//------------------------------// // Meet the Wonderbolts // Story: Equestria: A Flux Tale // by Star Sage //------------------------------// The outfit is actually rather flattering. I mean, you never did have a figure before, though you were also never what one would call fat. You were just kind of pudgy, but somehow, the outfit, with a slightly oversized t-shirt, and some open shorts, actually worked on your body. You figured the other outfits would as well, considering it was Rarity herself who designed them, and she was one for a fusion of form and function in her designs, seeing as how the dresses she'd made for her friends hadn't caused them to trip or anything, despite the oddities of the Grand Galloping Gala. "Yes, this will work just fine. What do you think girls? Er, girls and Mr. Deasly, I mean," she said, probably not used to showing her outfits off to male passerby, but more than happy to share with her friends. "I think it's rather fetching myself," said Octavia, looking you up and down, and you find yourself blushing a little at it. "Looks good to me, though I don't think I'm such a good study at fashion," admitted Twilight. "Um....I don't wear clothes at all, so I'll just say what Ms. Sparkle said," Deasly said. "Wow, I think it looks awesome, Cuz. This is the symbol for the Cloudsdale Cowcolts, isn't it?" asked Vinyl, leaning a bit closer to look at your jersey, and you look down to see a nice cloud with a rainbow on it, with the rainbow falling down like it was made of liquid. "Yes, it's Rainbow Dash's favorite Cloudball team, so I've had a lot of practice with the design. I thought that he would look better in more casual apparel, considering he seemed a bit nervous in that suit I made for him at first," she said, and you started to object, but then realized that lying wasn't something you wanted to do to these ponies, even if it was just a little white one, and you nod. "I'm just not used to that type of clothing, Ms. Rarity. Anything you make for me though, it's perfect. I just wish I could repay you, all of you, for the kindness you've all show me so far," you tell them, and for a moment it looks like Vinyl's going to say something, but she quickly shuts her mouth when Octavia glares at her. "It's been a pleasure, really. I mean, it's not often a designer is challenged like this, not just a different build, but a completely different body type. I can't wait to show some of these off in Canterlot next week," she says. "And besides, it's not like you eat a lot, or take up a lot of space. Heck, you've given more food than you've gotten," says Vinyl, and then smirks in that joking way of her's, which Octavia glares at her for again, before shaking her head with a similar smirk, and nodding to you. "Indeed. It's been nothing but interesting, since you arrived, and I must admit, it was getting rather dull around here. Still, not to change the subject, but you're going to Canterlot, Ms. Rarity?" she asks, turning to the fashion pony, who nods, and then motions for everypony to follow her, which they do, you included, as you were still on Deasly's back. Once out of the living quarters in Carousel Boutique, you beheld an awesome sight. Dozens of dresses, suits, and saddles, all made up with jewels, and shining fabrics. A few in the collection even looked like they were made for you, if not to you size, as they were a bit more to scale with the ponies rather than your own small stature. "Vinyl and I worked all night on this collection. The designs were inspired by our bipedal friend, and I'm hoping to sell some of it when I go to enjoy Fancypant's company again," she explained, and the others are a bit speechless, as they go around the room, looking at each on in turn. They are actually quite lovely, and even you find yourself admiring them. Well, that was until a series of loud booms draw everyone's attention to the front door, and Rarity runs over to it, probably hoping it was a customer, but instead of business, into the room came a very flustered looking Rainbow Dash. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" said the spectrum pony in rapid succession, as she flew into the Boutique, looking all around, before spotting her two friends, and rushing up to them. "Did you guys hear? It's awful, it's terrible, it's the worst thing that's ever happened to me!" she shouts, throwing up her hooves, and crying a bit, which got the other two to look at each other in worry for a moment, before turning back to her. "Rainbow Dash, whatever is the matter dear?" asked Rarity, levitating a glass of something, that Dash then gulped down without seeming to even notice what it was. "What's the matter? What's the matters?! I'll tell you what's the matter! She's coming here, right now. I saw her from my house and came right down to