37. Final Week
"You'll be there tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah Storm, definitely."
"I'm still a bit uncertain about this..."
"Don't be, as I've said before time and time again, it'll all be fine."
"Alright Lilli, then I'll see you tomorrow at the factory I guess."
"Night, Stormy. I love you."
"I...love you too, sleep well," Storm responded, a fierce blush forming on his face as he let those very words escape his mouth. He hung up almost immediately afterward, tossing the small flip phone he owned onto his couch before opening the balcony door, a wall of cooler air hitting him in an instant as the door swung ajar, enabling him to step onto the small, concrete platform outside. It was a beautifully clear and crisp Sunday evening in Vanhoover, a gentle, yet steady breeze billowing and whipping through Storm's coat and mane as he leaned over the edge of his balcony balustrade, eyes set on the golden-orange glow of the sunset in the distance behind the illuminated silhouettes of the many skyscrapers of downtown. Forehooves resting on the metal railing as he observed the sprawling city from his vantage point fifteen stories up overlooking the strip mall right across the street from his apartment building, his gaze panned down towards the busy city streets closer to home; the city streets, and especially Hoofshire Avenue right below which was one of the main thoroughfares leading through Vanhoover, were gridlocked with ponies returning home from work, the horns and screeching wheels of carriages still being audible in spite of Storm being a hundred feet or so above ground level. The temperature in downtown Vanhoover that day was somewhat cooler than it was earlier in the week, with highs only reaching the mid-70s. Storm wasn't exactly sure how warm it was today, but the highest it could have gone up to on that particular day was roughly around there, if not, then 79-80 degrees; right now, however, it was probably in the early sixties, which was more than ideal for him.
"Why am I here? Of all places I could have ended up in, why did I end up here, in Vanhoover?" he asked himself, staring over the edge of the balcony balustrade at the traffic below. The wind had picked up ever so slightly at that very moment but died back down almost instantaneously, and Storm became momentarily embraced by the somewhat colder air. Too engrossed in his thoughts, however, he chose to pay the windchill no mind and instead continued contemplating his life up to that very moment, which kept surprising him with the sheer number of twists and turns it had taken so far. In the eighteen years of his life, he had traveled halfway around the world, from his old, war-torn home in the Griffon Empire to a much better, albeit more mundane life in suburban Cloudsdale; a transition which was somewhat daunting at first for Storm, before he finally accepted his new, unfamiliar surroundings as his new home. From thereon it didn't take too long for Storm to assimilate into Cloudsdale life; in fact, he felt that had he not left, he'd leave the nest, settle down with his marefriend and start work as a Guard, a dream which was shared by Blue herself.
Life, however, always had a way of surprising, or so it seemed.
Their dream never came to fruition.
Instead, he'd ended up moving to Vanhoover after being transferred against his will to another weather factory by the pony he was still ashamed to call his stepfather, and tomorrow was the day he returned to work at that very weather factory in order to start his final week of training; a day he was both dreading and looking forward to at the same time after spending over a week at home recovering from that little 'accident' he'd ended up having at the training pool. Tonight, he hoped to gather his thoughts and mentally prepare himself for what tomorrow had in store, but something told him that it wouldn't be too daunting - it was a flight course after all, probably involving things he'd dealt with before.
If anything, he felt that the sooner he would be done with this course, the better for him. He was getting sick of it, and sick of it fast, especially after what had happened at the pool, which not only resulted in a two-day-long hospital stay and week-long leave but also a four, maybe five-figure medical bill which was left for Lilli's mom, of all ponies, to deal with. The bill, thankfully, was partially covered by Clear's health insurance policy, but he still felt somewhat responsible for it, even though it wasn't his entirely his fault in the first place that this had occurred to him.
As Clear herself so eloquently put it, it was all a matter of circumstance.
