//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 - Wings So Bright // Story: Flying in a Blue Dream // by DeerTrax //------------------------------// Flying in a Blue Dream Chapter Four - Wings So Bright A full seven suns had passed since the start of training for Spitfire and Soarin’. Their days so far had mostly consisted of running laps, timed obstacle courses, and other basic physical training. They hadn’t even left the ground other than typical day-to-day flying just to stretch their wings. Today was set to be their very first day of their flight exercises, and Spitfire could barely contain her excitement. This would be her chance to finally show her stuff, to impress the brass, and to wow her squad mates. “Alright, maggots!” Mist Flash yelled at the lines of trainees spread out before him. “Today you get to earn your wings.” “Sir, yes sir!” the recruits shouted back all at once. “Now, most of you might be asking, ‘So what is our challenge today, captain?’ Well let me give you the rundown: You will start off with a simple cloud-ring slalom to show your navigation sense. Then you’ll round the cloud at the end of that slalom followed by a steep dive straight down the edge of the academy plateau. After that, you’ll demonstrate your ability to pull out of a descent by leveling out just above the treetops of the forest below before returning back here. Simple child’s play really, but there is a catch; you will be timed during your trials and any we deem to be too slow will be rooted out. Got it?” “Sir, yes sir!” “Good. As always, we’ll have the elites start first.” He turned and trotted to one end of the line. Pulling out a stopwatch and placing a hoof on the stallion who stood at the end of the row. “One at a time, down the rank, on my mark. Ready?” The whole succession of pegasi, including Spitfire, steadied themselves for take off and nodded. “First flier, go!” The stallion Mist Flash had stood next to took off quickly. His flight was uneasy at first but it began to balance out as he choked down the nerves and began his performance. Spitfire watched him go as she stretched her wings and prepared for her turn. Four of her squadron mates would get their chance before her, but she was determined to set the bar higher than the rest. Following the stallion into flight was Storm Chaser. She took off before Mist Flash could finish calling, “Next flier!” “Erm, okay,” he stuttered a bit. “N-next flier!” Lightning Dancer shot after her sister. Her maneuvers were fluid and graceful where Storm Chaser’s proved to be much more reckless and daring. Despite the differences in their technique, their flight pattern and speed were perfectly in sync. “Next flier!” Silver Wing, the mare next to Spitfire, spread her wings and took flight. That was the last one before the excited orange pegasus would have her turn. A deep breath seeped through her lips and into her lungs. Her wings spread to their fullest and flexed in preparation. Her hooves shifted to a ready position. A dogged smile stretched across her face. She was ready. “Next flier!” Spitfire vacated her spot in line in a fiery blur, replaced by little more than a swirling cloud of dust. The rush of wind ran through her normally brushed-down mane, sweeping it back and causing it to flow like a flame behind her. That flame licked at her wings as they beat with a determined ferociousness. Every beat they took was in perfect rhythm with the beat of her heart. Every pocket of air they gathered beneath themselves pushed her forward with ever increasing speed. The adrenaline pumped through her body and a strange yet familiar euphoria came over her. It was then that her straight flight broke right. She had reached the slalom part of the course, and she wasn’t about to let a few rings get in her way. Her body slid side to side as she made her way through the rings. A few near-calls brought her wings within inches of touching the fluffy clouds, and they seemed to be getting tighter and tighter around her. She was unsure if that was actually the case, or if it was simply the tunnel vision she had from moving so fast. Her eyes then lay upon something freeing. The last ring. That was all her mind could process in excess to her bodily flight controls. Her wings tilted ever so slightly to one side and they carried her swiftly toward the direction of that final gate. She leveled out again as she passed through the circular band of water vapor, but as she cleared the obstacle something about her wingtip felt oddly off; it was damp. She didn’t dare take the time to look back, though she had a good idea what had happened. Instead, she just pressed onward. Her wings brought her in close to the large cloud that marked the end of the slalom as she began to circle it. One lap and she tore away from her orbit around the earthly, white nebula. A minor adjustment in-flight and her back faced downward. Then another and she found herself plummeting downward at a tremendous velocity, her body moving parallel to the cliff face that whizzed by behind her back. Her wings had tucked in snug against the sides of