//------------------------------// // Taking the Next Step // Story: One of a Kind // by cpthitsugaya //------------------------------// --Taking the Next Step-- Four years have passed since Lightning and his friends’ experience at camp with Ms. Starshine. The memories still engraved in his mind, as he stands in line waiting to sign up for the moderate fliers camp. The same feelings of adrenaline promptly filled Lightning, as he began to grow more and more anxious to fly his absolute best. A colt of eight years old, Lightning Chaser is truly growing up into a fine stallion. His mane fully grown and thick, his eyes taking their true colors, but most importantly, his wings. Large, and well built for flying, Lightning had wings that would even make the Wonderbolts envious. Although he was missing a very vital part of anypony’s body: a cutie mark. The majority of foal in camp had already found their special talents before reaching this point, which made him feel a bit out of place among his friends. Even Lunar had found his special talent. His cutie mark represented that of a compass rose, with a white coloring and gold outline. Lightning, however, was not the only one who hadn’t found his special talent. Spitfire, as well, had been struggling with finding her special talent. The two felt like outcasts, although they had both agreed to help each other find what makes them unique. Hopefully, in time, they would soon figure out their special talents, and stop being the odd-ones-out. They had tried many different activities and skills before camp, all to no prevail. Standing in line, another colt had bumped into Lightning. The colt said, “Oh sorry, didn’t see you there.” Lightning quietly replied, “Um, it’s ok..” “Hah, well you seem cool!” said the colt. “What’s your name?” “Um... L-lightning,” responded Lightning. "Lightning?” repeated the colt. ”That’s a cool name! My name is Sonic Dash.” The young colt then began to shake Lightning’s hoof, and smiled widely in doing so. Dash was an interesting colt, to say the least. Standing slightly taller than Lightning, he had a light blue, almost cyan body. His mane was white, long, and ragged. His eyes were a light shade of purple, and his cutie mark appeared as a book with a bass shape and strings. It was colored blue, with white fillings. “That’s a cool cutie mark, Dash. What does it mean?” asked Lightning. “Well, I love to read and edit things a lot,” explained Dash. “Also, I love rock music and playing the bass.” Well that would explain it. . . Lightning had looked at Dash, and saw a very friendly colt in those purple eyes. Somepony you could easily trust, and be great friends with simply by the first impression he had on him. Lightning gave a small smile, and playfully punched his shoulder. Lightning said, “Well I bet I could beat you in a race!” “Oh yeah? We'll see!” exclaimed Dash. They both grinned competitively, then laughed together at their random seriousness. Spitfire had walked right behind Lightning, and grabbed their attention. “Oh sorry, Spitfire!” apologized Lightning. “Didn’t see ya there.” "It’s cool Lightning, but I do want to see you guys race!” she said. Lightning had smiled again, and gave her an accepting nod. He then turned around again and came face to face with a large stallion. He was tall; much taller than most other stallion would be, and even bigger body was too. Lightning figured right away this stallion was easily the commander of a storm unit, or a scout party. “Name?” asked the stallion. His voice was stern, and very straightforward. Judging from his voice, Lightning had gotten the “genius” idea to get serious. “Lightning Chaser, sir!” he said. The stallion lifted one eye curiously, then busted out in a laughter and said, “At ease son, this is just flight camp. Not storm camp.” Lightning had looked down out of embarrassment, and blushed a bit. “Oh, my bad..” he said quietly. The stallion then took Lightning’s hoof, and gave it a firm shake. “Welcome to flight camp, Lightning Chaser!” he said. A smile had hit Lightning’s face as he spoke back to his new instructor: “Thank you, sir!” As the stallion walked away, Lightning could hear him continuing his laugh as the stallion took Dash, and Spitfire’s names. Lightning had flown over to Lunar and within a few moments, the others joined as well. “Guys, this is my new friend Sonic Dash,” said Lightning. “Sonic Dash? I haven’t seen you around much...” observed Lunar. “Well, I usually tend to keep to myself and my group of friends, but when I saw Lightning here I just wanted to say ‘hi’,” At first, his friends didn’t know what to think. As of late, their group consisted of Lightning, Lunar, and Spitfire. Now, Lightning was trying to add a fourth member to their group. His idea seemed rather strange, but Lightning wasn’t one to just randomly introduce a bad friend, so they were quick to accept him. Dash just had that aura around him that made people instantly like him. Probably came with the special talents he has. Lunar had then turned to Lightning and said, “But if you drag one more in, we’re gonna have problems, ok?” The four had all laughed together at his small joke. “Well