When a blue Pegasus saw the precious land below the sky, it almost overwhelmed him by the number of memories to the point that he would stop somewhere and give in to the old memories. However, that was not a priority.
Years ago, Flame Thrower flew above the same lands, but back then, his main goal was to visit as many places as he could to learn and become the best Pegasus that Equestria has to offer. Now all he wanted is to get back to his home, to his family...
Young pegasus visited many places, meet many new ponies, and learn a lot throughout the years. Flame Thrower thought of himself as nothing more than an average pegasus who is the same as all the others, but deep inside, he felt that he could be better. That's why he left in the first place, leaving behind his parents, sister, and friends.
The blue Pegasus is returning after a good amount of years with priceless experience and confidence. Flame Thrower is more than an average pegasus who can control the weather, his adventures and friends that he made on the travel proven to him that it's true, and no matter what, you should never give up on your dreams. With that knowledge, he could finally get back to his family, establish himself, find a job, buy a house, and live every stallion's dream. That was his plan.
Flame Thrower begins to notice fields with yellow wheat below him. He almost immediately recognized that it was a part of the town called Greenfield Hoof. This particular town happened to be northwest of the place where his family lives. Only two and half hours of flying from Greenfield Hoof and then Flame would finally reach his destination. Unfortunately, he had already been flying for a few good hours since his departure in Las Pegasus. He didn't want to cross his limit of the number of hours spent flying and risk injury of one of his wings, so a few minutes of break sound good.
Once, fire-maned stallion noticed the main center of the town, he quickly went off his direct course and began to fly very fast towards the ground. Flame Thrower corrected his position in the last second and land perfectly on four hooves. Air picked up a little bit of dust due to his spectacular landing but quickly began fading.
Greenfield Hoof wasn't a very known place. The whole town was an average size, with Town Hall standing in the center. Surrounded by homes, restaurants, and shops were giving away a look of rather a young town that just started developing but had that old school feeling. The town's inhabitants consisted of pegasi, earth ponies, and some unicorns. It seemed that everypony lived there in harmony and were knowing each other.
What was more interesting in the town's structure was the number of parks and places to relax or enjoy nature. Also, far beyond the main center were plenty of farms on which Greenfield Hoof made money.
Flame Thrower lifted his head to scan the nearby area to find a shop – or perhaps – a bar where he could buy some water to relieve his needs.
While his wings folded, he noticed a little bit of dust on his mane that he quickly shook it off.
"My neat perfect mane always gets worse after landing," Flame Thrower groaned.
After giving up on the idea of fully researching his divided in red, orange, and yellow mane in any sights of dust, he sighed and said, 'Whatever' to himself.
He looked around and noticed Pomelo Pie's Bar sign. While the blue Pegasus was walking towards the entrance, his eyes caught some of the ponies that were staring at him.
"Probs they can't bear my awesomness," he finished his sentence with slight chuckle.
Just the way my sister would say, he thought.
Before he knew, his mind drifted to questions related to his arrival. How much changed? is his sister still the same narcissistic pegasus as he is? Do his friends still remember him? And most important. How, his parents will react to his sudden arrival?
Anyway, these questions will have to wait, because he reached the entrance. Flame Thrower opened the door with the usage of his hoof and, after stepping in, closed.
The blue Pegasus saw some ponies sitting at the tables and bar. Just by looking at some of them, you could tell they were having a pretty good time. Flame Thrower decided to get for what he had come. There's no point in standing there, so he sat down at the bar next to the brown earth pony. Soon enough, a white unicorn with a brown mane, mustache, and blue eyes arrived.
"Hello! What can I get for you?" Flame Thrower noticed the question and replied, "Just glass of fresh water."
The white unicorn nodded and turned back to get with his magic a glass from the shelf. He used his magic to levitated the bottle with the text Crystal Water written on it. After filling the whole glass with water, he placed it next to the blue Pegasus.
"If you would like more water or maybe to try something else, then don't hesitate to call me," the bartender said. Basing on his rebellious appearance, he assumed that Flame is probably one of the ponies that will stay way longer than usual.
Not trying to waste any more of his time, bartender decided to take care of other things. But, before he could move on, the blue Pegasus said, "Alright, but I don't think this will be necessary."
He quickly drunk half of the glass of water before the white unicorn could say anything and, with a sigh, placed it back in its place. "It's really all I need right now."
Refreshing taste of the water surely helped to recharge his energy. Even though, he flew for a few hours straight, a little bit of water is all what he needed. Flame Thrower at this point was practicaly trained in long hour trips with little of water and any other important supplies.
Bartender nodded as he looked at the fire-maned pegasus, who was tasting the water as it was his last. He moved on to other things, leaving water-tasting stallion behind. Flame Thrower took another sip of water.
"Wow. I didn't even know, I'm that thirsty," he sighed and said to particulary no one within easy reach.
To his surprise, somepony heard his mumbling.
"Flame? Is that you?" A familiar voice hit him from the behind. He turned back to notice a dark gray coat, amber eyes, and a turquoise-white mane Pegasus with a dark cloud and yellow bolt coming out of it as a cutie mark.
"Thunderlane! What's up?" Flame said with excitement once he realized to who that voice belongs.
Thunderlane sat next to him. He looked very much surprised as well to see his old friend. "I don't believe what I see... It's really you!"
The dark gray pegasus straightened his forelimb towards Flame to greet his old friend in their special brohoof. "Welcome back, Flame Thrower! How many years it was? Two? Three?" He still couldn't get how to hay he found his friend in some random bar in Greenfield Hoof after many years.
"I honestly lost track, dude," Flame chuckled and added. "Anyway, it's really cool to see you after all of these years, bro!"
"Me too, but what a pity that Compass Star had to return to Cloudsdale with Cloud Chaser yesterday. I bet they both would be happy to see you again."
"Wait, Star and Chaser were here too?! Aw, shucks. But I'm heading to Cloudsdale too, so I guess I'll have a chance to meet them anyway."
"Oh, you're back permamently, or only to just get some of your comics?" Thunderlane asked while raising an eyebrow.
Flame Thrower sighed and looked down on the table before him to avoid any eye contact with his friend. "For now, all I want is to get back to my family. What next, well... we will see."
The blue Pegasus looked up, as if he was summoning old memories and slight smile appeared on his face. "Do you remember what I said all these years ago?"
Thunderlane wasn't sure what exactly his friend had in mind. But before he could say anything, Flame Thrower looked directly at his friend, "I'm coming back once I prove that I'm more than a Pegasus pony with blank flank whose destination is to work at the weather factory through his entire life and guess what, I did it."
"You did? But, how do you know that?"
Flame visibly rolled his eyes and then said with chuckle, "You're telling me, that you really didn't notice?"
The gray Pegasus made a confused on his face, so Flame Thrower was more than sure that his friend didn't notice the biggest change.
"Well, do you remember how eager we were to get our cutie marks?" Thunderlane wasn't sure where the blue pegasus was heading with this question. But he did remember all those times when he, Flame Thrower, and occasionally Compass Star and Cloud Chaser were trying everything to gain their cutie marks. All those failed attempts at figuring out what is their special talent, and when at the end everypony got their cutie mark and how happy they were, because of it. Well everypony, but Flame Thrower. That's one of the reasons blue pegasus left.
At the point where all of his friends got to know their special talent, Thunderlane saw that Flame Thrower felt left out. They even had a conversation about it where the blue Pegasus admitted that his special talent is still unknown to him. That made him sad. School bullies were always trying to remind him about this fact. Even though his friends tried their best to help and protect blue pegasus, he couldn't stand being the weaker one. After that, he became more "look, how amazing I'm!" type of pony to hide his problems. The part that probably his sister took over. Soon the whole idea of the trip was born, and when Thunderlane noticed, it was too late to change his mind. Years flew by, and he hasn't heard from his friend for a long time, until now.
