//------------------------------// // The Wind Beneath My Wings // Story: Pony Tails // by Bluecatcinema //------------------------------// Up at the Wonderbolts Academy, the trainees were going through their morning routine. "Come on, cadets!" Spitfire yelled at the top of her lungs. "Pick up the pace! This isn't a leisurely flight around the park! Get those wings flapping!" Eager not to incur the wrath of their drill sergeant, the trainees pushed themselves even harder. At the front of the pack were Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail. Vapor was slightly ahead of Sky. "Try and keep up!" She lightly teased her best friend. "Oh, is this supposed to be a race?" Sky smirked. "I hadn't noticed. Guess I'd better start really trying..." Sky put on a burst of speed, allowing him to match pace with Vapor. "How's that for keeping up?" He smirked. "There you are." Vapor smiled. "I was feeling a little lonely over here." "Yeah, me too." Sky grinned. "It's just not the same without your wingpony, is it?" "Hey, you two!" Spitfire yelled. "Knock off the chatter! This is flying practice, not talking practice!" "Yes, ma'am!" Sky and Vapor said in unison. As they continued to fly, Sky couldn't help but notice the sunlight glancing off Vapor's coat, or her mane flowing in the wind. For most of their lives, Vapor had always flown behind Sky (for reasons he only became aware of recently). He had never realized what a majestic figure she cut while in flight. For a moment, he just kept staring, mesmerized. But then he noticed he was about to fly straight into a cloud. "Whoa!" He narrowly avoided the collision. "Stay focused, cadet!" Spitfire admonished him. "Yes, ma'am." Sky shook himself. "Are you okay, Sky?" Vapor asked, concerned by the near mishap. "Yeah, I'm fine." Sky said quickly. "Just got some sun in my goggles..." Not long after, the time had come to arrange the cadets into teams of two, comprising of a lead pony and a wingpony. "Here we go." Sky smiled, as he and Vapor lined up to check the listing. "I hope we get paired up." Vapor declared. "It'd feel weird, flying with somepony other than you." "Ditto." Sky agreed. As they checked the list, they saw, to their mutual delight, their names side by side; But to their surprise, Vapor had been marked as the lead pony, and Sky the wingpony. "Oh... look at that." Sky said flatly. "You're the lead pony. And I'm... the wingpony." "What?" Vapor frowned. "There must be some mistake. I'm no lead pony..." "Hey, do you guys mind moving?" One of their fellow cadets asked, standing impatiently behind them. "I wanna see what I got!" Sky and Vapor stepped aside. "So... how about that?" Sky mused. "Guess I really am your wingpony after all, huh?" "I don't want to be a lead pony." Vapor shook her head. "Maybe we could go to Spitfire, ask her to change it around." "I'm pretty sure she wouldn't like us disagreeing with her." Sky said warily. "But still... this isn't what I expected at all..." Vapor sighed. "You're not going to stand there and tell me you're happy with this?" "I'm not gonna lie, I am a little disappointed." Sky admitted. "But... you've earned this. You got so much better after Princess Twilight and Rainbow Dash gave us those pointers. And let's face it, you were carrying me along all those years, and I didn't even know it. I literally wouldn't have gotten this far without you guiding me." "You think so?" Vapor blushed humbly. "I know so." Sky nodded. "And since you've been supporting me all this time, it's only right I do the same for you. I'll gladly be your wingpony. And I know you'll be an awesome lead pony." "Thanks, Sky." Vapor hugged her best friend tightly. "You're the best." "I know." Sky grinned, returning the hug. As he did, he felt a warm, tingling sensation. It was unlike any hug he had previously received from Vapor (and there had been a lot over the years). Vapor noticed something was off. "Is everything okay?" She asked worriedly, breaking the hug slightly. "Yeah, everything's fine." Sky nodded. "Better than fine. Great, even!" "Good to know." Vapor smiled. Over the past few days, Sky had started to see his childhood friend in a whole new light. For so