Chapter 5
The day was young and the sun had just peaked over the cloudy surface of Cloudsdale, giving the small city a calm, misty appearance. Birds flew freely above the shining roof tops of the lower town, flying in synchronized twirling dances through air, and singing their morning songs. One bird in particular, decided it would split away from the rest, and flew off in a different direction, heading a bit higher up into the city. It flew down between the buildings and swerved left and right, peeking into the windows of the waking city. Pegasi every where were just waking up and about to get ready for their long day of flying and working. As the bird made its way through the buildings, it found itself flying past the academy. It swung around the building in a wide circle, looking through each separate window, seeing all the academy students that were now just waking up as well. Until finally the little bird found what it was looking for. The little bird fluttered its wings and steadied itself, setting down on the soft sill of a window, which lead into the board room of its favorite pegasus friend.
The sun shined brightly through the window, beaming down across Thunder’s face causing him to twitch. He squinted his face and grumbled, turning his back to the window and wedging himself beneath the blanket of cloud of which his bed was made of. Then Thunder heard a sound coming from behind him. He turned over and slowly opened his eyes, blinking them a couple times and squinting in the bright morning sun. For a moment, he only saw a blur, until his eyes adjusted, allowing him to see the small red bird, hopping up and down in the window and chirping happily at him. He smiled and sat up in bed, yawning and rubbing the grogginess out of his eyes with his hooves.
“Haaaooh-” Was the sound Thunder made, followed by an abrupt and quick clearing of his throat. “Oh hey there Kip, how y’ doin’?” The bird chirped cheerfully in response to this and fluttered into Thunder’s room, setting down on top of his head and wiggling his talons in Thunder’s thick and long black mane. He just chuckled and slowly got out of his bed, standing up, then giving Kip a couple soft, short pats on the top of his head. “You sure are a silly one Kip.” Thunder said to the bird, before appearing lost in thought for a second or two. “Just like an old friend of mine.” In response, the bird simply chirped some more and puffed out its feathers, right before wiggling its face into Thunder’s mane and laying down in it like a small nest. Thunder sighed and gave a short but warming laugh, then proceeded to leave his dorm room and head out of the academy.
It was very quiet in the hallways, which was fairly typical for this time of the day. Most of the other pegasi were still in their dorm rooms just starting to wake up, and any who were out and about had gotten up much earlier and went to the training courses. Thunder never really did like going to the training courses outside of class. He always found class time was training enough, and besides, he didn’t like to over exert himself. So after he woke up, he would usually just leave the grounds and head down into the lower town. There wasn’t much to do, but over the several years he had been attending there, he managed to make friends with a couple of the older townsfolk.
Thunder walked down the main path, heading into the part of town that was usually already just starting to bustle with sound this early in the day. He walked with his head more pointed to ground, just focusing mainly on each step in front of him. He never really would stop and stare at the buildings like he once had back when he first came here, a time which now felt like so long ago. Sure something would still catch his eye every now and then, but he knew it all, and he had grown very accustomed to this place. So much so that he had even begun to forget some things about what it was like to live in the forest, but he still missed it as much as he had when he first left.
Thunder, still lost in his thoughts like he always was, looked up at the small bird resting atop his head and smiled. Thunder never really made any friends at the academy he attended, they all stayed away from him just as they always had. In fact, not even Rainbow Dash bugged him anymore, which, admittedly, he did sort of miss a little. After a while of avoiding her incessant challenges of wanting to race, she made friends with some Gryphon that joined the academy and starting hanging with her. Thunder didn’t really like her though, he had seen her in his classes a couple times, and she seemed rather stuck up to him. Regardless, it wasn’t a matter to him. It was at some point after Rainbow stopped bugging him that Thunder just got used to being by himself, and just made friends with the local birds. Kip was his favorite, and unlike any pegasus he knew, Kip made all the times Thunder was alone bearable and made him feel a little less alone.
Coming out of his deep thought, Thunder stopped and looked around, realizing that he had forgotten to watch where he was going. He looked around for a moment and quickly found himself back on the right path. As Thunder walked down the path he turned and went up to a small building, white like any other, but with a very light blue wooden door. He knocked on it a couple times before it clicked open, swinging out and revealing the old pegasus that lived inside. She had a light blue fur coat and a mid-length mane that was a somewhat darker blue, both of which were faded and somewhat grayed with old age.
“Well, hello there Thunner. How’re y’ doin’?” She said to him, smiling widely through her old wrinkled lips.
“Good. How’re you doing Missus Whisp?” Thunder replied with a half-hearted, but still warm smile.
“Oh I’m fine deary, just got done puttin’ a pie in the oven. Ohh, that remine’s me, I have some apple pie left over from the one I got yesterday. Those old gals o’ mine don’t pack it down like they use’ ta. Would you like some for the go Thunner? It’s specially made from an old friend. She’s one a them farm folk from down by Ponyville.”