Everything fit perfectly into the puzzle, and Thunderlane finally realized it. The gray pegasus slapped himself mentally and looked down to notice, for the first time, a cutie mark on Flame's flank. He saw a symbol of a red bolt, with its top made into something that resembled fire. It was divide into the same three colors as Flame's mane – red, orange, and yellow.
"You really did it..." Thunderlane said, slowly lowering the tone of his voice. He looked on the floor, locked his eyes on it for a few seconds for the message to get through him. Then, with much more energy, he looked up at Flame's face and widely smiled.
"Flame, you freakin' did it!!" As soon as Thunderlane said that, he threw himself forward to embrace the blue pegasus in a hug.
Flame Thrower chuckled and patted his friend on the back, "Yeah, I did it."
Thunderlane slowly broke the hug with a still visible smile on the face and slowly sat back in his place.
"It's great to see you like that! You've finally found your special talent, and on top of that" – the gray pegasus pointed on his flame-bolt looking cutie mark – "your cutie mark looks freakin' awesome!"
Flame Thrower chuckled upon hearing Thunderlane's compliment about his cutie mark. Anyway, he agreed with his friend.
"Thanks! After what I've gotten through, I think that this trip was the best decision I've made in my life. Yeah, it came with some sacrifices, such as being far away from home and family. Also, being not able to see how my sister is growing up stink too. But in the end, it made me a better person. Well... more amazing than I already was," Thunderlane chuckled at the last sentence that reminds him of Flame's character. Even though, he knew that this was supposed to be a joke.
"Okay, okay flame-colt. Care to share how did you gain your cutie mark?" Thunderlane replied in the same teasing tone.
"Well" – Flame Thrower turned his whole body to directly look at Thunderlane and sighed – "it wasn't anything easy or even very heroic, but I did save a village." Flame Thrower ran one of his hoof through his mane to give away a look of brave stallion to only make his friend look like he heard a good dose of joke.
"Then tell me about it! I can't wait to hear how it happened," Thunderlane said. He looked impatient and eager to hear the story that finally let his friend to discover his special talent.
"Alright, alright. Lemme start from the beginning..."
Back to few months ago.
"Thank you so much for your priceless help, Flame Thrower!" the cream Earth pony mare with a yellow mane and two shovels cutie mark happily exclaimed, as her friend put the last box full of vegetables on top of the pyramid of boxes with the usage of his wings.
The fire-maned Pegasus flew to his friend that stood next to the pyramid and admired the whole work that Flame has done. "Don't sweat about it, Sally. Besides, that's the least I can do for giving me a place to stay through the storm back then."
Sally Saddle rolled her green eyes but still kept a smile on her face, "It was two years ago, and I already said that I would never let anypony stay outside when such a terrifying storm was about to come."
Flame Thrower sighed and decided to sit. While doing so, the fire-maned Pegasus reached with his hoof to wipe the sweat on his forehead that appeared when he picked up boxes with vegetables, "But still, you let me stay for a little bit longer."
"If two years means a little bit longer, then yeah, I guess I did let you stay for a little bit longer," Sally Saddle couldn't help but chuckle upon realizing how times quickly flew by. It felt like yesterday when she saw a blue Pegasus that looked like he had gone through quite some adventures for the first time. When she offered him help and a place to hide before the storm, she also asked what is he doing here. She remembers that Flame Thrower only said, 'I don't know,' and pointed on his blank flank to finish his sentence with, 'but I'm gonna figure it out.'
She wasn't sure what that meant back then. Over time they become good friends, and Flame Thrower decided to share his story and his goals. She felt so bad for him. Being a young stallion and still didn't get a cutie mark, was surely a depressing matter for her friend. At the same time, she thought if it's really possible a for pony to doesn't have a cutie ma–
"Sally...? Sally? SALLY!" she jumped back in a sudden shout that throws her out of her thoughts.
She shook her head to focus on what her friend was saying, "Wha– What?"
"You seem like you zoomed out for a second, is everything okay?" Flame Thrower asked in suspicion upon what conquered mind of rather always focused mare.
"Yeah, I was just–" Sally Saddle took one of her hoof and scratched back of her head "–thinking about something, I guess."
She quickly waved her hoof dismissively, "Nothing Important."
"Okay...?" Flame's suspicion alert was now at its highest level, but even though he didn't want to push the matter, so soon he decided to move on.
"Anyway, I started thinking about going bac– wait, what's that smell?"
Suddenly Flame's smell sense picked up a rather strong smell, which wasn't pleasant for sure. As much as Flame Thrower didn't want to, he sniffed more of that weird smell to know from where it's coming.
The blue pegasus got up on his hooves and driven by the smell, he walked towards the main road from Sally's house. Cream Earth pony decided to follow her friend, and soon she picked up some ideas about the smell source.
"It smells like a burning oak and..."
"Wheat?" as soon as he added they reached the front yard. When they looked from behind the bushes to get a better look at the village, they saw a view that froze the blood in their veins.
Upon their own eyes, they saw that nearby forest caught on fire and it started rapidly spreading through the wheat fields towards the village. Their eyes widen as they heard screams and panic. Some of the ponies tried to stop the raging flames; others tried to protect their families and run as far from the fire as it's possible. Before they knew, forest that was surrounding the village got completely lost in flames. Some Pegasi decided to use their magic to push the clouds with water over the fire. Unfortunately, that didn't help as well. Fire was too strong and was spreading too quickly.
Flame Thrower decided to look around if there was any way to escape the village before the fire reaches the first houses. To much of his fear, he found that the whole village was right in the middle of the burning forest.
"Who builds a village in the middle of the forest?!" Flame screamed at the stupidity of the pony who decided to build this village.
And soon he started to scream at himself, "Why I didn't even notice that?!"
Meanwhile, his friend froze for a few seconds with eyes locked on the flames coming out of the forest. She threw herself at his friend and grasped his head with her hooves to her level, "Flame, you have to do something!"
"Me? Wha– What can I possibly do? My weather controlling ability is useless. You saw those pegasi who tried to send the water from the clouds and it didn't work!" Smoke from the forest and nearby fields reached the village. The gray smoke thickened the air. Breathing with every breath become more and more difficult.
"I don't *cough* know! But, Flame, for crying out loud, your name is literally Flame Thrower! *cough* You always looked for the chance to gain your cutie mark, now it's one of them!" Flame Thrower quickly think over every single word from his friend until he realized.
Some magical spark appeared in his eye for a second, and his mind finally pieced that all his adventures and every single decision that he made guided him to this exact moment.
"Please say, you know what to do! Please, I don't want to leave my home and all of this ponies on their own!" Some tears leaked from her eyes.
" *sniff* Please..." she looked directly into his eyes in any sight of hope.
Instead of telling her, Flame Thrower gently took her hooves away from his face. He spread his wings and with look that says that he knows what to do burst into the air.
She decided to wipe her tears and look around. First wave of flames entered the village from the back, catching two houses on fire. Sally Saddle noticed some ponies that were trying to organize themselves somehow in a safe enough place away from the buildings, but other ponies were still running around in panic. Ponies from the organized group tried to do something, but others didn't want to listen because of how scared they were. One of the runners was now directly running at her, on which Sally stepped back and straighten her forelimb on which the running stallion crashed and fell to the ground.