long, he had been flying ahead of her, and while she was still his best friend, his ego over his "skills" had kept him from focusing on anypony but himself for very long. But after his big head had finally been deflated by the harsh truth, he came to realize just how skilled and capable Vapor was. How powerful and majestic she was in flight... Just the sight of her in action gave Sky some very strange and unexpected feelings. Feelings he was unsure of, and believed were best kept to himself for the moment... The next morning, the cadets started their first team exercises. "Okay rookies, cloud-busting time!" Spitfire announced. "The team who manages to bust the most clouds in the fastest amount of time wins!" "We're gonna ace this." Sky smirked. "Right, lead pony?" "Right, wingpony." Vapor nodded. The teams took off into the sky, and started looking for flags. For a few moments, there was a flurry of activity as they zipped back and forth, reducing clouds to white puffs. The last cloud lay just ahead of them, but the team of Contrail and Divebomb were closing in fast. "Don't think we're gonna make it." Sky frowned. "Any ideas?" Vapor thought for a moment, then got an idea. "Hey, remember those 'boosts' I used to give you?" She asked Sky. "Yeah, why-oh." Sky realized what she was getting at. "Let's do it!" Vapor lined herself up behind Sky, and flapped her wings as hard as she could, creating a gust that propelled Sky forward rapidly. He reached the cloud just ahead of the opposing team, and busted it with one good kick. "Yeah!" He whooped. Spitfire blew her whistle, signalling the end of the exercise. "Not bad, rookies!" She called out, as the cadets descended. "Vapor Trail, Sky Stinger, nice use of teamwork up here!" "Hey, it was my genius lead pony's idea." Sky declared. "Yeah, but we pulled it off together." Vapor said humbly. "That's the kind of attitude I like to see." Spitfire smiled. "Okay cadets, hit the showers!" "You see?" Sky nudged Vapor as they headed for the barracks. "I knew you'd make a great lead pony." "It's funny." Vapor mused. "Rainbow told me I was lead pony material. I never really believed it at the time..." "And how about now?" Sky asked. "Now... I'm thinking a little differently." Vapor admitted. "After all the attention my parents used to give me, I didn't think I'd ever want that kind of position. But you know, it does feel kinda nice to stand out a little." She smiled widely. "And it doesn't hurt to have the best wingpony around by my side." "Guilty as charged." Sky smirked. "And I'm glad you're okay with it, too." Vapor added. "When I saw your name under 'wingpony', I was worried you'd take it a lot worse." "I do love the spotlight..." Sky admitted. "But I've already spent years basking in it. And if it had to switch to anypony else, I'd rather it be you." "Thanks, Sky." Vapor gave him another hug. "As long as I have you with me, I know I'll do just fine with being a lead pony." "Just 'fine'?" Sky chuckled. "If today were anything to go by, I say you'll be amazing. And speaking of amazing, rest assured, I'll be the greatest wingpony this Academy's ever seen!" "I don't think I'd expect anything less." Vapor nudged him playfully. "What can I say?" Sky said smugly. "Even as the wingpony, I can't help but stand out. Only we'll both be standing out. The best team the Wonderbolts have ever known!" The next day, the cadets were subjected to the obstacle course. Lead ponies and wingponies flew side by side, evading the numerous pitfalls in their way. "This is too easy." Sky smirked, as they evaded a blast of cloud vapor. "Let's not get cocky." Vapor warned him, as they dodged a lightning bolt. "This is trickier than it looks." As another burst of clouds erupted from below, they swerved to either side. But Vapor's wing had been clipped by one of the clouds. "Whoa..." She teetered. "I gotcha!" Sky swerved over and took her hoof, leveling out her flight. "Thanks." Vapor smiled. "Hey, what are wingponies for?" Sky grinned. As they descended on the runway, the pair landed in perfect sync. "Not bad." Spitfire checked her stopwatch. "You two just keep getting and better." "You hear that?" Sky smirked, as Spitfire turned her attention to the others. "'Better and better'." "Yeah, I know." Vapor nodded. "And, um... Sky?" "Yeah?" Sky asked. "You can let go of my hoof now." Vapor declared. Sky looked down, realizing his hoof was still linked to hers. "Oh... sorry." He said awkwardly, moving the hoof back. "That's okay." Vapor chuckled. "It's nice to see you're taking being a wingpony so seriously." "Yeah, wingpony..." Sky said nervously. As they returned to the barracks, Sky looked at the hoof that had touched Vapor's, the odd feeling running through him again. That night, Sky's head swam with thoughts of those feelings. 