//------------------------------//
// Training Camp 
// Story: Shards of Nightmare 
// by Stonedpony 
//------------------------------//

(warning some sexual content)


Training Camp



the rising sun was burning off the morning chill as Rainbow Dash raced through the clouds. Her smile still hadn't shown any sign of fading. Today was the day, today she would join the Wonderbolts. at least their training camp but after she aced that she would be the real thing. A real Wonderbolt. There was nothing that would stop her now, she was one of the best fliers in the world there was no way she would flunk out.
That self confidence never faltered as the large cloud airfield the Wonderbolt's were using as the training grounds grew closer. It was as flat on top as a cloud could be with only one structure, a large barracks with room for beds, a mess hall and even a class room. Rainbow Dash could see at least thirty pegasi flying around the cloud or exercising on the field. She landed and tossed her freshly washed mane out of her face. The sky blue mare set down her saddle bags and looked around. She could tell that these ponies were some serious fliers, nothing like the jokers she was use to flying with. 
A sonic boom followed by an other drew the attention of most of the ponies on the airfield to the air above. Rainbow Dash expected to see the Wonderbolts flying overhead. She quickly recognized the streaks of color were not any of the Wonderbolts, one was pink edged in blue fire, the other was light blue with a bolt of lightning along the center. Rainbow smirked and her wings buzzed excitedly, those two were racing. Her competitive side took over, without a second thought she crouched and leapt into the air. The blue mares powerful wings sent her rocketing into the air.
The air tried to hold Rainbow Dash back as she pulled in line with the other two, it was hard to see them smiling as the new challenger broke through the sound barrier to keep pace with them. The three pegasi rocketed through the air as they dipped, dove, and raced through the clouds in the sky. It was all their personal play ground. No rules, no boundaries, no fear just three pegasi doing what they love too do, pushing their limits.
The three were having a great time, but Rainbow Dash eventually decided it was time to show these two they couldn’t keep up. The blue mare flapped her wings all the harder pushing herself faster, a second sonic cone started to form around her for-hooves and face. The strange thing was that she wasn’t really pulling ahead of the other two, even as she burst through air barrier and the air was filled with the sound and color of a Sonic Rainboom two more booms joined it. The pegasi on the airfield below were impressed, it was hard enough to break the sound bearer but to do it twice was truly spectacular.
Rainbow Dash and her two opponents were in peek condition but they could only maintain this speed for so long. The air snapped around them as they slowed down aiming for the air field. At the right moment the three pegasus flared their wings and touched down on the fluffy cloud. “oh yeah.” Rainbow Dash hollered as she caught her breath. 
“that..was..awesome.” a blue mare with a slick back blond mane said between heavy breaths, her lighting bolt cutie mark showed she was responsible for the blue trail with the lightning bolt. She froze realizing that it was indeed Rainbow Dash they had joined the race. 
The other mare from the race was pink with a blue mane, she stomped her hoof her chest heaving from the exertion. “damn, you two are some of the fastest mares I’ve ever raced.” her thick Manehattan accent made her sound upset but her smile showed she most definitely not.
Before the three mares could say anything more the air was shattered by about a dozen overlapping sonic booms. Many of the ponies covered their ears as they looked up. With astonishing ease the four Wonderbolts flipped over rolled back upright as they slowed down to a safe landing speed just before they touched down in front of recruits. Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot and Dafter looked over the potential Wonderbolts in front of them. They were trying to hide their smiles, they had too earn their place after all. Most if not all of these young ponies will have their hearts broken in the next mouth or two.
“OKAY!” Spitfire barked at the pegasi not in a Wonderbolts suit “i know all of you think your hot stuff.” she looked at the scattered faces as they nodded. “Well you ain’t nothing till we tell you, you are something.”
the leader of the Wonderbolts was cut off by a pony slamming into cloud followed by at least two sharp snaps. This new comer must have been traveling at supersonic speeds. The fiery yellow mare tossed her head to get her long orange mane out of her face. She smiled as bright as the little crystal necklace she wore. Her eyes burned with a passion that marched her cutie mark, a burning star.
Spitfire was about to speck but the new comer spoke up “Names Star, Ma'am. And I just have to say I’m your biggest fan.” she smiled and bowed to the obviously confused leader of the Wonderbolts. The other three Wonberbolts looked too Spitfire wondering what was going on.
It took Spitfire a moment to recover “okay recruits thanks to this little lady here you all going to do wing ups till I'm tired of watching you do them.” she wasn’t going to enjoy the training camp this year “NOW LINE UP!” the pegasi scrambled to do as told, many ran in circles and into each other, a few stood confused in place, most of them yelled incoherently. Rainbow Dash and the two mares she had raced were some of the few that didn’t panic, they lined up and stood at attention waiting for the rest of the trainees to do the same.
The four Wonderbolts looked at each other and rolled there eyes. Civilian ponies do get confused easily especially when yelled at. Once Spitfire grew tired of waiting for the ponies to get into line she turned to Drafter, the newest member of the team, and nodded to the scrambling ponies. He saluted and jumped into the fray and started to herd the recruits into perfect lines, it took a little longer then he had hoped. The young Wonberbolt then instructed the group through about 50 wing ups, yelling at any who he felt needed it.
Rainbow Dash pushed herself up using only her wings with her for-hooves crossed behind her head, just like she had done countless times. This was easy. As sweat started to roll down her face the pink mare to Rainbow Dash's left the same one she raced earlier whispered “hey, names Firefly.” Rainbow introduced herself  but Firefly smiled and replied “already knew that.”
“Lightning Dust.” the lighter blue mare on the other side of Rainbow Dash added.
However before the three could talk more Drafter was on them like any good drill instructor “do you have something to say recruit!” he yelled at Firefly. 
“no.” Firefly replied as she held herself up with her wings.
“did I tell you to stop.”
“no.” Firefly growled, she hated being yelled at. She gritted her teeth as she got back into pace with the other Wonderbolt recruits.
Rainbow Dash made the unfortunate mistake of watching the whole thing, and Drafter noticed it. He took a few steps over and stared down at her “What are you looking at recruit.” the blue mare then made an even worse mistake by not replying immediately “I’m talking to you recruit.”
“nothing.” Rainbow Dash yelled as she pushed herself up again, her wings like many others were starting to burn.
“I'll let that slide this time.” Drafter said as he stood straighter “better not let me catch you again. Eyes front!” he trotted away forcing himself to not smile, this was kind of fun.
Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust made eye contact thinking Drafter wasn’t looking the blond maned mare mouthed “Damn” but Rainbow Dash eyes jumped straight ahead. “shit” Lightning Dust mouthed as she slowly turned to come eye to eye with Drafter. She braced herself for a sever tongue lashing but Soarin saved her by yelling for them to all stop. Drafter turned his attention from Lightning Dust to Spitfire, she motioned for him join them at the front. He didn’t need to be told twice and her fluttered over to his leader.
Spitfire looked at the pegasi before her “So you all want to fly with the Wonderbolts.” she chuckled “you ain’t ready.” she locked eyes with a few of the ponies she knew, Rainbow Dash was one of them. “most of you have shown you're pretty good flying on your own, but flying in a team is different. When you're flying alone you and you mess up you just hurt yourself, but if you mess up in a team you get your Team hurt.” she affixed many more ponies with her fiery gaze. “so over the next few weeks we're not only going to teach you how to fly, and not just how to fly in a group, but how to truly fly as a team.” she looked around at them all and smiled “I'll be your head instructor and I'll have the final say if you flunk out, keep in mind every things a test. Most of you will fail, so keep in mind your not a Wonderbolt yet. The Wonderbolts are the best and you got to prove your the best.” she smiled “Are you ready to prove your the best?!” the leader bellowed, she waited a moment and yelled for the recruits too respond. This time the recruits responded with a resounding yes. Spitfire explained a few points that the recruits would need to know, things like meal times, bunk time, how she and the other drill instructors expected them to behave, and the fact that they would not get any free time. It was all her attempt to drive home to the ponies they were in boot camp.
