Windstream's Early Days

by Windstream Dash

Fiasco At The Flight Camp

“Get up maggots! Hup, two, three, four! Hup, two, three, four!” Windstream shot up out of bed at the sound of the gruff, gravely voice of the mare standing in the doorway to his barracks. All the colts in the room began shuffling around in their beds making cheap efforts at getting up to stand to attention. Windstream couldn’t say he was faring much better, he had just spent his first ever night away from home bar a few sleepovers with Cobalt every now and then. This was different though, he knew he wasn’t going to go back to his dad’s house. Not for a long time. The thought of this wracked his brain and robbed him from getting any real sleep. Snapping back into reality, Windstream quickly realizes that all of the stallions in the room were standing at attention for their new drill sergeant. All except him. He soon made another realization when he looked straight ahead to see the drill sergeant now towering over him, looking down on him with a cold grimace. Windstream snaps to his hooves, putting his muzzle comically high in the air as if trying to brush off the fact that he was the only pony not standing at attention just a second ago.

“We don’t have time for slackers here,” her gruff voice said demeaningly, “If you can’t handle these living conditions then you’re not fit for flying with the best you understand me?” Her eyebrow raised strangely in sync with the completion of the question.

“Y-Yes Ma’am!” was all Windstream could think of under the pressure.

“Now get in line!” She orders, visibly displeased with the response given. As he stepped into the line, Windstream recognized a couple snickers from other colts in the room which causes him to put his head down and blush in shame.

“We will be meeting in the mess hall at 0900 hours to assign partners. We are going to test your skills as individuals, and then we will test your skills as a team. We want to be able to chart a course for progression and need to get a basic understanding of your abilities, attitude and responsibility when it comes to flying. If you are late, then may Celestia have mercy on your soul.” And with that final, menacing statement, she evacuated the barracks, assumedly to go give the same terrifying speech to another batch of newbie fliers.

“I think that last part was meant for you Dash.” One of the colts next to him said, nudging Windstream’s arm. It was still strange to him, being referred to by his last name. What was even stranger was the sense of familiarity about the drill sergeant. The yellow and orange mane, the intense and gravelly voice, it felt like he’d seen her somewhere once, maybe on tv. He didn’t have much time to think about it however, 0900 was coming in fast and he had to get his flight gear on.

Arriving at the mess hall, he seemed to be the first to arrive, at least when it came to the colts. On the other side of the room, some fillies had already shown up and had been put in a row.

“Over here newbie.” The unmistakable voice from earlier beckoned him, pointing to a specific spot on the floor.

“Good to see you’re actually on point this time. You’ll be the start of the line, all colts that filter through afterwards will be set behind you, don’t lose your spot,” her voice was so demanding, so familiar, “The filly across from you will be your partner for today’s project.”

Looking across the room Windstream locks eyes with the pony he was just partnered with. A gray filly with a noticeable hot pink mane and deep purple tail. Her hooves were multi-colored to match her mane and beautiful yellow eyes that matched his own. Once he breathed in all of the details of his new partner he tore his eyes away from her and waited for the rest of the cadets to filter in for the day's challenge to begin. Once most of the ponies were accounted for, they’d all be moved to a field outside with a lifted podium which the sergeant would soon take her place on.

“Today’s testing will consist of three trials! You will do them twice! Once with, and once without your partner!” The sergeant spoke loudly into a megaphone to give the instructions to the sea of pegasi that Windstream was currently a part of.

“The first part will be a speed test! We will mark how fast you can take off, your top speed, and your speed control upon landing! The second part will be an acrobatic formation test! You will be given a choreographed formation of varying difficulty and will be tasked with completing it to the best of your ability! You will be graded on accuracy to the choreography and will be given extra points depending on the speed! The final trial is a cloud busting contest! You will be timed on how quickly you can bust an allotted number of clouds!” The crowd digested all of this information for a moment, preparing themselves emotionally for the trials to come.

“And since it’s a contest we decided to test your drive and see how you fare with a reward on the line! The fastest overall time when it comes to the team trial will be allowed an extra hour of uninterrupted rest in our spare barracks!” The crowd erupted into cheers of pure joy. After waking up so early today it seemed that no pony wanted to be forced to do it again. It was a little funny in a way, how excited ponies could get over some sleep.

