Training Partners
Chapter 17: Training Partners
"Geez, how did you two do that?" asked Sunflower as she slumped into her seat across from Dawn and Scootaloo.
"Do what?" asked Scootaloo, after swallowing her mouthful of vegetable stew. Fortunately, the mess hall of the Academy was easily comparable to the one in the Wonderbolt headquarters. At least they would be well-fed for the duration of their training.
"You two flew through those laps like they were nothing," elaborated Sunflower. "I mean, you were barely even winded after all of that."
Dawn and Scootaloo looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Flying that way had become so natural that it had actually become a little difficult to articulate how they did what they did.
"We've trained to use our pegasus magic to its fullest extent," explained Dawn after a moment's thought. "Because of that, we've learned how to fly more efficiently without expending excessive energy on flapping, which also lowers the strain on the muscles."
Sunflower blinked. "Oh! That's right. I remember now. You two had that newspaper article written about you. You study some kind of martial art, right?"
"It's called the Gale King," said Scootaloo with a smile. "We used that during our performance at the competition too."
"Wow!" said Sunflower. "No wonder flying those laps was so easy for you."
"It was pathetic, if you ask me," said Cyclone as she lurched into her seat.
"Nopony asked you," snarked Scootaloo.
Cyclone brushed a hoof over her chest, rearing upright in her seat. "What Spitfire is looking for is effort, ponies who are willing to push the envelope."
"You mean she's looking for ponies who blow themselves out early and end up finishing last?" asked Scootaloo with a sardonic smile, her words immediately wiping the smile off of Cyclone's face.
Dawn glanced sidelong and sent a stiff breeze running through her feathers in an awkward fashion that made Scootaloo wince. Looking at him, she saw quite plainly the stern expression on his face and slumped down a little.
"You did put out an excellent effort," said Dawn, looking straight at Cyclone. She shifted uncertainly wondering where he was taking this. "However," he continued, "as Scootaloo, rather tactlessly, pointed out, you ended up expending your energy needlessly and ended up completely losing the advantage you gained over the rest of us."
"Hey, what was I supposed to do?" asked Cyclone, her wings flaring.
"Pace yourself," replied Dawn. "Spitfire asked for two-hundred laps. Nothing she said or did indicated that it was a race, that she wanted one or the other of us to prove we were the fastest. It showed her whose abilities are currently lacking, according to her standards. It shows her who will persevere..." He looked pointedly at Sunflower, who blushed under his gaze. "...and those who lack discipline..." His gaze transferred to Cyclone. "...but not determination."
"Oookay," said Cyclone dubiously. "So what?"
"Well..." said Dawn, "...you finished two-hundred laps. But have you thought about what we'll be asked to do after lunch?"
Cyclone froze in place, her eyes going wide.
Dawn's eyes narrowed. "You got too wrapped up in what you were doing, primarily because you let that stallion provoke you. You thoughtlessly expended energy you didn't need to. Not only did you end up being the last one to complete your laps, but your performance later today may suffer, depending what is asked of us, which would only lower your standing in Spitfire's eyes."
"Oh," said Cyclone, her voice emerging as a squeak.
Scootaloo and Sunflower were both staring at Dawn in surprise. "I didn't think about that," admitted Scootaloo.
Noticing both their gazes, Dawn blinked and then blushed, lowering his head a little. "Well...that's what I was thinking, anyway."
Spitfire's teeth deftly moved the pen across the paper in front of her as she filled in the thoughts about each of her cadets. By and large, they were a promising bunch. As she'd expected, Dawn and Scootaloo had given the best showing so far, though she appreciated that both Sunflower and Cyclone were earning high marks as well, albeit each for different reasons.
"Two-hundred laps, huh," commented Soarin' as he leaned against the doorframe, watching her. "That's quite the ringer you put them through, Captain."
"Don't you have a wedding to help your mare plan?" asked Spitfire, smirking up at him.
Soarin' snorted. "And you think she'd want a stallion's input on that? She'd just ask me about half a dozen things she's already made up her mind on and then let me have it if any of my answers contradicted her."
"Eh, true enough," said Spitfire with a shrug.
"So what was up with pushing them like that?" asked Soarin'. "You don't usually hit them with a workout like that first thing on the first day."
"I figured I'd shake things up a little," said Spitfire. "Pushing them to their limits right off the bat lets me know which ones need to improve, which ones have insight, and which ones have guts."
"I guess it works out when I think about it like that," said Soarin', his gaze drifting upward. "I like that Cyclone girl. She's got grit."
"Sunflower isn't bad," added Spitfire. "I guess, since she'd been hanging around Cyclone during her time as the Stratus' favorite, Sunflower got pulled into a bunch of her training regimens."
"But it looks like Dawn and Scootaloo are the best by a pretty wide margin," said Soarin' with a smirk. "Not that I'm surprised."
"They've been through things most ponies could never dream of experiencing in their worst nightmares, especially Dawn," said Spitfire. "It's only natural. But they can get better. And I intend to make them better."
"How?" asked Soarin'.
"Simple," said Spitfire, "I'm gonna shake things up for them."
Fortunately, their afternoon workout proved to be much less strenuous than they'd feared. Spitfire put them through a few different exercises, before observing them through a simple obstacle course. As Dawn had predicted, Cyclone's performance suffered considerably, thanks to the fact that she was still sore and tired from her overexertion earlier. However, she still managed to acquit herself well, though no Academy records were broken that day.
As the sun began to dip towards the horizon, Spitfire called an end to their activities and sent everypony in for showers and dinner. When they arrived at their room, they were met with their own special cadet uniforms. The uniforms were in the same blue and gold pattern as the Wonderbolts' actual flight suits, but only covered the front half of their bodies, leaving the legs bare and ending partway up the neck. Needless to say, they were made with a thin, breathable, but durable fabric, rather than being composed of the artfully fitted mithril-ring mail of the flight suits the actual Wonderbolts wore. They also came with a pair of gold-rimmed goggles.
