//------------------------------// // Day 1: The Rookie Test // Story: Wonderbolt Academy // by canonkiller //------------------------------// Hey, Rainbow Dash! I was waiting and waiting and waiting for you to send me a letter, and then Twilight came up with the great idea to send you one first! So hi! I've missed you lots and lots, and even after all the Alicorn-Cutie-Mark stuff, Rarity still can't make good weather! Twilight had to tell her that clouds weren't supposed to be swirly! How silly is that! Well, I'll be waiting to hear from you, but I'll be chasing down Derpy if you don't get back to me fast enough! Not like it's hard, she's pretty easily distracted by Sugarcube Corner's morning muffins! Sincerelerely, Pinkie Pie ----- "For Celestia's sake, you dumb galoots, it's training time!" Rainbow winced as Crescent kicked a cloud towards the milling Wonderbolts. Brolly met it mid-flight, kicking it to nothing. "Sir, you have to take deep breaths and control your anger! Breathe in, breathe-" "I am calm!" Crescent yelled back. "Now get out of the way!" Rainbow pulled Brolly out of the way as another cloud missile shot past, hitting Silver Lining's gray head. "Oy!" "Could you move a little to the left, Silver? My throw's a little off today! I was aiming for the blockheaded blue one!" Crescent kicked another cloud, this one hitting it's target squarely in the rump. "I'm coming, I'm coming." Soarin sighed, flying over. "What's the drill for today?" "Nothing too difficult." Crescent brightened. "Take off here, get up to 50 flaps per minute on that little circuit there, and then you go up through those hoops, back down, barrel roll around that thundercloud, go around the guardpost, take your own flag from that flagpole, loop up to hook your flag on that spear - don't worry, you can tear the fabric - and then fly back here where Rainbow will give you your total time and Brolly will tell you your flight quality. Got it?" Soarin nodded, the shake of his head sliding his goggles into place. "Any time?" "Any time." Crescent nodded. Rainbow barely had time to turn on her timer before Soarin launched off of the cloud, taking off in a beeline towards the small ring of track she'd created. It seemed to take him no time before he got up to speed, arcing up to dart through the cloud tunnel. He spun perfectly at the top, spiraling for show on the way back down, and whipped past the other Wonderbolts. He lined up the thundercloud, clipped a wingtip on one side of it, and fell out of pattern to recover. "Stop the timer." Crescent growled to Dash. "Soarin, you lout! I told you last time, keep your wings tucked! Does nothing get through that thick skull of yours?" As Crescent flew off to confront Soarin, Rainbow watched one of the other Wonderbolts take his place at the start. Brolly landed beside her, smiling. "Fire Streak, do you remember the track from Crescent's explaination?" "Yup!" The Wonderbolt grinned, flaring his wings. He took off like a shot, trailing flames through the sky. Brolly cast a nervous glance over at Crescent, who seemed to be demonstrating exactly how to render a pony useless, courtesy of Soarin. "I don't know why they haven't fired him yet." Brolly sighed, watching as Soarin collapsed under a short wing tweak from his trainer. "He puts them through more abuse than the worst courses do." Rainbow called out Fire Streak's time as he fluttered in for a landing, a thin strip of the flag still in his teeth. "He keeps them in line." After a few more Wonderbolts Rainbow didn't have time to identify, Soarin was up again. Sure enough, he tucked his wings in, but his grin when he purposefully hovered to delicately lay his flag over the others earned him a particularly loud chase around the rest of the course. ----- Rainbow set down her sheet on the cafeteria tables and pulled out on of her feathers. Dipping the makeshift quill into the small inkwell Twilight had lent her, she got ready to write. "Dear Pinkie..." "You don't have to write with your own feathers, you know!" "Huh?" Rainbow dropped her quill, leaving a fat smudge across her words. Only pausing to frown at it for a moment, she looked around the room for the other ponies. Save for Soarin lying on a distant table, reading what appeared to be a picture book of pies, the room was empty. "Up here, silly!" Rainbow jerked her head up, seeing a pale blue mare with a stark white mane looking back at her. "Huh?" "I'm Fleetfoot!" She smiled, opening her wings and gliding down to join Rainbow at the other side of the table. "Hah, look at us, our manes are like opposites!" "Hi, Fleetfoot. I'm Rainbow Dash. Uh... why were you on the ceiling?" The other mare sat down and shuffled Rainbow's papers so her ruined one was on the bottom. "I was sleeping. Well, I've been awake for a while, but I was fine with just lying around, y'know?" "Why were you on the ceiling?" Rainbow repeated. "I told you, I was sleeping!" Fleetfoot leaned over the table, tapping Rainbow's head. "Equestria to Rainbow Dash, come in Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow swatted her hoof away. "On the ceiling?" "Yeah." Fleetfoot's smile dropped, and she tilted her head curiously. "It's what my kind do." "Your kind?" Rainbow had the distinct feeling she was talking in circles. "Batponies!" Fleetfoot grinned, spreading her very-much-feathered wings. "You don't look like a batpony." Rainbow pointed out. "I'm a