The next few days of training were hell, General Ripper had been "Promoted", and was now General+1 Ripper. She had a feeling that not even saving Equestria from Changelings and chopping off Queen Chrysalis's head - TWICE - could get that monster any more power than he already had. His job was to yell at idiots all day. That was all he did, and all he was good at. Or rather, all he could do acceptably. She didn't care much for the brute.
Apple Core got a much nicer promotion: As soon as he was out of basic training, he was going into a special six-week course that actually prepared you for war against monsters and made you way less likely to die. Magic boosts were also used to speed up the training process, and you got to have a really big sword. None of the generic factory-made stuff. Only beautiful, ornate, lovingly-crafted magic weapons made in the greatest of forges would be good enough for Apple Core, because after this course, he was entering The Ultramarines. They were an elite force that battled the very biggest of Equestria's threats, and crushed them. Smart, strong, amazing in every way, and unchallenged masters of tactics and logistics... Sky didn't know much about the military, but she knew enough to know the Ultramarines were amazing.
And on the last two days, the magic training began, and swallowed up everything else. Sky learned spells for fire, ice, water, wind, lightning, time, space, illusion, wood, healing, metal, and void. But try as she might, she could never get any Earth spells to work, besides the basic one for moving rocks. She guessed it was because her best element was wind, which was opposed to earth. And she was part Sky Spirit, not... Rock Spirit, or something stupid like that. She also found the more ethereal, mind-altering spells far easier than the more brutish attack spells, even if they were devestatingly powerful when they came from her horn.
Soon enough, Sky had completed her training, and gained seven medals from General+1 Ripper, who happily declared this to be the biggest number of medals he'd ever given to a living soldier under his command.
She noticed he said living. Did he really run around giving medals to dead bodies to try and make himself feel better and pretend pretty stickers (albeit metal ones with pins) made up for having to fight in the horrors of war and die too soon? Sure, they didn't have to fight, they chose the life for themselves knowing what they were getting into, but... medals were kinda lame. There should be something cooler to reward awesome soldiers.
In any case, she returned to Canterlot utterly exhausted and stronger than ever before, physically and mentally. She got off the train at Canterlot, having dozed off a little on the way, and she stumbled out awkwardly with her bags carried behind her by Princess Celestia's royal guard. That was weird. But they had arrived for her, and wouldn't take no for an answer. One even offered to let her ride him to her new home. She blushed and accepted, glad he wore a saddle, even if it was made of solid gold.
Riding him all the way through Canterlot was an incredibly embarassing experience, and the streets were closed off, ponies watching from their windows and cheering for her. She shyly waved back, wishing her friends were here. Every muscle in her body ached - yes, even though she was from Cloudsdale and had spent her childhood in their brutally militaristic Flight School.
She remembered the day Rainbow Dash pulled off the Sonic Rainboom. It was also the day Fluttershy almost died, though she only knew the yellow foal's name now thanks to newspapers she'd read on the train.
She remembered when everypony saw Fluttershy fall to her death. She remembered when everypony was ordered to stay put and watch the show.
She remembered desparately wanting to do something...
And she remembered doing nothing.
She still hated herself for that. She wanted to save that pony, it was the right thing to do, but... she also didn't want to get kicked out of Flight School for disobeying a direct order and ruining what may have been Fluttershy's literal die-or-fly moment, along with any hope she'd ever have of becoming a 'Real' Pegasus.
Sometimes, Sky wondered if randomly deciding to go out and do selfless, charitable acts was her way of trying to make up for that failure... and her way of trying to tell herself she was still a good pony.
Sky Stormer noticed she'd stopped smiling, and looked sad. She forced a big smile, and waved some more to her fans.
Sky was surprised when she got to a luxurious fifty star hotel, an enormous golden skyscraper with tons of windows. Her strong, powerful stallion let her get off, impressed that he wasn't tired at all, and she walked into the fancy hotel with a nervous look, even though she was guarded by Equestria's strongest.
"Hello, and welcome to Richest Peak!" An Earth Pony said happily. An extremely cute Unicorn mare was standing nearby in the same yellow outfit, and she picked up all of Sky's bags with her green magic.
"Hi." Sky said awkwardly, waving a hoof.
"You must be exhausted after your long trip!" The Earth Pony said happily.
Sky blinked, and noticed she... wasn't. She'd completely recovered, already! She hadn't even noticed! Thanks, Alicorn biology! Still, she was really tired anyway, and looking forward to sleeping on a nice bed. "Yeah." She said shyly.
They led her to her room, an amazingly rich white and gold room with an enormous bed made from enchanted clouds with sheets over them. Sky happily rushed over and bounced onto it, sinking in and relaxing. The royal guards left, one leaving behind a purple letter on a table. Sky didn't care... she'd already fallen asleep.
Sky Stormer woke up screaming, a stabbing pain in her side. Looking around, she saw a sword in her side and a red pony in a black outfit and blue hood smiling.
Sky screamed and got up, tackling him down with her superior size and strength, and she slammed a wing down onto his chest, breaking his spine. "Who are you?!" Sky shouted, bleeding a little as her wound fixed itself. She pulled the sword out with her teeth, and spat it away.
"Don't kill me!" He wheezed in fear. "I was paid to do it, they said they'd kill my wife if I didn't!"
"Tell me your name!" Sky yelled.
"I don't have a name, my people are brought up without them." He told her.
"Then I'll call you Black." Sky decided. "Who hired you?"
"Rose Bud!" He wheezed. "Rose Bud, from the Naturia house!"
"And you're prepared to testify to this in court?" Sky asked in suspicion.
"After my wife is saved, sure!" Black said, starting to cry. "Please... save my wife!"
"Where can I find her?" Sky asked.
"In the Great Galloping Gorge, I'm supposed to bring your head there and get my wife back!" Black wept.
"Shhhhhh, Don't worry." Sky said motherly, stroking him. "I'll get her back for you."
"Thank you..." Black whispered, slowly falling asleep.
Sky grabbed him and flew him to Princess Celestia, breaking through another window and giving him to the shocked ruler. "He tried to kill me, but only because Rose Bud hired him and has his wife! They're in Great Galloping Gorge, send help!" Sky said quickly, preparing to fly.
"Wait!" Princess Celestia shouted, but Sky was already gone. She refused to let anypony stop her from helping another pony again.
She'd find this Rose Bud...
And save Black's wife.
And anyone who got in her way was taking a wing to the spine.