//------------------------------//
// 40- Reliving old memories. 
// Story: Blazing a Trail to the Past. 
// by Daylight_Dreamer 
//------------------------------//

I was glad I had talked Gilda into letting me hire a hot air balloon. Being carried all the way to Wonderbolts HQ would have been awkward, and I had to agree with her that using the potion to fly myself was a bad idea. Tempting, but stupid.

The balloon landed on the far side of the field from the complex. A familiar yellow and orange mare walked up. she was by herself. She stopped 5 feet in front of me and saluted.

"I didn't think you saluted civilians?" I was confused.

"Easy Glider wanted the ceilings painted black," Spitfire responded.

I was confused but out of nowhere, I said, "Because the night sky was the only peaceful one. Most ponies were afraid of it."

"I wasn't saluting a civilian was I?" She gave me a coy look, "once a 'bolt always a 'bolt. Commander Dreamer."

"How did you know?" I asked, "I never made commander."

"The medical unit didn't have ranks until after you were gone. So you were posthumously awarded the title you should have had," she said, "Easy Glider left a few records the entry-level 'bolts don't know about. He wanted you to get the hero's welcome you deserve, but I talked to Rainbow Dash and she didn't seem to think you wanted it. Still. I had to do something. It was Easy Glider's last order." She blew her whistle.

Soarin came flying down with a Wonderbolts jacket.

"So this is what we decided on," Spitfire said as Soarin held the jacket out to me, "A new jacket. It also goes without saying that you are still a commander of the medical unit, in an honorary sense at least."

I looked the Jacket over, the name tag said 'Crunch' on it.

"We actually still had your nickname on record," Spitfire chuckled.

"Now I remember why I don't like nicknames," I laughed, "Do you know how embarrassing it is to break your leg in three places on your first day?" I put it on and it fit perfectly. 

"Wow," Soarin said, "I thought 'Clipper' was bad."

"That's not all," Spitfire said, "one of our medics is retiring. So we'll have an opening for somepony who knows first aid in a couple weeks. I hear you're griffin-friend was interested. The list of applicants is long, but with a recommendation from the first commander of the medical unit... I can skip a few."

"Really?" Gilda chimed in, "You mean it?"

"You would be the newbie," Spitfire said, "and we will expect you to prove yourself, but I can't disregard an order from Commander Daylight about how he wants his unit run."

Gilda looked up at me with the same look Scootaloo had become fond of. She found the door to her dreams and I held the key. I didn't wait for her to ask. I looked Spitfire right in the eye.

"I would very much like Gilda to be considered," I said, "I have a feeling, given a few years, she'll be running the unit."

"And just like that she has better credentials than anypony else," Spitfire laughed, "Would you mind joining me in the mess hall before the tour. I have to admit, I never thought I would be the 'bolt lucky enough to welcome you back. I've been so excited I forgot breakfast."

"We better get you to the mess hall then," I scolded, "a flyer has to keep their strength up."
-
The mess hall seemed to only serve pasta and sandwiches. We all lined up and made our decisions before choosing a table. We saw Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo already eating so we sat with them.

"So do you remember anything from your old life?" Spitfire was actually starting to lose her cool. Soarin was trying to contain his grin. I had a feeling she had been talking his ear off while they waited.

Something bothered me though. Her tone was one of excitement, but I could tell there was a hesitation involved. Like she wanted to hear my stories but was worried about what they were about.

"Not much," I said, "The memories seem to come as visions, and they need a trigger. Except when I'm in pony form."

"Pony form?" She dropped her fork, "You can change back?"

"Only with the help of a potion I left at home," I said.

"So you actually have a potion that turns you into a pegasus again," Spitfire hadn't even touched her plate of mac and cheese, "and you didn't bring it?" 

"The transformation requires a painkiller for me to survive it," I said, "the painkiller in it only lasts a few moments, so it's a bad idea to use it when I may lose track of time. I learned that the hard way."

