Misty Fly had just finished cleaning up some of the notes she took when Angel Wings trotted over to speak with her. The nervous ‘Bolt reservist glanced about the cluster of fellow instructors.
“Um, Commander Spitfire wants to know how many recruits have completed their first formation trial. She is trying to get the schedule set for tomorrow morning and wanted to get to the training right after the meet and greet.”
“Tell her none. We just got through the first practice flights for each pair. Sharing the airspace with the second group killed the flying time. You’re going to have to give her the bad news.” Misty Fly showed Angel Wings the scoresheet she was filling in.
“Oh, I hate telling her bad news. She yells so much.” Angel Wings bit her lower lip, looking for help from her fellow ‘Bolt members.
Vapor Trail came to her rescue. No sense she take the brunt of the yelling from their C.O. She’d fill in the details for her friend. “I’ll go with you.”
“Tell her if Fleetfoot stops running the endurance trials for the second group, we can run them quickly through a second flight. I don’t think we’ll get final flights in today.” Misty Fly looked over the so-so scores of this group after their first attempts. Some showed real promise but most need more flight time before attempting for real.
They watch their teammates set off across the field, reporting to their C.O. and relaying the news. They couldn’t hear what was being said between the Wonderbolts and their leader, but by the first ‘What!’ they heard Spitfire yell and the way she gestured with her forelegs in obvious displeasure at the rate of progress, rattled off her instructions to her team members and send them scurrying back to Misty Fly and the others.
“What’s her answer?” Sky Stinger saw the rattled expression on Angel Wings’ face, but not his belle. She’d grown more accustomed to their C.O.’s demeanor. Even as gentle and soft spoken as Vapor Trail was, she knew it was Spitfire just being herself and not aiming her rage at her.
“Commander Spitfire doesn’t want to stop the second group getting through their first stages of trials. She said since no recruits are ready to go for their trial flight, then get as many through a second flight with the lead and wing pony partners swapped.” Angel Wings was still trembling a little from being on the receiving end of Spitfire’s wrath, never comfortable with her C.O.’s intensity.
Vapor Trail filled in the rest of the C.O.’s instructions. “When they’re through their second flight they’re to go on the Dizzatron for another session. There’ll be more practice time in the morning for them and then do their actual formation flights.”
“Geez, she is cutting it close with the time, you guys.” Misty Fly let out a sigh in exhaustion at the pace they were going to have to keep up with for today and tomorrow. The workload seemed to be ever mounting. Her teammates agreed with weary nods. Misty Fly gave a loud blast from her whistle, getting the recruits attention as she and her instructors approached the cluster of recruits who’d been waiting.
“Alright, newbies, listen up! We’re short on time this afternoon so you’ve lucked out. You won’t be doing your actual first formation flight this afternoon. That’s being scheduled for tomorrow morning. Instead, we need to get as many pairs through a second practice flight but this time a different wing or lead pony. You need experience flying with an unfamiliar partner.”
“When we complete the second flight, we can knock off early for chowtime, right?” Silverstream recalled how well she and Firebolt were treated after doing well the first time on the Dizzatron.
“Wrong!” Misty fly was quick to put the kybosh on such optimism, grinning sarcastically at the hippogriff. “After your flights, you’re off for another round on the Dizzatron! This time, you have to beat your best time from the previous day by at least one-tenth of a second.”
A number of flyers groaned in dread of getting in that mechanical torture device once more. That was not what the Wonderbolt instructors wanted to hear coming from them.
“Again?” A female voice croaked from the group.
“Another tenth of a second better? Seriously?” A stallion from somewhere spoke up as well, believing they were demanding the impossible from them. This only irked Misty Fly and High Winds.
“Oh, should we make it a minimum of two-tenths of a second better? How about three tenths? Or maybe four?” High Winds walked along the length of the group, eyeing them sternly. They all looked away from his glowering, not wanting to make this worse for them. Misty Fly got them focused back to the next immediate hurtle to get over.
“I want each lead pony to select a different wing pony to fly with on their next flight. Don’t worry so much about the selection maneuvers; just get familiar with another flyer’s style and presence. You’ll make a final partner selection tomorrow.”
“Get to it, newbies.” High Winds ordered.
What was supposed to help break down walls of unfamiliarity between the recruits only highlighted the tension he and the other instructors had noted in their writings when making observations and scoring of the group. They watched how the ponies associating with the two students from Rainbow Dash’s school simply switched places within their group, much like the other cluster of flyers were doing. Only one mare and one stallion ventured out of their peer group to work with a different flyer from another. This was not what the instructors wanted to see. High Winds gave a loud blast from his whistle, getting the attention of all the recruits from their quiet talking.
“Alright, alright…” Misty Fly stepped out in front of the recruits once more, interrupting their plans, “let’s break this up.” She pointed to all of them with a sweep of her left wing, making. “You dunderheads don’t seem to understand the idea of this training exercise. What I don’t see is a whole lot of teamwork! I see a whole bunch of potential failures who’ve got something to learn about that.” Misty Fly paced up and down the length of this group, looking them over in frustration. Her three fellow instructors stood still just behind her, watching these recruits over.
“Vapor Trail,” She looked over her right shoulder to the silvery white mare just behind her who saluted her.
“Yes, ma’am?” She was still a reservist and Misty Fly was a full Wonderbolt team member and, therefore, her superior officer.
“Break out the Equalizer for these whiny complainers. I think it’ll help get the point across to them.” Misty Fly turned back around to face the recruits, a flat smile on her face that filled the recruits with unease, wondering what she had in mind for them.
“Yes ma’am.” Vapor Trail took only a minute or so to fetch from the shed what Misty Fly had requested. The recruits had no idea what the small items were that their instructors were fiddling around with amongst themselves. They were too far away to see any detail. They didn’t have long to wait.
“Alright newbies, I want wing ponies to the left and lead ponies to the right. Quickly now,” She and High Winds moved into the group, separating them by classification and now facing one another. The recruits now saw what it was the two reservists’ were carrying.
“This is the Equalizer; in each of these two bags are twelve numbered ping-pong balls, one all odd numbers and one all even numbers. Lead ponies will draw one ball from the bag with odd numbers and wing ponies will draw from the bag with even numbers.”
Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail walked down the two lines of recruits, having them draw a ping-pong ball from each bag, assigning them a number. The two reservists observed the varied expressions, from reviled to overjoyed, at the idea of trying to fly with an unfamiliar partner as they walked along. This would prove to be an interesting show of character from these recruits.
“Lead pony number one goes with wing pony number two. Lead pony number three goes with wing pony number four… etcetera, etcetera. You recruits get the idea.” Misty Fly watch as the group sorted themselves out, finding their partners.
“What number did you get?” Firebolt hurried right over to Silverstream, hoping they were paired up again.
“Eleven.” Silverstream held it up between her talons for her friend to see.
“Six.” Firebolt present hers to her friend. Cloudy Sky and Gallus joined them, curious to see who was paired up with who.
“Who’s your partner?” Gallus, too, held out his numbered ping-pong ball for his friends to see. He had selected number ten from the bag, looking at their assigned numbers. Cloudy Sky presented his numbered ball as well, showing he had selected number eighteen from the bag.
“I don’t know yet, haven’t found them.” Silverstream looked around at the other recruits, each trying to find their assigned partner. A mare and a stallion trotted over to Silverstream and her small clutch of friends, both smiling at them.
“Oh, um, excuse me,” the mare softly chimed in; concerned she was interrupting the conversation.
“Yes? Are you looking for your partner still?” Silverstream took a step or two closer to them, returning the smile. The stallion spoke up first.
“Yes we are. Do you or your friend’s have-”
“Oh, hello there! I’m Razzle Dazzle, what’s your name?” The colorful mare of the group came zipping right over, seeing her friends meeting two new recruits. She held out her ping-pong ball to show all of them her number. The two newcomers took a step back from then intensely inquisitive Razzle Dazzle, unprepared for her lack of perception when it came to personal space.
“I’m Whirlwind and this is Amber Haze.” The roan-colored stallion made the introduction of himself and his gold coated mare companion. They each held out their respective numbered ping-pong balls, finding a match for two of them.
Razzle Dazzle gasped. “Awesome! We get to be partners!” She had selected a ball with the number four on it from the bag and Whirlwind had chosen number three. She reached out to embrace Whirlwind, crushing him somewhat in her forelegs. He was straining to smile when finding his who his new partner was, wondering if she was this enthusiastic all the time. “This is going to be super-duper fun! I get to fly with a new friend!”