But if they knew there was something wrong with it and that it often tends to 'freak out', shouldn't they have done something about it before letting ponies use the simulator? Maybe there was a defect in the harness that just wasn't picked up on, or something to do with the fan? Storm did not know, but after what happened he began having thoughts of quitting and just moving back home to Cloudsdale, back where he came from; back where he belonged, no matter what High Wind had to say about his return. Even though he knew that High wouldn't take too kindly to him returning home after only a month of being away, he knew that practically everypony else he had in his life would be waiting for him - or at least he hoped they would. His mom, Gust, Mist, but most importantly, Blue, whom he longed desperately to see, perhaps even more so than ever before. He needed to go back, he needed to be with Blue. He needed to enlist in the Guard, and by now it should have been perfectly obvious to Clear that he doesn't belong in weather.
The more he thought of Blue, however, the more his heart ached. It seemed that now was the moment that his sheer neglect of Blue had finally dawned upon him, and this manifested itself as a feeling which he could not have fully put into words; a hollow, empty, dull feeling which seemed to border on depression, and Storm felt it deep within his heart and the pits of his stomach as a churning, nervous sensation, that longing to be back with her. As much as he liked Lilli, as much as he was grateful for her company and not to mention the fact that she saved him from certain death via drowning, it just didn't feel right for him to date her. It stopped feeling right a long time ago, but only now did Storm finally became conscious of his actions, after he said what he said before hanging up. Maybe this was why she didn't respond to his last letter, either that or there was something wrong at the post office, but Storm wasn't necessarily counting on the latter option. Usually, it took two, maybe three days for Storm's letters to reach Cloudsdale, and it took just one or two for the response to arrive in his apartment building's mailroom since Blue usually paid for hers to be sent by airmail. It's been almost a whole week since he sent her his last letter. In that time he'd have gotten not one, but two responses.
Maybe she just moved on with her own life in the time he's been away; maybe she found herself a new coltfriend a bit closer to home but wasn't willing to admit it to Storm.
In all honesty, Storm couldn't blame her if that were indeed the case. If that was indeed what had happened, to Storm it became all the more clear that what goes around comes around; he felt that he simply did not deserve Blue, especially after knowingly and willingly cheating on her with another mare, and that she would be happier with some other stallion.
He even told Lilli after she saved him that he 'used to know and love' Blue, and perhaps that very statement coming back to haunt him hurt most of all.
"Oh Storm," he chuckled mockingly and self-deprecatingly, the exact words he told the jocks in the cafeteria springing back to mind with a decidedly ironic edge. "You hypocrite, how could you tell them that and then go with it yourself? How could you? What were you thinking?
You could have just as easily stayed in Cloudsdale; you could have just as easily ignored what High Wind had to say, and moved in with Gust for example. You're eighteen, man; you're not a kid anymore, you're an adult. You're not in full-time education any longer now. High Wind doesn't, and cannot control you anymore. If you'd stayed, that way you'd still get to keep in contact with Blue, you'd still get to see her in person, you'd still get to follow your dreams and enlist in the Guard...but you just went along with it and moved out all the way here... You traitor."
A single tear dripped out of his eye and trickled around and off the cylindrical railing, followed by another one and yet another one, but before Storm could break down into tears he regained hold of himself and managed to calm down.
"Grow up," Storm responded, wiping away the tears from his eyes and moving away from the railing, eyes set on the open door leading back into his apartment. "This is a somewhat public place...somepony could hear you mumbling to yourself and blubbering away from either above or below...just grow up and stop wallowing in self-pity."
Despite this, the longing to be at home with Blue remained lodged deep within his heart, even after he came back inside, stabbing at it like some sort of knife.
He needed sleep.
It would do him well, especially considering that tomorrow was the start of his final week of training.
Even though it was only 8, he felt like doing nothing else.
