Friendship is Survival

by rlogic1994


Ch 2: The Team and The Test

Friendship is Survival
By Mmadhu94
Chapter 2: The Team and The Test
(Visit the tumblr for Frigid: ask-frigiddrift.tumblr.com!)

As the 3 groups of ponies stared at the 3 mares in front of them, the 3 ponies separated to each of the groups that were of their own race. Then Twilight Sparkle spoke, although the younger ponies were still dumbstruck.

“So you are all probably wondering why you’re here. And the answer to that question is that each of you has a special talent that is not common and can be very useful in many situations. After the 1st war, it was decided that a team would be put together, a team that would be trained to be adept in both fighting and intelligence, a team that could fight the battles that normal ponies couldn’t. I was handed the task of picking out recruits, and because of my limited understanding of the potential of races other than my own, I asked Applejack and Rainbow Dash to help me by choosing earth pony and Pegasus recruits. You are the result of our search for the right ponies. Each of you has a talent that can be utilized in a very powerful way, although it will take time to hone your skill. Now you may also be wondering why we chose ponies who were so young and the reason is that we needed new recruits so that we could shape them without previous training conflicting with our own strategies and methods. For this reason you have been chosen to be agents of this operation. But you do have a choice, and if you comply, you will be enlisted in the Alpha Team of Operation Blackwing.”

This explanation that had calmly and quickly left the violet unicorn’s mouth fell heavily upon the recruits in front of them. Some looked confused, some looked like they were deep in thought, and some looked as though they had blanked out, with no visible differences on their faces from before Twilight had started talking. Then slowly they started looking at each other, the 3 officers in front of them talking in hushed tones next to the drape door near the back of the tent. Frigid was one of the ponies deep in thought. “Is this my chance to come out of my shell? Was this my chance to earn the respect of her family and earn the right to be a part of the legacy of her family? This is my chance and I can’t turn back now. I’m tired of running away. And plus if Rainbow Dash is part of this then I will be too!” she thought. She looked around to the other ponies who were still lost in thought and stood up as tall as she could. She got slightly surprised looks from the 3 war ponies in the back and marched up to them as confidently as possible. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, and looked up at all three of them.

“I’m in.” She said, with as much determination as she could muster, saying no more or less than what she wanted to.

“Well looks like it’s the pegasi who’re gonna be the ones to line up first! Just like I said.” Replied Rainbow Dash with her usual somewhat arrogant tone, a comment to which the other ponies reacted by standing up and mirroring Frigid’s words of agreement.

Soon all the recruits had agreed and the 3 war ponies had slight smiles on their faces, obviously
pleased by the speed and manner at which the recruits had accepted their fate. The 3 looked at each other and Applejack told each group to follow the pony of their race. As the Earth Ponies and Unicorns were led out of the tent, Rainbow Dash lingered for a bit longer, lazily plopping herself onto a chair nearby. She looked at the remaining pegasi and pointed down, symbolizing a command for them to sit. They obliged and found a spot on the ground to sit down. Then Rainbow closed her eyes and spoke.

“I have one more command for all of you…and that is: impress me.” She said, with her eyes still closed.

“W-what?” replied Aurora, clearly puzzled by the cyan pegasus’s demand.

“You will have 1 hour to prepare a show of skill to me and prove you deserve to belong on it. I mean did you honestly believe you were just going to be let into one of the most elite teams in the entire Equestrian Armed Forces with nothing more than a special talent? No. You will have to earn the right to learn from me and become an Alpha Team member.”

At the words ‘learn from me’ both Scootaloo and Frigid opened their eyes wider. A chance to learn from the best flier in all of Equestria? That was a chance that Frigid would work her flank off for. The Pegasus waved her hand, shooing us out of the tent, where the deep blue Pegasus from before was waiting. He led the 3 recruits to a small cloud with a few scattered tents and a couple benches, a quiet spot to gather their thoughts in order to come up with a plan to impress Rainbow Dash.

Almost immediately all 3 pegasi split up and sat down as far away from each other as possible so that they could concentrate in complete peace. Or at least without the other two’s presence to disturb each pony’s train of thought. Frigid sat down and retreated into her own mind, trying her best to shut out the outside world. She had to think hard and come up with a plan so that she could learn from one of the best flyers in all of Equestria.

Impress her? What could I possibly do to impress her. I’m not the best at either agility or speed. I would have to play to my strengths! Which are…stamina? Yeah! I could always endure longer than all the other flyers in Flight School when there was Winter practice. And it was practically winter year round this far into the Windigo Mountains. But how can I use stamina to wow Rainbow Dash…”pondered Frigid silently, her train of thought steady and unbroken.

