Shadowbolts: Origins

by NightArrow

Chapter 6-9

CHAPTER 6

Back at the abandoned Everfree Stadium, the three pegasus ponies stood in line, ready to race. Luna sat by the side lines of the cleared track.

“Alright, you three.” Luna said. “This will be a derby-style race. The three of you, around the track 25 times. First one to make all 25 laps, wins.”

“Is this really necessary?” Arrow complained. “Besides, what do we win?”

“Is there a prize!?” Skylight asked, excitedly. “Do we get candy?? Or free clothes?? [gasp] Or CANDY?”

“You said candy twice.” CC said.

“I know,” Skylight whispered “I just really hope we get candy...”

“There is somewhat of a prize, if you want to call it that...” Luna responded. “I just need to see what you can do.”

“With all due respect, Princess,” CC said, “This track is full of debris and bushes... How are we supposed to race?”

“Simply avoid everything.” Luna responded. “Around the track, 25 times.”

Arrow still felt like this was a waste of time, while Skylight was still thinking about getting free candy. CC was a little nervous about the condition of the track, but was just happy to finally show off her flying abilities in front of the Princess. “Alright, CC,” she thought to herself. “This is your chance to prove yourself... you’ll be in the Wonderbolts for sure!”

“Let’s get this over with.” Night Arrow readied his stance, digging his back hooves into the ground. The other ponies did as well, wings in flight position, head lowered, front hooves spread, back legs bent, wings out and ready to push forward.

“Ready, set... PROCEED!” Luna shouted.

CC pushed off the ground as hard as she could, starting off with a clean glide. Her wings spread, but angled back. It was her secret flying technique that won almost all her races back in flight school. She had been known for her intellect, and great organizational skills, but prided herself on her speed and agility. She was an overall strong flyer. Being the youngest, and thus, smallest of the three, her wing feathers were still crisp and cut through the air the cleanest, giving her a decent lead.

Skylight was inches behind CC. Most flyers when soaring through the air have a grimace across their face, or their eyes are narrowed, concentrating on their task. But Skylight was smiling. Almost as if she took the race as a fun game, not a competition. Her flight pattern much more fluid than the crisp movements of CC. The years of flying through the Everfree Forest at top speed allowed her to learn to maneuver her body around complicated branches and other obstacles.

Night Arrow was trailing behind. His usual technique was to let Skylight take the lead during the first part of the race, then push all his remaining energy at the end of the race, hoping she’d be tired by then. It was more about strategy than pure speed.

Before they had teleported out of Luna’s throne room, the Princess discreetly grabbed a small device from her desk. It was an anemometer, a device to measure pegasus ponies top wing power, which translates pretty well to overall speed. At the first 4 laps, CC was at 14.3, Skylight was at 15.0, and Night Arrow was at 12.8.

CC had put all she had into the first few laps, trying to widen the gap between her and Skylight. Not being able to look behind her, she assumed the neon green mare was pretty far back. That’s how these races usually went back in flight school. CC smiled smugly; she had this race in the bag.

Skylight suddenly appeared in CC’s peripheral vision. “Wha--?? Impossible!” CC yelled through the wind.

“Hi CC!!” Skylight called back, still smiling, and somehow waving her wing while still maintaining a good speed.

“That... That makes literally NO sense!” CC thought to herself, “She can’t wave her wing at me while remaining at that speed!” CC gritted her teeth and pushed harder.

Night Arrow was concentrating hard. They were about half way through the race now, at the 12th lap. “Time to start increasing the intensity here; those mares should start getting tired about now.” He thought to himself.

Luna’s anemometer read that Skylight was at about 17.2, CC was pushing harder at 15.9, and Arrow’s wing power was increasing slightly by every lap. “It’s as if he’s calculating each lap to be slightly faster than the last... saving his energy for the end instead of the beginning...” Luna thought out loud. “He’s at 15.6 at the middle of the race... at this rate he should eventually hit just under 20 wing power...”

With three laps to go, CC’s wings were feeling it. She had invested all her energy at the beginning of the race, trying to widen the gap, and now she was barely keeping up with Skylight. She had made the worst possible mistake in any competition; she had underestimated her competition.

Skylight’s smile was gone, and she was sweating slightly. Her flight pattern becoming much more erratic than the beginning of the race.

“Almost. . . passed her...” CC thought as she inched towards Skylight at the curve of the track. Suddenly, Night Arrow swooped into her view from above.

“Sorry, kid!” He yelled, and lined himself up directly in front of CC when they made the straight-way of the track.

“What is he doing...?” CC thought, noticing the deliberate line up, when suddenly, his wings began to flap more aggressively.

Night Arrow knew he had large, stallion wings, and his dad taught him to use them to his advantage in a race. He began beating the air in a steady pattern to not lose speed, but chop the air pressure behind him in pulses instead of a stream.

“Oh no!” CC gasped, her sharp glide through the air was disrupted by the waves of air pressure coming at her. She began to lose traction, and tried to steer herself out of Arrow’s strategic trail. Her wings were tired from pushing herself at full intensity throughout the entire race, and now when she needed her strength the most, she was done.

