The Storm's Challenge

by OneLonelyPickle

11 - A Meeting of Old Friends

Chapter 11

-

A Meeting of Old Friends

Some time ago…

Rainbow barely managed to keep her eyelids open, even with goggles on. Howling wind attacked her senses from the front, urging her to give up and give in. She flapped furiously against the gale and forced her tired body onward. In her gritted teeth was a tiny flag. She would not surrender it to the power of nature before her.

She could see her destination in front of her: one of the Wonderbolts. The next chain in the relay practice drill. It was only a bit further.

Keep… going… Rainbow’s eyes leaked like a broken faucet. She couldn’t hear anything except the shriek of the wind.

Finally, she reached her destination and the Wonderbolt snatched the flag from her maw. Rainbow did not simply submit to her situation, however, and continued to fight against the typhoon-like draft with the determination of a champion. Her wings flapped in overdrive and she broke free from her prison inside the whirlwind. She collected her breath then glanced over at the source of the whirlwind in the distance.

It was an imposing structure, the famed Wonderbolts Chinook Challenger 8000. A steel fan that took a dozen ponies to operate, it was blasting out such a tornado that being directly in front of it would probably rip one’s face clean off. At least, that’s what Rainbow had been told. She smiled to herself in the afterglow of her successful part in the relay.

She flew over to the cloud platform where the relay ended, at the weakest point of the Challenger’s great storm. Spitfire stood with a stopwatch in one hoof, seriously looking at it. Other Wonderbolts, who were finished their part in the relay, were catching their breath and stretching. Spitfire noticed Rainbow but quickly looked back down.

“Good work, rookie,” said Spitfire, nonchalantly, “That was the best time yet for a leg of the relay drill.” Rainbow beamed at the Wonderbolt captain. She knew how serious Spitfire took her role during practice and that deep down she was just as blown away as the other Wonderbolts, who were staring at Rainbow in surprise.

“Only by a little bit!” Spitfire shouted. “Don’t get too full of yourself, Race Representative Dash!” Rainbow turned serious and saluted the captain. She quickly turned away and giggled to herself excitedly.

By the end of the relay drill, seven Wonderbolts and Rainbow were lined up. Spitfire looked over each one of them as she walked down the line.

“Well well, not bad, flyers.” She stopped in front of Rainbow. “All of you could learn a thing or two about how you handle yourselves under extreme stress and in adverse weather conditions from Rainbow Dash here. Make sure to keep an eye on her in the next drill if you can!”

Rainbow received a few compliments after the debrief and then all the pegasi were off to the Academy. The cyan pegasus made sure to check up on her pal Tank, who gave a little reptilian thumbs up as he wiped some sweat from his bald head. She regrouped with the others in the center of the Academy tarmac, where almost every Wonderbolt and junior member were gathered. Spitfire stood to one side of the mass, and Soarin’ was off to another. Spitfire barked orders.

“Our next drill is going to be a team challenge! I’ll take half of you, and Soarin’” — Spitfire hissed the name, looking over at Soarin’ with fire in her eyes, the stallion flyer being equally as aflame with passion — “will take the other half!”

But as the captains started to divide the Wonderbolts, Fleetfoot landed, out of breath, next to Spitfire. The two talked quietly between themselves as Rainbow looked on, impatiently. She quickly remembered where Fleetfoot had come from.

Right! The training exercise with the EFL!

“Okay everypony!” Spitfire shouted, “Change of plans!” The Wonderbolt members and Rainbow stiffened up.

“The Equestria Flyers League is coming here to take part in a training exercise with us! Fleetfoot tells me they will be here in just a few minutes. Which means we need to be ready for when they arrive! We don’t want to appear disorganized and amateurish to them, do we?”

Everypony replied in unison, “No, ma’am, no!”

Soarin’ interjected. “Everypony, come form up in front of me so we can start the preparations!”

The Wonderbolts started to move to the right. Rainbow found herself following the crowd.

“I think not!” Spitfire commanded. “Everypony come over here and line up by ME!”

Spitfire and Soarin’ got muzzle to muzzle and started to bicker. The uncomfortable atmosphere made ponies shuffle in place and whistle to themselves. Rainbow locked eyes with Fleetfoot, who looked desperate for a solution to the arguing. Rainbow huffed and rolled her eyes, then flew over to Fleetfoot.

“Grab Spitfire and try to talk some sense into her, and I’ll go do the same for Soarin’!”