As Frigid racked her brains for ideas, time was ticking by. And before any of the 3 recruits new it, the deep blue Pegasus snuck up on them, landing gently on the center of the cloud and announced that the 1 hour to prepare was over. The 3 young mares stood up and followed the blue Pegasus off the cloud. They turned right when they got to the cloud with the stormy blue tents on it, parting the dense fog that had rolled off of the misty cloud. Although all the pegasi tried to maintain a sense of confidence, Frigid was feeling the exact opposite. “What am I going to do!? All I can think of is a few tricks and flying in the cold. That can’t impress Rainbow Dash! I need a better plan,” she thought. Passing many of the clouds to the right of the blue tents, Frigid could tell that they were heading for a small hole in the wall of a cave with a balcony. As they neared the platform, Frigid recognized that it was nothing more than a couple planks of wood held together by a few rusty brackets. She nervously landed as lightly as possible, making sure that she didn’t rock the platform at all. But she noticed that the blue Pegasus had landed without caring about the platform’s seemingly doubtful structural integrity and caused no change in the platform’s position. “It must be more unicorn magic,” she thought. As they entered the hole in the wall, Frigid could hear a shrieking whistle coming from farther up the cave. She soon realized that it must open up to the outside of the mountain where they were going. They went on for some time through the winding cave, the grey stone becoming lighter and lighter as they reached a lighted area of the cave.

They entered into the area with some apprehension, for it was bathed in an eerie turquoise light that gave the entire place a creepy feeling to it. When all 3 of the pegasi had reached the cave, the blue Pegasus left them with a guard and went forward through the opening at the other end of the large cave. The cave itself had little more than a few shattered stones and weapons that looked centuries old. But these strange artifacts weren’t drawing any attention from Frigid, who was mystified by the light source at the side of the cave, a mounted crystal that shimmered brightly out with turquoise light. Noticing her trance-like state in seeing the crystal, the guard trotted over to her and offered an explanation.

“That’s a Lumos Crystallos. From what I know they are naturally light emitting and with some magic can emit brighter light of all colors. Apparently they are a pain to get because they can only be found in very high altitudes, like in the caves above this one that are scattered across the mountain,” said the guard.

“Oh…yeah,” replied Frigid, not paying much attention to the guard, already lost in thought rethinking her strategy to impress Rainbow Dash.

The blue Pegasus kept them waiting for about half an hour, enough time for all 3 of the young mares to work up enough courage and confidence to make the best attempt possible in their performance. The older Pegasus led them through the opening on the other side and through a series of side tunnels that were now a light gray from the light flooding each passage from the exit visible at the end. When they finally approached their exit, a wall of white light almost blinded them.

They entered into an even larger cave with an opening to the outside about a hundred feet away. Closer to the edge of the cave were a few wooden posts and loops, set up for the pegasi’s display of skill. On the far wall, the Earth Ponies and Unicorns were congregated in a small gathering, talking amongst themselves and not acknowledging the newcomers. But what really grabbed the newcomers’ attention was a table set up in the center of a cave, with 3 stools and 3 mares on each of those stools. Each of the pegasus’s faces went pale, as the fact dawned on them that all 3 of the warmares and not just Rainbow Dash were going to be judges of their skill. The 3 turned towards the newcomers and Twilight Sparkle gestured for them to come over to the table. Their approach was a slow one, each of the ponies neither wanting to see nor be judged by the 2 other experienced war ponies. When they finally reached the table Rainbow Dash looked at each of them and started speaking in her usual tone.

“So I hope you’ve got something cool planned, ‘Cuz I want to be impressed. Twilight and Applejack are also here to judge your skill, just like me and Applejack helped judge the unicorns. Now there are no scores or grades for this, only a yes or a no. We set up a few obstacles for you to demonstrate your skill with, so one of you go out there and show us if you have what it takes!” She said, putting an especially vigorous emphasis on her last statement.

“Aurora Skies?” called Twilight Sparkle from the list she had in front of her.
The sunset yellow Pegasus stepped forward, preparing herself for her demonstration by stretching her wings and legs.

“GO!” Shouted Rainbow Dash, watching as the Pegasus took off.

Aurora was obviously trying to play to her strength of agility, which was not reflected by her cutie mark. But nonetheless she was skilled at flying between each agility obstacle, easily passing through the loops, some being barely bigger than her body, and gracefully passed through the posts without even moving one. She tucked her wings in and shot past the swinging sand bags, but she wasn’t the fastest Pegasus; one of the sand bags almost hit her. She landed on the wall with her legs and pushed off, proceeding to drop her altitude so that she was only a few inches off the ground. She then proceeded to flying underneath the stages holding up the loops and posts, avoiding all the supports and netting under the wooden platforms with ease. She then arched her back and did some tricks, loops and corkscrews, while avoiding the rocky spikes at the top of the cave. Then when she reached the wall she pushed off again, but lighter this time, and gracefully landed in front of the judges, receiving cheers and applause from the crowd of new recruits near the far wall. Her graceful movement in such close quarters was breathtaking to Frigid, who could only watch in awe of the yellow Pegasus. The 3 war mares looked at each other and nodded, as if they already knew each other’s opinion.