The next morning, Storm got out of bed at around six, catching the early morning train bound for Lakeside roughly an hour or so later at the nearby train station, located slightly deeper into town than he already was; during the twenty-minute journey across the city to Silverwood, he tried his hardest to mentally convince himself he would pass the final week of the course without any hassle, possibly with full marks. Flight was a skill he saw himself as being good at and moreover, was something that he enjoyed highly; this passion for flight that he had, combined with his high attention span, was something he expected would ensure that he would end up passing with full marks, if not then high.
Something else, however, which also drove him to succeed was the fact that he knew he had ponies cheering him on; both here in Vanhoover and back in Cloudsdale, where his family would be more than delighted - especially High Wind - if he passes, and although he couldn't help but ponder over the exact circumstances of their relationship and ultimately remained unsure about continuing it, he knew Lilli and her mom would also be cheering him on regardless. And to be fair, he was grateful for their support so far. Even though he still had his doubts about continuing their relationship any further, he felt grateful for their kind words of inspiration, Lilli's especially. Although conscientiously Storm may not have been exactly comfortable with dating her at that point, he instead saw her as more of a good friend than his lover, and that is what he hoped they'd remain once, if ever he leaves Vanhoover. In the end, however, he couldn't be sure what to expect, and although he tried telling himself that it will all be alright and that he'd manage it, a large part of him had his doubts, which increased with every passing minute as the train slowly neared the station, entering the hilly outskirts of the city shortly thereafter.
Another part of him also questioned the possible reasoning behind a flight course for Pegasus weather ponies who were in all due respect perfectly capable of flight, himself included in that category. Most of the Pegasi he flew with, even the trainees, seemed to be somewhat experienced and competent fliers; in fact, many of them were more so than he was, but as the fringes of the city came into view through the window he sat next to, along with the weather factory itself perched on the distant cliffside he figured it'd be best to keep it to himself.
He didn't know for sure, but maybe what awaited him there would surprise him.
At around half past seven, the train pulled into Silverwood and the few ponies that were on board spilled out of the cars, Storm included, who disembarked the train with a deep inhale of the warm air outside which helped soothe his anxiety somewhat, even as he caught a brief glimpse of the distant weather factory behind the station building.
"Well...looks as though I'm here at last," Storm muttered under his own breath, as two or three other ponies still present at the platform boarded the train. From thereon it'd be a quick flight to the weather factory, roughly three-quarters of a mile or so away perched on the hillside fringing Vanhoover's outermost suburbs, and once he arrived and walked through those doors there'd be no turning back, that is unless he were to fail somehow.
His nervousness only began getting the better of him with each passing minute, however, and in fact reached its peak once he noticed Lilli, of all ponies, make her way up the stairs and past the ticket booths, her eyes soon locking with his and an anticipatory smile forming on her face.
"Hey," she grinned, making her way across the platform before stopping right in front of Storm.
"Hey...," Storm smiled in response, trying to figure out a way to mask his anxiety somehow as a million different things raced through his mind, including how he was going to tell her of his feelings towards their relationship.
"So, uh," Lilli began, her mane billowing in the warm, summer breeze. "You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Storm gulped, smile fading off of his face as he figured there'd be no way for him to effectively hide his feelings from her. "You think I'll do well?"
"Yeah, definitely," Lilli smiled in response, ruffling his mane playfully with her left hoof before nuzzling him rather intensely, something which initially perplexed him; in this case, however, he decided not to let it show and just went with the flow. "You'll do great, I just know it."
"You think?"
"I know so," Lilli smirked, backing slightly away from him. "Most ponies who'd gone through this have passed with full marks. Come on, we should head off. The sooner we get to the briefing, the better."
"What time does it start exactly?" Storm inquired just as he briefly glanced down at his watch. 7:38 AM.
"8."
"They changed the times, didn't they?"
"Yep," Lilli nodded in response, picking up his nervousness. “Mom herself thought it would start at 9, but it looks as though they’ve changed it slightly, sorry Storm...but at least you're here now, right? That's all that matters.”
