My alarm clock starts buzzing, it only makes me wish I lived closer to Sweet Apple Acres where I can wake up to the rooster’s crow. I let out a long exasperated yawn as I stood from my bed and looked around my quiet house and next to my bedside. I groan, noticing how vacant it is, just reminds me how alone-…I think back to yesterday’s conversation with Lyra.
“Are you happy? Heavy Rain, I never asked you this out of respect for, you know, your privacy and all but, are you happy?”
I spent a long time sitting on my bed pondering those very same words until I realized I lost track of time and I was now fifteen minutes behind my morning routine! Those aren’t the words I wanted to remember right now. It sent my mind into a haze. I wasn’t thinking straight anymore, my mind suddenly started getting all...all foggy. After my shower, I had little time to prepare breakfast; Toast smothered in melted butter, jam, and a banana will have to do for today. I can grab a cup of coffee at the office before Fluffy Clouds sets up for a daily briefing that just leaves getting to work.
I look in both directions and the sun is just rising. “As usual, it’s a bit brisk today and refreshing but-”, I frown and can’t help but whine, “I won’t be able to enjoy my morning walk, I’m twenty minutes set back...aaaw I’ll have to fly.” I groaned, “punctuality over tardiness, Heavy Rain.’
I take a minute to stretch my wings beforehand, it’s important not to strain my muscles before exertion; I learned that in flight school when I was just a filly. I narrow my eyes and take flight, I bolt into the atmosphere in a flash, arc my wings into position and take off. Normally, I would have loved to take a morning stroll to work as I usually do but right now I’m at risk of being late and I’m never ever late to work. So I accelerate to the point that I became a blur to the naked eye. At the speed I’m going I’ll get there lickety-split; I curve at a corner nearly flying into one of my friends, she braced for impact before I gyrated my hips causing me to corkscrew nearly brushing her mane. To my dismay, that didn’t stop me from faceplanting back onto the ground so fast that I scorpion, my forelegs somehow managing to hit the back of my head. I kicked up some soil and got a mouth full of mud pie, not the kind of pie I’m into.
“Oh my! Heavy Rain are you okay sweetie?” The cream-colored mare with moderate cobalt blue and very light fuchsia striped mane with arctic blue eyes rushed by my side to pick me up.
“I’m fine Bon Bon a bit hurting now and my mouth tastes like earth but nothing to worry about, are you okay? I almost crashed into you. I'm so so sorry.” I say bowing my head, “In my haste, I was being too reckless to watch where I was going. IWasThinkingThenIRushGoingToBeLate-” I babbled.
“Oh don’t you start fretting now, nopony is worse for wear but golly Heavy Rain, I didn’t know you could fly so fast! How long have you been train-”
“OhMyLookAtTheTimeGottaGo! Sorry, Bon Bon, I’ll talk to you later!” In a jiffy, I’m off the ground and make my way towards my job posthaste. If we’re both okay there’s no reason to linger any longer but this time I make sure to keep a keen eye out for pedestrians. Thinking back, I didn’t mean to be rude to Bon Bon by abruptly ending our potential yet fleeting conversation but I need to maintain punctuality and need coffee; coffee is good too. I didn’t really catch what she was going to say, I’ll ask her later if I get the chance.
About a few minutes later I managed to arrive at work with a full hour and a half to spare. Guess there was no point in me worrying all that much about being late, I was totally Twilighting this entire morning that I couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed, my cheeks turning a shade of pink. I haven’t flown that fast in a very long time, not since flight school so I’m definitely going to feel that tomorrow. At the same time, Clear Skies, Open Skies, and Sunshower came in. Which gave me a comforting feeling, to say the least. I don’t normally show up to work with my friends; I’m usually the first or second to arrive and Clear Skies is usually late so this was one of those rare occasions.
“For once the early bird and the late bird are walking side by side with us to work isn’t that a rare sight to see huh, Open Skies?” Sunshower asked.
“Yeah now that you mention it, it is!” Open Skies agreed.
“So Clear Skies are pigs flying yet? Cause I never imagined I would see you, walking side by side with me for once.” Sunshower taunted.
“Yeah yeah. I got up early for once okay...not all my mornings are crazy adventures...I just had, well, an adventure before bed which made me really really tired is all.” Clear Skies looked sheepishly.