Soarin, FleetFoot and Drafter split up the perspective Wonderbolts into three groups and lead them to the barracks to pick their bunks and put their luggage till that night. Rainbow Dash was glad she was in the same group as Firefly and Lightning Dust for all the good it did. The three never really got a chance to talk as every pony put their bags on a bunk Soarin immediately took the near dozen ponies he was training for a short jog then a longer flight. The other instructors were putting their own groups through similar exercises.
Everything was done under the watchful eyes of Spitfire. She took notes just like her predecessors had done before her. Although the ponies changed with the times the traditions and rules don’t. Any weakness of any sort would not be tolerate in the ranks of the Wonderbolts, even if their main job was to entertain they were still a unit of the royal guard. an elite one in fact and the Wonderbolts would take nothing less then perfection. They worked hard to be perfect and they played hard to recover from it.
The first day of training was filled with exercises. Jogging, flying, sit ups, push ups, flying, wing ups, jumping jacks, more flying and just about any cardio exercises the Wonderbolts and their research personnel had determined were essential to training. There was only one pony kicked out this day, a mare tripped during one of her groups jogs causing the ponies behind her all collided as they tried not to trample her. Fleetfoot yanked her out of the line explained that if something like that happens in a show she could really hurt somepony. Spitfire flew over and dismissed the fallen mare. As tears welled up in her eyes Fleetfoot wished the mare luck for the next time with a whisper, before leaving her behind and leading the remainder of her troop through another lap of the airfield on hoof before they took flight for a dozen more laps. 
Around noon the recruits were given their lunch break, and then measures for leotards followed by a lesson on formation flying. After the lesson the three groups split up for more exercises. Soarin had his group do some sit ups for the second time today. He trotted through the rows of his recruits, the stallion would occasionally stop and tell a trainee how they should be doing their sit ups. he stopped at one familiar blue mare with a multicolored mane. Soarin tried to hide his grin as he looked at her, Rainbow Dash met his eyes in the brief moments of rest between sit ups. The mare was a little too preoccupied to think much of it. Lightning Dust, however noticed it as Spitfire called Soarin's name. The stallion lowered his ears as he tried to avoid a scolding, luckily all he got was a stern look.
The day ended with the trainees settling into their bunks after a nice hearty dinner. The barracks were a large open area with enough bunks to sleep about forty ponies. By the foot of each bunk were a couple of floor chests for the ponies to put their personal possessions in. the Wonderbolts themselves weren’t going to stay at the camp, they had other things to do at night other then to watch their over worked recruits sleep. They were celebrities after all. The job of watching over the recruits was for a couple of security guards. a cook, a doctor and a couple of workers all had their own rooms in the building if they decided to spend the night instead of flying home.
Rainbow Dash was glade to have only brought a picture of tank, a picture of her friends, a mane brush, and a few personal hygiene produce, so she could climb into her bunk that much quicker. She had chosen the top while Lightning Dust claimed the bunk under her, Firefly took the top bunk next to Rainbow Dash's. None of the recruits had been this tired in a long time. As Rainbow Dash was about to drift off to sleep, Lightning Dust's slick blond mane slowly rose over the edge of her bed. The pale blue pegasus was smiling from ear to ear. “What?” Rainbow Dash asked feeling unconformable, maybe she didn’t want to be friends with this mare.
“Soarin likes you.” Lightning Dust said with a tired giggle. The mare's legs were so tired they could barely hold her up.
“what?” Rainbow Dash said pushing herself up from her new pillow a little.
“yeah girl, he was totally checking you out early.” Lightning Dust replied swaying her tail back and forth “girl, he wants you.”
“no he wasn’t.” Rainbow Dash giggled and blushed “well.” she looked down at her sore body and and spread her wings, they made a sound akin to creaking wood.
Rainbow Dash was about to contradict her when Firefly called “Hey.” from under the covers of her bunk “if you don’t want him I'll take him.” the Manehattan mare poked her face out from under her blanket with a smile across it.
“who said he'd even look your way when I'm around.” Lightning Dust interjected shaking her flank a little to emphasize her point.
“ha ha.” Firefly sarcastic mocked finally moving out from under the blankets. “when I go to the clubs. I loose track of the number of stallions trying to ask me out.” Rainbow Dash and lightning Dust giggled as the pink mare added “and hell I get more then a fare share of mares asking me out, too bad for them I don’t swing that way.” 
Rainbow Dash giggled and looked at the two, maybe they would be friends after all. “well you too don’t stand a chance with him any way.” she smiled slightly “he and I already danced together at Captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadence’s wedding.”
lightning Dust gasped with wide eyes as plates while Firefly exclaimed “Bitch please, your lying.” 
“nope.” the rainbow maned mare replied seeing that the pink mare from Manehattan was not mad as she sounded, it was just her way of talking. 
“hey!” a voice called form the other side of the room. Rainbow Dash, Firefly and Lightning Dust looked over to see that it was that mare Star siting up in her bed glaring at them “you three are so slow you could only attract dust, and so loud nopony can sleep.”
an angry shiver ran down the three mares spines as they glared at the orange mane antagonist. “no pony can sleep because your yelling across the room bitch.” Firefly shot back. She as already wanting a fight.
“Firefly leave it.” Rainbow Dash said “well show her tomorrow, Soarin said we'd be doing time trials.” 
“yeah.” lightning Dust said dropped to all four her again her wings shaking a little as she held them out wide. 
“Rainbow Dash is right.” Firefly said laying back down into her bunk. “well show that slut tomorrow.” she reached out a hoof and Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust slammed theirs into hers making a loud clop. Lightning Dust stuck her tongue out at Star before she slipped into her bunk. Star yawned a taunt before laying down and dozing off like the rest of the trainees.
The next day after a morning jog, a short flight, some stretches, and a nice hearty breakfast the Wonderbolts recruits were lined up at the edge of the cloud. The three Wonderbolt instructor were standing at attention in front of their charges. Spitfire hoovered in front of them with a clip board under her foreleg and a stop watch around her neck, like always she was wearing her brown flight jacket.
“Today's we're going to have some fun.” Spitfire yelled with a smile “your instructor should have told you that today is the first set of time trials. Now I'm not going to go over all the fine details but I will mention the most important things again.” she affixed all her potential team mates with fiery eyes. “if your too slow you will fail. If hit you hit too many clouds you will fail. If you don’t hit the bulls eye you fail. If you fail, well that’s it, better luck next time.” she smiled and looked around again at all the worried faces, “if you have a question. ask it now, this is one of the few times you wont get kicked out for asking.” she was kidding about getting kicked out for asking questions, but that was the fun of it.
one stallion in the middle of Fleetfoot group raised a hoof. Spitfire nodded and told him to ask his question “what time do we have to meet to pass.” all of the pegasus recruits waited anxiously to hear the answer.
The leader of the Wonberbolts smirked, she suppressed most of her sarcastic response. “well I did say it was going to be fun.” she smiled and nodded slowly “a Wonderbolt would know the answer.” that was the only hint they needed, most guessed correctly that meant at least the slowest of them would be kicked out.
The course was meant to test not only the trainees top speed but how hard and fast they could corner. It started with a half mile sprint out to a series of about a dozen numbered cloud rings before diving down to a second set of rings another quarter mile below. The last set of rings was high above the air field after those final twelve rings the trainee would dive down and land on a target set up on the center of the airfield.
