--Humble Beginnings--
If any pegasi has a desire to fly, they cant even hope to start without enrolling in a flight camp. This flight camp, to be exact is for the young fillies and colts, whom were most eager and ready to learn. Since Sky thought her colt might get hurt flying so early, Storm had snuck Lightning off from her in hopes of giving him a boost ahead of the other pegasi. Although all the training Lightning subconsciously went through had already given him a great advantage in flying at a young age.
At this point, Lightning had his mane growing in already. Thick, and jagged with spikes launching outwards in multiple directions. It was colored white with deep navy highlights, just like his eyes, and unlike other fillies and colts, Lightning’s wings had already reached the growth of that of a five year old colt, meaning he could fly longer, faster, and perhaps better than all the rest.
During registration, Storm had let go of Lightning’s hoof as they filled out the basic papers, and got him ready to get flying.
“He looks like a kick flank flyer!”
Storm had turned around in surprise, as he came eye to eye with another stallion. He had a pure black coat; So deep that he could easily blend in at any time in the night, or in a shadow. To his left was a little colt, a tad bit bigger than Lightning. The stallion then shook Storm’s hoof, and began to introduce himself.
“How ya doin? my name is Midnight Shadow, and this here's my boy, Lunar Shadow. He's a real tough one ya know!”
Lunar had interrupted his father and said,
“Dad I like to fly, but this place seems boring. Why can't i just train with you?”
“Because if you trained with me, you would get yo-self killed!”
Midnight gave a loud laugh as he turned back to Storm.
“So has he flown around the clouds yet?”
“Yeah a bit, he prefers to fly around our house so he can have us watching. I swear the boy loves to be the fastest thing in the sky. Every day I look out and see him trying to get the clouds to move, or disappear. Its pretty funny, but for such a little.....”
As the two stallions continued on with their conversations, the two colts looked at each other nervously.
“uhmm.. h-hi.” “Hey, whats uhh your name?”
“L-lightning.”
“My name's Lunar, but you can call me Lun! Do you like cookies?”
“Yeah! I love cookies! Cake more though, my dad says I ate the whole cake on my birthday.”
“That's all!? I can eat the whole store in a day!”
They both laughed, and smiled as their parents finished up their registrations. Storm looked down to Lightning and give him a quick hug.
“Ok son, just remember the ponies here are going to show you how to fly better. So pay attention and have fun!”
“Ay-yo boy, keep yo head up and you will do fine. Remember if you come back flying il buy you a whole carton of cookies.”
And a moment later, the two fathers spread their wings and took off, as their sons were left behind with an instructor, and another filly. The other filly had a bright, orange mane with golden brown eyes. She looked like a serious flier.
Somepony who looked like they might take flying to a level of which the royal guard might.
As the three looked at each other, a mare came between them, smoothly landing on the cloud. She had a polite, kind expression to her, and in that instant the three ran up to her in awe and asked how she landed so well. The mare chuckled and told the three,
“with years of experience, the three of you can all learn to fly just like me! Now i bet you ponies would like to fly right?”
The three spat out in choir, “YES!”
She chuckled again.
“Ok then let me show you to your room, and we can begin our first lesson.”
The three bounced in her direction as she led them to a small room consisting of four beds, and many posters of the Wonderbolts, and many of Cloudsdale’s most honored fliers.
“Now before we start our lesson, i would like to introduce myself. My name is Mrs. Starshine, and I cant wait to show you three how to fly like the pros!”
Mrs. Starshine was a grey mare with a short, blonde, curly mane. She also had deep green eyes, and her cutie mark represented that of a baby hummingbird. As she left the room, the three grouped for a second to introduce themselves. Lunar broke the ice first.
“Hey guys, my name is Lunar, but Lun for short. what's yours?”
He turned to the yellow filly and she replied,
"Spitfire.”
Her expression was intimidating for a filly of her size and agem although at the same time she seemed gentle and harmless. It was rather peculiar how she managed to give that impression. Finally, they both turned to Lightning and he replied,
“L-lightning.”