“And you Heavy Rain?” Sunshower asked.
“Huh?”
“What about you? What made you later than useful, I expected to see you in the locker room by the time I arrived at PWCP HQ.” Open Skies said.
“Well you see-” I don’t really want to mention the conversation I had with Lyra or that I was thinking of changing my lifestyle. I don’t want them to worry about me, or really, I don’t want them sticking their muzzles in my business like she did; I can’t deal with those sort of questions right now. “-well you see um...uh...MY ALARM CLOCK!”
“Your...alarm clock?” Clear Skies looked into my eyes with skepticism.
“Y-yeah my alarm clock, it was set at the wrong time hahah. I accidentally set it to five-thirty PM instead of AM. Thank goodness I woke up on my own accord since I’m so accustomed to waking up at a certain time don’tcha think? Hahah...hah!” I laughed, a droplet of sweat rolling down my cheek a sense of unease was written all over my face.
“Come on Heavy Rain we’re all ponies here, no need to keep secrets from us.” Sunshower asserted, nothing escapes her notice. The words that echo in my mind are inescapable. “Are you happy?” Am I happy? The voice of Open Skies snaps me back to reality.
“Honestly I feel you Heavy Rain” Open Skies agreed, “what’s the point of alarm clocks if they don’t wake you up properly; Or when you wake up before the darn thing goes off. What a waste of Bits and those manuals stink!” Open Skies huffed.
“Have you taken the time to read the manual?” Sunshower asked leering at Open Skies.
“W-well It’s just t-that I’m so busy-”
“I’ll take that as a no then.” She interrupted Open Skies before he could even give his excuse. Completely defeated by the statement he bows his head in shame. Which I admit, it got a chuckle out of us all. Taking my mind off of the conversation I had with Lyra only temporarily.
That’s right, this is my life, I AM happy being a WCP and talking with the others of the group. What could possibly be better than this?
A few minutes later we all made it to our lockers and put on our orange work jackets over our uniforms.
“So Heavy Rain, how was work yesterday?” Open Skies asked while the others listened to the conversation.
Thinking back further yesterday about all those angry ponies. It doesn’t make me feel good. “I don’t want to talk about it…” Open Skies, Clear Skies, and Sunshower looked at me with worry.
“Oh Heavy-” Sunshower said, approaching me before I stopped her. “I’m fine, I promise, I’m just doing my job is all there is to it,” I smile weakly. They all decided to drop it then made their way to the briefing room. I on the other hoof still needed coffee so I headed towards the employee lounge to get a good taste of euphoria. After all, this morning sucks!
I set up the coffee maker and bring out the ingredients needed to make my favorite Brûlée Caramel Coffee: Coffee. milk, caramel sauce and a touch of brown sugar come together to make a sweet caramel coffee drink. I couldn’t find the whipped cream, bummer, I’ll just have to make do.
The sound of hoofsteps from the main hall starts to approach the employee lounge, more than a few ponies I think. I started to hear a loud and raspy laugh. A deep sigh of annoyance escapes my lips; this, like many, is also something I didn’t want to deal with today. Sweet Celestia give me a break! Suspecting that Rainbow Dash is volunteering today. Confirming my suspicion she enters the lounge laughing hysterically. Accompanied by two other pegasus mares, Cloud Chaser and her friend Flitter or maybe they’re sisters? I never really asked, afraid to; but there goes the silence I enjoy but at this point my ears go full-on eavesdropping mode. A bad habit that developed when pony watching, I can’t help it.
“And then Spitfire did three backflips in the air without losing any momentum and punched through the cloud like an arrow, it was totally awesome!” Rainbow Dash went on.
“I liked how Soarin came back on with a blueberry pie in hoof and was dumbfounded that his group was nowhere to be found and his queue was called!” Flitter chuckled.
“He took the pie with him during his live performance, HA! Improvisation at it’s finest, he’s so awesome!” Rainbow Dash yelled.
Wonderbolts this, Wonderbolts that. Wonderbolts is all she ever talks about. Some flying stunt group of pegasus who fly, wow. This is going to be a long day. I thought to myself while rolling my eyes; taking a sip from my cup of coffee. “Oof, needs more sugar,” I mumbled as I put one cube of sugar in then I tuned in once more to their conversation.