"W-what? What are you doing?! There's fire a-and–" she grasped stallion by his coat before he could mumble another sentence. "What are you doing?! *cough* Running around in panic will only make the whole situation even worse!"
Sally Saddle let go of stallion and pointed on the group of ponies behind him. "There's some group of organized *cough* ponies" – stallion looked behind and, after he noticed the group, looked back on the cream mare – "go there and hide!" He nodded, and without wasting any time, galloped towards the group.
Sally Saddle knew that there's many more panicking ponies, so she decided to try her best and somehow convinced them to join the organized ponies.
Meanwhile, Flame Thrower was above the smoke that wrapped the whole village. He tried everything, from making simple clouds with rain to trying to summon a storm, but nothing worked – hay, he knew that clouds wouldn't make a difference because other pegasi tried. Speaking of, where are they?
Flame looked around and saw that he's alone and pegasi were gone. They probably took their families, and what's the most important for them and simply decided to fly away. The fire-maned pegasus kicked the nearby cloud in frustration, making it disappear. He didn't know how much time left before fire will take over the whole village, but certainly not much.
"Come on, come on, COME ON! What possibly could save this village?" he closed his eyes and tried his best to think of every possible option. Every single theory about pegasus magic he learned at school. Everything...
He didn't know. He really tried his best, but– Hey, Flame! You remember this fire-tornado trick or whatever this thing is called?
He quickly opened his eyes and noticed that no one was around. His eyes widen once he realized that voice sound exactly like his sister. Flame Thrower decided to close his eyes once again and focus. Another shot of random memory appeared, but this time the blue pegasus didn't open his eyes.
Yeah, it's possible when you're doing laps around the small area with a certain speed.
But what's the difference between that, and normal tornado? the cyan filly asked.
Well, from what I know, fire-tornado can pull into its structure any element of nature. So, technically it's not only fire-tornado but water-tornado, earth-tornado and air-tornado as well, the blue pegasus explained.
She took the confused look on her face. Wait, you said into its structure, but when water is transported to Cloudsdale through a big tornado, it's inside the tornado, not making the tornado.
Because that's the difference. Fire-tornado is a part of pegasus magic, and it takes a lot longer to learn and be able to make even a small tornado. You have to master making a normal tornado with other pegasi, then you can try to make a fire-tornado or water-tornado by yourself. Even though, I think that every pegasus that masters the skill of making the tornado can make and control only one type of the tornado.
Flame suddenly opened his eyes as the memory ended.
"Fire..." he looked down. Smoke and flames still didn't want to give up on their occupation.
"Tornado," he looked up and flew higher in the sky to see how really big is the area.
The back of the forest disappeared long ago. Only the middle was still in flames. Somehow it took longer for the fire to spread through the village, so there is still a chance.
"I really hope this gonna work," he bursted towards the vilalge and begin to make laps at his finest speed. His mane's color that followed him was all that could've been seen.
Back to the ground, Sally Saddle and some other ponies finally succeeded in gathering the whole village in one place. But wherever they looked, they saw a fire.
"I-Is that's how it's going to end?" one of the ponies asked.
"No! My friend, Flame, will save us! Just don't panic and soon everything will be fine," Sally Saddle said, while she tried to calm everypony before panic takes over once again.
"*cough* You really believe in that?" asked a gray Earth pony mare with blue mane, eyes and pile of scrolls as a cutie mark.
"What?" Sally asked once again.
"Your friend, Flame, how ironically. Probably left you too like other Pegasi did!"
"No! *cough* He would never leave us in such situat–" Mare interrupted and got closer to Sally with very angry look on the face, "Face it! If that was true what you say he probably would be here with us, trying to help at least!"
"But he's trying–" mare interrupted Sally's explanation again with shouting, "No! I don't want to hear about it. Not, before–"
"Excuse me, miss. Rule Batch. *cough* But, I think that getting angry at each other is the last thing we should do right now." Upon hearing a new voice, mare angrily turned back to face the pony who said it. Once she turned, she saw a taller and athletic green unicorn with chess as a cutie mark.
"Chess Titan? Oh, great, now I'm stuck with you, too," she put one of her hooves between her eyes, closed them, and sat back on the ground.
As soon as she did that, whole crowd felt and saw that fire wildly reacted to the wind, which weirdly begin to accelerate. Everypony looked confused, and some of them even gasped upon seeing that smoke is rising. Even Rule Batch decided to open her eyes and look at the whole scenery with a confused and worried look on the face. Soon whole fire started to rise and they saw above them a gigantic size tornado that was pulling all smoke and fire into its structure.
"What the hay is that?" somepony from the crowd asked.
"That's" – Sally Saddle looked behind to the pony who asked the question – "Flame Thrower."
Meanwhile in the sky, Flame Thrower didn't care how much energy took the whole tornado from him. He gave his finest speed to control the tornado as long as it pulls all fire from the ground.
Suddenly at his eighth lap, he felt that his wings are slowly giving up due to the amount of the speed.
"Come on! I can do this!" Flame Thrower tried to motivate himself even more.
"I have to keep–" The powerful implosion of the tornado's structure is all they saw. The whole fire just disappeared and shock waves burst in every direction of the world.
Some of the ponies had to close their eyes, otherwise, the light coming from it would blind them. Soon, they slowly opened their eyes and decided to look around. Fire and smoke disappeared, the air was warmer than usual, but the worst is no more. Some houses burned to the ground, but quite some of them survived.
When they realized that danger is no more, all ponies burst into a laugh and started randomly hugging each other as they were old buddies. Some fillies and colts begin to jump around with smiles on their faces. Overall, everypony was happy that they survived.
Sally Saddle sighed in relief, but then she reminded herself who was in charge of now gone tornado. She become worried and decided to scan the nearby area in the sight of her friend. He had to be somewhere. When all ponies left their spot and began investigating the whole village, Sally Saddle decided to search for her friend. Once she passed by one of the burned houses, she noticed something buried into the ground. Soon she noticed that this object has a mane and–
"FLAME!!" Sally Saddle yelled and galloped as fast as she can to her buried face to the ground friend. She sat next to him and put one of her hooves to his head.
"Flame..." she said softly with tears in her eyes.
Sally Saddle assumed the worst and looked down in pure depression. She couldn't control herself anymore and tears begin to falling down her face. She cried at her friend's body. Sally still wanted to believe that anytime soon he would wake up and everything will be fine, but after a few seconds without any sign of him waking up, she decided to check his breathing and heartbeat. Worried that her friend might be in even worst condition she started yelling, "HELP! somepony ple–"
To her surprise, she heard first cough coming from her friend. She looked down, and after a second, another cough left her friend's mouth.
" *cough* Aw, my head," Flame scratched back of his head as he slowly turned on his back.
"Flame! Oh, I w-was so worried!" Sally Saddle quickly looked on Flame's face and then embraced him in hug, while sobbing in his shoulder.
"Wow, what did I missed?" he said with wide smile as he returned the hug and patted his friend on the back to calm her down.
After a minute they break the hug. Slowly Sally Saddle backed off, still looking with smile and tears on Flame's face.
"Well, let's better get up. It's not that comfy lying half into the ground," he smirked on which Sally chuckled.
She got up on her hooves and offered her hoof to Flame Thrower, which he took and slowly rised from the ground.
"You really did it, Flame! You saved us, I knew I could count on you!" she couldn't stop smiling.
"Honestly, I can't believe that worked, and before you ask, I have no freakin' idea what I did or how I even survive that without a scrat–" as soon as he said that, he felt a painful stab in his back. "Ouch."
She looked with worried look at her friend and decided to ask, but Flame Thrower replied before she had a chance, "I-I'm fine."
