//------------------------------//
// Chapter 30: Undertaken 
// Story: Sisters of Willowbrook 
// by Starscribe 
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As it turned out, Whispering Willow Academy did have variations on its uniform policies, once there was a reason for it. For Firefly, that reason was membership in the "Willowbrook Junior Weather Management Brigade." They also didn't give her a choice—the town had so few pegasus ponies “of satisfactory breeding” that she wasn't so much invited to join after her second year as given a new uniform and a new class schedule to match.

Whispering Willow, or maybe Equestria as a whole, maintained no illusions that ponies of different tribes could all go on to lead similar lives. Most of Willowbrook's population were earth ponies, and so Whispering Willow mostly taught them trades. Firefly heard from those who couldn't afford to attend that Willowbrook Secondary School across town was basically all earth ponies, and everything they learned was about farming.

Meanwhile, the unicorns studied magic, and the flying ponies learned about weather. Only the absolute basics of the curriculum were common at her school, so only in composition, history, or mathematics could she hope to see Lilac. But those classes were a relatively minor part of their schooling; basically only enough for them to function.

Firefly was past hating it now. She kinda liked the weather vest and goggles, even if they weren't as pretty as most of her wardrobe.

It meant she stood out as she landed outside school. Earth ponies parted from in front of her the same way they did for the school's most important unicorns. But for pegasus ponies, she never saw nervous fear or forced respect—those ponies had strange powers, barely understood or appreciated by the rest of Whispering Willow's students. Pegasai had awesome magic too, but it couldn't untie your blouse when you weren't looking, or glue you to the ceiling.

Charlie probably would've compared it to walking in wearing a fireman's uniform, instead of a policeman's. She wasn't gonna give anypony a ticket.

Dusty was wrong to say she'd be late today, though. The ten minute bell rang right as she walked into the building, waving energetically to several ponies as she did so.

"Did you say yes to anypony yet?" Sunbeam called, as she passed her locker. "You can't keep turning everypony down."

She rolled her eyes, slowing for a second to whisper. It wasn't that she particularly cared about the information getting out, it probably already was. She just didn't want to embarrass the poor kid. "Ace Platinum too. Told him it wasn't gonna happen."

Sunbeam's eyes widened. "You said no to Ace Platinum?" The other pegasus flared her wings in surprise. "Who are you waiting for exactly, a prince? You're gonna be alone again. You can't think that's fun!"

She turned away. "I'll know when I meet them." Firefly sped up, darting into the crowd of other students so Sunbeam couldn't keep pestering her. How could she explain that she wasn't interested? Just because the stupid fancy school had stupid fancy balls every other month didn't mean she had to care.

Even if attendance was mandatory, and it meant chatting awkwardly at a table of other spinsters. There were plenty of pretty girls at the table. They usually had more interesting things to say anyway.

She caught up with Lilac a few minutes later, chatting outside the library with her unicorn friends. She waved as she approached, and the mare finished what she was saying, walking over to join her in the hall. "Well?"

Lilac Empathy had grown even faster than Charlie had. She was several inches taller, with the strength and athleticism that came from being an earth pony. She didn't have the ugly, bulky build of one of the laborers, who lumbered around Willowbrook like they'd misplaced their ploughs.

Lilac was graceful, and perpetually smelled of strange forest plants. It didn't matter that she insisted she'd never touched a bottle of perfume or makeup brush in her life. She didn't need to.

She was also perhaps the only mare in Whispering Willow who could get away with wearing a colt's jacket instead of a blouse. She still had a skirt, but it was really only a matter of time until she traded that out too. Only the daughter of Iris Vale could do something like that, and not expect the horseshoe of discipline to come crashing down on her.

She still pulled it off. Her constantly disheveled hair and thick glasses only made her look more mysterious. Only Lilac could carry a conversation about the deep mysteries with unicorns and not look like a cock-eyed filly.

"I got it." She dug into her bookbag, withdrawing a greenish gemstone wrapped in snow-steel. She held it out, and the other mare took it. Despite spending most of her time with unicorns, she still had to use her hooves for it. Derek's magic was powerful, but it went only so far.

She turned over the little gemstone, then nodded approvingly. "It should be big enough. If we're trying to cross, we'll need something much bigger." She gestured with one hoof. "At least this big, without a single crack or imperfection."

Charlie whistled quietly, her wings opening halfway. "I hope you know what you're asking. If something like that even exists it would be worth a fortune. My dad would kill me if I tried to take it. And we might search through the Cumulus Maze for years without finding anything like it."

The other mare flicked her tail dismissively. "If you go back, you won't care how mad he is, will you? Just keep your eyes open. I might be able to persuade my mother, if something like that comes onto the market without diverting to a weather factory first."

Another bell echoed through the halls, this one harsher and more demanding. One minute to class. Of course Lilac was already where she needed to be—she took magical classes with the unicorns. She needed to hurry, but she hesitated for another moment. "Has anyone asked you to the Fetlock Fete yet, Lilac?" 