“By the way didn’t you get to spend the day with them one time in the past before you became a Wonderbolt? Must have been amazing.” Cloud Chaser said.
“It totally was! And, at that time, they have seen only some of my moves, heck I was practically one of the Wonderbolts by then, it was only a matter of time before I became a Wonderbolt myself. I just needed to keep showing them how awesome I am. I mean, I’m pretty much the best flyer in Ponyville heck maybe even-”
“-pfft hehe” a snicker escapes my muzzle which makes Rainbow Dash immediately stop talking.
Tch! Let that one slip out didn’t I? I sucked my teeth.
“What’s so funny over there Raindrop?” Rainbow Dash glowered.
“Well...I mean...oh come on! Rainbow Dash, they’re just an aerial performance group. You’re acting as if they’re heroes or something. Not to mention you always talk about them every time you volunteer. Do you ever talk about anything else?!” I scowled. Only to receive her mad glare in kind.
“W-wha- just an aerial performance group! How can you even say that in one sentence?!”
“Sorry if I lack your enthusiasm-” I shrugged “-I just don’t see what’s the big deal about the Wonderbolts is, that’s all...more or less.”
“Why you-” Before Rainbow Dash could retort angrily, Sunshower burst into the employee lounge. I was startled that I almost spilled my coffee while the others were just as stunned.
“There you four are, what are you guys doing? The briefing is about to start. Get those flanks to the briefing room before Sad Delegate starts to cry, please!” With that Sunshower was off just as soon as she came followed by Cloud Chaser and Flitter Leaving me and Rainbow Dash.
I drink my coffee nonchalantly till Rainbow Dash speaks up. “We’ll talk a lot more about this after the briefing, Raindrop!”
“Good grief...fine.”
With that being said she also leaves. I finish my coffee to get me through today’s work and head to the briefing room.
“Alrighty, glad everyone’s here and on time no less!” Fluffy Clouds draws his attention towards Clear Skies
“H-hey don’t look at me!” Clear Skies flustered.
“Today is very important everypony because of what will happen tomorrow so we’ll have to work extra hard, weather control pegasus! Which is why we asked for our volunteers to come in, Cloud Chaser, Flitter, and, with the help of Rainbow Dash, we’ll get rid of all the clouds in the sky in no time lickety-split!
“HA! You can count on me, those clouds will be gone before you can even blink!” Rainbow Dash boasted.
“What about Storm Cloud where is she. Won’t she come help us today as well?” I asked.
“Storm Cloud is busy training with the rest of the Wonderbolts at the moment to help out right now. I should be training with them but I was directly ordered from Spitfire to come here to make sure these clouds won’t bother us.” Rainbow Dash answered.
“I see continue please, Fluffy Clouds, sorry for interrupting,” I gestured for him to continue.
“Okay, for today Clear Skies is in charge. Cloud Chaser, Flitter, and Open Skies will take care of any loose ends at the rear. While Heavy Rain, you'll be assisting Rainbow Dash and Clear Skies with the main clouds, the big ones since you three are fast and have an affinity to break through bigger clouds. It should be a piece of cake, any questions?” Fluffy Clouds explained.
“Uh yeah, after we properly cleared the skies, what then, are we done? Can we go home?” Cloud Chaser asked.
“Yes, all employees and volunteers will be dismissed for today but before you leave you have to report back to me for a job well done. Now without further delay, let's start clearing some clouds folks!” Fluffy Clouds shouted with enthusiasm.
“RIGHT!” everypony said in unison.
We all left the office and took off to the skies above Ponyville. We have a lot of sky to cover from Ponyville, Canterlot, and all the land in between our district but, this is just routine for us all so we’re used to it. A few hours later, Rainbow Dash and I took care of the bigger clouds and the others made sure there were no smaller ones in sight, so now it was just clean up duty and we’d be done for today. So we all decided to slow our progress down while we talked for a bit. I’m not even surprised when Rainbow Dash decided to sit on the cloud next to me, she was serious when she said that we’d talk more after briefing because the first thing she uttered was.
“How could you NOT like The Wonderbolts, what’s wrong with Wonderbolts?!”
I sighed while pushing the cloud next to her. “I never said I didn’t like the Wonderbolts, I just don’t think they're anything special.”
