//------------------------------//
// The Importance of a Wingpony 
// Story: The Importance of a Wingpony 
// by Metool Bard 
//------------------------------//


The Importance of a Wingpony


"Alright, ponies!  Listen up!"

By this time, the students of the Wonderbolt Academy had gotten used to Spitfire's early morning lectures.  Still as statues, the seven pegasi stood at attention as the Wonderbolt captain marched up and down the line.

"This'll be your last day for this particular session at the Wonderbolt Academy," said she. "But don't think that surviving this week makes you all automatic Wonderbolts!  When you leave here, you leave here with the knowledge that you may be one step closer to reaching your full potential.  Nothing more, nothing less."

When there was no response, Spitfire paused to adjust her heavily-tinted shades and continued. "I expect each and every one of you to take what you learned from this session and apply it to yourselves every day.  If you come back next session and find yourself having to relearn everything, don't think I won't notice!  Do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes, ma'am!" came a chorus of voices.

"I sure hope so," said Spitfire. "Oh, one last thing.  Rainbow Dash?"

"Yes, ma'am?" asked the light blue pegasus.

"Before you leave, I want to see you in my office.  Privately."

Rainbow Dash tried to maintain her cool, and failed miserably. "Y-yes, ma'am," she said with a hasty salute.

Spitfire smirked, adjusting her shades to hide the amusement in her eyes. "Now, all of you, get to cloud busting!  I want a clear blue sky before any of you even think about going home!"

"Yes, ma'am!" said the seven pegasi.  And with that, they all took to the skies.


***


"You wanted to see me, ma'am?"

Spitfire looked up from her paperwork to see a nervous-looking Rainbow Dash peeking through the door.  She smiled.

"Ah, Rainbow Dash.  Come in, come in," she said. "All done with cloud busting?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Rainbow with a salute. "And no tornados this time."

"Good to hear," said Spitfire, putting away her sunglasses. "So, you're probably wondering why I called you in here."

Rainbow was unsure how to react, so she simply stood at attention and waited for Spitfire to elaborate.  When the veteran flyer saw the nervous sweat drip down the cyan pony's face, she had to stifle a chuckle.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble or anything," she said, causing Rainbow Dash to breath a sigh of relief. "No, I just wanted your opinion on something."

"My opinion, ma'am?"

"Yes," said Spitfire. "I want to know, what do you think it means to be a wingpony?"

Rainbow Dash gave the Wonderbolt captain an odd look. "Huh?  I mean, I don't understand the question, ma'am."

"Just give me an honest answer, Rainbow Dash," said Spitfire, pressing her hooves together. "What do you think it means to be a wingpony?"

Still confused, Rainbow simply shrugged. "Ma'am, a wingpony's job is to make the leader look good, and help them any way they can, ma'am."

Spitfire nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm.  Fair enough.  Care to add to that?"

"What else is there to say, ma'am?" asked Rainbow Dash, even more confused than before.  It seemed to be contagious, because Spitfire gave the energetic pegasus a quizzical look of her own.

"Well, you didn't really answer my question," she said. "You told me what a wingpony's job is, but you didn't tell me what you think it means."

Rainbow thought and thought, wondering what Spitfire was talking about.  It took a while, but she thought she had an answer.

"Ma'am, it means that you're part of a team," she said. "And as part of that team, you have to do your best to keep pace with your leader, and never let them down."

Spitfire's eyes went wide. "Impressive.  Not the answer I expected from you at all."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I understand, ma'am."

Spitfire got up from her seat and began staring out the window. "Remember when I first posted the team pairings?  You barged into my office and complained, claiming that you should be a lead pony."

"Well, yeah," said Rainbow. "Because I set the academy record on the Dizzitron and proved my awesomeness.  What's your point, ma'am?"

Spitfire sighed, continuing to stare out the window. "Rainbow Dash, you're a great leader.  I think we can both agree on that.  But even so, I'm not sure that you know what it means to be a wingpony."

"I flew as one for three days.  What's not to understand, ma'am?" said Rainbow. "A wingpony serves as a way to push the leader in the right direction, but the leader has to listen."

Spitfire turned to face Rainbow Dash, confusion in her eyes. "Refresh my memory, why did you want to be a leader again?  The reason I made you a leader is because you know how to push yourself and others in the right direction."

"It's more than that, ma'am," said Rainbow Dash. "A leader doesn't have anything to prove.  A wingpony does.  I thought that by making Lightning Dust the leader, you were sending the message that her recklessness was what got rewarded.  That's why I almost quit."

"I don't need reminders of that, Rainbow Dash," said Spitfire, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her hoof. "That was a mistake.  A mistake I hope not to repeat."

"Sorry, ma'am," said Rainbow. "The point is, I know how to be a wingpony.  I know how to show humility when others outshine me.  But by the same token, I know when I'm awesome.  I know that I showed you my best, and that no other pony came close.  That's why I wanted to be leader, not because I thought there was any shame in being a wingpony."

Spitfire smiled. "Heh.  Wow.  I, honestly didn't know all that.  I was going to say that we should've had this talk before, but after hearing your thoughts, I don't think it would've changed anything.  You've got a lot of potential, Rainbow Dash.  In mind, body, and spirit."

"Th-thank you, ma'am," said Rainbow Dash, blushing a little. "I suppose I'll see you next session."

"I look forward to it," said Spitfire with a salute.  Rainbow Dash responded in kind, and headed for the door.

"Oh, one more thing," said Spitfire.

"Yes, ma'am?" asked Rainbow.

"I heard about this interesting tradition in Ponyville," said Spitfire. "Something about writing letters to the Princess?"

"Oh that?  Yeah, we write letters to Princess Celestia whenever we learn something about friendship," said Rainbow Dash. "It's a long story."

"Ah, I see," said Spitfire. "That's all I wanted to know.  You're dismissed."

"Thank you, ma'am," said Rainbow Dash with another salute.  As she left Spitfire's office, the Wonderbolt captain took out a piece of parchment and a quill.


Dear Princess Celestia:

I am writing to you because I felt that I learned something over this past week about friendship and camaraderie.  I learned that communication is not always easy.  Sometimes, it's easy for others to misinterpret what you say, and that could lead to disaster.  What's worse, there are times when you don't realize it yourself.  Clear communication is key to any relationship, whether it be with peers, colleagues, and yes, even with friends.  Especially with friends.

As an addendum, I just wish to say that everypony can make mistakes, even me.  That's not something I learned just now, but sometimes, it can be easy to forget.  I almost lost a good flyer this week because of that, but luckily, I was able to correct my mistake.  Admitting that you're wrong is not a sign of weakness, but of strength.  Another little tidbit I kinda already knew, but I thought it applied here.

Signing off for now,
Spitfire