her body. A couple of feathers stretched out for a split second and again she rolled over in the air. Her eyes were fixed upon the quickly approaching ground below her. Every fraction of a second they were sizing up the best possible moment for her to pull out of the dive. Then they found it. Her wings flared out right on time and the air that caught underneath them jerked her acceleration to a halt and began to slow her descent. Once she reached the ideal speed she adjusted and began to flap those majestic orange wings again in an attempt to persuade the downward momentum forward instead. Her hoof brushed gently across the treetops but she had pulled herself out of the dive just in time to keep herself from crashing and burning. She couldn’t hesitate to catch her breath, however. There was still the longest stretch left, and her wingbeats immediately propelled her upwards with every ounce of energy she still had left. Again the cliffside sped past her in an earthy blur. This time, it moved counter to her in the opposite direction and she drove herself back towards the sky above. Very little time passed before she reached the peak of her flight and the cliff shot away from her as it flattened out. Her wings rolled her over and back, bringing her body’s orientation to be hooves down. Again her feathers flared to catch the wind, and she slowly descended. One hoof touched down, then another. At last, she furled her wings up to her sides and trotted back into formation. Much of the line had taken off and were completing their runs as she rested her flank back in the attentive position. A slight look around at those still on the ground, and she felt a little burst of confidence surge through herself. Everypony had just that little speck of awe in their eyes as they met hers. “Well, well. Quite the hotshot we have here,” Mist Flash quipped as he approached the line-up. “They don’t call me Spitfire for nothing, Sir.” Her trainer chuckled slightly. “Don’t get too cocky there. You may have had the best time, but not by much.” Spitfire heard Storm Chaser mutter a quick, “Beginner’s luck,” under her breath. Mist Flash continued, “Your wingtip touched one of the rings during the slalom and the penalty was just shy of knocking you out of the lead. The twins here were hot on your tailfeathers. Both of them were well within a split second of catching you.” He turned and continued down the line. “The rest of you, though, were a good second behind all three of them. You all need to pick up the pace if you’re gonna want to keep u—” Spitfire tuned out her trainer’s words as her eyes met with the death glare Storm was giving her. The orange mare shrunk back a little, breaking the imaginary doom rays she was receiving. She quickly scanned over the crowd again, until her gaze fell in line with another familiar face – this one being much more welcoming. The soft green eyes and light blue coat of her friend were complimented well by the great white smile below them. Soarin’s expression was entirely of surprise as his eyes traced Spitfire’s movements through the sky. She was a thing to behold as she flew seemingly effortlessly through the sky. Her every wingbeat was both carefully timed and forcibly powerful. His heart skipped and the feeling of a lump wedged itself in his throat. Over the course of the week he had begun to realize just why he was so drawn to her. She was stunningly beautiful, strong, brave, and above all else, driven to succeed. That fiery mare embodied everything he felt he was not. He was no match for her – in the air or in matters of the heart. She had slain him without even trying. As she began her descent below the top of the plateau, he leaned forward tracking her movement until she disappeared below the top of the cliff. It was as if she had dove straight into the ground, just as his face met the dirt when he stumbled over from the angle of his cant. His squad mates laughed at his clumsy mistake and he quickly pulled himself back up, spitting the dirt from his mouth and tidying his uniform. Fortunately, Mist Flash was still busy sounding off the others to take their turns. He had dodged the humiliation of being chewed out for his mistake this time. Breathing a sigh of relief he turned his attention skyward again. His eyes finally settled once more on Spitfire as she approached for landing; even her touch down was graceful. “Well, well. Quite the hotshot we have here,” their instructor praised the mare as she fell back into line. “They don’t call me Spitfire for nothing, Sir.” “Don’t get too cocky there. You may have had the best time, but not by much,” Mist Flash retorted. “Your wingtip touched one of the rings during the slalom and the penalty was just shy of knocking you out of the lead. The twins here were hot on your tailfeathers. Both of them were well within a split second of catching you. The rest of you, though, were a good second behind all three of them. You all need to pick up the pace if you’re gonna want to keep u—” Soarin found himself impressed with his friend and was beaming at what his crush had accomplished. Her