Gale is a Cloudsdale-born Canterlot pony. His mother, a pegasus called Gust, insisted that Gale had to be born in Cloudsdale to "feel the real wind in his wings." Nevertheless, she moved in with Gale’s father, Goldstein, a Canterlot aristocrat. Despite their residence being in the capitol, Gale still frequently visited his family in Cloudsdale, went to Junior Speedsters and lived the life of a normal young Cloudsdale pegasus. However, his father tried to make him more like himself – high-class.
Young Gale didn’t like being tied down with rules like that – like most young pegasi, he yearned for wind in his wings and a vast sky to fly through. This led to some problems with Gale’s father, naturally. Gale’s mother – a free spirit herself – supported her son instead.
As Gale got older, he – like most of his peers – wished to be admitted to the Wonderbolts. While a competent flier, he wasn’t anything extra. Nevertheless, he tried hard, trained and pushed himself to the limit. He even moved back to Cloudsdale so he could devote all his free time to practice.
During the Wonderbolt’s try-outs – a large lap through and around Cloudsdale – everything changed. At first, Gale’s agility and hours of training won him the first spot, but he soon found himself competing against a faster, stronger opponent, Blaze. Gale pushed himself like he never did, almost reaching supersonic speed. However, the track was mainly plotted with agility in mind. In a sharp turn, Gale lost control and crashed to a building.
The young pegasus was hurt during the accident. Not only he broke his wing, but he lost his left eye. His wing healed, but not perfectly. Coupled with the eye injury, Gale was shamed and broken. He knew he could never make it into the Wonderbolts now.
The pegasuse moved back to Canterlot, pondering the meaning of his life. He was rescued from his depression by his old schoolmate, Fleur. The pony shared his dream of joining the Royal Guard and insisted Gale would be a welcome addition as well. Reluctantly, Gale agreed.
The two friends trained together, quickly rekindling the almost-forgotten friendship of their youth. Eventually, they both got admitted, being mistaken for brothers at times.
Even with a promising career in the Guard, Gale sometimes still finds himself thinking what life could have been were it not for his injury.
Could he have been a Wonderbolt?

Would he have won the race?

But more importantly, would Fleur still become his best friend?