Fleetfoot and Rainbow flew over and grabbed their respective Wonderbolt captain and pushed them to separate sides. Soarin’ struggled against his prismatic captor.

“What — hey! Rainbow Dash! Let go!” — Rainbow shoved Soarin’ forward with her head until they were far enough away from the others that nopony could hear them — “I may not be as strict as Spitfire, but I’m still the second-in-command, and this is disrupting official Wonderbolts command business!”

Rainbow spread her wings out wide and stared at Soarin’ like a veteran flyer would a rookie. “Official command business, huh? I might be out of line doing and saying all this, but we’re all trying to do our best to get ready for the races! You two arguing and fighting is holding us back!” Soarin’ pouted. He whinnied with annoyance, but then his face lightened up and he sighed.

“I — you’re right, Rainbow Dash. I know you’re right.” He laid on his back and extended his limbs away from his body like he was making a flying snow pony. “It’s just that, the way Spitfire has been lately is really getting on my nerves, and I can’t take much more!” Rainbow sat down next to him as he explained.

“Ever since we were junior flyers, Spitfire and I have been best buds! It was like we had two bodies but, y’know, one mind or something?” Soarin’ looked at Rainbow then turned away with a “bah!” remark at his own expense. “Nevermind, it’s a stupid thing to say.” Rainbow looked over at the junior obstacle course and saw Tank flying about. She smiled and shook her head.

“I don’t think it’s a stupid thing at all, Soarin’. I totally know what you’re talking about! You two are best friends, right? So what changed recently?”

Soarin’ shot up. “That’s just it, Rainbow Dash! I have no idea! One day everything is normal, and the next she starts to get ticked off randomly, then the day after it happens again and before you know it it’s happening almost all the time!” He tightened his brow into a frown. “It’s getting to the point where she’s undermining my rank as second-in-command!”

“Fleetfoot told me,” Rainbow mentioned, “That Spitfire mostly gets mad because you start talking about female ponies. Like, the other day, when you were talking about miss, uhh — that batpony from the train station.” Soarin’ raised an eyebrow.

“Ms. VeeVee? What about her? I was just saying how cute she was, I think — but all the stallions do that! I mean, have you seen her? Spitfire probably thinks the same thing!”

Rainbow raised a hoof quizzically. “Listen, Soarin’, I don’t get it either, but right now you two need to just make up and figure out how to solve this some other time! I love the Wonderbolts, and it’s my dream to fly with you guys” — Rainbow paced back and forth — “but if this keeps up, I’ll have to go train somewhere else, and I don’t think I’ll be the only pony to decide that, either!”

Soarin’ smiled, looking a bit ashamed. “Jeez, you’re really something Rainbow Dash — you’re totally right.” He leapt to his hooves and became focused once more. “The EFL are going to be here soon! We need to get into formation!”

Hooves clip-clopping on the tarmac behind Rainbow and Soarin’ alerted both to the arrival of Spitfire and Fleetfoot. The ardent leader of the Wonderbolts was mostly looking down, though sometimes looked up, and always avoided Soarin’s gaze. She sighed deep and then spoke.

“Soarin’… I…” A hot tinge flecked her cheeks. “I’m sorry! I was being a big jerk, and the team has suffered because of it!”

Soarin’ shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, Spitfire. It’s not like I was being a good friend by getting just as heated. I should have tried to understand your feelings — but, let’s talk about it later, alright? We need to —”

A bugle sounded from one side of the Academy. All three high-ranking Wonderbolts jerked their heads skyward, while Rainbow looked around in confusion. She took the lead of those around her and looked up.

“The EFL is here!” Fleetfoot lamented. “And we’re not even close to being ready!”

Rainbow counted ten flyers heading towards the Academy. They flew in a compact delta formation, with one pony in front and the ranks behind branching out until the last rank had four ponies in it, forming a triangle shape. Pink and magenta smoke billowed out from behind the pegasi aviators.

Everypony scrambled to their positions and into their roles. Spitfire and Soarin’ gathered their companions into proper columns, Rainbow stood beside Fleetfoot on her orders, and all waited for the landing of the EFL. At last the ten visitors landed, gracefully and at the same time, right in front of the Wonderbolts.

Rainbow noticed their uniforms were the same kind of skin-tight material as the Wonderbolts uniform; however, instead of being blue and yellow with a lightning bolt theme, the Equestria Flyers League uniform was dark green with a symbol of white, outstretched wings on the front chest area. Various jagged lines of white broke up the monotony of green throughout the uniform. Each pegasus also wore a medallion with a silver emblem, like Rainbow had seen on Slapshot and Bushwhacker.