lucky for us each room has four beds,” said Lightning. They all looked at each other excited, and ran to their room. Inside, was four beds aligned along a wall, with a few posters of the Wonderbolts and a few top graduates of the camp. Lunar had closely examined the poster and turned to the group. “There’s something wrong with this poster,” he said. His expression was a bit angry looking. “Well what’s wrong with it?” asked Dash. “I’m not on it!” replied Lunar. All four then broke out laughing at Lunar’s comment. “Maybe they just know who will and won't be a top graduate, huh Lun?” said Spitfire. Her comment seemed a bit harsh, but Lunar saw the humor in it and laughed. Heck, it didn’t even phase him that her comment was probably, a partial an insult. Spitfire had looked out the window, and noticed the sky became darker than before. “Guys, I think it’s time for us to get some sleep,” she said. Knowing they all had a big day ahead in camp, they all had decided her judgement was the best idea. Although, sleep was a term that could hardly be used that night. They were all so excited to finally start more advanced training, and a new member to the group just fed the fire even more. Smiles and laughs filled the small house as they each shared stories about funny events that had occurred in their lives. What seemed like mere moments to the group was actually hours outside. Just like that, morning rolled around, and they all dashed outside to see how they would start their training. Outside, the instructor sat, waiting for his new “recruits”. Minute by minute rolled by, as more and more fillies and colts began to group around him. Once the whole group was outside and ready, the instructor went on to speak: “Good morning students, my name is Galliant Storm. But you can call me Mr. Storm." The group of fillies and colts had replied in sync, "Good morning, Mr. Storm.” A smile had come across Mr Storm’s face as he looked at his group of new students. Mr. Storm was a maroon, black spiked mane, dark yellow eye colored stallion, whom had a rather commanding presence around him. His cutie mark represented that of a cloud with a lightning bolt, striking a book. Irony at its best. “If anypony is wondering why my cutie mark is like this,it’s because I believe in learning from experience, not books. Meaning, when you fall, you learn. When you fail, you learn. When you succeed, you learn. No book can teach you what first-hoof experience can teach you.” He was correct. Flight is a unique, and one-of-a-kind experience to everypony. No book can define one’s love of it. Mr. Storm then spread his wings out, and soared up into the shy above them. From there, he began to fly a straight path, performing many barrel rolls and aerial loops. The foal “ooh”d and “aah”d in amazement watching him perform the most intricate and sophisticated aerials they had ever seen. As he came down for a landing, it seemed as though he landed more on his right side, then his left. He then said, “Just remember: experience leads to flight of a higher caliber than even expert fliers.” From his perception, Lightning figured he had some sort of large accident that had inflicted the left side of his body, and in time taught him what not to do next time. Experience. In the back of his mind, Lightning swore an oath to himself. An oath that he would train hard, and always put in full effort, to become a better flier than Mr. Storm. A better flier than even Whiplash; the most skilled, current leader of the Wonderbolts. Mr. Storm then pulled some clouds up from the ground, and arranged them in large rings. Rings much like the rings that Lunar, Spitfire, and Lightning had used in beginner’s camp. As Mr. Storm flew around to random areas setting them up, Lightning was observing carefully, trying to find the quickest and safest path to follow. The way Mr. Storm set them up would lead either to a crash of one of the students, or a great success of one of the more skilled ponies. “Alright everypony, let's see how you can do on your warm up route.” And just like her nature, Spitfire was the first to volunteer. She had walked over to the starting point, and spread her wings out ready to take off. Mr. Storm then raised his hoof, and very swiftly waved it to mark her start. Just like that, she was off. Incredible, inconceivable, and impeccable. These words only began to describe the yellow blur that had been whizzing around the rings. Her turns were a bit spotty, but her swiftness and speed were in perfect balance, making for great recovery off tight turns. As she came to a landing, her speed was a little too high, and in term, she hurt come to her landing too hot and hurt her legs when making contact with the ground. Knowing Spitfire however, it was absolutely nothing. She was a strong filly. Strong enough to brush off something as simple as a hard landing. Even Mr.Storm had an impressed look on his face as he walked over to Spits. Everypony already knew what he was thinking, and they all agreed too: She was an incredible flier. Looking back to Lightning, he knew what was coming next. Either he had to try to show Spitfire up with his devastating speed, or