//------------------------------// // Ch.6 Wonderbolt Trials pt.3 // Story: The Wonderbolt Academy's New Volunteers // by Jay Watson //------------------------------// Commander Spitfire and Soarin strode over to the group under Rainbow Dash’s watch. “Status report,” Spitfire ordered as she returned Dash’s salute. “All flyers have completed their two training sessions, ma’am. One recruit sent to the infirmary with an injury, and I will be checking on her shortly.” Rainbow Dash passed her clipboard to her C.O. Dash wondered what Spitfire was thinking about when she read the results for Silverstream and Gallus, but she didn’t pick up anything in her C.O.’s expression. Spitfire returned the clipboard to Dash, giving the batch of recruits a quick once-over. “Wonderbolt Soarin will be assisting you for the next session since we are running late this morning. We need to have this second session wrapped up by twelve-hundred hours.” “Yes, ma’am.” Dash was all business, even as Soarin walked over to stand right beside her, smiling that charming crooked smile all the while. “Carry on.” Spitfire saluted them both, mindful of the possibility of the inspector from Central Command watching the goings on even as she spoke. She would keep her eyes open for anypony she did not recognize walking about the grounds. Soarin turned to face his fellow team member, smiling still. “Good to see you again, Professor Dash.” He saluted her and Dash returned the salute, somewhat bashfully. “I’ve got to check on one of the recruits. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She passed along her clipboard, hoping she didn’t look as nervous as she felt right then. Her eyes darted to and away from him with filly-like nervousness. “Yes, ma’am.” He saluted her, seeing her ever so slightly blush. Dash made herself scarce, worried she’d let something slip if she stayed longer. “You recruits follow me.” He led them down to the opposite end of the field where the recruits found a series of large metal hoops mounted on the tops of tall flagpoles arranged in a pattern that snaked across most of the open area of the field. They huddled around a large wooden crate while their instructor jumped up on top of it and gave a short blow of his whistle to get their attention. “Alright, everypony, quiet down and listen up. Here’s how this session is going to go,” Soarin began as they all watched and listened. “Each one of you will be fitted with leg and body weights; your ultimate goal is to fly through all twenty-four hoops in the circuit without any part of your body touching any surface of any hoop. Academy standards call for sixteen hoops as an acceptable score for this trial. If any part of your body hits a hoop, the bell mounted above it will ring and be scored as a foul against you. You cause three fouls and your attempt will be disqualified. Does everypony here understand what to do?” “Yes sir!” they replied. “I need a volunteer to show how the weight gets strapped on.” Soarin turned to look at the group, picking one at random. “You.” “Yes sir.” Nightflight didn’t hesitate to step forward, still feeling buoyed by his first success. He stood proudly in front of the others, his confidence high. But that same sureness was not nearly as much once the weight was applied to his body. “Each weight on your legs is equal to one fourth the weight that’s around your body. That’s why you were weighed; you each have to carry your full body weight for this session.” Soarin could not help but be a tiny bit amused by the facial expressions on the recruits as it dawned on them just how tough this part was going to be. Rainbow Dash arrived back just in time to witness their reactions too. “Ah, I see they’ve learned why we weigh them at the beginning.” She looked over their faces, seeing some that were wide eyed and some that were worried and some that even looked sure of themselves. “Alright newbies, suit up!” she ordered. They were sorted out and fitted with the correct weights, the two team members getting them strapped in quickly and having the recruits get used to the weight on their bodies. Most of them were looking rather worriedly at those hoops perched up high on the poles, wondering how they were going to reach them with all this weight on. “Everypony stand single file right here behind this white line.” Soarin got out the stopwatch from the flank pocket on his uniform, clipped it to his clipboard and watched Dash get the recruits lined up in a row. She then took her position further out on the field so as to observe the flyers from a better vantage point. “First flyer up!” Soarin called and Nightflight got in position at the starting line, crouching halfway down so as to push himself up along with the thrust of his wings. He took two deep breaths, focusing on the task at hand. “Ready!” Soarin had the stopwatch ready. “Go!” he shouted and hit the timer. Nightflight pushed up with everything he had, getting a good first thrust and flapping his wings like mad. Up he went, quickly getting through the first hoop and headed on the path around the circuit, at first feeling like maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad. Clang! Clang! One of his hind legs had clipped two of the hoops he’d flown through. All the extra weight was quickly sapping his strength. Nightflight tried to maintain his flightpath, just clearing three of the hoops as the muscles in his wings ached from the intense workout. His leg muscles started cramping up too, protesting the strain of holding his weighted limbs straight out in front and behind him. Nightflight continued to sink lower as he pushed on, struggling to reach the tenth hoop. Both his rear legs, dangling low beneath his body, clipped the hoop as he flew through, the contact throwing him suddenly out of balance and causing him to head straight for the ground. Nightflight made a gallant attempt at trying to land on his hooves but only stumbled a few steps and ended up eating dirt when he fell forward. A couple of the recruits groaned sympathetically at the sudden impact. “Oh no! Is he okay?” Silverstream watched Nightflight stagger to his