MLP: FiM
Piercing the Heavens
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 12:
Dash sighed in relief as she glided back towards her line. That was her third trial run and it couldn’t have ended it more perfectly, although she made a mental note to be careful. She already felt it in her legs, and a little bit in her body. The Sonic Blast-off was an extremely physically taxing move. She hoped acceleration wasn’t a part of the other tests approaching. Dash yelped slightly as she finally landed and was instantly surrounded by cadets.
“That was awesome!”
“How did you do that?”
“Was that Soarin’s move?”
So many ponies were talking to her at once, she could barely move.
“Whoa!” Dash reached her wings and arms out. “Give me some space guys!” she felt a little embarrassed. She had gotten so used to using Soarin’s signature move that she had forgotten she was using a famous move of the one and only Wonderbolt “Power Flyer.”
“Hold it!” Arctic’s voice came from behind a few other ponies. Dash groaned as she saw Artic push her way past ponies to get to Dash. Dash lifted an eyebrow in annoyance as Arctic approached and got in Dash’s face. “Are you stealing my stallion’s moves?” she belted. Dash just snickered.
“Arctic, really?” Dash tipped her head to side. She couldn’t believe this mare.
“Ya, really!” she glared harder at Dash. “I’m not gonna let you copy him!”
“I think…” Dash sneered. She should just stay out of it. Don’t feed the airhead. Who was she kidding? She wanted to mess with Arctic’s head. “I think you’re jealous I know his moves!” she bounced her eyebrows. "What? Afraid he’ll notice little ol’ me now instead of you?” Arctic turned so red with anger it was a wonder smoke didn’t shoot out of her ears.
“WHY… YOU!!!!!!” she grabbed Dash by the shoulders and tried to shake her, but Arctic was a dainty flower compared to Dash. Dash wasn’t even sure if Arctic knew what a muscle was. Arctic’s attempts to move Dash failed miserably, but Dash was effectively weirded out.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa now!” Dash’s ears stood up quickly as a very familiar and desired voice caressed her ears. Soarin landed beside them and pushed the two of the apart. “That’s the most interesting attempt at fighting I’ve ever seen,” he said with a shrug towards Arctic.
Dash had to hold it in. She had to hold it in so hard she thought her head was going to inflate Pinkie Pie style. This was a GOLDEN opportunity to just RUIN Arctic with knowledge of her and Soarin being a thing, but she held back the urge. Soarin made it clear before about not showing favoritism. If she did something here… well… the whole damn cadet group was here. That wouldn’t go down so well.
“Oh…my… gawd…” Arctic’s face lightened from red to light pink as she eyed Soarin up and down very thoroughly.
Hold it back Dash. Hold it back.
“Let’s keep the scuffles to a minimum okay?” Soarin looked at both of them. Dash nodded, acting as casual as she could. Soarin lifted an eyebrow at Arctic. “Okaaaaaay?” he repeated to her, but she was too busy swooning.
“Oh my gawd, Soarin! Can you, like, sign my…” she frantically looked around. Alas, she had nothing for him to sign. “Oo! Can you sign my forehead?!” she tipped her head towards him.
“Uh…” Soarin took a step back while looking back and forth in complete and utter confusion. “Maybe… later…” he avoided.
“Okay that works!” Arctic giddily bounced up and down. Soarin glanced at the other cadets and Dash, all equally slightly disturbed by Arctic’s ‘behavior.’ Soarin looked towards Dash briefly and mouthed the words: “What the hell?” Dash tried not to lose it as Soarin fought off Arctic’s last attempts at flirting and trotted towards Fleetfoot as the first test came to a close.
“Wow,” Fleetfoot blinked as Soarin came near. She had seen the whole scene with Arctic. “Can I do everypony here a favor and punch her in the face? Repeatedly?”
“I don’t think that would work,” Soarin shook his head with an amused smirk. “Not much up there to punch out of her. That’s what I call a far-gone fan-girl.”
“I refuse to let her stain my gender. Talk about centuries of mare development and intelligence flushed right out the uterus.”
“…Right…” Soarin replied uncomfortably with Fleetfoot’s choice of words.
“I expect crap like that from a stallion… but…” Fleetfoot shivered as she trailed off. Soarin glanced at her and lifted his brow as they began walking towards Spitfire.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked with a chuckle. Fleet tipped her head and smirked.
“All stallions are born with ingrained stupidity, it doesn’t matter how smart they are, they always end up doing something dumb. I’ve done research!” she nudged him in the side.
“Oh, I bet you have,” he rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“Another constant trait is being stubborn. Like you! You’re always stubborn!” she nudged him again.
“No I’m n… oh, I see what you did there,” Soarin sighed with a smile as Fleetfoot lost herself in a fit of giggle.
