44: Won-Derp-olts!
“Ah, the sun finally came out.” Karyn opened the window and spread her arms out.
“Be careful,” said Derpy. “You don’t want to fall out.”
“I’m not worried. You’ll dive out and catch me.”
“Do you think that I’m that good of a flyer?”
Karyn turned back. “Of course I do. I think you’re the greatest pegasus in all of Equestria. Compared to you, Rainbow Dash is a snail. Lightning Dust is a three-toed sloth.” She couldn’t keep a straight face any more. She ran over and hugged Derpy around her neck.
“It’s not funny. A pegasus should be a good flyer.”
“Take me flying, won’t you?”
Derpy was agog. “You want to go flying? You hate flying.”
“But I hate being cooped up more. This winter has been just awful. Even if the sun’s out, I don’t want to be outside. But for the first time last week, I got in my car and it was warmer inside than outside. So I want some sun and some wind.”
“You want to go to Equestria or just be invisible?”
“Pilot’s choice.”
Derpy let her mount and turned on the invisibility spell. Circling up to the clear sky, they surveyed a few patches of snow that had dark wet spots around them as the snow was melting. The streets needed to be swept, but on the bare patches of earth, grass seed was starting to take root.
Karyn reached down under Derpy’s wing and felt for the lift, but the air was the same as it was above. It was still amazing to her that Derpy flew completely by magic, even as there was no sparkle or glimmer.
With the knowledge that Derpy’s other spell would keep her permanently attached, Karyn spread her arms and enjoyed the feeling of soaring and diving.
Derpy leveled out. “Why did you compare me to Rainbow and Lightning?”
“Well, they were the fastest pegasi I could think of.”
“Not because they’re members of the Wonderbolts?”
“Lightning isn’t,” said Karyn. “But isn’t there some crossover? Fast ponies would make the Wonderbolts.”
“That’s right, she started her own group. But what if Rainbow Dash is? She’s no competition of yours.”
Derpy stiffened her back and flew straight.
“Derpy?” said Karyn “Did I say something wrong?”
“No.”
“Come on, tell me.”
“I tried out for the Wonderbolts once.”
Karyn swallowed before she could say, “You?!” Whatever Derpy’s past had been like, Karyn couldn’t insult her.
“I suppose every pegasus thinks that she’s a great flyer at one age,” said Derpy. “Or more than one. Someday remind me to tell you about the time I fudged my age to enter the Best Young Flier Competition.”
“I want to hear about you with the Wonderbolts.”
Derpy’s flight eased and she pumped her wings lazily.
My father (Derpy said) didn’t have a whole lot of money, of course, but when I told him that I wanted to try out, he found it somehow. They charge a lot to even try out for the academy. But back then more ponies got in. It wasn’t quite as exclusive as it is now. For him, it wasn’t about the money as much as he was afraid for me. Even though he couldn’t say it, he was worried that I would fail, and that it would hurt.
“Derpy,” he said to me, “there are going to be a lot of pegasi there. Most of them have been flying since they were babies. You took a long time to fly, so it might be harder for you.”
I had only heard the first sentence. “You really think there will be a lot of pegasi there? I’m sure I’ll find some friends.”
The training facility was right in Cloudsdale, so even though I was away from my father, it was more like being at day camp. I didn’t miss him much. Above the clouds, where the sun always shines, every day is perfect for physical activity. Checking into the camp, I met my instructor, Brisk Wind. She greeted me warmly, but didn’t have a whole lot of time to chat. Instead, she sent me to a, well, I guess he was a quartermaster to get outfitted.
This was the most exciting part for me. To see that uniform, to smell the fresh fabric, to feel it in my hooves, it made me feel like part of the team. Even though it wasn’t the sky-blue of the true Wonderbolt’s uniform, but only a dull cobalt, and even though the insignia was a broken lightning bolt signifying that I was a cadet, it was still mine, and it was still a Wonderbolt uniform.
