The Only Chapter
"Repeat after me. I, state your name, do swear fealty to the land of Equestria, and the Princesses thereof..."
"I, Rainbow Dash, do swear fealty to the land of Equestria, and the Princesses thereof."
"And upon my honor, I would give my life in the service of Her Majesties."
"And upon my honor, I would give my life in the service of her Majesties."
"I do swear to fight bravely in battle, and put the common pony before myself..."
"I do swear to fight bravely in battle, and put the common pony before myself..."
"To inspire courage and hope where there is none..."
"To inspire courage and hope where there is none..."
"And should I fall, may another take up my spear."
"And should I fall, may another take up my spear."
"To this I pledge my life, loyalty, and honor."
"To this I pledge my life, loyalty, and honor."
"At ease, Private Rainbow Dash. Welcome to the Wonderbolts."
"At ea- Oh."
The induction ceremony into the Wonderbolts was nothing like Rainbow Dash had expected. She had at first thought she and the other graduates from the Academy would go into a ceremony together, so when she was told that every candidate (not graduate, she noticed) had their ceremony in private, that was the first surprise. The second surprise was that neither Spitfire nor Soarin, the only two Wonderbolts there, wore a usual Wonderbolts uniform. Instead, they were both dressed in sturdy but light-looking armor, similar to that of the Royal Guard. And the third surprise... was the oath.
She had been told to raise her hoof to her chest and repeat the oath in full. She thought the first line was odd enough, and then they began talking about battles? This was hardly a military position, was it? She was just a glorified showpony, as much as she hated to admit it.
"Spitfire. Captain Spitfire, I mean. Can I ask a question?" Rainbow asked.
"Of course. And don't get too hung up on formalities, you can still call me Spitfire off the track," Spitfire replied. "I'm guessing it's about the oath?"
"Well, yeah. Isn't that, well, a guard's oath?" Rainbow asked.
Spitfire smiled. Rainbow guessed this was a normal query.
"Remind me, Rainbow. How did the Wonderbolts get their start?" she asked.
"They were a branch of the EUP, under the leadership of General Firefly. Some kind of elite group, right? But I thought that was all in the past. I mean, you don't exactly see Wonderbolts in armor..." Rainbow looked over her two superiors. "Well, I guess except right now."
"Well, you're not wrong. The Wonderbolts haven't seen battle in centuries, but then, none of the military has. Our role as a branch of the EUP has never been retracted. Should Equestria go to war, we may again be called into service, but our Princesses have done an admirable job of making sure we don't have to," Spitfire explained.
"And we hope we don't. I'm sure you noticed military training has been phased out of our regimens over the years. There hasn't been a combat-capable Wonderbolt since Spitfire's predecessor, and that's only because he was a Royal Guard before coming here," Soarin added. "Truth be told, I think that our only value in war would be spreading morale."
"Hah, maybe for you!" Rainbow said, puffing her chest out. "I'm a bonafide Element of Harmony! I've kicked evil's flank dozens of times!"
"Yes, true. You likely wouldn't be serving beside us at all, were war to come around. You would be with Princess Twilight Sparkle, I think. In fact, I'm sure there's already preemptive battle plans utilizing you and your friends to your fullest potential," Spitfire said with a shrug. "The oath was probably redundant with you, but it's hard to ignore tradition."
"We've had our eyes on you for a long time, Rainbow Dash. Ever since that event with the Sonic Rainboom, we've been hoping to bring you under our wings, so to speak," Soarin said proudly.
"When I saved you guys, you mean?" Rainbow asked.
"What? Oh, no, when you were a filly. We obviously couldn't take you then, and after that, well, Spitfire took control, and she's a real hardflank about who to let in," Soarin said.
"Hey, I just wanted to see what else she was capable of outside of our training. We're very regimented, so you wouldn't have learned anything anypony else can't do. But the stunts you come up with on your own... those are the things that make legends. I wanted you to meet your full potential on your own, before coming here. That way, you'd be the next revolution in the 'Bolts," Spitfire said.
"Wow. Um, thank you. Both of you. So, uh, do I get some of that sweet armor?" Rainbow asked hopefully.
"Not at your rank, Private," Soarin said with a smirk. "Get up to lieutenant like me and then we'll talk."
"Really, that's your rank? And Spitfire is really-"
"A Captain, yes," Spitfire answered. "Which means I get to order your flank around even now that you've taken that oath. But not right now. Come on, we've got cider to celebrate. I got the good stuff from Sweet Apple Acres' cellar, and nopony's leaving until we can't fly straight."
"Is that an order?" Rainbow asked with a grin.
"Damn straight it is."