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// Chapter 1: A Vacation? 
// Story: Soarin' with Apples 
// by Allonsbro 
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Chapter 1: A Vacation?

Wings open. 
Hooves shoulder width apart. 
Bend your knees. 
Take a deep breath. 
Now push off! 
The light blue pegasus launched himself off the cloud he was standing on. He flapped his wings and went into an upward climb. Pointing his forehooves forward and extending his hind hooves back, he streamlined himself as his climb became vertical. Higher and higher he went, the air growing colder around him. When he saw his breath as fog coming from his nostrils, he took it as his signal. 
He folded his wings, relishing the few seconds that his ascent slowed and he hung weightless in the air. He arched his back as gravity took over, putting himself into a nosedive. The wind whipped around him, his flight suit helping him cut through the air and his dark blue mane flowing.
Below him, the stack of grey, water –laden clouds and the single black thunderhead he had set up earlier began to get bigger and bigger. As he fell, he accelerated. His view of the sky became distorted as the sonic barrier began to form around him. If he broke the barrier, he would have done a sonic rainboom, but he wasn’t trying to break it. The clouds were lined up before him, three grey ones and then the thunderhead. He carefully judged the distance to the thunder head, adjusting his speed so that the barrier wouldn’t snap him back before he hit it. 
He closed the distance and hit the first cloud, drenching himself and causing a small rainfall to follow him. He punched through the second and third clouds shortly thereafter; now for the thunderhead. He opened his wings and began flapping, pushing at the barrier. It began forming into a cone and he felt it push back, almost ready to slingshot him. 

 Almost there. Just a little bit farther. 

The barrier pushed back at him harder and harder. He was getting closer and closer to the thunderhead. 

Two hundred feet.

One hundred fifty. 

One hundred. 

Fifty feet. 

He gave the barrier one final push as he hit the cloud.