The fabric was some sort of stretchy material, I don’t know what, and it was difficult to get into. But at last I poked my wings through the holes and stared at myself in the mirror. Although I still had my eyes, anypony who looked quickly wouldn’t see the funny eyes, only another pony who belonged.
Brisk Wind came up behind me. “All right, fall out! This isn’t a fashion show, you’re here to fly!”
Even though she was in the full uniform, I thought I saw the fur around her eyes. It was almost the same color as mine.
“Ma’am?”
“Yes?”
“Why do I have to fall out of the clouds? And can I fly back in once I do?”
She stared at me like I was dumb or something. “No, fall out means get in line. In your case, the end of the line.”
I trotted down past a row of ponies already standing stiff with their chests out. At the end was a pony who, had I not known that the Wonderbolts had an age requirement, I would have taken for a filly. She was half my size, and this was before I put on the weight.
“Hi! I’m Derpy Hooves.”
“My name’s Sky Wren,” the little pegasus said, “but I think we’re not supposed to be talking now.”
Indeed, Brisk Wind was already flying towards us. I was worried that she would dress me down, or worse, yell at Sky Wren when I was the one who started it. But she just stared me in the eye.
“Being a Wonderbolt is all about being a team! Flying in formation, in time, with your wingmates. We’re only as good as our slowest pony!”
That made me feel good. All I had to do was not be the slowest. But as I smiled in reaction, I looked down the line and saw nothing but air. Whipping my head around, I saw everypony flying ahead of me. I’d gotten distracted and missed an order. All I could do was try to catch up.
“Hey, Sky!” I called, “what are we doing?”
“A hundred laps!”
Well, I was there to fly after all. I kept pumping and flying, but I came in last. I like to think that, if I had been aware and taken wing at the same time as all the others, I might have been second-to-last.
Brisk clicked off a stopwatch as I crossed the line. “We’ve got a baseline time for this group. I want to see that cut in half by the time you leave. Remember, that means everypony needs to be twice as fast as the slowest. All of you, strap some weights to your wings and lift!” She pointed to a rack full of sandbags that went around our wings and made them super-heavy.
At least during the lifting I could talk to Sky Wren. “We’re really training to be Wonderbolts. Isn’t that cool?” I said.
“Yeah. Hey, do you want to be my flying buddy?”
“What’s that?”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Most of the stuff we do here is with partners. We’d bunk together, eat together, everything.”
“Sure! You sure that you don’t want somepony faster?”
“I just want someone to be friends with.”
I looked at her. She probably was more concerned about other ponies getting on her for being small. I decided right there that I would never mention it. We reached a silent understanding: I didn’t talk about her size, and she didn’t talk about my eyes. Hey, that rhymes!
When I think back, she was a lot like you, Karyn. Not that you’re small, but you both had kind hearts and were good friends. The next day, she handed me a blue badge that matched her gold one. I was going to be her wingpony.
My wings were sore from doing the hundred laps, but I could still fly. I shook off the aches and got out there with Sky. Wonderbolt camp isn’t all about speed and work of course. We had to do a lot of precision flying as well. Cloud rings were set up, and we had to go through each one. Sometimes they were marked that you had to double loop them. And there was the slalom. That was a little embarrassing the first time I did it. I mean, they had the flags on the right and the left. How was I supposed to know that you had to go to the right of the right ones and vice versa? I thought I was making good time.
Sky Wren showed infinite patience with me when I did things like that. Brisk Wind, not so much. She never got in my face or yelled much, but she organized a lot of events only for lead-ponies. I had to do a lot of work on my own. Just exercising and trying to get better. Sky would tell me all about them though, and it was just like I was there.
There were some wingpony-only events, but even then Brisk Wind would check me out to see if I didn’t want Sky to sub for me. I knew that she wanted me out, but I was determined not to quit. So long as I could get up and fly the course, I could stay.
“Hooves!” she said after one such run. “What am I going to do with you? You can’t keep up with the top pegasi, and you won’t drop out.”
“Um. . . make me a Wonderbolt?”
She didn’t say anything, but I sensed her skepticism. “Well, you’re consistently scoring at the bottom of the class. If you don’t shape up, I can pull you out just on your scores alone.”