“Uh, yeah.” Whirlwind looked to the ponies close by who must be Razzle Dazzle’s friends, each watching with amused smiles at his predicament. Amber Haze looked at the numbered ping-pong balls the other flyers were displaying.
“I drew number eight; so I need to find-”
“Lucky number seven!” A male voice from close by boomed, clearly elated at the prospect ahead. They turned around to see who it was.
Nightflight trotted smartly over to his friends who were clustered together, his eyes fixed on the lovely mare with the blonde mane and tail standing there. She was smiling back at him, pleased by the discovery.
“Hi!” She spoke in a dreamy voice, looking at him with doey blue eyes of infatuation, seemingly lost in those steely gray eyes of his. The girls didn’t miss the looks of attraction between Nightflight and Amber Haze, more than just flight chemistry flowing between them.
“I guess we’re partners now.” Nightflight only stated the obvious, grinning at his good fortune. Amber Haze giggled softly.
“Lucky stiff.” Cloudy Sky muttered softly with a smirk while observing from close by, a touch of envy that Nightflight had been paired up with the attractive mare. Gallus only shrugged, not really thinking about that right then.
“Meh, whatever. C’mon Cloudy, let’s find our partners.” The griffon led his friend into the small throng of recruits, watching Solar Flare and Brightstar finding their new flight partners do much the same. Cloudy Sky was turning around in his place when he bumped into another recruit.
“Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to-” He began to apologize but stopped when he saw who it was. A wave of dread crashed over him as he took a few steps back, not wanting any trouble right then.
“Hey! Watch it, pipsqueak!” Wind Raider snarled at Cloudy Sky, seeing the smallish gray stallion looking right at him.
“Ss… sorry, Wind Raider. I didn’t see you there.” Cloudy Sky tried not to make eye contact with the larger pony, fearing it might provoke him. He happened to glance down at the numbered ball Wind Raider held in his left wing-tip feathers. Wind Raider followed Cloudy Sky’s eyes to what he was looking at.
“Oh, don’t tell me you’re my partner for this exercise? This sucks!” Wind Raider snorted, upset with the idea of getting stuck with Cloudy Sky as a partner. Cloudy Sky gulped down that fearful lump in his throat before speaking.
“N… no, I’m not. You have number nine, I picked number eighteen.” Wind Raider had such the look of relief, almost smiling when hearing this.
“Whew! Thank the great Fausticorn for that!”
Gallus walked over to where Cloudy Sky stood, momentarily not seeing him standing there with Wind Raider as his view was blocked by other pony bodies. He’d gone to investigate three other recruits to see if they were his partner. None were. The griffon actually reared back in disgust when seeing who it was Cloudy Sky was talking to. Wind Raider retuned the look of contempt.
“What do you want, freak-beak?” Wind Raider drew his sword first, never losing his adversarial mindset towards Cloudy Sky’s griffon friend.
“Nothing from you, if I could help it!” Gallus spat back. He looked at Cloudy Sky, who was looking at the numbered ball Wind Raider held. When Gallus homed in on what it was Cloudy Sky was looking at so intently, his heart began to pick up and he felt himself grow upset with the discovery.
“Uh, Gallus…” Cloudy Sky tried to speak up, but there weren’t any words for it. Now Gallus and Wind Raider were looking at the two ping-pong balls each had chosen. It was the worst possible outcome for the two of them.
“YOU? You’re my partner for this? I can’t freaken’ believe this!” Wind Raider swore out loud and stomped his hooves, making sure his displeasure was heard by all.
“Of all the lousy luck; I get stuck with the likes of you!” Gallus angrily thumped his balled-up fist of talons against the ground, frustrated by the situation and growled.
“I’d sooner have him as my partner then you!” Wind Raider pointed rudely at Cloudy Sky, as if it was a compliment to the gray stallion to be picked over Gallus. Cloudy Sky didn’t want to be in the middle of the two combative flyers and slipped away as both Gallus and Wind Raider stormed off to complain to the instructors.
He snaked his way around the group, listening to snatches of conversations as he sought out his assigned partner. He came into contact with three more recruits, one of them being Stormbringer.
“Hey look, it’s one of the ‘pony pals’ of those two freak beaks. What do you want, loser?” Stormbringer taunted Cloudy Sky, making sure he understood that Cloudy Sky wasn’t welcome in the conversation. But the insult backfired; making the two other recruits Stormbringer stood with confront him, resenting his comment.
“What’s your problem, anyway? Why do you and that loudmouth friend of yours go out of your way to give the friends of those volunteers a hard time? He hasn’t done anything to you.” The burnt-orange stallion frowned at Stormbringer, having some misgivings about this pony’s attitude.
“That hippogriff set an academy record on the Dizzatron. I wish I could’ve gotten a score as good as hers; she’s awesome! I’m sure we all could learn a thing or two from her.” The light blue mare gave Cloudy Sky a friendly smile, telling him she didn’t feel the same way like Stormbringer did about griffons and hippogriffs. Cloudy Sky was relieved to find other flyers that were more open-minded. He looked down at the numbered ping-pong balls they all held out.
“Hey, we’re a team!” He’d found his partner; this light blue mare with the blaze of white on her muzzle. “My name’s Cloudy Sky.” He gave her a big grin.
“My name’s Harmony Blues and this is my friend Sunstrike.” When she spoke, it was in a soft sing-song way as opposed to just speaking. Cloudy Sky thought she had the most beautiful voice, soft and alluring and rather fitting for a girl with a name like that to respond as she did.
“Oh,” Cloudy Sky looked again at the numbered ball being held by Harmony Blues’ friend. “You have number five. My friend Firebolt has number six. She’s the one with the big, poufy red mane and tail over there.” He pointed back to where she, Silverstream and Razzle Dazzle stood with some other recruits, getting to know one another.
“Hey thanks.” Sunstrike was grateful for the directions and trotted over to meet Firebolt. Cloudy Sky looked down at the ping-pong ball Stormbringer held in between his wingtip feathers, biting his lower lip some.
“So what are you looking at?” Stormbringer saw the odd look on Cloudy Sky’s face, wondering. Cloudy sky didn’t want to say, preferring to let Stormbringer find out for himself.
“Let’s go figure out what maneuvers to do for our routine, Harmony. We don’t have much time.” He was quick to lead his partner away from Stormbringer and over to meet the rest of his friends before getting started on the assignment.
“Sure.” She followed after Cloudy Sky who made a first introduction of her to Solar Flare and Brightstar.
Stormbringer continued his search, finding just about every other recruit had found their partner except him. Unable to find his lead pony partner, he went to the instructors for help. He showed Vapor Trail the numbered ball he had picked.
“What lead pony here had picked number eleven from the bag?” She called out over the low conversation talk of the recruits, trying to find Stormbringer’s partner. They only had to look about the group for a second or two before they got their answer.
“I did.” Silverstream stepped forward from the group of recruits, grinding her beak together and a look of dread on her face, discovering just who her partner now was. Stormbringer was just as unhappy about his partner as Wind Raider was.
“Her?! I have to work with… with one of the freak-beaks for this assignment?! This is total meadow muffins, I swear! She’s not even a real recruit!” He, too, stomped his hooves on the ground, unhappy with what fate had presented him for a partner.
Silverstream glared back him with just as much distain, wishing for any other partner then Stormbringer. “Trust me, the feeling’s mutual, pal!” But the instructors wouldn’t allow such rancor to foment more.
“Whether you like it or not, both of you,” Vapor Trail pointed at the two arguing flyers and getting a little tough with them, “are partners now. So I suggest you get started on your routine. Understood?” Vapor Trail made sure she was heard but by the looks of these two, neither recruit was going to work together. They were too busy not talking to each other.
=====*****=====
“Oh, shut your trap, hybrid! No pony cares what you think!” Wind Raider spotted his target straight ahead, his step quickening as he closed in.
“Well, at least I can think, meatbag! Smart enough to know you’re an ass and don’t want to be your partner!” Gallus was right behind him, intent on getting someone else to fly with. They swoop in on Sky Stinger who was in the middle of relaying something about flying to the few recruits nearby. Wind Raider barreled right through them to stand I front of the reservist, interrupting him.
“Hey-!” One of the recruits objected to the hard shove he received.