“Too easy!” she beamed as Spitfire met them in the center of the gym. She specifically focused on Soarin as the members of squad two passed by them to prepare for the next test.
“So far so good?” Soarin asked. Spitfire completely ignored him. She had too much interest focused on something else.
“Did I just see Rainbow Dash pull off the Power Acceleration?” she questioned with disbelief in her voice. Soarin blinked and nodded.
“I actually call it the Sonic Blast-off now… Yeah, that was my move.”
“Did you teach it to her?” Spitfire kept questioning.
“I actually only showed her how it’s done… believe it or not, she figured out the rest herself. I let her rename it for doing so, why?” Soarin was curious. Spitfire didn’t seem angry. She usually only questioned him like this when she was angry.
“Nothing,” Spitfire cracked a smile. “Just pretty damn impressive, that’s all. It was one hell of a start. I’m looking forward to what else she’s got for us.”
“Oh,” Soarin internally sighed in relief. Spitfire was loving it, thoroughly impressed by Dash’s first test. He hoped Dash could keep it up as well. If both Spitfire and Fleetfoot chose Dash for the elite spot, then his vote didn’t matter regardless. That would be one way to avoid the choice. He followed behind Spitfire and Fleetfoot as they moved to prepare the second test. Fleetfoot slowly hovered back to him as they trotted. She had a familiar cheeky smirk plastered to her face. Soarin saw it coming. She was going say something about Dash. What was she going to come up with this time?
“So you both know how to use the ‘Sonic Blast-off,’ huh?” she couldn’t keep herself from giggling.
“Yes?” Soarin answered simply while rolling his eyes.
“Ever use it during sex?” she suddenly asked out of nowhere. Soarin scrunched his face and looked towards her.
“What?!”
“C’mon big colt! I bet a Sonic BLAST—,” she thrusted her hips, “—off, would give her one hell of a rainBOOM! HE HE HE!!!” she bit her bottom lip while trying to contain herself. Soarin just shook his head.
“How do you come up with this stuff?!”
Dash kept a curious eye out into the open space of the gym as she watched the Wonderbolts change the setup. All of the colored signs were being pulled aside and squad three was dragging something else out towards the far end of the gym. They stopped in the center and began fiddling with it. A large pole extended up towards the ceiling, just barely touching it at the peak of the extension.
“Alright!” Dash’s attention was drawn away from the pole in the distance as Spitfire spoke into the megaphone again. “That went fairly smoothly. Let’s keep it that way! Our next test is going to be high speed turning control!”
“Shit,” Dash cursed as soon as she heard. This was one thing she admittedly was not the best at. She could reach some killer speeds, but she had a hard time controlling it. It had gotten a little better over her months of training due to buffing up a little bit and gaining lots of core strength, but at top speed her turn still had a bit of a lazy arc.
“I’m sure from here you can see squad three setting up a simple, large pole! It is at the 150 meter mark in the middle of the gym’s width! The object of this test is to use the LEAST amount of space possible to make a full U-turn before slowing down on the other side. You have fifty yards from the pole to the wall. If you can’t turn in that amount of space… One: seriously? Two: There is thick padding along all of the walls. If you lose control or can’t make it, you won’t have to worry about hitting a solid wall. That doesn’t mean it won’t hurt though. Good thing you signed those consent forms!”
It was rather amusing to see Spitfire in business mode. Dash had gotten so used to Spitfire being friendly and normal. She got a little taste of serious Spitfire during her last visit, but this time it was full blast. Spitfire really knew how to harden up when it came time to be professional.
“In order to ensure everypony gets the same speed… we will have the Streak twins of squad three give you a synchronized assisted start. Also, because we only can go one at a time, you get only TWO chances at this before we’ll have to break for lunch, so MAKE THEM COUNT! You’ve got five minutes until we begin so stay loose!” Spitfire finished before turning back to the other Wonderbolts.
Dash decided to play this one a little differently. She wouldn’t jump to the front of the line. She wanted to see how this one worked a few times before tackling it herself. Better to see a few other ponies blunder first than do so herself.
Maybe she shouldn’t have started so far back. She purposely got in line later, but she ended up so deep in the line that she couldn’t see anything for a while. There were a few “ooo’s” and a few cheers, but she couldn’t make anything else out. As Spitfire had said, it was taking a while. Only one pony could do this trial at a time.
She finally got into viewing range and saw the Streak twins position themselves behind the pony hovering in midair. Lightning Streak placed his hooves on the pony’s shoulders, and Fire Streak placed his hooves on the pony’s back legs below his plot. The pony flattened his wings in a glide position.
Perfectly synchronized, Fire and Lightning began pumping their wings hard, pushing the pony along until they reached a pretty fast speed. When they cleared the fifty yard mark, they pushed off, accelerating the pony to a ridiculous speed. The pony kept his wings flat as he quickly approached the turning point. He made a slight angle out before pitching hard left. The turn was wide and ugly, but he managed the full turn without hitting the pole or wall.