wait it out and try to be the one to finish on a strong note. As he figured to try and show his best friend up, (what a pal!) Dash stepped in, and gave the group competitive, kind of “beat me if you can!” look. He spread his wings out, and as Mr. Storm waved his hoof, he too, was gone. The light blue blur, followed by a lagged echo of sound, showed that Dash had a perfect combination of speed, and maneuvering. It was as if Lightning and Lunar had become one pegasi, but needed a bit more improvement, because the combination still couldn't beat the raw talent the two had in their skills. You could also tell by the way Dash was flying, that he too, had a true love for flight. He too was what one may call, a true pegasus. The whole group, including Spitfire and Mr. Storm, was in complete awe. He was magnificent. Magnificent at least, until his landing. After a few swift banks and corners, it had occurred to Lightning, and soon the whole group, that Dash was not the best at coming to landings. After hitting the last corner, Dash had spread his wings out to try and catch a plethora of instant drag, but instead tossed forward rather violently through the air. Obviously, he was moving faster than he could handle, and eventually crashed into the clouds, kicking up plenty enough to block him out completely. Coming up from the fog he had kicked up, he spit a few clouds out and laughed. “I guess I missed my turn,” he joked. The whole group laughed as Mr.Storm helped him up. He seemed a bit battered, but no serious damage. Luckily for him, the clouds had cushioned his impact, which was very capable of resulting in an injury. Shortly after, Dash took his place next to Spitfire, and Lunar was up next to try and make his mark on the others. Walking up, and over to the starting point, he spread his wings out and gave them a few warm up flaps. Mr. Storm had then raised his hoof, and Lunar crouched down ready to catch the best start he could. What Lunar lacked in speed, he made up for in swiftness and sense of direction. But don't get him wrong, he has blinding speed as well. Lunar seemed to practically flip off the rings, and instantly be in the next direction, which gave his spectators a mind blowing, and extremely fun to watch attitude. One by one, he was pointing in the correct direction after every turn, and blasting through each ring like it was mere colt’s play. (Although technically, it was.) It didn't take Lunar any more time than it took Spitfire or Dash to finish the course. He stuck his landing well, and amazed everypony with his already mastered swiftness. Even Mr. Storm had his mouth open in amazement as he walked over to the others. Shortly after Lunar had finished his performance, Lightning knew what was next: Him. As Lunar made his way back to the group, he had waved to Lightning for him to get ready to go. Apparently, Lightning was the last left to even perform the course, other than the other foal that were simply gazing at their flying. Instantly, reminiscent rushes of excitement, and adrenaline filled his spirit as he got into position, and prepped to amaze at what he loved most: Flying. As he spread his wings out, time seemed to slow. Mr. Storm’s hoof seemed to be in the same spot for a good three seconds. Blood pumping ferociously, and eyes focusing simply on the sky in front of him, an anxious smirk ran across his face. Mr. Storm had then gotten into his reffing point, and quickly waved Lightning the “a-ok,” wave to tell him, “show time!” Mr. Storm had quickly waved his hoof to mark Lightning’s start, and to his surprise, was nearly blown away from the resistance Lightning have the wind in his face. Wind instantly met his mane as he soared high into the first ring. Time still seemed slower, as he flew as hard and fast as he could through the first few rings. A few tight turns had held him back a bit, but he didn't care! It was his time to shine. Memories of all the training and practice he did as a younger colt, like gliding off the bed, began to flash before him. Feeling the air start to bubble around him, it also at the same time began to smoothen out a bit around him. Noises made outside his little pocket of air were completely blocked, while in that very instant, Lightning had hit the long stretch between two rings. This was it. Full speed straight ahead, just as he loves. As he kept increasing in speed, the bubble of air had turned to a vibration. He could hear the air beginning to shake his very being as he was hitting what could very well be the brink of supersonic speed. Just before the vibrations reached a severe turbulent level, he had to slow down to hit the next turn. It was a true shame to say the least, because he had hoped for a longer stretch, but that didn't matter now. It was now or never to close this course out. As he rounded the last few rings, he kicked in his last bit of turbo left, making the cloud rings were shake violently as he ripped through. So violently in fact, he had almost obliterated each one as he rocketed through them, all in one pass. Lightning had then folded his wings, and created as much drag as he could. He knew very well that the speed