Lightning was very timid in front of other ponies, but was very open and friendly around...well...friends. The three shook hooves and smiled at each other, while they collectively figured they had to join their teacher outside.
Outside, Mrs. Starshine was flying around a few cloud rings that were closely placed together. It seemed like she had a small course set up for each one of them to try. She then came to a smooth landing, and pointed out at the course.
“Ok my little ponies, i have this course set up just to see how well you can do on your first go around.”
Spitfire was the first to try her luck on the course. with a few flaps of her wings, she got a slight lift, and in moments, she was halfway through the first two rings, and amazing the other two colts and her teacher. Coming to a landing, (rough as it may have been) Mrs. Starshine came quickly to grab her so she wouldn't hurt herself.
“Very well done Spitfire! A few more runs like that and we might have to bump up your level!”
Next, Lunar stepped up to where Spitfire had launched, and got into stance. Flapping his wings hard, he began taking off slowly, and although wasn't as smooth as Spitfire’s, he had a great sense of moving through the rings. Almost as if he was already experienced at navigating, and swift maneuvering. Mrs. Starshine was waiting at the end, as Lunar stumbled through the sky, and towards the ground. With a rough and bumpy landing, he was down on all fours.
"Very good Lunar! That was some of the best control I've seen in years!”
As the two ponies high-hoofed with each other, Lightning was left alone at the start. Kneeling down in his stance, he kept a close eye on his teacher, making sure he wouldn't miss a single beat. Before his teacher gave him the signal to go, he had flashbacks of the nights he spend practicing landings, and gliding off the top of his crib, adding to all the time he spent soaring as fast as he could around his home.
The adrenaline bursts hit with a powerful shock of heat, and everything around him started to slow. All he could hear now, was the sound of his own anxious breaths. With a swift wave of her hoof, Lightning bolted off the starting position, leaving indentions in the clouds behind him. Flapping his wings hard, he thrusted his way through the first couple of rings, and felt one shaking behind him from his trip through. He could feel his mane whipping back from his speed, as he stuck his hooves out and spread his wings out far to try and stop himself from a rough landing. Although everything was slowed for him, he knew that it wouldn't affect how soft or rough his landing was.
As he began to decrease in speed, the world around him started speeding back up, and all at once the sound hit him like a train's whistle straight out of the Cloudsdale train depot. Although Lightning had an amazing thirst for speed, his maneuvering suffered horribly, which also meant his landings would suffer horribly as well. With a strong jolt, he felt his hooves slam, then rip into the cloud as he tried to slow himself down more and more, however his efforts were futile. Loosing balance, he started tumbling across a large span of clouds, feeling each part of his body making contact with the clouds in some way. With one last strong jolt, he had come to a stop on his side, and slowly stood back up, shaking a bit and smiling wide from the excitement.
Mrs. Starshine has rushed over to his aid, and told him,
"My goodness Lightning! I could barely keep up with you that whole time! Are you ok!?"
He had laughed a bit, still trying to catch his breath and said,
"Yeah just a rough landing..."
stumbling over to his friends, they all joined together in a group hoof-five, and complimented each other on their spectacular skills. Mrs. Starshine had noticed that the sun was beginning to set, so she had told them,
"Great job today my little ponies! I can't wait to see what you can do tomorrow! Just make sure you get plenty of rest and have awesome dreams!"
Continuing their compliments, they had rushed over to their room, and began to chat about their favorite Wonderbolt, or race pony. Slamming the door open, Lunar had dove onto his small cot and grabbed a case of cookies his dad had left him with. Stuffing his face full, he began to say,
“Wow I can't wait to show my dad how well I did! I bet he will buy me TWO cookie cases!”
Both Lightning, and Spitfire had laughed a bit at his prediction.
"Lunar, cookies aren't good for you if you keep eating them so often!”
“So? They taste so good!”
They giggled again, and slowly but surely fell to sleep, each having dreams of flying for the Wonderbolts, or in the Equestrian Pegasi Races. High hopes filled the little ones, which were all completely achievable as well, so long as they kept practicing and training hard.