hooves, dizzy from the fall but unhurt for the most part. He shook off the dirt from his body. “He’ll be fine. It looks worse than it actually is.” Firebolt seemed relatively unconcerned. This was all part of the training to her. Nightflight plodded back to the line, panting from the strain. Gallus silently watched him pass. Just from seeing Nightflight’s spent expression and heavy panting, Gallus could tell exactly how tough this trial was going to be. A bit of dread crept inside the griffon. “Crud!” he grumbled as a bit more of his confidence chipped away. Nightflight headed for the back of the line. “I need to sit down and rest.” “Next flyer up!” Soarin called to the next pony on line. One by one, each recruit took their turn at flying and failing the painfully grueling course. After watching three other ponies before her as well as Stormbringer foul out on their first attempts, it was now Firebolt’s turn and she strode confidently right up to the line while flexing her wings. “All set, sir!” She got in position, giving her wings one quick flap to get them set in launch position. “Go!” Soarin ordered and hit the timer on his stopwatch. She took off in a blaze of speed, flying up and through the first clutch of hoops, hitting dead center on the first eight. Clang! Her left hind leg slapped the ninth hoop as she rounded the sharp turn at speed, her body pitching hard to the left and throwing her off balance. Headstrong and refusing to slow up to regain her balance, she just barely made it through the following three hoops, twisting her body back into proper flight position. Clang! Her right leg had drooped down too low and hit the edge of the thirteenth hoop as she raced through it, setting off the bell. She pressed on, trying to get her back end in line with her torso for the next hoop. She was determined to get through this on the first try. Firebolt didn’t slow down enough, going into the next turn too fast and letting her body swing wide. Her left wing smacked the hoop as she flew through it. Clang! “Foul!” Rainbow Dash yelled, blowing her whistle and calling an end to Firebolt’s run. Firebolt landed smoothly on her hooves without stumbling, something none of the other recruits had been able to do on their first attempts. Silverstream and Gallus were impressed with her skill and expertise at flying under pressure. She’d made it look almost easy. “I guess she came prepared too.” Gallus wondered how well he’d do at this trial, perhaps underestimating just how hard this was going to be to get through. “Oh, for the love of Celestia!” Firebolt snarled as she kicked at the ground a little, tromping her hooves back toward the line of recruits. No pony missed the upset look on her face. “You did great. You flew through more hoops then everyone else so far.” Silverstream tried to perk her up but Firebolt was very annoyed by her performance. “I should’ve made that last turn tighter than I did; wouldn’t have hit that last hoop like that if I’d slowed down sooner. Besides, I fouled out so it doesn’t count.” “C’mon, Firebolt. Give yourself a break. No one here expects you or any of us to get through this on the first try. That’s silly to think you have to.” Gallus made light of her seriousness. It wasn’t healthy to obsess. “But I do. I have to prove I can do this.” To Gallus and Silverstream, it was more like she was telling herself this rather than answering them. “To who?” Silverstream asked the obvious question. Firebolt hesitated briefly. “It’s…it’s no one. I…I just have to prove this to myself. That’s all.” She quickly headed for the back of the line, analyzing every moment of the first attempt in her mind and trying to figure out what she needed to do better. “Next flyer up!” Soarin called and up strode Wind Raider, sure and confident as any flyer here. He was not intimidated by this. A quick flap or two of his wings and he was in position and ready. “All set, sir.” “Go!” Wind Raider took off, his first wing thrust launching him high up in the air. Silverstream and the rest of the recruits watched him fly flawlessly through the first eight hoops. A cheer grew from among the recruits, witnessing a great run in the making. Clang! His hind left hoof slapped the ninth hoop. Wind Raider had mistimed the change in altitude to make the turn. Even though he was a powerful flyer, Wind Raider’s strength was not boundless. The weight on his legs pulling them down forced him to concentrate more on keeping them up rather than focusing on flying. Clang! Again one of his hind hooves made contact with a metal hoop, setting off the bell. One more hit and the run would be disqualified. Through the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth hoops he endured, the golden target of the sixteenth just a few hoops ahead. He just made it through the fourteenth hoop as his strength faded more, and rather than fouling out, he veered off to land instead, accepting only getting so far. It wasn’t passing, but it was the best of the recruits and matched the distance Firebolt had gone. There would be more chances to get it higher. He landed close to Rainbow Dash, winded somewhat but more than capable of going again. “Nice showing.” She gave him a nod of acknowledgement and logged his stats in her logbook. “I’ll get it on the next run, ma’am.” He saluted her, wanting to impress his famous instructor with his serious determination. “I’m sure you will.” She didn’t bother looking up, having heard that kind of banter before from previous recruits. Now the pressure was on for those following in Wind Raider’s wake. He’d set the mark to beat. Gallus stepped up to the line, his time finally having come, keenly aware of his shortcomings. His kind were more of the ‘gliding from high-up perches’ type and not really strong on the fast vertical take-offs like pegasus ponies were accustomed to. But he would still make a go of it, undeterred by the challenge. He got into position, mimicking how the pony recruits stood with wings spread out and ready. “All set.” Gallus looked right at the first hoop up ahead of him, everything else blocked from his mind, focusing on the