The Wonderbolt Academy's New Volunteers

by Jay Watson

Ch.19 Wonderbolt Trials Pt.15

“First flyer up!” Spitfire called out, rechecking her clipboard for the right roster of names. The Wonderbolt team captain took his position out on the field so as to observe and score the flights too; this trial being about presentation as much as its technical aspects and requirements. Afterwards, he and the rest of the team will tabulates up their scores and formulate new grades for the recruits to be posted for the afternoon’s regiment.

“Where’s Cloudy?” Silverstream scanned the ponies close by, not seeing him at the moment.

“I see him; he’s over to your left, standing with Wind Raider and Stormbringer.” Solar Flare spotted the youngest member of the BFFs, partially blocked from sight by Wind Raider’s larger frame.

“Why isn’t he coming over to be with us? He isn’t upset with us, is he?” Razzle Dazzle didn’t understand why Cloudy Sky was staying apart from their group. She suddenly gasped, a terrible thought racing through her mind just then. “You think those two meanies are making him stay away as punishment or something?”

“I think I’ll go investigate.” Brightstar was already in motion, heading through the throng of pony bodies to reach her friend and his assigned partner. She found Cloudy Sky standing quietly next to Wind Raider, watching the first recruit doing a solo flight right above them all. Cloudy Sky didn’t see her approaching but Wind Raider’s snarky acknowledgement of her presence took him away from watching the solo flyer above them.

“What do you want?”

Cloudy Sky suddenly found Brightstar standing close to him. She gave the legacy pony a hard look, as if bothered by the sound of his voice.

“Making sure you aren’t acting out of line with my friend, if you must know.” She was as cool and distant as the Cloudsdale mountain peaks jutting up through the clouds behind her in the far distance, barely giving him a sideways glance before addressing Cloudy Sky with a warm smile.

“How’s it going over here, Cloudy? Everything okay? You know, you can wait with the rest of us until your flight with Wind Raider.” Brightstar wanted to make sure he would be relaxed and focused for his flight.

When Cloudy Sky looked up at his lead pony, those piercing blue eyes of Wind Raider’s seem to silently ask a question with only a slightly raised eyebrow directed at him.

Seriously? Are your going to let them treat you like some helpless foal because they think you can’t handle the pressure of being my wing pony? Show them you’re tougher then they think you are!

Cloudy Sky’s longer-then-expected pause before answering got Brightstar’s notice, wondering why he didn’t speak up right away.

“Cloudy?” Bewildered by his hesitation, Brightstar got his attention away from looking at Wind Raider.

Cloudy Sky made sure to choose his words carefully. “Um, no, I’ll be fine waiting over here. We’re supposed to be second up for flying our routine right after all the solo flights are done.”

Brightstar seemed genuinely surprised by his answer. He wasn’t going to join her and the other BFFs? “Really?”

“Sure. Just watch me fly and pick out any mistakes I make so I can work on fixing them. Okay?” He gave her a small nod and smile, assuring her everything was alright. From the corner of his left eye, Cloudy Sky could see a tiny smile curl up the corners of Wind Raider’s mouth, as if pleased to hear his choosing to stay put.

“Are they forcing you to stay with them? Because if they are I’ll report it to the instructors-” Brightstar instantly went to the idea of his restraint by these two who wanted to keep him away from his friends. Before Cloudy Sky could answer, Stormbringer jumped in.

“No, we aren’t keeping him from your little group!” Stormbringer returned the snarky tone when answering, grating Brightstar’s nerves some.

“Maybe he wants to stay with us. Maybe he wants to hang around with the best flyers at this year’s trials. Maybe he doesn’t need a foal-sitter like you think he does.” Wind Raider took a step or two closer to stand at Cloudy Sky’s side, as if to indicate the gray stallion’s desire to be with him and Stormbringer.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll try my hardest to do you proud.” Cloudy Sky wanted to impress her, show her he’d listened to her and his friend’s instructions, as well as to his assigned lead pony.

Giving Cloudy Sky a small hug of support and a smile, she turned away to leave but not before shooting a last look of warning at both Wind Raider and Stormbringer. She returned to tell their friends of Cloudy Sky’s choice to stay with Wind Raider until done.

“Why would Cloudy Sky want to stay with those two? They’re terrible ponies!” Silverstream has witnessed the way Wind Raider and Stormbringer ordered him around and yelled at him during this morning’s practice.

“Is he some kind of crazy or did they knock him into the ground too many times?” Nightflight, too, had seen Cloudy Sky take a tumble or two when attempting to fly along with either Wind Raider or Stormbringer. This wasn’t supposed to be easy; the tryouts were meant to find ‘the best of the best’ to be accepted into the academy. It was a struggle for most recruits, but Cloudy Sky was struggling more than any of them.

“This doesn’t make sense to me. He’d probably be more relaxed if we were with him.” Solar Flare could only imagine what kind of intimidation or mind games Wind Raider might be employing to bully Cloudy Sky with.

“He said he was fine and would come back once he’s done with his flight with Wind Raider.” Brightstar saw the bewildered expressions of her friends.

“I say we go over there and confront them! There’s no way Cloudy would choose to stay away from his friends! They’re forcing him to stay somehow!” Gallus refused to believe Brightstar. He was convinced that the opposite was so; that his friend was being manipulated in order to get at him and Silverstream.

“Don’t pick a fight, Gallus!” Razzle Dazzle had watched Solar Flare loose his cool and tussle with Wind Raider this morning in the barracks along with the rest of them and almost get reported to the C.O. and, most certainly, ejected from the trials. She didn’t want to see Gallus make a similar mistake.

“If there was trouble, Cloudy would’ve said something to one of us or the instructors. If he wants to stay where he is for now, I think we should just let it go.” Firebolt was just hoping to get through this trial without causing more irreparable harm to her friendship with Silverstream. She wanted nothing to upset her friends or any other recruit, or at least until after this trial was done and they could recoup at chow time. She had to talk alone with Silverstream about what happened; try to make some kind of amends with her over this horrible mistake. The weight of it was so heavy on her mind and soul that she found herself getting fidgety while awaiting their turn to fly; constantly grinding a forehoof tip like a drill into the ground, twisting back and forth.

“Next flyer up!” Commander Spitfire called out and up stepped the next recruit; a tan-colored mare with a naturally curly red mane that was tied in ponytails and who had a matching curly tail. She had a smattering of freckles on her muzzle and her ice blue eyes kept darting about nervously. She passed her completed form to the C.O.