Ignoring his words, Sally decided to inspect her friend in case of any visible injury, but what she saw was quite unexpected.
"Great Celestia!" Sally Saddle shouted.
Flame visibly rolled his eyes, "It's not that painful."
"No, look at your flank!" Flame was confused, but did as she said.
When he turned to look back on his flank, his eyes saw red bolt with fire on top of it divided in three colors - red, orange and yellow; same as his mane.
His eyes widen as he shouted, "No way, I got a cutie mark!"
Flame Thrower took his friend into the embrace, quickly forgetting about the pain in his back.
Back to the present.
"You gotta be bucking kidding me," Thunderlane was listening all the time to Flame's story, and even though he had Flame's cutie mark as evidence, he couldn't believe what he heard.
"You saved a village and many ponies by making a freakin' gigantic fire-tornado?!" the gray Pegasus shouted, while throwing his hooves in the air.
"Yeah, I also dissolved smoke and extinguish the fire. Except for the burned houses, wheat fields, and forest, the village wasn't too damaged. I helped them recover for about a few weeks, and after that, everything got back to normal. Although we found the reason behind the whole fire. Somepony very smart decided to make a camp in nearby forest, and when they were leaving in the morning, they left behind still burning campfire, and you know the rest. Got them caught two weeks after, and believe me, ponies from the village made sure that they'd repay for everything," Flame Thrower turned to the left to get the sip of the water. Talking for that long made his mouth a literal desert.
Thunderlane looked down with wide eyes as he was trying to process the whole story.
"Wow," he said softly.
"I thought that your stories could sound cool, but... that was beyond my expectations," he looked up as Flame Thrower drunk whole water to the bottom, and with a sigh, placed it back in its place.
"Well, if that's really true," Thunderlane chuckled.
"What do you mean? It is true!" Flame Thrower tried to protest and say that he would never lie about the story that changed him as a person, but once he turned to face Thunderlane, his friend put his hoof in front of him to stop whatever he wanted to say.
"I know, I believe you. You said too much details, and I know that you're not a storyteller kind of pony to came up with good story offhoof," Flame Thrower rolled his eyes.
"But I'm very proud of you as your friend, Flame. You wanted so badly to prove anypony that you're more than a random pegasus whose purpose is to spend all of his life in weather factory. Now, look at you! You just told me a story about how you saved a village from being burned to the ground," Thunderlane patted his friend on the back.
Flame smiled upon hearing that his old friend is proud of him even after all of these years.
"And I bet there's probably more of these juice stories!" the dark gray Pegasus looked with eager look in his eyes.
"Yeah there is, but if you don't mind, let's leave it for another occassion. I think my throat needs some break," Flame explained.
Thunderlane sighed, but agreed that this story his friend told him will do fine until they meet next time. Once they meet again, Flame will have a chance to tell another story. He assumed that experience and adventures he went through in five years may be even better than Daring Do's new comics volume.
"Well, I shared my story, you asked questions. Now, it's my turn, don't you think?"
"Okay, ask right away!" Thunderlane relaxed in his seat in order to prepare himself for Flame's questions.
"So, what about you? What are you doing here, and what Chaser and Star were also doing here?" That were the questions that got Flame's mind attention. He didn't know what Thunderlane was doing here or even his other friends that apparently got interested in this place too.
The gray Pegasus quickly processed questions from his friend and then with prepared answers replied, "Oh, they were visiting me. And to answer your other question. I moved with my family here around six months ago."
"Why did you move here? You never mentioned that your family wanted to move from Cloudsdale," Flame Thrower said scratching back of his head after he tried to thinking a good reason for Thunderlane's family to move to a new town.
"Yeah, because my family decided one year ago that we have to move. My mother got a well-paid job in the town hall, so instead of taking trips or leaving our family for a couple of months, we decided to move here," the gray Pegasus explained.
"I guess I could understand that," Flame Thrower said, but soon after moment of thinking he realized another thing. "Why your mother wanted to get a job so far from her home?" It seems very silly for Flame Thrower to get a job in another town and then make trips back and forth that take two and a half hours to get to the place where she works.
"It was that, or another three years of working as a color correction engineer in weather factory. You know my mother, she always wanted to help other ponies, and by working in the factory, she barely had time to interact with friends or relax. My father got a job as a local journalist, so that how everything turned out," Flame Thrower nodded after Thunderlane's explanation.
Then the fire-maned Pegasus reminded himself that there was another member of his friend's family. "And what about your brother? Was he happy about it?"
"Uh" – he sighed and looked into the floor – "yeah, Rumble. He wasn't too happy hearing that we have to move to another town. You know, friends and all that kind of stuff," Flame nodded once again at Thunderlane's gloomy answer. It looked like his brother really enjoyed living in Cloudsdale. That had to be quite a big change for a young colt, to move to a new place, leave his old friends behind and start a new chapter of his life.
The gray pegasus shaked his head and then slowly looked up on the wall before him, "But somehow, we managed to change his mind, and now he's quite happy. He got some new friends, and, I guess, he's still in touch with his other friends from Cloudsdale."
Flame Thrower smiled upon hearing that in the end it went pretty well with Rumble's adaption to new environment, "Good to hear that! It's been so many years since I saw that little colt. I guess, he's not such since a long ago, huh?"
Thunderlane chuckled. "Yeah, if you could see him right now. He's like I'm gonna–" His eyes widen as accidentally the gray Pegasus looked on the clock hanging above the entrance to the bar.
"Oh, no!" Thunderlane said with a worried tone once the clock reminded him about his task and his purpose for coming to the bar.
"What's the matter?" asked Flame Thrower with confusion. His friend looked like he saw a ghost, so Flame Thrower decided to look back just to be prepared for whatever that was that took Thunderlane's attention.
Thunderlane looked down on the blue pegasus, "I'm sorry, Flame, but I have to rush home in this moment, gather some papers and bring them to my mom. I promised her that once I help Stellar Hope, I will deliver her papers. My mom apparently will have a meeting about the town's funds in about" – he got up from his seat and moved past his friend to better see the hour on the clock – "12 minutes?!" he shouted upon realizing how little time he had to deliver papers from his house to his mother's work.
Meanwhile, whole bar crowd looked at the Thunderlane and his sudden shouting. He smiled back nervously, and quickly approached his friend. "Look, I really have to go. But if you visit this town in the near future, then let me know and we can hang out. I can even take Rumble along or ask Star and Chaser to join us."
Flame Thrower looked up on his friend that was now trying to leave as fast as he can, "Don't worry about it. Run to your house before your mother will punish you with another pile of paperwork", the fire-maned stallion smirked.
Thunderlane nodded and quickly run to the exit. Before he opened it, he turned back and said, "Until next time, Flame! Hope to see you soon! Oh.. and tell your parents and sister I send them best regards!"
The gray Pegasus waved on which Flame Thrower did the same in return.
"No problem, now go!" Flame pointed on the door and before he could even blink his friend was gone.
"No problem..." he said in a lower tone to particularly no one.
Flame Thrower turned back to the left and put his hooves on the bar counter and called, "Hey, bartender!"
Soon, white unicorn approached and asked, "Yes?"
"More water, please," the bartender nodded and took Flame's glass to fill it up with fresh water once again.
For some reason he keep repeating Thunderlane's words in his mind. Oh.. and tell your parents and sister I send them best regards.
"This gonna be a long day..." he sighed.
After almost two and a half hours of his flight, Flame Thrower noticed from a position of the sun that it has reached noon. The whole five hours and thirty minutes of being in the air with only one break will give its impact tomorrow for sure. He began to feel tired, but it didn't slow him any second. He wanted to reach his home as quickly as it's possible. Flame Thrower was far too long away from his home.