That night, I huddled in my bunk. I was in the top one. I was so panicked that it was going to be my last night in that bunk that I started crying. It wasn’t long before I saw a face hovering at my level.
“What’s wrong, Derpy?” said Sky Wren.
“I gotta score tomorrow, or Brisk Wind’s going to kick me out!”
“Derpy, listen. If this is a big deal tomorrow, that means that everypony’s under pressure. And we all react different to pressure. Even the fastest flyers can freeze up in the moment. But you haven’t had that moment yet. Maybe you’re great under pressure. And that, combined with the others’ failings, is going to put you on top.”
“Do you really think so?” I asked.
“I know so.”
I managed to sleep after that.
The next day, I got in line with my squad and waited to see what the challenge was. Brisk Wind trotted out and looked me in the eye. She was pawing at her clipboard with her hoof and I could tell that she was just waiting to scratch my name off. She dressed the line and then pulled a tarp off of a structure. We were introduced to the Dizzitron.
It might have been named the Derpy-tron. I took to it like, like. . . a pegasus to flying, so long as it’s not me. I was spun around and found it more fun than a challenge. When the call of “Release!” was sounded, it was like an ordinary landing. Now, I wasn’t an expert at landing to begin with, but I lost nothing from being spun about and thrown. Eight, maybe ten seconds, and I was on the ground.
To say that Brisk Wind was surprised was an understatement. She stared at me and wrote down my time. When everypony else was done, I was on top.
“How did you do that?” Brisk asked me.
“I’m good under pressure. At least, that’s what my lead-pony said.”
“All right, Hooves,” Brisk said, “you’re still in. Go work on your loops. With your lead.”
I ran off to find Sky and get back to practice.
“I knew you had it in you,” she said. “Just you wait. Soon it’ll be Wonderbolt Derpy!”
I was as high as a cloud. Well, of course I was, because that’s where I slept. But I meant it metaphorically as well. The next day, at breakfast, I heard that same phrase again: Wonderbolt Derpy. I flew over to see what was being said, and Brisk Wind was taking signups for some event. I didn’t know how I was involved, but before I knew it I was taking pen in mouth and writing my name.
As I left to go to training, Sky Wren came up to me and said, “Are you crazy?!”
“What? What did I do?”
“Why did you sign up for the Wonderbolt Derby?”
“I did what?!”
She dragged me back to the sheet I had just signed. “It’s a pure race, all about speed. Do you really want to do that?”
“I thought they were just saying my name!”
Sky looked like she wanted to slap me. “There’s only one thing to do then.”
“Panic? Cry?”
She grabbed the pen and wrote “Sky Wren” right under my name. “Train.”
The Derby was a week away. All because of my unfortunate name, I was going to be racing against fully fledged Wonderbolts. With luck, I’d be able to complete a lap before everypony else finished the race entirely. I worked tirelessly on nothing but wingpower. Just lifts and sprints. Before I knew it, the day arrived and I was ensconced in my starting gate.
I tensed my wings waiting for the bang to signal the start. I knew it was coming. . . and I moved too soon. For a moment, I had a lead over everypony, but I was aware that I had left early, and was going to be penalized for it.
The problem with jumping the start of a race is, beyond any penalty they give you, you naturally hesitate when you realize that you’ve committed the foul. To this day I like to think that, if I had started at the same time as everypony else and not pulled up at the start, I would have come in something other than last. I mean, I don’t dispute the time penalty, that’s fair, but even without it I was last. Not by much, though. There were one or two others, whether they were cadets like me or just had a bad day, that I was right behind at the finish.
But in every race somepony has to come in last, and that day it was me. Sky Wren was waiting for me at the finish line, and I guess that I made her wait longer than she should have. She put a wing over me and said, “Don’t worry. You’ll get them next time.”
“Yeah, next time.”
The weight of the loss was heavy on my shoulders. Even if I could improve, there was so much distance between last and first. Even if I reached the middle of the pack, I’d still have just as far to go. With my head down I trotted toward the barracks when I heard a call from behind.