“Oh, uhm. I appreciate it, but, I just stopped in to see if you needed any help today.”
“Ahhh, he-he, you are a thoughtful one you Thunner. Noo no, I’m quite fine today thank y’ much. You jus’ run along n have fun doing whatever it is you do.” Thunder nodded and said goodbye to the old pegasus, then went off on his way. Mrs. Whisp was one of the old folk that lived around Cloudsdale, and she had always been really nice to Thunder. He met her about a year or so back, while he was taking a nap actually. He had laid down atop a stray cloud that day, which floated its way over Cloudsdale’s lower town. It was relatively quiet in the town that day, so he didn’t have much trouble hearing the ramblings of a particular old pegasus as she was struggling to pick up a bunch of fruit and other oddities she had dropped upon the ground. Not being able to resist an old pegasus in need, he chose to fly down and help her out, then afterwards offered to help her carry her things to her home. It was when they got to her house that Thunder saw how old and run down it was for a Cloudsdale home, and Mrs. Whisp ended up offering to pay him if he’d stop by and help her out around the house. Thunder wasn’t too keen on the idea of taking money from an old pegasus like herself, but she insisted, and outside of the small grants he got from the academy, Thunder did need the bits.
After leaving Mrs. Whisp’s home, Thunder walked out of the lower town and up the hill to the ledge he went to sit at every day. The sun shined so brightly there and Thunder loved the feeling of the warm sun on his back. He sat down and closed his eyes, letting the cool breeze blow through his mane, then he would watch over the edge of the cloud and look upon all the birds flying through the sky. Usually Thunder would come up here just so he could be alone and think, or even just talk to the birds, but, other than Kip, there weren’t any birds around today, and he didn’t have too much on his mind either. So, after awhile of resting and staring out at the land below, Thunder decided he would just head back to the academy. He got up and started heading back, thinking he should tell Kip it was time to go, since he wasn’t supposed to be seen in the academy with small animals. Thunder decided to walk with Kip just a little longer though.
On his way back to the academy, Thunder was looking down the path and noticed Fluttershy a short way ahead walking towards him. Not wanting to startle her, he quickly ducked into a small gap between two buildings to hide himself from view until she passed. Once she had, he poked his head out around the corner of the building and watched her walk up the path away from him. ‘I wonder where she’s going?’ Thunder thought to himself, but he soon dismissed the thought and went back on his way to the academy, having learned a long time ago that it was best to just leave her be. Thunder still thought about her often though, because even though she had been scared of him during all of these past years, he still wished he could get the chance to really meet her. He had overheard other pegasi say a lot of hurtful things about her behind her back over the years, but from everything he had heard, she sounded like a very kind pony to him. Though a lot of other pegasi really didn’t seem to like her, and he would have spoke out for her in the past, but he was just too timid.
“Okay Kip, it’s time to go now.” Thunder said to his friend, as he had just now reached the front of the academy. The little red bird stood up in his mane and chirped at him. “Now now, go on with your other friends silly, I can’t bring you in here with others around, I’ll get in trouble.” The bird then chirped some more, then stretched its wings out and flew off, heading away with another small flock of birds that was flying just overhead. With that taken care of, Thunder walked into the academy, heading past the main entrance counter and down the back hall. As he walked he went past the doors to the academy training course and saw a lot of his classmates out in the field doing lapse and all kinds of exercises. Thunder sighed down at the ground and continued on. ‘That’s right,’ Thunder thought, ‘The graduation event is tomorrow, I almost forgot.’ As it turns out, this is Thunder’s last year at the academy, which is just about to come to a close, and as a graduation tradition, each class is split into groups by average speed and weights, and entered into a final competitive race. How good a pegasus does in the race doesn’t really matter, but every pegasus is required to compete in the race.
Unfortunately for Thunder, he got put into a group with Rainbow Dash. Having made it to his dorm room, Thunder threw himself onto his bed, sprawled out, and let out a large sigh. “Just my luck,” He spoke aloud to himself, “Well it looks like Dash’l be getting that race in the end.” Thunder threw his pillow over his head and grumbled to himself. He had a strong feeling that if he were to race against her, something was bound to go wrong, but it wasn’t like he could refuse. Thunder looked out the window and saw that it was still midday, and not having anything to do, he just laid there on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Thunder could go train, but he didn’t see the point, because it didn’t matter if he won or not, and he used his wings so often to just move around that it seemed to him like straining them in exercise would just tire him out. So Thunder chose to just do what he loved to do most, take a nap.