Her friend's ears pressed flat, and her short tail fell still. "Possibly. It's a distant last priority right now, same as ever."

But why are you so embarrassed about it? "Possibly means yes. What did you say?"

Lilac turned sharply, returning to her friends. "See you tonight, Firefly! Bring the bat!"

So you can ask her to the Fetlock Fete instead of me? The thought came so quickly she couldn't even be sure it was her own. Firefly shook her head sharply, dismissing her stupidest idea of the morning. She broke into a gallop, dodging between ungainly earth ponies. She opened her wings more than once, then glided straight up between the stairs, rather than bothering with them. 

She still squeaked into class a few seconds after the bell. Grumpy old Mr. Rider was already standing by the door. He smacked it closed with such force the wind lifted her braid. 

"Again, Miss Firefly? Do you care about the impression you make?"

She hurried over to her chair, lowering her head apologetically. "I'm sorry! I'll be better!" There were no other students to hide behind—their class only had one row, arranged in a semicircle around a large chalkboard.

"Words again. Don't sit down, Firefly. Since you're already up, you've volunteered. Firefly here is going to demonstrate the proper technique for concentrating cumulus clouds into nimbostratus. I'm sure she remembered to do her at-home practice."

She crossed the room to a wide set of double doors. She took the pull in her mouth, and yanked it to one side, then secured it in place. There was no balcony beyond, this doorway opened straight from the third story of the building to the sky outside. It was wide enough for three well-coordinated ponies to jump at once, or one barely-skyworthy student to fly back inside without clipping their wing on a stone wall.

Firefly stretched in front of the opening, grinning back at her fellow students. They were all her friends by now, though that word meant different things for different ponies. River Breeze and Sunbeam were the only ones she actually wanted to be around outside of school, but the others were still comrades. You couldn't fly weather patrols with someone and not start trusting them.

"Hold it!" Wind Rider said, just as sharply. "You know the rules, you're not going up there alone. Somepony join her, I don't care who." There was a brief, nervous silence, ponies glancing around the room. "Don’t think waiting will get you out of it. My expectations will be slightly lower for the ones who didn't get a demonstration first."

"I'll go!" River practically tripped over her hooves to get out of her desk. She trotted over, adjusting her mane as she did. "It can't be that hard, can it?"

Wind Rider laughed, his voice like rough sandpaper. "For a pony with a lifetime of experience and performance records? No. For a pair of fillies who can barely get off the ground? We'll see." He reached to the side, sounding a little bell. "Five minutes, go!"

Firefly galloped out the opening, spreading her wings as she did so. She watched the pony beside her more than the sky—there wasn’t going to be anypony flying outside their exit door, but there was a very real chance of smacking into another pegasus in flight. She had earned her fair share of bruises from awkward landings. 

River was far better in the air than most of her classmates, probably because she was the tallest mare in class, with the most impressive wingspan. She flew more like a swan, making a few wide strokes to every several rapid beats of Firefly's wings. Within a few seconds they had matched pace, curving upward towards the clouds. River soon started panting from the effort.

"You can do it!" Firefly called, pushing just a little ahead of her. And it worked—being out in front gave River a reason to chase her, and soon they were nearly neck and neck, with the clouds rushing up to meet them. It was more the diffuse gray of Willowbrook's upper-air, same as most days. 

"Of course I can!" she shot back, though she was still panting. She wasn't slowing down, which was important. "Flying is the easy part! I didn't do my homework, did you?"

She had, and read the rest of the textbook too. Flying stuff was way more interesting than any of her other subjects. But she couldn't say any of that without looking like a nerd. She was supposed to be the cool disobedient student who got on the teacher's nerves. "I skimmed it," she said. "But I'm up in the clouds every morning, it'll be a breeze!"

They slowed as they reached the clouds, skimming along them from below as they searched for an opening. Breaking through from underneath wasn't something a beginners' class wanted children doing, considering how easy it was to get stuck. "Well, show me."

"Easier with two!" she called back. "We're just trying to concentrate more clouds. We need to gather them without bursting any, pressing them together. If we get enough energy, we'll get a storm cloud! I'm sure old Wind Rider just wants rain, but buck that! Let's really impress him!"

"O-okay." River trailed just behind her now. As usual, there was a little fear in her voice. She lived in the clouds, but still wasn't comfortable up here. 

Can't spend your whole life just doing what other people tell you, River. Yet for something like this, it would be an advantage. "There's our opening!" She pointed suddenly with one hoof. "You go right, slice off as much as you can. I'll gather it all together. Then you can compress it down from above! I, uh... I think that's what the textbook said! They're taller than they are long, so it's better to push from the top!"

"Sure!" River lowered her goggles over her eyes. 

Firefly did the same, then charged off into the sky.