The next morning, Dawn and Scootaloo rose early out of habit. Despite being at the Academy, Dawn did not see it as a reason to scrimp on their Gale King training. He and Scootaloo ran through their forms a few times before joining the other cadets in the mess hall for breakfast. There, they were met by Spitfire, who warned them not to eat too much.
"Why do you think she'd say that?" asked Sunflower.
"I think I know what's coming," said Scootaloo grimly. "You really don't want to eat too much."
"What is coming?" asked Cyclone, raising an eyebrow.
"The Dizzitron," said Scootaloo, remembering Rainbow's stories about her time at the Academy.
"What's the Dizzitron?" asked Sunflower nervously.
"You'll see," said Dawn.
Just as Scootaloo had anticipated, they assembled in front of the large machine, which looked more at home amongst a bunch of carnival rides than the middle of the prestigious Wonderbolts Academy. It consisted of a large, wheel-like apparatus. A single metal arm was connected to the center axis, which rotated along the circumference of the wheel. At the end of the arm was another wheel, along with a clamp to hold a single passenger. Just for flare, the main wheel was engraved with a green and purple spiral design to make the whole thing even more nauseating, once it was in motion.
"Welcome to the Dizzitron, my little cadets," said Spitfire with sadistic glee as she paced in front of them. "This is our patented spinout simulator. What we're going to do is strap you in, set you spinning, and then let you fly."
Several cadets gulped nervously.
Spitfire continued. "Your objective is to regain your control and come in for a smooth landing as quickly as you can manage. You'll be timed from the release to the instant your hooves touch the ground. Let's see who goes first."
Spitfire started at one end of the line and began working her way down. Each pony was strapped into the small wheel, which started spinning rapidly, even as the arm it was attached to ran in a circle around the larger wheel. Upon Spitfire's command, the cadet was released and sent spinning into the sky. The order they were lined up in had Dawn, Scootaloo, Sunflower, and Cyclone going about midway through the process.
Of the first few ponies who went, most were able to get their flights under control in at least twenty seconds. Two, including the large stallion, were unable to regain control and ended up landing haphazardly, only barely coming short of crashing.
Then it was Dawn's turn. As he strapped in and put on his goggles, Dawn thought about what he had seen from the ponies who had gone before him. Most had tried to immediately counter or stall their spin, which often strained their wings and disrupted their efforts or simply added newer and more dizzying axes to their spins. Thus, he reasoned the best way to pull out was to move with his spin and then ride it into wider spins to expend the excess momentum, allowing him to regain control efficiently.
Spitfire started up the machine and the world around him began to whirl around.
“Release!”
At Spitfire’s command, the strap released and Dawn felt himself being flung through the sky as the world continued to whirl around him. Immediately, he followed through with his plan, angling his wings to guide his motion, cooperate with his spin and quickly ride it out into a series of widening loops before he guided himself into a descent and landed on the runway, coming to an easy stop.
“Eight seconds,” observed Spitfire calmly, one of the staff members beside her noting the time on his clipboard. “Respectable,” she added.
Dawn returned to his place in line pulling his goggles off so that they rested over his forehead. Now it was Scootaloo’s turn. She strapped in, put on her goggles and waited. Dawn watched as she was launched through the air. To his amazement, she turned her spin into a graceful pirouette, guiding herself into the landing even before she’d stopped spinning completely, landing with all the poise and grace of a dancer. His jaw dropped and he was struck by the incredible ease and grace with which she had performed. Wow… His heart thudded alarmingly in his chest and his cheeks colored.
“Six seconds,” said Spitfire with a smirk as she checked her stopwatch. “On the dot. So close…”
“Aw, dang it,” muttered Scootaloo petulantly, having secretly hoped that she managed to best her idol’s record. Still, at least she’d managed to match it.
Sunflower’s turn was next. Dawn watched with interest as she was launched into the air. To his surprise, she copied his tactic of simply riding the spin out into a series of loops before coming in for a landing, though she hadn’t worked it out quite as well. She ended up straying a bit too far and having to scramble for the runway, as though she’d momentarily forgotten that time would only be stopped once she actually landed.
“Twelve seconds,” said Spitfire, which made Sunflower wince. Dawn raised an eyebrow. All things considered, twelve seconds wasn’t a bad time. It certainly put Sunflower amongst the top quarter of the ponies that had gone so far.
“I guess I couldn’t do it as well as you,” she said as she settled in next to Scootaloo, glancing past her at Dawn.
“Did you get the idea from watching me?” asked Dawn.
Sunflower’s cheeks reddened and she looked away. “Yeah…I thought it looked pretty awesome and it worked better for me than trying it Scootaloo’s way.”
What the hay does that mean? thought Scootaloo, her nostrils flaring as her eyes darted back and forth between Dawn and Sunflower, once again feeling that strange sense of irritation as she watched the two of them.
“Let me show you how it’s done,” said Cyclone in her haughtiest tone, snapping her tail in front of Scootaloo’s nose as she walked past, her head held high.
Cyclone strapped in and pulled on her goggles, smirking confidently as Spitfire started up the machine. When she was launched, Cyclone went spinning through the air. However, instead of trying to end her spin, she in fact began to spin faster, using it to tighten her arc and go into a descent without even stopping, rapidly sending her straight to the ground. Just as she would have impacted, Cyclone came out of her spin, executing a perfect four-point landing, head raised, wings stretched upward, just as she had during her performance in the Best Young Fliers competition.
“F-four seconds,” said Spitfire after a moment’s hesitation. “That’s a new Academy record.”
