Chapter edited by: Brickbrock24
Glimmer looked back at the weather factory, which grew smaller as she flew further away from it. Excitement coursed through her veins; her dream to finally able to attend the Wonderbolts Academy had come true. Her achievement was bittersweet, though, because she felt a bit saddened about leaving her new friends behind. A little while ago, she had said goodbye to Rainbow Blaze, who was very disheartened by his friend’s departure. It just went to show Glimmer that she couldn’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs.
What's going to happen now? Glimmer thought as the Wonderbolt Academy came closer into view.
She knew that she wouldn't be treated like the recruit she always wanted to be. She couldn't tell anypony the real reason she was there. It was a strict rule given by Princess Luna. If the news spread that the Shadowbolts were coming, everypony would be thrown into a panic.
Glimmer was so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed the big platform floating perfectly still in the sky. Glimmer peered down below, noticing many buildings encircled around the platform and a big rainbow waterfall falling from the side. In awe, Glimmer followed Spitfire, who was now leading the way toward one of the bigger buildings. Its frost colored walls were like candy to Glimmer’s eyes.
Once inside, the building had a dome-like ceiling. Two hallways stood across from each other in the lobby. The hall to the right was filled with pictures of previous Wonderbolt captions and recruits. The one on the left had rows of spaced out doors that each bared a captain's name. Spitfire led Glimmer to the first door on the left. She pushed passed the door and trotted inside. Glimmer eagerly followed, her eyes wandered around and examined the room. It was a cozy-looking office. It had a fireplace to one side, a desk in the middle, and two velvet couches facing each other. Two new faces smiled at Glimmer, each sitting on the couches. Spitfire sat down next to the cream yellow mare while she indicated to Glimmer to sit down.
Glimmer nodded as she slowly trotted to an empty seat next to the turquoise mare. Her heart beat faster. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Glimmer to contain her excitement.
"As you may already know, we have called you here for a very important task." Spitfire said slowly. "Do you know anything of the mare, Cloud Dancer?"
At once, Glimmer's ears perked up. She knew that name, it was embedded in her memory. Her whole life revolved around it. Glimmer remembered the stories her father told when she was a filly. A flashback occurred, bringing Glimmer's mind to when her mother was holding her in her hooves. The smiling and laughing mare that she knew only for a short time.
"Glimmer?" A turquoise hoof waved in front of her expressionless face, "Are you alright?"
"What? Oh! Um, yeah, I’m fine, thanks." Glimmer shook her head slightly to snap hers.
"Cloud Dancer had told me she had a child,” Spitfire continued, “She’s told me so many stories about you. I must say, her description on what you look like turned out to be crushingly accurate! She would be like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow to a police sketch artist!”
"You knew my mother?" Glimmer asked. Any new information about her mother intrigued her.
"Yes, I was very well acquainted with her. She was a Wonderbolt and my co-captain."
Glimmer's eyes bulged out, keeping a steady shocked expression. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"I am surprised that she had never told you."
Glimmer nodded in dismay. She would have wanted her mother to tell her that she was a Wonderbolt co-captain.
"However, we have recently uncovered a dark secret of hers," Spitfire lowered her voice, "Your mother, Cloud Dancer, is a Shadowbolt..."
"Are you ready, my little filly?" A mare's voice rung out. Her blue coat sparkled in the sunlight. She was flying a few inches off the ground in her backyard and looking down at an aqua-colored pegasus filly. A small house stood about twenty feet from where the filly was standing. A big tree stood in a fenced area in the yard; its leaves were flying off and being scattered by the wind.
"Yes, Mommy! I wanna fly with you!" The filly squealed excitedly. The little filly stood next to the big tree, looking up at the mare. She looked like she could take on the whole world. The filly stretched out her a little wings, slowly and ever so carefully flapping them.
"Yeah, that’s the idea! Just a little bit more," the mare said encouragingly. She held out her hooves, just in case she needed to catch the little bundle of aqua fur and feathers if she fell like a stone.
The filly squeezed her blue eyes shut, concentrating as hard as she possibly could. She flapped her wings harder as her little legs pushed her body off the ground. For a few seconds, the filly stayed in that one spot, hovering about a foot off the ground. Slowly, she opened her eyes and giant smile grew on her face.
"You did it, my little filly! I knew you could! Go on, fly around! Embrace the gift of flight!"
Following the mare’s words, the filly flapped her wings harder to get herself moving. Although she was flying at a snail’s pace, the filly was so ecstatic about being able to fly at all that she could care less about how fast she was able to go.
Just like that, a cutie mark made its way to the blank flank. A lighting bolt with wings on one side carried by a crescent moon and a star in the center.
The mare took notice of this and a wide grin spread across her face, "I think you might have another thing to be happy about."
"What would that be?" The filly asked as she turned to face her mother.
"I’ll give you a hint," she chuckled, “What’s on my flank that’s now on yours?” The little filly took a minute to ponder the mare’s riddle. Then, a sense of realization hit her and she glanced at her flank to discover her new cutie mark,
"This is the best day ever!" The filly cried out. Her happiness had practically quadrupled!
"I think your father would like to hear the special news," said the mare.
With that being said, the two pegasi landed back on the ground and trotted to the door of the house. Well, to be more accurate, the mare trotted while the filly literally galloped at top speed.