“Sir, I demand to have a different partner! This is a total joke!” Wind Raider looked ready to lose it, infuriated by this insult of having to work with a griffon.
Gallus was right on his hooves, showing respect by saluting Sky Stinger before speaking, unlike his forced partner. He could not help yelling in anger.
“Sir, I have to agree! I do not want this pile of stall muck as a partner for this exercise! I sooner take twenty turns on the Dizzatron in a row then deal with this butthead for one second!”
Before he could get address this problem, Vapor Trail arrived with Silverstream and Stormbringer in tow, unable to get them to cooperate in the least about working together.
“What’s the problem with these two?” Sky Stinger really didn’t have to ask, he could read his belle’s troubled expression loud and clear. She needed help. The two recruits answered his question for Vapor Trail.
“I don’t want him/her for a partner in this exercise!” Both yelled in almost perfect unison, pointing rudely back at each other. They turned to glare at one another and growl, shooting daggers from their eyes when hearing the other say the exact same thing.
This was not what either reservist thought this day was going to be like. Long and busy? Yes, but not having to deal with a personnel problem like this. Sky Stinger had to do something quick; the ruckus caught both Misty Fly and High Winds’ attention away from their recordkeeping. If she and High Winds saw that he and Vapor Trail couldn’t handle some unruly recruits, they’d report that back to Commander Spitfire.
And if Commander Spitfire learned he and Vapor Trail couldn’t handle the assignment, they’d not get selected again for special duty like this for a long time. And that meant less of a chance to get to become full Wonderbolts sooner, rather than later. He wasn’t going to let that happen because of some dumb dispute. From out of the corner of his left he spotted the two senior Wonderbolts start to head his way. Desperate, Sky Stinger reached out with both forehooves and snagged Wind Raider and Gallus by the collar of their uniforms and jerked them both right up against his muzzle. Sky Stinger laid heavily into the two troublesome flyers with a low, grumbling voice, his teeth clenched in a snarl. Both Wind Raider and Gallus yelped a little from the sudden sensation of being slammed right up against the instructor’s muzzle.
“Look here, you punks,” his eyes bored into the two recruits, each newbie becoming suddenly deflated by his menacing glare, “the two of you are going to shut your traps and do as ordered for this exercise! And if I hear so much as one peep out of the likes of either of you for the rest of the day, I swear by the great Fausticorn herself and the Two Princesses, you both will be ejected from the trials for insubordination! Do I make myself clear?!” He pulled even tighter on their collars, mashing the beak and muzzle of these recruits harder against his muzzle.
Vapor Trail turned to do likewise to Silverstream and Stormbringer; getting right up in each recruits face and making sure they heard her. “That goes for the both of you too! Suck it up and deal with it!” She poked right at Silverstream and Stormbringer’s chests with a tip of a forehoof, staring them down hard. Both recruits looked away, unable to face her.
Realizing their desire for a change in partners wasn’t going to happen, the four troublesome recruits backed down, each growling with simmering discontent. Vapor Trail waved to Misty Fly and High Winds with a nervous smile, as if to signal to them ‘everything is fine over here’ to the two full Wonderbolt instructors. The two lead instructors paused, witnessing the four recruits seeming to back off from confrontation and doing as ordered. They waited to see if the conflict was going to flare up again. It didn’t. The four recruits turn away and return to the assignment soon due.
Sky Stinger, too, gave the two lead instructors a nervous smile and salute; trying to convince their senior officers they had the situation well in hoof. It worked. High Winds and Misty Fly looked on for a few seconds more before turning back and refocusing on their group of flyers.
“Wow, now that was close!” Sky Stinger let go of his held breath, planting a forehoof to his head with relief at having avoided a problem like that.
“Let’s just hope those four hotheads cool off enough to get through this trial. I had no idea it was going to be like this; they looked like they were ready to kill each other!”
Sullen and unhappy, Gallus and Silverstream rejoined their friends and some of the new flight partners they were working with to stew over their conundrum.
Firebolt was sympathetic to them both but a realist about it too. “Look, I know this sucks, but just deal with it for the next hour or so and you won’t have to deal with them again. It’s just like taking icky tasting cold medicine; the faster you get it down the better it will be afterwards.”
Solar Flare had to agree. “This is just one time. After it, we’ll all be back with the partners we want and working on our routines. I’m sure a griffon as tough as you, Gallus, can put up with Wind Raider’s attitude for a short while.”
But the griffon’s sour expression didn’t lessen, stubbornly refusing to work with a terrible pony like Wind Raider. Solar Flare tried a different tactic. “Just remember how much we’re going to prove to the academy leaders and the rest of the Wonderbolts that a griffon and a pegisi pony can work together and be the best flying pair the academy has ever seen. We are going to rock them to the core with our routine.”
His approach worked. Gallus’ bent expression softened some when hearing how much his pony friend wanted to be his partner and was looking forward to setting the school staff on its collective ear when they perform together in flight. Firebolt managed to break some of the tension with her quick follow-up.
“Uh, excuse you, but Silverstream and I are going to rock the academy with our routine and show hippogriffs can fly with pegisi ponies at the academy. There’s no way in Equestria you can beat us.” She threw a foreleg around Silverstream’s neck, getting her hippogriff friend to not feel so upset and getting Silverstream to smile a little. Firebolt kept it friendly between herself and Solar Flare, wanting to illustrate that they could be friends and competitors at the same time. It still took some convincing from Solar Flare and Firebolt to get Silverstream and Gallus on board with the idea of working with Wind Raider and Stormbringer. If they wanted to continue being part of the trials, then they had to do this. Reluctantly, the two non-pony fliers comply. They would at least try to work with the two antagonistic ponies.
Firebolt led Gallus and Silverstream back to where Wind Raider and Stormbringer stood waiting with Sunglow and Crimson Sky. She was willing to act as mediator between her friends and the two partners they were compelled to work with. The foursome stood and listened to what Firebolt had to say.
“Look, no pony here wants trouble. This is just for one exercise today. After this, none of you have to work together. So let’s all just try to get along to avoid any problems from the instructors or from Commander Spitfire. I know none of us want to get on her bad side right now.”
There were grumbles and smothered growls from the fourflyers about the situation but what Firebolt said was right. If Wind Raider and Stormbringer didn’t work with Silverstream or Gallus, they were going to be in trouble and possibly ejected from the trials for insubordination. Finally, Wind Raider spoke up.
“Fine! Fine! Let’s just get this over with already!” He glared at Gallus who was slowly walking up to stand by Firebolt’s side, sneering back. The legacy pony was disgusted to have to be near a dirty griffon for any length of time. But if he wanted his chance to show up every other recruit flight pair with Stormbringer as his wing pony tomorrow, then he had to deal with it.
“Yes, let’s! The faster we get through this, the less I have to look at your ugly mug!” Gallus could barely restrain his disgust for Wind Raider. Only the thought of getting to show him and Stormbringer up tomorrow kept him from refusing at all.
Firebolt turned to Stormbringer next. “So, are you going to work together with my friend or throw your chance of getting into the academy away by refusing?”
What choice did Stormbringer have? He wanted in to the academy very much. If it meant he had to suck it up and deal with a flyer he didn’t like to get through the day, then so be it. His desire to get in was stronger than his dislike for the hippogriff and would comply with the directions.
“Whatever! Can we just get going on this? I don’t need to be harangued more!” Stormbringer rudely turned away, not looking back to see if Silverstream was following. Firebolt saw she wasn’t, still standing next to her with a most unhappy look on her face. She gave Silverstream a small pat on her back with a wing, getting her attention.
“It’s just for an hour or so. Then we’ll start planning our routine at suppertime.” It was enough to get Silverstream moving after Stormbringer, reluctant as she was about the whole exercise. Firebolt breathed a small sigh of relief.
“I’m going to the latrine before I get started.” Wind Raider continued to glare at Gallus. “Being around dirty griffons just makes me want to shit that much more in repulsion!” The muscular pony tromped off towards the gymnasium doors, grumbling all the while.
Gallus ground his beak together so hard he thought sparks were going to fly out from the friction. His clenched and unclenched his fists of talons, ready to rip Wind Raider’s head clean off his body. Suddenly he felt a pony hoof gently touch his shoulder, distracting his anger for a second as his attention was away from the departing Wind Raider.
