Aerial Dreams

by BNuts

4. Wings and the Air

“Fifth?” Aerial asked Lightning Strike, astounded. “With all due respect, ma’am I worked hard to get where I am.”

“And all three of us recognize that,” Lightning Strike said.

“So why not Second?”

“I’m not sure you understand what being Fifth means yet,” Azure said. “Give it a chance, please, and if you still have a complaint, you can bring it to me then.”

“Ma’am, why am I even here, at the Academy?”

“To be honest, it’s because you have a fluid grace that few others have, and yet you show no hesitation to do what’s necessary, at least in an exercise. If you can translate that into action in the field, together with the rest of your group, being Sun Five will be the least of your accolades.”

Aerial thought for a moment. “I’ll give it a chance.”

“Good, because I’d hate to lose you so early,” Lightning Strike said.

* * *

A week later, Windwalker was leading Sun Squadron through a valley and into the foothills of the Crystal Mountains for training. Aerial wouldn’t have thought she would enjoy coordinated flight before, having thought of it as being too restricted and stifling. Now, though, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to feel the way the wind interacted with others’ wings and feathers if she hadn’t joined the Wonderbolts.

As to her original outrage toward being made Sun Five, that had vanished when Aerial realized that that also put her in a command position, as Two Flight Lead, because Windwalker organized the squadron into three flights of four, as opposed to the searching method he had used before. Having two pairs in each flight gave them greater adaptability when they split off into pairs, and then were able to rejoin later.

This was an exercise they were doing as they flew through the shallow passes, which formed a winding maze that branched off and rejoined many times. A split-off flight or duo could easily find the rest of the group by speeding up or slowing down to compensate for the length of their path. And with at least one pony from each pair having memorized a topological map, nopony would get lost.

Three Flight had split off from the rest of Sun Squadron earlier, which was taking a more winding route. Aerial flew at the front of Two Flight’s diamond formation, right behind One Flight. They were approaching a sharp turn when Aerial noticed a strange eddy in the cold wind. “Drop and roll!”

Without hesitation, One Flight plunged downward as soon as they turned the corner and flew over a chasm, which was venting hot air. Their downward flight and their roll compensated for the sudden heat geyser, preventing them from being flung high and far, and from losing control. Aerial led Two Flight in doing exactly the same. She heard Hasty Hoof whooping enthusiastically as they powered through and came out the other side only slightly higher than where they’d gone in.

Windwalker dropped back so he was slightly ahead of Aerial. “Nice tan, and good call. I know who I’m going to listen to first from now on.”

“Only when it comes to the wind,” Aerial grinned. Am I really any darker than before? He doesn’t look… oh, he’s joking. He only jokes when he’s relaxed…

Aerial had also gotten to know Windwalker a lot better over the past week: he believed in reward based on merit and effort, and he put great effort into everything. He took personal responsibility for training every member of Sun Squadron, but he also believed in only asking them to do what they were each potentially capable of doing, and what he could do himself. And he believed in the power of humour to carry ponies through difficult situations.

“Could you teach me how to do that?” Windwalker asked, breaking through Aerial’s thoughts.

“I can try, but in return I want you to teach me everything.”

“Everything I know?”

“Everything you know you can teach me,” Aerial grinned. This was her tough-but-fair commander.

“Then I’ll also try,” he said, and then he pumped his wings and leaped powerfully back to the formation’s head. The flight through the foothills continued, Three Flight rejoining them shortly, and Aerial called out every change in the airflow before they hit them.