//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 - The Worst Pain Comes From Waiting 
// Story: Top Wing 
// by LCranston 
//------------------------------//


An hour later, an armored blue pegasus flew overhead of the floating outpost situated over Sweet Apple Acres.  She landed on the empty lane of the landing strip and immediately got off the lane.  
A tall, muscular female pegasus galloped up to her and challenged, “Who the hell are you and why should I not buck you right off my landing strip?!”  She had a light purple coat, gray mane, and green eyes.  Since she was armored, her cutie mark was concealed.
Calmly, Rainbow Dash presented her papers and said, “New recruit, ma’am.  You must be the deck officer.  Pleased to meet you.”
The mare took the papers and scrutinized them closely.  After a moment, she narrowed her eyes and sneered at the smaller pegasus.
“Oh, so you’ve been given a Royal Appointment.  Do you think that makes you special?”
Rainbow Dash replied nobly, “No, ma’am.  It makes me part of the team.  What are my duties?”
The mare, secretly impressed in spite of the blue pegasus’s reputation, snarled, “Follow me.”
They went inside the main doors and down the immediate spiral staircase to the next floor.  Emerging into the next hallway, they turned into the first room on the right.
Inside were two dozen pegasi, all in critical condition.  Pony after pony were moaning in sheer agony.  Their ribs were slashed right open.  Thick bandages showed the stains of old bleeding upon them.  Legs were broken, no doubt from the fall after the shock of the midsection wounds.
Nurses raced back and forth, bringing water and changing bandages.  A thin unicorn walked among the lines of wounded pegasi.  Her horn glowed powerfully, discharging on every wounded flier.  Their pain seemed to somewhat abate, but not completely.  Her own eyes were sunken with fatigue but she did not stop or rest.  
A couple of the wounded pegasi absently called out for their mothers, despite being surrounded by their comrades.  They were delirious with fever.
The deck officer pointed her hoof into the room and commanded, “Your first job is to not end up like them.  We’re out of spare beds.  Now report to the flight tower for your briefing.”