A line of shocked mutters ran up and down the line as the other cadets stared in awe at Cyclone. The large stallion glared openly but kept his mouth shut as she marched past. As she came past Scootaloo, Cyclone smirked triumphantly, which made Scootaloo snort angrily. Sunflower beamed at her friend as she took her place in line once again.
“That was amazing, Cyclone,” said Sunflower earnestly.
To Scootaloo’s surprise, that actually seemed to cause Cyclone to tone down her pride. “Thanks,” she said, sounding almost shy.
“Most impressive,” added Dawn, prompting Scootaloo to give him a shocked look.
“So she can spin herself into the ground, big deal,” grumbled Scootaloo.
“The point of the exercise is to see how quickly we can regain control of our flight,” said Dawn softly. “But, from the moment she was launched, there was never actually a time when Cyclone was actually ‘out of control.’ Instead, for her, it was a matter of finding the quickest way to land.”
Scootaloo frowned, not liking the idea of her coltfriend complimenting the skills of somepony who annoyed her so much. But, at the same time, she had to admit that Dawn had a point. And, for all that she was annoyed, it really was impressive that Cyclone had beat Rainbow Dash’s record by a full two seconds.
Even as she put the remaining cadets through the exercise, Spitfire kept one eye on the youngster foursome, fighting to keep from grinning. Oh yeah…they’re gonna make this the most interesting session I’ve ever run.
A short while later, most of the cadets were either lying on the ground, groaning, or standing in place in line. Some had taken to the Dizzitron better than others. Spitfire chuckled and grinned as she stood in front of them. The ones who were lying down managed to force themselves to stand up and face her, doing their best to remain at attention, even when the ground still felt like it was turning beneath their hooves.
"All right, you sorry lot, I've got an announcement before you go to your lunch...well...if you can keep your lunch down anyway. After analyzing your performance so far, I will be placing you into pairs. One of you will be assigned the roll of lead pony. The other will be assigned wingpony. These will be your teams and roles for the remainder of your session here. There will be no complaints about your assignment or your position. Am I understood?"
"Yes ma'am," said everypony sharply...or as sharply as they could manage.
"Your assignments will be posted in the mess hall at breakfast tomorrow," said Spitfire. "Dismissed!"
The cadets filed into the mess hall, most of them hoping that they would be able to eat their meals without throwing them up later.
"This is awesome!" said Scootaloo eagerly. "I wonder which of us is going to be lead pony, Dawn."
Dawn blinked and gave Scootaloo a sidelong look. "I'm not entirely sure we should be assuming that we'll automatically be assigned together," he said dubiously.
"Of course we will," said Scootaloo assuredly. "Spitfire saw our performance. We can fly like we can read each other's mind. We'll make the perfect pair together and it'll be easy."
Dawn frowned, not entirely sure that making "perfect pairs" was the point of assigning ponies together. He got the distinct impression that Scootaloo was in for a rude awakening, come tomorrow morning.
"Well, if Spitfire pairs you up," said Cyclone, smirking at Scootaloo, "then she's definitely going to pair us up too." She stretched out her wing and wrapped it around Sunflower, the yellow mare flinching at the unexpected contact, but not pulling away either. Dawn noticed the faintest tinge of pink on her cheeks. "We'll leave you two in the dust," Cyclone proclaimed proudly.
"Ha! I'd like to see you try!" retorted Scootaloo.
"I already left you in the dust once today," said Cyclone, her grin widening. "You're looking at the new record-holder for the Dizzitron after all."
"Yeah, but you still finished dead-last yesterday," countered Scootaloo hotly, Cyclone's smirk jumping from her lips to Scootaloo's.
"Oh yeah!" snapped Cyclone. "Just watch! I'll make you eat my contrail in our afternoon exercises."
"Ha!" barked Scootaloo. "Do your worst."
Dawn and Sunflower exchanged glances. Dawn raised his eyebrow. Sunflower shrugged in response. The two of them slumped and sighed as they continued to silently observe their friends' antics.
The afternoon exercises were a mix of obstacle course runs and cloud-busting exercises. As they had boasted, Scootaloo and Cyclone threw themselves into the exercises with a vigor, competing fiercely and trying to one-up the other and get the faster time or the higher score. For the most part, it was a dead heat. Scootaloo's skill in the Gale King was of limited use under these circumstances. The greatest advantage her training lent her was the increased efficiency with which she used her pegasus magic. It didn't improve her speed, but it turned to her advantage as the day waned and Cyclone began to run out of steam. Cyclone, on the other hoof, was agile and adaptable with a lot of hooves-on experience in working with the weather in Cloudsdale, allowing her to quickly complete her exercises until she began to wear down as evening came on.
Dawn and Sunflower watched the two of them compete with a mix of bemusement and exasperation. Occasionally, Dawn would look over at Spitfire and see her watching Cyclone and Scootaloo with interest and amusement. He also noticed that she often had them go one after the other so that they had an easier time comparing times and scores. "Uh oh," he said.
"What is it?" asked Sunflower, who was busy watching Scootaloo and Cyclone race one another through their latest obstacle course run.
"I think I know at least one of the pairs Spitfire is going to assign," said Dawn.
Sunflower followed his gaze to Spitfire and her eyes widened. "She wouldn't..."
"I think she would," said Dawn. He sighed. "I don't look forward to seeing Scootaloo's reaction tomorrow."
"I'm not looking forward to Cyclone's either," replied Sunflower with a wan smile.
"Come on Dawn, let's hurry," said Scootaloo as she trotted ahead of him to the mess hall. "It's time to see which of us Spitfire made lead pony."
Dawn kept his mouth shut as he trailed behind her, figuring that Scootaloo was probably not going to be happy with what she saw when they got to the mess hall. He had been unwilling to disabuse her ironclad belief that they would be paired together, figuring that she either wouldn't listen or react with anger. He wondered if doing so would have spared him from her response this morning.