could seriously injure his being, so he tried doing what Lunar did, and made a few flips off the last ring. Those nights falling from the crib had come back to him, as he flapped hard against the clouds, and stuck all four hooves on the clouds. Sticking his landing perfectly, he began gasping to catch his breath, and looked up at his peers. Their expressions were inexplicable, as if they had each experienced something that made them lose sight of reality. After snapping back to reality, Mr.Storm walked over to Lightning, and stopped right in front of him. Lightning was expecting some sort of congratulation, but instead Mr.Storm had pointed his hoof at Lightning’s rear. An instant chill surged through his body, along with his heart skipping many beats, then racing fast. Lightning turned his head to his flank, and there it was. Still sparkling from freshly being discovered, Lightning’s cutie mark. Navy and white, with an explosive lightning bolt shooting through a white shockwave that appears to be soaring across his flank. The sign of speed just waiting to be unleashed in a blinding fury. This was Lightning Chaser in visual form. Speed waiting to be unleashed. The look on everypony’s face were all the same. Utterly mind blown. Lightning’s friends ran over to hug and congratulate his new found talent, which they had actually known all along. He simply needed that extra push to truly find it. Flying faster than anypony else could ever dream; his true talent, and now reality. Lightning and his friends then began laughing, and cheering at his discovery. “Wow Lightning... it's so cool...” “Dude you are really something else.” The compliments ment nothing to him however. Sure they were nice, but this was his discovery. His own personal goal that has been met. Mr.Storm then began to say, “Well now, this is what we are here for everypony. Experience, and finding that love of flight that makes us all pegasi.” Lightning had completely tuned out the world. He was simply too excited and amazed to be listening to his instructor. Even after his ordeal, Lightning and his friends were still tuned out from everything else, while the other ponies tried doing their best on the course.The next few hours flew by like minutes as the group watched the other fillies fly their way through the rings. Or, what was left of the rings after Lightning’s little “speed test.” There were a few whom had great talent, but none were even remotely close to Lightning and his friend’s talent. And to think, that the group of four are only eight years old. After helping clean the wreckage in the clouds caused by Dash, and the shattered rings of Lightning, all the fillies and colts gathered around Mr.Storm for a quick pep talk. “Alright fellas, today was a great day. We all learned a bit about each other’s abilities.” He then turned to Lightning and said, “and we all learned a little something about experience.” His friends cheered as Mr.Storm turned back to the group and began talking again. “Now tomorrow i expect to see your "A" game out here! I want to see you give 120% on learning new maneuvering tricks, and landing practice. Till then, get some rest. Great job all!” He then turned to his house and flew inside, while the rest of the group had retreated to their homes as well; still murmuring about how “amazing” the first four were. As the group of four walked into their house, they all tackled Lightning again, giving him more congratulations. They all laughed and started a small fire in the fireplace. Lunar grabbed some marshmallows and they began to roast them over the fire. Everyone’s marshmallows turned out perfect while cooking them. Well, all except Spitfire’s. Poor thing blackened the outside of hers to the point of no edibility. Out of the kindness in their hearts, the other three took pieces off and gave them to her. The rest of the night they spent talking and joking about their experience during practice, and more stories that were remembered over time. Eventually, they all managed to retreat to bed, and curl up under the blankets. Once again, nopony slept a wink. Especially Lightning. There was simply no way these foal were getting to sleep. Minutes seemed to tick by like seconds as they kept laughing and chatting about things like what happens when Lunar’s father runs out of tea, or Spitfire’s mother can find the newspaper. Next thing they knew, morning rolled around, and other fillies and colts began to emerge from their houses. Dash had then looked out the window and said, “hey guys, I think we should get out there now.” “Yeah thats probably the best idea.” They all nodded in agreement, and made their way outside. There, they found a giant loop of rings, followed by a tight turning tunnel. This was crazy! Fillies and colts doing loops? “Alright everypony, i know what your thinking. Yes, this is a loop of rings, but I am not expecting you to get this right on the first try. I AM expecting you to be able to complete this loop by today however. I've seen all of your talent, and i know each and every one of you can do this.” Everypony looked at one another nervously. All except, yes. Spitfire. She had that same