The blue pegasus went back into the hallway and ascended the stairs back to the main level and then up two more floors.  She entered the hallway and then spotted a large open room across the hallway from her.
Entering the conference room, she saw that it had a large board for drawing plans against the far wall.  Several pots of liquid rainbows, separated into their individual colors, were arranged neatly on a wall rack.  Currently, a map of the territory beneath the floating outpost was drawn in fine detail.  Overlaying the map was a grid dividing up the area into numbered sectors.
There were a couple dozen chairs in the center of the room spaced widely apart from each other.  Rainbow knew that these were for the active flight teams.  The extra space was so they could maneuver in full armor without bumping into each other easily.  Lining the walls were dozens of other chairs closer together.  Most of those chairs against the wall were filled with pegasi and unicorns with notebooks and clipboards, shuffling their hooves impatiently.
Rainbow Dash decided not to make a scene.  Instead, she took a seat in the third row in the middle.  Several ponies looked at her inquisitively.  After seeing her multi-colored mane, they whispered to each other.  Dash tried not to listen to what they said.  Instead, she studied the map closely, memorizing the location of each sector.
The sounds of several pairs of hooves came from behind her.  Four armored pegasi walked up to the front of the middle section and took their seats.  Where their flight armor did not cover showed the trademark uniform of a Wonderbolt.
A pegasus with a shocking orange mane turned around and said, “Hey there.  New recruit?  Just get here?”
Dash smiled and said, “Yup.  Just trying to fit in.”
The orange-maned pegasus cheerfully said, “Welcome!  I’m Spitfire.”
The blue pegasus enthusiastically replied, “I know who you are.  And that’s Soarin, Rapidfire, and Fleetfoot.  You guys are awesome!  I’ve been trying to get into the Wonderbolts my whole life!”
Soarin turned around upon hearing his name.  He glanced at the blue pegasus’s mane and said, “Oh, oh, oh!  I know you!  You’re that mare who saved my pie at the Grand Galloping Gala!”
Dash held her head up high and affirmed, “Yep, that’s me!”
Fleetfoot and Rapidfire turned around.  Their faces were more neutral.
Fleetfoot inquired cautiously, “Your name is Rainbow Dash?”
Dash answered, “Yup.  That’s me.”
Rapidfire asked, “You got into the Wonderbolts?  Where’s your uniform?”
The blue pegasus deflated a bit and replied, “I passed the obstacle course in ten seconds flat, but that jerk still wouldn’t let me in.  I got in by Royal Appointment, so it’s just temporary.  But don’t worry.  I’m here to work.  You just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.  I’m not here to show off.”
Fleetfoot and Rapidfire turned back to the map.  Rapidfire mumbled, “We’ll see.”
Spitfire smirked and said, “Careful, that ‘jerk’ is now your boss.  Welcome to the team, rookie.”  
Rainbow Dash fought down her natural instincts as best as she could.  Her mind whirled at a thousand miles per hour, Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, she called me ‘rookie’!  I’ll never wash these ears again!  
Instead, she just grinned like a fool.  If Spitfire accepted her, then maybe she could join permanently once this was all over.
Keeping up the conversation, she asked, “I only see four of you.  Where are the others?”  The faces of the Wonderbolts fell.
Spitfire commented, “In a bad way downstairs.  We’re it for now.”
With that, Spitfire and Soarin turned to study the map.
Suddenly, the powerful sound of hoofsteps filled the room.  Somepony called out, “Thunder Boss on deck!”
The entire room stood up.  The Wonderbolts stood at rigid attention.  Rainbow Dash tried to mimic them but without the nervous trembling.  After the powerful stallion entered the room and stomped up to the front of the room, everypony in the briefing room sat down, paying close attention to everything he did and said.
Thunder Boss stomped quickly up to the map and turned around.  He barked, “Gentleponies, this is bull’s-eye!  The caravan carrying the payload is finally ready to come out of the Everfree Forest.”
He pointed on the map at the edge of the forest in a square marked with a six.  A dotted path wound its way through the forest connecting with a known path through the farmlands.  He then pointed to the square north of there marked with a seven.
“Princess Celestia herself explained to me that nopony can teleport the payload until it fully clears the influence of the forest.  Her student, Twilight Sparkle, is escorting the payload personally and will give us the signal when it is clear.  Ethereal Curtain, you will wait for her signal and then your group will begin your magical extraction at once.”
A tall, thin, unicorn stallion with a gray coat, white mane, and purple eyes nodded grimly.  He was surrounded by six other unicorns who nodded their understanding.
Thunder Boss stared right at the Wonderbolts and explained, “There are griffons in the area, and tensions are high.  If you witness a hostile act, you will counterattack immediately.  Make no mistake, they’re equipped with those wingblades.  A single good strike will slice your entire wing right off of your body.”
The blue pegasus felt a shiver of fear rush through her spine.  The image of her…mutilated, spinning, falling to her death…it was her worst fear.  She steeled her resolve to not show it.
The imposing stallion in front of the room carefully controlled his voice and commanded, “Wonderbolts, you are Equestria’s best!  Make us proud!”
The Wonderbolts sat up just a bit straighter, showing their pride.  Rainbow Dash sat up as straight as possible, showing that she belonged.
Thunder Boss called out, “Fleetfoot, Rapidfire!”
The pair of Wonderbolts stood up and replied, “Yes, sir!”
The stallion ordered, “Sector six.  You’ll be the first to see the caravan.  If they’re in trouble, you have permission to land and assist.”  The pair saluted, acknowledging the order.
He then called out, “Spitfire, Soarin!”
The pair of Wonderbolts stood up and replied, “Yes, sir!”
Thunder Boss ordered, “Sector seven.  All griffon incursions to date have come from the north, so you’ll probably see them first.  Be wary of bait traps.”  The pair saluted, acknowledging the order.
He then stated, “Rainbow Dash!”
The blue pegasus stood up and replied proudly, “Yes, sir!”
He ordered, “You back them both up on alert-one.  If you launch, fly over sector six first to make sure the caravan is not under attack.”
Rainbow Dash saluted and said, “Yes, sir!”
Thunder boss saluted the group and said, “Dismissed.”
The entire room stood up and began to file out of the room.  
Rapidfire trotted up to Thunder Boss and asked, “Excuse me, sir.  With regards to Rainbow Dash, is she really qualified…”
The stallion in charge interrupted, “I know what’s on your mind, Rapidfire.  Yes, she is.  Now get on it.”
Rapidfire walked away, submissively saying, “Yes, sir.”
The blue pegasus overhead the conversation.  Her mind filled with anger.  Is this how it was going to be for the rest of her life?  One little mistake that was somepony else’s fault?  She determined to not let it get to her.  She just concentrated on her job.