objective. “Ready? Go!” Soarin watched the griffon take off from a dead stop. His initial launch was lacking in both speed and altitude compared to his fellow flyers. Gallus flapped his wings furiously, gathering speed and making up a bit for his less than impressive take off. Getting through the first two hoops wasn’t too bad but misjudging his speed and the weight he now had strapped on him, he overshot the sharp right turn for the third hoop and went soaring off the circuit. He was losing precious time flying back to get on the circuit again, and trying to make up for the mistake, he got careless and desperate. Clang! Clang! Clang! He smacked three consecutive hoops with both his hind legs, unaccustomed to the weight pulling down on his limbs. “Foul!” Dash pointed at Gallus and blew her whistle, watching him gliding down to the ground, his limbs drooping. He was smooth with his landing, allowing himself plenty of distance to land on all fours without stumbling and falling like the other recruits. “Crud!” Gallus snarled to himself, keeping his voice down so as not to let them hear his cussing. He realized just how unprepared for this exercise he was, baffled at how any of the pegasus pony recruits could handle flying with all this weight strapped on. “Tough break, but keep at it.” Rainbow Dash pointed back to the line, still offering encouragement and a brief smile. “Yes, ma’am.” He stepped to it, glad to still have her support. Gallus headed back to join his friends, standing in sequence in the line of yet-to-go flyers. “Not easy, is it?” Firebolt reached out to stop him, half-expecting Gallus to pull away and not want to hear any offering of sympathy about his first attempt. Unlike the previous trials, every participant here was too tired to even bother with taunts. None of them were looking very impressive to the instructors so no one wanted to waste the time or energy when they needed to recuperate. “This is a total joke!” he paused to mutter a few disgruntled words, “no flyer could possibly do this without losing control or hitting the hoops while trying to fly fast and get anything like a decent time. Your whole body balance is all out of whack with these things on.” He was a good flyer and he knew it. This just seemed like a pointless exercise to him. “It’s all about controlled flight, Gallus. It’s knowing just how fast you can go versus how fast you want to go. Get it?” Solar Flare had been keen to see Gallus succeed, figuring that a griffon’s lighter frame was probably more suited for trick flyting and tight formation flight than mere power flying. “No, not really.” This was all new to him; flying was not something he analyzed or thought much about in itself. So getting all technical about it didn’t make much sense to him. “Watch the next flyer and I’ll explain.” Solar Flare subconsciously knew he shouldn’t be helping fellow flyers who were competing for a spot in the academy along with him, but the spirit of friendly competition was in him and he wished to impart some insight to a new friend. They watched the next pony, a blue-gray stallion, get into position at the starting line. The instructor shouted for him to go and the pony took off with lightning speed. Solar Flare stood next to Gallus and pointed out the flightpath of the recruit. “Just watch how he flies and I’ll point out to you what he’s doing.” Silverstream and Brightstar moved in closer to listen. This could make the difference between passing and failing so they huddled in close to see where Solar Flare was pointing. “See? See how he slowed down before those turns and then sped up? Look how far before the turn he does that, and then he makes it around the turn cleanly. He knows he’s got more weight in his momentum so he has to slow down sooner in order to make the turns and not fly off the circuit. That way he’s lined up to get through the hoops in proper body position.” Using his left wing like a pointer, Solar Flare pointed out the spots above them as he explained how to stay more in balance. With more analytical eyes, the group watched and learned. “Now watch; he’s going to glide from the high point and down to the tenth-” Clang! The bell mounted above the hoop shook and clattered from the impact of a leg weight. The flyer veered off the circuit, choosing not to risk fouling out of the run. “Well,” Solar Flare was momentarily disappointed for the short demonstration. “I guess I’m not going to be able to have you watch. But that should help you get some better idea of how to approach this test.” “Thanks for the help, I’m just so nervous right now!” Silverstream twitched her wings, trying to shake off the pre-attempt jitters. Brightstar put a wing around her shoulders. “You’re going to do fine; we’re going to do fine.” Brightstar made it sound like this was going to be a piece of cake, but after seeing a number of flyers foul out from the strain, it looked nearly impossible. “Next flyer up!” Soarin double-checked his roster, making sure he had the correct recruit’s name and spot to record their run. Brightstar trotted right up to the line and got in position, wings poised at the ready. “All set!” Brightstar blocked everything out of her mind and focused only on the first hoop up and ahead of her, about one hundred yards away. It was dead silent for a second or two, then the command… “Go!” Soarin set Brightstar on her first attempt, silently cheering on his selected recruit for these trials. He was sure that those he’d chosen would reflect well on his ability to pick good flyers for the academy. Being Wonderbolt team captain added to the pressure on him to pick good candidates. Brightstar was sure and steady with her flight, clearly not flying as fast as the others before her but she got through first six, then seven, then eight hoops cleanly and right dead center of each. Cheers again grew from the excitement of seeing a flyer making a good run. “Go Brightstar! Wahoo! Go girl!” Silverstream hooted for her, both excited for Brightstar to make it but also watching and learning how to go the distance too. “She’s going to take the lead, I just know it!” Firebolt was itching to