Time stood still. He was in the middle of the thunderhead. He winced as the electrical energy in the cloud conducted through the water covering his body. The barrier snapped back, launching him out of the cloud. He straightened his body as he flew through the air like a rocket. The snap had been like a good kick in the middle of the cloud and its pent up energy was released. The energy connected between the water on his body, the droplets in the air, and the dissipating thunderhead itself, causing an artificial lightning bolt to arc behind him as he sailed away through the air. As he began to decelerate, he shot his wigs open, sending electrically charged water droplets everywhere and, for a split second, creating a webbing of mini electrical currents between his sides and his wings.
“WAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” he shouted, feelings of pure joy and elation soaring through his chest as he soared across the sky. The lightning dissipated and a rumble of thunder boomed, signaling the end of his trick. With a few flaps of his wings he slowed himself to a stop and floated over to a nearby cloud where another pegasus was waiting.
“Well, kid, waddya think?” he asked, landing on the cloud. “Do I know how to put on a show or what?”
The other pegasus, a blue mare with a white mane, just stood there, mouth agape, for several seconds. She shook her head and finally replied.
“That was amazing, sir! I’ve never seen anything like it! I wish I could do something like that.”
He waved a hoof dismissively. “Don’t worry; you’ll come up with your own signature trick someday. It’s a lot like getting your cutie mark. Just keep learning new tricks and then master your favorite ones. Now come on, I think that’s enough training for today. Let’s go hit the showers.”
The two took to the air and headed towards the Cloudsdale cloudiseum.
“By the way, sir,” the mare spoke up, “I’d just like to say thanks for helping me get these new tricks down pat.”
“No problem, kid.” Suddenly a thought crossed his mind and he reached up a hoof. “Hoof bump.”
The mare accepted the offer and bumped her hoof to his. 
“Ow!” She flinched as she received a small shock from the left over electrical charge on him.
“Ha ha! That one never gets old.”
“Very funny, sir,” she said, letting a small smile on her face at his harmless prank.
“Oh, that’s another thing. Quit calling me sir. This isn’t the royal guard and I may have seniority but I’m not your superior; we’re teammates. Call me Soarin’.”
“Yes, sir- I mean Soarin’.”
The two eventually reached the cloudiseum and Soarin’ headed for the stallions’ showers. He walked down the rows of lockers until he reached his own. Opening his locker, he paused to glance at the various items inside. On the door were two pictures, one of him and a few other Wonderbolts making silly faces at the camera, the other of him standing next to his mom and holding up a letter of induction to the Wonderbolts. On the top shelf of the locker were a few of the little things he had collected over the years. On the second shelf was his spare uniform. Finally, resting at the bottom of the locker was a small, wooden box. 
He slipped out of his uniform and tossed it in the locker. Turning, he made his way over to the shower, his hooves clicking on the tile floor as he went. He turned the handle and let out a contented sigh as the hot water cascaded down his skin. 
He got the soap, lathered up, and began to wash himself, letting his mind wander. He had been a member of the Wonderbolts for about eight years and things were going great. He had recently been promoted to lieutenant, and had been given the job of helping to break in the new recruits. He still insisted on being treated like a teammate, but a couple of his friends teased him about his promotion by giving him exaggerated salutes and calling him ‘sir.’ He smiled at this, knowing it was only friendly teasing and that they still thought of him as their equal.
The door to the locker room suddenly creaked as it opened and a mare’s voice called for him.
“Hey, Soarin’, you in there?”
“Yeah, Spitfire, you need something?”
“Boss wants to see you in his office ASAP.”
He rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what this was about. It also didn’t surprise him that Spitfire was sent to get him. She had been promoted to Captain of the Wonderbolts about the same time he had gotten his promotion. She now spent somewhat less time on the field and more time planning what they did on it. It also meant that her office was right next to Boss’s and was that she was sometimes given tedious little jobs that Boss didn’t feel like doing.
“Alright, I’ll be out in a little while.”
He finished his shower, grabbed a towel and dried himself off. Tossing the towel in a hamper on his way out, he left the locker room through the door that led into the main building. He made his way over to the lobby. It was a large, open space with a huge chandelier and the Wonderbolts insignia on the floor underneath it. The ceiling went all the way up to the seventh floor, where Boss’s office was. 
He smiled mischievously and flapped his wings, flying up to the seventh floor and alighting on the balcony that overlooked the lobby. Boss hated when he did that. He walked through the glass doors and into Boss’s office.
Eugene Boss was the Wonderbolts’ manager. A couple of the older members on the team had given him the nickname “no soul” because he didn’t seem to have one. The nearly bald, entirely gray pegasus always had a scowl on his face and nothing mattered to him other than the bottom line. Soarin’ was willing to bet that if Boss found a starving kitten in an alley, he would make a Wonderbolt hold it long enough for the cameras to take a cute picture and then he’d toss the critter right back. 
Not even Boss’s office had any personality. The walls on either side were white and completely bare. At the back was a large window that overlooked the Wonderbolts practice field. In the middle of the room was a desk with a few papers on it and nothing else. Boss was sitting at the desk, reading some trivial paperwork.
“You wanted to see me, Boss?” asked Soarin’ as he approached the desk.
The gray pegasus didn’t even look up. “Your vacation starts tomorrow. Two weeks.”
Soarin’ rolled his eyes. “Boss, I told you. I don’t need a vacation.”
“Well, you’re getting one, he replied sternly. “Your contract states you get at least two weeks, twice a year as long as you don’t have a show coming up soon. Oh, and don’t let me catch you hanging around here or I’ll suspend you without pay.”
Soarin’ was about to challenge him, but thought better of it. Boss’s head was still looking down, but his beady eyes had glanced up at him and he knew better than to push it when Boss gave him that look. With a growl, he accepted defeat and left the office. Spitfire was leaning against the railing of the balcony when he came out. 
“How’d it go?” she asked.
“Two week vacation,” he grumbled.
She gasped. “Oh no,” she said sarcastically, “he might as well have grounded you.”
He gave her a half-lidded stare. “I’m serious, Spits, I don’t want a vacation.”
“Wow, Soarin’,” she said, shaking her head and giving him a small smile, “you’re the only pony I know who doesn’t like vacations.”
“It’s not that I don’t like vacations, I just don’t need them. A vacation is something you do when you need a break from normal life, and I don’t need a break. I like my life, I like my job. What would I do on a vacation anyway? I’ve already seen most of Equestria doing shows with the team. The only thing to do is fly around, and I can get paid to do that here.”
“Or, y’know,” suggested Spitfire, “you could go relax in the sun on a beach somewhere.”
He shook his head. “I’m not doing that for two weeks.”
“Tell you what,” she said, removing herself from the railing, “how about if I talk to Boss about taking my vacation and I’ll show you how normal ponies have fun. I’ll find some stuff for us to do, just please promise me you’ll try to have a good time.”
He sighed. “Alright.”
They agreed to meet at Soarin’s house the next day and Spitfire went to talk to Boss. Soarin’ leapt off the balcony and plummeted to the bottom of the lobby. Opening his wings at the last minute he soared out the door and flew home.
The sun was beginning to set as he landed in front of his large cloud house. He walked inside and turned on the light. Looking around the room, he sighed to himself. This was another reason he didn’t like vacations. 
Soarin’s house was in the upper-class part of Cloudsdale. The good part of this was that the paparazzi weren’t allowed near his house, so he didn’t have to deal with them if he didn’t want to. The bad part was that other ponies didn’t visit often. Soarin’ loved to interact with his fans. Sure, some of them were a little crazy, but most of them shared his genuine love of flying and he liked to feel that connection. 
After a quick dinner, Soarin’ went upstairs and plopped on his puffy bed. Turning over on his back, he placed his hooves behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. He began thinking that maybe a vacation wouldn’t be so bad. After all, he’d get to hang out with Spitfire and the two of them hadn’t been able to just hang out outside of practice for quite some time. It would be nice to just hang out with his best friend since foalhood. He smiled to himself and fell asleep.