"Ah," Storm nodded, stomach churning slightly out of unadulterated nervousness just as Lilli led him towards the metal stairwell leading down to street level. "Thanks, Lils. I just hope that I don’t screw this whole thing up...that nothing happens to me this time round, like it did before."
"I highly doubt anything will happen this time round," Lilli turned back to face him, just before she went through one of the turnstile gates leading into the stairwell; Storm’s turn to go through it came immediately afterward. "Storm, what happened at the pool...just happened, I guess. It was completely unforeseen by anyone, plus, from what I know you won’t be using the simulators this week; it’ll just be flight races and stuff unless my mom and whoever’s doing the actual course decide otherwise."
"What do you mean 'whoever's doing the actual course'?" Storm inquired. "Isn't there, like, a flight coach or something that does it?"
"Yeah, but she apparently fell ill with the feather flu,"
"Ah, that sucks," Storm frowned somewhat. "Who's replacing her?"
"That...I don't know for sure," Lilli replied, shrugging her shoulders gently with a smile on her face as she led him downstairs. "But mom apparently knows this really cool guy who knows this stuff off by heart...apparently teaching flight theory is something of a second job for him, and so the weather factory arranged for him to substitute for her."
"I see," Storm nodded, cantering down the two flights of stairs leading to ground level after her. "I guess I'm just expecting something totally unexpected to pop up, something I’m wholly unprepared for."
"What can you be so 'unprepared' for, Storm? I mean, you're a pretty great flier from what I've seen of you; you clearly have the stamina, the strength…," Lilli turned to give him a reassuring smile, one which seemed to wash away every worry that he had at that very moment in time. "You know, that being said, however...if there's anything you're 'unprepared' for right now, it's passing this. You just don't seem to have the confidence in passing."
"Well, if that weren't obvious enough," Storm deadpanned, anticipating the worst deep down inside just as they arrived at street level, stepping out from the shadow cast by the station building above them.
"Very funny," Lilli gave him a playfully stern glare, just as they walked past one of the support beams holding the station in place and onto the sidewalk running alongside the main road bisecting much of the compact little town. "What I guess I'm trying to say is that you're lacking the confidence you need. You have everything else you need to pass; you just don't have the confidence. You aren't sure of yourself and whether this will work out for you or not...Storm...me and mom both know you're perfectly capable of this, but you need to believe in yourself. That's the most important thing."
"Touché," Storm sighed, lowering his gaze down at the sidewalk beneath him. "I guess I should stop wallowing in self-pity like this and just get on with it."
"Hey," Lilli stopped in her tracks, turning back towards Storm immediately afterward; a sultry smile flashed across her face as he arrived at her side, which initially perplexed him somewhat before his confused expression gave way to a deep red blush just as she pulled in to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "How’s this for a ‘confidence booster’?"
"Thanks," Storm grinned, recoiling back slightly from the kiss in slight surprise.
"You're very welcome," Lilli smiled in response as she nuzzled against him tightly. "I'm here for you if you need me, and I'll be rooting for you all the way. Just...push yourself through it, and most importantly, believe in yourself. You'll do great, I'm sure of it."
"Thanks, Lils," Storm smiled in newfound satisfaction, wrapping his wing around her as they set off, the weather factory now in clear view looming on the edge of the cliff overlooking Silverwood. Although he wasn’t entirely willing to commit to another relationship as of yet, the fact that Lilli was there for him for every step of the way - on this leg of the journey, in particular - was enough to make him reconsider at least temporarily. Right now, in Blue's absence, she was his rock; she gave him a shoulder to cry on and provided a necessary warmth in the depths of his heart, which filled the void he'd created for himself when he left Blue in Cloudsdale, albeit only partially.
All the while, however, he didn't stop thinking about Blue. He simply couldn't stop thinking of her, even though at this point in time they were on opposite sides of the country and he was dating another mare. Even though she was two thousand miles away, she remained deep within his heart, and the memories they shared together lodged in his mind.