“Name?”

“Flitterwisp, ma’am.” The observant listener could hear mare’s voice had the distinct dialect of a pony that was from outside Equestria, something sounding like she was from the Griffish Isles or from somewhere nearby there.

“Go!” Spitfire ordered and the pink mare went into her routine of seven flight maneuvers. A clean, if unspectacular, routine that ended after less than three minutes. She finished with a steady and sure landing, holding her head high.

Cloudy Sky silently cheered for her, getting briefly getting Flitterwisp’s attention with his raised forelegs and his mouth open as if he were cheering out loud. She quickly looked away, trying not to smile but grateful for the support.

“You’re done here. You’ll be joining the rest of your group on the other field for your first run on the Dizzatron.” Commander Spitfire didn’t look up from her note taking as Flitterwisp saluted her and headed back to her join her friends, but not before catching sight of Cloudy Sky silently mouth what he thought of her performance.

‘Great job!’ Flitterwisp could read what he was saying to her, glad to have earned one of the more experienced flyers respect. She had a bit of spring in her step for having done so well at her first flight routine. The next recruit from the second group confidently strode up to the starting line, his bearing brimming with confidence.

“Name?” Spitfire took the finished routine from the pale gray stallion with the flowing sky- blue mane and tail standing proudly in front of her.

“Cross Wind, ma’am.” The recruit got into launch position, his wings flicking in anticipation.

“That’s one of the guys you beat in this morning’s race, Gallus.” Solar Flare gave his partner a small nudge, getting his attention away from the soft whispering talk he was having with Silverstream. The griffon turned his attention to the pony at the starting line, recognizing the cutie mark on the flank of the recruit.

“Oh, yeah. Let’s see if he’s all he said he was bragging to be.” Cross Wind had been bragging about his record times he’d set at this race or that meet-up he’d participated in. Gallus was unimpressed, quickly demonstrating who was faster. Now he and Solar Flare would see if he had something to show for all the self-patting on his back.

“Go!” Spitfire ordered and Cross Wind took off with a flash.

If there was some doubt in either of Gallus or Solar Flare’s mind about the raw talent of Cross Wind, it was certainly silenced. He buzzed though his ten flight moves, causing heads to jerk back and forth on necks to follow Cross Winds’ rapid pace. It was over quick, perhaps too quick. His hooves missed the initial footing of his landing and he slid forward, having to brace himself from falling forward from the momentum.

“Recruit,” Spitfire scribbled down her notes, catching him snapping to attention when looking over her sunglasses at him, still panting hard from his flight. She flipped the pencil out of her mouth, expertly catching it perfectly behind her right ear to the constant astonishment of them all.

“Ma’am?” Cross Wind was sure it was going to be a glowing review, saluting her.

“You want to explain how that hyper-active flight tantrum you did was supposed to be a routine?! What were you trying to do; set some kind on flight speed record?! There was absolutely no fluidity to that flight routine, just a lot of showing off!” She mercilessly tore into him, causing him to shrink back and take a step backwards.

“Performance flight is about smooth fluid-like motions, not about packing as many hyper-active flight tricks you can in as short amount of time.” She got her point across, taking him down a peg or two with the faults she found in his routine, humbling him. “You still need to take your first run on the Dizzatron with the others of your group. Be ready.” He saluted her and shuffled back to the group, the harsh words reverberating in his mind about his flawed performance.

“Geez, she’s merciless!” Solar Flare leaned over a little to whisper to Gallus, who then nodded at his comment, seeing Cross Wind looking somewhat deflated as he left the group.

One by one, each of the recruits from the second group went before Commander Spitfire and her Wonderbolt team captain, doing all they could to put on a good showing for them. A couple of them put on a notable performance that got the attention of the instructors, prompting a query as to whom their recruiter was for the trials or a question about their flight experience.

A few recruits from the first group made unsteady landings, needing to take an extra step or two to brace themselves when stopping. As to be expected there were a few injuries too, resulting in some twisted foot joints and the like as would be expected. But one stallion, rushing his performance, made a particularly bad landing and injured himself severely. There was a collective wince and groan from the observing recruits at the sight of the stallion hobbling around, a hind hoof bent and dangling at an unnatural angle.

Soarin moved swiftly to be at the side of the recruit, helping him stay up was waving for the on-duty corpsponies waiting nearby. The recruit cried out more, unable to hold back the tears from the pain.

“My leg! My leg! Sweet Luna’s moon, this hurts so much! I broke it!”

“Take it easy, son. Help’s on the way.” Soarin held him still, trying to keep his weight off his hind leg and stable. The two aids took less than thirty seconds to get to them and quickly over for the Wonderbolt team captain. They got the young stallion on their stretcher quickly and then hurried him off to the infirmary. The recruits could hear the injured stallion’s anguished cries as he was carried all the way back to the infirmary.

“Next flyer up! Let’s go!” Commander Spitfire wouldn’t let the spectacle distract her from the schedule she had to keep.

There were just two left; one mare and one stallion each. Both of them successfully performed the required flight moves to no great fanfare but made sure to show they were steady under pressure. Spitfire jotted down the notes on the technical as well as presentation of the routines, figuring out which pony should be assigned to lead and wing classes.

“Solo flyers, you are done here. You go take your first runs on the Dizzatron. Wonderbolts Silver Zoom and High Winds are waiting. Get going.” She pointed the way with a free wing to them, towards the giant mechanical torture machine at the far end of the field. Some hesitated at the sight of the pony catapult, hearing about it from other recruits and cadets about it. This was not something anyone was looking forward to.

“Move it, newbies! Move it! Move it! Move it!” She shouted at the lagers, annoyed. Her attention turned back to her clipboard and getting to the right collection of paperwork.

There was a strange calm among the awaiting recruits of the first group, as if anticipating a storm erupting all of a sudden.

“Here we go…” Spitfire got the correct score sheets out, getting them in the running order she wanted. She looked up at the score of recruits in front of her, ready to see if they had put their time in wisely.

“First up; recruits Harmony Blues and Snowblossom, front and center!” She commanded and the two mares hurried forward, wearing sure and confident looks. They stood tall and proud in front of their C.O., saluting her.

“You two ready to impress me all the way back to last Sunday like you claim?” A bit of sarcasm creeping in to her tone, as if slightly mocking the bragging Snowblossom had done.

“Even further than that, ma’am!” The duo sounded off, loud and clear. They step up to the starting line, Snowblossom was right off Harmony Blues’ left wing.

