Soldier of the Night

by Skyfire Storm

27. Settling In

"You passed!"

"What?!"

"You heard me, Stormfire. You passed your entrance exam, and with full marks no less."

To say that Storm was shocked would be an understatement. He had revised for eight hours straight the night before, kept awake by the whirring of a cheap coffee machine he had purchased as it prepared another cup for him, whilst he gathered and compiled all he could remember from what he had leaned in Cloudsdale while working there and learning under High Wind's wing. His eyes, bloodshot from the lack of sleep seemed to crack into eggshell like pieces even during the actual exam, and oftentimes, he was reprimanded for resting his head on the desk by his invigilator, a mare whose name he couldn't quite catch, but judging from her accent, was not from Equestria. He was the only pony present in the examination room which reminded him of his old geography classroom, aside from Clear, who supervised the exam and marked his paper, and from the foreign mare who constantly monitored his every move like a hawk during those fateful two hours for any signs of cheating, which greatly reduced his stress as he had virtually no competition whatsoever from anypony, but oh boy, were some of the questions frustratingly tough. One question, in particular, made the two hours Storm spent in that room a living Tartarus, one which forced Storm to rethink and rewrite the answer to it at least four times, but despite the questions involving variables that he had not covered in much detail back in Cloudsdale, considering the fact that he had only joined the higher ranks as a junior storm maker, his frustration and drive to succeed pushed him to try his best, along with the added fear of angering High Wind at home even more, but the more questions he done, the more frustrated he became. At one point, as the questions slowly became trickier and begun put more pressure on him, Storm was expecting the worst possible result, despite having spent the entire night before revising and had to be personally reassured by Clear herself that it would go well.

"Really?"

"Yep." Clear gave him an encouraging smile from her desk, as she slipped his paper into a folder, which she then closed. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty strange." Storm admitted, wiping his forehead with his hoof as he glanced down at his now empty desk, still amazed at the fact that he passed the entrance exam. "I honestly did not expect to pass this at all."

"Congratulations, Stormfire." smiled the other mare, walking up to the front of the room. "I knew you could do it."

"Thanks, ma'am." smiled Storm. "So, what do I need to do now?"

"Can you come in tomorrow to start your training course?" asked Clear, watching as he stood up out of his chair, before picking up his saddlebag from beneath the desk. "We are required to assess your physical performance before we let you start your three-week training."

"Sure thing." nodded Storm, sliding through the maze of desks towards the door across the room from where he originally sat, the stress which overpowered him not very long ago having completely dissipated by then.

"Though, are you sure you'll be able to handle it?"

"Of course." Storm smiled back at her. "I did a lot of physical stuff back in Cloudsdale."

"No, I'm not kidding, Storm." Clear shook her head. "The training course will decide whether you will stay here or go back to Cloudsdale. For many ponies it is also much harder than the exam itself, and I'm just wondering whether you'll find it stressful or not. Your performance report mentioned that you like working under pressure, but some ponies, who are now fairly successful in this career found the training course a living Tartarus to put it nicely."

"I'm sure it can't be that bad..." Storm shook his head. "Like I mentioned earlier, I did some pretty physical stuff back in Cloudsdale, like cloud-busting."

"Well, if I were you..." begun the invigilator mare who stood next to Clear's desk in a thick Mareopean accent, possibly Griffon or Germaneian but Storm couldn't make out exactly what it was. "I'd start getting yourself ready. We have a gym here, along with a swimming pool just down the hallway."

"Really?" asked Storm.

"Yep." smiled Clear. "And you can go there anytime when you're on your break."

"Sweet." Storm grinned at her, before reaching the door.

"Storm?"

"Huh?"

"What's this?"

"My cutie mark?" he raised an eyebrow as he turned towards Clear, who seemed to have her eyes set on Storm's cutie mark, which adorned both his flanks. "What about it?"

"Nothing, nothing." she shook her head, still continuing to inspect it. "Well, it's just that I don't think it has anything to do with weather. Can you tell me how you got it?"

