//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Paint the Sky // by Prism Shine //------------------------------// (Timeline position: This is the first story. This happens some time after S4.) Paint the Sky Chapter 1 Written by Prism Shine It was a fine morning in Equestria. Soarin walked down the corridor with a somewhat bored expression on his face. He was about to turn to the right to get to his room, but when he reached for the doorknob, he heard two muffled voices coming from Spitfire's office next door. Curiosity took over from there. He headed for Spitfire's office with light hoofsteps, and opened the door just by a small amount. He looked through the small opening. As he did, he saw two fellow Wonderbolts he knew well. Fleetfoot and Spitfire herself. "Alright, let's put personal matters aside from now." Fleetfoot said. "Anythin' coming up soon?" "Let me get the schedule." After a few seconds, Spitfire replied, "Hmm. Well, we have a show, an interview and-- HEY!" She got interrupted by Fleetfoot snatching the papers. "I'll see it for myself." Fleetfoot blew a short raspberry at her, then looked through the schedule. "Ehh, shows, interviews, photo shoots and-- Oh, sweet. It's that time of the year?" Spitfire sighed. "Yeah. Get Soarin here, won't you?" Soarin froze. He tried to move away, but his legs wouldn't listen to him. "Mmkay." Fleetfoot turned and opened the door. "I just got-- WOAH!" Soarin fell into Fleetfoot's chest. "Oof." Spitfire heard his voice clearly. She got up to get a better view at what was happening. "Soarin, what the hell?" Spitfire flattened her expression. "...If you fell into Fleet's chest, does that mean that you've heard everything?" "Yeah. But what did Fleet mean by 'that time of the year'?" Spitfire smirked at that. "Heh. We're having recruit tryouts again." Just then, a growl rang out next to Soarin. "Get off my chest, you freak." Fleetfoot pushed him away. Soarin rolled his eyes. "When are they?" Rainbow Dash was still asleep in her cloudominium. She had a peaceful look on her face, as though she was having a good dream. Suddenly, her alarm clock rang. Dash's eyes snapped open with an unamused look. "Stupid alarm clocks..." She muttered under her breath. She slapped the top of the alarm clock down, and the ringing ceased. She stretched, and looked at the right of her bedroom. On the cloud wall was a poster of the Wonderbolts. It had the three best Wonderbolts flying, while at the bottom, there were words that said 'The sky's the limit'. Made by SolarAsylum (deviantArt) She smiled slightly. It had been given to her by Spitfire after one of their Wonderbolt flight camps. She breathed in the fresh air, and her face turned back into her usual smirk. "Might as well get breakfast," "YOU'LL WHAT?!" Fleetfoot screamed. She relaxed immediately, however. "Spitfire... you are crazy." Spitfire raised an eyebrow. "Trust me, it might be chaos, but they'll have the best Training Instructor ever." She cleared her throat. "Moving on. Fleet, you'll be in charge of speed. Soarin, you're in charge of aerial tricks. I'll be overlooking everything, as usual." Spitfire looked at Fleetfoot. "Well? Which courses?" "Definitely Courses 1, 2 and 5." Fleetfoot nodded triumphantly. Soarin started at Fleetfoot wide-eyed. "Course 5? Are you serious?" "What's wrong with Course 5?" Fleetfoot had an innocent look. Soarin facehoofed. "Everything," He winced. "absolutely everything." "Hm?" Fleetfoot just remembered something. "Spitty, did you already inform the cadets from the Academy?" "Yeah. They should have received it right about now." Rainbow Dash glided through Ponyville with a relaxed demeanor. "Those were some good waffles. I wonder how Pinkie makes 'em." When she reached her cloudominium, she checked her mailbox. "Bills, newspaper.." Rainbow Dash listed out, bemused. But as she reached the last letter, she saw the Wonderbolts symbol on it. She gasped. "NO WAY." She had a grin so wide, it was making her face hurt. But she didn't care. Pain could wait their damn turn. She ripped open the envelope, and read the letter inside. Dear Rainbow Dash, You have been called back to the Wonderbolt compound to partake in the recruit tryouts. It's in a week. We hope to see you there, and we hope you pass the tryouts. The tryouts are three days long. We will be testing your aerial tricks, speed and much more. Please arrive there before 3:00 PM. Sincerely, Captain Spitfire Dash was about to explode, Pinkie Pie style. But there was no way she wouldn't tell her friends. She wanted to tell them all, and say her goodbyes. She was so ecstatic that it only took her seconds to go to each of her friends' houses and tell them to meet up near her cloudominium. After a while, she found that all her friends were all assembled. "Hey, guys!" She greeted them with total enthusiasm. "Hi, Rainbow Dash." Twilight smiled. "What's the news?" "Well..." Dash flew in small circles. She stopped and faced them after 5 loops. "The Wonderbolts are having recruit tryouts, and I've been called back to join the tryouts!" Her wings flapped furiously in excitement, making a soft buzz. Everyone was silent for a small moment. Pinkie Pie was the first to recover. "How long are they?" She questioned while swaying back and forth. "Three days." Pinkie's coat color went several shades darker. "Even longer if I get accepted, though." Pinkie's mane deflated. Her eyes started getting teary, but she was holding it back. Dash noticed Pinkie's appearance. She smiled with concern. She flew over to Pinkie and patted her back. She looked at all her friends. "However," She put her hooves on her hips. "I'll still be visiting you guys every now and then." Pinkie's mane and coat went back to normal in half a heartbeat. She gasped and held her breath in for 5 seconds. Once she exhaled, she tackled Dash and hugged her tightly. "I'll miss you so so so so so so so so so so much!" Pinkie fired the words out quickly. Dash squirmed out of Pinkie's grasp. "Me too. I'll write to you guys too, when I can." Dash sighed. "Well, I gotta tell Scoots now. I'll see you later!" Dash kicked off the ground and started to search for the orange filly crusader. As the door closed on Spitfire's office, Soarin and Fleetfoot gave very loud sighs. Spitfire glanced at them both. "You were that scared?" "Hell, she's already a military by herself!" Soarin winced. Fleetfoot cringed. "Let's just hope none of them turn into Lightning Streak, or worse, get their balls smashed." Spitfire and Soarin glared at Fleetfoot with disapproval. "What?" Fleetfoot realized what she just said. "...Hey, it could happen!" -<[]>- A week later -<[]>- Dash was waiting for the train in Ponyville, and her friends were with her. They were all wishing her good luck and giving their goodbyes. "Do your best, Dashie!" Pinkie squealed. She was rapidly bouncing up and down, as if she were on a sugar buzz. Dash snickered. "Geez, Pinks. Calm down." "She can't." Rarity grimaced. "We were with her at the time. Some time after you left, she..." Rarity paused to find the right word. But she didn't have to. "She grabbed a bag of sugar and guzzled it all." Applejack tipped her hat down. She tried to imitate Pinkie's voice. "'Ah use it as a stress reliever!' She said." What was funny about the imitation was that it sounded like a squeaky Pinkie Pie with a farmer accent. Because of that, everyone was laughing really hard. Applejack shrugged. "Ah tried." The train whistle sounded out. "All aboard!" The conductor yelled. "Well, looks like I'm going. I'll see you guys soon." Dash smiled weakly. Everypony said goodbye one last time. The next thing she knew, Dash was sitting on one of the train seats. She sighed. There's no going back now, She thought.