old look on her face. Ready and willing to put forth full effort to complete the challenge. As she stepped up, she was pushed back by Dash. Obviously, the two were in competition for bravest flier. Or perhaps, Dash was just being protective of her. Whatever the case, she understood that he needed to be the first to go. As she stepped back, Dash gave her a nod of thanks. He spread his wings far, and started flapping as hard as he could. In moments, he was airborne, and building up as much speed as he could. As he lifted up on his wings, he began the beginning ascent of the loop, eventually reaching the top. At the top, he rolled over and began to pull down, as if he barrel rolled at the peak of the loop. Smart because it gives more maneuverability for such a large descent. Flipping over on his belly, he then began to pull back, and started the decline to leveling out. Although, something must have gone wrong because when he began the leveling out phase, he began to lose control. Beginning to shake a bit, he had hit a few rings, and although it must have hurt him a lot, Dash is a strong colt. He quickly corrected his flight error, and quickly returned to normal state. After leveling off, he had banked his body in the direction of the corner in the tunnel. Again, smart. Banking the turn would give better maneuverability in such a tight space. The inside of the tube must have freaked Dash out a bit, because when he came out he was a bit shaky and slower than normal. As he flew through his last few rings, he had come down for a solid landing. And he almost had a solid landing, except for the fact his front two hooves had hit first. That too, must have hurt a lot. Knowing Dash however, he would simply brush it off. And he did. As he rushed over to Mr.Storm, everypony was giving him congratulations and compliments. “Great job Sonic, i liked what you did at the top of the loop. Very clever.” “Thanks Mr.Storm.” You could easily tell Dash had really put forth all effort in doing his best. His breath was heavy with sweat dripping off his face. His condition had scared the other foal, because after that, nopony wanted to go next. Except of course, Spitfire. She had stepped forth, ready to try and surpass her toughest rival, Dash. As she crouched down at the start, spreading her wings, Mr.Storm then raised his hoof up, and little Spitfire was ready. With the wave of his hoof, she was off. Soaring upwards, then pulling down, trying to pick up as much speed as possible. Her speed was incredible. A yellow blur with her orange and yellow trail behind her. All the other fillies looked in awe as she began her ascent up the enormous loop. The yellow blur gradually become more vivid as her speed dropped near the peak. Instead of trying to barrel roll over like what Dash had done, she simply kept on her back, trying to fly the entire loop in one continuous flight path. And it appeared as though she had done it. All the way until the descent. By that time, she had begun to increase in speed again, and start to lose control of her path. By not flipping early enough, she had to increase the pitch of her descent much more then Dash had to. Dangerous, but she probably was trying to show up Dash doing that. As she then rolled over on her belly, she had pulled up, and she went from a yellow pegasus, to an yellow blur once again. Once leveled off, she had pulled her wings out and tried to lose some speed before entering the tunnel. It seemed to work, because she had come out of the tunnel without any real problems or issues. Heck, she even landed beautifully. Solid stick on all fours, getting huge cheers from the “crowd.” At this point, all the other students were literally just a crowd just watching the four of different flying leagues show them up. Spitfire then ran over to Dash and hoof bumped him, while Lightning began to make his way over to the starting point and crouched down to get ready. Blood rushing, and heart pumping, Lightning was ready. He spread his wings out, squinted his eyes in focus, while Mr.Strom began to raise his hoof. A smile came across his face as he focused his eyes harder on the rings traveling up. As Mr.Storm’s hoof waved, Lightning was off. Soaring straight up, then instantly flying downwards gaining as much speed as possible. The air bubble began to form around him as he picked up an excessive amount of speed. Although it is nowhere near his limit, Lightning knew he had to keep a certain pace to keep from losing control. As he began his ascent up, he could hear the faint cheers behind him, but they were soon cancelled out by the sound of the wind in his ears. When nearing the top, he had figured to do a roll or spin, but it would only slow him down. Instead, he flapped harder and picked up more speed on descent. The sound of the wind started changing to vibrations, much like the day before. Before he could push past that phase once more however, he had to decrease his speed for the turn in the tunnel. At the bottom of the loop, he spread his wings out to try to pick up a bit of drag, and began to twist so he could bank the turn inside the tunnel. Although he was flying much faster than