One thing was sure for him, however, and that was the fact that he'd never felt this conflicted before in his life.
Immediately after arriving at the weather factory, Storm and Lilli both made their way into the factory briefing room, located in a part of the main building only Lilli had been in. The couple split upon entering the room, and Lilli sent Storm off with a gentle peck on the cheek, watching him merge with the twenty-something strong crowd lined up against the back wall of the room before leaving for the training pool. Storm, embraced by anxiety as were the other trainees but seemingly to a much lesser degree, fidgeted with his forehooves as his mind ran through the various different possibilities of what could happen to him over the course of this week; not even Lilli's kiss, as soothing as it was, could do anything to stop the sheer nervousness slowly overtaking him whole, anxiety which only grew with each passing minute as they all awaited Clear's arrival at the podium roughly ten feet ahead from where they currently stood. To say these past few weeks have been 'difficult' for him would be the understatement of the century, but Storm was just glad to have two-thirds of the course out of the way already. Only five more days remained before Clear would make her decision on whether Storm would get to stay or not; and in those five days that were left of the course, he hoped to push himself far beyond the confines of his flight capabilities, as good as they already were, and convince Clear that he is good enough for this job, even though he very much didn't want to.
He was doing this not for himself, but his stepfather.
Although he had some idea of just how serious this whole thing was, Storm remained unaware - perhaps blissfully unaware of in fact - of just how much everything would hang in the balance for him that week; his whole existence here in Vanhoover, and perhaps more so his relationship with High Wind, as poor and distant as it was, were all at stake. If he were to fail in some way or another, everything would come crashing down on him in an instant - a prospect that seemed more than unlikely for him only a month or so ago when he still lived in Cloudsdale, but right now loomed overhead like some sort of dark thundercloud just waiting to break open with rain.
It's funny how life works out sometimes.
He needed to pass this, for both High Wind's sake and his own peace of mind. That way, maybe, just maybe, he'd manage to restore his ailing relationship with his overbearing stepfather.
That way, maybe he would also be able to come back to Cloudsdale and be with Blue.
The mere thought of such a reunion with Blue was enough to trigger the sensation of butterflies within his stomach, but he couldn't keep pondering over such a thought, for at long last the double doors leading into the room opened and Clear arrived at the podium in front of the group, followed immediately by a stallion whom Storm had never seen before, which piqued his interest.
"Alright...alright everypony, simmer down," Clear began her address to the chattering group of mostly Pegasus weather ponies, the projection screen rolling down behind her with a mechanical whirring noise, one that was relatively quiet but still audible; all the while Storm's eyes remained fixed onto the buff, gray-blue stallion standing alongside Clear, even as the slideshow showcasing a rough idea of what the week might involve began playing in the background. The stallion, wearing a camo-colored jacket with its sleeves rolled up, seemed to show no emotion at all, and at no point did he even turn to look at the crowd of weather ponies gathered before him, never acknowledging their presence whatsoever—or so it seemed. "Before we start this briefing off, I have a few things I'd like to talk to you all about, but first off I'd like to welcome you all to Week 3 of your training course, during which you will all be assessed on your overall flight performance. It would seem to me that the overall effort you put into the course has paid off, and moreover, I didn't expect so many of you all to get through to this stage of your training.
Nonetheless, as you all may know we have extremely high standards to maintain here in Vanhoover, especially when it comes to the physical condition of our weather ponies. Maintaining the physiques of our Pegasi is of paramount importance, and while I know for a fact that you all can fly - and from what I've seen, you all fly pretty well - we need to make sure that what you're all able to withstand the pressure of being one of us, which is why we've brought in the big guns. Folks, I'd like to introduce you to Sgt. Arrow, whom we managed to borrow from the nearby Air Force base."