“Hm…” Dash pondered to herself as she watched. So the speed was taken care of for them, she would just have to worry about the actual turn itself. It was hard for her to determine just how much force and angle she would need just by watching. She’d need to actually experience it first. It sucked that they only had two tries. Essentially, their only true attempt was the second, because the first was more of a practice to figure it out.
“Oh man…” Lightning Streak’s voice caught Dash’s attention. She looked up to see both him and Fire eyeing Bulk Biceps.
“How are we supposed to throw this big guy?” Lightning looked to his brother. Fire Streak scratched his chin, and then looked out towards the course. The other Wonderbolts were positioned along the flight path to ensure there was no cheating and to make sure the cadets actually went around the pole. All the mares were out on the course, the other three stallions were keeping an eye on the cadets. Fire looked up above the cadets.
“Commander Soarin!” Fire called up. Soarin halted in his patrol circle and glanced down. Fire pointed towards Bulk with one hoof and beckoned Soarin down with the other.
“Oh,” Soarin chuckled. Yeah, they were going to need help with this one. Dash watched with interest and a little bit of amusement as Bulk lifted into the air and the three Wonderbolts got behind him. Lighting and Fire each took one of Bulk’s shoulders, and Soarin positioned himself behind Bulk’s legs. “How fast before we push?” Soarin questioned. The Streak twins had “pre-set” speeds they had determined in order to make synchronization easier. Soarin had worked once or twice with them in the past, so he knew their speed settings well.
“Speed four,” Fire answered before turning to Bulk. “Are you ready cadet?”
“YEEEEAAAAH!” Bulk cheered vigorously.
“I think he’s ready,” Lightning nodded as Fire shook his head out to stop his ears from ringing.
“Very well then! GO!” Fire called out. The three pushed hard, giving it their all to force Bulk into motion. With the help of Soarin’s greater strength, they were able to get Bulk into motion. They took a little longer to pick up the required speed, but after they passed the seventy-five yard mark, Fire called for the push and they all gave the strongest press they could.
It may have been a little much. Bulk was propelled from their grip a little faster than he should have been.
“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!” Bulk yelled out intensely as he went careening down the way. His little wings were caught in the glide and he approached the turn. “—EEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHuhoh…” Bulk found that he couldn’t turn in the slightest. In fact, his attempt to do so made him do a flip instead.
Blaze, Fleetfoot, and Misty Fly all winced as Bulk crashed back first into the padding on the opposite end and tumbled down. They moved in to stop him from falling, but that proved to be quite fruitless.
“What did this damn chump eat for breakfast? BRICKS?!” Blaze yelled out as she Misty and Fleetfoot tried to slow his fall. No matter how much they pulled, Bulk’s weight was just too much for them. They all got yanked down with him and landed roughly on the ground.
“Huh?” Bulk shook his head out as his eyes adjusted. He blinked and looked himself over, realizing that three mares were on top of him, also recovering from the fall. It all clicked in his head and he smiled wide. “YEAH! I SCORED!”
Back over by the start, Fire, Lightning, and Soarin all cringed.
“That blows dude…” Lightning scratched his head. Fire glanced at the cadets as a lot of them had hit the floor laughing. It was amusing, but he wanted to get this over and done with as efficiently as possible.
“Sorry, I may have pushed him a little hard,” Soarin shrugged as he failed to hold back a few chuckles.
“I doubt a stallion of his girth would have been able to turn regardless,” Fire shook his head. “I almost feel like sparing him his second chance.
“MY TURN?!” a sharp voice blasted into Fire’s ear and a head appeared next to him.
“GAH!” Fire snapped forward and turned to see Twister up in his face. The wild stallion had a crazy grin stuck to his face and his eyes remained open very wide. Soarin and Lightning backed off slightly. He seemed to appear out of nowhere. Fire quickly looked sternly at him. He had made a note to keep an eye on this pony since this morning when he somehow caused Surprise’s antic to backfire on her. Surprise was fine now, but… come on, who just breaks Surprise like that? “Y-yes…” Fire looked to see Bulk was up and the mares were back in place.
“Launch me! Heheheh!” Twister was up in the gliding position quickly. Fire glanced at Lightning, who just shrugged.
“You guys got this? I think I’d rather… not touch him,” Soarin said before lifting off. He didn’t even wait for them to answer.
“Let’s go,” Fire pointed at Twister. He and Lightning took their positions.
“Today pleeeeeease…” Twister’s voice slithered as the Streak twins readied to fly.
“GO!” Fire called.
The two pushed Twister forward with much more ease than Bulk, obviously. They picked up the required speed and launched him from the fifty yard mark.