Only thirty minutes and– he interrupted his thoughts upon noticing a very familiar cloud structure. Flame Thrower considered that maybe it was a different cloud that happened to look like the cloud that welcomes every pony Pegasus that enters Cloudsdale with a big sign Welcome to Cloudsdale! He quickly dropped the idea. There was no point in stopping and checking if that was that particular cloud. Because, as the blue Pegasus assumed earlier, he still had thirty or so minutes to get to Cloudsdale.
Well, he thought so.
Leaving the very familiar looking cloud behind, he flew further until his eyes saw the city in clouds. He momently stopped and then begin to look around if that was Cloudsdale. He saw familiar looking buildings from clouds and Pegasi that were flying into and out of the city.
Flame Thrower couldn't believe it. Not only because he managed to be thirty minutes faster than he assumed, but because after all of these years, he's once again in his hometown. He grew a big smile on his face, alongside some single tears that he quickly wiped. There was no point in just staying in the same place any longer. The fire-maned stallion rapidly burst into direction of the city, leaving colors of his mane behind.
Once the blue Pegasus entered Cloudsdale, Flame Thrower noticed that he was currently flying through one of the many streets that leads to the inhabited part of the city where his lived. It didn't take too long to find the path that leads directly to his parents' house.
While he flew through the city, he saw many familiar buildings on the way, such as Cloudeseum or a weather factory. He still remembered, how after one year since he started going to school, his class had a school trip to said Cloudeseum. That's when he got in the chat with Cloudchaser, and thus he met Compass Star and Thunderlane. Flame Thrower smiled while he flew by the familiar buildings that brought old memories.
After two minutes of rapid flight, which almost made him burst into some group of friends and knocking dozens of ponies away on the way, Flame finally reached his parents' house front yard. He stopped for a moment when the number of childhood memories and feelings hit him at once. As soon as Flame Thrower looked at the house made from clouds, he sighed, shook the stress off, and flew to the door. He didn't want to hesitate any longer. It was the time he finally returned to his home, to his family. That made him get enough confidence to knock a couple of times on the door.
The blue Pegasus waited outside, thinking of all possible scenarios and reactions from his family side. He repeated in his mind all that he wanted to say, just in case.
It didn't take too long to finally hear that somepony is reaching to the door on the opposite side. Soon door opened, revealing a cyan Pegasus mare with reddish mane and magenta eyes that glanced at him from behind the door. Suddenly her eyes widen, and her face made an almost shocked look.
"F-Flame? Oh, great Celestia, that's really you!" Once, she realized who is standing before her, she embraced young stallion in tight hug.
"Hey, mom! It's really great to see you!" Flame hugged back his mother.
After a minute of heart warming hug they break the embrace.
"Believe me. Me too, son!" his mother smiled widely and happily upon seeing her son's appearance.
"Honestly, I wasn't expecting you at all. You could at least say something in the last letter," Flame chuckled and cleared his throat to prepare his voice for the announcement.
"I know, but I wanted this to be a big surprise, because..." he stretched last word long enough to throw his forelimbs into the air. "I'm staying in Cloudsdale for now!" After hearing that, his mother looked very surprised, but in a good way. She grew a smile on her face, because finally after five years her son is back home.
But even though the news was far more than just great for her, she had to ask something important.
"Does it mean, that you've found that thing you left for?" the fire-maned Pegasus nodded and slowly put his hooves on the ground.
"Yeah, I met many new ponies and traveled around the world, which allowed me to learn a lot about myself and what I'm capable of," Flame explained.
His mother smiled once again upon hearing that and then gestured into the house.
"That's so amazing to hear, son. But don't stand outside, come on in!" she stated with even happier smile on which Flame didn't hesistate and entered, closing the door behind.
"So, do you have any plans on what to do next?" his mother asked while they both got into the living room.
"Yeah, I've got some plans–" Flame Thrower looked around to see if anything changed. From what he saw, the furniture was the same as when he left. Although, the new color of walls and windows made the living room much brighter than he remembered. While Flame Thrower took his eyes from the furnishings and walls, he noticed two doors leading to his room and his sister's room. He sighed, all these memories within this house struck him once again. The cyan mare noticed Flame's sudden lost in his thoughts and wanted to ask if there's anything she can help with, but before she could even ask, Flame Thrower quickly finished his sentence. "–to get a job, buy a proper house, and then live every stallion's dream," he added jokingly the last part on which his mother chuckled.
"Oh, I certainly hope so, because I wish you what's the best, Flame. Let me get your father, and then you can share all those awesome memories and experiences from your travel with both of us," they exchanged smiles as Flame's mother went to the door at the end of the room that leads to the backyard.
She opened the door and shouted, "Bow! Flame came back, you've to greet him!"
The cyan mare noticed that her words didn't get to her husband as he continued to mow the area before him and kept his eyes focused on doing that. She decided to shout even louder. After she did so, there was no way her husband couldn't hear that. Flame Thrower even jumped a little bit when he heard his mother yelling.
"Windy, did you say somethin'?" the blue Pegasus with the same yellow eyes as Flame, but rainbow-colored mane and tail asked. He turned off the mower to hear better what his wife was saying.
"I said, Flame came back, you have to greet him!" As soon as his wife's words reached his ears, he froze for a second, and then looked directly at Windy Whistles.
"Flame came back?!" Bow Hothoof dropped the mower on the ground and galloped towards the door. He passed by his wife and burst into the living room. Upon noticing that his son indeed was there, he couldn't bring himself to contain his emotions.
"Hey, dad. It's great to see you–" before he had a chance to end his sentence, Flame Thrower got squeezed into the tighest hug his father ever got him.
"I can't believe it, you finally came back. It's so amazing to see you, son!" His father got suddenly very emotional and even let out some tears. It didn't surprise his son that much since he was very emotional too by his reunion with the family. But with every passing second the urge for air begin to surpassing any other priorities.
"Y-yeah, but I've got some s-stories too!" he squiked and hoped that this could save him.
His father let go of him before he run out of the air. "Oh, right! I bet you've some good ol' stories. I can't wait to hear them! Windy, would you prepare some tea for us?"
His wife nodded as Bow Hothoof asked. After closing door and turning back, she passed by his son and walked towards the kitchen.
"Right, good cup of tea is all what we need before we'll hear any of your stories!" she added on the way to the kitchen.
Meanwhile, his father sat on the couch and wiped the sweat off his forehead from previous work. Flame Thrower decided to do the same, so he sat on the couch on the opposite site to his father, and put his bag next to him while he waited for his mother to prepare the tea.
"So... how was your flight to Cloudsdale?" his father asked.
"Actually, had gone quite well. Not counting that at some moment I flew for four hours straight and had to take a break. But besides that, I've got to Cloudsdale faster than I expected. I'm much earlier."
"Good to hear that! I always knew that you and Rainbow Dash are going to be speed demons, but never expected anything like that!" Bow Hothoof knew that his children were always some kind of racers, but he always assumed that Rainbow Dash is more of athletic and speed-breaking Pegasus pony. Flame Thrower on the other hoof, was always into making tricks or flying theory. Perhaps, this trip really did change him.
But what made him come back? Bow remembers that years ago, Flame said something about proving himself and everypony that he's capable of doing incredible things. Maybe he found it, but does it means he's staying, or he has to prove something once again?