the others before him, Lightning’s senses were more advanced in higher speeds. As he flew into the tunnel, it became unbelievably dark. In this instant, he saw why Dash seemed so startled. However, Lightning also had great perceptive skills. As he began to pull back and turn in the tunnel, he saw a blinding light, and flew straight through it. And just like that, he hit the last few rings of the course, and had to find a way to slow down, and quickly. He then proceeded to pull back completely sticking his hooves out as the drag helped slow the landing speed. As he felt the force of the cloud hitting him, he knew he stuck the landing solidly. All the other foal then clapped and cheered as he walked over to his friends to hoof bump. At the same time however, Lunar, the underdog walked over to the starting point, ready to take a crack at it. This Lunar however, was not the same Lunar they knew minutes before. He seemed, confident... in control... Perhaps it was his love for enormous loops? If there is a love for loops that is. As Lunar spread his wings, Mr.Storm then raised his hoof up, and Lunar had crouched down ready to ready for his take off, the “crowd” fell silent. This was Lunar’s moment now. Mr.Storm then lowered his hoof, and lunar was off. Although, he wasn't flying as fast as he could, that much is certain. Instead, at the base of the loop he began to spiral through the loops. Lunar quickly turned to a black blur, as he continued through the loop. Astounding. His sense of direction was beyond that of a master. To be spiraling through a loop that most other ponies couldn't even complete... it was extraordinary. The wind was blowing his mane around like crazy as he seemed to pull back and begin his descent downward. The very idea of him pulling downward was out of the question. To be moving in one direction, while still spinning is just unreal. As he reached the bottom of the loop, he began to slow his spiraling and then began to stick to one position, which was the banking position of the turn. As he entered the tunnel however, Spitfire had caught him starting to spiral once more, and as soon as he came out of the tunnel, the dang colt was spiraling STILL coming out of the tunnel. Unreal. That is the only word remotely capable of describing how the situation felt. As he began to level out, and begin flying through the last rings, he had spread his wings out far, caught drag, and stuck a perfect landing right where the other three had. Indents were left, and deepened by the others. Lunar had just made it that much worse. As he came to a landing, his eyes were perfectly aligned, as if he felt no effect of the intense spiraling. Not even a full grown Wonderbolt could even come close to performing what Lunar just did. The others rushed over to him, and began asking questions out of sheer amazement. “Lunar... how in the hay did you just do that?” “Are... are you a wizard?” Lunar had laughed in triumph as he had successfully shown all his friends up simply by doing what he does best. Amaze. Mr.Storm had walked over to him and looked him straight in the eye, saying, “Son... I haven't even the slightest idea how you managed to pull that off, but if you keep up aerials like that, I guarantee you will be the leader of a flight team like the Wonderbolts in the first week of joining." Lunar gave a cocky grin and laughed in victory. “Lets see them even come close to do what i just did.” The other fillies were stuck in their expressions. They were all thinking the same exact thoughts. How? Lunar had walked over to his friends and and gave them each a hoof bump. Although, even his friends were too stunned to give a proper bump. Lunar knew he had done it. Blown his friends out of the water completely. With the first four performances over, the four friends were simply too excited to focus on the others' performances. As the hours began to tick by like minutes, the four watched the other ponies try their best at copying Lunar. Each one crashed horribly. It was simply too difficult to come anywhere close to copying. Although a lot of other fillies and colts did perform pretty well on the basic loop. Mr.Storm was impressed by the potential of his B listers. (Burn!) A lot of them had flown exceptionally well for their age. The others, well the others didn't fend too well. Others lost control at the top and fell down into the clouds, or crashed into a ring on their descents. But this is expected, because this is after all a training camp. Mr.Storm had quite a few minor injuries to deal with that day, but all in all it was a great day. Especially for Lunar. When everypony had finished trying the loop, they all gathered around Mr.Storm for what to do next. “Alright everypony, today was a great day for most of us. Others, well like i said before experience comes from failure." A few ponies had laughed after he said that. Others simply tried to blend in the background. ` “Lets all get some rest, and we can rejoin out here tomorrow morning before you all depart.” A couple of the ponies had a sad look after realizing that their camp was almost over, but after seeing the events that occurred over the past