Cloudy Sky crept forward from among the clutch of flyers to watch, wanting to see what kind of moves they were going to perform and maybe pick up a trick or two in the process.

Commander Spitfire got her pencil ready, clenching it in her teeth. “Go!” She ordered and off flew the two mares. In an exceptional display of skill, the two mares fly effortlessly through a wing over, into a pair of inside loops with each doing a clockwise and counterclockwise spin in perfect timing, zooming upwards high above them and into a pair of hammerhead turns to then descend straight back down and into the ‘snowpocolipse’ move they’d come up with for the trial; a pair of descending inner and outer spirals while both of them spun axially seven or eight times around.

From within the pockets of their recruit jerseys, the two girls dug out massive hoof-fulls of white glittery confetti and tossed it into the air while they descended, showering their fellow recruits below in the ‘snow’ from their signature move. It made Cloudy Sky and the other recruits laugh and cheer a little for the fun and creative detail the two ladies had put into their routine.

With a final quick back flip to stop their momentum, Harmony Blues and Snowblossom land in near perfect unison, wings spread out and heads held high.

A small rumbling of approving hoof stomps from the other recruits was quickly stifled by the C.O.

“Quiet in the ranks!” Spitfire growled, trying to focus on her scoring. The noise ceased but there was a smattering of whispered talk among them about how impressive the routine was.

“I don’t approve of ‘enhancements’ like that to a recruit’s routine but I’ll let it slide this time. From now on,” Spitfire now addressed the recruit group as a whole, “I don’t want to see another flight with any kind of shenanigans like that. Is that clear, recruits?”

“Yes, ma’am.” The recruit group answered back.

Spitfire finished her note taking and addressed the two mares again. “You two go join the other recruits for your next run on the Dizzatron.”

“Yes, ma’am.” They saluted her and headed off to the next phase of the day’s regiment.

Spitfire rechecked her score sheet for the next pair, rereading the comments left from the previous instructors. “Recruit Wind Raider, recruit Cloudy Sky; you’re up!”

When Spitfire saw the rough condition Cloudy Sky’s uniform was in as compared to his lead pony, alarm bells went off in her head. The small gray stallion looked like he’d been dragged down three miles of country road by the tail while his partner looked as fresh as a daisy.

Sweet Clestia’s cutie mark! What in Tartarus happened? What was this lead pony doing with him; using him for a medicine ball?

Alarmed by the young stallion’s ragged appearance, Spitfire believed putting the spy with the most able recruit seemed like a no-brainer. Who better to make a good impression about the academy then a legacy that was sure to get accepted? But now she was starting to have second thoughts about her intuition. Was she wrong? Momentarily flummoxed, Spitfire knew she had to continue on with this trial, already planning to regroup with her team leaders to suss out a new plan. She watched both ponies move into flight position at the starting line, awaiting her word.

“Go!” Spitfire ordered. The two ponies took off, Cloudy Sky kept pace right off Wind Raider’s right wing as they made a clean wingover move first and then both of them went flapping furiously upwards into the sky. The BFFs watch together as their young friend and his lead pony ran the gamut of flight moves Cloudy Sky was familiar with, and throwing in some noticeable improvement to them on top of it.

“Hey, check out Cloudy’s moves up there!” Gallus was seeing what his friends were seeing, how smooth Cloudy Sky was moving through the routine.

“He’s doing okay; he’s working hard to keep up with the timing on each move.” Brightstar was so nervous for Cloudy Sky, pulling hard for him as she watched him fly steadier than she’d ever seen him fly before.

Out of the twin falling leaf moves Cloudy Sky and Wind Raider were doing and, turning swiftly into banking off into opposite directions, they swung about and both headed flew directly at one another. Cloudy Sky was looking right into Wind Raider’s eyes as they got closer. He was watching for the signal as well as counting in his head.

Seventeen… eighteen… nineteen… twenty! Cloudy Sky was at the same point in the flight as his lead pony, catching sight of the slight head nod from Wind Raider as they closed in. Without missing a beat, the duo performed an intricate twisting flip maneuver; each one seemingly to wrap around and over their partner as they passed by each other and continued on in opposing directions. Cloudy Sky’s perfect execution of the more challenging flight move caused some of his friends to gasp with surprise and delight.

“We-he-e-e-e-e-e! Did you see what Cloudy just did?!” Razzle Dazzle squealed softly, clopping her forehooves gently together with excitement, happy for her friend doing so well.

“They just did ‘Flitwing’s Flip’! Who taught him to do that move?” Firebolt recognized the maneuver, something she’d learned from her time training.

“It must have been Wind Raider; none of us had shown him how to do that.” Solar Flare was impressed with Cloudy Sky’s ability to do learn a new trick move so quickly and then perform it in a flight routine.

They watched as Wind Raider and Cloudy Sky turned around to fly together once again, smoothly rolling their bodies clockwise, flying inverted steadily and smoothly. They pass right over the group of recruits, setting up for the last two moves of their routine.

“Look how long Cloudy is flying inverted like that and so steadily.” Night Flight nodded approvingly at his fellow stallion’s showcasing of improved skills.

“That was the steadiest I’ve seen him fly inverted like that. He didn’t bobble or wiggle about at all the whole time.” Silverstream softly clapped her talons together, excited for Cloudy Sky’s performance.

The duo rotated back again upright with Cloudy Sky staying in perfect position right off Wind Raider’s right wing, each then making a quick turn away from each other.

“I think they’re setting up for their big ending move.” Brightstar watched with great intensity, seeing her friend perform better then he’d ever flown before.

Both Wind Raider and Cloudy Sky now turned towards each other; Cloudy Sky turning left and Wind Raider turning left and with Cloudy Sky flying slightly lower altitude to his lead pony. They crossed flight paths with Wind Raider turning a tighter left turn to cross Cloudy Sky’s right banking turn right behind him. Wind Raider and Cloudy Sky flew four repetitions of this cross-weaving flight pattern; Cloudy Sky making four perfectly distanced left-right banking turns while Wind Raider did the four slightly tighter left and right banking turns, crossing Cloudy Sky’s flight path just behind him each time.

“I don’t get it; what are they doing?” Gallus gave a small nudge to Brightstar’s flank, directing his question to the pony who most likely knew.

“It’s called the beam-defense position, but most flyers call it Flash’s Weave; it’s a defensive flight move against perusing… foes.” Brightstar had tactually sidestepped an answer that might not have gone over well with her avian friend.