Night Arrow began to push as hard as he could, then “And one... last... Push!” His hooves touched down on the ground for a split second to send one last irregular air wave behind him as he started the last lap, inches behind Skylight.

“No!!” CC yelled, her wings literally tripped over the irregular air waves and she landed face first into the soft earth.

Night Arrow smiled at the successful trip up, and set his sights on Skylight who was still performing at maximum, but her flight pattern showed her fatigue.

As they turned the last curve of the track, Skylight and Night Arrow were inches apart, Skylight still had the lead.

“Looking tired, Sky’!” Arrow smiled.

Skylight just smiled back, not having the breath to respond.

Night Arrow finally narrowed his wings, and used all his remaining energy on this last stretch of track.

“And, this race is over.” He closed his eyes and crossed the finish line.

“Impressive!” Luna called, standing up.

“I may have a few strategies at my disposal.” Arrow replied.

“One of which is, do not close your eyes!” Luna responded, “Skylight won.”

“What!?” Arrow looked behind him, and Skylight was laying on her back, just past the finish line.

“No she didn’t! I passed her up about 12 feet back!” Arrow yelled.

“Once you closed your eyes like an cocky show off,” Luna said walking over to them. “Skylight flipped over, mid-air and using the muscles under her wings, rather than on top, she glided upside-down, beneath you, passing you up, and landing on her back.”

Still panting, her rib cage visibly moving up and down, Skylight just smiled, her eyes closed and wings still spread out beneath her.

“Do I... [pant] get my... [pant] candy now?” she wheezed.

Chapter 7

CC got up from the mud, and wiped herself as clean as she could get. Her head down, she made her way to the finish line to join the rest of the group. “I didn’t even finish...” she thought “I just blew any chance I had to get into the Wonderbolts...”

“I am very impressed with you all.” Luna said. “While you were racing, I measured your wing power using this device.” She motioned to the anemometer. “An average pegasus’s top speed is around 10 wing power. You all averaged far above that.” Luna smiled.

“Why does this matter, Luna? Who cares how fast we are?” Arrow asked, impatiently.

“And about that candy . . .” Skylight chimed in.

“Allow me to finish, Night Arrow.” Luna responded. “CC, your top speed was 16.2, achieved on lap 21, which was also your final lap.”

CC’s head dropped in shame.

“Do not despair, Cloud Crash.” Luna reassured her, “That is far above most ponies your age. You just need to learn racing strategies, and ways to counter them. Your competitors will use your naivety against you,” Luna turned to Night Arrow, “and purposely attempt to trip you up.”

This made CC feel a little better. Apparently, her wing power was about 6 points above average, and she was still young. She could train even harder from this point on.

“Night Arrow, you have a good strategy.” Luna said.

“And plenty more where those came from!” Night Arrow responded. Although he still felt like this was a waste of time, he never turned down a compliment.

“But you are too brash.” Luna continued. Night Arrow looked offended by the statement. “Your cocky attitude cost you the race, and made all that strategy useless. Nonetheless, your top Wing Power was on lap 25, right towards the end, you made it to 18.8. That is far beyond average.”

Arrow half-smiled, but didn’t respond.

“And Skylight.” Luna turned to her. “You reached a top speed of 18.3 wing power, just under Night Arrow’s top speed.”

Skylight smiled.

“Your agility and maneuverability will serve you well in the future. Continue practicing through complicated obstacles, as well as strengthening those wing muscles.”

“Oookay,” Arrow got up. “Well we played your little racing game, so now I think it’s best you two be on your way. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a good life.” He started walking towards his locker room.

“But... What about my prize?” Skylight whined. “I was looking forward to that candy . . .”

Luna stood up. “Night Arrow, wait.” He stopped and turned reluctantly. “Skylight is right, I did promise you a prize.”

Night Arrow rolled his eyes. “Alright, what is it?” He said, annoyed.

“I would like to offer you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” She began to walk around the three ponies. “I’d like to invite you all to help me found... a team.”

Chapter 8

“A team...?” Arrow asked, skeptically.

“Oooh! Like a super hero team!? Do we get masks? And capes!?” Skylight jumped up and down.

“No, Skylight.” Luna said. “A racing team.”

“Wait a second!” Cloud Crash jumped in. “You want to start your own racing team!?”

“Yes, CC.” Luna said confidently. “I think you three have the potential to be the fastest flyers in Equestria.”

“The Fastest Flyers in Equestria?” Arrow laughed. “Luna, you’re gonna need a new slogan, that one’s taken by this little team called, oh, I don’t know THE WONDERBOLTS? Ever heard of them??”

“I have, Night Arrow, and they do not deserve such a title.” Luna said, sternly. “My sister has neglected them, and they have become increasingly complacent. They only race against one another, and appear at royal events acting as some kind of celebrities.”

“Because they’re the freaking Wonderbolts!” CC chimed in. “They really are the fastest flyers in Equestria!”