When they got to the mess hall, Dawn looked for their names on the board and found his suspicions confirmed. The pairings had ended up, more or less, how he'd expected...Scootaloo had been paired with Cyclone and he had been paired with Sunflower.
"Huh! Wha-what?" Scootaloo could barely form words, her mouth working itself open and closed as she stared at the board in disbelief.
"Hmm...It seems we've both been made lead pony," Dawn observed, wondering if the jest would circumvent the angry outburst he felt was coming on from his fillyfriend.
"What the hay!" exclaimed Scootaloo, her wings flaring, sending out a wave of air that actually scooted several chairs away from her and made a couple of the mess hall tables jump. "What is Spitfire doing?"
"What she thinks is best," said Dawn levelly.
"How could she think that pairing me with that loudmouth is what's best?" demanded Scootaloo, glaring at him.
"Hey, you think you're unhappy?" asked Cyclone as she and Sunflower came up behind them. "How do you think I feel about being wingpony when I'm clearly the better flyer."
"In your dreams!" shouted Scootaloo, whirling around to glare at Cyclone, a glare that the other mare gladly returned, to the point that Dawn and Sunflower could actually hear sparks flying between them.
"Scootaloo!" said Dawn, his tone surprisingly sharp to Sunflower's ears. She jumped in surprise, seeing Dawn looking reproachfully at his fillyfriend. His tone jolted Scootaloo out of her glaring contest with Cyclone and brought her attention back to him. "Calm down."
Scootaloo winced. This was Dawn's instructor tone, the tone of voice he used when he needed her to listen to him because she was about to do something stupid, dangerous, or both. It had been a while since he'd employed it so forcefully with her. "But Dawn..." she protested.
"You heard Spitfire yesterday," said Dawn. "You can't complain about your assignment." He looked at Cyclone. "That goes for you too," he added. "The two of you are just going to have to work together as best you can."
"But aren't you upset?" asked Scootaloo. "I was so sure that we'd be paired together."
"I was fairly certain that we wouldn't," said Dawn softly.
"But we're perfect together," protested Scootaloo. "We're so in-synch that we don't even need to signal each other."
"I think that's entirely the problem," said Dawn as he guided them to their seats at one of the tables.
"What do you mean?" asked Scootaloo.
Dawn sighed and looked at her. "We do fly perfectly together. Doing that is easy, which is the reason that Spitfire split us up."
"I don't get it," said Scootaloo.
"Look," said Dawn, frowning, "she wants us to push the envelope, to give more effort, correct?"
"Yeah..." said Scootaloo.
"There's more to that than simply going for a faster time or a higher score," said Dawn. "It also means stepping outside of our comfort zone. It means that you'll be obliged to work with a pony who's been antagonistic towards you and vice-versa."
Scootaloo and Cyclone looked at each other, their expressions souring for a second before Dawn coughed and reclaimed their attention. "It also forces us to work with ponies who can't interact and communicate as we do. We've learned to read each other's movements through the wind and react without needing to talk or openly signal each other. But learning signals is part of the curriculum here. We need to know them and we need to use them. That's why we were both made lead ponies, because as wingponies we wouldn't need a lead pony to signal us because we can read their moves so easily. It forces us to polish our communication skills."
Scootaloo's ears twitched as she listened. Dawn wasn't entirely sure that he was getting through to her. "Aren't you the least bit upset?" she asked again. "I want to be paired with you. We belong together."
"What we want doesn't necessarily enter into it," said Dawn softly. "Just because we're together as fillyfriend and coltfriend doesn't mean we should be together on a flight team."
Scootaloo pouted down at the table. Even if she couldn't exactly find any holes in Dawn's responses, that didn't mean that she liked them. Only moments ago, she'd been confident that the two of them would be together throughout the Academy session, wowing Spitfire and the staff with their skill and technique. It would have been simple. It would have been easy...
Oh! The realization struck Scootaloo with the force of a freight train. Of course it would have been easy if she'd been paired with Dawn. But easy wasn't why they were here. They hadn't come to the Wonderbolts Academy to do things the easy way. That's what Dawn had been getting at. That's why Spitfire had assigned her a different partner.
"Ugh!" groaned Scootaloo, smacking her face down into the table. "I'm an idiot."
"You're not," said Dawn, smiling at her and draping a wing across her back. "You just got a little carried away."
"I know," said Scootaloo, tilting her head so that she could focus one eye on her coltfriend's face. Even though the anger and hurt had faded, there was still a faint, niggling sense of discomfort at the back of her mind. Even if Dawn had expected and understood Spitfire's decision, it still hurt a little that he hadn't been at all troubled by it.
Neither of them noticed a familiar stallion, who'd discreetly tucked himself into a corner of the mess hall, listening to their exchange with interest. Once it seemed that their discussion was over, he'd edged away from the table and slipped out, making his way in the direction of Spitfire's office.
Spitfire was in the middle of finalizing her itinerary for the cadets' morning training session when she heard the sound of somepony rapping on the doorframe. Looking up, she spotted Soarin', grinning at her as he leaned against it. "I take it you just caught the early show," she said.
"Yep," said Soarin' with a chuckle. "I gotta say, it was a heck of a performance. Scootaloo looked fit to burst."
Spitfire chuckled. "I figured that would happen. She's good, but she can fall into the trap of complacency as easily as anypony. I knew that pairing her up with a different pony would shake things up for her."
"But pairing her up with a pony with whom she has a pretty rocky history is probably a masterstroke," noted Soarin' with a chuckle. "Those two are gonna be growling and snapping at each other non-stop. I wouldn't be surprised if they drop to the bottom of the rankings right away."
