• Published 9th Dec 2013
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Half-Hour Horses - HoofAndQuill



A collection of short prompt-based stories, from Thirty Minute Ponies.

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Captain Dash [Slice of Life?]

(Prompt: None, FFAF.)

(This turned out kind of weird, but due to Spitfire's reaction in Wonderbolt Academy, I wanted to write it anyway.)

The Grand Ballroom of Canterlot Castle was home to many of Equestria's most serious, formal, and well-respected events. The Grand Galloping Gala, for instance, as well as the Lunar Ball, and just outside was the courtyard used for the Canterlot Garden Party. The ballroom had seen many very formal ponies and many very auspicious occasions.

This was not one of them. Tonight, instead of unicorns with their noses in the air, the ballroom was full of pegasus ponies flinging themselves through the air. Instead of dour, sophisticated decorations, there were colorful streamers, balloons, and stacked empty cider bottles. Instead of prim and proper dancing, there was aerial maneuvering and inebriated laughter.

Princess Twilight Sparkle felt distinctly out of place. Despite the fact that all of her closest friends were in attendance, and despite that she herself had arranged for this celebration to take place here, she just didn't fit in. She wasn't an athlete, she flew worse than most pegasi half her age, and she didn't really enjoy drinking. But she had to be here, Rainbow Dash wanted all of her friends here.

Twilight smiled as she watched Rainbow organize some kind of obstacle course race with her newly-made subordinates in the Wonderbolts. In a minute or two, the age-old columns and incredibly expensive statues would be used as not much more than blockades in a pegasus race bound to knock at least something to a floor, be it pillar or pony. But still, there was something bothering Twilight, and she couldn't just let it go. She cast her eyes around the party, until she spotted a bright orange mane and a well-pressed Wonderbolts dress uniform.

Spitfire sat by herself at a large table, watching the young Wonderbolt slalom between columns. She held a cup of cider in her pastern, and several more were scattered around her. Twilight had only spoken with the pony a few times, but knew she had a tendency toward being a little harsh and tight-lipped about Wonderbolts affairs. Still, she trotted over and sat down at the same table, far enough away that she hoped it wouldn't be uncomfortable. A moment passed before she said anything. "... She's pretty amazing."

Spitfire glanced over at Princess Twilight and made an obligatory deep nod of recognition, before taking another sip of her cider. "Yeah, she is. The Wonderbolts only take the best fliers in Equestria."

Twilight fidgeted with the napkins laid out on the table, straightening the stack without really thinking about it. "She's the youngest pegasus ever to be promoted to Captain."

Spitfire's eyes narrowed slightly, and she took another sip of cider.

Twilight sighed quietly. "Captain Spitfire, I'm not... making accusations, but I'm curious. Rainbow's amazing, but why did you put her forward for promotion to Captain?"

"You think it was because she's friends with you." Spitfire didn't look back toward Twilight as she spoke, and only stared up at Rainbow Dash as she instructed a few of her subordinates on proper stalling techniques.

Twilight coughed into her hoof. "Um, I wouldn't say it like that, but there are some ponies who try to manipulate royalty, and-"

"With all due respect, Princess, I'm a Captain of the Wonderbolts. I don't need your endorsement, or even Princess Celestia's." Spitfire frowned slightly, and then put her cider down. "You want to know why I promoted Captain Dash."

Twilight nodded.

"I could tell you about how she's faster than Fleetfoot, or how she can fly farther than Soarin'. She fights better than I do, or at least better than I did when I was her age. She's the only pony in recorded history to do a Sonic Rainboom."

Twilight sighed and looked down at the table. "Captain Spitfire, I know she's very good. But she's the youngest Captain by years. It can't just be that."

Spitfire watched Rainbow Dash as she flew her kid sister Scootaloo around on her back during one of the races, both of them laughing and rolling around in the air even as they fought for position. Spitfire frowned slightly, and turned toward Twilight once more. "Do you know how many cadets I've trained, Princess?"

Twilight bit her lower lip, and tried not to look like she was doing math in her head. "You've been captain for twelve years, and the average class size... maybe two hundred?"

The Wonderbolt's frown deepened, but then she sighed and hooked her hoof around the cup of cider again. "Probably something like that. The Wonderbolts have existed for nearly three hundred years. We've been through thousands and thousands of cadets. Eighty percent or so wash out. They don't have the skills. Sometimes, they get injured. Sometimes there are family emergencies or legal problems. We lose cadets all the time."

Twilight kept herself from commenting by fidgeting with the napkins again.

Spitfire looked back to Rainbow as the new Captain pulled Fluttershy into demonstrating slower flight mechanics to the assembled cadets and rookies. Spitfire spoke slowly and evenly. "A lot of cadets leave because they can't take it. A lot of cadets get fired, or injured, and have to leave. Do you know how many cadets have willingly quit Wonderbolt Academy on principle?"

Twilight shook her head, though she felt she might know the answer.

Spitfire tilted her cup toward Rainbow Dash. "One. Rainbow Dash is the only cadet ever to come into my office, or any Wonderbolts trainer, ever, and throw down her badge because she felt that we were wrong. She was willing to throw away the greatest honor a pegasus can ever have, because it put you and your friends in danger."

"You promoted her because she was willing to quit for her friends?"

Spitfire shook her head. "Princess, a good fighter can lead a squad against a few dozen griffons, or a dragon. A good stunt flyer can drum up recruitment, and inspire young ponies to practice their flying until they are Wonderbolt material. But a pony with the strength of conviction that Captain Dash has? She could lead earth ponies into Tartauros."

Spitfire tilted her cup up, and swallowed down the rest of her cider. "No, Princess Twilight, I didn't promote Rainbow Dash because she knows you. I promoted her because... if I had to pick any pony to have beside me when the world was ending, I know who it would be."

She set down her empty mug and stood, giving Twilight a curt bow, and walked off toward the crowd that Rainbow and Fluttershy had managed to gather. Twilight looked over to her friends as they laughed, and at Rainbow's somewhat mussed uniform with the Captain's stripes, and smiled. She flapped her wings, and then stood up to go join in.

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