The creaking of wheels was loud and constant.  In fact, they were almost as loud as Applejack’s breathing.  The farm pony had been pulling non-stop since she started hours ago.  The rough, unsmoothed path of the Everfree Forest wasn’t helping any at all.  
All of Stratum’s students followed behind the wagon in a loose group.  They had been taking turns helping to push the wagon.  However, being academics, they didn’t help much before being tired out.
Next to the cart was Twilight, whose breathing was labored all the same.  Once again, just like every hour, she concentrated with all her might.  Her horn slowly filled with magic while her mind formed complex patterns.
She turned her head and discharged her horn straight at the statue.  A burst of sickly green energy enveloped the statue.  Although no other pony in the group could sense it, the purple unicorn could tell that the mind of the statue was thrown into total confusion.  She really hoped all this effort was worth it.
Behind the wagon, Stratum pushed with his head until he was too tired to assist.  Looking around the side of the wagon, he saw the tree line at the end of the forest.
He chirped, “I can see the end the forest!  We’re almost out!”
Applejack grunted in annoyance, “I hope so!  This here stone is heavier than it looks!  I could sleep fer a week!”
Twilight moaned, “No more magic for a month for me, please.  I’ve had it.”
Stratum took a few deep breaths, readying himself to push again.  He lifted his gaze to glance at the sky.  He saw very few clouds, but one had brown feathers.
He mentioned, “Huh, never saw that before.  This forest gets weirder every day.”
Twilight asked impatiently, “What do you see now, Stratum?”
He pointed with his hoof up to the sky between sets of gnarled branches.
He said, “That cloud has feathers.”
Panicked, Twilight followed his pointed hoof to look up into the sky.  She remembered the princess’s warnings.  Her fears were confirmed as she saw a griffon leapt from the cloud and fly off north just above the tree cover.
Applejack grunted as the path inclined up again.  She leaned forward, pushing with her powerful shoulders against the harness.
She asked, trying to take her mind off how uncomfortable this was, “Clouds with feathers?  What does that mean, Twilight?”
The purple unicorn’s spirits sunk as she decided, “It means our job just got twice as hard.”

Rainbow Dash walked out onto the main deck of the outpost.  Fleetfoot and Rapidfire were airborne and disappearing towards their station.  She watched as Spitfire and Soarin raced at top speed down the track and leaped up into the air.
She thought to herself, Okay, now comes the hard part.  The active teams are in the air so I have to set up and wait.
She took her place on the landing strip in the middle of the deck.  She placed herself inside a large golden box painted into a specific place in the lane.
The blue pegasus took this time to stretch each and every one of her muscles carefully and fully.  She also flexed her joints, making sure the armor didn’t need adjusting.
Deep down inside, she hated waiting.  Almost as much as she hated being alone.

Up in the top level of the castle of the floating outpost was a single, open room.  Contrary to most expectations, very few pegasi were up here.  It was mostly unicorns who had mastered the ‘Walk On Clouds’ spell.  Most of these unicorns were magical technicians, who remotely scanned the integrity of the many layers of the cloud castle.  They would use their magic to repair any damage from this central level.  There was also a team dedicated to moving the fortress-shaped cloud or resist it moving in strong winds.
There were a couple of pegasi here.  They were lower-ranked officers who job it was to coordinate information and orders between all stations and levels.  So, they tended to run around, enter, and exit the room a lot.
There was also a middle-aged unicorn mare with a simple table and chair up against a side wall.  She was dressed in old-fashioned clothing that involved skirts, scarves, and a hood.  She had a yellow coat, blue mane, and blue eyes.  Her cutie mark was a crystal ball.  Upon the table was a crystal ball sitting on a stand.  She gazed into the crystal ball, seeking visions.  Her horn was perpetually charging and discharging at the same time.
Thunder Boss stepped boldly into the control room.  
He turned to the middle-aged mare and asked in a surprisingly gentle voice, “What do you see, Crystal Gaze?”
She replied mildly and professionally, “Both flight teams are approaching their stations.  Rainbow Dash is in position.”
He said mildly, “Good, good.”  He walked over an exact copy of the map in the briefing room.  Next to it was a window looking out onto the flight deck and a speaking tube.  This was the place he was always meant to be.  He finally felt comfortable enough to relax.  There was nothing else to do until the griffons made their move.