"That's probably gonna be what happens," agreed Spitfire. "Those two started off with a huge edge over the other cadets, despite being so much younger than them." She smirked. "The friction between them is going to interfere with their efforts and hold them back. Scootaloo's gonna be forced to figure out how to work with a pony even if she doesn't like said pony. Cyclone's gonna have to learn to check her ego, once and for all. The two of them are going to have to put out a serious effort if they want to make a good showing."
Soarin' was practically cackling now.
"How did Dawn take it?" asked Spitfire.
"Like a champ," said Soarin'. "He was the one who talked Scootaloo down after she got all worked up. He hit most of the points you made. I think you've got him pretty well pegged."
"After doing this as long as I have, I should," said Spitfire. "One thing's for certain...they're about to have a rough few days."
"All right, Cadets," snapped Spitfire as she paced in front of them, "this morning, we're gonna have a little fun. We'll be playing a game of Capture the Flag. You'll be divided into two teams; red and blue.1) You'll be hunting for the opposing team's flags all around the Academy. However, you must spend the entire exercise flying in pairs. That means that wingponies have to stick with their lead ponies. If they don't, you're disqualified. We'll be watching carefully to make sure that you do. The team that manages to acquire the most flags from the other team at the end of the time will be the winner." She smirked expectantly at them. "Get ready..."
Sunflower shifted nervously as she stood next to Dawn, who was eying the golden lead pony badge on his uniform as though it were a curiosity. "I'll try to keep up with you as best I can," she said.
"Let's not do anything too daring," said Dawn, looking at her. "We should use this exercise as a chance to get accustomed to flying together. We'll take it easy and work on keeping close. I don't think that we'll get any real penalties if our team doesn't win."
Sunflower flinched, feeling several angry glares come to rest on them. She realized that the other pairs on the red team were not happy with Dawn's attitude towards the exercise. Clearly, they thought that winning was very important and were not happy with a pony who wasn't aiming for nothing less than victory.
Sunflower glanced across the runway at the blue team, where Scootaloo and Cyclone had been assigned. She hoped that they were doing better. However, from where she was, she could easily see the two of them arguing fiercely, probably over some disagreement over strategy. She desperately hoped that they remembered Spitfire's orders to stay together.
"All right!" shouted Spitfire. "Both teams get ready. When I blow the whistle, it's go time."
The cadets lined up and spread their wings. Sunflower was a beat behind Dawn, keeping one eye trained on him. Across from her, she could see Scootaloo and Cyclone doing the same, though they were still primarily interested in trading glares with one another.
Spitfire's chest swelled as she inhaled deeply before putting the whistle to her lips. It unleashed a screech that was probably audible all the way up in Cloudsdale. The cadets sprang into motion, their speed stemming almost as much from how startling the sound had been as their own eagerness to get started.
Dawn's wings swept downward in a single, graceful stroke that immediately launched him upward. Right away, he realized that they had a bit of a problem. His ascension had been easy and graceful. Thanks to his wind-sense, he was able to feel Sunflower flying behind and a little off to the side of him, the typical position for a wingpony, without needing to turn his head to look at her. Sunflower was only slightly behind him, but she had needed several wingstrokes to reach the same speed and altitude as him. In the short term, it wasn't much of a problem unless they wound up in another endurance contest like the two-hundred laps on their first day. But it did mean that she would have trouble keeping in synch with him.
For the time being, Dawn decided to take things easy and keep things slow. The main purpose of this exercise was to put them through their paces and get used to each other's way of flying. He could feel her watching him, which reassured him. He hoped that, even as she watched him, Sunflower was still paying attention to her surroundings.
With a tilt of his head towards her, he signaled her to head into a bank that would take them circling around the perimeter of the plateau. Behind him, he could feel Sunflower waggle her wings in an affirmative response. All around him, he could see and feel the other pairs doing much the same, some responding faster than others. He felt Scootaloo and Cyclone rushing straight across the plateau, heading right for the edge. Even though they were supposed to be flying together, the way Scootaloo and Cyclone seemed to continually alternate who was in the lead made it seem more like they were racing each other.
Dawn and Sunflower followed a broad curve, stooping down along the side of the plateau, looking amongst the rocky outcroppings for the other team's flag, flying in a slow spiral that would take them all the way around it. Their eyes raked across the stone, searching for any hint of blue.
"I see it!" shouted Sunflower, pointing off at an angle. Not bothering to look at her, but following the angle indicated by her hoof, Dawn could see the blue flag fluttering in the breeze. It was sticking out from a rocky spire at an angle so that it hung in the narrow space between the spire and the wall of the plateau.
Dawn nodded and angled his flight towards it, quickening their pace a little as he went. Not too much though, he thought. The narrow space and the odd angle would make the approach tricky, especially if they weren't careful. It would be easy to clip a wing on a rocky edge, which could be extremely painful, if not deadly dangerous.
A surge of air from above told him that another pair of pegasi were coming down. Already, he could feel their contours and realized that they were another pair of red team members. They had apparently heard Sunflower's shout and had decided to try and rush in to claim the flag for themselves.
Dawn's next wingbeat came down a little harder, speeding him up so that they could make the gap before the other pair did. As he did so, her pulled at the air under Sunflower's wings, signaling her to speed up. When they got to the gap, he would adjust the airflow under one wing and over the other and guide her into the approach as she followed behind him. With that, they were sure to reach the gap before the other pair and claim the flag for themselves. Dawn prepared to accelerate more...
...And slowed down abruptly as he remembered that his partner was not Scootaloo. Sunflower had no training in the Gale King. She probably thought the air pulling at her wings was minor turbulence. She wouldn't be able to read his signals through the air the way Scootaloo could. Dawn would have to guide her through verbally.
