Scootaloo could hardly contain her excitement and almost felt like doing some loops in the big blue sky before her—almost being the key word. It had been a while since she had taken such a long flight, and being grounded from the air for nearly a month didn’t help matters. It took all of her concentration and effort just to keep moving forward in a steady course. Scootaloo was out of practice for sure, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her. If she had to practice every waking moment at the academy, then so be it.
Eventually, Scootaloo could see the Unicorn Range below her, and just up ahead was Wonderbolt Mountain—the training center for the Wonderbolts. Before she got any closer, she was stopped at a checkpoint occupied by a brown pegasus stallion with short-cut black mane. Even though summer was close to an end, it was still hot enough for him to still wear the short-sleeved uniform. Scootaloo landed at the check station, a simple cloud building structure about a quarter of a mile away from the Academy itself.
“Ma’am, you do realize you’re flying into a restricted airspace, right?” The stallion said in a very official tone like any gatekeeper would.
“Yes,” Scootaloo replied. “I’m a cadet here at the Academy.”
The stallion simply raised an eyebrow, but otherwise remained as stoic as a royal guard. “Then why are you out here instead of at the compound?”
Scootaloo sighed. “Because I was out for a month because I was injured, but I’m better now and the Colonel said I could come back.”
“Do you have any proof of this, any leave of absence papers?”
Scootaloo smacked her hoof against her forehead. She was given a leave of absence form when she left with her parents, but she had completely forgotten about it at home. In truth, she wasn’t even sure where it ended up after weeks of being stuck at her house.
“Miss, if you don’t have any papers, then I can’t let you pass.”
At this point, Scootaloo started to panic. “Listen, can’t you call ahead and ask the Colonel or something? She told me over the phone that I was to come back today.”
The guard stared at her for a couple of moments. “Very well; do you at least have some form of ID?”
Scootaloo took a card out of her saddlebags and handed it over to the stallion who looked it over. Satisfied that it was valid, he picked up a phone.
“Yes, I have a Miss Scootaloo here claiming that she’s a cadet here at the academy and requesting entrance…She claims that she was on medical leave…No, she does not have any papers…Yes, I can wait.”
The stallion remained silent as he held the phone to his ear. Scootaloo gulped. She could feel cool sweat drip down the back of her neck as her heart raced. For ten agonizing minutes, she stood there waiting.
The worst case scenario would be that she would have to fly all the way back home and search her room for that stupid piece of paper. If that happened, then she would be late coming back here. She was already gone for a month and told to come back today. The last thing Scootaloo wanted was to be late because of some dumb mistake.
“Very well.” The stallion put down the phone. “Well it seems that you have been cleared. Welcome back Cadet.”
Scootaloo let out a breath that she hadn’t realized she was holding. The guard returned her ID as well as giving her a stamped piece of paper granting her clearance.
“You’re to report to Colonel Spitfire’s office,” he said. “I trust you know the way.”
“Yes,” Scootaloo said and took off.
With the entrance issues out of the way, she headed straight for the compound, consisting of large training grounds and fields that could be set up in a multitude of obstacle courses or other flying exercises, a flight control tower, and wooden buildings of the barracks, infirmary, mess hall and administrative office. It was to this last one that Scootaloo flew to. Inside, the walls were painted navy blue to compliment the Wonderbolts traditional colors.
At the end of the hall was Colonel Spitfire’s office, the commanding officer of the Wonderbolt Academy. Two officers stood outside as guards and stopped Scootaloo from coming any closer.
“Um, I’m supposed to see Colonel Spitfire,” Scootaloo said awkwardly.
“Yes, we know,” one of the guards said. “But the Colonel is currently occupied, so you’ll have to wait.”
Sure enough, she could hear somepony talking behind the closed door. She took a seat against the wall and waited. Whatever was going on the room, it certainly wasn’t very pleasant. Soon she could make out some muffled shouts—mainly coming from Spitfire.
“I’ve had just about enough of this attitude of yours! Back when I was a cadet, you’d be out of here like that!” Some clapping hoof noise could be heard before Spitfire’s voice came again. “But I’ve decided to be patient, and you have worn that down pretty thin. Thankfully, we won’t have to worry about this anymore.”
Suddenly the door opened and out stepped a red-faced, yellow pegusus with a fiery two-toned orange mane and navy blue uniform. Her glaring amber eyes looked around and zeroed in on Scootaloo.
“You!” Spitfire shouted, pointing a hoof in Scootaloo’s direction, causing her to flinch. “Get in here! NOW!”
Scootaloo tentatively got up and walked towards the opened door.
‘What’s going on?’ Scootaloo couldn’t understand why Spitfire was so angry or how she was somehow involved in whatever mess this was. She had only just arrived back and hadn’t done anything. ‘Was the paperwork I forgot that big of a deal? I thought that was taken care of. And what does she not have to worry about anymore?’
Whatever it was, Spitfire’s stern glare was offering no answers, instead eliciting a sense of dread. With her heart pounding, Scootaloo walked into the office. Inside was the other pony that Spitfire had been arguing with. Based on the yellow and blue training flight suit, it was a cadet. The more slender build of the pony indicated it was a mare. She was sky-blue with a white puffy mane and a cutie mark of a sun behind two mountain peaks.
“Blue Yonder?” Scootaloo said, recognizing the pony as her friend and partner when she first entered the Wonderbolt Academy. Despite the recognition, Scootaloo was unclear how to react. On the one hoof, she was excited to see her friend again. However, she was also confused as to why Blue Yonder was here and why Spitfire was apparently angry with her.
“Scootaloo?” Blue Yonder looked just as surprised, if not more so—mostly due to the sudden appearance of her old wingpony than anything else. She also couldn’t contain the smile forming on her face. “You’re back.”
Spitfire spoke up before Scootaloo could answer, “Yes she is, and seeing that you both worked so well as a team before, I want you two to fly together again.” She turned to face Scootaloo. “You’ve missed out on a lot of training, and no doubt are a bit out of practice. I’m not going to lie, it will be difficult, but I feel Blue Yonder can help you pick up the slack.” Spitfire then turned back to Blue Yonder, “As for you, I do not want to hear any more complaints. Otherwise, KP might be the least of your concerns. Got that?”
“Yes Ma’am,” Blue Yonder replied.
“Good,” Spitfire said sternly. “Now, you two better get ready soon. You have a lot to do in training today.” She looked over the two cadets and paused on Scootaloo. “Cadet, what’s wrong with your hoof?”
Scootaloo looked down and saw that she had been holding up her right forehoof slightly curved towards her body. It was the one she had sprained about a month ago after her accident. She immediately put it back down and looked sheepishly up. “Sorry Ma’am, force of habit.”
“I see. Well, head over to the quartermaster’s office and get yourself a new uniform. Major Soarin is expecting you within the hour.”
“Yes Ma’am,” Scootaloo and Blue Yonder said in unison as they saluted.
“Dismissed.”
With that, both Scootaloo and Blue Yonder walked out of the office and to the other side of the building. It was an awkward reunion and neither was sure how to break the ice. They continued walking in silence until they were near the quartermaster’s office.
“So,” Scootaloo said as she was getting measured for her new uniform. “KP?”
Blue Yonder looked away and rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah…I’ve had to work in the kitchens a lot this past month.”
“Ah.” Scootaloo nodded as the quartermaster put a flight suit into her hooves.
“So…how’ve you been?”
“A lot better than when I left. It’s great to be back though. You?”
“All right,” Blue Yonder said a little too quickly, but Scootaloo decided not to press farther at the moment. “So, you ready to fly?”
Scootaloo grinned. “You know it.”