“That’s basically the same thing! What could possibly be more special than seeing the most awesome flyers in all of Equestria do stunts and be totally awesome?!”
“I don’t know...doing anything besides this and watching others fly? I’m not interested in watching other pegasus do what I can do, Rainbow Dash.”
“You think you can do what THE Wonderbolts can do? Aahahah!” Rainbow Dash burst into laughter. It was so loud that it got Cloud Chaser and Flitter's attention. I couldn’t help but blush out of embarrassment for the way she was laughing at me...just like back then.
“Stop laughing...I didn’t mean it like that Rainbow Dash, sheesh, flying is just the basics any pegasus knows so why would I watch others do what I do on a daily basis?”
“Well, it’s like you said flying is just the basics,” Rainbow Dash confirmed while wiping the tears of laughter off her eyes “but there’s more to flying than you know. That’s what Twilight thought until I started teaching her.” Rainbow Dash smirked.
“Not sure that counts, she started out as a Unicorn I’ve been told, I’ve been a pegasus my whole life-”
“-Ah-ah” Rainbow Dash interrupted again “Just like unicorns they can all use magic right? But some perfect it like Twilight does. It’s the same for us pegasi too, open your eyes! Serious training goes into perfecting flight and the Wonderbolts, as well as yours truly, train every day to master it. That’s only ONE of the reasons that make them awesome.”
“You know what I think is awesome?” I asked.
“What” she replied.
“Moving clouds and getting paid for my hard work, speaking of which, I’d like to get back to!” I grinned widely.
Rainbow Dash looked at me with a blank expression and rolled her eyes, pouting. I really don’t see what the big deal is. It’s so annoying to have to deal with somepony else’s passionate opinion over something I could care less about. I mean, I’m not trying to be insensitive, I just don’t have a preference for these particular things.
“Nope!” Rainbow Dash said out of the blue.
“What?” I questioned.
“Nope, nope, nope. This ain’t gonna cut it, Raindrop!” She shakes her head disapprovingly at me as she flies slowly towards me to place a hoof gently at my shoulder.
I look at my shoulder and back at her, my ears fold back in confusion. “Rainbow…?”
“I mean a pegasus who doesn’t like the Wonderbolts, heheh, that’s just nuts, unreal, impossible!”
“A-again, I never said I didn’t like-”
“I mean this is 20% NOT cool! I was going to give this Wonderbolt golden ticket to one of my friends, who actually like the Wonderbolts as much as I do, see if they wanted to come with me. But you know what, I'm sure they’re busy anyways. This, however, is an emergency and you’re coming to the Wonderbolt event with me tomorrow after work. That’s final!” Rainbow Dash dictated as she shoved the aluminum engraved ticket into my hooves without hesitation.
I was completely taken aback. What’s even going on, what? “W-wait what, Rainbow huh? What event, why me? I-I don’t want to, I don’t want this!” I stuttered.
“Hehe, can’t refuse. It’s mandatory girl.” Rainbow winked at me sticking her tongue out.
“This is too sudden and I don’t like things being forced upon me so...sporadically, that’s not fair Rainbow Dash. Heck I didn’t even know there was a Wonderbolt event tomorrow!” I said, feeling deflated, my words wouldn’t get through to her at this point. SHe’d just drag me out of my own house if I decided to even attempt skipping. Thinking back, I feel as though I should have tried a little harder to not have eavesdropped into her conversation or maybe have skipped my morning coffee. My ears drooped and I bowed my head, complete and utterly defeated.
At this moment Cloud Chaser seized the opportunity to join in our conversation when she ascended from below, Flitter followed suit. “You didn’t know about the Wonderbolt event tomorrow? It’s going to be a big event that’ll last five days!”
“It’s going to be so exciting,” Flitter smiled.
“That’s why we’re clearing all these clouds in the sky. What else did you think this was for, Raindrop?” Rainbow Dash looked at me quizzically. “Oh my gosh, you really didn’t know!?”
“I-I don’t pay too much attention to current events,” I admitted embarrassingly. “Oh, alright Rainbow Dash you got me I’ll take you up on your offer, I guess. It’ll be a good opportunity to leave my house I suppose and if it gets you off my back about all of this then it’s a win/win.” I smiled.