“To demonstrate to you how these trials should go, I’ve called in my own team so you can all see how real professionals pull them off!”

Ooos and ahhs wave over the crowd as they each witnessed the spectacle before them, a spectacle that helped Windstream connect the dots in his head on who the mysteriously familiar drill sergeant was.

In a moment of realization and excitement he screamed, “It’s the Wonderbolts!” which was surprisingly audible over the roaring applause and cheering coming from the crowd for the Wonderbolts’ arrival. This meant that their drill sergeant had to be none other than the leader of the Wonderbolts herself… Spitfire! Why hadn’t it registered in his head sooner! He had just been to one of their shows earlier this year and she’s the practically the easiest one to identify! Maybe it was because of how nervous he was because of her outlash that morning or because he had just never seen her out of her official Wonderbolts outfit but the why didn’t matter now, all that mattered is that the Wonderbolts were here! And Spitfire is his flight sergeant! And best of all, he was about to get a Wonderbolt’s show and he had front row seats completely for free!

The Bolts zipped and soared overhead, demonstrating great skill and precision as well as showing off exact knowledge of their flight patterns, being sure not to collide midair while also making sure to mirror each other exactly. Three Wonderbolts in their own section of air, three more parallel to them. They dashed towards each other, switching sides with each other before doing three backflip loop the loops in a row. The pegasi below all stamp their hooves on the floor in wonder. One bolt from either side takes a dive, straight down to the ground, a trick Windstream had attempted not even a year prior, and one he’d recovered from only months ago. The ponies watch, stricken with awe, as the first pair of ponies pull up just before nose diving into the clouds below, then the second pair, then the third pair. They all meet up in the middle after their daring trick for one last hurrah.

They call on volunteers for their last trick, waving up three different ponies. One an unfamiliar filly. Another, a colt Windstream vaguely recognized as a member of his barracks. The final, his own partner, the pink mane’d filly. Each of them flew up to join the Bolts with varying levels of confidence. Windstream’s eyes were fixed on his partner who went up to join Fleetfoot. She was beautiful in her confidence and the way she flew, yes, but he was also interested to see how she’d fare in this next unknown trick. Each pegasi spoke to the Wonderbolt accompanying them for a brief moment before getting into a stance, as if ready for battle. With the blow of Spitfire’s whistle, all six of the ponies began their slow ascent into the air until their momentum slowed down enough. At this point the three rookies hit a standard backflip. However, mid-flip, the rookie pegasi took the hooves of their respective Wonderbolts who flew directly over them and launched them down, giving them extra speed that they wouldn’t have been able to reach normally without being in a ridiculous free fall. Each Wonderbolt, as if internally connected, spread their wings at the same time in order to slow themselves in for a landing where they’d each slide into a power stance, posing victoriously before the volunteers manage to join them at their own pace.

The crowd stamped with cheer Windstream hadn’t heard in some time now. As the pink mane’d filly joined him in the crowd Windstream glanced at her with a smile on his face which she’d return with a cocky smirk of her own. Windstream’s heart bumped a little but he made nothing of it as he was too worried about the amazing show and roaring crowd. The cheers of the masses were interrupted with the sound of Spitfire’s commanding voice over her megaphone once more.

“You newbies have one hour to limber up and get your act together!” She screamed over the mega phone with a volume that made Windstream’s ears feel like popping.

“First team up is blue and pink over here!” She shouted again pointing a hoof at the two little ponies at the front of the crowd. Surprisingly, this call to arms didn’t draw too much attention to them as most ponies were still internally freaking out about the show, Windstream included.

“Break!” Was all that Spitfire had to shout before the crowd of ponies scattered like a chaotic mess, akin to a Changeling hive. Windstream and his partner quickly moved to a quieter and more open area to practice and introduce themselves.

They didn’t even find a spot before he began speaking, “That was amazing what you did up there! Must have been the best experience EVER flying with the Wonderbolts!” he said with a tinge of jealousy in his tone. “The name’s Windstream! Nice to meet ya!” He stated with a hoof outstretched.

“Moonshine. Moonshine Flitter.” She said, shaking his hoof without a second thought. “And yeah, it was pretty cool, I was awesome wasn’t I?” She began in an almost taunting manner.