Fleetfoot's group started off the trials, the first few pegasi did the course with out incident and each posted respectable times around two and a half minutes. Then there was a sting of heartbreak, first a yellow Stallion missed the bulls eye at the end with two hooves even his time of two minutes nineteen seconds, the fastest so far, didn't save him. Another Stallion's wing cut through one of the cloud rings sending him out of control into another, he recovered in time for Spitfire to call out that he had failed. A third pony failed by getting a time of two minuets and fifty seven seconds, the mare tried not to cry as she galloped to the barracks. To her credit she wasn’t loud as she left. Finally a stallion clipped a cloud ring with his for hooves and flipped end over end and hit another ring, he didn’t even wait to hear his judgment, he just flew away bawling.
The rest of Fleetfoot's group went and only two more were lost, but the point was driven home. The threat of expulsion was very real, the Wonderbolts tried their best to be stone faced. Right now wasn’t the time for encouragement or teaching, this was the time for testing, for timing the fat so to speck. They all went through training a couple of times, only Spitfire hadn't gone through the training more then once.
Soon it was Soarin's groups turn, the Stallion was very cross with first pony to go. He had been boasting that he had the best picks of the ponies, only for the first pony of his group to not only be too slow but missed the target area by full pony length. Of course none of the recruits had heard any of their instructor boasts but they heard every word of his anger, he told them if anypony else failed they wouldn’t be coming back. He was lying but the trainees didn’t know that, plus it motivated them to do better. The next few recruits posted very good times, all around two twenty five.
Finally Rainbow Dash's turn came around, her heart was beating hard and fast. She was nervous but doing her best to hid it. Her wings buzzed as she took her place on the starting line. She took a deep breath as Soarin whispered “show them your boom.” the mare glanced at her instructor he was trying not to smile as he found his place beside the starting line. A smile graced Rainbow's face, her nerves were under control now. 
Spitfire called “go.” and Rainbow was off. Within seconds she felt the air trying to hold her back, but she refused to let it and broke through surpassing the speed of sound like always it was accompanied by a spectacular flash of color. In the blink of an eye she had traveled the whole half mile distance the first ring. The air snapped around her as she slowed down for the hard right to the next ring. The blood rushed away from her head as she pulled up and over the second ring and accelerated through the third ring. A snap roll and another hard turn right through the center of the third ring. 
Rainbow Dash didn’t miss a ring, each wing beat was perfect. She knew she had to do everything right, but she felt herself slowing down with each turn. She tried to keep up her speed but the turns were just too tight, she had to make up for the time on the straights. She did just that as she past through the 12th ring, she kicked her rear up and dove as hard as she could. The air was shattered twice with her distinctive rainbow shock way, a few pegasi workers hurried over to keep the rings in place. The air snapped around her as Rainbow Dash slowed for the turns. Again she was having trouble maintaining her trade mark speed in tight turns. She almost lost it twice in the second set of rings, but it didn’t slow her down or even shake her confidence. 
The air shattered twice more as she shot up toward the final set of rings, an impressive feet to break the sound barrier while climbing but astonishing to do it twice. She passed through the first ring but wasn't able too slow down in time for the second ring, the air snapped as she stop and reorientated herself. She was determined too make up the time. The air popped as she accelerated through the remainder of the rings. She broke through the sound barrier again as she exited the last ring aimed for the target on the airfield. The massive cloud construction shook as Rainbow Dash slammed into the target at supersonic speed. It was a perfect bull eyes.
The Wonderbolts leader nodded as she looked from Rainbow Dash to the stop watch. “Damn so close to a new first time record.” Spitfire said trying to hold back her sad smile. She wished she didn’t know what she knew “although you hit the airfield a little too hard.” Rainbow Dash's heart skipped a beat and her ears hanging low, Spitfire always told the ponies that failed what they did wrong before failing them “but we don't fail you for that.” the blue mare's face lite up as Spitfire called out “two minutes on the dot.” the blue Pegasus jumped in the air yelling with glee. The other trainees cheered for her, some felt lucky just to have seen that. The institutors let the merriment last for a moment longer before getting them back under control.
Firefly was up next, her heart was in her throat. After such a display she had her work cut out for her to match it. On go the pink mare form Manehattan was off like a bullet. The air shattered as she broke the sound barrier. She tried to do it again before she had to slow down, that was a mistake that almost cost her. She over shot the turn for the second ring, she stopped before hitting the sixth ring in front of her. Her pink wings flapped as hard and fast as she could to get herself back on track. She zipped through the rest of the clouds rings she had to make up time. She doubled the speed sound in her dive to the second set of rings, again she missed her moment to slow down. She lost precious seconds getting back in the grove for this set of rings. She was determined to make up time in the climb and the next set of rings, but again she made the same mistake and didn't slow down for the turns. Fortunately she was skilled, or lucky, enough to beadle to compensate for the mistake. Firefly made it through the rest of the rings growling the whole time. Moments later she hit the bulls-eye cursing loudly, she thought she had failed. Spitfire however simply called out her time of two minutes ten seconds the second best time of the day. 
Rainbow Dash wanted to give Firefly a hoof bump but a display like that would just earn them the wrath of their instructor. Lightning Dust was up next she looked confident but it was a front, she felt like throwing up. She took a deep breath at the starting line, this was it she had to show her stuff. Just like the two before her, she was off like flash of lightning, although her shaky confidences kept her from going much beyond the first sound barrier. She slowed enough to make the turns but with each turn her confidence grew and with her confidence so did her speed. However she never dared to break the sound barrier twice till the final straight, the speed did throw off her aim a bit she didn’t hit bull eyes perfectly. One hoof wasn’t on target but that wasn’t enough to fail. She posted the second fastest time of the day, Two minutes and seven seconds.
Those three didn’t know it but they were the favorites to make it through the training. Three more ponies failed for veracious reasons after them but Soarin wasn’t as angry now. Finally it was Drafters group's turn, the leader of the Wonderbolts knew that their was a surprise in store for everypony. Eventually after about five pegasi, the orange mare Star trotted over to the starting line with her wings and head held high, she snapped her tail as she crouched. all signs of her true confidence.
On go Star's body flashed with light for a moment and she was a full pony length in the air and accelerating. The air burst several times and snapped again as she darted through the cloud rings flashing each time, she seemed to gain speed with each turn. The orange mare made short work of the first set of rings. She was going so fast even her sonic shock waves weren’t keeping up with her. She made short work of the second and third sets of rings. The mare landed dead center of the target to the complete astonishment of the on lookers, she was going so fast that the world couldn't keep up, several seconds later the cloud reacted to her impacted. Spitfire stared at Star for a little bit before saying “new first time record, one minute and fifty eight seconds.” she didn’t seem happy about that, probably because her record of one fifty nine just fell. Star trotted back to her place in line with her head, wings and tail held high. She made no attempt to look like she didn’t think she was better then anypony there, it was very off putting. Sadly two more ponies failed the course before the end, if they were really that unskilled or if they were just thrown off by the acts they had to follow would remain to be seen.
Spitfire looked at the much smaller group of hopeful pegasi. “take a break get something to drink. We're going for a long flight before lunch.” she smiled “you’ll have to keep up with me this time.” a couple of the ponies gulped down their fear, Spitfire was known to run even the real Wonderbolts ragged when she took them flying. The trainees split up, heading to their bunks or the mess hall, a few made their way to the restrooms.