But they were going too fast. He hadn't thought how to communicate the angle quickly enough for her to adjust before they reached the gap. If he slowed down, the other pair would get the flag first. Dawn's ears flicked back and forth as he waffled on whether or not to push through and hope that Sunflower could keep up with him. She'd fallen directly behind him, so it would be up to her to read his movements and react in time. She couldn't see the width and angle from this position.
Dawn's eyes narrowed...then widened. "Break off!" he shouted over his shoulder, already pulling them into a turn that would carry them away from the flag and out of the path of the other pair.
Sunflower followed him faithfully. But he felt her wince when the other pair hurtled through the gap, shouting positions and angles to each other the whole time. The wingpony snagged the flag with a triumphant "Ha!" and the two of them quickly pulled their flight upward, back to the top of the plateau, to deliver their prize.
His ears folding flat against his head, Dawn drew in a shuddering breath. Even though I knew what Spitfire was trying to do, I had no idea it would be so difficult, he thought. Still, they needed to keep going. They wouldn't get better unless they kept at it.
Spitfire smirked and blew into her whistle, signaling the end of the game. She watched as the pairs came flitting back from all across the Academy grounds, taking a second to look over the three pairs that had been disqualified after their members had separated from each other. Scootaloo and Cyclone were there, both looking absolutely furious and refusing to look at each other.
They'd managed to snag a couple of flags. Scootaloo's skill at the Gale King allowed her to react quickly whenever Cyclone threatened to go haring off on her own. But, at the same time, her own resentment at the fact that Cyclone kept ignoring her lead pony led to Scootaloo pushing herself harder. The two of them had, at one point, spotted two separate flags. Rather than trust Scootaloo to lead them to one of them, Cyclone had made a break for one, not noticing (or caring) that Scootaloo had gone for the other. In her eagerness to grab the one she had spotted, Scootaloo had ignored her wingpony until it was too late and the two of them had strayed far enough from each other for Spitfire to ground them as soon as they returned with their flags.
Meanwhile, Dawn and Sunflower had only managed to capture a single flag over the course of the exercise. They'd spotted at least three others. But the flags had been contested by other pairs on their team and Dawn had backed down, rather than try to get the flags first. The only one that they managed to get was one that was sticking out from underneath a log bridging a gap between two sections of stone. Because it was only visible from below, not many pegasi had thought to look up to find it (a common blindspot for pegasi). That one they'd managed to get before any of the other pairs had realized where it was.
Spitfire said nothing, only tallying their scores and announcing the winner. The red team won, mostly because two pairs on the blue team had been disqualified. Dismissing the teams, Spitfire sent them to the mess while she got everything ready for the afternoon training session.
"Ha! Looks like you aren't such hot shots now," crowed the large stallion as he and his wingpony made their way to the mess hall, brushing past the four younger cadets along the way. "Stupid amateurs don't belong here."
Scootaloo's jaw clenched and she glared at the stallion's back. Cyclone growled angrily under her breath. Sunflower ducked her head in shame. Dawn, however, didn't so much as twitch. Already, he was lost in thought.
"Looks like I was dead on," said Spitfire, looking over the scores compiled after the Capture the Flag exercise.
"I kinda expected it with Scootaloo and Cyclone," said Soarin', reading over her shoulder. "But I didn't think Dawn would be hamstrung so badly."
Spitfire smirked. "Oh, he knows what's up. But he's too careful. It's one thing when it's his life and future on the line. Put another pony's on the chopping block though and he gets very cautious. He didn't have faith in his ability to lead Sunflower into any tight spots with enough speed to foil their competition. So, if another pair ended up going after the same flag they did, he'd break off rather than risk Sunflower hurting herself because he couldn't communicate the approach properly."
"On the other hoof, Sunflower got carried away and kept shouting out flag positions for anypony to hear," noted Soarin'. "After they got the impression that Dawn was treating the competition too lightly, most of the cadets on his team would jump on the chance to snatch any flags they could from him."
"But it wouldn't have made that much of a difference if Dawn wasn't so timid," said Spitfire. "The observers saw everything. Even when they had a pretty decent lead, Dawn wasn't willing to take the risk if they had to speed up more than a little."
"So we've got one pair who are too careless with each other and one pair that are too careful," said Soarin' with a chuckle. "This session is gonna be rough if they don't get their problems ironed out."
"We'll see," said Spitfire. "I didn't just pick those four because I thought they had a few fancy moves, you know."
"This is all your fault," Scootaloo said sharply, glaring across the table at Cyclone.
"My fault?" demanded Cyclone. "What kind of lead pony doesn't take responsibility for her failures."
"You were the one who kept rushing off on her own!" retorted Scootaloo. "If I'm the lead pony, then I lead. It's your job to stay with me."
"Who's gonna stick with a pony who can't do a halfway decent job?" Cyclone fired back.
"A pony who doesn't want to get disqualified before we're even halfway through the exercise," answered Scootaloo hotly.
Dawn and Sunflower sat on the fringes of the exchange, listening from their seats next to Scootaloo and Cyclone respectively. Sunflower only looked at them occasionally, when she could be bothered to glance up from her food. She couldn't even bring herself to meet Dawn's eyes. She wasn't stupid. In hindsight, she'd realized that it was her impetuous shouting that had cost them so many flags when Dawn had gone through so much trouble to be careful and keep them together.
Dawn also didn't bother to look at Scootaloo or Cyclone very often, being preoccupied with his own thoughts for the moment. He'd been fairly confident of his ability to coordinate with Sunflower. He'd understood perfectly well the reason Spitfire had paired them up. However, understanding what he needed to do objectively was a very different thing from being able to do it. He hadn't trained with a Weather Team. He'd never flown with any number of other flyers (aside from Scootaloo) in coordinated fashion. So he'd never really bothered to learn more than the basic signals and communication methods used between two flyers.