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Still shining as brightly as ever over Cloudsdale, the sun was now beginning to lower in the sky, being set into its beautifully colorful evening place as it was every day, right on schedule. Birds still flew through the sky and chirped their songs, now glowing with the evening colors of the sky shrouding them, a beautiful cascade of orange, yellow, and red. Thunder had just woken from his nap and took a stroll from the academy out towards the ledge where he went everyday. He loved to look at the evening sky, admiring all the beautiful colors it created, which reminded him greatly of all the colors he used to see in the forest. There were so many different flowers, with all different shades of red and yellow. Thunder was always content to simply sit and stare at beautiful things, it made him feel happy.
With only a short walk spent, Thunder made it to his ledge with ease and laid down on his back, watching the birds and clouds roll by, accenting the colors of the sky. He smiled and thought to himself about the times when he used to do this in the forest, when Zecora and him would go out to a clearing in the evening and just watch the sky. Thunder’s thoughts were shortly interrupted when he heard an odd noise. He sat up and perked his ear out, listening into the distance. It sounded like somebody nearby was crying, but that wasn’t all, he could hear laughter. Thunder lifted himself up and started walking down the path towards a nearby building, just a small way down the hill. It sounded like it was coming from behind there. Thunder was simply curious to see what was happening, and you couldn’t blame him. He never heard crying that often, so when he did, it was probably for a good reason.
Now walking past the building, Thunder hugged close to the wall as he moved, and as he reached the corner, he just barely peaked his head around to see what was going on. It was Fluttershy, and she was crying. Around her was a small group of other pegasi, all of which he had seen at some time or another in the academy. It appeared to Thunder that the others were laughing at Fluttershy, so he just watched for a moment, then one of them spoke.
“Hahahahaha! I can’t believe this one! How’d a cry baby like you even get inta this school? You can’t even fly!” The pegasus in front said.
“Hehe, cry baby.” Chuckled another.
“Ahhw, I’m sorry, did I make the liddle baby sad? I’m soo sorry FlutterCRY!” Said the pegasus in front. Thunder looked a little closer at this point, and recognized the one in front as one of the school jocks, who he believed was named Dumbbell. Thunder hated to see her being bullied like this, but he just didn’t think it was his place to speak out against any pony. So he thought it best to turn back and leave things be, but at he same time, he knew he’d hate himself for doing it. Thunder decided to leave it be, and began walking away, but he couldn’t help but overhear more of what was being said as he was doing so.
“Why don’t you go run n cry tu that mommy uh yurs? I’m sure you just love mommy sooo much, she does every thing for her liddle baby Fluttercry. You’re just a helpless little momma’s girl!” That tore it.
Turning around on the spot, Thunder bolted out from around the building and jumped in the path of the group of pegasi, between them and Fluttershy. He wasn’t completely sure why he did it, but Thunder couldn’t help himself after hearing that last statement. He stood up in front of them, trying to make himself look as bold as he could. Taking a moment for the entire group to notice what had just happened, they eventually all had their eyes on him, their smiles fading from their faces.
“H-hey, you’re that, Thu-” He began, cut off by an angered Thunder.
“You think you’re a real big shot don’t you!” Thunder began, doing his best to sound good while making it up as he went along, as he had never spoken like this to any pony before. “Picking on a pony smaller than you? Does that make you feel tough big guy?” Thunder walked towards the one in front, squinting his eyes and nearly pushing their noses together. “Does it? Dumb. Bell.” Thunder’s eyes were fierce and strong, yet his heart was beating powerfully in his chest, pounding from his nervousness.
“Well, I-” He was cut off again.
“And what’s wrong with loving your mother! Some ponies aren’t even fortunate enough to see theirs every day!” Thunder was breathing heavily now, each breath sending hot blasts of air right into Dumbbell’s face, forcing the pegasus jock to snap his eyes shut against them.
“We-...I...Ohh, f-forget this. Let’s go fellas, I was gettin’ bored anyways.” Dumbbell spoke as he turned around and began walking away, soon followed by the rest of the group, one of them still chuckling. “Shuddup, Score!” Thunder heard Dumbbell shout, giving the pegasus next to him a whack to the head.
When the whole group was out of sight, Thunder eased himself and sighed in relief before turning his head over his shoulder to look at Fluttershy behind him. She was still curled up on the ground, but was just now wiping the tears from her eyes. Had she been watching him? She looked up at him, and Thunder could tell she recognized him. She had stood up slowly and seemed like was about to look at him, but quickly looked down at her front hooves.
“Uhm..I...uh..th-” She didn’t get the chance to finish her sentence. Looking up once more, she saw that Thunder was gone. Mouth slightly agape from the shock, the yellow filly was left searching in circles, confused and alone.
With a slow sigh and a short agitated grunt, Thunder slammed his hoof down on the rooftop of which he was hiding. “You’re so stupid Thunder. Stupid!” He said quietly to himself in a scolding manner, before peaking up over the apex of the roof to watch as Fluttershy walked away. “I’m sorry.”
End Chapter