Rainbow Dash, Firefly and Lightning Dust trotted over to a vending machine to get some cold, fruit flavored, sports drinks. The three new friends happily and excitedly talked about their times in the course and offered advice to each other for improving them, although the way Lightning Dust put her constructive criticism was a little grating. However their mirth cut short by Star trotting up to machine to get her own drink and the fact she just couldn’t keep her mouth shut “see, I told you couldn’t keep up with me.” she smiled smugly. 
Rainbow Dash felt her wings flare and the angry shiver roll up her spine. She saw the same in Firefly but to an even worse degree, the pink, Manehattan mare was about to pummel their antagonist. Rainbow put a hoof on Firefly's shoulder, a fight would get them kicked out. Lightning Dust however had words, hoping to defuse the situation, “hey the four of us posted the fastest times of the day. we all have something to be proud of.”
Star laughed obnoxiously covering her mouth with a hoof “oh my, your proud to be third.” she smiled at at Firefly “although I guess its better then fourth.” the Manehattan mare tried to jump at Star but Rainbow held her back telling her it was okay “oh come on Rainbow, I didn’t think you would be okay with Second Place and Second Best.” every word from Star's mouth stung Rainbow Dash like a scorpion sting.
“I’m not.” Dash growled, she wanted to pound the orange mare now. She had to keep telling herself it wouldn’t do anything good, a Fight would just get her kicked out, a bad enough one would get her arrested.  
“well good.” Star smiled stepping closer to Rainbow Dash “it wouldn’t be fun if I didn’t get the chance to prove you wrong.” the blue Pegasus could feel Star's breath on her nose. 
“is there a problem here?” Spitfire said eying the orange mare.
“no.” Star said with a smile “just the top four fliers having a friendly discussion.”
Spitfire wasn’t convinced as she looked at Rainbow Dash and Firefly “that true?”
“yeah.” the two angry mares answered. They and Lightning Dust were determined to prove they were better then Star, more then ever. 
The next few days were filled with test and trails, but only a few lessons. Firefly, Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust continually made top times and scores but somehow Star topped them each time. The four barely noticed as the number of hopeful pegasi dwindled down to twelve. Spitfire seemed pleased with the number, it was time for training and teaching. Those that took too it would stay, those that didn’t would be sent home. 
By now most of the dozen remaining ponies were feeling homesick, Rainbow Dash was no exception. Luckily for the recruits that Friday was mail call. Almost everypony got a letter from home, tears were shed as they thought about the ponies that were waiting for them to return triumphantly wearing the colors of the Wonderbolts. It felt good to hear from their friends and family. Rainbow Dash was sure that Pinkie Pie had something to do with plump pink envelop that was delivered to her. The element of loyalty was right, as soon as she started to tare the flap it burst open with the sound of a party kazoo and noise makers as it showered Rainbow Dash with streamers and glitter. 
Rainbow Dash smiled as she shook the sparkling stuff from her mane and pulled the letter from from the envelop. The mare's smile grew as read the letter, all of her friends had a hoof in writing it. The multiple colors hinted at who wrought it. Each of her friends expressed their love and encouragement in their own way, they all mentioned they were proud of her and no matter what happened they would still be proud of her and love her. Twilight added a PS telling her not to get distracted by being so close to Soarin. 
Rainbow Dash blushed as she mumbled “i don’t have a crush on Soarin.” Lightning Dust giggled as she slowly stood up to smile at the rainbow maned mare, she had already finished reading her letter from her parents, and had wiped away the tears. Rainbow Dash smiled and giggled as she pushed Lightning Dust down saying “damn it, girl you are so creepy.”
Lightning Dust giggled “i heard you saying something about Soarin, sooo I just had to see.”
“See what?”
“you turning redder then that lighting bolt on your butt.” Lightning Dust giggled before daftly dodging a playful swipe from Rainbow Dash, RD was still blushing.
Star was strangely silent so far this day, she just seemed to watch the sky outside the window near her bunk. Suddenly Firefly and a couple of Wonderbolt recruits burst in through the front door. The pink mare slid across the tile to stop next to Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash. “hey girls this is awesome?”
“what?” both her friends asked.
“you know how they said yesterday we're all going to be divided into teams of three from now on?” her friends nodded happily hoping she was about to say what they thought she was getting at. “we're on the same team.” all three mare's released excited sequels. “and and even better Spitfire is our instructor.”
“you know Spitfire is going to be the toughest on you.” Star called from across the room “she probably chose you lot, cause your such sloppy fliers. She hopping she can just fail you and have sometime off.”
“you know, Star, with all this trash talk you keep throwing at us. some would think your worried we're better then you.” Rainbow Dash said, as she hoped out of her bed to stand her ground against Star's insults. 
“you know, RD, you may be right.” Firefly said nodding.
“yeah.” Lightning Dust added.
Star started to laugh as she rolled out of her own bed and trotted over to the three “that be a good thought if I hadn't proved time and again I'm better then all three of ya, Combined, but you know what? I’ll just let the numbers do the talking.” she smiled and turned away planing on heading out checking on whose team she was on.
“it seems to me you let your mouth do a lot of talking.” Firefly scoffed.
Rainbow smiled slyly “and that’s coming from a Manehattan mare, talking's one of the things they do best.”
“they differently talk better then they fly.” Star shot back as she left.
“Damn it.” Rainbow Dash cursed realizing Star just got the last word. Firefly glared at her friend, annoyed that she had set her up so good. Lightning Dust just bucked the air wishing they could just once get the upper hoof on Star in something.
Even though Rainbow Dash and her two new friends were confident in their abilities and that Star was lying, it sure felt like Spitfire was trying to break them. They didn’t know she was in fact and that all three of them were overcoming every challenge she gave them. It was getting harder and harder to stomach what she had to do knowing that she could loose all three of these great fliers because of it. The other instructors were following Spitfire's lead and working their groups hard. The number of recruits dwindled down to nearly half in just a couple of days. Soarin started to make less appearances around the camp once all his trainees had failed, Rainbow Dash was a little disappointed by it. Although she would never admit it.
After a week of training, and lessons it was time for another big test. Spitfire stared at her three trainees as she explained what she expected from them. “tomorrow you three are going to preform together in an airshow. Myself, Soarin, Fleetfoot and Drafter will be your judges.” Spitfire turned and began pacing in front of them. “you've shown you can the fly better then the best, but now you got to put on a show AS a team and you only got a day to plan and for practice it.” she stopped and looked at each of the three mares. “i want to know that you’ll be able to add to the group, not only by being good fliers, but with your creativity.” she started pacing again looked up at the sky “now you three need to work together better then you have ever done before.” Spitfire turned and trotted away “now get to work!”
Rainbow Dash, Firefly and Lightning Dust decided too make their plans in the shade of the barracks. Firefly balanced a pencil on her nose and asked “so you two got any ideas?” 
“well we got to be fast, precise and uhh.” Lightning Dust lost her train of thought as Soarin trotted by. Rainbow Dash's tail twitched as she looked over at him and waved awkwardly. The light blue stallion winked at the three mares and gave RD a small wing wave in return. he continued about his business, and after a few jokes Rainbow Dash's expense the mares got back to their own.
“any way where were we.” Rainbow Dash said trying to shake the blush from her cheeks.
“um trying to come up with ideas for a show?” Firefly said dropping the pencil she had on her nose, she idly replaced it.
“yeah.” Lightning Dust added with a nod, but she still didn’t have anything.
“how about we start out with a supersonic cross entry.” Rainbow Dash suggested, “where we come flying at each other and cross paths over head of the judges, with the colors of our contrails it would make a pretty cool design.”
Firefly flipped the pencil into her teeth and wrought down the idea “yeah and we should time it so we break the sound barrier at the same time. It would sound really cool.” Firefly added.
“well that could be a problem with how much slower you are, Firefly, then Dash and me.” Lightning Dust said looking at the pink mare.