“I want you to know you’re being a good friend to Solar Flare like this, Gallus. Putting up with that loudmouth for a little while and getting through this will shup any pony else who thinks you can’t make the cut. Just try; if only for Solar flare and wanting to fly with him.” Brightstar was proud of him, as was Firebolt.
The griffon gave a big sighing exhale, resigned to his temporary fate. Like Stormbringer, his desire to compete alongside Solar Flare as his ‘wing-griff’ and show griffons could be a part of the trials was greater than his dislike of only one or two ponies. Thinking of his new friends and the bonds of friendship he had forged with them, he would endure.
“You’re right, Brightstar. I’ll try, if only for Solar Flare’s sake.”
Firebolt was relieved to have gotten the two factions to agree at last. As tenuous at it was, her reasoning proved enough to have them put up with one another until chowtime. She gave him a hug, wanting Gallus not to be so upset and to put his best talon forward.
“Good. Do your best and we’ll get through this together.” She let go of him and headed back to where Sunstrike and the others were waiting. She had to get started with her new partner on the assignment.
=====*****=====
While the other recruits got to know their new partners better and begin practicing what moves to perform, Silverstream and Gallus were having problems with their partners after only a few minutes working alone with them.
“We should do the inverted loop here and then the series of flipping loops there! Why are you arguing with me? I’m lead flyer!” Silverstream had come up with, what she believed to be, a straight forward set of tricks to do so as to get past this assignment as easily and quickly as possible.
“That’s not the way these are supposed to go together! You don’t know a single thing about flying in formation!” Stormbringer started to shout, fed up with a lesser flyer’s inability to see the problem in the routine.
Not too far away from them was Gallus and Wind Raider, attempting to do much the same as the other recruits but having the same problems with their partners. The hostility between them was already coming to ahead.
“Look you mongrel,” Wind Raider began, “we’re doing the routine I came up with and that’s that! What don’t you understand about that?!” Wind Raider refused to hear any of Gallus’ ideas or suggestions of what tricks to do.
Vapor Trail hurried over to investigate the commotion between these recruits. Not surprised, she found the same ones at each other’s throats.
“What’s going on over here? Why is there all this arguing? You’re supposed to be working together as a team.”
Wind Raider complained first. “He’s not good enough to fly with me; he refuses to fly the routine I wrote out. It was already approved by both you and the other instructor. He’s being an ass about it.”
Gallus argued back. “No, you’re being the ass about it! The instructors told us it’s supposed to be about skill and precision flying and not doing the flashiest tricks! That’s what they instructed us to do!”
Vapor Trail knew this was one of Rainbow Dash’s students from the School of Friendship and had to handle this situation carefully. She addressed the lead pony of this duo. “The routine you wrote out is fine on its own, but I don’t think you as lead pony are taking into consideration you wing’s unfamiliarity with flight formations or lack of experience when writing out your routine. Perhaps you should focus more on the essentials so your wing can follow you more successfully.”
“I’m not going to dumb-down my work for the likes of him, just because he stinks at flying! Why should I suffer with a low score because he can’t handle what I wrote out?” Wind Raider was insulted by the suggestion.
Before she could respond, Vapor Trail caught sight of Misty Fly watching her deal with these troublesome recruits from across the field, conferring with High Winds and their C.O. as the observed. She had to show she could be a disciplined instructor and handle the two arguing factions quickly and effectively.
“You know what; I’ll make it simple for the both of you.” She snatched away the paper Wind Raider had written down their routine on and altered it for them. With the pencil clamped between her teeth, she quickly made the changes necessary, selecting some from his routine and some of her own choice for them to perform. “Here’s the routine I’m ordering you to fly. So quit your bellyaching and get to it!” She spat out the pencil and thrust the sheet of paper back to Wind Raider, scowling at the two obstinate flyers, fed up at last.
Sky Stinger, too, had seen Vapor Trail getting tough again with the unruly recruits, making sure they listen to her. This assignment was turning out to be much tougher than either one had thought. He would do likewise in setting the dispute between the hippogriff and her partner.
“What is going on between you two? You’re both capable flyers. Why can’t you agree on a routine like the others?”
“He’s not following my lead! All he does in contradict everything I say or propose!” Silverstream folded her forelegs across her chest, putting her beak up in the air in defiance.
“She’s an idiot! This ‘griff doesn’t know or understand the first thing about being a lead pony. Besides, she’s only half-pony, at best! She’s better off back where she came from, in the sea!” Stormbringer took a shot at her, infuriating Silverstream with such a blatant racist remark. Her head snapped back around to now look right at him, fuming from his insult and growling with her talons balled up into tight fists. Sky Stinger yanked the recruit around to face him, glowering.
“You open your mouth like that again and I swear you’ll be out on your flanks from the academy grounds so fast your head is going to spin! Is that clear?” He pointed at Stormbringer, putting the recruit in his place. Stormbringer back down, averting his eyes from the instructor.
“Crystal clear, sir.”
Sky Stinger took up the paper Silverstream had started writing on to form a routine. He gave a quick examination of what she had come up with, seeing it was uncomplicated and relatively easy to do for a first time flight.
“What seems to be the point of contention? This looks fine to me, except for these transition points here.” He showed them both where he saw the error in the flight path.
“See? That’s what I’m talking about. She doesn’t know anything about being in command of a flight group or how to arrange the maneuvers correctly. She’s incompetent!” Stormbringer pointed out how he was technically correct, which angered Silverstream. He was right; she was so new to this and it felt like an awful lot to keep track of in her head when planning a routine.
True, she did get a lot of help from Brightstar back during the lecture time in class with selecting and arraigning her solo routine. But she believed she had a handle on the topic but couldn’t understand her partner’s constant berating and belittling of her efforts. Sky Stinger asked the obvious follow up question.
“Well, did you at least try to help her understand by explaining or just act like a curmudgeon and refuse to help? She is new to this, you know.”
“Keh! Why should I help her? She’s ‘lead pony’ after all! She’s supposed to be familiar with all this already. That’s why she was selected for that class, right?” His smugness and arrogance grated on Sky Stinger’s nerves. Never had he seen such disrespect and flagrant disregard for another flyer’s needs. He got tough with him.
“You’re her wing pony. You should be helping her with what she may not understand. You’re supposed to be supportive and assist your lead pony, not acting like a damn fool and refusing to help.”
“I don’t care. This is just practice for us anyway. It doesn’t count for anything. Why should I lift a hoof in helping if it doesn’t count?” Stormbringer would let the chips fall where they may, unconcerned for the consequences of his inaction. Sky Stinger took the matters into his own hooves.
“Fine, don’t help her! But I will.” Sky Stinger moved in between the two recruits, acting as a barrier between their bodies. “Here, let me explain…”
He went into detail about what he saw was wrong with what Silverstream had come up with, explaining what she had to do to make the transitions between the moves smoother. Silverstream listened to his instructions, absorbing all he shared with her. Stormbringer tried to interject but Sky Stinger silenced him.
“Hey… hey… you didn’t want to help her so keep your mouth shut! You are going to do whatever she and I come up with for a routine. Understood? You’re her wing pony so you’ll do as she says and like it!”
Silverstream actually cracked a smile at her instructor, so grateful he had her back at this difficult moment. Sky Stinger felt a small flush touch his cheeks, a little embarrassed from her admiring looks. This was one of Rainbow Dash’s students and he would not let her be on the receiving end of such treatment. After only a few minutes, they were done.
“I think that’s all you need right now. Follow this and you’ll do fine.” He passed back to her the sheet of paper; sure she could do this routine even with an obstinate and uncooperative partner. “Trust me when I say,” he now looked at Stormbringer, “this is all going into the records for Commander Spitfire to read up on later today. I’m sure she’ll have some words with you and your friend.”
Stormbringer waved away his warning flippantly with a hoof, as if waving away a servant from his presence.
All the recruits were working diligently at their assignments, getting familiar with a new flying partner and quickly walking through the short routines they would have to do. Misty fly and High Winds now quietly walked among the recruits, listening to them work together and ready themselves for their second flight, checking to see how well the recruits were doing under the two Wonderbolt Reservist’s instructions.
The two senior Wonderbolt members watched as the two reservists, rather than try to answer so many questions posed to them at the same time, took to the air and gave a quick demonstration flight for the recruits, showing the correct ways to move and time themselves as well as refreshing some of them on the principals of precision formation flight.