The three woke the next morning to the sound of soft birds chirping outside their window. Probably Mrs. Starshine working her magic, they joked.
As she came into the room, she began rallying up the troops for the next phase of practice. They all had joined together outside as Mrs. Starshine began to explain what they were doing next. She gave them all a breakfast of fruits and oats, as she started to set up an obstacle course of a such. Nothing too extravagant, just something to give a good challenge.
“Ok my little ponies, today we are going to train our control in the air. Pay close attention Lightning, today is important for you.”
She, Spitfire, and Lunar giggled as Lightning murmured under his breath blushing slightly. Like a repeat of the day before, Spitfire had volunteered to try first. She had stepped up to the starting point marked by Mrs.Starshine, and crouched down in her position. She spread her wings and with a few hard flaps began to soar through the sky. She easily cleared the many bars, and tunnels of clouds, Mrs. Starshine kept close observation, judging her every move.
“That’s the way Spitfire! You’re doing great!”
Spitfire started to pant a bit at the exertion of her energy. For a young filly to fly at the skill she was showing is an enormous feat, even for an older pegasus. In fact, for a young filly to fly through an obstacle course is close to mind bending,however Mrs. Starshine knew from the beginning these pegasi were no ordinary flyers.
As Spitfire came to land, she stumbled slightly and fell on her knees. Mrs. Starshine was there to help her up as always and she jumped in glee at her accomplishment.
"I-I DID IT! YES!"
Eccentric with joy, she had ran back to the group with that same wide smile on her face.
Lunar had a bit of confidence coming into today's course, due to his performance yesterday. He readied at the starting point, and spread his wings out as far as he could. A few flaps and he was instantly off, in the sky, and maneuvering like a pro through the course.
“Just as I thought”
Said Mrs. Starshine,
“you're breezing through this Lunar! Maybe we should bump you up another level hmm?”
Lunar gave a slight smile while making his way through the course, eventually coming in for his landing. This, is where Lunar took his advantage. In flight control, and just basic direction in general. Sticking his front hooves out, he landed flat on all fours, making the most solid, and perfect landing that both Lightning, and Spitfire had ever seen.
Now, the last one left to attempt the course was Lightning. However, with the success of both Lunar, and Spitfire, how could he possibly compete? He then made his way up to the starting point, and with the wave of Mrs. Starshine's hoof, Lightning was off. Take off's were much less of a trouble due to his larger wings, as he blazed his way through the first few rings. He was careful not to let his thirst for speed take over as he carefully maneuvered his way through the course, without so much as hitting a single ring. Although Lightning isn't the best at control, he did rather well on the course. Not as well as Spitfire and Lunar of course, but you know.
Now the tricky part for Lightning, was the tunnel. It proposed a huge challenge for the young colt, cutting off his vision for a few precious seconds of in flight control. To counteract this, Lightning had angled his wings so he could keep a good speed, while still having more control over speed. His idea worked better then he thought as well.
Coming to the end tunnel, Mrs. Starshine kept him going with chants and shouts, along with Lunar, and Spitfire. Sweat began to drip from his face as he put forth all effort to his love for flying. With a last few bursts of speed, Lightning had spread his wings out, anticipating another rough landing. However, he managed all fours without any sort of tumble, or crash, and was instantly greeted by the flying hugs of his two new friends.
“You did great Lightning!”
“Yeah dude! Next time I’ll help you through those tunnels.”
Lightning gave a chuckle through his panting.
"Thanks Lunar, I’d love to train with you!”
The three smiled in accomplishment as their teacher walked over. Her face looked rather crude however, almost as if one of them had dropped ice cream on a chair.
“You three.... "
Together, the three little ones grew a scared expression, bracing themselves for the fiery wrath of Mrs. Starshine.
"Are doing absolutely outstanding!”
It was all just a trick. A fun trick. What was once an expression of terror on the group’s face became a bigger smile as they hoof bumped their teacher.
"You guys did great! I can't remember the last time I had a group as talented as you, so when you return to your room, remember you earned what you worked for!"