“WHAT!?” Firefly growled “what the hell do you mean by that?”
“well.” Lightning Dust replied looking away “don’t you remember all the test you always on the edge of screwing up.”
before Rainbow Dash could say anything Firefly growled “watch it you feather brained, sorry, excuse for a show pony the only edge I’m about to go over is the one where I pound your bitch face in.”
the tension had been building between the two friends for a while now, Lightning Dust had a habit of saying things the wrong way. however Firefly did have a big chip on her shoulder at times, even if somepony was trying to give her constructive criticism she took it as a personal insult. Today Lightning Dust for some reason just decided to make the situation worse by saying “its only the truth girl.” 
“the only truth is that I’m tired of you, bitch.” Firefly shot back her wings spread wide. maybe it was the tension between them maybe it was the stress of the training maybe it was something else entirely but Lightning Dust stepped forward, her wings spread. The air seemed to be thick with static and emotion.
Rainbow Dash jumped to action she put herself between the two and pushed them apart saying “will you two relax.” she stood between them her wings held high  “whats gotten into you two.” she shook her head “wait I don’t care cause we're dropping it right here. Lightning Dust you need to watch what you say, hell didn’t we talk about this already? remember when you made Curly Cloud cry while trying to make him feel better?” Lightning Dust nodded looking away. Rainbow turned around and looked at the fuming Firefly to say “AND YOU, you got to stop jumping down every ponies throat when they tells you what you did wrong. Most of the time were trying to help.” Firefly looked away and snorted, she glanced back at Rainbow Dash with sad eyes. “we all good now?” the others tried to not look at each other as they nodded. “hey you two perk up.” Rainbow Dash smiled as she held out her hoof. “we're not only going to blow the horseshoes off the judges, but we're going make Star and her team look like a bunch low class amateurs. then that dream we all had since we were fillies will be ours.” her smile was infectious and Firefly and Lightning Dust beamed as they put their hooves together with Rainbow's. Together as one the three of them called out “lets do this.”

  *          *         *

Spitfire, Drafter, Soarin and Fleet Foot sat in some cloud chairs, all had note pads and pens. They were waiting for Rainbow Dash, Firefly and Lightning Dust too start their show. The three just needed to set some clouds up for it. Rainbow Dash was right about it only taking 'ten seconds flat.'
The first hint the Wonderbolts got that the trainees had started was a distant dull roar, a few seconds passed and three streaks crossed over head. A vibrant rainbow trail cut through the air and crossed with a bright pink trail ablaze with blue flames and a blue streak with lightning coursing through it. A few seconds later they were followed by the ear drum shattering sound of three near perfectly synced sonic booms and the dazzling display of the spectrum of light being broken. A moment later another set of booms hit the four Wonderbolts. They hide their smiles in case the recruits were watching, this was looking pretty good so far.
Rainbow Dash counted to ten before she pulled up hard. The tendons in her wings almost screamed in pain, just like every time a pegasus makes a hard maneuver at high speed. She gave a quick prayer about timing to any deity that would listen. Her heart sank a little when a she realized that she had counted one beat too slowly. Luckily thought she could get back in time. Rainbow increased her air speed a bit and she should be back in time. Hopefully she would be able to slow down enough to make trough the rest of the maneuvers. 
Firefly growled aloud as she rolled into a corkscrew. Lightning dust did the same as she approached her partner. Their unique trails created a impressive phenomenon in the sky when Rainbow Dash tied a bow around the whole thing with her multicolored contrail.
The three slowed down to subsonic speed with near perfect timing and allowed the air to lose their colors. They joined together above the center field and flew straight up with their for-hooves together. Once they were in position above where they had place the clouds they gently pushed away from each other aiming for the first of the clouds. The three mares let gravity propel them down towards the airfield below, their wings flat against their sides.
On the same beat of their hearts the three recruits hit the first set of the clouds, and jumped off. They hooked their hooves as they met in the air the momentum spun them around and flung themselves at the next clouds in the stack. The three stunt fliers used the cloud as springboards to launch themselves at a cloud about a 15 feet behind the first. The three pegasi hit the cloud and jumped down to another cloud and in the same fluid motion they jump back to the open air aiming for each other. Their timing was almost perfect, their aim was just about perfect too. 
The sound of their horse shoes echoed around the airfield as Rainbow Dash, Firefly and Lightning Dust floated in the air for a moment their wings still flat against their sides. Their smiles almost touched before they pushed off and fell towards their next target, another set of clouds. They aimed for the last lone cloud just above the airstrip. The Wonderbolts watched their expressions hidden as the three hopefuls slammed into the last cloud their weight and momentum crushed it. The cloud turned dark as it was compressed too a third of the size, it rumbled for the few seconds before the three jumped off throwing their wings open. Lightning trailed form their hooves and struck the airfield and shot into he sky as the mares were shot off at high speed.
Spitfire did her best to keep the other Wonderbolts in check as Rainbow Dash, Firefly and Lightning Dust landed in front of them. “that was impressive.” Spitfire said “you three go take a break.” the three recruits saluted before turning and trotting away.
Once out of ear shot Lightning Dust almost exploded with excitement. “OH MY GOD GIRLS!” she bounced in front of her teammates. “we are so in, they were so impressed.”
“hell yeah.” Firefly replied as she looked from Lightning Dust to Rainbow Dash.
“i couldn’t have said it better.” Rainbow Dash laughed, like her friends her wings were stiff with excitement.
“holy crap I’m so excited I could just kiss you two.” Lightning Dust said while skipping around her friends.
“Save that for a party girl.” Firefly laughed as she tossed a bit in a drink machine.
Rainbow Dash looked between the two of them. “nice.” she giggled “too bad we aren’t allowed to go to any right now.”
“yeah.” Lightning Dust and Firefly agreed.
“ha.” Star's unmistakeable voice hit them, almost killing their mood. “you only get in trouble if you get caught.” the annoying mare was flanked by her three team mates, Fleet Foot had flunked most of her team by now so Drafter and Spitfire had played rock, paper, horseshoes to see who would take the extra recruit, then Spitfire pulled rank and made Drafter take him. “tonight my team and I were going to sneak out and hit up the clubs.”
“that’s against the rules.” Rainbow Dash replied, she felt dork saying that.
“yeah, if you get caught you'll be in lots of trouble.” Lightning Dust added.
Firefly trotted around to the other side of Rainbow Dash so she could see Star as she she added, “might even get kicked out.”
Star snorted and smiled “that’s why we're not getting caught.” her three team mates didn’t seem into taunting the other team so they headed toward the airfield, Star noticed and followed “but any way if you three are too chicken to join us its alright. Didn’t want a triplet of virgins ruining the night any way.”
“Chickens.” Lightning Dust growled.
“Virgins.” Firefly shook as she spat the word.
“Virgin chickens.” Rainbow Dash jumped in the air her wings buzzing. 
Star stopped with a smile on her face and turned to face the three mares, it's like she was hopping for this. “well...you are.” she giggled covering her mouth “at least I haven’t seen anything to the contrary.”
Rainbow Dash landed with her nose inches from Star's, Firefly was at her friends side Lightning Dust was just behind them trying to figure out how to stop the coming fight, “we are not Chickens!” Rainbow Dash said as calmly as she could, “the other thing, I can’t speak for my team on, but I know I ain’t.”
“prove it.” Star taunted, as her team watched and waited ready to back her up if need.
Rainbow Dash blushed before shaking the dirty thought from her head and answering “we'll sneak out with ya and party harder then you ever hope too.”
“sure you will.” Star replied as her team hurried her along.