two days, who could complain? As the group of four reached their house, at the same moment they all realized just how tired they were from staying up the past two nights. “Why don't we just sleep tonight and talk tomorrow?” Yawned Spitfire. “Sure just what... I was thinking.” Even Dash’s voice began to trail off as they each climbed into bed ready to fall asleep. Funny because this was the first night the beds were even used! Laying in bed, Lightning felt calm. Calm because he knew that he had learned everything he could from this camp. Meaning, he had nothing left to learn here, and all that’s left is simply to continue flying for one thing; experience. His eyes grew heavy as he began to drift off in bed. In sleep, he had dreams of the crib, and gliding off the side. Seeing his parents there with him when he wanted to try flying, or simply get somewhere he wanted to go. . . . A few hours ticked by as the peaceful friends all slept like rocks. However, they were all woken up by many fillies and colts outside laughing and screaming. “Could somepony turn out the lights?” The group laughed rather hoarsely at Lunar’s comment, as they all got up, ready to start the new day. Once they all got ready, they all went outside to see what everypony was laughing about. Outside, they saw many different ponies flying around freely, as parents began to arrive. Pick up day. Lightning turned to the group and said, “looks like today is just our last day here.” Obviously. Lunar walked in front of Lightning, and spread his wings to take off flying. Lunar had the right idea; last day so make it count. Out in the training area, there was plenty of open room for free flying, and racing. Lightning was quick to join in, as he spread his wings out and began to soar through the sky right along side his best friend. Flying as high as he could, Lightning flew above Lunar, and began to dive down at him. Sort of a dangerous, stupid stunt only Lightning would try to pull off. By the magic of his dumb luck, an accident was avoided, but Lightning did crash into the clouds. What a genius. Joining Lunar was Spitfire, and Dash. They all laughed at Lightning, whom at this point was starting to get fairly embarrassed. “Oh shut up!” They continued laughing as Lightning flew back up to join his friends. “Let's see you try it!” Lunar was quick to jump at the opportunity. “You're on!” Lunar then proceeded to fly high, and start to dive straight down towards the clouds. Nearing the bottom, he began to spin in many spirals, and pull up just before hitting the clouds. Lunar had pulled up, and made a shark pylon turn to make his way back to the group. He quickly came back to join his friends, while also flying closer to Lightning, and tousled his mane. “Piece of cake. You just stink at flying!” Lightning wasn't very thrilled, but he knew he would get his vengeance. As the three finished their group laugh, Midnight flew up to the group. “Wassup everypony?” “I just scorched Lightning here.” His grin was cocky. “Ahaha that so? I knew you were the better flyer!” Midnight then gave a loud laugh and started to fly off. “Alright i’m going now. Bye.” Lunar then flew off to join his dad, still confident from burning his friend. Spitfire had then added, “Sorry Lightning, but you had that coming” “Yeah well, next time he’ll be sorry.” Dash then threw his hooves around Lightning and gave him a friendly hug, and shortly Spitfire had joined in. ”Just don't hurt yourself bud!” “Can do.” Dash then flipped around and flew off in his own direction. Shortly after, Spitfire had flown off in her own direction as well. With a bit of time to himself, Lightning tried to pull off the same stunt again. He flew up to gain a bit more attitude, then began to dive downwards. He knew however, if he didn't control his speed the stunt wouldn't turn out too pretty, so he controlled his speed, and just before the clouds pulled up and came to a solid landing on all fours. He gave a small exhale and then walked over to Mr.Storm. He then reached his hoof out to shake his instructor's. “Thanks for everything Mr.Storm, i’ll practice hard every day!” “No problem bud, just keep working on that speed, you have some serious potential there!” Lightning turned around and flew over towards where his dad had checked him in a few days earlier. He had a knack for landings, and speed. Everypony knew that. How could he work on swiftness though? Lunar made it look so easy to everpony... That just meant more practice. More practice, more experience. Lightning flew up to join his friends and try practicing a few maneuvering tricks, until his parents flew up. “Lightning, Is that a cutie mark!?” Lightning looked at it for a second and nodded. “Yeah I got it yesterday!” His parents gave him a hug, and looked him in the eyes. “Son, we're very proud of you! Let's go celebrate!” Lighting’s eyes grew big in excitement. “Awesome! Where!” “Wherever you want sport.” He then flew right alongside his parents, as they all flew off in pride of their son’s new found talent. He may not be the most swift one around, but he could burn anypony in those straight-away races. And to him, that's all he wants.