//------------------------------// // 27 - Training // Story: Soaring on Little Wings // by tom117z //------------------------------// The sounds of machinery echoed throughout the weather factory with pegasi of many colours, all wearing the same uniform and hard hats, flying to and from the different stations while ensuring production carried on smoothly. Water vapor was being turned into white fluffy clouds, before being infused with the desired elemental effect and sent forward for distribution. Managing the country’s weather was a full-time job, shifts going both day and night, never ending. The main factory floor was abuzz with its usual activity, the damage caused by the rogue storm cloud long repaired and largely forgotten. And it was here, at the very site where her cutie mark made its grand appearance, that Little Wing worked on the factory floor. “Stupid clouds,” Little Wing moaned to herself, batting away a few random small tufts that had broken off from a larger whole. “Behave!” The tufts dissipated, and Little Wing returned her attention to the machine she was operating. The cloud inside was being unfused with just the right properties to turn it into a ferocious storm, some poor saps below being due for some rather rough weather. It was an important, if monotonous, job to perform. And Little Wing had been doing it for a good two years. Ever since moving out of her parents’ home and into her own. But hopefully not for too much longer, should things work out that afternoon. And in the day to come, of course. “It’s clear,” Little Wing called out, pulling on a leaver and watching as the storm cloud was piped out of the machine and into the distribution system. An advantage to living in Cloudsdale, she never had to deal with those things ruining an otherwise bright and sunny day. “Next lot ready for the oven,” Silver Breeze stated, floating down from above with a currently nice and calm cloud in his hooves. “Ever considered becoming a baker?” “Pfft, I’m not Pinkie Pie,” Little Wing replied, taking the cloud from her friend and placing it into the machine. “But if you want a batch of baked bads, I might make the attempt.” “Maybe not then,” he joked in response. Little Wing made sure the machine was secured, utilised a few of the controls and watched as the talismans inside began to imbue their power into the cloud. The nice fluffy whiteness turned a dark and foreboding black, flashes of light hitting the sides of the chamber as lighting struck at random. “This should be the last one, shift will end any second now,” Little Wing noted. “Thank Celestia for that,” he replied. “I could use a nap or two.” “Lucky. No naps for me today.” “So I heard,” Silver Breeze said, before adopting a small smirk. “That aside, I’ve been meaning to ask. You and Misty talked any more about…?” “Still living in separate apartments. No change,” she deadpanned on impulse. This was a common conversation with the stallion. “It’s been two years. One of you has to make the move some point.” “I know…” “I mean, you’ve been ‘together’ for six years anyway. Other ponies would have-” “I. Know. She knows. WE KNOW!” Little Wing shot back, huffing indignantly. “You make me sound like my sister.” Silver Breeze laughed. “You’re not that hopeless.” “Actually, they finally did it,” Little Wing replied, getting a blink from him in turn. “She and Soarin, I mean. Took them long enough.” “I’ll say. She’s thirty-nine, he’s forty-one.” “Eh, still plenty of time,” Little Wing dismissed, briefly turning away to send the cloud into the distribution system. “Look at my folks. They’re still as gooey over each other in their sixties as they probably were in their twenties.” “And yet Soarin and Rainbow will still probably be living together before you and Misty are.” Little Wing’s cheeks puffed out, glaring at the stallion who was trying to look all innocent. “You’re pushing it, buster!” A large booming horn sounded throughout the factory, signifying the end of one shift and the beginning of the next. “Right on time,” Silver Breeze commented, stretching his wing muscles. “Now, relationships aside, I’m beat and you have training to get to.” That put a smile onto Little Wing’s face, previous teasing forgotten. The excitement washing over, she couldn’t help but do a quick hop in place accompanied by her bright squee. “My first day of training to be in the reserves!” Little Wing proclaimed in excitement. “This is going to be so awesome!” But then Little Wing stopped bouncing in place. She took on a more nervous posture, looking towards Silver Breeze in worry. “Unless… I mess it up. Silver, what if I mess it up!?” Silver Breeze rolled his eyes, giving Little Wing a bump on the shoulder. “You won’t mess it up. You’re