Rainbow Dash and her team returned to barracks. “what the hell were you thinking?” Lightning Dust asked as the three sat down. “we are going to get in so much trouble, if we get caught.”
“you don’t have to come.” Firefly said as she drank her sports drink “as long as you don’t rat us out.” Rainbow Dash nodded eying their team mate.
“i would never tell on you two.” Lightning Dust replied taken back “and I’m going with ya.” she smiled “somepony needs to keep an eye on you two.” she smiled and nudged Firefly with her elbow.
Rainbow Dash giggled “a light weight like you keep an eye on us? That's cute,” she grinned and poked Lightning Dust in the ribs “but we'll hold your mane when your praying to the porcelain throne.”
Lightning Dust gasped in sarcastically over exaggerated appreciation “oh will you, really?” she giggled and the rest of her team joined her. The three mares kept an eye out for anypony else as they talk excitedly about going out this night. They all expected that the parties they would once they were Wonderbolts would be ten times better. 
About 20 minutes later Star and her team returned to the barracks panting but triumphant, they had apparently impressed the Wonderbolts as well. Spitfire decided to reword the recruits. First by giving them ice cream sandwich at lunch that day. The second was a long flight, however ether the recruits were getting stronger or Spitfire was going easy on them cause it didn’t feel as hard as it usually did, nor did the ground exercises afterwords. When the training was done for the day the recruits were ready for more, just not the kind of stuff their teachers expected or maybe they did.
Celestia had lowered the sun about an hour before when the Wonderbolt trainees slipped out of their beds. Star looked out the window to see if there was anypony patrolling the field, she smiled like she knew their wouldn’t be. Rainbow Dash and Firefly fluttered into the short hallway that led outside, they quietly checked the room where the workers slept. The three in their seemed to be fast asleep. The coast was clear, the trainees could sneak out unnoticed, and as long as they didn’t get back too late they wouldn't be found out.
Rainbow Dash and Firefly closed the door and giggled as the rest of the ponies joined them. None of them were really ponies that dressed up to go out, even if they were nopony brought anything too wear. Deodorant and a brushing would have to do. Firefly had a folding brush tucked away for later, as did Lightning Dust and one of the stallion's. Whispers started about what they were going to do as they took flight. The group decided to go to a club Star suggested known as Trotting Tones in Cloudsdale.
The seven ponies flew off into the cool night air. It was an hour long normal flight to Cloudsdale, the trainees made it in twenty minutes. The Wonberbolt recruits landed on one of the many crowded bridges that held the cloud city of Cloudsdale. It wasn’t like they had expected, the ponies didn’t part ways and fall over themselves trying just get a glimpses of the new Wonderbolts. If any of pedestrians reconsigned the trainees it was little more curiosity unworthy of investigating. Even Rainbow Dash only got a casual wave from a pegasus she knew from Ponyville that happened to be in the city.
It was a little disappointing but they weren’t Wonderbolts yet after all. Rainbow Dash found it a little odd, then again the only place she was received like a celebrity was in Bridle View. The blue mare shook the mood ruining thoughts from her head, to night was a night to party.
It was about three blocks to what the locals called, “Party Street.” The whole cloud block was filled with the rumble of many base lines and beats from nearly a dozen night clubs, ponies in various states of dress and impairment walked, stumbled or fluttered from club to club or off into the city. The club the Wonderbolt trainees were headed too was at the other end of the street. Like many of the night clubs Trotting Tones had a line outside. Rainbow Dash and the other trainees sighed and headed for the end of the line, Star however trotted straight for the large tan colored pegasus with a black shirt with the word 'security' printed across the front. The massive stallion looked down at the lithe orange pegasus mare that approached him with flirtatious eyes and pouting lips. Firefly had seen mare's do this before back home she smiled and called to the other trainees and nodded to the door.
It took only seconds to convect the bouncer to let the group of trainees in. many ponies in the line yelled and complained but Star told her fellow Wonderbolt recruits to ignore them. The night club was dark inside, lit only by a few multicolored neon lights. What could be seen was a sea of ponies moving to the music, dancing far to close to each other to be proper. Being pegasi the dance floor was of little use, with ponies moving to the music while fluttering in the air. The DJ worked his trade at the turn tables, he was good at what he did and the crowd seemed to liked it. The air was thick with many things to hear, feel and even smell. 
The energy in the place was great. A couple of the stallion trainees were quickly drawn into the dance floor to swim among the sea of mares. Firefly fluttered over to the bar and muscled her way in like any good Manehattan born mare would. Lightning Dust pulled Rainbow Dash into the air saying “come on lets go hunting.”
lastly Star was asked by the last of her team if she wanted to join him for a dance, Star smiled and with a giggle she pulled him into the crowd saying “bout time.” two weeks of flirting just may play off tonight.
Rainbow Dash wasn’t a prude she was known to go home with a stallion from a party, but that only happened once in a blue moon. She had as many lovers as she had limbs but only half that number were true one night stands, most of her relationships didn’t last for more the a couple mouths. Although it wasn’t uncommon for her still hook up with the single ones from time to time.
Like Lightning Dust, Rainbow Dash wasn’t looking for anything long term tonight, or so she thought. They were just looking some masculine company for the night, all though nether would be that picky, meaning it didn’t have to be somepony of the opposite sex to catch their eye. Firefly soon joined them with some rum and cokes. Those drinks didn’t last long as the three mars bounced from dance partner to dance partner, Coming together from time to time to enjoy their team mates midair dancing. After a short time Lightning Dust took her turn to buy the three friends drinks. A couple whiskey sours each and the girls were well on their ways to buzzed. 
It didn’t take long for Firefly to find a good looking stallion to dance with, being the pickiest of the three it remained to the seen if he would get anything more then a little close dancing and some kisses. Lightning Dust on the other hoof was currently dancing with three stallions and was thinking about sneaking off with one already, if not all three. Rainbow Dash, however hadn’t seen anypony that interested her. There had been this one mare that had peeked her interest but she was a little too promiscuous for her tastes, second she didn’t think it would be a good idea to sleep with her teammate.
Soon enough Rainbow Dash decided to get herself a hard apple cider, she hoped they had some from Sweet Apple Acres. The blue mare had to squeeze her way between a couple of ponies to get to the bar. Much to the mare's annoyance the two bartenders were busy with what seemed like everypony else. “ugh what the hell do I have to do to buy a damn drink.” 
“i was wondering the same thing.” the pale blue stallion next to Rainbow Dash commented.
“Yea-woo.” the crowd surged from some commotion at the other side of the bar and pushed Rainbow in to the pony next to her. The blue mare cursed as she lost her footing as she tried to push the drunk crowd off. A moment later somepony lifted the pony on her off enough that she could slip out of the pile of ponies, as they slowly, drunkenly untangled themselves. 
“you okay?” the pale blue pony asked as he help Rainbow Dash up. “Dash what are you doing here?”
the rainbow maned mare finally looked at him only to realize the pony that had come to her aid was none other then Soarin. “oh shit.” she said having a mini panic attack, she was so busted she thought.
Soarin however just chuckled knowing what she was thinking “don’t worry the recruits sneak out all the time.” he smiled the two returned to the bar to order some drinks. “my group did it almost every week, hell Spitfire says she did it every night.” he smiled at her as he retrieved his beer from the bar, he motioned for the bar tender to get Rainbow something.
“oh really.” Rainbow Dash replied as she asked for a hard apple cider, with Soarin acting so cool she was able to relax “so we're not going to get into trouble?”