“Like, what kind of foes?” Gallus wondered about what she meant and why, now looking at her, she seemed more hesitant to answer.

“Like, maybe, perusing griffons.” She cringed slightly when having to tell him, looking a little uncomfortable telling about it. “It was created by one of the Pillars of Equestria; Flash Magnus. He developed it for defense when fighting off griffon attacks on the Crystal Empire from the Kingdom of Griffonstone. The two races weren’t exactly on speaking terms with one another back then.”

Gallus too, suddenly recalled some of his county’s history and looking equally uncomfortable by the funny-awkward moment. But he waved it away with wing and a quick grin.

“But that’s all in the past between us, right?” He made sure she got him, and she did, seeing Brightstar relax more when hearing him not taking it wrong.

“Yeah, totally in the past.” Their attention returned to watching Wind Raider and Cloudy Sky flying above them. Their friend and his assigned lead pony finished the last of the crossing over part of their move and came in for a landing at the starting line. Wind Raider made a perfect textbook landing, but Cloudy Sky stumbled on his hooves, his knees almost giving out as he landed but still managed to stay upright on all fours, sticking the landing.

“Yea-a-a-a! Clou-dee! Clou-dee! Clou-dee!!” A gleeful female voice squealed loudly, breaking the silence and accompanied by the stomping of hooves from all the BFFs, with both Silverstream and Gallus giving him loud whistles and cheers. Cloudy Sky did all he could not to smile or smirk and allowed himself to bathe in his friends praise for his hard work. It showed in his performance, and he knew it. Wind Raider rolled his eyes a little, embarrassed some from the way those friends of his assigned wing pony carried on, like they were at some random game of dodge ball or something.

“Quiet in the ranks!” Spitfire barked without looking up from her clipboard, silencing the noise and rechecking her notes again about these two flyers. When she looked them over, she found herself reevaluating her belief about the small gray stallion standing in front of her.

Even with a record as minimal as Cloudy Sky had, surely the higher-ups at Central Command would have sent a flyer at least somewhat able to work with a noted legacy recruit. He was teamed up with the best flyer of the group; this should have been relatively easy and straight forward for him.

She had initially believed his lagging scoring so far was due to his working with other inexperienced flyers like Rainbow Dash’s students. But by the looks of his battered uniform and his roughed-up appearance, it seemed like her instincts might have been wrong this time. Worse yet, if she did pick the wrong recruit, then the actual flyer sent from Central Command was still among this group had had witnessed this terrible folly on her part.

“Recruit Wind Raider,” she addressed the lead pony and he snapped to attention, “I selected you to be this wing pony’s lead; do you have any observations to report about your assigned partner?”

Wind Raider first glanced over at Cloudy Sky, seeing him still on his hooves and head held high in pride of his accomplishment. His eyes then went to the Wonderbolt team captain standing close by, listening as well and scoring the routine he’d just done and then finally looking at Commander Spitfire. He had to be very careful with what he was going to say, it could ruin his chances to get in to the academy if he was misunderstood or misquoted.

“Permission to speak freely, ma’am?”

“Granted.” She gave him her full attention as did all of Cloudy Sky’s friends, listening n intensely.

“He going to totally trash Cloudy, I just know it! He’ll get slapped with a low score and then get eliminated!” Gallus grumbled as he ground his beak together, angry at Wind Raider for treating Cloudy Sky like he did.

“Steady, partner.” Solar Flare softly reminded his wing to not make a scene or outburst if upset.

“Will all due respect, Commander, I don’t know how he got selected or who selected him or why he was allowed to participate in the academy tryouts at all having only a modicum of flight skill….”

That’s it! I’ve had it with him! I’m gonna let him have it! As exhausted as Cloudy Sky was, he still had enough strength to shoot his mouth off, even if it gets him in trouble. At that moment, he didn’t care. But before he could unleash the torrent of swearing at his belligerent lead pony, Cloudy Sky was stopped cold when hearing the next words that came from Wind Raider.

“…but I’ll say this; the kid’s got more damn guts then I’ve seen in a lot of flyers, and guts is something you need to make it in the Wonderbolt Academy. Flying skills can be taught and improved upon with enough work; guts are something you’re born with.”

The words stunned the BFFs, expecting Wind Raider to totally insult and put down Cloudy Sky. Cloudy Sky looked up at his lead pony, his head slightly cocked, not sure if what he’d heard was right.

Did… did he just give me a compliment? He thought Wind Raider had just insulted him and yet, it did sound something like a compliment. Wind Raider saw from out of the corner of his right eye that Cloudy Sky was looking up at him with a startled look on his face, silently asking the question ‘you don’t think I’m a terrible flyer? ’

Wind Raider thought he send the point home. “Maybe he would’ve made it through the first day of the Storm King’s attack on Canterlot.” He heard Cloudy Sky gasp softy by his statement, and he turned his head a little more so he could look Cloudy Sky. Cloudy Sky didn’t blink as Wind Raider added on, holding the younger pony with his gaze.

“Maybe… and that’s if he had a good squad leader and listened to orders.”

Spitfire wrote down everything the lead pony said, clearly seeing her mistake but relieved beyond compare that the small stallion had made it through this trial. She would take everything she’d seen and heard into consideration when scoring his wing pony’s routine. “Anything else you want to add?”

“No, ma’am.” Wind Raider folded his wings up against his body, taxed slightly but not tired from the flying, he would wait with Stormbringer until it was time for their flight. Though annoyed that his first flight with Cloudy Sky was going to be the one to count for him, he told himself that the flight with Stormbringer would show what he and real wing pony can do.

“My records show you haven’t taken you next assigned run on the Dizzatron. You’d better get going over to join the other recruits.” She indicated the way for Cloudy Sky to, but he didn’t need the directions. The giant mechanical pony thrower was already running with the recruits from the second group getting ejected like rag dolls from its revolving launch seat. Cloudy Sky gulped down the lump in his throat at the sensation of dread at getting put in that torture machine once more. But he knew he couldn’t refuse. If he wanted to go on, he had to undergo its brutal G-forces once more.

“Ye… yes ma’am.” Cloudy Sky saluted his C.O. and slowly headed away towards the machine and the other waiting recruits. He didn’t look back at his friends, not wanting them to worry about him and focus on their own flights.

“You’ll wait with your partner here.” She instructed to Wind Raider, and he saluted her, following the order to stay and then standing next to Stormbringer in the group. Once again, Spitfire called up the next pair of flyers.

“Recruit Nightflight, recruit Amber Haze; front and center!”

