One of a Kind

by cpthitsugaya

Not for Rookies

--Not for Rookies--

---

“Hey Light! Over here!” Dash’s voice was frantic, as he and the others stood in line for sign ups to expert leveled flight camp. A few years have passed since Lightning and his friends graduated Ms. Diver’s class. Lightning was about sixteen now, and gaining muscle and height. He was to the point where he was now taller than his mother. Not only Lightning, but Dash, Spitfire, and Lunar have all grown into young mares and stallions. Although, Spitfire was so busy now because of her recruitment to the Wonderbolts, she barely had time to hang around the others.

“What’s up, Dash?” Asked Lightning.

“Well, we gotta sign up quickly, or the spots will run out!” Said Dash.

“Oh yeah, you’re right!” Lightning quickly grabbed the pen from Dash, and signed his name onto the sign-in sheet. Only about four of the fifteen spaces were left, so his timing couldn’t be any better. Lunar had then walked up, and took the pen after Lightning to sign his name in. Lunar, as well, was getting larger by the day; nopony saw a stop, or even a slow, in his growth.

The whole point of the camp they were signing up for was for one; to determine which career would suit them best, and two; to improve to their highest caliber of flying. Although, the group was already well beyond the abilities of the average pegasi; they just loved going to camps, and just showing up the other pegasi.

As they walked over to the front gate of the camp, a large mare walked out with a serious look on her face.

“Good afternoon,” she said, “my name is Mrs. Dodger, and I will be your instructor for the weekend.” She was much taller than Lightning and Lunar, and wore a uniform with many different pins, badges, and medals. She had a green mane, with dark red eyes, and a dark brown body. She towered over the group and looked down at them. She stared deep into their eyes. “Mhmm... Mhmm... Mhmm...” She murmured to herself as she inspected each colt or filly.

It seemed like she was checking their abilities by examining their eyes alone. Then she nodded, as if she approved of each one. When she approached Lightning, she froze for a second and examined closer. Her dark red eyes pierced Lightning’s navy eyes; he was squirming in discomfort. She gave a small smirk and nodded, proceeding to walk over to Lunar.

She had close to the same reaction with Lunar, however gave a slight gasp after a short time. Either Lunar had just won the world’s toughest staring contest, or he simply frightened the instructor with his raw abilities. Lightning was quick to think both while laughed to himself, and Mrs. Dodger walked over to Dash. Again, giving the same reaction, but Dash was much softer and easier to read than Lunar, so she managed to contain another gasp of shock.

She walked back over to the front of the group of pegasi, and spoke in a booming, stern voice. “Attention! We have among us today, three pegasi whom hold more potential talent than anypony here. I suggest you keep your eyes peeled, and observe closely, because I can guarantee talent like this doesn't come every lifetime.”

Lightning wasn’t too interested in the whole “talent” grouping. He just loved flying, and loved having fun in doing so. Lunar on the other hand... Yeah, he probably wanted to be better than everypony else, just to say he was.

“Alright pupils,” said Mrs. Dodger, “go find your rooms, then I will call you out to see your potential, and recommend the best career path for you.”

In that moment, the whole group split off in multiple directions, eager to show their talent to their instructor. Dash ran over to Lightning and greeted him. “Hey bud, want to find Lunar and get our room quickly?”

“Yeah, sounds good.” replied Lightning, “Now, where exactly IS Lunar?”

Just before they took a second to look around, he had flown up to them at blinding speed, slamming his hooves into the clouds to make a stop. Just before colliding with Lightning and Dash, he had come to a stop and said, “I don’t know, where do you think?”

They all laughed, and walked in the direction of an empty dorm. The group just wasn’t the same without ole’ Spitfire, but they all knew she was living out her dream, and that was enough for them.

They opened the door to their dorm, and saw; two bunk beds, two large chairs, a few posters offering flight tips, and a small table lamp. Pretty basic, but it is what one would expect at a flight camp. Dash then flopped onto the bottom of one of the bunk beds, and looked up at the bars holding the top bunk. After a bit of pondering, he asked the group, “What do you think they will assign us as careers?”