"So, you're staying in Cloudsdale or going on another trip?" Flame couldn't help but chuckle upon seeing that his father rolled his yellow eyes. Bow Hothoof always believed that the whole trip is unnecessary because he and his family knew that Flame Thrower is special and has many impressive skills. But back then, the fire-maned Pegasus believed otherwise and didn't listen to what others have to say. In the end, it turned out that his father, his whole family and friends were right from the very beginning.
"I'm staying in Cloudsdale for now. Gotta find a well paid job, then start thinking about the future. Well... at that point I should get rich enough to live in the mansion," Flame Thrower said half seriously, half jokingly.
"Haha, that's my boy! Always keep your head up!" Bow Hothoof said.
Not too long after that, his mother entered the living room. She put a silver tray with cups on a coffee table. Releasing the pressure that she had on her mouth, she took one of them in her hoof and sat next to her husband. Bow and Flame did the same and took their cups. After that they sat back in their places.
The whole family first had to drunk the tea giving into the lemon taste, before Flame's storytelling.
"Now you can share some awesome stories with us," Windy Whistles stated, while she put her cup of tea aside and gave her full attention to her son.
Bow Hothoof put one hoof behind his head for more comfort. While still slurping the lemon tea, he moved his eyes to look on his son and gave him a sign that he has his full attention too.
Flame Thrower smiled as he put his cup of tea on a coffee table.
"Well, before I'll tell you the stories. I think you should see something." Flame said and slowly got up from the coach. He moved a little bit away from his parents to give them a better look at him. Then, the blue Pegasus unfolded his wings and revealed his flame bolt cutie mark.
"Tada!" Flame happily announced as his parents gasped upon seeing his cutie mark.
"Is that?" Bow Hothoof asked he didn't get a chance to end his question as Flame interrupted.
"Yes. It's one and only, Flame Thrower's cutie mark!" the blue Pegasus said in such a tone like he was presenting a high-quality product at a popular exhibition.
Meanwhile, his parents couldn't deal with such amount of emotions. They closed their eyes and throw one of their hooves into air while holding with other hoof tight to each other.
"Our son got a cutie mark!" they shouted.
Flame Thrower, in the process, folded his wings and cringed back with lowered ears. He for sure didn't expect that reaction.
The blue Pegasus chuckled nervously and then looked at his parents, that after a few seconds, finally calmed. "Yeah, I've got a cutie mark some months ago. You probably want to know the story, right?"
"You bet!" they shouted in unison.
Flame Thrower rolled his eyes upon seeing their silly antics and slowly got back on his place on the couch.
Not too long after that, the blue Pegasus begin his storytelling...
Hours went by, while fire-maned stallion was now reaching the conclusion of his story how he got a cutie mark. He told them everything. How he saved the village and made fire-tornado, as well how his friend was in help on the ground, while he in the air tried to figure out how to get rid of fire and smoke.
"And after that, Sally told me to look at my flank, and that's how I saw it for the first time," he finished his story.
Flame looked up to see that his parents were in complete awe as their son told them a story that would be good enough to make a book out of it. They felt worried in some storytelling moments, when Flame, his friends, or anypony life was in danger. But after all, their son was safe and sound before them telling them a story of his most precious goal.
"Wow! I... don't know what to say. Son, that was... amazing!" his mother stated. She couldn't get herself to say any words to comprehend her proud and surprised emotions.
His father was holding both of his hooves on the opposite side of his head. With wide eyes and jaw dropped look he listened to whole story. He sighed and throw his hooves into the air, "My son is a true hero! Flame, I'm so proud of you. I think we'll have to celebrate it someday!"
"Yeah, that would be awesome! But, for now, do you want to hear another story or maybe–" before Flame could finish his sentence, he noticed that suddenly his mother look on the face changed like something conquered her mind and now was bothering her.
After a moment, Windy sighed and looked up to her son's face. "Would you tell us how it was at the very beginning? Because, after a week when you left I was very worried and started doubting the whole idea about this trip, but your father convinced me to trust you to go on your own because you're strong and maybe you really will find whatever you were looking for. But now, after five years, I'd really like to know how was your first trip."
"Sure. It wasn't easy to be on my own, but I tried my best," Flame Thrower nodded as he decided to get a quick slurp of lemon tea to clear his throat and prepare it for another hour-long storytelling.
After relieving his thirsty need, he put cup of tea back on the coffee table, "After I left, it was so difficult to find myself in the situation and know where to go. So, I tried figuring everything, step by step, even if it included some ups and downs..."
Five years ago.
Somewhere far from his home, a young Pegasus is struggling with a strong wind that blows from the north. Flying through such weather wasn't a good idea, and on top of that, he had zero idea where he is.
The flight was getting harder and harder with each passing second. Flame Thrower could barely keep up to not be blown away by the wind. Then, a much stronger wave of thin air hit him from the left side; sending fire-maned Pegasus into the vortex that leads him in rotation towards the ground.
He screamed, "AHHH!" as he was getting closer and closer to the ground while spinning nauseously.
At the same time, on the ground. Brown Earth pony stallion tried his best to harvest fully grown-up corn. He tried with all his might to pick up the plant, but the corn just wouldn't give up. He took a stalk of the corn in his mouth and began slowly moving backward. Once, he was sure that distance is good enough to harvest a plant, the brown Earth pony sharply pulled corn.
The result was way different than he expected. The stalk of the corn slipped from his mouth and once released from the pressure; fired in the opposite direction and throw its corn content far beyond the horizon.
The brown Earth pony made with his blue eyes look that said, 'Buck' He sighed and looked at his basket where all corns from his harvest were present. It was not his best harvest, around half of the basket filled with corn, but at least it could provide enough food for his family.
Before he knew, he sat on the ground and took one of his hooves to wipe the sweat coming from his forehead. Suddenly he felt wind acceleration as his burgundy mane and mustache, blown by the wind took the messier look. He looked up at the weather and shrugged while taking one corn from the basket.
As soon as he did so, he thought that he heard somepony's voice. The brown Earth pony quickly scanned the nearby area and saw no one, so he assumed that's probably was a wind blowing in the cornfield.
The crimson-maned stallion heard the same voice again but now was more hearable. As soon as he realized that voice was actually somepony, a colored streak passed by him screaming, "AHH! Watch out!" then it bumped into the tree. All he could see was some leaves falling to the ground upon collision with an undefined flying object. He laid the corn back into the basket and decided to investigate the whole situation with an eventual offer of his help.
Once he reached the tree that somepony's bumped into, brown earth-pony noticed a blue coat colt with yellow eyes and divided into three colors mane, hanging upside down with exhausting of screaming and nauseous face.
"Ugh..." is all the blue colt could say.
"Hey, are you alright, young one?" asked brown Earth pony. That was definitely a view that was not common in the countryside.
The fire-maned colt shook his head.
"Yeah," the fire-maned colt shook his head, and proceed to stretch his wings to fly away from the branch that he was currently hanging on. As soon as he did that, the blue colt felt pain in his right wing, and before he knew, he begin falling towards the ground.
"Gotcha!" said stallion with two corns as a cutie mark.
"You have to be more careful," he stated as he slowly put the blue colt on the ground.
"And what are you doing here? Not many ponies, and especially pegasi, visit our farm."
"I was just flying by, then some wild wind caught me and send me straight to the ground!" the blue colt stated in anger.
Stallion decided to calm him a little bit and put one of his hooves on colt's shoulder, "Don't worry, young one. You did nothing wrong. Besides, maybe we can contact your family–"
"NO!" young pony yelled.
After a second fire-maned colt realized how rude his answer sound, so he shook his head once again and said, this time, more softly, "I can't talk with them. I'm on my own."