The dark blue stallion and the golden palomino mare strode up to the starting line with Amber Haze just off to Nightflight’s right wing. Spitfire remembered these two from the other day, putting on such a lazy show of skills with their minimal efforts.

“Oh, it’s you two again. Let’s see if we can keep our eyes on the sky and minds on the flying instead of making goo-goo eyes at one another.” She’d been annoyed at their performance yesterday from being so distracted with each other.

“Yes, ma’am.” Nightflight assured his C.O. and Amber Haze nodded as well. The two got into launch position; wings spread out and ready to fly.

“Go!” Spitfire commanded and off they went. The duo flew three straightforward moves before hitting the high point of their routine. Together in a flowing seamless motion, Nightflight and Amber Haze executed a series of barrel rolls with Nightflight gracefully mirroring her exact movements, his body inverted a few feet right under her, each of them looking right at one another as they did so and keeping a perfect consistent distance between their bodies as they flew.

“Now that’s impressive.” Brightstar got all her friends and most of the other recruits ‘um-hum’ing or ‘uh-huh’ing along. She, perhaps the most in their group, had underestimated Nightflight’s skill after his not-so-great showing with Razzle Dazzle yesterday. He’d been angered by Razzle’s lack of focus but did not take it out on her. He instead sought out a more compatible partner.

Like Solar Flare, he wasn’t much on bragging about his skill level or how many flight competitions he’d won. But clearly, he’d more to show once paired with Amber Haze, and much like Cloudy Sky, just needed an attentive lead pony to make an effective team.

Nightflight led Amber Haze into a set of loop-de-loops while both of them maintained perfectly perpendicular angles to each other in flight, each meeting the other at the exact same point each time around. It wasn’t flashy or complicated but performing them at perfect vertical and horizontal body positions took a great deal of concentration to time correctly and not drift left or right or up or down each time around. Breaking away from the last loop, they finished the routine with a final double forward looping move, ending the move right as they reached the ground. Amber Haze stumbled slightly on her landing, taking an extra step forward to catch her footing. He looked on with a sure smile and his head high, sure to have impressed the C.O. and redeemed themselves in their commander’s eyes.

Spitfire wrote down more about what she’d watched, her pencil moving furiously to get the comments written while still fresh in her mind. She flipped the pencil out of her mouth to catch it behind her right ear like she had dome so expertly before to address these two flyers.

“I’ve got to admit,” she began, “I had serious doubts about you two today doing well after that joke of a routine you passed off yesterday. But this showing makes up for it. You should have showcased this yesterday; why didn’t you?”

“We wanted to surprise and impress you and captain Soarin. By doing what we did yesterday, Amber and I knew you’d be scrutinizing our routine probably more than the others.” Nightflight let the C.O. in on their little plan.

“Both of us knew the competition was going to be tough for today’s trial so we wanted to keep our routine secret and not let any pony see what we had in mind until we were ready.” Amber Haze explained their duplicity and what that had attempted to achieve. The Wonderbolt team captain came over to speak as well, impressed by the display.

“That was some show; I think I know where that barrel roll move came from.” Soarin gave Nightflight a knowing nod, aware he still had a long-time fan standing here. Nightflight tried not to look too embarrassed to his recruiter.

“I hope you don’t mind I borrowed the maneuver.” Nightflight had been a young colt when his parents took him to a Wonderbolt performance for the first time. The incredible air show left a deep impression on Nightflight. Making his first showing with the team was a young wing pony named Soarin who quickly became a fan favorite of the young colts who saw themselves in Soarin’s place, filling them with the desire to become a Wonderbolt too.

The routine performed that day was forever burned into Nightflight’s mind. Every twist and turn, every nuance of movement was remembered, and he spent many moons trying to replicate them. The barrel roll move he did today with Amber Haze was one such move from that program and getting to perform it so perfectly in front of the very pony that inspired him was a great thrill and honor.

Soarin shot Nightflight an easy smile and wink. “No problem; glad to see I can still inspire a fan after so long.” Nightflight had a small flush of scarlet on his cheeks, pleased to have achieved a personal goal he’d longed to do.

“You two are done for now so go join the others for a run on the Dizzatron.” Spitfire saluted them back as the duo head off, pleased with their performance today. Soarin took his place back out on the field to observe the next pair’s flight, smiling to himself at having fans who remembered him from his early time with the team.

“Recruit Sunglow, recruit Crimson Sky; you’re up!” Spitfire ordered. The pink mare and fiery red stallion confidently walked up to the starting line and got into launch position with Crimson Sky positioned off of Sunglow’s right wing.

“Go!” The order came and the two of them shot up into the air, gaining altitude and quickly getting into position for their first move.

“You think they’re going to be any good?” Firebolt nudged Solar Flare to get his attention. She and he had seen how awful Sunglow had acted towards Cloudy Sky when they were practicing today. Any flyer can shoot off their mouth about how great they were, but they eventually had to back it up.

“If her bragging is any indicator of her skill, it should be worth watching.” He would hold off on any comment until afterwards.

“I hope she messes up big time! I’d love to see her, and her little group get eliminated.” Gallus was blunt; he really didn’t like her or the ponies she hung around with.

The BFFs watch along, wondering and speculating if she was as good as she claimed to be. Not surprising to any of them, she and her partner were of exceptional caliber when performing their routine.

Through five moves they flew; covering the basics of synchronized flight only to bedazzle the watching ponies with a show of two double outward loops that sent Crimson Sky and Sunglow first screaming straight down towards the ground at top speed, only to have them pull up at the last possible second to go zooming back up into the sky, all the while their bodies spun axially around a center point.

“Woah! That was close!” Silverstream instinctually stepped back as the large rush of wind blew past her and her friends, sending manes and tails fluttering and kicking up a serious cloud of dust around. Several recruits coughed from the cloud enveloping them, some of them complaining of getting dust in their eyes.

“Hey, watch it!” Sunstrike yelled out at them, rubbing his eyes with the back of a foreleg.

“That’s cutting it awfully close there, sister!” Brightstar covered her head with a wing to shield her from the dust cloud.

Sunglow and Crimson Sky zoomed higher up into the sky, completing their routine with pair of falling-leaf maneuvers followed by executing a variation on the two circle-flow maneuvers with Crimson Sky diving down into a forward loop while Sunglow pulled up into a vertical loop. Both flyers met at their respective starting points and in perfect position for lead and wing pony as they now headed down to the starting line, adding a small forward flip just as they landed for a bit of flair. Neither one stumbled as they landed perfectly on their hooves. This time it was Wind Raider and Stormbringer who were cheering and stomping hooves in approval.