Watching the two reservists roll, twist and turn in synchrony up close like this was exciting as well as informative, answering their questions getting them more prepared to fly. Misty Fly noted in her records how well the two Wonderbolt reservists were handing their first time instructor roles for the trials; seeing a creative way to educate as well as inspire the recruits.
Before ay recruit could fly, each pair resubmitted a routine that listed what moves and order they were going to be performed in. Each recruit pair had to execute four to eight aerial tricks in synchronized flight and land at the same time at the same place they started from. Both Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail scanned the recruits paperwork once more for the changes they had made and gave them the go-ahead to perform the routine with only a few adjustments needed to two of the submissions before all the recruits were approved. Sky Stinger offered a few more words of advice for them.
“Don’t be discouraged if your first attempt to fly in tandem doesn’t work out. It’s tough to keep in time and takes practice. But the timing will come more quickly if you keep your routine straightforward and don’t try to overdo it. We want to see precision flight for this trial, not flashiness. ”
The practice went on for a while longer by the time came for the recruit’s attempts as Vapor Trail blew her whistle and waved them in from their spots on the field. The recruits hustled their way over to the two instructors while Wonderbolt Misty Fly left High Winds to keep an eye on the second recruit group to record the more experienced first recruit group’s showing.
“Alright, newbies, time to see what you’ve learned today. Line up and let’s get flying.” Sky Stinger called them over, taking their paperwork and adding it to the clipboard’s quantity of notes. Misty Fly stood by the starting line with her clipboard too; ready to write her observations down of both recruit and instructor.
First pair up was Razzle Dazzle and her partner Whirlwind. They stepped up to the line and Sky Stinger passed to Misty fly the routine they would perform. She looked over it briefly, nodding at what she read then passed it back, ready with her stopwatch.
“All set?” Misty Fly watched them both get into launch position; wings spread out and ready to take to the air. Both Whirlwind and Razzle Dazzle nod.
“Go!”
The duo shot high up into the sky to start their routine, surprising some with their takeoff velocity. They did a clean routine, consisting of a Wing-Over, three Loop-de-Loops, a big Power Dive down and back up into the sky to finish off with a Tail Inversion move that sent them straight down to the ground, pulling up at the last possible moment and then slowing down to land in front of the three Wonderbolt instructors. The timing was off somewhat from the beginning between the two recruits, resulting with Razzle Dazzle landing more than a full second or so after Whirlwind. But the other recruits still stomped their hooves and cheered for the fine showing.
“Not bad for a first time flight.” Misty Fly scribbled down her notes into the report. “You two are done for now. Go hit the Dizzatron for your next exercise.” She pointed to the giant mechanical monstrosity just across the field. Fellow Wonderbolt Silver Zoom patiently awaited those done with formation flying for a second round.
“Next pair up!” Misty Fly kept the line moving along. Next pair was Silverstream and Stormbringer, both looking as edgy and angst-ridden as could be at wanting to get through this without ending up throttling each other. The two of them refused to look at one another, barely tolerating the other’s presence.
“Ready?” Misty Fly saw no change in their facial expressions, each as disgruntled as the other. They grunted some unintelligible words as they got their bodies into launch position, both desperate to get past this moment of forced alliance.
“Go!”
Off they flew, gaining altitude and staring their run. Through the first moves of a Half-Cloudsdale-Eight and a Flat Spin, all seemed well. Silverstream banked to the left as she exited the move and was about to lead Stormbringer into the next when she was blinded by some bright light, coming from somewhere below.
She bobbled some and slowed her flying, her timing thrown off her as she tried to get back into position for the Lazy-Eight move next. Stormbringer had caught up closer to her, almost at her side now.
“What are you doing?” He yelled at her. “You’re supposed to be leading!”
She blinked several times, trying to clear the spots and focus again on the move. Flying into the one-quarter loop up move and then into the half-loop down, she led Stormbringer cleanly into the upsweep and back into the Wing-Over part once again, maintaining her lead position once more. As she reached the transition point into the quarter-loop back down to finish the Lazy-Eight, she was blinded again by some bright reflection in her eyes, this time lasting for more than a few seconds. The brightness seemed to follow her if she tried to avert her eyes away. She could feel the bright light shining against her closed eyelids and she could not open them.
“Look out!” She heard Stormbringer cry out as she veered off and collided into him. “Oh no-o-o-o-o!” Neither could recover in time and both of them came tumbling out of the sky, crashing into a cluster of tall pine trees on the edge of the activities field. The sound or snapping branches and muffled swearing greeted the recruits and instructors who rushed over, watching the two of them dropping down from the tangle of tree limbs and hit the ground with a dull thud. Silverstream was a bit bruised and a dizzy from the impact but otherwise unhurt. The senior instructors rushed to their sides.
“What happened? Are you two alright?” Misty Fly helped Silverstream steady herself on hooves while High Winds helped Stormbringer up. The stallion recruit yelped when High Winds touched his wing. He’d taken the brunt of the impact and was now furious at Silverstream for messing up like that, believing he could have been seriously injured from the fall.
“You idiot! I knew you were going to mess up like this! I could’ve been killed!” Stormbringer roared, trying to flex his right wing, feeling the pain shoot up the muscles from the hard impact with the bough of the tree.
“It wasn’t intentional! Something was shining in my eyes and I couldn’t see where I was.” Silverstream tried to defend herself from the accusation of recklessness by being honest. But it seemed unconvincing to most of those who were standing there, wondering about what went wrong.
“Maybe she was blinded by the sun a couple of times?” Some pony anonymously in the group quietly offered up from among the group, giving some plausible explanation.
“No, it wasn’t the sun. It was-”
“I don’t care! I never want to ever fly with the likes of you again! Sweet Celestia’s cutie mark, you have to be the worst flyer I’ve ever been partnered with!” Furious, Stormbringer stomped off, heading for the infirmary, cradling his right wing gingerly so as to minimize his injury from getting worse. All the while he was shouting his blame at Silverstream for this injury and his possible elimination from the trials.
“Don’t pay him any mind. It was an accident; pure and simple. Those are the breaks; any number of recruits and applicants get injured and dropped out during the trials.” Misty Fly scribbled down her notes and score for this flight, explaining to this student of Princess Twilight’s school more about what happens here during these trials. I
“Yes, ma’am. Just an accident, but one I made that could have been much worse.” She thought herself lucky, escaping with only some minor scratches on her body and a small tear in her uniform. In spite of her open disgust for Stormbringer, she could not help but feel a little responsible for his plight.
I swear it was something else! It came from off the ground! It got me right in the eyes! Her mind went over and over the routine she flew, trying to imagine where she was when she was blinded like that. Silverstream slowly walked away and headed for the Dizzatron, lost in her thoughts of what it could have been that caused her to mess up like that.
Three other pair of recruits subsequently went on to perform adequate, in not unspectacular flight routines following Silverstream and Stormbringer’s flight, making a decent impression on their instructors.
To set a higher performance bar to follow after was Firebolt and Sunstrike. They had been the first pair done with their selection of routine moves and had the most time to go over what they planned to do. Their performance showed in it. They completed their routine of five moves and had accomplished two of the tougher trick maneuvers on the list with sure and steady flying. The duo got hoof-bumps and hi-low wing slaps of congratulations from their friends for the marked performance when back on the ground once more.
“Very nice job.” Misty Fly made sure to write down what she observed of them, noting they made an excellent pairing. “You two head over to the Dizzatron for your turns.” She pointed the direction to go with an extended left wing. They saluted her and did as ordered, relieved for doing as well as they had on such short practice time.
Now came Harmony Blues and Cloudy Sky’s turn at flight pairs. Cloudy Sky just couldn’t help but beam with happiness at his good fortune in getting paired up with Harmony Blues. She knew her stuff, telling him of her time at flight competitions and her awards from winning. Even as they’d worked, he enjoyed her storytelling and her explaining this aspect or that finer point from her experience. He really liked the way she talked, her words sounding like musical notes in his ears.
He felt confident and ready, crouching down next to her as they got into position at the starting line. He stood just off her left wing, his eyes darting over to look at her face, stoic and in repose as she stood ready. He looked over at their instructor, waiting for the command.
“Ready?” Misty Fly looked right at him, watching him nod quickly and then look up and ahead into the sky above.
“Go!”