“HAHAHAHA!!!!!” Twister started laughing as he was launched. He began flapping his wings instead of gliding, picking up more speed as he seared through the air towards the turn.
“Is he balls-shitting CRAZY?!?!” Blaze yelled out while readying her wings.
“Have you seen this guy yet? That’s an understatement!” Fleetfoot got ready to dive also, but they both froze when he hit the turn.
Twister suddenly straightened his wings. He didn’t widen his angle at all. The instant he passed the pole, he began twisting in his flight path. As he did, he executed the sharpest high speed turn anypony in the gym had ever seen. Even Spitfire was speechless. He never went further than five feet from the pole as he turned.
Art by: PhonicBoom
“THAT’S THE GOOD SHIT!” he yelled hysterically as he slowed down on the other side of the path.
“What the hell…” Dash stared wide-eyed along with the rest of the cadets and Wonderbolts. How did Twister do that? It was almost like wind resistance didn’t affect him.
Dash began to wonder about her chances. Sure she was strong and yeah she was fast, but there were clearly a lot of other important skills that would be factors in being chosen. She came in thinking her chances were high and she’d have little competition. That mindset had changed drastically over the course of two days. Was she scared though? Absolutely not. If anything this was a blessing. Competition always brought out the best in her.
After a few more normal attempts by other ponies, it was her turn. She took a deep breath and lifted into the air. She got a nod of acknowledgement from Fire with a small smile. Finally. He had been in professional mode each time they had encountered each other so far. It was good to see his welcoming air at least once.
“I think we should switch spots for this one,” Lightning suddenly got down behind Dash before Fire could. Dash lifted an eyebrow as he moved. Fire’s position in the pushing was on the back of the legs right below the—
“Uh, no,” Dash whipped her tail out and smacked Lightning with it below the chin. His head bounced up and he chuckled.
“She still wants me,” he said before Fire shoved him into place.
“Sorry, Miss Dash. Are you ready?” Fire asked as the Streak twins placed their hooves on her.
“Always,” Dash nodded confidently as she pushed her goggles on.
“Here we go!” Fire called out.
Dash set her eyes down the track and flattened her wings as the Streak twins pushed her into motion. They went faster and faster until they hit the proper speed. Dash focused as they passed the fifty meter mark and winced as the Streak twins propelled her down the lane. She tucked her body in while remaining as flat as possible to maintain the speed. As the turn approached, she decided not to be insane like Twister and widened her angle a little. As soon as she passed the pole she pitched as hard as she could to the left.
“Hrgh!” she grunted as she felt the pressure slam into her. The turn was wide, but she managed to maintain the speed all the way around. Her hooves just barely missed scraping against the opposite wall as she angled out and began slowing down. “Phew!” she exhaled as she decelerated.
She glanced back to see how far over she ended up after the turn. It was a pretty damn wide turn. Hopefully, her second would be better. She glanced up to see Spitfire overhead, marking something on a clipboard before waiting for the next cadet. Dash pounded her hooves together in frustration. She had to do better. She couldn’t keep doing okay once then blow minds. She had to wow from the start!
“Hm?” Dash looked up to see which cadet was going after her. It was Matteo. Wait, Matteo was behind her the whole time she was focusing in line? Sheesh, how did she not see him? She must’ve been really focused. She watched as the Streak twins had to not only get help from Soarin, but also Wave Chill, and Silver Lining just to get Matteo moving. Talk about a real tank.
Dash kept her eyes on them as she casually glided back. It took them almost a full hundred yards to get him to the right speed before they launched him. She hoped he would be able to make the turn, because if Fleetfoot, Blaze, and Misty couldn’t stop Bulk from falling, there’s no way they’d stop Matteo.
Dash twisted and flew backwards as she watched Matteo spread his massive wings and widened his angle a lot, which was smart since he was so huge. He pitched left and thrust his wings down at the same time. The force was so intense that the wind blazing off his wings made a BANG noise as it hit the wall. His momentum shifted drastically and he managed to make the turn… with less of an angle than Dash had.
“No way,” Dash’s mouth hung open as she watched something about seven times her size turn with less of an arc. She glanced behind her and lowered to the ground as she reached the end of the line, then looked back to keep her eyes on Matteo as he approached and came in for a heavy landing. His talons and paws pounded against the ground as he folded his wings and flipped his tail around once before getting in line behind Dash and patiently waiting.
Dash faced forward as he landed, but couldn’t help stealing a few glances back at him. This guy was a real mystery. Her curiosity was piqued when he just showed up. What was she supposed to say to him though? He already proved he wasn’t much of a talker. He didn’t come off as anti-social, he just seemed… angry. He gave her his name, but besides that, he didn’t seem to want to talk to anypony. Well, he was a griffon… and a huge one at that, he stood out among them all like wildfire in a blizzard. Maybe he preferred to keep to himself because he stood out? She’d never know unless she asked him.