With Scootaloo, the fact the that they had trained together for years as practitioners of the same art, combined with their ability to sense one another's motions through the wind, allowed them to coordinate faultlessly in the air. Their years spent developing the skill of being able to sense the world around them through the air and being able to manipulate the air itself had resulted in the combined skills evolving, merging together, allowing them to create what almost amounted to a shared language with one another, a language that only they were capable of using or understanding. They'd grown so used to using this second language as a supplement to their voices that Dawn had almost forgotten that nopony else could possibly understand it.
So what to do then? he wondered. One option was seeing if he could teach Sunflower how to use the wind-sense. After all, he'd done the same with Ditzy Doo to help her with the issues caused by her faulty sight. However, it had taken Ditzy a few months to get used to using that sense. In contrast, he had much less time with Sunflower. There was no way she could learn it in time for it to be of use to them during the Wonderbolts Academy.
Furthermore, the language between him and Scootaloo was completely informal. It had no design, no grammar, no syntax. Their communication was drawn from their familiarity with one another. Dawn knew which way stirring the wind against Scootaloo's feathers would produce what effect. He knew how to produce a soothing, comforting breeze to communicate affection, or an agitating zephyr to communicate displeasure. With Sunflower, they would have to create an entirely new vocabulary of signals for Sunflower to learn. But she wouldn't be able to communicate back unless she learned the Gale King herself. In which case, what about after the Academy? Dawn would have spent Sunflower's time teaching her a skill that would have been useful only for so long as she was with him. That wouldn't be fair to Sunflower at all.
Sunflower and Dawn finished their meal in silence and brought their trays to the dishwashing station. It had been a good idea to pick a table off in the corner of the mess hall, where Scootaloo and Cyclone could blow off steam and have their argument with one another, away from the other cadets, who would probably weigh in to make the situation even worse.
Though they'd finished their lunches, there was still a full hour until the afternoon session, giving them some time to digest and recover from the morning exercises. They wandered out of the mess hall and onto the Academy grounds.
"I'm sorry," said Sunflower, her voice barely a whisper.
"Why?" asked Dawn, glancing at her.
"I kept shouting out where the flags were, like an idiot," said Sunflower. "I didn't have to get so worked up about it. I kept giving away their locations to the other pairs."
"That wouldn't have been an issue if I had been a better lead pony," said Dawn, giving Sunflower a sad smile. "I don't really have any experience with using signals to coordinate with another flyer."
"Huh?" Sunflower blinked at him. "But you and Scootaloo can fly together perfectly."
"Because we don't need those signals," replied Dawn. "I helped her to learn how to fly and I taught her the Gale King, even though I was still learning it myself. We've trained together, morning and evening, for years. Without saying anything or needing to look at each other, we can communicate our thoughts and intentions and coordinate our actions. We've sparred so often that we've completely internalized each other's rhythms and are able to act as one."
"Wow," said Sunflower.
"But I don't have any formal training in flight signals the way Scootaloo does," continued Dawn. "She apprenticed herself to Ponyville's Weather Team and they taught her all about that there. On the other hoof, I work in a teashop."
"Then why are you here?" asked Sunflower, looking at Dawn in confusion. "I mean...don't get me wrong, but this doesn't exactly sound like your cup of tea." Her use of the phrase go a snort of from Dawn.
He turned his eyes up and stared at the city of Cloudsdale, floating not too far away. "To be honest...I'm not sure why I came. Spitfire invited me, so it's partly as a favor to her, I suppose."
"I thought it was weird," said Sunflower. "You two have a history, don't you?"
"We do," said Dawn. "Spitfire has taken a certain interest in me and Scootaloo, for reasons not necessarily related to recruiting future Wonderbolts. Captain of the Wonderbolts she may be, but that is not her only position."
"I'm not sure I understand," said Sunflower.
"Don't worry about it," said Dawn. "I may have said a little too much already. It's an important secret."
"Ooookay..." said Sunflower, sounding a bit dubious. "You aren't interested in being a Wonderbolt, are you?"
"Not particularly," said Dawn. "What about you?"
"Maybe," said Sunflower. "I mean, it's kinda hard to grow up in Cloudsdale, in a neighborhood that's practically a stone's throw from the Wonderbolt Headquarters and not fantasize about becoming one yourself. Being a Wonderbolt means that you're the best of the best. Everypony knows who they are and what they can do."
I very much doubt that, thought Dawn, not risking saying it. In fact, most ponies didn't have even the vaguest idea of what the Wonderbolts were truly capable of or what they were ultimately trained to do.
Sunflower continued, oblivious to Dawn's train of thought. "Anyway, even if I didn't want to become a Wonderbolt, going through the Academy is a big deal. It's a serious heavy-duty training course. Having that on your resume can get you your pick of weather jobs across the country. At the very least, if I can do that, I won't have to be depending on Cyclone all the time."
"I thought she tried to make you depend on her," said Dawn.
Sunflower sighed and looked down. "Sort of. I kinda resent it that she took me with her into whatever job she chose, but I can't exactly complain about it. Because of her, I'm doing a lot better than most ponies my age, fresh out of Flight School without a lick of real job experience to their name. Besides, I wouldn't have done as well as I did at the Best Young Fliers Competition if it hadn't been for her."
"What did she do?" asked Dawn.
"She was the one who helped me assemble the clouds I needed to practice my routine," said Sunflower. "She helped me set everything up and reset it all after each run through. If she hadn't done that, if she'd just focused on refining her own routine, I probably would have been the third place finisher."
"Maybe," said Dawn. "But don't sell yourself short. Cyclone's routine was flawless and worthy of its placing."
"Yeah, but..." Sunflower looked down. "First her, now you. I keep ending up getting paired off with ponies and dragging them down."