“Well done. It’s pretty obvious that you aren’t the fastest Pegasus. But what you lack in speed, you definitely make up for in agility. I must admit you get major wow factor points with that smooth stuff you pulled underneath the obstacle platforms. I guess you have what it takes. You’re in,” announced Rainbow Dash.

A squeal of glee left the yellow mare’s mouth, which she quickly covered, surprised by the high pitched tone that she had accidently let out. She was a little red in the face as she flew over to the group of new recruits, met by congratulatory pats on the back and high hoofs. Next up was Scootaloo, who emitted her natural aura of confidence now more than ever.
“Go!” yelled the cyan Pegasus.

Scootaloo transformed into an orange flash as she took off like a bullet. She had veered to the left and came around, tackling the posts first. She weaved in and out of them, maintaining her lighting fast speed, and nudging a few. Her speed was not unexpected, but still a sight to behold. She sped up to the far wall and then took a u-turn, trying to gain as much speed as possible. A small cone of white was forming around her as she reached the other wall and changed her direction to the opening of the cave. She skimmed the outside of the cave, maintaining her speed and not accelerating while also avoiding the harsh and tearing wind on the outside. She then landed on the edge of the cave opening and launched toward the hoops with another burst of high speed. She corkscrewed and twisted through each one, only leaving a couple shaking with her speed when she touched the sides of them. She then proceeded to go straight up and then started flying in between the bigger spikes that were farther apart, avoiding them without touching one. She gained more speed and then started her spiraling descent to the ground. Just as she was about to land on the ground a small vortex of dust formed in the center of her spiral and she landed in the middle of it, blowing away the papers on the table. She looked up at her judges, panting.

“Well, I gotta say you did pretty well kid! You weren’t as agile as Aurora over there, but you were pretty damn fast. I mean to be able to make a funnel like mine takes some pretty high speeds, even if yours wasn’t as large. But remember that you can’t be tired after a mission like you are now; you might have to fend for your life at any moment. But you still did pretty sweet. You’re in,” The cyan Pegasus said with a slight smile on her face, recognizing that to learn from her had been a dream of Scootaloo’s since the orange Pegasus was a just a filly.

Scootaloo jumped up in the air yelling ‘YES!’ loudly, drawing a wild cheer from the crowd. She looked at Rainbow Dash with the most grateful face she could muster, which was a struggle considering her exhaustion and her Rainbow-Dash-like arrogant attitude. She walked past Frigid who was stricken with anxiety. Her name was called next and she walked forward, taking a deep breath. “Here we go Frigid. This is your only chance. No turning back now. You gotta do this right!”she thought to herself with closed eyes.

“Go!” shouted Rainbow Dash

Everything started to go in slow motion as Frigid took off with as much strength as she could muster. She tried gaining speed before heading to the obstacles. She swerved to the right sharply and went through the posts, only nudging a few, but without the speed that Scootaloo had maintained. She then proceeded to the hoops, gaining speed all the while. She corkscrewed through all of them without touching one and knew she needed to go faster. “If this is going to work I’m going to need a lot of speed,” she thought to herself as she changed her direction to the ceiling like the 2 pegasus who preceded her. When she reached the top, she made a silent prayer for her safety, and let gravity turn her around, setting herself into a dive. She fell fast, reaching a blinding speed that even she couldn’t believe. At the last minute, before she hit the ground, she opened her wings and steered herself, maintaining the high speed from the fall, towards the opening of the cave. “This is it…”she thought, as she tucked in her wings and shot straight out of the cave into the whirling storm of snow outside the cave.

“Did she just…fly outta tha…?” asked Applejack with concern.

“Yeah she did. I really hope she knows what she’s doing, ‘cuz I’ve seen blizzards like this kill pegasi before. We can only hope she’ll survive,” replied Rainbow Dash, with a hint of distress in her voice over the stunt the white pegasus had just pulled.

She had expected the wind to be bad outside, but with her speed, it clawed at her sides like some icy monster. She could barely see because of the flurry of snow being thrown around in the air, a torrent of ice and wind. But although the winds were unbelievably harsh, it seemed like she could feel their movements and predict what they would do. With this 6th sense, she used the winds to give her speed, which gave her the momentum to pull off some loops and spirals, leaving trails in the falling snow. She spiraled down towards the empty white sheet below her and then when she was only feet above the snowy landscape, let her wings catch the force of an updraft and send her sailing towards the clouds. As she shifted from one updraft to the other, the grey wall of clouds above her grew to an unnerving size, their magnitude being more massive than any cloud she had ever seen. But she couldn’t be afraid now that she had come so far. She closed her eyes in another silent prayer and took a particularly swift updraft and sailed further up and into the mass of clouds, no longer visible by the judges and the crowd, who had migrated to the edge of the cave to watch her performance.

