To Dust

by BloomBoy06

Thundering to conclusions

It was unusual for a flight academy cadet to complain about a fellow Wonderbolt-in-Training, but the mohawked Thunderlane arrived at Spitfire’s door. The guards were on their break, so the frapping upon the door caught the captain off guard. He still sported what would be the equivalent of a Wonderbolt jersey, but still stood strong against his superior.

After the quick knocks, he swiftly demanded, right hoof held at salute, “Permission to enter, ma’am.”

That’s the strong attitude we need, Spitfire thought in the brief moment before replying, We could use a few more guys around, especially so Soarin has someone other than me to talk sports to. Having that flash of memory to herself, she responded, “Come on in, Thunderlane, no guards this time.”

As the stallion opened the door with his left hoof, he still held his right in salute. Realizing it had overstayed its timeframe, he trotted on all fours over to the desk. He gazed around briefly, never had he been in the captain’s office, so vast of a space, yet so constricting. A large desk littered with photos waiting to be stomped with the regal hoof-signature of Spitfire herself. All those yellow pegasai even made the small space between chairs feel even closer than the desk would allow. To properly gather his thoughts, he felt it better to remain standing.

“I’m guessing you didn’t come in to say hi.”

Not one to scramble around the issue, he plunged into the reason, “I wanted to complain about the obstacle course.”

“Too hard?”

“No ma’am,” came the quick attempt to save his dignity.

“So why were Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash the only team to have finished? To me, that indicates the course was possible.”

“Nopony could have finished the course other than those two, it was impossible,” Thunderlane erupted, although he did manage to keep calm, “Rainbow made an attempt to reason with sanity, but I think you gave Lightning Dust a little too much credibility behind that lead pony status.”

But Spitfire rationalized it in a calmer light, “If you remember, Lightning Dust managed to surpass what Rainbow Dash could have done.”

“And managed to pass by us. With the same force no less!”

“Don’t mistake force for determination.”

“NO!” he snapped back, “No disrespect ma’am, but I didn’t think the Wonderbolts were all about pushing ourselves to the brink of doom, for ourselves nor others.”

Spitfire’s intention of twisting her chair around was to provide a dramatic reply, but became sidetracked from a picture hanging on the right side of the room just before the ceiling. The frame alone might not have indicated anything important, but for a fair minute, it held the focal point of the room. Thunderlane twisted his head to the side, trying to gather the picture’s importance. The mare in question had only one shade of orange for her mane, contrary to Spitfire’s varying orange shades. She wore the trademark goggles, though they would never reveal her eye color, which was howthey were typically designed. The trait that caught the charcoal colt with the most confusion was how much added weight she carried. Whoever the mare had been appeared to have an off-type physique, one he would not associate with the Wonderbolts. On the other side of the argument, she was in better shape than Pumping Iron, who had too much muscle. She, however, had the opposite problem, albeit at a minimal level.

Thunderlane noticed how the defiant captain seemed to be having a sentimental moment to herself. Despite not wanting to interrupt, he needed to return on some track of relevancy, “Um, was she a friend of yours?”

This brought Spitfire back to her senses, and snapped her chair back around. She had pushed out all the thoughts in her head, and completely forgot she had company in the room, “Well…she still is. It’s just that there’s a fairly large age range between us.”

“Ah,” he sighed in understanding, “an old mentor.”

“I suppose so,” Spitfire admitted, in a more meditated tone. She took a look back up at the framed photo, and asked to a blank wall, “I’d be willing to say you don’t know who Meadow Sky is.”

Pausing for a moment to concentrate on the implied question, Thunderlane responded, “I apologize, the name sounds familiar, but I’m not familiar with her work for the team.”

A heavy sigh of remembrance followed suit, and she went on, “You remember how we performed that night at the Grand Galloping Gala?”

“Wasn’t there, but I heard about it.”
“And how we were called in when the dragon came into town?”

That was only Spike, Thunderlane mumbled, but he figured giving a simple, “Yes,” would suffice for the explanation, “but I’ve always wondered why your duties vary like that.”

“That’s where Meadow Sky comes in. I’ll spare you the short story. Basically, she was the one who founded what was recognized as the first showcase division of our team. They got blended in over time, and she ended up retiring from those duties.”

“Never knew that.”

“Few do.”

Despite the sentimental segment, Thunderlane had to bring up the reason of intended visit, “So, Miss Spitfire, what does this mean about Lightning Dust?”

The response seemed to take much longer than the frame’s attention. Spitfire may have needed much more time to make a decision. Even so, she needed to express what she felt, “I’ll talk with the others about this. Even if Lightning Dust did do this, I’m gonna need more than your word against what she says.”

“Understood.”

“May as well take care of this later though. There’s the final test I need to introduce. After that, then I’ll begin the official inquiry.”

Although Thunderlane would let that happen he had to know one last detail, “What’s the last test?”

“Cloudbusting.”

“Figures I have the wingpony who’s never worked the clouds before.”

This gave Spitfire one last chance to sound calmly authoritative before the final task, “But I can tell you’re not the type of pony who’ll let that get in your way, am I wrong in that assumption?”

With a valiant salute, Thunderlane replied, “No, ma’am. I’ll do whatever I can – within reason – to clear the most clouds.”

Sadly, that was the easiest answer Spitfire would receive the entire day.

Comments

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Nice to see Spitfire isn't jumping to conclusions but was aware that Lightning Dust's behavior might not acceptable.