“Yeah! Alright Sunglow and Crimson Sky!” The legacy pony hooted out.

“One more outburst and every pony here is going to do wing-ups until chowtime! Do I make myself clear?!” Spitfire did not like repeating herself, annoyed these rowdy recruits were not good listeners.

Instantly, Wind Raider and Stormbringer stopped but they still wore stupid smirks, getting to cheer on one of their own for keeping up the pressure on the rest of the recruits. Every pony was bringing their A-game skills this morning. This wasn’t going to be easy for any pair to score well with the amazing moves some were pulling off already.

Spitfire’s attention returned to the two flyer in front of her. “You two are done for now so go take lunch and be ready for this afternoon.” She dismissed them with a salute, and they returned the gesture before leaving the filed.

Spitfire’s attention returned to her roster. “Recruit Windflower, recruit Bluestreak; you’re next up!”

The willowy lavender and white mare followed the sturdy pale white stallion with the blaze of blue that ran up the length of his muzzle and the blue fetlocks that tasseled at his hooves up to the starting line.

Silverstream thought it cute to see how Windflower was lead and Bluestreak the wing. When the two of them stood at the line together, she could not help but smirk just a little at the sight of her leading him; the size difference between the two was the greatest of all the pairings for this trial. But if there was one thing she’d learned at the trials is that size means nothing. It was all about the skill of the flyer.

“All set?” Spitfire clamped the pencil once again in her teeth, the tip poised at the ready to start writing. The Windflower nodded back.

“Go!”

It was the start of another stellar performance by two skilled and well-balanced flyers, taking off into the sky in perfect flight position. With the pressure on from the four previous pairs’ performances, they understood doing a simple falling leaf move and a pair of synchronized stall turns alone weren’t going to cut it in order to score well.

Bluestreak had helped his lead perfect her special ‘wild loop’ move of perfectly; a series of alternating loops timed one hundred-eighty degrees and then shooting off in opposite directions after six revolutions. It was a bit dizzying to work on so many times but they’d got it right and it looked spectacular when they performed it right above the other recruits.

It was the high mark and they finished off their show with a clean inward rolling loop with a nice alternating corkscrew move that brought them right back to the starting line. But Windflower had hesitated too long before slowing down while Bluestreak had slowed his descent too soon. The result was her overshooting the starting line and landing out of position while Bluestreak landed at the line but more than a full second later then he should have. As she stood there, Windflower was cringing at the botched landing, seeing her wing pony landing late and looking distressed by the mistake as well. They knew it was going to reflect in their scores.

“(Sic)! Oh, and they were doing so well too.” Razzle Dazzle felt bad for them after the performance they’d done, messing up at the very end like that.

“Those are the breaks.” Whirlwind wasn’t holding any illusions on how hard Windflower and Bluestreak had pushed themselves to make a solid impression on Commander Spitfire. But the short time available and still having a rough spot or two not yet worked out made a potentially great performance into something a bit more amateurish.

Spitfire finished off writing her observations and noting the mistimed ending to the routine. She didn’t bother taking the pencil; out of her mouth before speaking, rolling it to one side and keeping it clamped in her teeth.

“You’re lucky that you both scored as well as you did on your Dizzatron runs yester to make up for that ending. You two had best square your flanks away and get a better handle on those landings or you’re not going to go the distance. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!” The two of them bark out, aware of their precarious positions at having messed up and not improving their scores enough to move up the roster.

“You two are done for now; go hit the mess hall and be ready after lunch.” Spitfire made a sideways nod towards the buildings off to their left, indicating the way for them. At least their work for the morning was done and they could grab an early bite to eat and regroup. They’d only taken a hoof-full of steps away before the C.O. announced the next pairing.

“Recruit Whirlwind, recruit Razzle Dazzle; front and center!” Spitfire kept the trial moving along. The colorful mare wing pony giggled along as she followed the tan stallion with the quaffed flaxen blonde mane; both getting into their places in front of the C.O. and ready.

“Are we set yet?” There was a small tinge of annoyance in the C.O.’s tone, waiting for Razzle Dazzle to settle down and concentrate. Clearly excited to get flying, Razzle Dazzle just managed to get her enthusiasm under control and maintain her position.

“Go!”

As fast as he could, Whirlwind pumped his wings, desperate to stay ahead of his wing pony, who was already creeping forward from her position and not staying off his wing tip.

“C’mon, Razzle, concentrate! Don’t mess this up for Whirlwind!” Brightstar believed she and her friends had impressed some kind of urgency with her about focusing on her work and not forgetting where she was. She, along with the rest of the BFFs, did not want to see her eliminated because she could not follow directions. Razzle Dazzle had so much raw flight talent, if only it could be focused more.

Whirlwind had to rush somewhat with Razzle Dazzle as his wing pony, not hesitating at getting started with the first move of three forward descending loops before each of them would zoom off into an individual series of flight moves, mirroring each other on the following fourth and seventh maneuvers, consisting of a long steady period of inverted flight, a simple falling-leaf move followed by a slow descending corkscrew with pauses at ninety-degree intervals as they fell.

It was the best Whirlwind could formulate when working with Razzle Dazzle’s rather skittish thinking of planning what to fly. By only assigning three of the moves the same for them both to do, he hoped to give her enough freedom to choose what she wanted to do in the intervals.

He quickly discovered that no matter how many times he tried to explain some aspect of the routine he planned to her, it was just less stressful and time consuming to pick three move they both knew, assign them as the first and third and seventh moves and then just tell her ‘do what you want in between’ rather than trying to force her to do as he wrote down.

Maybe in the follow up her could explain to the C.O. why the routine looked the way it did. And that was if it went the best possible and not go haywire because of Razzle Dazzle’s impetuous nature. She seemed glad not to be forced into practicing and performing the same old seven moves over and over and over again. She was so happy to be free to do as she pleased for some of the moves and thought she could really shine in the process.

Much to their C.O.’s chagrin and that of the remaining recruits who were watching, that’s exactly what she did. While Whirlwind had decided to stick to the moves he’d planned in the routine and let Razzle Dazzle ‘do her thing’, it quickly became apparent just who was pushing the envelope, so to speak, about aerial flight moves.