I got it! It must be an EFL thing!

The pegasus at the lead of the EFL formation took off her googles and brushed a wavy lock of sparkling pink mane out of one eye. She ruffled her magenta feathers for a brief moment before sashaying up to Soarin’, throwing only a sidelong glance at Spitfire. Both Wonderbolt captains looked at the EFL lead pony as if at an old friend.

“Oh. My. Gosh!” the mare cried. She wrapped a hoof around Soarin’, bringing out a blush on his pale blue face. Spitfire’s eyes were nearly bulging outside of her skull. “Soary! It’s been too long!”

Soarin’ was tongue tied but managed to say a name. “L-Lovey Dovey!?”

“That’s me! I haven’t seen all of you in a few years now! How is my old team doing?”

Spitfire spat an answer. “Just great, Lovey Dovey! Have been since you abandoned us for the big city and the EFL.” Lovey ignored the words and gasped as she saw Fleetfoot.

“Hey it’s Fleetfoot!” She trotted right up to Fleetfoot and Rainbow and once again wrapped a hoof around a pony who looked more than a little uncomfortable. “I remember when you were just a junior member! And now you’re one of the big shots, aren’t you?”

Fleetfoot cleared her throat and slowly backed out of the hug. “G-Good to see you, Lovey Dovey. Didn’t realize you led a team in the EFL now.”

“Of course!” Lovey pointed at her crew and beamed. “They’re my little princes and princesses! We’re one of the best teams in the EFL, if I do say so myself!” Rainbow followed the hoof and saw that the entire team of flyers looked quite similar to Lovey herself, with similar mane and coat shades. Even the stallions had intricate, sparkly manes. Rainbow turned her head slightly and involuntarily flexed her top lip in disgust.

“And this” — It was Rainbow’s turn to receive an awkward hug — “Must be the famous Rainbow Dash! Even in Baltimare we hear the tales about your adventures with your friends… and of course, about your excellent flying!” Rainbow shoved Lovey away and fixed her uniform and mane.

“Yeah, hi — I’m sorry, but who is this, Spitfire?”

Lovey seemed to realize that Spitfire existed all of a sudden and turned around in surprise. Spitfire was fuming as she answered Rainbow’s question. “Oh, just an old member of the Wonderbolts who decided we weren’t good enough for her.” Lovey shrieked with joy and once again surrounded somepony in a big hug, this time being Spitfire, who looked as sickened as them all.

“Little Spitfire!” Lovey cried, “It’s been too long!”

“Are we going to fly or not, Lovey?” Spitfire asked with spite.

The mare in question clonked her hooves together. “Right! Of course! The joint exercise!” Lovey turned around and motioned a hoof at her team. They all lined up single file, facing the Wonderbolts.

“I’m thinking a ten-pony, high-altitude vector formation exercise will be best to prepare for the races.” Lovey proclaimed. Spitfire, Soarin’, and Fleetfoot exchanged glances, and all nodded in agreement.

“Fine.” Spitfire said with gritted teeth. “Have your team line up on the Cumulonimbus Launch Pad… I trust you remember where that is.”

Lovey nodded with a smile. “Mhm!” she hummed. Turning away to meet up with her team, Lovey’s tail floated around and tickled Soarin’s chin. She shot the stallion a half-lidded stare and winked. Soarin’ gulped and turned red. Spitfire’s body was throbbing with heat and she nearly broke her teeth by gnashing them together so hard.

Rainbow positioned herself in the crowd of Wonderbolts and stood on her tippy hooves, a big smile plastered on her face. Spitfire and Soarin’ picked seven members of the Wonderbolts to join them and Fleetfoot in the exercise. Rainbow hung her head.

“Rainbow Dash!” Fleetfoot called. She motioned the cyan mare over. Rainbow followed.

“Listen, we have an important job for you!” Fleetfoot whispered to Rainbow, “The most important job in a vector exercise.”

The third-in-command of the Wonderbolts explained Rainbow’s role in the exercise. Rainbow nodded in understanding as she was briefed. The other Wonderbolts not taking part in the exercise were led to another part of the Academy to participate in a different drill.

As Rainbow took to the skies to assume her position, she noticed a bluish blur among the clouds far off in the distance.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

How many chapters long will this story be?

[OneLonelyPickle]

10262760
Hmm, tough to say. I want to say no more than 50 though, with each chapter being on average around 2,500 words or so.

How do you like the story? I have a lot of fun writing it, that's for sure