They shot straight up, getting over every pony’s head in just two pumps of their wings, setting off to the correct height to begin their run. Harmony Blues repeated his solo flight as he had explained to her but, like Brightstar had done, she replaced the ‘flipty loop’ move of Razzle Dazzle’s and replaced it with a simple Barrel Roll move. They landed sure and sound right back where they started with Cloudy Sky only landing perhaps a half-second later than his lead pony. But he didn’t care. He’d done it; successfully flown with a different lead pony and made a new acquaintance; a female one to boot!
Misty Fly made a quick note or two about this pair. “You two go get in line for the Dizzatron. You’re done here.” The two of them headed off together, glad to have gotten past that last trial.
“Next pair up!” Misty Fly called out and up strode Brightstar and her wing pony, a chestnut stallion with a ruddy colored mane and tail. He seemed pleased to have been paired with whom he had. Misty Fly noted the confident looks on both their faces as they got I position at the starting line. The duo waited for the command patiently.
“Go!”
They got airborne lightning quick, soaring higher up and into their positions for their run. Brightstar had altered her wing pony’s routine slightly, changing out the Tail Spin move for a Griffish Bunt so as to make the transition to flying inverted smoother. Crimson Sky, the stallion lucky enough to have been paired with a military brat like her, never questioned her change. She’d flown better then he in all the previous trials. He needed to perform well in this trial.
He followed right behind her, banking into the Wing Over and into the two sequential backflips and then into the Griffish Bunt, flying inverted for a good ten seconds.
Brightstar looked back at him as they flew upside down, seeing him give her a quick grin and nod, telling her that her wing pony was hanging in there. They moved onto an outward loop, to return to flying upright once again and then into a small corkscrew for two spins and then landing in front of the Wonderbolt instructors. Their timing was good, only a fraction of a second off between each touching down.
Crimson Sky felt so relieved. He almost wished that had been his flight for scoring, doing as well as he felt he’d done. His current partner was alright at flying, but on the same level as Brightstar.
“Well done. Get going.” Misty fly continued to write down more as she pointed the direction to the Dizzatron to them.
Brightstar turned to her left, seeing the grinning stallion that had been her wing pony for this exercise, was grateful for her help. “You’re pretty good so I don’t think you’ll have a problem with tomorrow’s trial.” She then spotted standing just a few meters behind Crimson Sky, the three ponies that he was working with and recognized them as those who had been giving some her friends a hard time.
“Thanks for the help.” Crimson Sky offered a wing-shaking in a show of gratitude but was a little surprised when she did not reciprocate. He watched her expression change, from friendly to questioning and how she looked at him now, as if second-guessing herself and questioning his character.
“You’re working with them?” She gave a small head nod towards Wind Raider, Stormbringer and Sunglow, unwilling to call them name or look at them directly. They were not the best of company to be seen with. At least, that’s what she’d seen and experienced from those three so far these pasts few days. “Are you sure about that?”
“So?” The red stallion with the wavy white mane and tail only gave a shrug in response, not understanding her disapproval. You’re working with them?” He turned it back to her, nodding towards Silverstream and Gallus who were waiting for their turns to fly. “I’m all about getting in to the academy; those two guys I’m working with are veteran Resistance flyers. I’ll have a much better shot at getting accepted then if I wasn’t. What’s your plan; waste time and energy with a couple of hybrids who are most likely not going to go the distance or get accepted?” He left her momentarily nonplussed.
“Let’s get going, you two!” Misty Fly ordered again, seeing them lingering about and talking instead of hustling over to the Dizzatron.
“Next pair up!” The Wonderbolt instructor kept the recruit line moving; waiting just long enough after another recruit from the second group cleared the airspace above them from doing an endurance flight. Solar Flare got into launch position at the starting line with his wing pony, a pearly white stallion with a thin dark blue stripe that stretched the length of his muzzle and dark blue socks appropriately named Blue Streak, standing just off to his right. He glanced over at his new partner.
“All set?” Solar Flare checked once more, flipping his goggles over his eyes.
“Lead the way.” Blue Streak was ready, looking straight ahead into the air, focused.
“Go!”
They took to the air and wasted no time. Solar Flare didn’t have to look back to know his wing pony was just of his right wing, hearing him flapping and getting in proper position for the first move. He gave the signal to with his right forehoof that they were starting their run. Misty Fly and the other instructors watched as the duo make a rapid vertical up climb, right into first a Split-S maneuver followed by a short flight of inverted flying, setting them up for an easy transition into an Inward Loop.
Solar Flare only checked once over his right shoulder on Blue Streak, his wing pony was steady and focused. He turned back around and started the steep vertical climb into the sky, giving two or three last flaps of his wings as he reached the apex, allowing his momentum to ‘stall out’.
As Solar Flare began to fall backwards and flip his hind leg out to catch the air, he watched from out of his right eye how Blue Streak was right where he was supposed to be, watching his wing pony reach the apex of the climb and began falling backwards as well. He heard Blue Streak suddenly cry out. Solar Flare looked up.
“Hey!” He yelled, watching how Blue Streak allowed his falling body’s momentum to over swing his hind legs around and almost flip him over and losing control momentarily. Blue Streak managed to catch himself, steadying but now lagging behind his lead pony.
Solar Flare cocked his wings forward to expose the underside and catch more wind, slowing him down some. It worked, allowing Blue Streak to catch up but only briefly. They were coming to the end of the routine and Solar Flare had slow down more, heading for the landing spot at the starting line and Blue Streak hadn’t caught up yet. In his eagerness to make the landing together and make up for his error, Blue Streak tucked his wings in tightly to his flanks, speeding up and falling like a dart from the sky. He waited as long as he dared before he threw his wings wide open, rapidly catching back up with Solar Flare but now passing right by him. The wind-shear tore at his wing and back muscles, the strain feeling like it would rip the wings clean off Blue Streak’s body as he tried to slow down.
Too hot! I’m too hot! The words screamed in Blue Streak’s mind, unable to slow down enough and forcing him to veer off to one as to clear hitting any pony standing close by who scrambled out of his flightpath as he came roaring in at a frightening rate of speed.
“A-r-r-r-g-g-h-h-h!” Blue Streak cried out as he ungracefully hit the ground, sliding along on his left side for about a dozen yards or so. Solar Flare, having made the proper landing was already running over to Blue Streak’s side to see to him, as was their instructor.
“Hey, are you alright?” Solar Flare helped his partner to his hooves. Stunned and his breath knocked from him, Blue Streak was for the most part unhurt but felt foolish at his poor showing in front of the other recruits. Standing next to his lead pony, he knew he could have done better and waited the instructor’s stern words. Misty Fly confronted the wing pony after making sure he was unhurt.
“Recruit, anymore second-rate flying like that is not going to get you into the academy. My advice to you is to put tomorrow’s practice time to good use and get those moves down.” She tut-tutted him, jotting down her observations of his missing of such an elementary move. The white and blue stallion’s ears drooped, feeling smaller now.
“Yes, ma’am.” Blue Streak then turned to Solar Flare, looking rather guilty. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s just practice. We tried; what else is there?” Solar Flare wasn’t worried. His focus was working with Gallus. Their first attempt went bad and he was determined to get it perfect.
“Get moving, you two.” The instructor pointed the way to the Dizzatron.
They headed off and joined the others in line, watching yet another recruit get catapulted from the machine.
“I’m not looking forward to this again!” Blue Streak confessed, hating the idea of being sent flipping through the air like rag dolls.
“Join the club.” Solar Flare sighed and shrugged a bit. A pony had to do what a pony had to do to get past these trials.
Misty Fly kept the trial moving along. “Next pair up!”
She saw it was just three sets of them left, two stallion and mare pairings plus the duo of that griffon student from Rainbow Dash’s school and one stallion recruit. By the looks of those two, neither wanted to be a part of this exercise.
They sat far apart from each other, sulking and bitter. She could only wonder what they were going to be like once in the air. The pair of Nightflight and his lovely wing pony Amber Haze stepped up to the line, seemingly unable to keep their eyes off each other, grinning like fools.
“Ahem!” The instructor broke up the symphony of violins silently playing for the duo. “Excuse me, you need to focus now!” She groused about the lack of focus being displayed by these recruits.
The two recruits seemed to snap out of their daze, suddenly realizing where there were and what they were supposed to be doing. With scarlet-hued cheeks, they got into launch position at the starting line, Amber Haze just off to Nightflight’s left wing.
He flashed a quick wink back at her, making sure she was ready. She gave a girlish titter back, pleased to have caught the eyes of a handsome stallion like him. Misty Fly rolled her eyes and gave a small grunt, wishing these two were taking this more seriously.