see Wind Raider lose his spot as top recruit. Gallus clapped and whistled loudly for Brightstar as she sailed through another fours hoops in a row. Brightstar misjudged the distance and her speed in the turn before the thirteenth hoop and, like a number of other recruits, struck the hoop with a hind leg. Clang! The reverberation from the impact shot up her leg, making her wince hard and distracting her long enough that she was too low to reach the next hoop. She held off completing her run, descending slowly back down to the ground and conserving energy by gliding in, much like Gallus had. The pain her left hind leg throbbed terribly, making landing tricky as she favored it, trying not to put too much pressure on it. Rainbow Dash continued to record the information in her log, making small side notes on how each recruit performed. “Keep at it; three more hoops to go.” “Thank you, ma’am. I’ll try harder on the next run.” Brightstar limped back to the spot where her friends were standing. She hoped she could walk off the pain enough to recover for her next attempt. “That was really good; thirteen on the first try.” Silverstream had watched every move her friend had made traversing the circuit, studying how and when to slow down and then push herself faster, trying to understand what to do and when. Armed with this knowledge, perhaps this first attempt wouldn’t be as hard as it looked. “It’s not great; I just wanted to get some kind of score on the first go.” Brightstar was still breathing hard but she was not nearly as winded as the recruits who went for broke on their first runs. Brightstar kept flexing her left hind leg, working the muscle and trying to block out the pain from her mind. “Next flyer up!” The call went out and now it was Silverstream’s turn. Firebolt offered a last piece of advice, pulling Silverstream’s head down so she could whisper to her. “When you fly, try keeping your flightpath aimed towards the top of the hoops, that way if your limbs start to droop, you’ll have the most clearance underneath as possible.” If Silverstream performed as well here as she had on the Dizzatron, then she should be great. “Thanks, I’ll remember that.” Silverstream got to the starting line, crouching down and giving her wings a quick flick, getting them set in position. “Ready?” Soarin saw the look of determination in the hippogriff’s eyes. Silverstream only nodded back. “Go!” Soaring hit the trigger on the stopwatch and Silverstream launched herself into the air with a thrust of her wings, kicking up a cloud of dust in her wake. Her friends watched with excitement as she passed through the first eight hoops and then the ninth hoop and kept right on going. Like for Brightstar before her, the recruits started to cheer for Silverstream. The cheers became louder as she now reached the tenth, eleventh and twelfth hoops. Gallus couldn’t help but get swept up in the excitement. “Go, Silver, go!” He hopped up and down a little on his haunches, urging his friend on. “Keep your legs up, girl! Keep’em up!” Firebolt wished her friend could hear her, watching as Silverstream’s hind legs began to droop. She was obviously starting to tire. If she could, Firebolt would’ve flown right out there and held up Silverstream’s hind legs for her. Lucky… lucky… lucky…Silverstream’s repeated to herself over and over again as she managed to fly through each hoop, the muscles in her shoulders and hips burning in pain from holding her legs straight out. She was constantly correcting her balance, all that extra weight made those sharp right and left turns so much more difficult. She wanted to push her speed, wanting to get as far as fast as she could before all her strength was gone. “…it’s knowing just how fast you can go versus how fast you want to go…” Silverstream remembered what Solar Flare told her. She knew she could go faster but doing so meant less control and so much more energy spent. And she wanted to go further than any other flyer had so far. She had to hold back, maintain a steady if somewhat unspectacular speed and get through as many hoops as possible. Her breathing became more and more labored, the strength leaving her. Through the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth hoops she flew, the dream target of the sixteenth ahead of her. “Yeah! Go Silverstream!” Soarin cheered aloud, but suddenly planted a forehoof over his mouth, realizing he had violated the rules of conduct for instructors; showing bias or favoritism for any particular recruit. Rainbow Dash had heard Soarin rooting for her student and, seeing him so embarrassed for having done so, she could only smile back at him; a silent ‘thank you for that’. Having him supporting Silverstream’s efforts endeared him to Dash that much more. He tried to not look too embarrassed but the slight pink tones on his cheeks gave him away. Silverstream went for it, pouring it on to get through the sixteenth hoop. Her friends down below cheered her on, as Silverstream near the goal. Silverstream held on for as long as she could, flapping her wings furiously to keep aloft and make it through. She thought she was home free when her hopes were rudely disrupted. Clang! The bell tolled as one hind leg weight had smacked the hoop as she darted through, her first fault of her run. The seventeenth hoop was up ahead and, feeling the burn to push herself, she kept going, willing to risk the run if she messed up. “She’s doing it! She’s doing it!” Firebolt clamped Gallus in a vice-like hug of glee, the excitement overtaking her. Wind Raider’s expression grew more and more infuriated as he watched one of the ‘freaks’ setting a new high mark for the others to beat. Surpassing his mark. “Go, go, go Silverstream! Do it!” Brightstar cheered for her but Silverstream didn’t hear any of the cheers or yells. Her whole focus was on reaching and getting through that eighteenth hoop. All she could hear was the thud-thud thud-thud of her heartbeat in her ears. Closer and closer she came, her muscles crying for relief from the burning pain, thinking her wings might actually fall off from the stress. “She’s got it! She’s