|Two Weeks Later|

"Woo! Go Lightray!" Rainfeather cheered.

Lightray was high in the sky and out of view. She doubted Lightray could hear her, but that didn't stop Rainfeather from cheering on her best friend. Redwind and Hazelblaze whooped with her, but not Starfrost. Rainfeather noticed Starfrost had been talking with Moonheart often, but she didn't mind. Actually, Rainfeather was glad Starfrost and Moonheart were reunited. Starfrost had been mute in Anok ever since Moonheart, Morningleaf, Brackentail and the black foals left. It was just recently when Rainfeather actually met Starfrost was he talking again. She wondered why. Rainfeather looked up, seeing Lightray falling down, gasping for breath. Star and Flameflight caught him. The striking cremello stallion caught his breath and righted himself.

"Mesosphere!" Lightray announced with a rare pride in his tone.

"Yes! At this rate, you'll be at the exosphere!" Rainfeather whinnied.

"I doubt it. I could hardly- I couldn't breath up there." He nickered.

"You did better than me." Rainfeather said to cheer him up. Rainfeather only made it to the border of the troposphere, where the jetstreams were. The humiliating part was Hazelblaze did better than her, the chubbiest pegasus she knew. Next to Mossfog, the short stubby stallion she had to team up with in her very few weeks of sky herder training. Seeming to read her thoughts, Morningleaf asked "Want to try again Rainfeather? You did pretty good out there."

Rainfeather turned her head towards Morningleaf, blinking slowly.

"HA! Pretty good? Literally everyone did better than that dud! I bet she'll be a good spy though! Small enough to fit in a rat's hallow!" Flameflight laughed at his own joke. Morningleaf and her mate Star gave him a cold glance. Flameflight corrected himself "I mean... Morningleaf's right..! You did do pretty good out there!" Rainfeather's wings dropped to her side, her head low, ears droopy. Moonheart nudged her on the shoulder. "Hey, don't listen to him. Have faith in yourself, try again." Rainfeather wasn't convinced, but she did as Moonheart told, lifting off into the sky. Lightray was the only pegasus that cheered her on.

"Yes! C'mon Rainfeather!!"

Rainfeather, as useless as she felt kept going, struggling when she was only just above the clouds.

"I'm never going to reach the thermosphere." She thought.