Lightning looked to Lunar and said, “They would be idiots to not make you a scout leader."

Lunar laughed and said, “And they would be stupid to not make you a weather pegasus.”

Lightning nodded, and actually liked the idea a lot. It was well paying, relaxed, and involved free flying every day. Now that he took a moment to think about it, it would be a perfect job for him! “Well I just hope so,” he said.

Lunar looked to Dash and said, “And this one will be Pope Dash I!” They all laughed at his joke, and flopped onto their beds, mentally prepping for whatever challenges may lay ahead.

Not even a few minutes later, Mrs. Dodger opened the door, and called out a name. “Shadow, Lunar?”

Lunar nodded and walked over to the teacher, whom then said, “Oh- you,” in a semi-excited manner. She grinned, and held the door open. “Well, let’s see what you can do, hmm? Other than winning a staring contest.”

As she departed, Dash had picked up the blue, 4-string bass guitar he had brought with him. He must have had some sort of bag or something, because Lightning didn't even notice it at first. Pulling it out, he started strumming a few strings, and attempted a find a tune he liked. It actually sounded really good, because he had a knack for finding the right chords and verses.

Lightning had pulled out a book, and began reading about the main responsibilities of a weather pegasus. The book must have bored Lightning in the beginning, because he fell asleep in the intro. That, or Dash found Lightning’s lullaby on the bass.

An unknown amount of time had passed before Lunar had smashed through the door, screaming and shouting straight at them. Lightning had regained consciousness after a slight heart attack from the shock, and sat up. “Jeez dude what the hay is your deal?” He rubbed his eyes a bit, as Lunar began describing what the instructor had told him.

“She had me run a few different courses, and obstacles, and she said that I would make a perfect leader in a scout party!”

Lightning nodded and said, "Well, yeah! You have an amazing sense of direction, and never seem to get lost wherever you go.”

“Well, that’s not all. She said that Ponyville is in need of new scout parties to set up bird migration routes, and she said I can start as a scout team leader right away!”

Lightning had gotten up, and hoof-bumped him in congratulations, along with Dash. Lightning said, “Well, I guess you have work to do soon, eh?”

“Yeah, she said I need to start some time before spring, because they are trying to set up a winter tradition of some sort. Errr, “Winter Wrap Up”, I believe she said...”

Lightning nodded and told him, “Well, it’s great that you have something to do now once we leave here!”

At that moment, the instructor came in and read off another name. “Dash, Sonic?”
Dash raised his hoof, and nodded.

“That’s me, ma’am.” She nodded and scribbled something off the clipboard.

“Are you ready to show me what you can do, son?” He nodded, and walked out with the instructor, leaving Lunar and Lightning together.

“So, uh, what exactly did you do out there?” Asked Lightning.

“Well, she had me run a few different scenarios, like agility and dark tunnel obstacles. I think that she has records of previous camps or something, because they had the obstacles set up so they suit your strengths.”

How could they set up obstacles for speed?

“That would make sense, see how good you are at what you do I guess.”

Lunar nodded and said, “It seemed like the instructors knew a lot about our abilities too, because each corner and pitch was challenging. But nothing I couldn't handle!”

He laughed a bit, and flopped down on a bed in exhaustion. The course must have been straining, because Lunar isn’t one to submit to exhaustion so easily. Lightning tossed him a book to read, and flopped back down on his bed. Closing his eyes again, he slowly drifted off into a small slumber, having small dreams of the course he might have, and how difficult it must be.

After an unknown amount of time, and in the most shocking fashion, Dash smashed the door open, and bolted inside. Ironically, he spoke in a calm tone, “That....was...”

Lightning had opened his eyes and looked up to his friend.

“Awesome!” Dash got to about halfway to bed and collapsed onto the floor.

“Woah, dude, are you ok?” asked Lightning.

Lightning had gotten up, and poked him a bit.