going to get to the eighteenth!” Firebolt squeezed Gallus a little tighter. “Galk!” Gallus croaked as he tried to get a breath in but Firebolt’s grip was crushing. Clang! Silverstream’s left rear hoof caught the edge of the hoop as she flew through. She could see the nineteenth hoop about another fifty yards or so up ahead but her body was screaming out for the strain to stop. Rather than fouling out, she wisely pulled off to land. Once on the ground again, Firebolt and her friends ran over to her, holding her up, so thrilled to have witnessed such an amazing run. “You did it Silver! You’re on top! You’re in the lead now!” Brightstar reached her first, catching Silverstream as she almost collapsed. “I…I did it!” Silverstream was gasping for breath, practically falling down on herself from the strain. She was limp, unable to return the embraces as more of her friends came to her aid, holding her up. Even Rainbow Dash rushed over to congratulate her student for the tremendous run. “You totally crushed it, Silver! That was outstanding!” Dash, too, hugged her student, overcome with elation for the performance. Soarin smiled and watched from a distance, letting the recruits and Rainbow Dash relish the moment. A piece of him wanted to join in too, but had to maintain a ‘professional’ appearance as a Wonderbolt team leader. They were so lucky Commander Spitfire couldn’t see Dash behaving like that. It took a few minutes to get the recruits to settle down and refocus on the task at hand. Many of them were inspired by Silverstream’s performance and were psyched up to try again. Last up was Solar Flare, waiting until the noise had died down before making his first attempt. Poised and patiently waiting for his turn, he would do his best to match or pass his friend’s very impressive score. Standing at the starting line, he crouched down into launch position with his wings spread out and ready. He gave Soarin a nod to let him know he was set. “Ready? Go!” Soarin gave the command and Solar Flare took off, heading for the first hoop of the course. His strong and steady wing thrusts propelled him up and away, flying easily through the first eight hoops. The recruits cheered for Solar Flare too; this good streak of strong flyers was putting on a great show for the less successful ones. The yet-to-qualify duo of Gallus and Nightflight watched with eagerness at Solar Flare’s flight. They wanted to get through this trial too. Solar Flare clearly knew what to do so watching him was a sure way to pick up some tidbit of insight on how to get through this successfully. “Hey, he’s really good!” Firebolt hadn’t initially suspected him of being that strong a flyer, since he had always been rather quiet and only spoke when he had something to say. They watched as he flew successfully on through the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth hoops, seemingly unfazed by the effort it was taking. Silverstream and her friends loudly cheered him on, only easing off when the bell above the sixteenth hoop went off. Solar Flare exited the circuit, stumbling a little on his landing but staying upright on his hooves. “Well done, Solar. I’m not surprised you made it on the first go.” Rainbow Dash was quite satisfied with her crop of recruits. “Thank you, ma’am.” He still had strength enough to salute her before returning to the line where he received the accolades of his peers. “On the first go-round, you lucky pony you!” Firebolt gave him a hoof-bump and a wing pat for acing the requirement like that. “You were so steady up there! What’s your secret?” Nightflight couldn’t believe it; back-to-back flyers reaching the goal on a first attempt. He wanted to try again; seeing Solar Flare get as far as he did made it seem more possible now. Soarin let them carry on for a minute or two before blowing his whistle to regain control over the excitable recruits. “Alright! Alright! Take it easy, newbies! Nothing to get so excited over.” He attempted to get them to settle down. “Some of you have shown a very good understanding of what’s required to complete this trial while others here need to focus more. Recruits Silverstream and Solar Flare; front and center.” The two recruits stepped forward. “Since you two made successful flights that met the requirements, you are not obligated to take another attempt and therefore are excused from continuing.” He expected them to react with relief but was surprised, as were the other recruits, when he heard their answer. “If it’s all the same to you, sir, I’d like to stay and try for a better time on the circuit.” Solar Flare may have made a successful run but it wasn’t his best, and he knew it. He would try for a better time. “I’d like to stay as well; to support my friends, sir.” Silverstream was earnest with her intent. If she was rested enough, maybe she’d take another try at going the full length of the circuit. “Well it’s up to you,” Soarin answered thoughtfully. “Perhaps you both could offer some encouragement or assistance to those flyers that need have yet to pass. I’m sure no one here would object.” “We’d be glad to, sir.” Solar Flare turned and saw Silverstream nodding as well, wanting to help her fellow recruits. Soarin liked the way the two leading flyers were willing to stay on even when offered the chance to rest. Good leadership qualities like these two had were what potential academy cadets needed to have to succeed. He’d make sure to note such actions in their records, aware of how favorably it would reflect in their evaluations. The recruits all seemed to be grateful that the two best flyers had chosen to stay on and help them. Firebolt gave Silverstream a friendly nudge with her shoulder as she headed to get in line with the others. The hippogriff caught sight of her friend’s bright red mane from out of the corner of her eye. “Nice going, superstar!” Firebolt grinned at Silverstream, who responded with a blush and a titter. Whether intentional or not, having Silverstream and Solar Flare remain with the other recruits had the effect Soarin had suspected would happen. It wasn’t as much of an impact as he’d hoped. But he’d