She then grew a wide smile, and trotted off back to her room, leaving the three to their curiosity.Rushing back to their room, Spitfire was the one to point out the obvious by asking,
"What do you think she meant by that?"
The three got a little nervous, but Spitfire had turned to them and smiled, as she flapped hard and began to soar back to their room, rather than simply running. Lunar turned to Lightning and nodded, then began flying synchronized with Spitfire all the way back to their room. Landing in their room, they were shocked to see medals hanging from their bed frames.
“OH WOW!”
The three shouted together, and Spitfire was the first to read hers.
"Best attitude, and best all around flier!”
Lunar then picked his up and read,
“Best Control, and best team player!”
Lightning then read his in excitement, his heart racing fast.
“Best Landing, and.... Fastest Flier!”
The three bursted in laughter at Lightning's first medal. Who would have though Mrs. Starshine would be the one to pull a trick like that? Excitement filled the room quickly, as they each tried on their medals, looking at their reflections in the polished medal.
"Wow... These are so nice!"
In that moment however, Mrs. Starshine had flown in, and shoo'd them off to bed.
“Ok my little ponies calm down! It’s getting late, so you guys should be hitting the hay don't you think?”
The three spoke in sync,
“Yes Mrs. Starshine.”
climbing into bed, they had pretended to go to sleep. However, as soon as Mrs. Starshine left, the ponies began to light candles, and tell stories pf their dreams, and what they've done in life so far. As the three grew more tired, they climbed into bed and began to doze off.
Before falling asleep, Lightning took a quick glance out the window, and noticed the moon was full. It reminded him of the days of crib landing and gliding. Calm, relaxing, doing what he loved. The room was quiet and peaceful, with only the sound of the animals outside to be heard.
. . .
The three awakened the next morning to their teacher busting through the door.
“Good morning my little ponies!”
Spitfire was the first to complain.
"Ugg shut the dooooor.”
Mrs. Starshine giggled lightly.
“Oh come now Spitfire, don't you want to try and get a bit of extra practice in before you leave?”
She grumbled and jumped down her bed, to her teacher. Mrs. Starshine then tousled her mane, and giggled again.
"Hey, what's the deal!?"
"You need to wake up, silly filly!"
She then lead her outside, while the two colts followed right behind. Once outside, she had them run a few laps through the rings once more. The results of the camp were extraordinary! What had once been a challenge for the three was now just a basic flight for them. Although they still felt heavy fatigue, the camp had given them new skills... and friends.
The three practiced with Mrs. Starshine until Storm, Midnight, and Mustang showed up. Seeing their foal so happily flying made them all dash toward, and congratulate them. A few quick reunions came along with them, as they began to excitedly tell their parents about all that they did in camp. After the reunion with parents, the three foal then looked at their teacher with small tears in their eyes.
“Oh don't be sad ponies, you can always come see me once you begin your advanced courses!”
They all sobbed slightly and gave her a big group hug.
“Thanks for everything Mrs. Starshine.”
“Yeah it was so much fun.”
After their hug, the three all turned to each other and said,
“we should stay friends! You know, help each other train and get better at flying!"
"Sounds great! We can meet up somewhere!"
The parents had hastened their foal's quick discussion, forcing them to split up for the time being. Before leaving completely, the three had all turned to each other and said,
“Well i'll see you soon Spitfire!”
“See ya later Lightning! Bye Lunar!”
Both Lunar, and Spitfire had then left with their parents, leaving Lightning to go give his dad a hug.
“Hey sport! how did it go?”
“Great dad! I made new friends and learned how to manu...manuu... whatever the word is better!”
Storm gave a strong chuckle.
“Alright bud hop on and we can fly home!”
"Wait.. Dad, do you mind if I fly home instead?"
He had scratched his chin and contemplated it for a quick moment.
“Well alright, but i'll stick right next to you this whole time.”
Both spreading their wings, father and son, Storm couldn't help but smile at the sight of his own son flying right next to him. He glanced over at his navy mane moving in the wind, and gave Mrs. Starshine a wave while flying home. Lightning Chaser had officially become a true pegasus.