Stallion gave him an understanding look and took the hoof from young pegasus' shoulder. "So, maybe you wanna join me and my family at the dinner? Your wings for sure need some break, also you can't fly in such weather."
"Uh, thanks, but you're kinda a stranger and I'm not sure if I should trust you..." he declined his offer.
Earth pony chuckled upon seeing that fire-maned Pegasus' parents well taught their son, "You should at least take a break for some minutes to wait through this weather, and for your wing to heal up quickly."
The blue young pegasus scratched back of his head, "I'm not sure..."
"It's alright. Look, my name's Corn Volume and yours?"
"The name's Flame Thrower!" the blue colt without hesitation and any doubts puffed his chest and straighten his forelimb towards the stallion, "Best Pegasus pony you could have a chance to meet!"
Corn Volume looked confused, but decided to shake his forelimb, "Right... Anyway, now we know each other. Do you want to join us?"
"Well, I..." Flame Thrower still wasn't sure.
Corn Volume chuckled again once he realized what's might be the reason, "Don't worry I don't want to foalnapped you or anything. Besides, I've got my own foals, I don't need more."
Upon hearing that, he quickly protested, "Hey! I'm not a foal, I'm a young stallion!"
"Alright, whatever you say. Are you coming or not?" Corn Volume rolled his eyes.
"Okay, but just to catch some z's and then I'm heading out!"
"Fine with me. But, don't expect me to help your parents to find you, when they will be looking for you," the blue colt smirked and shrugged.
Corn Volume decided to pick up the basket of his harvesting and with Flame alongside him, he walked back home.
It didn't take them too long to reach the dark wood house standing in the middle of cornfields. Fire-maned pegasus looked around once more to get more familiar with the place before accidentally bumping into Corn Volume.
Corn Volume turned back to notice that Flame sat back on the ground while he used one of his hooves to massage the place that met with Corn Volume's hind limb. The brown Earth pony rolled his eyes, and then with a push of one of his hooves, he opened the door.
"Come on in, Flame," Corn Volume said, while he hold the door for the blue colt to go through.
Flame Thrower shook his head and slowly got on his hooves. He passed by Corn Volume, entered the house, and once he was inside, Flame saw that three ponies at the table were staring at him with a confused look.
One of them being an orange Earth pony with green mane and eyes with a wagon full of corns as a cutie mark that asked, "Honey, who's that?" with a still confused look on the face.
On the opposite side of the table were two fillies that looked identical – brown coat, blue eyes, and orange mane. Like Flame, they didn't have their cutie mark yet, and like her mother stared at the young Pegasus. Neither of them said anything until Corn Volume stepped inside, closing the door behind.
"His name is Flame Thrower. I found him hanging on the tree, when he bumped into it, because of the wind that sent him off his course," Corn Volume explained.
Orange mare's face suddenly changed from confused to almost worried. "Oh my, are you alright?"
Flame Thrower nodded. "Yeah, I just need to rest for a while to heal my wing. Mr. Corn Volume said that I can stay here till the weather gets better."
Corn Volume passed by Flame Thrower and his family, and soon was gone in the kitchen. He was probably preparing some of his harvests to either be turned into food or sold.
"Oh, well. Make yourself at home! You can stay here as long as you want, but may I know where you were going?"
"Thank you, Mrs...?" As soon as he said thanks, the blue colt realized that he hadn't gotten the name of an orange mare.
She smiled, and upon hearing that Flame didn't know her name, quickly decided to fix it by politely adding a missing piece in his sentence. "Maize Favor."
"Thank you, Mrs. Maize Favor! I was heading to Canterlot since I always wanted to visit that place, but because of this wild wind that sent me to the ground, I might be a little bit later than I've planned," Flame Thrower shared his plans that contained visiting Canterlot as his first place on his adventure into the unknown.
"Okay, then I hope, once the weather gets better, that you will safely reach Canterlot. Meanwhile, may I as well introduce you to Flower Corn" – she pointed on the filly on her left side – "and Cherry Corn," then on the filly on her right side.
When Maize Favor pointed on each filly, Flame Thrower tried his best to memorize names and details that would help him recognize them.
"Uh, nice to meet you" – Flame quickly approached the first filly and shaken hooves with her – "and you!", then the second filly and did the same. After greeting the corn twins, he stepped back to give them their personal space.
"You too, Flame!" twins said in unison with closed eyes and a happy smile on their faces.
Wow, they even answer in unison, he thought.
As soon as he end his sentence in his mind, Corn Volume got back from the kitchen with the bowl of freshly cooked corns. He put it on the table and sat next to his wife.
Brown Earth pony looked down to Flame Thrower and asked, "So, do you want to join our dinner?"
"Let's say I got enough of food before I took off from Cloudsdale, so I'd rather take some rest and hope my wing is gonna feel better once I get up," the fire looking mane colt explained. He made sure to eat some good amount of food before taking off Cloudsdale. His mother insisted on taking a bag along with him, but Flame Thrower assured her that as soon as he reaches Canterlot, he will visit his uncle.
"Anyway, thanks for asking," Flame Thrower added after the second to repay for Corn Volume's words of concern.
"You can lay yourself down on the couch for now, if that's okay with you," Maize Favor said as she pointed on the nearby couch.
Flame Thrower smiled and begin to walk towards the couch.
"I have no problem with that at all!" the blue colt added as he reached the couch.
The fire-maned colt jumped on the couch, and after making himself comfortable, he looked on the big window before him.
"One day, I'll come back..."
Back to the present.
"I can't believe you ended up in the countryside, because of the weather!" Windy Whistles stated with a not very happy look on her face. Once she remembered that she actually warned her son about the weather, she got only angrier. "I remember that I told you that you should wait a day or two because Weather Control Pegasi announced that there might be a good dose of a strong wind that will help clouds go faster for an upcoming event, but you didn't listen!"
His mother even stumbled her hoof into the couch giving away the message that says, "You should listen to me, kiddo!"
Upon seeing one of his wife's outbursts, Bow Hothoof put one of his hooves on the center of his face, closed his eyes, and sighed, "There she goes again."
Flame decided to calm the heating atmosphere between him and his mother and calmly said, "I agree that it was stupid of me to make a trip when such weather was about to come. But back then, I was really one piece of a stubborn pony," his parents chuckled and rolled their eyes upon hearing how he described old himself.
"Tell me about it," Bow Hothoof said.
Flame sighed and decided to look down in shame, "Yeah, so again, I really changed since then."
He slowly looked up to look at his parents. "And I see my mistakes. But I think that even though I had many crashes into the ground through the whole trip, it always leads to something great like learning how to gain more confidence or how to become a better version of myself."
Windy decided to rethink everything that Flame told them so far, and soon she came up with the conclusion.
"Well, you said that every time you crashed somepony helped you and also taught you something new. I guess, except for crashes, fights, and trying to survive, you tried your best to stay careful as much as you could. And you came back, as you promised me," she ended her sentence with a smile on which Flame sighed in relief.
His father's face, on the other hoof, looked not very sure and perhaps even guilty. Before the blue pegasus could ask what's wrong, Bow said, "I have to admit, even if I was the one who was saying that you'll do fine and everything, I still had some doubts about letting you. You were at such young age, and it was probably very stupid of us to–" fire-maned stallion knew where his father was going with this sentence, so he wasted no more time to explain his point of view, to try change his father's mind. "No, you did the right thing. Because of your decision, I became who I am today, and I'm very proud of that. I wasn't some tiny colt who needed to be babysitted 24/7. Also, I finished the school before I got on the trip, so nothing of basic education avoided me. Besides, you had Rainbow Dash to take care of."