"If you use it again," she said, "I wanna be there. It would be an honor to fly with my filly-hood hero's wing-pony."

"Eat and I'll consider it," I said with a mouthful of spaghetti, "I bet you have to yell at somepony soon. Do you really want your stomach to growl right then." She gave me a funny look but finally started digging in. I enjoyed the silence as we finished eating.

"I probably should check in on the new recruits," Spitfire said after cleaning her plate, "They're just doing drills so I figured Thunder Lane could handle it. If you don't mind, I'd like to see how he's doing."

"I don't mind," I said.
-
"Come on! You call that flying!" I heard Thunder Lane's deep voice from the other end of the runway, "My baby brother can fly twice that fast and he's still a colt!! Watch those hoops!! The idea is to go through them!"

"You're doing great," Spitfire laughed as we approached Thunder Lane.

"I'm just glad I could help out," He said, "IT'S CLOUDBUSTING, NOT CLOUD HUGGING!!!"

"I was thinking," Spitfire said, "it's not often we have new recruits, and guests. Let's show them how it's done."

"Let's do it," he said, "ALRIGHT NEWBIES!! LISTEN UP!!" The new recruits all lined up, "You're in for a treat, Spitfire, Soarin, Rainbow Dash, and I are gonna show you how it's really done!"

"Mind if we join?" Gilda asked putting a claw on my back.

"Ummm, Gilda," I was about to point out that I couldn't fly when she held a flask out to me.

"It's the same dose you took before," she said, "only this time I'm setting a timer. You WILL land and smoke when this goes off in fifty minutes."

"Is that what I think it is?" Spitfire asked.

I just took the flask and said, "I fucking love you," before stripping and draining it before I could care that I was naked.

I looked across the group of astonished flyers as they stared at me and one of the newbies caught my eye. She was Orange, with a midnight blue mane. As a human, I just thought it was an interesting combination that I liked. As a pony, I couldn't look away. She looked just like my daughter.

"This is so, AWESOME!!" Spitfire officially lost her cool.

"Commander!" Rainbow scolded before getting gushy herself, "that's my line."

"Like I was gonna let you spend a day here without flying," Gilda smiled, "Now let's get to it. He has fifty minutes starting now. Any remaining time has to be spent medicating for the change back."

"Alright," Thunder Lane said, "It's a classic obstacle course. Zigzag around the cloud pillars, bust three clouds, go through the hoops, and it's a mad dash to the finish. We line up here."

We all lined up and Thunder Lane gave Scootaloo the whistle and stopwatch.

"We'll be busy so you can do the count down and referee," he said, "Now, ARE WE READY!?"

I took a deep breath and tried to remember how I did this as Daylight. I may have been in his body with his memories but I was still Jerry. That had become painfully obvious when I flew with Gilda. I really didn't want to embarrass myself in front of the newbies.

I seemed to remember my first commander telling us to imagine we were on an attack. We had to fly through the woods, take out the enemy, then run a diversion course before bolting home before they catch up. That was never my style.

The whistle blew and I did imagine myself going through the woods, but I imagined gathering ingredients, making my way to the kettle, and sprinting to my injured friends.

I looked up to see how many of the others beat me. I only saw Scootaloo.

"Where are the others?" I asked. She pointed behind me.

I turned around to see Rainbow just reaching the finish followed by Spitfire, Soarin, Thunder Lane, and Gilda within a second of each other.

"Way to go, Dad," Scootaloo beamed, "You're even faster than Rainbow Dash!"

"Now that's," Rainbow panted, "impossible."

"You OK?" I asked, "you should catch your breath."

"Geeze, Dweeb," Gilda said, "What happened? Last time you couldn't keep up with me. Now you're flying so fast Rainbow got winded trying to catch up to you."

"I, am, not..." Rainbow gave up and took the time to catch her breath.

"I remembered why I liked being able to fly fast," I answered, "I've always been better at things when I have a good reason to do them."