“as long as you don’t make head lines.” Soarin answered with a smile. He looked around as Rainbow Dash got her cider. The stallion sighed as the DJ started to scratch the record and mix in other sounds and tunes, why did he agree to come out to a place like this. His friends should have known he wasn’t a fan of this kind of music, it wasn’t like those ticket for free drinks did much for him. He didn't really need help buying anything anyway and the overworked bartenders here didn't know him like his normal hangouts. He had still taken advantage of the free drinks most of the night so far, but he was bored. Maybe it was time for a change of scenery and company.
He looked over at Rainbow Dash again as she enjoyed her Sweet Apple Acres Cider. Her sleek curves and her adorable face combined with her attitude and how she was trying to hid her almost foal like enjoyment of her drink, it all was just irresistible. It was no secret that Soarin was attracted to Rainbow Dash, so despite the rules Soarin asked “hey, Dash, want to get out of this lame place?” the stallion threw on his winning smile “i know this awesome bar a few blocks from here. live music every night, I know the owner, so get in with no wait.” he grinned.
Rainbow Dash looked at Soarin her mouth hanging open with surprise. “you mean, you, and me?” this couldn’t be real, she didn’t believe it till Soarin nodded. “oh my gosh, oh my gosh this is awesome.” she squeaked. Her wings buzzed with excitement, but she had to act cool. Fan girls aren’t fun to hang out with. She took a deep breath and then a long drink of her Cinder trying to look sexy as she did. A shiver ran down her spin before she said “sure, this place is lame anyway.”
The two ponies finished their drinks and left together. Star smiled as she watched Soarin and Rainbow Dash trot out the door, everything was going to plan. Outside Rainbow Dash and Soarin talked and flirted as they walked down the street. With as often the two were at the same events they never had any time to actually get to know each other, this was a welcome change. the two shared stories of their exploits, Soarin told of his time in the guard and some things the Wonderbolts have done off the field. Rainbow Dash on the other hoof regaled the stallion with both stories of the bearers of harmony and her own adventures. They both enjoyed the whole walk, Soarin became more normal as they talked, her nerves disappeared. Though to the stallion Rainbow Dash became all the more perfect.
Before too long the two came across bar Soarin had mentioned and his eyes lite up as he saw a sign out front “holy cow, Metal Claw, is playing tonight. how did I not know.”
“Guess we lucked out.” Rainbow Dash replied. she had a couple of the griffin band's records they were supposed to be intense live, even when they were at a small venue like a local bar. The two pegasi smiled as the thunder of a double base drum and a bass guitarist hit them, along with the wail of a couple of guitars. 
Soarin, was a nice guy but he did take advantage of his celebrity statues from time to time and walked to the front of the line, Rainbow Dash walked with him. This time the calls from the short line were excited, asking if that really was Soarin and a few said that Rainbow Dash was a lucky mare. A few said Soarin was lucky to have such a pretty mare with him. The bouncer knew Soarin and let him in with a friendly greeting, the Wonderbolt greeted the other pegasus by name.
In side the dark bar was lite by only a few lights for a few key areas, the bar, the stage and the bathrooms. To say the music was loud was an understatement, Rainbow Dash and Soarin had to yell just to hear one an other. However nether cared the vibe in the place was just so full of energy that it permeated even the ponies outside of the mosh pit. 
On Stage were four griffon's, the singer was currently yelling obscenities to rile the pit into a greater fervor. He held his flying V guitar against his side with a wing. His back side was from a tiger and the front of some sort of hawk, each of the feathers on his head had the tip died reddish orange to matched his fur. Behind the large drum set was a lanky griffon with a brown falcon head and a thin wild cat body his long eye brows and Mohawk shook as he bounced his head with the beat. Most of the bassist's owl face was hidden by long black feathers that hung over it. His bass was like rumbling thunder or the racing heart beat of the ponies in the 'pit'. His dark front half was in contrast to his leopard yellow hind end. The lead guitarist in front of the drum set was a brown eagle with the lion back end and a large mane to match. His claws danced across the strings of his guitar to make it roar and wail as he broke into a solo.
Soarin and Dash smiled as they got a couple more drinks and watched the pit twist an turn with the music. However soon the music took control and the after a second drink the pair joined the fur ball. Griffin music was vastly different from pony music. Pony songs were about peace and joy, while griffin songs were about power and struggle. Where they were intense and driving ponies were light and bubbly. Rainbow Dash liked both styles but when the alcohol has been flowing any excise to get close to and bounce off of somepony your attracted too was a good one. Rainbow Dash and Soarin did their best to stay close to one another, but a mass of bodies like this one could bounce and pull you where you didn’t want to go.
As the night went on and Metal Claw rocked the house, but when they slowed down for a love song is when something magical happened. As the white headed griffon singer caressed the mic and sang about about a warrior laying eyes on his love again after searching long and hard for her, Rainbow Dash and Soarin's eyes meet in the glow of the stage lights. The bass seemed to thump in time with their hearts as the hum of the guitars pushed them closer, the world around them didn’t matter it didn’t effect them right now. During a song like this the pit stops bouncing off one another too just sway together with the rhythm, the perfect place for a kiss. A second and a third soon fallowed, with stiff wings Rainbow Dash and Soarin silently agreed to leave together. 
The cool night air felt down right cold to the pairs heated bodies as they trotted outside. They care who was watching as they jumped into the night sky. Rainbow Dash followed Soarin through the sky ways of Cloudsdale. It only took a few minutes to get to Soarin's home, as one would expect Soarin apartment was in one of the big, high class, residential sky scrapers. It was easily as big as Rainbow Dash's home back in Ponyville, if not bigger, But Rainbow Dash didn’t care about its size or the furnishings with in. the full bar and plush sofa didn’t catch her eye. Even the rare movie projector or the surround sound system meant nothing to her right now, All she wanted was the stallion with her, and he didn’t care about any of those possessions ether, Soarin would have given it all up just to be with her this night.
Passion and skill combined to become pleasure as their bodies intertwined in the most primitive of rituals. They didn’t finish with one another till well into the morning.  Sadly they couldn’t bask in the afterglow forever. Rainbow Dash slipped away from Soarin's embrace. He smiled at her “you know you don’t have to go. I make some damn good pancakes.” 
Rainbow Dash smiled over her shoulder and chuckled “those sound good, but I don’t want to get us in trouble.” she flicked her tail playfully before she trotted into the bathroom. After a quick shower the blue mare was surprised to find that Soarin was still awake. Like a gentlecolt he walked her to the door.
At the door the two stunt fliers kissed one last time for the night. Before he let her go Soarin said “hey after your a real Thunderbolt I'll take you out to dinner to celebrate.”
Rainbow Dash blush and smiled almost shyly as she said “if its nothing too fancy, then sure.” 
the stallion chuckled and nodded “only the best for us Wonderbolts, you know.” they said their goodbyes, and Soarin watched her leave before returning to bed. When Rainbow Dash got back to her bed in the barracks the rest of the trainees were there all fast asleep. The blue mare slipped into her bunk as gently as she could. She didn’t want to disturb Lightning Dust. Although as Rainbow Dash drifted off to sleep she wondered if anypony else just had the best night of their life.
the next morning the trainees awake too the morning bugle just like they had every day. They hadn’t felt this tired in the morning since the start of the training camp. however it only took few seconds before the recruits realized something was very different. All eyes turned to the pony standing in the door way. 
Spitfire glared at them all before saying “showers now!” the trainees did as told and scrambled from their beds and into the showers. Spitfire yelled at them to make it quick and that she didn’t want them to smell like booze, vomit or certain body parts from the other side of the privacy wall. 
In the showers most eyes looked over at Star who returned their worried looks through the cold streams of water. Rainbow Dash took a moment as she rinsed her mane to ask Firefly “did anypony make the front page?”