Ponyville!" she shouted again, and this time flew over to the table and grabbed two drinks with her hooves, and bolted them down quickly. "Who, who's coming? The Princess?" asked Twilight, and Rainbow Dash just gave her a dead pan look. "Twi, would I be this nervous if it were just the Princess? Heck, they visit all the time! No, it's not them, it's Spitfire. You know, the Wonderbolt? She's coming. No, her whole squadron's coming her, right now she'll be here any-" she began, and then Vinyl smirked, which distracted her as only Vinyl's smirks could do, before the unicorn pointed behind the excited pegasus, and standing the doorway behind her were three pegasi in the gear of Equestria's greatest fliers. "Oh my gooooo-," the last drawn out syllable ends abruptly and Dash's eyes roll back into her head, and she passes out. Luckily, she's at Rarity's, and the fashionista has a fainting couch on hand, moving it under Dash so that she falls onto it peacefully, while the Bolts just stare at her for a moment, before taking a few steps inside. "Told ya she'd pass out, Spitfire. Looks like you owe me a pie," says a voice you quickly recognize as Soarin the other named Wonderbolt whom Dash had met at the Grand Galloping Gala, his face lighting up brightly enough that even through the goggles you could tell he was really happy about winning this bet. "Yeah, yeah. You and your pie. Still, I didn't think she'd be this nervous. Didn't we spend the whole day with her after that competition, and then we met her at the Gala," explained Spitfire, pushing her goggles up with her hoof, and then looking around, her own eyes lighting up when she spotted Vinyl. "Hey, Scratching Post, long time no see," she jibbed, and Vinyl nodded, laughing as she trotted over towards her friend, the two embracing in that weird pony way, before separating again. "Well that's because you didn't make our last show, Spitcup. If you had, it would have been even hotter," answers Vinyl. "Heh, but I was there for the cleanup, and you had us working all night long hauling water to put that blaze you started out," explained Spitfire, as the other two Wonderbolts stepped further into the Boutique, Rarity and Twilight nodding at them. "Hello Twilight, how was the Princesses' visit yesterday?" asked Spitfire, as she came to stand in front of the small gathering. "Oh, it went wonderfully. Well, not exactly wonderfully, I mean, she couldn't get the human to grow any bigger than I'd already done, but it still helped out, since it let him fly," she said, and motions towards you and Deasly. Helpfully, you decide to fly again, and this time, manage it rather well, zipping upward, and then staying at about eye height for the Wonderbolts, bowing as you had done with the Princesses, though keeping your balance a bit better, before returning to Deasly's back. "Heh....wait, I think we forgot some introductions here," said Vinyl, looking back and forth between the Bolts and Deasly, motioning towards the latter as she stepped between them, "Spitshine, this is-" "Deasly, assistant to Professor DawnChaser from Manehatten's prestigious Hayvard University," finished Soarin for her, nodding at the colt. "Uh, yeah, that's right. How'd you guess?" she asked, looking back towards the Bolts. "It wasn't a guess, Scratch-head. This young colt was hanging out with us for a while, something like a month ago," explained Spitfire, and Deasly nodded. "Yes, the Professor was asked to work on the Wonderbolt's equipment, and since it was quite a lot of gear, and the improvements took a while, we bunked with them while doing it. Luckily, they maintain offices in Canterlot itself, otherwise we might have had to head to Cloudsdale, and I just don't want to consider what would have happened if our cloudwalking spells ran out while we were asleep or the like," Deasly added helpfully. "Heh, would have made for an interesting bed time, though," supplied Soarin, though he gets a look from Spitfire that shuts him up. "Though I suppose we should introduce you guys to our third man today, Snowbolt," she said, and gestured to the, till then, silent pony. "Hello," was all he said, sounding a bit bored with this whole thing. Interestingly enough, his voice sounded exactly like that of Jet, off Cowboy Bebop, which was rather strange, but you tried not to think about it, as you nodded towards him. Spitfire however, doesn't seem to like this very much, and smacks him lightly in the flank with her hoof. "Come on, Snow, you gotta loosen up. I mean, I know you're used to work on the coast, but this isn't the 'lawless land'. You don't have to be so strung up all the time," she tells him, and he looks at her, puffed up to a height that's a bit taller than his squadmate, before sighing, and just kind of collapsing in on himself, his stance becoming