Cold. Out cold.

“Jeez, what kind of course did they make him run!?” asked Lightning.

Lunar shrugged and flipped over. He, too, was completely drained of energy.

In that very moment, Mrs. Dodger opened the door again and said, "Chaser, Lightning?”

Lightning nodded and followed Mrs. Dodger outside into the open flight area. Multiple clouds were scattered around, and a few loops had been placed randomly around the sky. Clouds, and loops? Didn’t make much sense, but whatever they had, they knew Chaser did it best.

“Alright bud, we have some clouds set up around,” explained Mrs. Dodger, “and a few loops for good measure. What we want you to do is try and remove every cloud from this area, giving unlimited visibility. Then after all the clouds have been cleared, your goal is to fly through the loops twice within fifteen seconds. Do you think you can manage?”

He thought for a moment and replied, “Fifteen seconds flat.”

She smiled a bit and said, “Alright, on your mark, you can start your task.”

She flew over to a small table with another mare, and a stallion closely observing. Lightning knew this was the most important objective to date. He had to put forth more than all his effort into this task. He spread his wings out and flew up to the starting point, a large cloud above all the others that he had to clear. He planted his hooves into the cloud firmly, and crouched down in preparation. He told the judge fifteen seconds flat, so this would take all his effort, and all his energy. In moments that were shorter than even seconds, he was off, bolting ahead straight at the first cloud, and already closing in on full speed. The judges started their watches, and observed very closely.

As he flew towards his first few clouds, he immediately kicked the first one in front of him, then bucked the one behind it. In haste, he flew straight down through three or four more clouds, and kicked another while thrusting himself into one behind him. The sudden rushes of wind, and the water vapor from the clouds, were hitting his fur as he thrusted forward at insane speeds. The whole world around him started to become a large blur, as time seemed to slow, and the blood began rushing through him fiercely.

His time was 4:561.

He blasted through another cloud, immediately grabbing onto the nearest cloud, and, using his momentum to swing around it, slammed it into another four clouds. As he reached the clouds closest to the ground, he flung out his hooves, and swung around back upwards, bucking the cloud behind him after launching from them. The air around him had shaken extremely violently, while the clouds had crumbled under his sheer speed.

8:912.

He forced his head down, and used his momentum to fling into a wild frontflip. Then, kicking off a cloud, he thrusted himself off it and into the ring. As he passed through the ring, he obliterated a few clouds from plowing straight through them, and they all instantly vaporized and vanished.

11:021.

Only a few clouds left! The last bolt of speed had taken out almost a quarter of the amount of stamina he started with. He flipped and exploded off another cloud, decimating it as well.

12:347.

The last five clouds! All in close vicinity, and ready to be vanquished! Using his last bit of energy, he thrusted ahead as fast as he could, accelerating at blistering speeds. The sky around him shook violently, and began slowing down along with time, as he slammed into a group of clouds, bounced off another, and hit and bucked another two at the same time.

13:621.

This was it, just three more clouds, and that final ring. With his last breath, Lightning flung himself at the last three clouds.

14:005.

With a strong hit, and an instant buck, two were demolished, leaving one straight in the path of the loop.

14:362.

This was it, the final milliseconds of the most important showing in his life.

14:425.

He lunged himself as fast as he could, shaking the air menacingly. Everything seemed to slow down into nanoseconds, as he neared the loop. He could feel the cool dampness of the cloud as he flew through it; able to see every little detail as he pierced straight through the center.

14:781.

It would be on the wire. The last few centimeters from finishing his task. If he didn't make a miracle happen here, it was all over. He had to do something, and fast.

14:831.

The air was just starting to smoothen out, as he blasted through the loop, shattering it to bits behind him. Having used his last bit of energy, he stopped flapping his wings, and instantly began front flipping wildly, out of control, and straight towards the ground. Time began to gradually return to normal, as his chest slammed into the ground. His momentum dragged him, forcing him into a few rolls on the ground and dragged him dozens of feet forward. His rear legs were bent almost straight up, while his wings were still fully stretched out, sore from the tremendous stress he had put on them. Legs dropping, and wings collapsed, he hit the ground with his hoof hard in frustration.