“Not for long, young CC!” the princess smiled. “You three will train daily! You are all already well above the average wing power! Night Arrow has good strategy to fly solo, but you need to learn to race as a team! CC, you have magnificent ambition! It will get you very far! And Skylight, you have more energy than any pony I’ve ever seen! Once the season starts, these Wonderbolts will not know what hit them!”

The three pegasus ponies looked at one another for a moment. Skylight looked excited, while Night Arrow looked skeptical. CC just looked confused and upset.

“No.” CC answered.

“What?” Luna was expecting to be denied by one of the other two, but she didn’t expect a ‘no’ from CC.

“I said no.” CC reaffirmed. “There’s no way I’m being put on the same roster as two other ponies I just met today. One of which has a serious ego problem, and the other seems to think everything is some kind of joke!” CC began to walk away. “At the beginning of this whole stupid day, I thought you were going to help me get into the Wonderbolts. Not try to piece together some rag-tag team, just so we can lose against them! And if this little project fails? Then what happens?”

“I assure you, it will not fail, Cloud Crash . . .” Luna reassured.

“I’ll tell you what happens then!” CC continued, “Then I’d blow any chance I ever had in joining them! I’d be a joke!! They’d just recognize me as some pegasus that went up against them, and failed. I’m sorry, princess, but no way. It’s just too risky.”

Luna sat down in the grass, looking defeated. “And what say the two of you?”

Arrow looked at Skylight, then turned back towards Luna. “I can’t.” He replied, and began to walk towards his locker room.

“But Night Arrow,” Luna protested. “I saw the way you fly. You’ve been trained to be on the track. And from what you had demonstrated, you’ve been trained by somepony who knew how to teach racers to win.”

Arrow stopped in his tracks. As if reaching far back into his memory, he stared off into the sky for a moment, then, “I just can’t princess. I’m sorry.” he continued towards his room.

Luna looked longingly at Skylight, as if she was her last hope. “And you, brightly colored mare?”

Skylight looked back towards Arrow who was just getting to his door. Then, after a moment of contemplating, she looked up with confident eyes, and smiled. “Yes.”

Chapter 9

Arrow stopped at the threshold of his locker room. “What??” He turned back towards Skylight, CC and Luna.

“Well of course she’s going to accept.” CC stood up. “She literally has nothing to lose! She lives in an abandoned stadium in the middle of nowhere with a sarcastic egomaniac! This is her opportunity to get out of here!”

Night Arrow quickly flew back over towards the CC. “Alright, that does it!” He stared her in the eyes. “I’ve had just about enough of you insulting the two of us. You don’t even know us! You think you can just walk into our home and judge us? Skylight is the nicest mare in Equestria! She hasn’t said one bad thing about you, and she probably never will! So you need to back off you little silver-spooned Canterlot-bred blue brat!!”

“Arrow, stop!!” Skylight called out.

“Canterlot-bred? What, you think just because I’m from Canterlot, I must be rich and snobby?” CC countered. “I work harder than you can imagine! I’ve been studying abroad in Canterlot since the beginning of my last semester in Flight School! I’m from Fillydelphia! Which, if you hadn’t been living under an old abandoned ROCK for four years, you would know is just about the poorest little town this side of Manehattan!”

“CC, please!!” Skylight pleaded.

“Well you seem to be doing pretty well for yourself hanging out with Princesses!” Arrow yelled back.

“Both of you!” Luna stepped in. “Silence!”

They both glared angrily at each other and sat down.

“Thank you,” Luna said. “Now, Skylight, do you really want to help me found this racing team?”

“Well, yeah . . .” Skylight said. “I think it sounds like fun...”

“Sky’ listen...” Arrow sat up.

“You had your time to speak!” Luna’s eyes glowed white, threateningly. “Allow her to finish.”

Night Arrow reluctantly sat back down.

Skylight glanced sympathetically at Night Arrow. “I know what you’re thinking, Arrow, and... well I think it would be good for us.” She walked over to him. “CC is kinda right... we’ve been living alone for four years... I think it would be good to get out and talk with other ponies again.” She walked over to CC. “But that’s pretty much all you’re right about, Cloud Crash.”

CC wanted to chime in, but decided against it since Luna would probably just shut her up anyway.

“You see, Night Arrow can be kind of arrogant,” Skylight continued, “but you just have to get to know him! I mean, when you live in the middle of Everfree forest, you can’t really trust anypony. And just from meeting you here today, you can learn to be a little more trusting too.”

CC was taken aback by this. Skylight hadn’t said anything serious all day, and now she was judging her?

“I know I can be a little crazy some times,” Skylight said. “But this sounds like a once in a lifetime opportunity!” She smiled at CC. “Sure it would be awesome to be accepted into the Wonderbolts, but how awesome would it be to become the founding members of the second official racing team in all of Equestria!?”

CC hadn’t thought about it like that.

“Luna trusts us to make this team a reality! And she’s right to! I think we can do it!” Skylight smiled at Luna.

“Sky’...” Arrow said, meekly. “Can I talk to you for a second? Alone?”

“Uh, sure...” Skylight and Night Arrow walked over towards the locker rooms, leaving Luna and CC sitting alone.