And so, Storm proceeded to tell her the story of how one day, while on a school trip to Canterlot he protected a tourist in Canterlot from two thugs who had attempted to rob her, her eyes widening in delight as he earnestly told her about what had transpired on that day for Storm to earn his cutie mark. However, her delight was cut short when Storm finished telling him about his experience, and was instead replaced by confusion and concern, a look that was shared by her and the invigilator who stood next to her.

"So, shouldn't you be working in the Guard or in the military?" asked Clear. "I mean, judging by the story you've just told us, you clearly have what it takes to enlist there."

"Oh..." Storm frowned, his gaze shifting to the floor in embarrassment. "I'm sorry ma'am, but it's not something I like to talk about."

"Well...If it's something personal, then I won't pry." Clear nodded understandingly. "You best be going, alright?"

"Sure." Storm nodded, walking out of the classroom and letting out a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him.

"Poor kid..." sighed Clear as she gazed down at Storm's papers one last time before she filed them away into a paper folder marked 'Stormfire, Cloudsdale'. "Why is he working in weather if his cutie mark tells him otherwise?"

"I don't know..." shrugged the invigilator in her thick accent. "Maybe it runs in ze family?"

"Possibly." Clear mused. "Though I still do feel sorry for him in a way. You think I should write to the guy who exchanged him, and ask him whether it was a good idea to do so? High Wind, I believe was his name."

"I'd zay we should give him a chanze." replied the invigilator as she stared downwards at an unsure-looking Clear. "After all, he did pass ze test. If he doesn't prove himzelf we zend him back?"

"That's a good idea, Hoofender." nodded Clear. "We should have somepony monitoring him during his training and reporting back to us on his progress."

"Who'd be up for ze job?" the invigilator scratched her head.

"How about...my daughter?" proposed Clear. "After all, she does work as a lifeguard at the pool."

"You think that'd be a good idea? Ze way I see it, Lillian's too inexperienced. After all, she has only been working here for three weeks."

"Maybe she and Storm can get along... Both of them are new around here, and both are of similar ages, so at least they'll have something in common."

"I don't know about zis."

"It's worth a shot..." replied Clear as she grasped the large, brick-sized phone to her right, before typing in the first few digits of a phone number on the keypad. "Maybe Lilli will find it easier to settle in with the help of a new friend?"

---

Before heading back home, Storm decided to stop by the weather factory's cafeteria in order to quench the feeling of hunger and thirst he had developed during the exam, and in turn, silence his growling digestive tract. Having bought himself a slice of pizza and a can of soda to drink for two bits fifty, which he considered to be an absolute bargain, he sat down at the far end of the cafeteria, hoping to avoid the curious glances of some of the other weather ponies who were having their own lunches and discussing their jobs. As he sat down and bit into the rather gum-like slice of cheese and tomato pizza, he couldn't help but feel a bit strange, perhaps due to the fact that he had passed the entrance exam despite fearing so much, and certainly expecting that he'd fail it. For Storm it felt as though the few years of experience he had as a weather pony, during the course of which he had risen through the ranks of the weather pony hierarchy to become a junior storm maker, had finally come to good use, and he felt a strange mixture of pride and regret overpower him from that moment on. Though he had finally passed the exam, thus being eligible for the training course that he was expected to do over the next three weeks, starting tomorrow at 9 AM, his stomach begun to churn at the thought of this being his career. Deep down at the bottom of his heart, Storm knew full well that this was not the right job for him, though the countless attempts at persuading High Wind to let him decide his own life had ended in failure, with High Wind hell-bent on seeing Storm become the leader of the Tornado Team itself back home in Cloudsdale. He knew that his cutie mark was not compatible with this career, but as long as his stepfather still practically controlled him, arguing with him wouldn't come to any good.

