in the same place that the Wonderbolts are in, not to mention that you also get to practice with them!"
"And, I heard Spitfire's your coach," Open Skies said, "or something like that."
"And she's as angry as you can get," Sky Stinger responded. Then, he glanced at the ground. He looked at Open Skies. "Do you wanna talk about it on the ground?"
"Why not?"
Then, they flew down to the ground.
The two pegasi landed and closed their wings. They looked at the ponies at the picnic. Then, they looked at each other. They walked.
"How about your friends at the Academy?" Open Skies asked. "I'm sure that you have lots of friends there. It must be great to be a Wonderbolt trainee and to be friends with other trainees."
"There's my best friend, Vapor Trail," Sky Stinger said. "She was the one who gave me lots of confidence in flying. She is also a trainee."
"Any other friends there?" Open Skies held out a hoof. "Wait, is the changeling—I don't know his name—is the changeling there?"
"You mean Dorso?" Sky Stinger asked. "Yeah, but he doesn't train much. But, when he does train, it's always a good time. He's very curious about everything—he's always excited about knowing the history of the Wonderbolts, he's always smiling and happy whenever he gets to be in front of the Wonderbolts." He paused. "Dorso is a very fun changeling, a very happy changeling. He's also the first changeling ever to be a Wonderbolt trainee. I guess you know that."
"That's what makes him interesting," Open Skies said. "The Wonderbolts always just had pegasi, always accepting pegasi and not other flying creatures. Not griffons, not dragons, not changelings. Until now."
"Yeah."
The two pegasi looked at the ponies at the picnic.
"What do you think about changelings?" Open Skies asked.
"What do I think about changelings? They're alright. They're not evil anymore. They're not trying to do something bad or anything like that. They're just good changelings trying to be accepted and trying to be good."
"I think that way too."
The two pegasi kept looking.
They walked towards the picnic.
"So, have you ever been to the Changeling Kingdom?" Open Skies asked. "Some ponies there took pictures of it. I saw those pictures."
"How was the kingdom?"
"It's growing," Open Skies said. "Well, have you ever been there?"
"Not yet," Sky Stinger answered.
Then, they stopped.
"I've never been there either."
"But, it would be nice to meet King Thorax," Sky Stinger said. "To think that Thorax used to be a changeling in the Crystal Empire. Now, he's a changeling who's ruling over the rest of the changelings."
"Thorax has been through much, I guess," Open Skies said. "Maybe not much, but still a lot enough."
"It's getting normal now," Sky Stinger said. "More ponies are now losing their scare and their fear over the changelings and are accepting them. Well, I always accepted them—from the start, back when Starlight Glimmer and Thorax and their friends did that adventure."
Open Skies looked at the cloud in the sky. It was a lonely cloud.
Sky Stinger looked at the cloud. "Are you gonna get it?"
"Nah, it's alright to just leave it there."
"Are you sure nopony is going to fire you or anything?"
"It's not part of the job."
Sky Stinger smiled. "Well, I guess I gotta be going!"
Open Skies waved a hoof as the Wonderbolt trainee flew away. "Bye!" he shouted.
The pegasus now stood on the ground. He looked at the ponies at the picnic. Then, he looked at the cloud in the sky. He kept looking at it. The cloud was still in the sky. It floated there.
He flew to the cloud.



"Rainbow Dash is a Wonderbolt," Sky Stinger said to the pegasus beside him as they stood on the grass. In front of them was a road. There were some trees on the grass. "Spitfire is a Wonderbolt. Fire Streak used to be a Wonderbolt. Blaze is a Wonderbolt. Soarin is a Wonderbolt. And, there are some more pegasi who are also Wonderbolts."
"Why are you telling me that?" the other pegasus responded, a little annoyed. "I already know that!"
"We have the chance to be Wonderbolts," Sky Stinger said. "And, with that, I was wondering about Dorso."
"He's not here," the other pegasus said. "He decided to go somewhere. I don't know—he just said that he's not going to be at the Academy today."
A few pegasi raced past them right above the road, the wind bringing the trees to tilt and making the grass bend. The pegasi stood their ground.
"Some of us might be complaining," Sky Stinger said. "Dorso is a great trainee."
"Great at not being here."
"That's not what I mean! What I mean is, Dorso is a very good trainee."
"How?"
"Well, Dorso is competent to fly and has the ability of a Wonderbolt," Sky Stinger answered. "He's never afraid—he's always ready to do the task at hoof."
"Still doesn't explain why he's not here."
"Maybe Dorso needs some more time with his friends."
The other pegasus sighed. "Is that all?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. I still want to rest, though."
The other pegasus sighed again.
"It's alright!" Sky Stinger said, smiling. "Everypony needs some rest time, including me! I need the energy in order to be at my best for the Wonderbolts!"
Then, Sky Stinger took off and flew.
The other pegasus looked at Sky Stinger as he flew away. He looked at the pegasi that were flying around.
"I'll think about it," the other pegasus said. He walked towards the road and stopped. He opened his wings and flew.



Quibble Pants looked outside as he sat on his place inside the train. He looked around him.
There were ponies who were talking to each other, ponies who were looking outside, and ponies who were sleeping.
Quibble Pants sighed. He looked back out the window.
The green landscape was lush and beautiful. The grass was plentiful and the trees accompanied them. The clouds in the sky made the landscape even more beautiful. As the landscape went by, it still remained nice.
Quibble Pants sighed again. "Why does it take so long to get to the destination? It's just Manehattan! OK, maybe it's not a good justification, but Manehattan is just one place! The trains aren't having any sort of traffic!"
A few ponies shushed him.
Quibble Pants kept looking out the window. "Alright, if I just get to meet with some of them, then it's going to be fine. I hope I'm not late—didn't bring a watch or anything else to tell the time with. Argh! This is not going the way I thought it would go!"
He looked at the clock on the wall. "Alright, why didn't I see that?!"
More ponies shushed him, now looking more irritated.
Quibble Pants went back to looking out the window.