Dash looked back forward as she thought on it. She caught a brief glimpse of Derpy being launched. Dash hovered up to get a better look. She hit the turn, but her angle was so wobbly she almost lost all of her speed while turning. At least she made it through unscathed.
Dash set back down as the line moved a little. She glanced at Matteo again. He was still staring straight forward as if he had to be glaring at something 24/7. Dash doubted he’d like it if she just started asking about him. He already looked annoyed. She betted he wouldn’t like it if some little pony started asking random personal questions about him.
The line moved again, Dash saw Storm Front lift up and get launched. Still curious about this stallion as well, she leaned over to watch. Again, just like in the first test, he performed perfectly with no mistakes, but there was nothing eye popping about it. She had to talk to him later too and see for herself why Derpy was so into him.
Dash looked behind her again, this time Matteo’s eyes shifted and caught her looking. She quickly played it off and acted like she was stretching her neck before shaking her head out. Maybe it would be better to approach with small talk first? Maybe a compliment? He did just pull off one hell of a turn for a flyer his size. What the hell, it wouldn’t hurt. She turned to him.
“Hey big fella!” Dash said up to him. His eyes widened a tiny bit before he glanced down at her. “That was an awesome turn!” she complimented him. He blinked once, still glaring.
“Thank you,” he said plainly before looking back up and away from her.
“Uh…” Dash hadn’t thought this far ahead. She was expecting more. She scrambled for something else to say and winged it. “So how’d you do that?” She asked. Matteo glanced at her again.
“I turned,” he replied. Dash stood still with a forced smile and her mouth slightly ajar.
“Right,” she hopped up and hovered beside his head. “I got that much. So you got a secret technique for getting this huge body to move like that?” she poked him slightly in the shoulder.
“No,” he didn’t look at her.
“Uh… okay then,” Dash felt a wave of awkwardness rush over her as she touched down and moved with the line. So much for that, he was going to be a tough nut to crack. She flinched as she felt something sharp poke her. She looked to see Matteo nudging her with a talon. “What?”
“Your turn,” he pointed.
“Oh, crap!” Dash had not been paying attention to the line moving. She had spent so much time trying to figure out how to approach Matteo that time just sped by. She quickly stretched and shook her wings out before lifting off towards the Streak twins again. Fire caught Lightning by the neck before he could attempt switching their places again and the two got into their positions.
“Ready?” Fire asked.
“Go for it,” Dash got serious. No time to be overconfident, this was her second and final chance to do this better.
The twins pushed her from behind and launched her when they reached fifty yards. Again, Dash careened down the lane, remembering how the flight went last time. She angled out a little less this time and pitched hard as she passed the pole. The familiar pressure throttled her, but she tried to force it more this time.
Big mistake. Dash winced as one of her wings bent awkwardly against the wind. She was batted out of her turn and flew towards the opposite wall.
“RGH!” She grunted as she forced her body upright and flattened her wings. She was about five feet from the wall and guaranteed to collide painfully. With little time to do anything, she did the first thing that came to mind. She put all of her core strength into a twist left. Why? She had no idea if it would make a difference, but she saw Twister do it earlier and he was able to turn on the edge of a bit. Using her mimicking prowess, Dash copied the twisting motion perfectly, and to her surprise, she was ripped from her current path and thrown to the left. It effectively saved her from hitting the wall and completed the turn, but not without the tips of her hooves catching the wall, bouncing twice before she angled out and headed back down the other lane.
“FFFFFFFSHIT!” Dash yanked her goggles up and swore out loud. She shouldn’t have risked it. She should have just played it safe. If not for her spontaneously copying Twister’s odd movements, she would have hit the wall hard, not to mention her turn beforehoof was too sharp and she lost control. “Way to impress the Wonderbolts, Dash. Way to FRICKEN impress them!” Dash kept berating herself as she flew back.
Two things went unnoticed though as she landed.
The first was Twister floating up higher from the rest, eyeing Dash curiously. She did just copy his move after all.
The second was Spitfire. The turn was sloppy and almost gave Dash a bruised face, but in this trial, a recovery like that was more impressive than it was a blunder. That and how she copied a move she had just seen so quickly. It may not have been the purpose for the particular test, but Spitfire had her eye out for anything of interest. Dash’s ability to mimic moves on the fly was definitely piquing her interest.
Rainbow Dash kept sulking all the way from the gym to the mess hall. Day one of the tryouts: so far Dash had messed up, recovered, did okay, and then messed up again. She was supposed to be doing HER BEST. So far she was doing anything but, at least in her opinion. A lot of ponies had blundered much worse than her, like Bulk for instance, but she wanted to be perfect! PERFECT! She didn’t fly all those drills and lift all those weights to screw up when it really mattered! She’d have to make up for it in the last three tests today. She knew strength would be one of them. Her muscles weren’t for show, she’d excel there. The other two though, she hadn’t a clue what to expect.