"You might be right, but still..." his parents sighed upon realizing that their son brings a good point. "We really missed you, son!" As soon as they said it, Flame's parents looked up with teary eyes upon which the view broke Flame's heart. The blue pegasus decided to unfold his wing and fly right between his parents to embrace them in the family hug.
"And I missed you, guys!" he said, hugging them tighter as they returned the hug.
After a minute of big family hug, they slowly break the embrace. As Flame Thrower was going back to his place on the couch, his parents wiped the forming tears on their eyes. Flame Thrower noticed that this moment, was probably the peak of their sad emotions upon seeing their son once again, so he decided to make the atmosphere better.
"Gladly, Rainbow's not around. Otherwise, I'd be doomed with 'Aw, my brother likes hugs' for the whole week," Flame rolled his eyes once he remembered all times when his younger sister could gain an advantage over her brother with silly comments.
The whole family burst laughing, even Flame Thrower joined them. It worked.
But he noticed that something is off. Flame talked with his parents for a good amount of time, and while he enjoyed sharing his stories, he never got a chance to see his younger sister.
Flame Thrower decided to ask his parents about that. "Speaking of... Where is Rainbow Dash?"
His parents came to their senses as Flame asked the question.
"She's living two streets away. You probably want to meet with your sister right?" Bow Hothoof raised an eyebrow with a smile on his face.
"Of cours– I mean, yeah," the blue pegasus corrected himself at the last moment before he could even get a chance to fall into his father's trap that was supposed to reveal his real feelings towards his sister. But he and Rainbow Dash always thought that family love is too cringey for them, so they decided to keep it low-key, and Flame wanted to keep it like that.
Upon seeing Flame's reaction, his parents slightly chuckled.
Fire mane looking stallion rolled his eyes, "But, when did she moved away?"
"She moved last year. We were supporting her as much as we can, and tried our best to make her new home to feel like her old one. Also, I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but," Windy Whistles realized something and decided to announce that, so she grabbed her husband and pulled him closer to herself. "Our foals are the most amazing ponies in whole Equestria!" the cyan mare screamed while closing her eyes and throwing her free hoof into the air.
Windy Whistles removed her hoof from her husband's neck and flew from her place on the couch to her son and pointed at him with her hoof. "First you! You went on your own into the unknown without any practice in terms of survival or even someone who could look after you. And years after, you came back with amazing stories, experience, and cutie mark! You discovered your special talent and helped many ponies on the way there" she flew back to her place on the couch, still keeping the overwhelming joy and proudness on her face.
"And then Rainbow Dash, and her amazing skills and talent. Not to mention that she made Sonic-Rainboom when she was just a filly and wants to become a future Wonderbolt. A Wonderbolt!" his mother's excitement was very hearable. It wasn't a secret that Windy Whistles herself was also a big fan of The Wonderbolts. She on the other hoof never tried to join their academy.
"Every mother would be proud of such wonderful ponies, and I'm sure I'm beyond being proud of what you and your sister reached so far. And I belie– no, I know that you'll reach something great one day," Windy Whistles said, and after her Bow added, "We both know."
He sighed and tried his best not to cry again. "Thank you, mom, dad. I'm very happy to hear that you're proud of me!"
After calming himself, Flame Thrower sighed and said, "Also, I couldn't believe when you wrote in the letter years ago that she made something like that! Honestly, I felt bad that even my younger sister did something, and I was still at the bottom of figuring what my special talent is. But even though I'm very proud of her."
He looked up to look at the ceiling. "My sister being a Wonderbolt one day, wow," he said, mainly due to check how cool it sounds, and apparently it did sound that way.
"We also still can't quite believe that she tries her best to join the Wonderbolts Academy. When we saw her on her practice, well might say our support for your sister was visible for everypony in the stadium. Also, do you remember how she was addicted to Wonderbolts when she was a filly? And how her coach was helping her to get the best view on her favorite team whenever they showed up?" Bow Hothoof asked.
"Yeah, I guess his name was Rainbow Blaze? I'm not sure, but I remember he dyed his mane to look similar to Rainbow's to show how much of a team they are. At one point, she even asked me to dye my mane, but I said that I will dye my mane once she wins a race... and guess what happened one week after that," he sighed and looked at the wall on his left.
His parents gasped upon realizing the real reason why his mane was once a rainbow color.
"So that's why you dyed your mane to look like Rainbow's back then. I swear, not including the size, you and Rainbow Blaze looked exactly the same!" his father said.
"Yeah, good that my original color got back after some washing, otherwise ponies still would ask me about coaching others or how did I train Rainbow Dash to be that good," Flame Thrower rolled his eyes and crossed his forelimbs when he reminded himself how many times he had to deal with such ponies on the way to school.
He looked back on his parents and put his forelimbs back on the couch. "Anyway, I remember she used to watch The Wonderbolts when they were showing on some occasions. Also, I remember that her room was full of posters of The Wonderbolts. She once even told me that one day she will be the best Wonderbolt out there, and honestly, I didn't doubt it for a second..." Bow and Windy raised eyebrows at the same time and then looked at each other.
"I mean, maybe she will be good enough," he tried to correct himself, but it was too late.
Darn emotions, can't you be quiet for a minute? he thought.
After that, his parents only chuckled. They saw not once how they care for each other, but they always were trying to hide it.
"Alright, so I think you should visit your sister," Windy Whistles said as she got up and started to walk towards the shelf where she got a piece of paper, and then by using feather with ink, she wrote her daughters' address. Soon after that, she turned back and gave the piece of paper to her son.
"This is her address. If you knock and no one will answer, don't worry. She barely stays home, besides sleeping and reading some comics. If something like that happens, then visit Ponyville and ask one of the ponies or her friends they will know for sure where Rainbow Dash is."
He took the paper and put it into his bag, that was sitting next to him on the couch. After that, he put the bag on his back, got up, and once again hugged his mother.
"Thanks, mom. I think it's a good idea to look for her now," Flame Thrower said with a smile as he broke the hug.
"Okay, but you will be right back, yes?" Windy Whistles asked as she was looking at her son, that was heading towards the out of the living room.
"Actually, I know that I was gone for five years more or less, but I want to try to live on my own. Don't worry, I will stay in Cloudsdale for now, so we will be in touch. I want to find a job and then buy a house, get married and all that stuff. But to do so, I need to try living on my own. For now, I don't want to throw myself on you after all those years. And before you say anything, please. I don't want to make you worry about me anymore. I will ask Rainbow if I can stay at her place, then I'll try to find a job," the blue pegasus explained with the hope that his parents will accept and respect that.
Bow Hothoof decided to approach his son. "Alright, do as you want and remember that we will support you no matter what, Flamey," Flame Thrower chuckled as they did a brohoof.
The fire-maned stallion smiled at his parents, turned back and begin to walk towards the door. He stopped before opening the door and turned his head back to his parents, "It was so great to see you. I promise I'll visit you more often!"
"Don't worry, son. You can visit us whenever you want. Remember to tell Rainbow about these stories, too!" Windy Whistles said, while Flame opened the door and stepped outside.
"I will, for sure! Love you, see you soon!" he waved his hoof back to his parents.
"Bye, son! Love you too!" Flame's parents replied in unison. After that, he slowly closed the door.
Wow, didn't go as bad as I thought, Flame said in his mind.
He sighed in relief and opened his bag to take the piece of paper.
Wavey Wings Street 11/5, as soon as he read the address, Flame put the piece of paper back into his bag and lifted in the air. After doing so, he begins to fly in what he assumed good direction, as always, the color of his mane followed him wherever he flew.