"Good morning," the stallion began, turning towards the group at long last, all of whom piped down in an instant so as to let the stallion speak. Slicking back his graying mane with a hoof, the stallion cleared his throat and looked up at the group, speaking in a husky, gravelly voice, one that not only unsettled Storm somewhat, but also managed to draw the weather trainees' collective attention towards him. "My name is Arrow, as you may have heard already, but throughout this week you will refer to me as Master Sergeant Arrow and Master Sergeant Arrow only. Understood? Good, now I understand that you are all going through flight training right now...sounds like fun, I guess."
"Sergeant Arrow here has served three tours of the Griffon Empire in his prime, and is in my humble opinion, the foremost authority on all things flight...I read your book so many times, sir; your story is really quite something," Clear interjected excitedly, eliciting a blank, bemused stare from the much taller sergeant, to which she responded with a somewhat awkward shrug. Cheeks beaming bright red, she backed away slightly and gently raised both hooves, motioning for Arrow to look towards the group of weather ponies standing in front of them rather than at her. "It's...a real honor to have you here, sir. I'll just leave you to get on with it, then...heh."
He has a book out? Storm's heart skipped a beat, before sighing in some relief. If this guy really knows as much about flight as Clear says he does, then maybe whatever's in store for me will be a walk in the park.
"Right," Arrow continued looking towards Clear, who stepped off the podium and backed into the crowd somewhat, before clearing his throat and continuing. "Now that...that's out of the way...you'll be split into two groups once this briefing is over. I have a whole program of training exercises prepared for you all to undertake, one which varies hugely in terms of difficulty. You'll start off with some basic flight exercises, just for me to see what you're capable of...before moving onto harder ones...much harder ones, in fact...This will all build up to one final flight race on Friday afternoon covering a distance of 32 miles, from the south side of town to its northern tip and back again."
That's actually not that bad, Storm thought to himself, having flown the 25-mile distance between Cloudsdale and Ponyville - and back again - many times, building up something of a tolerance to flying long distances over the years; but knowing the Vanhoover weather factory, he anticipated the race would more than likely at least some kind of hovering obstacle.
"If you pass this," the stallion began, pausing briefly to cough before looking back up again at the crowd before him. "Good for you, you get to join the weather factory here as a fully-fledged weather pony---if you don't, well, I'm sorry to say but you'll be sent back to whatever weather factory you originally came from, no questions asked. I hope you're all prepared for what we have in store for you, and might I add most of it isn't nearly as simple as it looks on paper, I can assure you that. So, are you all ready?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good, good," Arrow smirked, as the starting bell for the main shift rang. "Welcome to Week #3. I expect to see you all waiting outside for me in ten minutes exactly, on the double."
To be continued...
Stats
Page generated in 0.022 seconds
Total duration
909 users online
539,926 hits today, 2,782,760 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
So I'm guessing the final results will come in at the end of the week, correct?
8025261 You'll find out in the next chapter.
8025263 Okay.
8025282 Sorry if this seems really rushed, by the way. This chapter was actually meant to be far longer than it presently is but I felt it'd be best to cut a huge chunk out and continue it in the next chapter instead, since at that point it had already gone way over 6K and was nearing 7K words. Had I decided to leave that last bit in and continue it further, I'll bet that that this chapter would have gone over 10K words in length.
8025307 Okay, I don't it being a two parter.
8025354 You don't mind it being a two-parter, you mean?
Glad to read a fresh new chapter after so long, I love it so far. I can't wait for more!
8025564 Thanks, dude. Hopefully chapter 37 won't take nearly as long.
8026363 his famous last words
Press [F] to pay respects.
8104805
Hey, guys, I'm really happy to say that at least some progress has been finally made on Chapter 37. :3
Rest assured, I haven't given up on writing or anything like that - if anything, this was just a temporary writer's block I've been experiencing over these past few weeks, but I feel that now I've regained some motivation to write.
Attention, readers - several chapters of this story will be undergoing major revision as of May 29.
Attention readers, after months of hard work I am pleased to announce that chapter 37 is on its way and should be available for you all to read within the next couple of days or so.