seen the division growing between the recruits and needed to put a stop to it. It was necessary to break down that wall of unfamiliarity and build up the camaraderie of being a unified group that was essential for success in the trials. Two of the stallions that had been hanging around Wind Raider and Stormbringer did venture over to speak with Solar Flare, seeking advice about some topic of flying. Stormbringer made a half-hearted attempt at speaking with Nightflight, trying to find some aspect of the trials they could talk about that wasn’t Gallus or Silverstream. When it came time for a second attempt at the circuit, every flyer that’d fouled out on their first attempt scored better, flying through at least the first dozen hoops before having to stop their attempts from fouling out. Advice shared and trust beginning to build was yielding the results Soarin was aiming for. None so far had fouled out of their run. Things were looking up for this group. Now it was Firebolt’s turn once more. She’d watched all four of the previous flyers take their second attempt and all of them had redeemed themselves by getting some kind of respectable score. She had to stake her claim as a top flyer and show the other recruits she knew how to succeed. She stepped up to the starting line, watching Stormbringer being congratulated by Wind Raider and the two other stallions for having completed a run of fourteen hoops. Their confidence and braggadocio was on full display with Wind Raider telling all in earshot how great he and his crew were and how they were going to totally squash the competition -shooting looks at Silverstream and Gallus- for this trial. Firebolt found their boasting and gloating annoying to listen to but said nothing. She would let her flying do the bragging for her. Blocking out the background noise from her mind, she got into launch position at the line and flicked her wings a few times in preparation. “Ready?” Soarin looked over the young mare in front of him, seeing the determined look on her face as she awaited the command. “Ready.” Firebolt narrowed her eyes slightly, focusing intensely on the task at hand. “Go!” Soarin hit the switch on his stopwatch as he watched Firebolt take off in a near perfect vertical launch into the air above them all. “C’mon Firebolt! You can do it! Show’em how it’s done!” Brightstar yelled out, whistling and cheering for another mare to get on the scoreboard. Nightflight and Gallus cheered right along with her, watching Firebolt soar easily through the tenth, eleventh and twelfth hoops, putting on a great show of agile flying. “Careful Firebolt, don’t force it. Pace yourself.” Solar Flare urged on softly, seeing Firebolt heading along at a good clip and taking the turns as fast as she could. “Look at her go! She’s doing great!” Silverstream clapped her talons, excited to see the first friend she’d made here at the trials showing everycreature here how strong of a flyer she was. Firebolt quickly reached the same spot in the circuit where she’d messed up on her first attempt. Slowing up just enough, she barely made it through the tricky down-up-down altitude change for the twelfth to fourteenth hoops, getting her rear hooves just out of the way of hitting the last hoop as she made it through. No pain, no gain! Push! Push! Make your stand! She would will this to be, giving her all to make it to the end of her run. Clang! Her left hind leg struck the fifteenth hoop as she’d made the quick right turn too wide. Firebolt tried to compensate for the speed by pitching her body hard to the right to get back in position but she overcorrected her flightpath and was now too far to the right to clear the next hoop cleanly. Clang! “Ow-w-w!” She took the pain, clenching her jaw tight as her right wing clipped the sixteenth hoop, setting off the bell for her foul. Annoyed at herself for making back-to-back errors, she pulled off the circuit, not willing to press her luck and lose out on a mostly successful run. Her friends all watched her come in for her landing from close by, seeing the worn out look on her face and how her limbs drooped down below her as she approached. She took a few stumbling steps as her hooves touched the ground, but managed to stay upright and not fall over like most recruits had. Her clutch of friends were quickly surrounding her, offering congratulations. “You did it, Firebolt! You made it through all sixteen hoops!” Silverstream was the most excited of her friends to see her succeed. “That was an awesome flight. You were blazing through those hoops.” Brightstar reached out with a free foreleg, steadying her friend who was still having some trouble standing up. She and Firebolt were fairly evenly matched in skill and size so it felt more reassuring to have another pony like herself go the distance. But Firebolt didn’t seemed too pleased with herself right then. “Yeah, well, I still got two fouls though. It’s not like it was nearly as good as yours, Silver’s, or Solar Flare’s run. I should’ve done better.” She was her own toughest critic, wanting to appear competent and capable to all the other recruits. “What’s the big deal? You made the cut and that’s all there is to it. There’s no sense in beating yourself up over a few little mistakes.” Gallus didn’t understand why Firebolt was unhappy with making the grade. “Going the distance without fouling at all was what I really wanted. I didn’t want to have any marks against my run when it gets submitted for evaluation to the C.O.” “Why? I don’t think she’s expecting any one of us rookies to be perfect flyers every time all the time. You passed, so why get so worked up?” But Gallus’ somewhat dismissive attitude rubbed Firebolt the wrong way and she seemed to get a bit more flustered. “No, I can’t just-” Firebolt caught herself, not letting her frustration or her friend’s misunderstanding of how seriously she was taking this upset her more. She had to keep it together as she reined in her emotions. “You can’t just what?” Silverstream could only guess what she was even talking about. This was the second time she’d heard her friend making an odd comment about