“no.” the pink mare replied as she scrubbed under her wings. “least I don’t think so.” how would she know what was in the paper this morning.
Lightning Dust rinsed her tail and whispered over the sound of the water “yeah I didn’t see any fights or anything. we just had some fun.” that was all they would get to talk about last night, even if they all really wanted to.
Spitfire continued to glare at the trainees as they fluttered out of the showers manes and tails still damp, most were still rubbing their coats with a towel. The Wonderbolt team lead growled “follow me.” not a trainee spoke but a few eyes wondered over to Star or at Rainbow Dash thinking maybe she did something.
The recruits followed their leader all way off the airfield and to the Wonderbolts headquarters. It was a old cloud building with pilloried walls with many cloud statues of pegasi carved into it. Inside the floor was white with blue and yellow carpets on the high traffic areas. The walls were painted light blue and portraits of every Wonderbolt, to have served on the team hung from them. the receptionist desk was currently empty it would be an hour before they showed up. As the trainees looked up longingly at the pictures, they wanting to wear the same uniforms those fliers had so bad they could taste it. Spitfire's office was just a few hallways in and up a flight of stairs. A very nervous looking Soarin was waiting in the hall out side of his team lead's office door. Spitfire stopped and looked back at the line of ponies behind her “you all wait in the hall.” she trotted up to Soarin and motioned for him to follow her inside.
Rainbow Dash and the other trainees lined up along the wall. They could hear Spitfire muffled yells through the door, Soarin tried to defend himself but the orange mare just yelled over him. A few minutes later a thoroughly defeated Soarin trotted out of the office, he glanced at Rainbow Dash. The look in his eyes was like he was worried for her. Spitfire appeared in the doorway behind him and said “okay trainees get in here.” she stepped to the side to let the six ponies file in. the orange mare held out her hoof in front of Star “not you.” Spitfire looked from Star to Rainbow Dash and said “you and trainee Rainbow Dash wait outside.” the team lead had little emotion on her face at the moment.
It was terrifying for Rainbow Dash waiting outside of Spitfire's office. The blue mare felt all alone even with Star leaning on the wall a few feet away, all the worst case scenarios played out in her head. Rainbow Dash was starting to hyperventilate when Star did something the blue mare would not have expected, Star tried to encourage her by saying “hey relax, everything happens for a reason. Even if we don’t understand it.” Rainbow Dash looked over at her, the mare that had antagonized her for the last few weeks had a genuine, comforting smile on her face. “just remember that the pain will pass.”
the blue mare took a breath and was about to ask what she thought their punishment would be but the office door opened and the trainees trotted out heads and tails low. “the cooks will be expecting you at the barracks by three o'clock.” Spitfire said “those soldier boys and girls going to need a lot of potatoes.” 
Spitfire looked at Rainbow Dash, the blue mare could see that Spitfire didn’t want to do what she was about to. After a quick breath Spitfire call Rainbow Dash in. the blue mare looked worried at her friends. Lightning Dust and Firefly gave her a silent good luck.
Inside, the office was simple white floor and blue walls big window behind Star's desk. The curtains were drawn making the dark. The right wall had the pictures of the leaders of the Wonderbolts hung from it, there were a few filing cabinets along the other wall. Spitfire sat behind her desk and sighed as she looked at Rainbow Dash who stood at attention across from her. With another sigh Spitfire finally spoke “Rainbow Dash there are times when being a leader is hard.” Spitfire was having trouble with finding the right words “I’ve always had trouble with the politics of the job, and you put me in a very difficult political situation.”
Rainbow Dash gulped and opened her mouth to speck but Spitfire cut her off. “relationships between Wonderbolts are not unheard of, nor are they forbidden or encouraged.” Rainbow Dash still wanted to the say something but the Wonderbolts team leader didn’t let her. “however, it is highly inappropriate for a Trainee to have a relationship with their trainer, it is even worse for it all to be caught by the paparazzi having that relationship.”
“what do you mean?” Rainbow Dash asked finally having a moment to speck.
“you know the ponies that do nothing but follow celebrity ponies around a take pictures of them, especially embarrassing or otherwise unwanted ones.” Spitfire explained “they caught you and Soarin making out at that bar and the two of you leaving together, hell they even got you two heading into his apartment building....its not hard to figure out what you did.” Rainbow Dash blushed as her team lead stared at her. “i had to call in a few favors from my bosses to keep it out of the paper.......” Spitfire looked away like what she was about to say hurt. “it looks like your sleeping with him to get into the Wonderbolts.”
“that was the first time.” Rainbow Dash tried to explain. “we were just hanging out and one thing lead to an other.”
“that may be true... but the higher ups have spoken Rainbow Dash.” Spitfire explained “i...your out.”
“no no.” Rainbow Dash was heartbroken, she shook her head trying not to cry. Her wings and tail drooped so low they almost touched the floor. 
“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash.” the Wonberbolts team leader looked away, she wanted to say something to make the blue mare feel better but anything she said would have been a lie. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and fought back tears, her dream was so close she could have tasted it. Only to be ripped away from her. It hurt so much.
Outside Firefly paced back and forth, her heavy hoofsteps left imprints in the cloud. Lightning Dust meanwhile sat in the shadow of the building next to none other then Soarin. He sat with his back to the wall and eyes on the door, he was already suspended with out pay for six weeks so there wasn’t much more the bosses would do to him. The pony they were waiting for soon trotted out trying to hold her head high, but the weight of sadness was dragging her down.
Firefly and Lightning Dust hurried over to their depressed teammate, Soarin was right behind them. All three asked if she was okay. Rainbow Dash looked at the three of them and took a deep breath before looking at Soarin and asking “are those pancakes still available.” the way her voice creaked told them all they needed to know.

*              *              *

Back in Spitfire's office the Wonderbolts team leader sat by herself after she dismissed Rainbow Dash. The orange mare hated letting ponies go, specially ones as good as Rainbow Dash. However when an order comes from royalty and a knight is sent to insure that it is executed then there isn’t really anything she could have done. As Spitfire sat in her pool of self loathing her eyes wondered to the bottom drawer to her left, where a few choice bottles of liquor were stored. They were normally for toasting the completion of a difficult mission or the signing of a new flier, but today they looked pretty good for drowning the memory of loosing one.
Soon Spitfire's eyes were drawn to the door as Star opened it. The orange mare trotted inside under the watchful of the other orange mare. Star leaned on Spitfire's desk and open the bottom right drawer. The long haired mare flipped through the files till she found the one labeled Starfire. She pulled it out and opened it on an empty space on the desk. Star silently asked if she could use a pen and Spitfire nodded. 
Spitfire turned away and looked at an old family photo on her desk. Her father had that confident smile most of the children had, and her mother were she got her looks. They were holding up their new born daughter, Spitfire's baby sister who was in college now. Next too her father stood Spitfire's oldest brother, bless that troopers soul. In front of the parents stood Spitfire's younger siblings two colts and a filly, all grown with families now. Then next to their mother stood the Twins Spitfire and Starfire. Spitfire sighed and let her head fall “you've changed a lot Starfire.” Star looked up hearing her full name, she wiggled the pen in her mouth as she thought. Without a word she nodded. Spitfire sighed again she knew Starfire didn’t like talking about what happen, she took the lost of their brother the hardest. She still hadn’t told anyone about what happened during those six years she vanished, or how when she returned she was a full fledged knight of Equestria. So the Wonderbolts team lead changed the subject “how do you deal with breaking someone's heart like that?”
Starfire smirked behind the pen and said “i just tell myself you did it.”
“thanks.” Spitfire rolled her eyes, being an adult sucked somethings.
“any time.” Starfire replied “ and well, as a knight I have some connections that can help the healing.”