“This isn’t good. I don’t think she can survive the conditions up there,” said Twilight Sparkle, with a nervous look on her face.

“Don’t worry, I think she’s stronger than she looks,” replied Rainbow Dash, looking off into the clouds at where Frigid had been only moments ago.

The first thing Frigid noticed as she passed through the clouds was the intensifying chill of the freezing temperatures. As she progressed through the grey puff, she couldn’t see anything a foot in front of her. The sheer amount of time she was taking to fly through this layer of stony vapor, even with the help of the wind, scared Frigid. She had been going through it for over 5 minutes now and still it seemed as if there was no end in sight. She was considering turning around when she started to feel the updraft weaken, a sign that she was near the top of the cloud layer. She started beating her wings harder and harder as the wind began to fail to keep her at a high speed. Then she felt the wind turn into nothing but a puffing zephyr and took control of her speed, bursting through the top of the cloud layer into the clear skies above it.

The piercing chill above the clouds was almost unbearable, even for Frigid who had always loved the cold. She swooped around in the breeze, searching for something and caught sight of what she was looking for in the form of a small dark cleft in the rocky snowy wall of the mountain in front of her. She dived toward the cave, tucking her wings in again to gain speed, and getting nearer and neared to the small opening. As she flew into the cave, her wings opened, slowing her down drastically and allowing her to land on the cave floor. She looked up and a tired smile came to her face. She had found what she was going to impress Rainbow Dash with; above her was a single transparent and slightly glimmering crystal jutting out of the ceiling.

Frigid flew up and took the thing in her mouth and pulled as hard as possible, hearing a crack as the crystal came free of the stone, leaving a few aged cracks across the cave ceiling where the crystal had been. She then walked to the back of the cave and positioned herself for a quick take off, stretching her wings a little before pushing off from the wall with all the force left in her legs. She sped out of the cave and back into the blistering cold and turned downward, trying to read the snow clouds for a place where there could be a possible downdraft. When she saw an indention in the clouds suggesting such a possibility, she sped towards it, feeling the suction of the wind current picking up. When she reached the indention she fell into a dive and barreled through the cloud layer, the biting wind ripping past her. She closed her eyes and kept falling, feeling the wind and the environment for the right time to come out of the dive. She kept falling, with the crystal in her mouth, and happiness in her mind from the fact that she had come farther out of her shell than ever before by doing this. And she liked it.

Below her, in the training cave, the crowd of ponies was starting to get nervous, including Rainbow Dash, who silently thought to herself. Her face echoed her worried thoughts: “Had she been wrong? I mean I really thought that the white Pegasus had something more in her than speed and agility. But maybe she didn’t have what it takes…” It had been over 20 minutes since Frigid’s disappearance, and some of the other ponies were suggesting that they should get someone to check on her, in case she was hurt or worse…taken by the snow and cold. Just as Rainbow Dash was getting ready to take off into the blizzard, one of the unicorns pointed at something in the sky and started shouting. Rainbow Dash looked up, and saw a small white and blue speck falling from the clouds, going so fast that it brought some of the cloud down with it. Rainbow thought for a moment that Frigid was hurt, but then saw that she was slowly changing her trajectory towards the cave. Frigid shot towards the opening until about twenty feet before reaching it, when she opened her wings, showering the spectators with the ice that had accumulated on her wings, and landed softly in front of the crowd. Panting, she looked up to her judges, who more than anything looked surprised, the feeling even more emphasized on their faces when she dropped the crystal before them.

“Whoa,” said Scootaloo, mirroring everyone’s thoughts at her arrival.

“You’re in,” said Rainbow Dash, saying nothing more about her performance.

The blue Pegasus herded the crowd of new recruits out of the cave, as the 3 judges talked.

“Rainbow…” said Twilight, her voice full of uncertainty.

“I know Twilight,” the rainbow mare replied with her eyes on the ground.

“You realize that only 4 other pegasi other than yourself have ever done what that white mare just did and she is the youngest. To be able to take those conditions and be able to find a Lumos Crystallos? She is something else, even if she wasn’t as fast or agile as Scootaloo or Aurora.”

“I know…” said Rainbow Dash, thinking deeply about the white Pegasus. “Who the hell are you Frigid Drift? Who the hell are you?” she thought to herself.