not wanting to look bad in front of the academy’s commanding officer. “Nevermind, it’s nothing important.” Firebolt quickly turned away, deflecting the question as she plodded to the rear of the line where she could rest with the others. Silverstream let it go, as she could see Firebolt was too tired and too absorbed in her own thoughts at that moment, and she didn’t want to pester her. Cloudy Sky, the blue-gray stallion whom Solar Flare had his friends observe flying previously, was about to step up to the line when he was rudely shoved aside by another pony. “Hey, what the-?” He was almost pushed off his hooves. He spun around to face whoever it was but suddenly had second thoughts when he saw it was a pony bigger and stronger than himself. “I’m going next.” Wind Raider glared at Cloudy Sky with intense fury, sending the smaller pony back several steps. Some know-nothing mare had just beat Wind Raider’s score and he wasn’t going to wait around for another flyer to do so again. “Uh, yeah, whatever you want dude.” Cloudy Sky shrank back even more, not wanting any trouble. Silverstream and her friends were incensed by Wind Raider’s unsportspony-like behavior. Solar Flare marched right up to Wind Raider; the two biggest pony recruits now staring down one another, almost nose to nose. “Cloudy Sky was up next. I think you can wait your turn.” Solar Flare was calm and cool when he spoke, pointing out Wind Raider’s inappropriate behavior towards his fellow recruits. He had a pet peeve against ponies who bullied others. But Wind Raider wasn’t budging. “I said I’m going next!” Wind responded with a clenched jaw and a scowl back at Solar Flare, not intimidated. The two of them stood there, glaring at one another as the tension grew worse. Soarin, sensing trouble brewing, got in between the two hotheads quickly. “What in name of the Two Sisters is going on? Is there some kind of problem here? I said I want the next flyer up!” Soarin waited to see who was being stopped from their attempt. Cloudy Sky carefully stepped around Wind Raider and Solar Flare to the starting line again, preparing to give this flight everything he had left. Pulling at Wind Raider’s foreleg was Stormbringer, having stealthily crept in closer and getting him to back away from this stare-down. “Forget it, Wind Raider. Don’t waste your time on something pointless. Think about finishing the trial.” Stormbringer only took a hasty look over at Solar Flare and the others, embarrassed by Wind Raider’s behavior. He could almost feel the daggers shooting from their eyes at him and Wind Raider. He quickly looked away, not wanting to make things worse. Cloudy Sky got into launch position. After watching Firebolt make the cut, he was confident he could reach the goal of sixteen hoops too. Soarin got the stopwatch reset and ready. “Ready? Go!” Soarin watched Cloudy Sky take off, getting up to flight speed much quicker this time. He pushed his wings and body to the breaking point, getting through the first ten hoops perfectly. His strength was fading but he refused to give up. If Firebolt, Silverstream and Solar Flare can do it, then so can I! He knew he didn’t have the strength to take another attempt and would accept the consequences of pushing himself beyond his physical limits. His whole body cried out from the strain, feeling his legs beginning to droop down below him. He let them rest; only pulling his hind legs up higher when he had to pass through a hoop. He was using his head, successfully passing through fourteen hoops and heading for the fifteenth. Clang! A hind leg smacked the hoop as he passed through it and set the alarm bell ringing. But he was thinking ahead. That was only the first foul and that meant he had a one alarm cushion to get through to the sixteenth. His friends were cheering him on from down below, wanting him to go the distance this time. Cloudy Sky used up every bit of strength to reach it but both hind legs caught the edge of the sixteenth hoop as he flew through, completely throwing off his body’s balance and making it impossible for him to recover, sending his body tumbling towards the ground. Cloudy Sky couldn’t slow his descent enough; his energy was spent from making the supreme effort of reaching the hoop. He was headed on a collision course with the other recruits below. “Look o-u-u-u-u-t!” His alarm sent the recruits scattering in every direction, frantically trying to get out of the way. Flapping his wings, Cloudy Sky tried in vain to slow down but only ended up crashing into Stormbringer and two other recruits who couldn’t move fast enough. Gallus and Firebolt ran to where their friend had collided with the others. “Hey, you okay, Cloudy?” Firebolt helped an exhausted and groggy Cloudy Sky to his hooves, having him lean heavily on her and Gallus for help. “Watch where you’re flying, you numbskull!” Stormbringer helped his friends up, all of them checking themselves over to be sure they weren’t hurt. As they were about to haul Cloudy Sky back to the line, Rainbow Dash hustled over to speak to them before they did, eager to share the good news. “Congratulations, recruit, you made it.” Rainbow Dash was astonished at how hard this recruit had pushed himself. She had to ask herself difficult questions about each recruit that went the required distance. Was it determination or reckless abandon that allowed the recruit to achieve the goal? Was the flyer under control of their flight? Did they adjust and adapt to requirements of the situation? Did each flyer make repeated mistakes and not learn from them? This was hard for Dash. This wasn’t like teaching at Twilight’s school at all. Back at the School of Friendship, no one got cut for ‘not being good enough’. Here, it was much tougher; she had to go with her gut. Back at the School, she could allow herself to go with her heart. She had no such luxury this time. The two friends lowered the exhausted pony down gently to the ground, all of them aware they too were going to have to push themselves to their limits much like he had. That was not lost on them, though they tried not to think about it too much. “Just