too tenacious for that.” “But what if-” “Little Wing,” he said evenly. “Stop worrying. Go to practice. And let me go and have that nap.” Little Wing blinked at him, before giving a sigh that turned into a sheepish chuckle. “Yeah, you’re right. See you when I get back next week?” “Don’t have anywhere else to be,” he pointed out, giving her an encouraging pat on the shoulder before cantering off. Little Wing gave another sigh, trying to psyche herself up for what was to come. She knew she could do it… After all, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo would be there. If she messed up with them there, she might as well die all over again. “No, bad thoughts. Very bad!” Little Wing scolded her brain, shaking her head and standing up tall. “I can do this. Just go in there, and don’t crash. Simple!” Having half convinced herself, she took in a breath and then began to make her way off the factory floor. As she went, she briefly spotted her father up on one of the catwalks. She waved at him, and he waved back. Bow also shouted down some encouragement, and promises of a new trophy for the room. Yeah, because that’s what she wanted him to say in the middle of a crowd of other ponies. Flushing a bright red, and trying to ignore the innocent yet embarrassing tittering from her co-workers, Little Wing pressed swiftly on. She returned her uniform and hard hat and ensured she was clear to depart, and then did just that without a moment to lose. With the skies above clear and perfect, Celestia’s sun offering its own encouragement, she stretched out her wings and kicked off. Little Wing left the factory far behind her, heading in the direction of the Wonderbolt’s academy and headquarters. The mountaintop holding the Wonderbolt’s main headquarters and training ground had even more activity than usual. Most of the time it would only have the facility’s staff and security on site, keeping the site safe and well maintained. Then, on other occasions, you would have either the main Wonderbolt team or the reserves conducting various training sessions in order to hone their skills. Sometimes both groups at the same time. They would also, of course, use it to gather and prepare for any deployments they may be commanded. It was well stocked, and all members had a place to rest their heads there. Today it was indeed host to the entirety of the main team; Spitfire, Soarin, Surprise, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, they were all present and looking over the second larger group who walked atop the mountains. They weren’t the reservists, but those young pegasi who were very much interested in becoming one. Some of them were already in their provided flight suits, being overseen by various instructors while traversing obstacle courses and other such tests of skill and endurance. Some other, however, had yet to be provided their flight suits. Rather, these newest of recruits had just arrived and been immediately lined up and prepared for inspection by one of the five main Wonderbolts overseeing them. Little Wing was, of course, in this group. She stood next to seven other aspirational pegasi, being positioned at the very end of the line-up. She made sure to stand up tall and in complete silence, all while a very specific Wonderbolt walked up to the first nervous pony and began to examine the ponies one by one. “Well then, what have we got here?” Rainbow Dash asked mockingly as she walked by them. “Bet you all think you’re Wonderbolt material, dontcha?” “Yes, ma’am!” all the recruits shouted out, though Little Wing was trying not to snort at Rainbow Dash’s authority act. Her elder sister reached the end of the line, giving Little Wing a quick and stern examination. She then turned and began walking back down the line, though Little Wing didn’t miss the wink. “You all think you’ve got what it takes to be elite fliers?” “Yes, ma’am!” Rainbow Dash reached the end of the line, once again spinning on the spot and walking back in the other direction. She gave a snort, stopping at the centre of the line and stepping back to look over each and every single one of them equally. “Yeah, we’ll see,” she finally said. “Give me five hundred and one laps! Right now!” The entire line up looked ashen at that command, but the other seven ceased any and all protests upon Rainbow Dash’s glare. In a puff of smoke they were all gone, not wishing to earn the ire of the Element of Loyalty on their first day. Little Wing didn’t take off immediately, however. She looked blankly towards her sister while mouthing silently: “Five hundred and one…?” Rainbow Dash shot her a smirk. “Hey, it’s one more than Spitfire made us do. Actually, you can make that five hundred and two for you, squirt!” Little