"And we're back to that again," said Dawn with a sigh. "I told you that the failure is my fault. I have no real experience as a lead pony and none at using signals, like I told you earlier. I didn't have the confidence to take the initiative or do anything that might put either of us at risk while we're still learning to operate as a pair."
Sunflower blinked and stared at him. "Sure, that's true. But you're so much better than me when it comes to flying and doing stuff in general. You have to slow down and think things through because I'm there. If I was better, then maybe I wouldn't need signals."
"I doubt that," said Dawn. "Like I said, what Scootaloo and I have is borne of years of experience training and flying together." He scratched his head. "Besides, it's pointless to argue about this. All we're doing is going in circles. What we need to do is figure out where to go from here."
"Where do we go?" asked Sunflower.
"Well, we're not that good at communicating with each other yet," said Dawn. "So we have to get better at that. The issue is...I'm at a bit of a loss as to how."
Sunflower groaned and rubbed her face with her forehooves. "If only there was somepony who knew a lot about this that we could ask."
Dawn's head jerked up, his eyes bulging and his ears standing straight up. The sudden movement caught Sunflower's attention and she looked at him. "What?"
"Maybe there is," said Dawn.
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I get it.
One of life's great mysteries isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence? Or is there really a God, watching everything. You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night.
Some ponies don't know how to quit while they're ahead, huh?
And a very interesting look at Dawn. Is he the best abstract flyer there, actual Wonderbolts included? Probably. But he's got no relevant teamwork experience. All this time and we're still growing and learning.
How long do you think until the next chapter will be ready?
Triple negative. It took my about 20 seconds to figure out. I would suggest
btw
THAT PLOT DOE
(And i aint talking about flank)
Are Spitfire and Lightning Dust a couple in your universe?
Cause I remember in Storm on the Horizon
What's the reference?
7335469 That would be awesome.
7335441 It's almost like they're...
Lemmings.
Tis a conspiracy. All the bad guys(Most) are secretly lemmings!
So, do you ever wonder why we are here?
Cyclones CM is for spinning and stuff, isnt it?
Damnit! I guessed the wrongs pony! At least I called that they would be split up.
Spin2Win
This is literally the first event where you didn't come in dead last.
7335441 I wouldn't be surprised to see this same exercise be done at the end and for Dawn/Sunflower and Scootaloo/Cyclone to have the best, or at least very good, scores. Or, even funnier, he keeps this attitude until the end and Spitfire get annoyed with it. She then lets Scootaloo/Dawn and Sunflower/Cyclone pair up and have them proceed to collect every flag between them.
7335460
it already is. Mo writes everything first and than post one chapter per day.
Scoot/Cyke partnering was expected from the moment we found out that they were all going to WA. Despite that predictability the interactions came out hilariously good.
Even after years of Dawn's tutelage and moderating influence, Scoots still thinks with her muscles and her 'tude. And her growing jealousy and clinginess are simultaneously adorable and laughable. She might technically be adult but she is still teen through and through.
Dawn's heart isn't into the Academy. That's the impression I get. I would imagine the dream of joining the Wonderbolts would require a participant's focus and commitment, as well as drive and determination.
Dawn does not really want to be there for himself. I would imagine he feels he has nothing to prove there and would be happier pursuing being a mentor and teacher for foals.
Dawn are you feeling it. Well I'm feeeelin like a barnacle head. Sorry just what was going through my head as I read this.
I'm liking how you have shown Dawns and Scoots conflicting personality throughout this. In the end however you take their relationship I'm alright with it.
Oh, you... You devious person, I get it.
exultant chapter.
it.
Oh god.... Scoots' is about to get territorial!
...Blue team's the joke!
Okay... kinda called it? I was expecting roomies, not flying partners. Speaking of, where do they sleep? With training partners, in one barracks?
Also, I'd love for Spitfire to tell them what the 'bolts actually do.
7335964
Uh ... What the heck? I didn't ask about any of this.
If this is the product of evil, then sign me the fuck up! Hell yeah, I want a piece of that!
You used the wrong type here, should be role
7335836
I already figured that Scootaloo and Cyclone were gonna get paired together. Scoots needs to learn to work with ponies that rub her the wrong way.
Is it me, or is there something going on between Sunflower and Cyclone? Wishful thinking maybe? I mean, a pony seldom blushes from a hug unless there's something else involved.
7336601
Only the first sentence is in response to you. The rest, that is separated by an empty line from the response, and which you so helpfully highlighted by quoting is the content of my actual comment of the chapter by and in of itself.
7336689 I noticed that as well, although it might just be shippers bait.
I believe that should be "as the Stratuses' favorite", since you're talking about the Stratus family and not one particular Stratus.
Homophone error. The correct word here is "flair".
Another homophone error. Correct word is "role".
I think that there should be a comma before "with a lot of hooves-on experience".
I think that there should be a comma before the "and".
That semicolon should be a colon.
Obvious typo should be obvious.
There should be a comma before the "and". You might also want to put another comma before "though".
Period should be a question mark.
I believe you meant to type "Her use of the phrase got a snort
offrom Dawn."Add a comma before "and not fantasize".
Just have to say, shoutout to the RvB reference in there.
She understands the reasoning once she thought about it.
It's called jealousy
The calmer duo in this quartet
Did not expect that, but it makes sense I guess, especially in the case of Scootaloo and Cyclone
Cause it will force the two of you to either sink or swim
Probably, I mean really what kind of morons would spend years in the middle of a boxed canyon doing nothing but standing around and talking
"so, uh, why are we even here? "
I like that you keep bringing old characters back because then it doesn’t feel like they’re a single-use pony. Besides, if you did use too many single use ponies it would chunk up the story and make the readers forget about some ponies and when there’s a call back they go ‘well who the heck is that?’