take it easy and rest yourself. That was some performance you did.” Gallus thought it amazing how hard some ponies would push themselves to get through such an arduous thing, such as these trials. His attention returned to the next flyer and up walked Brightstar to the starting line. She got into position, wings set and ready, eyes focused on the first hoop. “Ready? Go!” Soarin hit the stopwatch once more and she took off getting a good first push up, steadily flapping her wings and rapidly building up speed and height. From the starting area, Silverstream and the others watched her keep a steady pace, right on target, landing dead center on the first dozen hoops. Breathe deep! More oxygen for the blood! That’s the trick! Brightstar had to keep reminding herself, trying to keep up her strength to stay on track to reach the goal of sixteen hoops. The whistles and cheers grew for her as the other ponies watched her fly through the next three hoops. The target of the sixteenth was right ahead of her. C’mon! C’mon! The goal was only a few more yards away. It was all she could do to hang on and just make it through, both her hind legs clipped the hoop and set the bell ringing. Her first foul, but it didn’t matter. She couldn’t go on even if she’d wanted to. Brightstar came in to land on her hooves too quickly, the strain on her legs turning the limbs limp and sore. Like others before her, she made an unspectacular crash landing when she reached the ground. More embarrassed than hurt, she still had enough strength to haul her body to her hooves and walk back unaided. “Well done, recruit. You made it.” Dash wrote down the score and her observations of the flyer’s capabilities. Brightstar only smiled wearily and saluted her drill instructor, walking unsteadily on her hooves but not still nearly as exhausted as Nightflight was after his run. Her friends were there to congratulate her on making the cut. “I thought I wasn’t going to make it there for a few seconds! That hoop felt a million miles away!” Brightstar smiled in-between her heavy panting. She’d given this her all and was glad this trial was over for her. That just left Wind Raider as the final flyer to go. Most of the recruits were keen to see how Wind Raider would do this time. The two previous flyers had made the grade and he was just as determined to do so too. Wordlessly he stepped forward to the starting line, getting set in position to go. “All set, sir.” Wind Raider flicked his wings a little, getting them set in position. Every flyer quieted down and watched, anticipating an impressive showing. “Ready? Go!” Soarin had to shield his eyes from the dust cloud kicked up once more by the mighty wing thrust that launched Wind Raider into the air. Of all the recruits he had the fastest launch times, getting up to speed and proper altitude for this trial quickly. He made it look so easy, flying the circuit like a seasoned Wonderbolt, taking every turn and change in direction with trained fluidity, sailing through the first ten hoops flawlessly. Stormbringer and a couple of other ponies started cheering for him, seeing Wind Raider easily keeping pace with the other recruits. “Yeah, go Wind Raider! Go for it!’ Stormbringer reared and pumped his front hooves in the air, thrilled to see his friend doing so well. Soarin and Dash watched as Wind Raider passed through another four hoops without showing any sign of slowing down or tiring. Wind Raider dug deep for the strength to endure this, his legs becoming heavier and heavier with each passing second. Silverstream and her friends watched with astonishment as Wind Raider passed through the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth hoops, pushing himself to the brink. Stormbringer whooped and hollered even louder as his friend poured it on. Not going to… give in! Not… yet! Wind Raider strained to keep a steady flightpath, losing the strength to compensate for the added weight on his body as he rounded the turns. Onward he pushed through three more hoops, bobbing and weaving his way through the circuit. Clang! Both his rear legs struck the twentieth hoop, setting off the bell from the impact. Every muscle in his body ached from the stress, his head throbbing with the sound of the blood rushing in his ears. The end of the circuit was only a few hoops further on, he would be a pony of such notoriety if he completed the circuit. It was unimaginable that a raw recruit would be able to do this during the tryouts. Clang! He clipped the twenty-first hoop with his left wing, throwing him terribly off balance. The last three hoops just weren’t worth it. That’s it! I’m done! He gasped for breath as he turned away and off the circuit, unwilling to press his luck with two fouls against him. He’d done even better then he’d hoped for. Back on the ground, he could not help but collapse in a heap, his heart pounding furiously in his chest and making breathing actually hurt as his head throbbed painfully. “That was quite impressive, recruit.” Rainbow Dash had seen some strong flyers in her day but this stallion was something else. If he scored like this on the other training sessions, he was sure to get accepted. Stormbringer and a few other ponies came rushing to his side, helping him up and congratulating him on beating everyone. “Oh yeah! Who’s the best?! Who’s the best?!” Stormbringer bragged loudly about Wind Raider’s performance, irking Solar Flare and Brightstar to no end with his obnoxious cheerleading. Firebolt could not believe what Wind Raider had done. He’d trounced every other flyer’s score. Even Gallus had to admit to himself that Wind Raider was an exceptional flyer, even if he did dislike him. “Wow.” The word fell softly from Silverstream’s mouth, taken aback by just how far Wind Raider had gone and how hard he was willing to push himself to be the best. “Yeah, that was something alright.” Firebolt was humbled, her confidence shaken at having witnessed what was likely to be a record-setting run. She had been tough on her own performance earlier, but now she felt simply awful after seeing Wind Raider’s run that just totally outdid hers.