“Are we ready now?” Her sarcastic tone was thick as she tapped an impatient forehoof on the ground. The two of them nod, finally ready.
“Go!”
The instructors watched on, expecting a reasonable showing of flight skill from these two. Instead, they watched the duo, starting from a relatively low altitude, perform a series of perfectly executed descending forward loops, each of the recruits alternating between flying an inward and outward loop each time. Nightflight and Amber Haze landed gently on the ground back at the starting line, pleased with the showing they had done.
“You two have got to be kidding me! That was your routine?! What in Tartarus were you doing for the last hour, playing tiddlywinks or something?!” Misty Fly let them have it. Granted, the four loops each recruit had performed were with razor-like precision in both form and body position between lead and wing, but there was nothing else. It seemed like the most minimal effort they could have done. High Winds slapped a forehoof to his head, stunned that these recruits had wasted time and did so little to show they were listening to instructions.
“This isn’t some game, newbies! You’d better start taking this more seriously!” High Winds piled on with his co-instructor, annoyed with the antics of these two.
The duo looked only mildly embarrassed and tried to smother their stupid grins, getting caught so quickly by their instructors for having spent way too much time getting to know one another and way too little time planning their routine.
“Get out of my face!” The Misty Fly hollered and they scurried off, barely containing the childish laughter. “Alright, next pair up! You two, let’s get moving!”
The duo of pony and griffon headed for the starting line, stomping hooves, paws and talons as they did while refusing to acknowledge the other. The tension between the two recruits, so palpable to all four instructors, practically radiated off them like heat waves.
They immediately got into their launch positions, standing like a couple of stone statues, their bodies taught with pent up tension. Misty Fly set them loose, relieved to have finally gotten through all the recruits in time.
“Go!”
Gallus lagged behind Wind Raider from the get go, pumping his wings twice as hard in an effort to catch up to Wind Raider.
“Don’t fall behind, you stupid griff! I don’t want to have to make excuses for why you can’t fly!” He yelled out over the sound of the rushing wind back to Gallus, not turning around so as to be heard better by his partner.
“Just shut that pie hole and get on with this, meatbag!” Gallus had to stay just off Wind Raider’s right wing, despising the fact he had to fly so close to him.
Wind Raider purposely didn’t give him the hoof signal to begin the routine, trying to make Gallus look bad, like he wasn’t paying attention to his lead pony. The griffon wasn’t fooled, keeping a steady eye on Wind Raider’s head, watching for the slightest movement to forecast what his lead flyer was going to do next.
He stayed close and banked to the left and into the routine. For the instructors, these two presented a real problem. The open hostility between them, the long day of training and tough pace they had to maintain, was bound to cause one of these two to snap.
Through the first three moves of a quick zoom climb and into a descending vertical Corkscrew for six rotations, then leveling off for inverted flight showed there seemed to be no issues. Gallus never took his eyes off Wind Raider, trying to keep count of the seconds through each move and when to rotate his body for the next maneuver.
“So far, so good.” High Winds watched as he stood next to Misty Fly, wondering if they were actually going to go the distance.
“Maybe focusing all that anger is making them actually fly together better.” Vapor Trail believed they wouldn’t have gotten this far.
“Let’s hope they hold out to the end before they try killing each other.” Sky Stinger watched along, having dealt with both of them.
They watch the two flyers go into the Barrel Roll, each keeping the proper position through the maneuver. They were in the home stretch, one last trick move to do, hit the landing and this torment would be over for them. Wind Raider had other ideas about how to end the routine.
“Rolling Scissor move; do it!” The lead pony commanded, suddenly rolling his body to the left and climbing up into the sky.
“Damn it! I just knew he was going to pull something! I’ll show him!” Gallus recalled the diagram from his textbook and from the scribbling Wind Raider had done to demonstrate the move he wanted in the routine. It was a very tough maneuver; the timing required was tricky as well as avoiding collision with each other. Their instructor had made an outward loop the last trick to perform, overriding Wind Raider’s choice.
This was just pure spite and revenge on Wind Raider’s part, defying the instructions and doing the move he wanted anyway. Gallus flapped harder, picking up his pace to get in time with Wind Raider.
He wasn’t keeping count of the seconds, starting late and trying to position himself by dead reckoning.
C’mon… c’mon…! He sped up and slowed down his flying, finally getting locked up in position just as Wind Raider was diving down towards him and while swooping up out of his lead flyer’s flightpath, missing one another by scant inches between their bodies as they passed by.
Up and over Gallus twisted his body over as he flew, now inverted and look up (or down, was it?) at Wind Raider’s body, both of them reaching the peak and trough of their arcs, now heading for the second intersection point.
The wind rushed past Wind Raider’s ears as he soared back up to the second crossing point, a bit surprised to see up and ahead of him the griffon pushing hard to keep in time. Wind Raider had convinced himself that was Gallus too small and slow to even attempt this maneuver. But apparently he’d underestimated his nimble-winged flyer’s abilities. Even with lagging behind from the beginning of the routine, Gallus had not only managed to catch up but also ‘slip in’ to the timing of the maneuver, now in the proper positon for his part.
Their flightpaths were reaching their respective apexes with both flyers arching back to cross one more time like before and then come in for the landing. Both Gallus and Wind Raider pushed on, speeding up as they came closer to the final crossing of flight paths. Gallus was diving down to the intersection while Wind Raider was heading up towards it. Then, it happened…
WHAM!
“A-r-r-r-g-g-h! My eye! My eye!” Wind Raider pitched hard to the left, still climbing but now was faltering as he tried to recover from the impact.
Gallus was briefly knocked off balance but maintained control, Wind Raider, who was momentarily above him, quickly fell behind and was slowly descending to the ground. The griffon shook his left foreleg a repeatedly, wincing hard at taking the impact with some part of Wind Raider’s body when they’d cross paths like that.
“What the-?” High Winds watched a pair of flight goggles hit the ground not some twenty feet away, knocked off from one of the recruits from the impact. When he looked up again, both recruits were now returning to the ground, one apparently injured. The griffon landed first; his leady pony managed to land on only three legs, one foreleg was covering an injury on his muzzle.
The instructors were right on top of the situation, getting in between them and keeping them apart. Gallus backed away with High Winds and Sky Stinger, seeing how mad Wind Raider was now.
“That dirty half-breed,” Wind Raider roared, “tried to tear my eye out with his talons! He took a swipe at my muzzle! Look!” He removed his foreleg, revealing a nasty gash below his left eye that left a trail of blood as it ran.
Gallus was stunned silent, his beak falling open a little in shock. Again he flexed his left foreleg and his talons, recalling the impact he felt as he flew past Wind Raider. A terrible cool sensation caused his fur to stand on end and his eyes went wide when looking his talons, seeing the evidence of the impact.
On the tip of his index talon was a smear of blood, suddenly realizing he’d done something quite bad. He had drawn ‘first blood’. Wind Raider’s blood. And when he looked up at his now former partner for this exercise, the fire of hate that burned in Wind Raider’s eyes could have set all of the White Tail Woods ablaze with just its intensity.
“That dirty ‘griff tried to blind me!” Wind Raider looked as ready the trash Gallus limb from limb. Misty Fly pulled Vapor Trail’s head down to her mouth, not wanting to alert any pony else.
“Get Dash over here now!” She hissed softly in Vapor Trail’s ear.
The reservist took off, heading for the outbuildings and shed where the teams gear was often stored.
“Rainbow Dash! Soarin! Where are you guys?” Vapor Trail darted all about the buildings, desperate to find the team captain and co-captain. Finally, she found them behind one of the storage sheds, setting up some gear for tomorrow’s photo op.
“Dash! Soarin! We need you over on the activities field! We’ve got a problem on our hands!” Vapor Trail forgot herself, saluting them after telling them what was happening.
“What happened?” Soarin dropped what he was holding onto, his attention focused on Vapor Trail.
“It’s one of your students, Dash; the griffon! There’s been an incident! Apparently one of them had-” Vapor Trail didn’t get a chance to finish as both her captain and co-captain took off like streaks of lightning, getting to the field and investigating in a matter of seconds. Soarin took control of the situation.
“What happed here?” He looked to his teammate instructors for an explanation. Misty Fly explained what she’d seen.