“You bet Celestia you were!” Windstream wasn’t shy about letting his excitement shine through and she realized. He looked like he had just had the world’s greatest birthday wish come true, and he wasn’t even the one who was up there with the Wonderbolts!

“You’re a pretty big fan, huh?” She asked, already knowing the answer.

“Uh, duh! Who isn’t?” Windstream said in a way some ponies might’ve found offensive. It didn’t bother Moonshine though. In fact, she liked the enthusiasm. She herself is familiar with the feeling.

“I feel you man. I have that same excitement for space. That’s why I’m here!” This statement caused Windstream to raise an eyebrow in confusion, “What correlation does Wonderbolts flight camp have with space travel?”

Moonshine was quick to respond, “The ability to know your own body, weight and ability to maneuver yourself helps greatly in the traversal of space! That and the Wonderbolts have some pretty mean zero G simulators.” She stated matter of factly.

“Wait so did everypony know this was a Wonderbolts flight camp?” Windstream asked, yet again confused.

“Yeah? It said so on the flier that our parents signed.” Moonshine said, helping him put the pieces together.

“So dad must’ve known and signed me up as a surprise! But paying for this must’ve cost a fortune!” Windstream’s realization gave him a newfound respect for his father and a big smile on his face.

“Well we should probably get going on these moves if we ever want to impress the Bolts. We’re going to be the first ones up so we don’t have time to emotionally prepare or fix our plans off the other ponies mistakes so we have to make this opener the best damn show anypony will ever have the honor of witnessing!” Moonshine’s speech bolstered Windstream with confidence that they’d do amazing at this project, not that he needed anymore. With that speech, the window for introductions had closed. Now, it’s time for practice.

An hour came and went and the time for demonstration had arrived. Windstream could tell by the stillness of the crowd that many of the pegassi there had lost their edge and become anxiety ridden. Windstream remained unphased however.

“Remember newbies, this is your first showing of skill. This won’t leave a mark on your permanent record or dictate how the Wonderbolts view you in any way. This is purely to mark where your abilities are, and where we need to go with your specific training moving forward.” Spitfire’s tone was more relaxed than usual, as if she was trying to quell the fears of the many nervous pegassi standing before her, and for some it worked. But as the first filly stepped up to be tested, Windstream could see in her face that Spitfire’s words of encouragement didn’t seem to work on Moonshine.

Stepping up to bat, Moonshine stood nervously on the runway. Thoughts of discouragement were racing through her mind, “What if the Wonderbolts are unimpressed? What if I mess up and all of the other ponies laugh at me? What if I fail so badly that I get sent home!” Spitfire was raising her hoof, a signature move right before the starting whistle. Her head began to feel hot with anxieties, she told herself in her head, “This is what you need to do if you want to get into the Equestrian Space Program. Like it or not, I HAVE to do this and I have to do this right,” and with a glance at Windstream who gave an affirming smile, the whistle blew and she was off.

Having tested with speeds reaching up to eight wing power, an impressive score for a young flier, nearly matching that of a full grown pony, Moonshine knew she had the speed portion in the bag. She zipped with precision speed into a steep incline, reaching up to the higher clouds above. From there she dipped, strafed and bounced off of them, topping the showing off with a couple backflips for some extra agility points. Now came the hard part, following the choreography.

During her hour of testing, she was repeatedly looking at the step by step guides for her choreography she was assigned. Windstream kept trying to convince her she had it down but she was unsure and that feeling never felt more prevalent than in this moment. She couldn’t stop to think though, she just had to commit.

She went into a nosedive where she’d do five spins before pulling up about fifty feet from the ground. Once realigned, Moonshine gathered her thoughts before heading into a triple helix spin, a more complex move that even had Spitfire impressed as she used a pen that was tied to her neck to write down on a clipboard. Next she had to do a one eighty backflip to face the other direction before ascending slightly and then sharply diving down coming into a landing that could only be described as heroic. The landing must have sent some shock through her legs however since she visibly quivered and almost lost her balance.

“Very nice job,” Spitfire spoke to the filly that had just landed beside her, “Next time lean into the landing so it’s not so hard on the legs.” Moonshine nodded, clearly marinating on the words of advice she was just given.