In between the moves Whirlwind had plotted out for her, Razzle Dazzle seemed to twist, turn, spin and writhe through the air like the uncoiled mainspring of a watch. The only moments of her steady flying came when she and Whirlwind were synchronized to one another’s movements as lead pony and wing pony. The duo head into their final move of a descending synchronized corkscrew move and then landing near the starting line, close to where their C.O. stood. Whirlwind was relieved to see his wing pony was actually in position like necessary this time and watched her make landing with him.

Wings spread out and heads high, they waited for the C.O. to finish her note taking. It was only a few seconds, but it felt so much longer while waiting. Spitfire flipped the pencil out of her mouth and expertly caught it behind her right ear.

“Lead pony,” Spitfire first addressed Whirlwind in front of her, “You want to tell me just what in Tartarus that routine was supposed to be? Sweet Luna’s moon, that had to be the most disjointed show of flying I’ve seen in moons!” Her tone was more of annoyance and confusion rather than anger at what she had observed.

“I was under the impression that trying something bold or different would be good to set us apart from the others. With a very talented wing pony like Razzle Dazzle, it was my intention to incorporate her unique skills with a routine that would highlight them.” He tried to put a positive spin on the rather odd collection of moves he and Razzle Dazzle had performed. Whirlwind knew the C.O. wasn’t buying it by the amount of intense note taking being written down, making him worry at what it might be.

“Wing pony,” she now addressed Razzle Dazzle who stood there so proud and happy, “why couldn’t following your lead’s instructions? You think you could plan one better than him?”

Razzle Dazzle cheerfully explained her thinking. “Um, no. I mean, we just thought it would be a lot more fun if we mixed things up some so. That way I didn’t have to fly the same silly old routine so many times over. It made it more interesting; don’t you think?”

A collective groan emanated from the remaining group of recruits when hearing Razzle Dazzle’s reasoning for not following instructions. Spitfire’s eyes went wide, now getting right in Razzle Dazzle’s face.

“The ‘same silly old routine’!? Missy, do you even know what you’re doing in the Wonderbolt Academy tryouts if you’re not going to follow a flight plan?! That’s what the Wonderbolts are all about, precision flying! Practicing a flight routine over and over until you can fly it in you sleep! This isn’t about fun and games!”

Razzle Dazzle withered under the harsh words from being yelled at like that. She felt her heart sink and her ears drooped, regretting at getting the C.O. mad like that and probably getting Whirlwind in trouble too. This wasn’t what she wanted to have happen.

“I’m…I’m sorry?” She tried to apologize but it only made Spitfire more annoyed when she did.

“Don’t be sorry and make excuses; follow your lead pony like you’re supposed to! It’s about teamwork, recruit!” Spitfire rechecked her notes, seeing how well each of these recruits had been scoring. Both were comparable in times and in skill level, but found it inexplicable why this mare in particular was having so many issues following directions.

Whirlwind quickly went to her rescue, seeing his wing pony starting to melt under the harsh reprimand and being brought to the verge of tears. “She will, commander. We’ll get it better for the next time.” He made a quick salute to his C.O. and started to lead her away towards the mess hall. They both had completed their second runs on the Dizzatron and passed the requirement and, therefore, excused from the rest of the morning’s workout. Spitfire only shook her head some in dealing with another flakey flyer who couldn’t handle the pressure of the tryouts.

“Recruit Sunstrike and recruit Morning Glow; you’re next up!” The order came and the two requested flyers stepped forward to the starting line. The glowing gold coated Sunstrike with his wavy brown mane and the sandy-brown Morning Glow with her quaffed blonde tresses strode easily up to the starting line and into their launch position with Morning Glow off to Sunstrike’s left wingtip. The dashing pair seemed to radiate a glow of confidence, poised and ready for action.

“Go!”
Like shooting stars, they flew off into the sky with Morning Glow getting into position right off Sunstrike’s right wing. At first, all went well for the duo, performing a well-choreographed routine of synchronized flight moves without any problems. Then they went for their big move; a cleverly thought out flying figure eight move; each of them spinning axially throughout the move. It caught both Solar Flare and Gallus’ attention.

“Hey, they’re doing almost the same move; why didn’t we think of doing it like that?!” The griffon quietly pointed out, a sense of disappointment at seeing another pair doing a fancier version of the same figure eight move. The hard work he and his lead put into getting their version perfected now seemed so unimpressive in comparison to what Sunstrike and Morning Glow had just done.

“It’s going to be tough to beat, no doubt about it. We just have to do it better than we ever had.” Solar Flare understood where Gallus was coming from. It took them lots of practicing to get the move just right, and that didn’t involve spinning along as they flew. It was tough enough to do and he felt justly proud of the work they’d accomplished. But he felt much the same as Gallus; like being upstaged and wondering if they could score as well with a less complicated take on the move.

Thwack!

“Ow! Ow! Ow! My wing! My wing!” Morning Glow cried, a rear hoof of her lead pony struck her right wing as they passed by one another during the move. The impact sent Sunstrike briefly out of control but he quickly recovered, turning around and flying back to his partner who was faltering as she headed back down to the ground. Captain Soarin and the C.O. were right there to look over the injured recruit.

She leaned on Sunstrike, quivering in pain from the impact and the growing fear that the injury might be bad enough to force her to drop out of the trials. She was panting from the throbbing sensation in her right wing, hoping and believing her tendon had absorbed most of the impact and not her bones. But when Sunstrike tried to gently rotate her wing so it folded up against her flank, she yelled out again.

“Stop! Stop! Don’t move it like that!” Now the tears were starting to pool in her eyes from the pain and the realization that she was seriously hurt and needed medical attention. Her dream, like those of her fellow recruits, of getting into the academy was in serious jeopardy now.

“Yeah, she probably fractured a bone.” So matter-of-factly Spitfire spoke, having seen injuries like this before she didn’t even bat an eye. Her team captain nodded upon closer examination of how the mare was unable to hold her wing up to her body.

Once more, Soarin waved for the two corpsponies to bring the litter for another injury. They were at the recruit’s side in a matter of seconds, ready to administer care. The two male aides had the injured mare lay down on the stretcher and her wing slung in a sling, cradling the wounded limb.

“I’ll go with her to the infirmary; it’ll only take a few minutes.” Sunstrike offered to do the duty so that the Wonderbolt team captain didn’t. He didn’t want to cause a delay in the trials.

“You still have to take your second turn on the Dizzatron so don’t take too long.” Spitfire reminded him.

“What about my flight? Don’t I get a chance to try again with another partner?” Sunstrike hoped he could have another chance.