time was among the best, and as an elite, it was unlikely anyone else would touch her. His attention was focused solely on her, even as Mist Flash continued barking out whatever it was he was on about. Then her eyes met his and for some measure time stopped for both of them. Geeze, she really is beautiful. Soarin’s thoughts ran away from him as he held her gaze. Both of their faces flushed red but neither seemed willing to break the trance. Mist Flash, however, was. “Soarin!” he yelled into the stallion’s ear. “Quit lollygagging at the fairer sex and make your run before I make you run!” The blue pegasus snapped back to reality and without thinking shot into the sky startledly. His motions were unbalanced and awkward as he put his derailed thoughts back on track. He hit two rings full bore during the slalom and swung wide during the lap around the large cloud, both of which would affect his time tremendously. As he rolled over to begin his descent down the cliffside he took a deep breath and calmed his mind. His vision at the end of the roll landed square on Spitfire who was watching him intently with a smile spread across her muzzle. She raised a hoof and waved to him during during that short moment. His heart missed another beat and his wings acted on their own. His forward momentum succumbed to the downward pull of gravity and he dropped like a boulder. The rocky wall of the cliff went by at unimaginable speeds as the pegasus sorted through his thoughts. All of them led to one thing: this was his chance to impress her. He realized how quickly he was falling, but instead of panicking, his nerves steeled. Instead of flaring his wings to control his plunge, he tucked them in tighter. His hooves pulled inward toward his body. He brought his head in line with his back. His mane blew behind him, whipping around like a flag in a hurricane. The air in front of him began to bend and shape to his aerodynamic cone. The ground grew closer. And closer. Before the atmosphere broke around him, he spread his wings just enough to control the vector of his flight, bringing it up and out of the drop, away from the ground. The forces exerted upon his body were immense and he started to see black. Out of instinct rather than training, he grunted deeply, forcing blood back into his head and the grey patches of his vision returned to normal as he finished leveling out.  The cone that formed around him had disappeared, and he was still moving at subsonic speeds, but only just. His velocity was insane and he made as much use of it as he could. Grunting again, his swept-back wings turned the momentum upward back into the sky. Without a single wingbeat he rocketed back over the top of the plateau, rolled over and aimed back toward the landing field. Finally, his wings slowly unfurled as he bled off the remaining speed. His hooves found soft grass and he took a deep breath. Scanning the lines of trainees for that same golden mare he who had set his mind straight, he began to notice everypony’s jaws were albeit on the ground; even Mist Flash’s. When his searching gaze landed upon Spitfire, even her mouth was agape. Mist Flash was the first to regain his composure, looking at the stopwatch he had, fortunately, remembered to stop. Soarin could tell he did a doubletake and was doing his best to keep from letting his muzzle fall open again. His gestures then were indicative that he was figuring the penalty times in his head. When he finally ceased, his continued efforts to keep his trap shut failed. “I–I can’t believe this.” His body language showed that his was running through the math again, checking his stopwatch over and over. Murmurs began to shift through the crowd as their stupor slowly faded. “Well I’ll be.” The stallion stepped out, about faced and called everypony to attention. Soarin, still out of formation quickly fell back into line, only to find it was a vain effort. “Soarin, hurry your flank up here, double time!” The blue pegasus made his way back up to the front of the group and to where Mist Flash was standing. “Y–yes, sir?” “Speak with a bit more authority son. You’ve just earned yourself a step up the ladder.” “I’m sorry, sir? How’s that?” Mist Flash faced the crowd. “Orchid Sky, your time was the slowest in your unit. Please take Soarin’s place in his flight.” The stallion from the elite squadron hung his head a bit and slunk back to where Soarin had fallen in not long ago. Mist Flash turned back to the recruit next to him. “Son, you had a time only a hundredth of a second slower than Ms. Spitfire’s here. And that’s after your rocky start put penalties onto your time. Anypony who can recover from the startling I gave you, and those initial mishaps to set a time like that has a lot more potential than we originally thought. From this day forward recruit, you will be training with the elites.” His hoof struck Soarin’s back in vigorous jest. “Congratulations!” Either the strain Soarin had put on his body caught up to him, or he was simply a victim of shock. Black flushed through his vision and the pegasus fainted then and there.