"You're not so bad yourself," Spitfire told Gilda, "I'll feel a lot better knowing we have a medic that can out-fly some 'bolts. Thunder Lane isn't exactly slow, and you were right behind him."

"That's why I like flying fast," she blushed, "in an emergency, time is everything. So what's your reason?" she was asking me.

"The same as you," I smiled at her, "I really did form the original medical unit."

"Whatever," Rainbow scoffed, "that was just beginners luck. Let's just go straight to best out of ten while we have the time."

"You are so on," I laughed as we lined up again. I didn't plan on taking it easy on her. Now that I knew I could win, I wanted to know 'by how much?'. Taking it easy was never my style.

We managed to get nine more runs in before the timer went off. The only difference in order was who came after me. Gilda and Thunder Lane went back and forth in last place. Rainbow came in second the first couple but winded herself again allowing Spitfire and Soarin to get their own chances. 

Spitfire came in second on the last race. She was beaming so wide I was snow-blinded by her teeth.

"Wow," She said, "You guys must have been pretty fast back in the day." 

"You should know, if anypony today does," I said, "the Wonderbolt's didn't really start as a super awesome flying group. We were part of the E.U.P. guard. We were the air force. I learned to fly running for my life through the woods. I only know of two ponies that managed to beat me on this course back in the day. That being said, I have very little style, and I bet Rainbow would beat me in a straight sprint. I would be useless in one of your shows."

"You would still be welcome in them," Spitfire said.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said as Gilda handed me a lit joint. I reached out a hoof forgetting I had no fingers. It didn't seem to matter though, I just imagined holding it in my thumb and index finger and it just kinda stuck to the edge of my hoof.

"You should still have five minutes to finish that," Gilda said.

"Think I could talk somepony into fetching my clothes?" I asked, "I'm gonna get cold when this fur is gone." 

All of the new recruits scrambled to be the one to help. The winner was one hiding in the back, closest to the start line where I left them. It was the orange one, with the dark blue mane.

"H-here you go," she held them out in her hooves.

"Thank you," I said, "I like your mane color. What's your name?"

She seemed to blush, "Thank you, I'm Sweet Harvest. I get my mane from my father, he's a berry farmer. He actually looks just like you, but without wings. He wasn't exactly OK with me being here at first. I feel like I'm letting him down." She flashed a worried look.

"He'll come around the rest of the way," I assured her, "All a father really wants is his children to be happy. Some just don't know any path to that besides their own."

She smiled at me, "Thank you, Commander Daylight."

"I prefer 'Jerry' now," I said, "Now, you better get back to practice if you're gonna make him proud. I have no doubt you will."

"Alright, Newbies!" Spitfire yelled, "I hope you took notes, I expect every one of you to cut your time by the end of the day! Shows over, back to flying!"

I was glad I had a minute yet, just enough time for a memory.

I remembered my daughter making her first potion and asking me if she did well. Then I remembered seeing that same worried look I just got from Sweet Harvest. She asked me if she could try out for the Wonderbolts herself. 

I didn't want her to. The things I had seen in that unit could not be unseen. The war wasn't quite over yet either. We were still rooting out a few pockets of resistance from both sides. 

But the Wonderbolts had already started to reform. They were more about gaining support and finding those still trying to fight so we could get them to stop. Rather than wiping out the enemy before they could hurt the princess.

When that was over Easy Glider had some ideas to make the Wonderbolts truly awesome. His flight choreography was sure to be used for centuries to come.

In the end, I was convinced that Equestria needed her in the unit. Sweet Dreams took after her mother, and the new era of the 'bolts needed more humor. It doesn't pay to get too serious, that's why I fell for Feather. That and because opposites really do attract sometimes.

I was still smiling as I changed back. It was nice to finally have a good memory.

I wasn't done at the old HQ yet though. I was afraid of what may trigger the next memory. Being human again meant I would have to live through it. That didn't matter, I wasn't going to leave without a tour, and that was next.