She sat down at a table by herself and groaned in frustration. Then she had to eat this shitty food. It was the exact same thing that was for lunch the day before. She knew they were feeding hundreds of cadets but really? Broccoli, chicken, and undercooked spaghetti again?
“Oh! Let’s sit over here!”
“Whoa! Okay, I’m coming haha!”
One of those voices was familiar. Derpy to be precise, but Dash didn’t recognize the other one. It was a friendly sounding, male voice. Not very deep, but not very high. Right in the middle, pitch-wise. Dash turned her head to see Derpy pulling Storm Front along behind her with one hoof while carrying a tray of muffins, of course, in the other. She was smiling happily and Storm followed along willingly.
“Hi Rainbow Dash!” Derpy greeted as she sat down across from Dash. A muffin wobbled and rolled off her tray, onto the table, and off the edge. Storm Front quickly extended a wing as he came around and caught the muffin. “Oh! Thanks!” Derpy smiled while bouncing as he placed the muffin back on her tray. Storm smiled and sat down next to her. He looked up and saw Dash eyeing him suspiciously. “Oh! Right!” Derpy realized. “Dash, this is Storm Front!” she pointed to him. Storm smiled sheepishly.
“Hello,” he said quietly while blushing a little. “Derpy’s told me a lot about you, it’s nice to meet you,” he reached a hoof across the table. Dash blinked and quickly reached forward to shake it.
“Hey…” she said unenthusiastically. Storm tipped his head to the side as Dash sighed and grumbled.
“Um… are you okay?” He asked as Derpy began happily eating her muffins.
“Do I look okay?!” Dash suddenly snapped. Storm reclined slightly. “Uh… sorry,” Dash apologized while rubbing her forehead. “I’m just a bit… pissed about the tests so far.”
“Really?” Storm Front asked quizzically. Dash looked up at him to see him looking at her in confusion.
“What do you mean really?” Dash said rather impolitely. Storm waved a hoof in front of him.
“Oh! No, I meant nothing, it’s just… you pulled of some pretty awesome stuff! I’m just surprised you’re angry after that. You’ve definitely caused a buzz amongst the other recruits, especially in the first test.”
Dash didn’t see that coming. She suddenly felt a little better. The last thing she expected was getting praise from somepony she was technically in competition with. Maybe there was something to this stallion after all.
“I’m just a little miffed I made a few errors,” Dash sighed as she sat back and prodded at her broccoli. “I want to show them my best WITHOUT the blunders in between.”
“I can get behind that,” Storm agreed as Derpy stared at him dreamily. “Still, I wish I could pull off moves like you and some of the other cadets I’ve been seeing. The competition here is really intense,” he started on his food. Dash felt curious now. He was definitely nice like Derpy had mentioned. She saw no hints or cracks in his demeanor. Plus, she saw the unthinkable sight of him talking to Misty Fly with sign language earlier. There was nothing that pointed to him playing up his personality or faking. Also, she had just failed to get anything out of Matteo, so why not rebound and learn about Storm Front instead?
“So I’ve been seeing you around, you’re not too bad yourself, very consistent,” Dash complimented as Storm looked up from his food.
“Thanks,” he smiled. “Well to be honest, Derpy told me about you yesterday, I meant to introduce myself earlier, but… I’m not the best at meeting new ponies,” he admitted while rubbing the back of his head. He placed a hoof on Derpy’s shoulder. “Derpy was so friendly right off the bat. I’ve been a bit nervous since I got here, but she’s been a big help and a good friend,” he smiled at her. Derpy hovered slightly off her seat. Dash had to hold back a chuckle. Derpy looked so damn happy. She had mentioned that Storm Front had not once said anything about her eyes. Dash could understand how this meant something to her, because that was usually the first question she got. He was polite to just leave it be.
“So, I’m curious, where are you from?” Dash began the questions.
“Cirrus Valley, Cloudsdale,.”
“Hey! That’s where I grew up!” Dash perked up. Talk about a small world. “Where in Cirrus Valley?”
“In the dead end circle of Drizzle Court.”
“WHAT?!” Dash stood up. “That’s where I lived too!”
“Whoa, really?” Storm smiled and shrugged. “Were we neighbors?”
“I live on the house on the north corner,” Dash sat down. Now she was extra interested. “This is crazy! I wonder if our parents knew one another.”
“I lived in the middle of the south end, I don’t know, they may have,” he chuckled. “What a coincidence, huh?”
“Tell me about it,” Dash chuckled. “Well, Storm. You seem like a pretty good guy, you can consider me a friend,” Dash pounded her chest. “Good luck with the rest of the tryouts.”
“Likewise Dash,” he nodded as Derpy gave him a random hug.