As Storm still contemplated his life up to that point, along with what Clear had discussed with him immediately after his exam, his eyes begun to notice a white mare with a blond mane and twilight blue eyes begun to approach his vacant table, carrying a tray full of lunch in both her hooves.

"Uh, mind if I sit here?" she asked.

"No, not at all." Storm shook his head as he budged up slightly to the right.

"You must be the new dude, right?" asked the mare, before she scarfed down some hay fries.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Storm replied. "How do you know?"

"My mom, Clear, told me all about you over the phone." the mare explained, not noticing Storm's nervousness as he observed the other ponies in the cafeteria, many of them who were staring at him. "I'm Lillian, but just call me Lilli."

"Stormfire." Storm outstretched his hoof and shook the mare's hoof. "So... what do you do around here?"

"Oh, I'm the lifeguard at the pool." replied Lilli. "Though it isn't really a proper job. It's just to give me something to do in my spare time while I'm waiting for university to start."

"Sweet." Storm grinned. "Where are you hoping to study?"

"I'm hoping to study Weather Theory at the University of Cloudsdale. If that doesn't work out, I'm considering opening up a flower store somewhere around here. Flowers have kinda been my thing since I was a filly, though they always came second place to weather."

"That's awesome." Storm smiled. "I'm actually from Cloudsdale myself."

"Really?" Lilli asked. "What are you doing in Vanhoover if I may ask?"

"I got transferred here." Storm explained. "Back in Cloudsdale I was a Junior Storm Maker, I’ll be interning here for a while."

"Sweet." Lilli smiled at him as she finished eating her hay fries. "I'm really hoping to graduate with a Master's degree in weather theory... it'd make my mom so happy."

"Whatever it is you're looking to do once you graduate, I hope it goes well for you."

"Aww, thanks." Lilli cooed.

"Uh, listen, it's been nice talking to you and all, but I gotta go back to my apartment." Storm explained, before he clicked open his can of soda. "Wanna meet up here again tomorrow?"

"Will you be here?" she asked, watching as he stood up out of his seat, his soda held firmly in the grasp of his hoof.

"Of course I will." Storm smiled. "I'm starting my training tomorrow, so uh... I kinda have to be here."

"Sweet." she grinned. "Do you know where it's taking place?"

"Not really..." Storm shook his head, before sipping on his soda. "But I guess I'll find out tomorrow."

"Alright, sounds good." Lilli grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow then, I guess."

"Sure." Storm smiled, before walking away from the mare, who waved at him. Returning the gesture, he trotted out of the cafeteria and past other weather ponies who were enjoying their lunch break, before stepping out of the factory into the surprisingly cool Vanhoover air. The weather forecast for the next few days called for temperatures to soar in the mid-nineties, but despite it being early afternoon and easily the hottest part of the day it still felt rather cool due to the mountains which partially flanked the city from the south, east and north. Embracing the northerly wind as he walked up to the edge of the cliff on which the factory was perched on, he could see the entire city in all its glory from the edge, plus one or two suburban towns to the north and south. The skyline of the city appeared to be far more extensive than what he could see from the windows of his fourteenth story apartment on the outskirts of downtown, and seemed to stretch for at least two more miles. However, most of it was a silhouette, with fine details such as windows or patterns on the walls of buildings being obscured by smog, a fairly common occurrence in the western cities. And yet, despite much of the view being obscured by the smoke-like clouds, a testament to Vanhoover's mostly industrial economy, the view was still wonderful and extensive, despite not being close to what can be seen from Cloudsdale on a nice day like today. He felt like flying home, despite knowing full well that he was still new here and didn't know the city as well as he knew Cloudsdale, but he still decided to take his chances. Though he realized that it'd be easier to get home via train, nothing could amount to the freedom he experienced while flying. The wind beating on his face, his mane, which was long enough to cover his eyes fully fluttering freely in the wind as well as the prospect of being able to fly wherever he wanted were all things he adored about flight, and in weather like this, flying was an experience that was unmatched by any other physical activity.