more relaxed. "I'll try, but I just wonder how the others are doing without me there," he explains. "I'm sure your old squad’s fine. They're some of the best, after all I've heard about them, and you'll be back with them before you know it, once this whole exchange program is dealt with," she reassures him, and he smiles at her, lifting his eyes to reveal a pair of jet black ones beneath the goggles, rather striking, considering his coat was the same color as his name, a shimmering white. "Aw, sweet. Now then, you said the Professor was making your toys better, and after meeting with his eccentric-ness, I've just gotta ask what he made for you. Exploding prop wings or something?" asks Vinyl, sounding a little too into the idea of exploding things, and Octavia, along with Rarity and Spitfire, just all sigh, shake their heads, as Deasly smiles, turning to her, probably to explain that the Professor had actually made them new horseshoes, that shot energy bolts. "See?" he says, and gestures towards Spitfire, who raised her left forehoof to show the group. On her hoof was a horseshoe, but it looked rather shiny, and as you watched, a bit of electricity played over its metallic surface, running from one end to the other. "Um, so you guys are some kind of fighter squadron then?" you ask. Your trip around Ponyville yesterday had included Rainbow Dash gushing over a Wonderbolts poster, though only for a minute before everypony else had just told her to move on. In that time, you'd basically gotten a repeat of all the information you knew, that they were trick fliers, and did air shows like the Blue Angels team back on Earth. This was the first time anyone had mentioned combat, though you do remember a small flight of Wonderbolts in Ponyville when Spike got big and greedy that one time. "Huh? It talks?" says Soarin, looking at you like you were some kind of mutant freak, and Spitfire jabs him with her hoof a bit in his side. "Of course he talks, I told you that. He knows some pretty gross songs too, if that show with Vinyl the other day is any indication," she says, telling you your time on K-Colt the other day was apparently heard by more than just Ponyville, unless they were stationed there, which you doubted considering how Rainbow Dash had reacted to their presence. "Oh! Right, I forgot, sorry little dude," he apologized. "Think nothing of it. Still, I'm a bit surprised. Rainbow Dash mentioned you guys when we found a poster of you yesterday, but she made it sound like you were some fancy trick fliers. But you've got weapons," you say, looking again towards her hoof, which Spitfire had already set back on the floor. "Heh, yeah, that's Dash for you. She's a good kid, and I'm sure one day she'll be a Bolt, but first she's got to realize this job is more than just tricks and cool airshows. We're Equestria's defenders, and we fight the bad guys. Once she figures that out, and if she still wants to join, I'm sure she'll be one of the greats," said Spitfire, looking towards Rainbow Dash's form, still prone on the fainting couch. "At least with ponies like the Professor helping out, it's getting a bit safer to be a Wonderbolt. And who knows, maybe she'll join the darkside, and become one of Princess Luna's elites," says Snowbolt, and you are again distracted by thinking of Cowboy Bebop from his voice, but shake your head a bit, and just try to focus. One dimension at a time. "Yeah, the Shadowbolts," said Spitfire, lacking in enthusiasm about the idea, while Snowbolt's voice had been filled with respect. "Still, Dash is already the best young flier, once she grows up a bit more, she'll be one of us, the best old fliers," says Snowbolt with a chuckle, and Vinyl gets a smirk on her face like she's about to make a joke about Spitfire's age, at least until Spitfire and Octavia turn their gazes on her, and Vinyl's mouth closes, and she purses her lips to keep them from opening. "Anyway, what brings your group to Ponyville? Is something going on that we should know about?" asks Twilight, obviously ready to leap to aid anypony who's doing a job. "Um, well, I'm not really supposed to admit to anything..." starts Spitfire, but then Soarin leaps forward. "And since I get reprimanded every other day, I'll tell you, we're here to keep an eye on the Professor!" he shots, smirking about it like it was some kind of joke. "So, does that mean that Celestia does take his 'take over the world' goal seriously?" you ask, curious, and Spitfire, Soarin, and Deasly, all look at each other before bursting out laughing, while Rarity looks at them, and then at you, a slight veil of concern crossing her face, and Vinyl's too, for that matter. "Um, what does he mean, 'take over the world goal?' Is there something about the Professor I missed?" asked Rarity, while the other three