“I told you he was awesome!” she beamed as Storm Front blushed in embarrassment.
“Heh, thank you Derpy,” he said as he patted her on the head and grinned. Dash was convinced. Even when Derpy hugged him, nothing seemed suspicious. She watched as Storm conversed with Derpy and he was very good with her. Derpy tended to ask questions at random or do things out of the ordinary. He handled it very well and looked to be enjoying himself in the process. Derpy had found and made a very good friend indeed.
Dash turned her head towards the food line and quickly found something much more attention grabbing. Soarin had just gotten his food and was walking towards a side room the Wonderbolts had separate for them to eat in. She looked back at Derpy and Storm talking, laughing, and having fun, and then looked at Soarin again as he disappeared into the side room.
She found herself jealous of Derpy. She wished she could just have fun with a good friend of hers right now, but there was a clear divider between them that wouldn’t move until after the trials. It sucked, but Dash really had no choice.
Soarin carried his tray over to one of two tables set up in their separate little lounge. Both tables had six spots. At the first table, Blaze and High Winds sat on one side, with Spitfire and Fleetfoot on the other. Silver Lining, Misty Fly, and the Streak twins sat at the other.
Soarin had no real preference, but the first table was closer, so he claimed the seat next to Blaze.
“I see our chefs aren’t even trying…” Soarin mumbled as he sat down. Blaze took a swig of water and slammed her cup on the table.
“You whining out of your vagina again, Princess?” she verbally jabbed him followed by a loud belch. Soarin looked at her flatly.
“How long is this ‘princess’ thing gonna go on?” Soarin asked while rolling his eyes.
“Until you stop menstruating,” Blaze elbowed him in the side while eyeing the fake horn. She flinched slightly as High Winds suddenly tipped towards her and her head landed on Blaze’s shoulder. Blaze turned and propped her back up, clapping her hooves together in front of High Winds’ face. “Yo, Windy, food.”
“Huh?” High Winds’ eyes opened and she yawned loudly. “Oh, right, when did dinner start?”
“Lunch,” Blaze chuckled.
“Right, Lunch,” High Winds yawned again before starting on her food. Soarin just ignored Blaze’s last comment and went for his spaghetti. It all came off his plate at the same time. He sighed, let it fall, and went for his chicken instead.
“Dash has been interesting so far, huh?” Fleetfoot suddenly asked Soarin from across the table. Soarin blinked and tipped his head back and forth.
“I guess, she’s done some great things, but it’s been a little sloppy too,” he admitted.
“I think she’s doing well,” Fleetfoot winked. “A couple spills here and there, but she’s still putting on a show. Don’t you agree Spitfire?” she nudged Spitfire, who kept eating and didn’t look up.
“I have no comment to give until the tryouts are concluded,” Spitfire put plainly. Blaze pounded her hoof on the table.
“Aw, come ON sis, have some god damn fun with your own job!” she leaned forward. Spitfire didn’t look at her either.
“Blaze, this is how I’m SUPPOSED to handle my job. You should be more serious too, not that you ever are,” she finished her broccoli and looked sternly across the table.
“Oh, blow me Spitty,” Blaze stuck her tongue out. Soarin nudged her shoulder.
“Windy’s out again,” he made a head motion. Blaze turned as saw High Winds with her chin resting on the table, eyes shut.
“Son of a hell mother…” Blaze shook High Winds lightly. “Windy, seriously, food time.”
“When’s breakfast?” Winds said the instant she sat up again.
“Tomorrow morning dammit, we’re at LUNCH!” she bopped Winds on the back of the head.
“Oh…” Winds answered sleepily before she started eating again. Wave Chill entered the room as Silver Lining left. He eyed the tables as he moved in and started walking towards the table with the Streak twins and Misty. Somepony else had her eyes on him however, and it wasn’t Spitfire.
“Hey, hey, HEY! Where do you think YOU’RE going?” Fleetfoot popped up in front of him. He blinked and looked back and forth.
“Uh… to eat?” he barely had time to answer before Fleetfoot grabbed him and turned him towards their table. Spitfire already had her head on the table, groaning with her hooves on her head.
“No duh, Sherlock Homey, but you are sitting riiiiiight…” she guided him over to the seat next to Spitfire, grabbed his tray, set it down at the spot, and shoved him into the seat. “HERE!” she giggled and retook her seat on the other side of Spitfire. Wave Chill blushed and sat still for a few moments as Spitfire sighed and went back to eating like nothing had happened. Blaze didn’t let it stay that way though.
“So Wave,” she sneered at him as he took a sip of his water.
“Blaze…” Spitfire tried to interrupt her with a growl. Blaze continued regardless.
“So how’s my sister in bed? I bet she fucks like a tiger!” she made a clawing motion and a cat-like growl.