“Apparently this recruit, while disobeying directions from an instructor,” she emphasized her point, “had his wing pony execute a Rolling Scissors maneuver with him. Their timing wasn’t correct and,” Misty Fly paused as she tried to tread lightly on this part, “Gallus apparently struck Wind Raider in the muzzle during one of the flight path crossover points.”
“Apparently?! That sick bone-cruncher over there tried to take me out! He should get ejected from the trials for this!” Wind Raider’s shouts were now distracting the other recruits from their Dizzatron practice. Some now were wandering back over to watch and listen to the unfolding story.
“Is Misty Fly right? It was an accident?” Rainbow Dash pulled Gallus aside, getting some space to talk quietly and privately with him.
“It was, I swear it! I got paired up with Wind Raider for the exercise. I must’ve been slightly ahead of him with my timing when we crossed flight paths. I felt something hit my left foreleg but didn’t know what it was. I thought I might’ve hit his leg or hoof because I twisted my wrist hard. Besides, he’s got it out for me. He doesn’t like griffons or hippogriffs here for the trials. He was being such an ass to Silverstream and me ever since we got here.”
To Rainbow Dash, it just sounded like one of those ‘fight mishaps’ in that their routines didn’t go as planned. That’s what part of this training exercise is all about. They step back over to rejoin Soarin and the other instructors.
“Let’s see how bad it is.” Soarin took a closer look at the laceration. Wind Raider waited, expecting to hear the worst. “Well, it’s a decent cut but I don’t think you’re going to die and probably not need a stitch or anything like that. Get over to the infirmary for some first aid. They have that new medical glue to patch up cuts like this. You’ll be fine.”
“I didn’t mean it to happen. It was an accident and I’m sorry. Honest.” Gallus thought it was the only thing he could say right then to maybe defuse the bad situation some. He didn’t like Wind Raider and thought him conceded and arrogant but he certainly wouldn’t have done anything to cause problems for Professor Dash or hosts, being here on his teacher’s invitation. It felt so very strange for Gallus, standing there and wondering, second guessing himself if maybe he instinctively did reach out to swipe at Wind Raider in anger.
Rainbow Dash let out a huge but silent sigh of relief, so grateful it was not as bad as she thought. The Wonderbolt captain and other instructors took Gallus at his word; it was an accident, nothing more and let it go at that.
“I can’t believe you are going to let this slide!” Wind Raider was outraged, believing this was an offence worth getting ejected from the trials.
“Flyer’s bad luck; that’s all it was. Recruits have gotten much worse injuries during the trials then just a cut on the muzzle. You’ll survive.” Soarin was putting an end to the situation and had more important things to then babysit a recruit who got a boo-boo. “Go take your turn on the Dizzatron with the other recruits once you’re patched up.” He turned to his co-captain. “Let’s go and get the backdrops set up for tomorrow’s showcase, Dash.” He wanted to get done, he and Rainbow still having to speak with their C.O. before being done for the day.
“Oh, this is total meadow muffins! This is… is…is…!” Wind Raider stammered, unable to believe the entire Wonderbolt crew was under the spell of the griffon’s innocent ploy, buying into him not being the aggressor. Only the thought of wanting to get through the trials and getting accepted into the academy kept him from losing it right then and pounce on the griffon. Sputtering and unable to say anymore, Wind Raider stormed off to the infirmary, barely restraining his rage. Now, the incident was over at last. Misty Fly shooed the other recruits who’d wandered over to watch.
“Alright…alright… show’s over every pony! Nothing left to see here.”
“I guess our time is done.” Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail came to stand in front of Misty Fly and saluted her; both of them weary from the day’s work. This had proved quite the challenge and different from the classroom settings he and Vapor Trail were used to.
“Thanks for the help today, you did a good job. We might call on you some more if we need to.” Misty Fly returned the salute. “Dismissed.”
Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail took leave, heading back to the housing complex on base for the instructors, ready for some downtime.
“You’d best get over on line with the other recruits, Gallus. There’s still time to get in at least one turn.” Misty Fly gently encouraged him, seeing him obviously upset about the incident and occupied in his thoughts. Not a very good way to end the day for an academy volunteer.
“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted, leaving the two Wonderbolt instructors and heading to where his friends had been watching from their spots on line. When the griffon did join them, the friends came to stand in close to him in a show of solidarity and support. Cloudy Sky put a wing around Gallus’ shoulders.
“The jerk had it coming. It was his own fault; not listening to the instructors like that.” He tried to bolster his griffon friend’s sagging spirit, assuring him he was not his fault. The griffon only nodded a little, acknowledging Cloudy Sky efforts.
“You didn’t mean it; no different than when we messed up on our flight together.” Solar Flare made sure his partner didn’t blame himself, plenty of flyers today made lots of mistakes. It was a learning curve for all of them. Gallus searched the faces of his friends, unsure of himself.
They believed in him. How was he to be expected to perform a tough maneuver like that totally on the wing with a partner that despised him all the while? It was impossible not to mess up.
Gallus gave a heavy sigh. “I suppose, Solar.” The griffon started to wonder if this whole escapade was worth the aggravation he’d been through. He didn’t have to be here. He could leave if he wanted. He had experienced enough over the past two days to write a whole term paper about it if he wanted. What was the point of going on? It didn’t matter if he succeeded or not. It’s not like he was going to actually going to be an academy cadet in the end. Could he just walk away from these ponies; abandon his partner? What would they think of griffons if he quit on them? Would they feel the same now the next time they met another griffon? He looked again at the faces of those whom he called his friends.
It was because they were his friends; because they did have his back, just like he said he’d be there for them. No, friends don’t abandon one another and certainly not the BFF’s. This was supposed to be tough to do. Crazy awesome, incredible flyers didn’t quit. He wasn’t a quitter. To quit now would only achieve exactly what Wind Raider and Stormbringer wanted. Seeing him and or Silverstream leave.
From somewhere inside him, Gallus found the resolve to put this behind him, to keep on pushing ahead. He wanted to fly at Solar Flare’s wing, he wanted to help his friends achieve their goals, see them get in to the academy like they desired. Going the distance and proving griffons were capable flyers to join would be the high mark he would aim for. Even if nothing came of it, the satisfaction of doing what no griffon had done and the bragging rights that came with it would provide a lifetime of memories and make him that much more a superior flyer.
His hippogriff and pony friends watched as he seem to find the sunlight beyond the hazy clouds of doubt in his mind, having the support group to lean on. A small smile returned to his beak, glad they were here for him.
“Right; it was just bad flyer’s luck. That’s all. I’ll do better tomorrow.”
They were relieved to see him pull himself up out of the doldrums, not giving in to self-doubt. Cloudy Sky gave him a pat with his wing and an assuring grin.
“We’ll all do better tomorrow.” Like Silverstream, Cloudy Sky would champion them sticking together, working as a unit.
As if by some divine intervention at that moment, the recruits were greeted to that same familiar welcoming sound blaring over the public address system; the bugle call that sounded the end of the day’s workout and to get ready for mealtime. Save for Firebolt and Razzle Dazzle having to take another go-round on the Dizzatron, the rest of the group had been spared a brain-scrambling this afternoon.
“Whew! Made it!” Cloudy Sky was never so glad to hear that sound. “I really wasn’t looking forward to that machine again.”
“Me neither, though I’m sure we’ll have to make up for it tomorrow at some point.” Nightflight was sure of it.
“All I want to do is get cleaned up and something in my belly. Don’t forget, we’re joining my friend and some of the other cadets for some fun tonight in the rec room.” Firebolt watched all her friends’ faces perk up, reminding them of what was in store a little later on.
“Some downtime will make all of us more relaxed and ready for tomorrow’s trials.” Brightstar was looking forward to it already, needing her mind to think about something else other than flight routines and the dynamics of formation flight.
“Race ya’ to the mess hall! Last one there’s got molting feathers!” Cloudy Sky playfully challenged them all as he took off, leaving his group behind. Silverstream, Firebolt and Razzle Dazzle took off after him, accepting the challenge.
“Oh, you’re not going to outfly me, Cloudy!” Firebolt took off right after him with Razzle Dazzle not far behind.
“Ie-e-e! Let’s go!” She happily joined in, squealing in delight at the chance to race two friends. The rest followed on hoof and talons, preferring not to appear like children running for supper when called. A hot meal and a quick shower was what they need to forget today and just relax for a few hours tonight. It would be a welcome break.