Wing’s eye twitched. “I’m so going to get you back for this.” “Five hundred and three.” “But… I- Bwah!” Little Wing shouted in annoyance, quickly racing after her fellow recruits as Rainbow Dash watched on in amusement. “Ouch…” Little Wing muttered to herself as she came in for a relatively soft landing, the sky crimson as the sun began to set behind the horizon. The day had certainly been a busy one to say the least. After all five hundred and two laps had been finished, Little Wing and the others had been allowed to set up their bunks and get something to eat while they recovered from their lengthy flight. But that hadn’t been all they had been tasked to do that day, not by a longshot. After they had eaten, all the new recruits had been provided their uniforms and taken to a classroom where they were given an overview of procedure while on site and what was expected of them. Getting shouted at about proper uniform maintenance was about as fun as it sounded, but luckily they hadn’t run on for longer than they needed to on that. When they finally had concluded the class, they had been led back out to the runway where Surprise was busy talking to another group of fresh out-of-uniform recruits. Little Wing silently wished she had been the one to greet them. She seemed far more bubbly and fun, even while talking to those ponies and getting them set up. She had even promised them a ‘Welcome to the Wonderbolts Party’. But while that was happening, they were once more met with Rainbow Dash. Captain Spitfire was with her this time, and together they had informed the recruits of their next task. That task being an obstacle course that was required to be flown in pairs. If one half of the team failed to pass the course, both would fail to pass the course. The whole point of the exercise was teamwork, and supporting your fellow flier rather than perusing personal glory. And then there was the dizzatron. Little Wing had never, ever, in all of her two lives, felt that horrendously sick. And Rainbow Dash was having way too much fun being the instructor. But despite spewing her lunch all over the tarmac, Little Wing did manage to regain her stability mid-flight and come to a landing. Maybe she didn’t do it as fast as some of the others, but she had succeeded in the task where some of the others simply floundered into the ground. “Hey, squirt,” Rainbow Dash greeted as Little Wing was making her way into the provided locker rooms. Little Wing turned to see her sister approach, her hood down and a far more relaxed posture gracing the pegasus. It seemed as though she was returning to sister mode, rather than evil tormenter of innocent pegasi mode. “Hey,” Little Wing said back, accepting a small nuzzle from her sister. “You okay?” Rainbow asked, looking concerned. “I didn’t push you too hard, did I?” “Nah, I’m good,” Little Wing assured. “If I couldn’t handle that stuff, I wouldn’t be much of a Wonderbolt.” Rainbow Dash gave her a small smile. “Yeah, I guess. I can’t afford to treat you differently from the other cadets, Little Wing. If I did that, I might end up just hurting your chances.” “You learn that from your friendship lessons?” “Something like that. Me and the girls have done a lot in our time.” “You make yourself sound old talking like that,” Little Wing joked, bumping her flank against Rainbow’s. “I know why you were acting all gruff and stuff. Though you were a hundred percent enjoying the torment!” Rainbow Dash blushed. “Was not!” “You totally were,” Scootaloo agreed as she emerged from the building, approaching the two. “Hey, Wing. You did good out there!” “You think so?” “Sure I do, the lack of broken bones is a good indicator,” Scootaloo joked, hugging Little Wing in a sisterly way. “It’s good to have you here with us.” “Eh, she’ll be a main bolt in no time,” Rainbow Dash stated. “As if this team couldn’t get more absolutely awesome!” “We’re your sisters, you’re kinda biased,” Scootaloo pointed out. “What, you think we’re not totally awesome?” “I never said that!” Scootaloo shot back, giving Rainbow a glare. “Still, Wing has to get through the week first.” “I’m not exactly planning to drop out,” Little Wing said, shaking her head. “I’m in it for the long haul.” “That’s the spirit!” Scootaloo complimented. “Now hurry up! Surprise is setting up that party!” “Huh, I wasn’t sure she’d actually do it.” “Of course she would, she’s Pinkie Pie in pegasus form,” Scootaloo said with a roll of her eyes. “And you better enjoy it why you can, squirt,” Rainbow Dash said teasingly, leaning against her little sister. “Because things are only gonna get harder from here. It’s a thousand laps tomorrow.” "What!?" Rainbow Dash’s smirk only widened. “Make that a thousand and one.”