“BLAZE!” Spitfire turned bright red. Wave Chill spat out all the water he was drinking right into High Winds’ face. Winds didn’t even flinch as she blinked and turned to Blaze.
“Wait, they’re doing it?” she asked very calmly. Blaze rolled her eyes.
“Yes Windy, welcome to two months ago,” she turned to Spitfire, who was fuming at her. “Does he spank the ass nicely? I bet he has one hell of a time… knowing your serious shit I bet he has to fight you just to get you to spread ‘em,” she kept bouncing her eyebrows as she spoke.
“Blaze I’m warning you…” Spitfire glared.
“Oh, loosen the cheeks a bit Stifffire!” Blaze burst out laughing. “Damn, it’s too easy to rustle your shit!”
“Okay, the swearing is getting a little excessive,” Soarin commented. Blaze turned sharply to him.
“Don’t get me started on your ass!” she pointed, “Rainbow rider! How’s it like holding in the libido?” she teased. Soarin shook his head and tried to ignore her. “Come on, how many times did you do her in your head over the past five hours?” she chuckled while almost falling out of her chair.
“What was he doing in his head?” Winds asked while blinking.
“Sex,” Blaze replied flatly.
"Oh, cool," Winds went back to her food.
Soarin kept ignoring Blaze. He was used to her being a pain in the ass. She wasn’t like Rapidfire. There was no mal-intent behind it. She was just a hotshot with a vulgar mouth… A very vulgar mouth. Fire Streak and Misty Fly left the room, leaving Lightning Streak alone at the other table with his usual bowl of chili.
“So I’m still waiting for an answer,” Blaze directed back at Wave. Wave’s ears stood up and he glanced at Spitfire. She flattened her ears as he did.
“I need more water,” Spitfire quickly claimed as she grabbed her cup and left. Blaze stared at Wave Chill as he just continued to blush.
“Come on soldier! You’re good at saluting! How quickly does she get you full salute?!” she kept prying.
“Pffftttt…” Fleetfoot finally let slip. Blaze cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Fleetfoot.
“What are you laughing at?” she gave Fleetfoot the stink eye. Fleetfoot burst out laughing.
“YOU!” she leaned back and shook her head. “You are just… such a bitch!” she continued laughing. Blaze stood up and pointed at her.
“Excuse me?!” she glared. Fleetfoot looked at her smugly.
“You heard me Blazey!” Fleetfoot swayed back and forth once as she said the name.
“Call me that again…” Blaze glared harder, “I swear I’ll come over there and smack your shit.”
“You know you can’t,” Fleetfoot jeered. “I always win… Blazey.”
“THAT’S IT!” Blaze leapt over the table at Fleetfoot. Soarin and Wave Chill leaned away to avoid getting kicked in the face as Fleetfoot pushed back from the table. Fleetfoot caught Blaze’s hooves and the two lifted off slightly. When Fleetfoot’s back hit the wall, she pushed her wings back and fired them towards the other table. They hit the table with a heavy THUMP, Fleetfoot pressing Blaze’s head right into Lightning’s chili bowl. It splashed everywhere, on both of them, and all over Lightning’s face. They rolled off onto the floor and began fighting for the upper hoof.
Soarin, Wave Chill, and Lightning just sat and watched as the two mares grappled… with an extra bit of interest. Spitfire came back through the door with a new cup of water, eyes widening instantly.
“WHAT THE F—” she blinked as the scene registered. Fleetfoot and Blaze were wrestling on the floor, covered in chili, and the three stallions in the room were just… watching? Oh, and High Winds was asleep again. “What are you guys sitting around for?!?! Stop them!” Spitfire rushed forward while looking at Soarin specifically.
“Huh?” Soarin blinked and looked at her. Wave Chill just averted his eyes.
“Nah, I’m okay with this,” Lightning nodded, leaning his arm on the table as he watched Blaze and Fleetfoot roll around, chili still dripping off his face.
“Ugh! Stallions!” Spitfire smacked her forehead and shook her head.
Fleetfoot finally pinned Blaze down on her back and straddled her stomach while holding her arms down.
“Say uncle!” Fleetfoot taunted.
“FUCK YOU!” Blaze spat up at her.
“That’s a funny way to pronounce ‘uncle!’” Fleetfoot swayed back and forth on top of Blaze while sneering.
“Fleetfoot, get off of her,” Spitfire yanked Fleetfoot free of Blaze. “Both of you go get cleaned up. We have to have the next test up in half an hour,” she ordered.
“Oh fiiiiiiine…” Fleetfoot giggled as she trotted towards the door. Blaze followed while grumbling.
“*SNORT* huh?” Winds' eyes cracked open and looked around, she spotted the chili everywhere. “What did I miss?” she asked as she yawned.
“Just eat,” Soarin chuckled and shook his head.
--- To Be Continued ---