“Now that’s the spirit!” Rainbow Dash said happily. “By the end of tomorrow, you’ll be saying how amazing the Wonderbolts are and that I was right! You won’t have any regrets, you can bet on it,” she said matter of factly.
Clear Skies swoops in at the end of our conversation to give us some progress report. “Hey everypony, we’re done here, no more work, go home, hip-hip-hooray, that’s all folks!” She then flies down back to PWCP HQ. We all follow suit back to our lockers to hang up our coats. “Good work everypony” we all exchange compliments to each other after a hard day of work as we head out the door to enjoy the rest of our day. Rainbow Dash flies next to me.
“Tomorrow after work, we’re hanging out, don't forget and don’t be late. See you later, and good work today, Raindrop.
“Ah, y-yeah you too Rainbow Dash. See you later”. And with that, she’s off into the sky just as fast as ever.
Before I head off home I plop my tookus on a bench and wait for Lyra to arrive to talk. I hope she’s not mad at me, all day I tried to forget what she said but it lingered in my mind but worst of all I treated her poorly. I didn’t mean to behave so rudely so I was hoping to ask for forgiveness. A couple of minutes had passed, I was beginning to think she wasn’t coming today. I wouldn’t blame her for how I acted. Just before I was going to get up she came.
“Lyra,” A sigh of relief escapes my muzzle.
“Hey Rainy, hope you don’t mind but I brought my mare friend Bon Bon along this time,” Lyra spoke sheepishly.
“Hello there doll I also bought treats!” Bon Bon said as if on queue to say something.
“Of course I don’t mind at all,” I said to Bon Bon right before I shift my attention back to Lyra. “...Hey, Lyra, listen, I’m sorry for the way I acted yesterday. I didn’t mean to, you know, you were only trying to help me and I took some of my anger out on you. I don’t like talking about those sorts of topics. It gets underneath my skin but that’s no excuse for how I treated you. Can you ever forgive me?”
Upon hearing my apology, Lyra looks at her hooves kicking dust off the ground.
“Aw shucks were you worried about that all this time. Well, I actually have been meaning to apologize to you today for the way I behaved. When I left yesterday I was talking to Bon Bon about what happened and she got super mad at me.”
“You’re darn tootin I did.” Bon Bon scolded Lyra, “How many times I have to tell you it’s rude to ask other ponies about their personal matters unless they’re ready to talk about it?! Honestly you can be such a hassle sometimes Lyra.”
This only made Lyra feel worse about what she did as she hung her head lower, her ears folded back feeling the weight of guilt. “You’re right Bon Bon, I screwed up it was wrong of me to talk about your personal matters like that, Rainy, and I tried to get the answer out of you, I was being a jerk. I was afraid you would still be mad at me so Bon Bon agreed to come with me for moral support. Heavy Rain, could you...could you ever forgive me for being so insensitive?”
…
….
Neither of us said a word after that, we just stared at the ground waiting feeling saddened and it was a bit awkward. Noticing that neither of us have said I forgive you. It wasn’t about who said it first, the atmosphere was heavy and neither of us could find our voice, the silence was unbearable. I feel as though this was a mistake so maybe I shouldn’t have come to the bench today. I came to ask for forgiveness but instead, both of us were looking for it. How can I possibly accept her forgiveness if I’m the one asking for it? I’m in the wrong here, if I say I forgive you it’ll be as though how I treated her was justified...IT’S NOT. Say something Heavy Rain, SAY SOMETHING!
“Oh come on you two for the love of-, you both say you’re sorry so all is forgiven right, regardless of who says I forgive you first right? Cause that’s what both of you are thinking isn’t it? I see it so painfully clear on both your faces so why the glum?”
I flinched when she said that and I see Lyra fidgeting at the corner of my eye. So what Bon Bon said is true. We were both really overthinking this….
“Here, Lyra comes and sit next to me on the bench.” Bon Bon hops onto the bench sitting beside me and pats the spot next to her, motioning Lyra to take a seat in silence. I looked on but not much so to be noticed by the two mares.
A few minutes of silence pass once more between the three of us.
“I forgive you” Lyra is taken by surprise when I said the three magical words, finally. She looked at me and opened her mouth to say something but before she could I continued. “Though I believe you didn’t do anything wrong, I was terrible. I’m still trying to work on my issues heheh!” I tried to brush it off with laughter but it helped to make Lyra smile which made me feel a bit better also.