were still calming down. "Well, according to the Professor and Deasly, Mr. Dawnchaser said he wants to take over the world, he even offered me a position, and handed me a contract. As Celestia's student, I rejected it," said Twilight, and Spitfire nodded, while using her hoof to clear a tear from the corner of her eye. "Oh, comeon, where's the fun in that?" asked Spitfire as she recovered, "I mean, I signed one." "You mean, you agreed to be part of the mission to overthrow the Princesses?" asked Octavia, "That's something I'd expect of somepony like Vinyl, but not a Wonderbolt." "Heh, lighten up Octavia, you know I wouldn't do anything to put anypony in danger. The Professor's more eccentric than a threat. It's just, he sometimes forgets that there are those around him who can't shrink or grow their way out of trouble, so Celestia sometimes sends some backup to make sure everypony around him gets out okay. Remember that mission I told you guys about on the show, the one at the ruins out in the desert?" explains Spitfire, and the two radio personalities, and Deasly who'd probably been listening to the broadcast, nod. "The one where you nearly got eaten by a plant?" asked Vinyl, smiling at the memory. "Yeah, that's the one, and that was his fault too for making me bug sized. Anyway, during that little mission, he kind of...accidentally...." she trailed off, and Deasly smirked. "What she means to say is DawnChaser got a dragon real mad by stealing a gem from its hoard, and the thing nearly torched a nearby village. Luckily, Spitfire and her squad were on hoof to help, and once the Professor realized the danger, he put in his two bits worth of work too, to push the dragon back out of town," she said, and Soarin nodded emphatically. "Yeah, he was like *Whopah* And the dragon was all like *roar* and then I had a giant pie...that was a good mission," he said with a dreamy sigh, to which Spitfire responded with a sigh of her own. "Anyway, you see what I mean. The Professor is a good stallion, but he tends to forget things a lot easier than you'd think for a pony who remembers everything he reads, so Celestia likes to send us, or some other team along to keep everypony safe. She figured since, well, since me and Soarin know Dash, and we worked with him and Deasly on the horseshoes, we were good candidates to be his foalsitters," she finished, and the other took a moment to absorb this. So there was a perfectly logical explanation for their presence, and why it was as sudden as it was, since the Princesses had likely just sent them when they got back, and they'd probably taken last night to get gear together and prepare, and most of this morning to make it from Canterlot to Ponyville. "So, how long will you three be staying?" asks Twilight. "Well, as long as the Professor's in town, probably. Until he leaves, we're on site to make sure nothing bad happens, or at least to play cleanup if it does," answered Spitfire. "Sounds reasonable. You know, I never did ask this, but where are you going to be staying, Deasly? You guys spent last night at Sweet Apple Acres, but do you have a home or a place somewhere? I mean, the Wonderbolts can probably build one, I think, out of clouds and stuff, but what about you two?" she asked Deasly, who looked thoughtful for a moment, tapping his hoof on his lip, and then shrugged. "I hadn't really thought too hard about it. The Professor can usually find some place to bunker down, like last night, or if not, we rent one. He's a teacher at a prestigious university, and he owns the patents on a few devices, and does contract work, most recently for the Princesses, with the Wonderbolts new shoes, so he's actually got a lot in savings," mentioned Deasly. "Oh no no no no no, dear, that won't do at all. I insist, since I had to rent that whole lousy apartment block for that show last month, you can all stay in rooms there," say Rarity, pointing her horn towards the building you'd stayed at with Octavia and Vinyl your first night. "Are you sure? I mean, Twilight's not wrong, we can just make something with the clouds," asked Snowbolt, one of the few times he'd spoken without being spoken to first. "Of course I'm sure, darling. After all, what's the point of being able to rent something like that, and not being able to share it?" she asked. "Well then, I accept, on behalf of myself, and my squad, you have our thanks," said Spitfire. "And on the Professor's behalf as well, since he'll probably forget where it is, and I'll have to guide him to it each night," echoed Deasly, and everypony had a nice giggle at that. Of course, all noise ceased when the door which had been closed for a while, suddenly banged open, and standing in it was a pair of large stallions in both purple and red coloring, DawnChaser and Big Macintosh had arrived.