Outstretching his wings, Storm took off from the edge of the cliff, and over the vast expanse of private, middle-class housing that made up the suburb of Silverwood, which marked the eastern boundary of Vanhoover. To a certain extent, it felt strange flying over an unfamiliar city, such as Vanhoover, but Storm was determined to get used to it and make it his morning commute upon starting work at the weather factory. However, as he approached downtown Vanhoover, he begun to consider what life in Cloudsdale has been like since he left. In a way, he felt shameful, and not for the fact that he left; he left somepony behind, and that somepony was his marefriend. The idea of being so far away from Blue saddened Storm deeply, but what made him happier was the fact that he could return to Cloudsdale during the Hearth's Warming Eve break. Their final moment spent together in the park in North Cloudsdale was a somber and rather bitter-sweet one, with him promising that he'll be back as soon as he possibly could and them both sharing one last kiss in the park. Tears begun to form in Storm's eyes as he remembered that Blue had wanted to come with him and work alongside him, and he came to a sudden halt, kept in mid-air only by the flapping of his wings, recalling the painful memory of him declining her offer. Letting out a regretful sigh as he investigated the city from his vantage point, he considered what it would have been like if Blue had come with him to Vanhoover for a brief moment, before he came to the realization that it was probably for the best that she stayed. She had her own life to be getting on with, with a job at the Cloudsdale weather factory to provide her with an income, a career as a teacher waiting for her and two loving parents to support her and encourage her. Unfortunately, Storm had none of that, except for his mom back in Cloudsdale, who probably missed him like crazy. As of right now, he was living out of High Wind's pocket and his apartment was completely funded by High Wind, though what raised his hopes of being fully independent was the idea of getting paid while training, albeit at a much lower rate than what full time weather ponies were paid.

Upon landing in front of the apartment building he had reluctantly come to call 'home', he entered the lobby of the building, and upon greeting the receptionist, he made his way to the bank of three elevators which served the building, and waited around a minute for one to arrive.

"Finally..." he wiped his forehead free of sweat as he stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the fourteenth floor, on which he lived. The doors soon slid close, and the elevator jolted upwards, taking just less than a minute to reach its chosen destination. Upon arriving at the floor, Storm dropped his saddlebag onto the ground and reached in for his keys, and opened the door to his apartment. He slammed the door behind him, and made his way to the living room, in which the first thing he noticed was books scattered across the coffee table and the coffee maker on the floor. Tossing himself onto the couch, he let out a tired sigh before taking a short nap, which he felt was well-deserved after passing the entrance exam. That 'small' nap however lasted five hours, by which time it begun to get ever so slightly darker as the sun was no longer at its highest point in the sky. Having flown to a local pizza place, Storm bought himself a cheese and tomato pizza for four bits, and while eating it slice by slice, he also decided to focus on something he had started the night before immediately after revising for the exam.

Dear Blue,
I'm really sorry for not being able to send you a letter sooner, as I haven't had the time to do so, but now that I'm beginning training here, I hope to find more time for writing. As of me writing this letter, I had passed the entry exam, with full marks no less, and I will be undergoing extensive training for the next three weeks starting from tomorrow, before I can call myself a Vanhoover weather pony, but to be honest with you, I don't quite know what to make of this. I'm not meant to be a weather pony, but this is only an internship, and I’ll be back as soon as it's over. Honestly, I can't wait to see you again. I miss you so much.

Love
Storm

Author's Note:

So, after ten-eleven weeks, I'm back with Chapter 26. Hope you all enjoyed.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

6684756 ...Then why have a main six tag at all? Also, who is the romance with?

[HolyCross9]

6923212 The romance tag is because his main character, Stormfire has a loving relationship with Blue Night.

[HolyCross9]

You know, I was actually expecting him to fail the entry exam. Hopefully, something will happen that cause him to falter at the physical exam.

[Skyfire Storm]

6923212 all I can tell you is that they will appear later on in the story, probably in one of the later chapters.