“I forgive you too for your outburst I know you didn’t mean to, you’re not that kind of mare and you’re not terrible. You’re a good friend, Rainy.” Lyra gave me a heartwarming smile, it was as though a huge burden had finally been lifted from my back. I bet she feels the same way too because we both couldn’t help but giggle and smile at each other.
“I’m glad you two finally forgave each other” Bob Bon smiled softly, “How about we dig in to the treats I bought for all of us to enjoy, Rainy I got you Key Lime Pie. I know how much you enjoy pie, especially the tart ones.”
“Oh goodness, thank you so much Bon Bon, this is the best! It must have been expensive.” I said excitedly, it’s been a while since I had the chance to cater to my sweet tooth. I could never really buy my favorite pie with my budget, it’s truly on luxurious occasions.
“So Rainy, when did you start training to fly so fast, do you have something big planned? I was going to say this earlier before you zoomed off this morning?” Bon Bon said I couldn’t help but look at her confused.
“Training? What are you talking about? I never trained to fly, I was in such a hurry to get to work is all that was. I’d assume most pegasi can fly quite fast as I did if they were in a hurry.”
“You’re just being modest, you’re a natural Rainy! And I never saw your mane flow backwards like that before, you must have been going super fast!” Bon Bon praised.
“What’s going on?” Lyra stopped eating for a second to ask.
“Lyra you should have seen Rainy this morning, she was as fast as a bolt of lightning she was, I swear it. We almost bumped into each other's muzzle but somehow in mere inches away from each other’s face she twisted her whole body out the way!” Bon Bon babbled to Lyra.
“Stoppit, you’re going to make me blush,” I fretted shielding my face with my hooves so they couldn’t see how beet-red I was. “I mean I did face-plant and scorpioned…” I added, self-deprecating my ability.
“But still, that’s amazing, Rainy you might have what it takes to be a Wonderbolt heheh!” Lyra grinned.
“Speaking of The Wonderbolts, did you know that they have a five day event going on later tomorrow at Canterlot,” Bon Bon informed us both.
“Not you girls too, all day everypony kept talking about The Wonderbolts. I had an ear full of that when I had to deal with Rainbow Dash today. She gave me a ticket, well more like forcing the ticket onto me.” I leered at the ticket.
“HEY YOU GOT A GOLDEN TICKET ALREADY!” Lyra shouted as she snatched the ticket out of my hooves with such speed. “Oh boy, that must be the benefits of having a Wonderbolt as a friend you have to line up tomorrow in order to get one of these, you’re so lucky.” Lyra said as I snatched the ticket back.
“We're not friends! She's a volunteer, we’re co-workers at best. She only gave it to me because I don’t care about the Wonderbolts and she made a big deal out of it. She knows I don’t care and I think she’s only doing this to stroke her ego. She’s messing with me,” I retorted feeling upset.
“Oh Rainy you know she takes that stuff seriously sweetie. The Wonderbolts is her life. I'm sure she wouldn’t do that to you if only to mess with you. I’m sure she just wants to try and show you a side that you don’t really know about them. Maybe she’s just trying to help in her...usual brash ways.” Bon Bon said smiling softly.
The sun was beginning to set; a nice cool breeze passed by flowing through my mane, refreshing my spirits; I sighed feeling exhausted.
“I should start heading home girls, I’ll see you two tomorrow” I got up from the bench and faced them.
“Yeah you will, we’ll make sure our seats are right next to yours and we can all watch the show tomorrow, promise!” Lyra blurted.
“Sure sure, I promise, I’ll see you girls tomorrow, I’ll be sure to wave to you when I find my own seat first.” I smiled.
With that I happily walked off. Content with patching things up with Lyra, happy that they complimented my flying even if it is small, happy that we’ll all be together tomorrow. I’m just so happy that I have friends like them and live every day the way I already do. With moments like this, there is nothing I would ever want more in my life.
Back at home, I made myself something quick to eat, brushed my teeth and mane, pruned my wings, and then I headed off to bed. “What a long day” I chuckled letting out an exasperated sigh of comfort as I drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be an eventful day, Heavy Rain...