15:008.

That was it, he failed to hit the promised time, and in term probably failed the task. He had then closed his eyes tight in anger, while the judges walked over to evaluate his performance. Contrary to what he had been expecting, they all clapped their hooves, and knelt down towards him. Even though he was breathing extremely heavily, he had turned to one of them, and said, "I-I’m sorry, I f-failed.” They all laughed and smiled.

Mrs. Dodger said, “No you didn’t! You just broke the Equestrian record!”

His eyes shot open in disbelief as he looked over towards the judges. The stallion’s watch read, “14:008”. Lightning's counting was off the entire time, probably from counting too fast, therefore causing his haste to intensify with each passing moment.

“The previous record was 14:891, held by Whiplash, and son, you just blew it out of the water!” exclaimed the stallion.

Lightning laughed slightly in between breaths. “S-so what does that mean?”

The judges looked at each other and nodded. The stallion said, “It means you’re going into the weather business. No other pony can clear a cluttered sky in under fifteen seconds.”

He wanted to think about the possibilities, the rewards, and the idea of it, but he was far too exhausted to think. Shortly after they had given him the news, the judges had all grabbed onto his arms, and pulled him back up to standing. Lightning felt rather dizzy, as he stumbled a bit after being helped up. The cabins were swirling around in interesting patterns as the world beneath him rocked back and forth. Cautiously, he thanked the judges for their time, and walked back to his cabin. The world still swirling, he flung the door open, stepped over Dash, and flopped onto his bed. It too, was swirling violently beneath him, as he closed his eyes and slipped out of awareness.

In that moment, the swirling stopped, and everything became calm and peaceful. The only thought in his dream, was the 14:008 on the judges’ watches. Could that have been a legitimate time?

. . .

For what seemed like mere moments, Lightning slowly awakened to find Dash, and Lunar sprawled out on their beds. The sky outside was pitch black, and he could see the dim twinkle of stars outside. The four stars circling the moon, and everything in between. His wings were horrendously sore from the massive amount of strain he had put on them. Sore, is actually a bit of an understatement. The only feeling he had in that moment, was pain from the intense moments of cloud-busting, and the sudden bursts of agility he went through. Is this what Lunar and Dash were feeling? It’s no wonder they came back completely exhausted.

Lightning stretched his wings out, and winced in a sudden spike of pain. The whole task seemed like a rushed blur to him now, as he rubbed the muscles in his wings. Slowly, he folded them back up, and closed his eyes to try and drift back into sleep. That was probably the only time he ever fell asleep willingly. Lightning was always overloaded with excess energy, that now, was completely drained. Peace returned once more as images began to fill his head. The sky he had just witnessed began changing rapidly. The four stars that surrounded the moon earlier, began slowly drifting farther off, and eventually slowing to a point where they may have been almost fifteen years ago. The moonlight shined brightly through the window, as he looked down at the ground. To Lightning, it seemed like he had been standing on a cliff.

Lightning had then looked back up, and bent down to jump off the cliff. His target, a large pillow on the floor. As he jumped off the railing of his crib, the feeling of wind and falling had instantly hit him, and it felt good. A smile had come across his face, as he hit the pillow, causing both the earlier feelings to fade. It was a feeling like no other, and he loved it. So much in fact, he climbed back up the steep crib cliff, and jumped once again. This time however, he spread his teeny wings out, and tried to glide down to the pillow. The feeling of falling had lasted longer when he had been gliding, because of his increased drag, and air resistance. The soft pillow cushioned the collision, as he instantly stood back up on all four legs and looked out the window. Some day, he would get out there. Out into the wide open sky for the simple joy of flying. But to him, this simple joy was his whole life. He just had to get out there. Someday.

. . .

After a few hours of sleep, Lightning was awakened by Dash, whom seemed rather excited about something.