“Nice flying, kid.”
“Daddy?”
“You didn’t think I was going to miss my little filly’s first race, did you?”
I couldn’t believe it, nor could I figure how he found out I was in the race. But there he was, coming down from the stands and giving me a hug.
“Daddy, I came in last. It was terrible flying.”
“I say it was nice flying. Plenty of ponies were taking it easy out there. Some of them were flying for all they were worth. The ones in front were.”
“But so was the one in back.”
He looked around. “Do you have to be anywhere right now?”
“I have a little free time.”
“Good. Come and sit with your tired old father.”
We trotted to a picnic table near where the crowd was exiting. My father bought us drinks. He even got me a muffin.
“Listen, Derpy. In a race there’s only one pony you have to beat. That’s ‘Other-you.’ If there’s a you out there who could have gone faster, then you lost. If the fastest you possible is the one sitting here, then you won the race, no matter what anypony says.
“And that’s not just for the Wonderbolts. It’s true in whatever you do in life.”
He always explained things well. I nibbled at my muffin.
“Daddy? I think that, after I finish the training, I’m not going to try to be a Wonderbolt anymore. I had a lot of fun learning all the flying, and I think that one time is enough for me.”
“That’s fine, Derpy. We’ll find lots of other things for you to do.”
After another hug, I went back to see Sky Wren and tell her everything. For the rest of the time, I managed to keep above a passing score enough to stop Brisk Wind from kicking me out. Sky Wren and I stayed partners, and she kept trying to make it. But that one year, on graduation day, we walked with the rest of our class. And I’ll always remember that day.
For the last time, I took off that tight uniform. I washed it and folded it neatly. Even though it was used, it looked the same way it did when I first got it. Daddy came and took me home, and he mounted it on the wall by my bed. Every night when I’d go to sleep I’d look at it, and remember those fun times. And Sky Wren.
“And that’s pretty much the story,” said Derpy. Karyn had barely noticed where they were flying, since she was so wrapped up in the story.
“Why didn’t I ever get to meet Sky Wren?”
“Well, like I told you, she kept trying to make the Wonderbolts. In her third year, they were learning tornadoes. There was an accident—she was so small…”
“Don’t.” Karyn wanted to spare her any more painful memories.
They flew on for a bit before Derpy could resume. “Sometimes I worry about you.”
“You don’t have to. Believe me, I’m training for what I was meant to do.”
“That’s not what I meant. I never see you with any human friends. You should have your own Sky Wren.”
Karyn thought that that might not be a good idea, if tragedies happened, but didn’t bring it up. “Derpy, in the first place, I do have a few friends, like Mike, even though you don’t like him. But beyond that, I do have my own Sky Wren. You’ve met her.”
“Who is she?”
“Her name is Derpy Hooves. She sometimes doesn’t have the confidence she should, and apparently she doesn’t think that a human should have a pony for a best friend.”
“Karyn, be serious.”
“I am. You stuck with the Wonderbolts even though you knew that you weren’t going to become a captain. You kept pushing that square peg into that round hole. Well, I’m going to do the same. I don’t care if no other people like me. No matter what happens, I’m not giving up being Derpy’s human.”
Derpy was overwhelmed and wanted to give Karyn a hug. Of course, that was impossible given their positions, and nearly sent Derpy’s bags flying. She righted herself and looked around.
Below them was a highway with cars cutting through a forest, with no other sign of civilization. “Do you know where we are?”
“You got us lost?!”
“No, no. I’ll find our way back. Just give me a moment to use my map sense.”
Karyn rolled her eyes. “No matter what happens,” she repeated.
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Heh, sounds like Derpy is getting a Facebook page in the next chapter. Good luck trying to get one with her name in any permutation.
Great chapter!
Derpy may not be RD confident, but she's pretty self-assured. I think you get farther in life that way. And because of that, she'd make the best pony ambassador of all possible worlds
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2268783 your profile pic is badass
*hugs the story*
Mmm. It's all warm and soffft.