batpony," Fleetfoot continued with a mutter, "on the inside." She leaned over the table again, baring her teeth in front of Rainbow's nose. "See my fangs?" "Yes?" Rainbow replied tentatively, leaning away from the strange pony. Fleetfoot immediately sat back down, nodding. "My mom and dad found me on the side of a road, and they took me in. They said I was a big, scary batpony under all this fluff." She flapped her wings, demonstrating. "And I was! I am!" Rainbow nodded, going back to her writing. "Uh-huh. Yeah." She jumped as Fleetfoot's hooves slammed into the table on either side of her pages. She looked up into the other mare's amber eyes. "You don't believe me." "Because you're a Pegasus! Pegasi can't be batponies!" "Bet you won't say that on family night." Her voice dropped to a growl on the last words. Rainbow couldn't withhold a giggle. "Family night?! What's that, when we all get together and sing nursery rhymes?" "Family night," a third pony interrupted from beside them, "is when we get to see just how much of our insanity comes from our relatives and how much is self-generated. Fleetfoot, please sit down." The Pegasus planted her hindquarters back on the bench, allowing Rainbow to turn her head and see the third pony, Fire Streak. She cowered as he stepped closer, looming over them both. "Rainbow Dash, I expected a bit more acceptance from an Element of Harmony, and a bit more respect from an unpaid rookie." He frowned, turning to the 'batpony'. "Fleetfoot, I expected more self-control from a Wonderbolt, and a cooler disposition from a batpony. Now, both of you, go to the kitchen and help poor Brolly with today's lunch." The two hesitated, staring up at him. "Come on, I said go! Git!" He waved a hoof, and the two shot away into the back room, leaving Fire Streak alone with the unconscious Soarin. He sat down in Rainbow's place, gently picking up the feathers she'd dropped and replaced them in the small inkwell. He pulled out one of his own feathers, cautiously starting his own letter. Dear Pinkie Pie and friends, There is an event coming up at the Academy that I would like to invite you all to. It will be some point in the next week, and I will send you a second letter when the date is confirmed. Until then, be assured that Rainbow Dash is having a good time here, and the only thing keeping her from sending a letter is that rookie jobs are quite time-consuming. I hope to see you soon, Fire Streak He rolled up the paper, wiping off his quill before poking it through the pages to hold it together. Taking the small scroll gently in his mouth, he left the dining room. ----- "Ah, rookie!" Rainbow flinched as she turned, seeing Crescent trotting up the hallway to meet her. "I see you've met our resident batpony." He commented. "More like she met me." Rainbow drawled. He sighed. "She's a bit of a handful, I know. You'll get used to her antics eventually. From what I saw at the Grand Galloping Gala, she seems rather like your friend Pinkie." "Like the world needs more Pinkies." Rainbow hissed, sitting down. "You reacted rather harshly to her, you know." Crescent frowned, crouching down to look up into her eyes. "You alright, kiddo?" "Just a bit..." "Homesick?" He prompted. She sighed. "Yeah." Crescent nodded, sitting down beside her and resting a wing across her back. "The new Academy session is starting soon, and we've sent out more than enough application forms to Ponyville and the surrounding areas to try and get some of your friends here. And Rainbow, we're all here for you. We may be a strange group, but our hearts are in the right places." "Even the blockheaded blue one?" Rainbow whispered. "Even the blockheaded blue one." Crescent confirmed, squeezing her closer. "And the blockheaded cerulean one, too." Rainbow smiled, hugging him back. "Thanks, Moony." "You're welcome, Rain..." His expression faltered into a frown. "Moony? Moony?!" Rainbow ducked out from under his wing, tearing down the hallway. "Moony!" "Get back here, you little twerp!" Crescent laughed, flying after her. ----- Silver Lining rolled over on his cloud, watching as a rainbow-maned Pegasus launched from one of the upper windows. He knew the pony chasing her was Crescent, and his yelling could be heard even from Silver's distant perch. His ears lifted as the mare out-maneuvered Crescent around a series of clouds, gaining herself a few more seconds as he struggled to climb free. Silver watched with renewed interest as she executed a series of moves he hadn't seen before, ending with a short drop and a cloud around Crescent's neck. The last rays of sunlight faded, and the gray Pegasus curled tighter on his cloud, watching as the rainbow-maned mare received what was no doubt a long-winded rant on respect and dignity while she doubled over laughing. He smiled, making a note to ask Crescent about her tomorrow. From what he'd seen, not even Soarin had been able to escape the wrath of the coach, and this mare had done it with no visible effort. Interesting. He rolled over just in time to see a third Pegasus, Fire Streak from what he could see, take wing from the opposite side of the Academy, gliding down to the guard's post. He seemed to give one of the two guards a letter before turning back, not seeing Silver's coat against the cloud fluff. This pony seems to be changing quite a few things. Silver mused, rolling up to a more comfortable position. Very interesting.