Turning to the crowd Spitfire announces, “Next up, Windstream Dash!” Walking up to the runway, Windstream gives Moonshine a firm hoof bump.

“You did great out there.” He says with a smirk as if he knew she could do it. “Thanks, no just don’t mess up yourself.” She said with a smirk to match his. With their minor interaction of mutual respect out of the way, Windstream was next up and ready and more confident than ever. With the smirk still on his face and his haunches in the air, the whistle blew. Spitfire’s mane was blown back by a whopping twelve wind power, even better than the speed of most full grown pegassi! Not looking back he climbed altitude effortlessly, speed was never an issue and he wasn’t afraid to show it off. Once he reached right under the clouds high above he hit a few flips, barrel rolls, spins and helixes, some moves he had practiced a little back at home after Cobalt left.

While by the clouds above, he grabbed one and spun it, rubbing it while it was spinning as if he was a potter working on his latest masterpiece. Spitfire was squinting from below, he had gone way too high up. She’d have to dock some points for not following the height restrictions and review the cameras she’d placed on a few clouds in case of a scenario like this in order to properly grade his choreography. Upon finishing up with his cloud, Spitfire could clearly see now what he was holding, a thunder cloud, roughly the size of two work horses. Her heart sank. She saw this happen with a cadet once before, hubris turned dangerous with a lack of caution. She immediately took to the sky, megaphone in hand, screaming to Windstream to come down but he was already in motion and knew exactly what he was going to do. The crowd was blown back by the speed of their sergeant’s lift off leading to everypony’s full attention to the scene above. Everypony was enthralled, excited even. Everypony except Moonshine. She had spent most of her life studying flight and knew immediately that things would end badly. Clouds are full of hot, scattered and volatile molecules that react near instantly when disturbed and if Windstream was about to do what she thought he was going to do then she fully understood why Spitfire reacted so quickly.

Windstream tossed the completed gray cloud down below him, letting it coast to a stop midway between him and the crowd below. Spitfire’s screaming was becoming audible now but was still distant, it was enough to make him turn his head however. Seeing Spitfire approaching him with urgency he choked up, something was wrong, he just knew it. Was his choreography that bad? Was he slower than he thought? He couldn’t let these thoughts ruin his first ever test and showing of talent. Still staring at Spitfire through her rapid approach, he recovers his confidence, pride returning to his face. Restored to his former self, he gave Spitfire a wide smile that probably would have melted the heart of even the most lowly of ponies. With that final gesture of acknowledgment, he turned his attention back down towards the cloud and dived.

Using his wings, he pushed himself into hitting the fastest speed he could before tucking his wings to his back making himself as aerodynamic as is possible for a pony. Tears began streaming from his face with pure speed as the cloud approached. He could hear the cheers of the crowd become more and more audible the faster he declined. Spitfire watched with faith that her student would be safe as he disappeared, engulfed in the cloud. The crowd below fell silent.

Entering the cloud,he felt a burning sensation overcome him. A feeling he had never quite felt before. It was subtle at first but became scalding within milliseconds. Just as quick as he entered the cloud burst to a cacophony of ooos and aaas. The ponies hardly got to finish their exclamations before the colt who was just inside that very cloud came hurtling towards the ground at a speed faster than he had entered with a trail of pure electricity now showing in his wake. Moonshine immediately leaped from her seat and over towards the falling blur.

She had prepared for this moment. Through space exploration many things could possibly go wrong and things could always come crashing down. Without a second thought, she darted across the field, everypony else stuck to their seats in shock. With only a split second chance, she’d have to catch him at the exact point in time or else she’d fly past, or miss him entirely. With expert precision she snatched him out of the air, only a few meters off of the ground. Everypony cheered and stamped their hooves.

Moonshine didn’t respond to the attention, instead focusing herself on Windstream who was completely unconscious. Her heart stopped as she checked his chest for a pulse. A heartbeat, but it was faint. Medics were on top of her in seconds, loading Windstream onto a stretcher and checking her for any possible damages to her forelegs from the impact. She knew she was okay and basically had to shoo the medics away to get them off her. She did feel something though, a lingering shock through her body. Residual electricity from the cloud.

“This shouldn’t be possible.” She was visibly baffled looking at her own front hoof. “If he still had electricity in his body by the time I caught him he shouldn’t have had a heartbeat at all.”