“Hey, hey bud, wake up!” he said, “They post results today for what we did yesterday!”

“He must be talking what career the instructors believe we would do perform our best at, based on their tests,” thought Lightning, drowsily. Lightning nodded, and rubbed his eyes a bit. His wings still felt extremely sore, but other than that he felt better after crashing in bed right after his task. He was excited to see what everypony else got. Lightning, Dash, and Lunar had then all ran out to the large board posted outside of the rooms, with all other kinds of mares and colts standing around, jumping and yelling in cheer, and disappointment.

Behind them, a young colt had shouted out, “Scout team member!? AWESOME!”

Lightning could hear Lunar laughing a bit behind him, saying, “Who knows- maybe he’ll be in my party.” They both shrugged, and walked up to the board.

Lightning saw Dash’s name first. Written in capital letters and bold print, it read,

“SONIC DASH - WEATHER PEGASUS AREA C.”

The outcome was none too surprising. Dash had a great hustle, and was really good at picking clouds out of the sky. But what exactly did “Area C” mean? He searched the board very carefully, and noticed areas listed at the bottom of the board. It seemed they ran from as far north as Canterlot, to as far south as below Fillydelphia.

“--AREA C - PONYVILLE--”

Ponyville... that new settlement off the river? That seemed like a great place to start, because the sky there was so open and clear, and Lightning was in term rather jealous.

“Ponyville? Awesome! I can't wait to start working the clouds there!” exclaimed Dash. Lightning hoof-bumped him, and kept searching the board for Lunar’s name. After a careful search, he found Lunar’s name listed at the top of the scout team parties.

“LUNAR SHADOW - SCOUT TEAM 12 LEADER.”

“Team 12?” he thought. He searched where a few numbers were listed below, and found the answer to his question. Each number represented a different section for the scout teams to explore, and Team 12 was responsible for creating migration routes for aviary animals from as far south as Stallahassee. Being a team leader is a big responsibility, because it means he had to be friends with all his members, guide them through tough areas and situations, keep sharp and alert, and keep them all in good condition. Knowing Lunar, he could do it with two hooves behind his back.

Lightning continued to scan the board thoroughly until he found his name listed. A few moments of searching, and there it was.

“LIGHTNING CHASER - WEATHER PEGASUS AREA C.”

Area C... Ponyville! He would be working with Dash, managing those calm skies above; it was perfect. Wide open skies, calm town, no stress of doing right or wrong; he couldn't ask for a better career.

At that moment, Mrs. Dodger walked up and said, “Alright everypony, now that you know what we think you will do best at, any thoughts?”

A couple of shook their heads, while others didn’t seem to notice her speaking at all. From what it seemed, everypony was rather satisfied with what they got. Lightning on the other hand, got the career he dreamed of. He and Dash couldn't ask for a better one, and the fact that they would work together made it even better!

Dash walked over to Lightning and said, “Looks like you can't shake me, huh, bud?” They both laughed a bit, and walked away from the board. There was still a day left of camp, but the final day was just a rerun of basic skills and techniques. Dash and Lightning both knew they were well qualified for what they were doing, and needed no more further training.

Approaching Mrs. Dodger, Dash asked her, “Ma’am, me and Lightning want to go ahead and leave early so we can check out our new career.”

She nodded, bidding them farewell. “Good luck boys, and remember to keep those skies clear!” They both nodded, and flew away, waving at their final instructor. The wind felt different to Lightning, it was a more free, and light feeling. Thinking back on it, he had an amazing colthood. Now, it’s time to continue on, and make himself an amazing future.

Comments

[CaptainSanchez]

FIRST!... um, I mean... if that's alright with you...

[cpthitsugaya]

1572714
First?

[CaptainSanchez]

1574385 On this chapter, yeah. Also, I notice that we're the only two who've commented on this story. Why is that?

[cpthitsugaya]

1574482
Because for whatever reason, Fimfic doesn't refresh it every time I add a new chapter...