'What's up with you, Sky?' He mused. 'All these weird feelings, for a certain mare. This is Vapor we're talking about. You've known her for years... well, not really. You never knew just how much she'd been helping you, what she was really capable of... these past few days, it's like I've been getting to know her all over again.' He rolled over in his bed. 'And I'm liking what I'm seeing. A lot. But what am I going to do about it?' Sky pondered the decision until he drifted off to sleep. The next morning, he approached his best friend, having made his choice. "Hey Vapor, can we talk?" He asked. "In private?" "Sure." Vapor nodded. The two of them found a nice, quiet, secluded spot. "So... what's up"? Vapor asked. "Well, you see..." Sky swallowed hard. "We've known each other for a long time, haven't we?" "Yeah." Vapor beamed. "And when you know a pony for a really long time, sometimes, you take 'em for granted." Sky pointed out. "I took you for granted. I was so impressed with myself, half the time, I barely noticed you were there." "That's okay." Vapor told him. "It's not like I made an effort to be noticed back then..." "But it turned out you were better than either of us could have imagined." Sky smiled. "I'm proud of how great a flyer you've become." "You've gotten pretty good yourself." Vapor pointed out. "Every bit as good as you used to think you were. Better, even. Now you don't need me to give you a little boost..." "I'll always need you." Sky replied. "You've been by my side for so long now, I can't imagine being up there without you." "Oh, thanks." Vapor smiled. "I feel the same way about you." "That's what I'm hoping." Sky frowned. "What do you mean?" Vapor asked. "Well, these past few days, I've realized just how important to me you are." Sky declared. "You're more than just my best friend. You're the pony I care for most in all of Equestria." "That's really sweet of you to say." Vapor smiled. "And there's... something else I wanna say." Sky admitted. "But I'm not sure how to say it, so I think I'll just show you instead." "Show me?" Vapor frowned. "Show me wh-?" Sky leaned forward, and planted a swift kiss on Vapor's lips. Vapor froze up in shock, her eyes wide as possible. "S-sorry." Sky cringed, believing Vapor's reaction was a negative one. "I shouldn't have-" Vapor suddenly pounced, wrapping her hooves around Sky's neck and giving him a kiss of her own. At that point, they tumbled backwards, collapsing on the floor. They both laughed happily as they lay there in a tangle of limbs. "So..." Sky chuckled as they helped each other up. "You... feel the same way I do?" "Not at first." Vapor admitted. "I've always felt a really deep connection to you, Sky. I just never realized just how deep it went. But when you kissed me... it all kinda fell into place. Now I know how I really feel about you." "Lucky for me." Sky smiled. "That would have been awkward otherwise." "Let's just hope the Academy doesn't have any rules against fraternizing." Vapor joked. "Even if they did, I'd risk it for you." Sky beamed. "Aww..." Vapor blushed. "Hey, what do you say we get in a quick flight before the morning drill, just the two of us?" "Another great idea from the best lead pony ever." Sky grinned. "Says the best wingpony ever." Vapor nuzzled against him. The two departed from the barracks and took a quick lap around the Academy. They flew side by side, as closely as possible. They were more than lead pony and wingpony, more than best friends. They were now closer than they'd ever been. A perfect pair, in every sense of the word.