“I’m sorry, recruit, but that’s not how the trials work. Every pony gets one try per trial, no redos or do-overs.” Soarin had to remind the recruit of what he’d agreed to when accepting the offer to tryout.

“You mean I get an F for a grade on this trial?!” Sunstrike felt his chance to move on in the trials in great jeopardy with this bad grade next to his name.

“You get…” Spitfire paused, seeing the look of dread on this stallion’s face at the damage to his score was going to be, “… an ‘I’ grade; for Incomplete, on this particular trial.”

“It’s as bad as an F grade! I’m… I’m ruined!” Sunstrike wailed in horror of the outcome of the mishap. Like his partner, they hovered in the middle-third on the roster of recruits from their scores. They were making an acceptable showing of flying, but not exceptional flying like some of the others have. They might have been the best from where they were from, but against ‘the best of the best’ that were selected, they were not standing out. He stayed alongside his partner as they left the activity field.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m an idiot for messing up like that…” Morning Glow wheezed through her clenched teeth, trying to withstand the pain. He shook his head, trying to get to stop blaming herself.

“Not your fault… not your fault; I should’ve held my hind legs up higher during the twisting part...” Sunstrike knew that move had been a long shot for them to pull off but a necessity when considering the competition they were in. They needed a great showing and finish higher in the scoring, the other flyers were doing amazing routines and the pressure was on. Such was the luck when pushing the limits of any flyer’s abilities.

Seeing the injured mare being carried away reminded Gallus of the collision he had with Solar Flare yesterday; wondering if they would make a similar mistake when doing their figure-eight move. He didn’t have long to ponder the possibility.

“Recruit Solar Flare, recruit Gallus; you’re up!” Commander Spitfire called out for the next pair and the pony with his griffon partner stepped forward to the starting line. Gallus could feel every pair of eyes on him as well as those of Commander Spitfire and captain Soarin, watching his every move. He needed to show that Professor Dash had made a good choice in bringing him here and to make her proud.

Calmly and coolly, he got into position off Solar Flare’s right wing like he’d done dozens of times already, spreading out his wings in anticipation. Solar Flare gave him a quick look to make sure Gallus was ready. The griffon gave the briefest of nods in response, crouching down and ready to spring into action.

Solar Flare spread his wings out and crouched down as well, focusing all his attention on the routine, blocking out any other thought from his mind. Suddenly…

“Go!”

The command came and off they went, getting airborne quickly and smoothly, building up some speed with a quick chandelle to lead in with.

“C’mon, guys! Show’em what you’ve got!” Silverstream softly cheered for them, clutching her talons together tightly, eager to see the reaction from the Wonderbolt’s leader when watching Gallus fly with Solar Flare.

Gallus watched for the signal from Solar Flare, instantly spotting the ‘rolling’ movement of Solar Flare’s right forehoof as they reached the right altitude. Before Gallus could realize it, he was already moving swiftly into the routine, performing a perfect two-circle flow loop move and now was pumping his wings as hard as he could to follow after Solar Flare straight up into the sky.

…Seventeen… eighteen… nineteen… twenty… Gallus counted away the seconds for each move in the routine, making sure to keep in position.

Their momentum slowed, hanging motionless in the air for a second or so before starting to fall backwards. Gallus tipped his wings forward and swung his hind legs back more to catch the air and pitch his body forward through the horizontal plane. A for second or so, he and Solar Flare were looking right at each other, falling though the move and about to plunge straight back down.

Gallus looked across at Solar Flare who was perhaps eight or nine feet away from him looking right back with his tongue sticking out at him and a silly expression on his face, attempting to get his griffon friend to loosen up and relax. It worked. Gallus was grinning from his friend’s lighthearted humor.

“That was an awesome stall move.” Firebolt appreciated the smoothness in which the two guys pulled off the move, keeping perfect body position throughout.

“The guys have brought their A game.” Brightstar knew such a move like that was not easy, figuring the guys must have slaved over getting it timed right and it showed in the routine. The guys plunge straight down, accelerating as they fell.

…Twenty-three… twenty-four… twenty-five… Gallus kept counting, pulling up at twenty-five seconds to follow his lead pony through three descending loop-de-loops, alternating between outward and inward, twisting his body at the right intervals like they practiced. The gliding momentum provided enough energy to propel them through the sweeping circles. It was a little disorienting for Gallus, having the sky and ground going rolling past his eyes over and over again like that, losing track of his counting briefly. But he recalled from class time what to do; focusing on his lead pony’s body position and not looking at his surroundings. Sure enough, it lessened his dizziness and kept him in perfect position when exiting the last loop.

“That griffon is keeping pace with his lead; he’s not messing up.” Stormbringer was watching along with his lead pony, desperate to find the slightest fault in the flight.

“I didn’t think the freak-beak had it in him. He’s tight with those loops.” Wind Raider had underestimated Gallus’ flying for the first solo trial but believed a griffon could not take directions or fly as a wing pony.

He and Stormbringer watched as Solar Flare and Gallus came zooming down from high above, slowing only enough to allow them to transition smoothly into a very tricky flying figure-eight maneuver, each of the two flyers alternating positions of facing each other belly-to-belly and then back-to-back when crossing flight paths at the center point. The momentum from the fall made the eight crisscross moves go quickly and put more G-force on Gallus’ body then he was used to from practice. But he bore down and took the extra strain to his wings and body, counting down the seconds until the landing.

“Damn!” Stormbringer mumbled under his breath, the competition proving to be noticeably tougher than he’d imagined. The bulk of the previous flight pairs were no slouches when it came to pulling off tough moves and demonstrated that he and Wind Raider weren’t the only ones here who knew some serious flight moves and how to incorporate them into a good routine.

“We have to have to be just that much better. Don’t sweat it.” Wind Raider’s confidence was still unshaken, not letting it effect his concentration or focus.

At the eighth and final midpoint crossing of the figure-eight move, Solar Flare and Gallus zoomed off in opposite directions, the momentum from the vertical fall almost spent and both of them had to start flapping their wings again.

Thirty-four… Thirty-five… thirty-six… Gallus rolled his body to the right, turning around and slipping into position off Solar Flare’s right wing once more. For the final moves of the routine, they descended slowly out of the sky in an intricately timed intertwined vertical corkscrew move, similar to what Harmony Blues and Snowblossom had done previously.

They completed no less than a dozen rotations before finally reaching the end and gliding easily back to the starting line. Gallus touched down only a split second after Solar flare did. It was an amazing flight and both of them stood tall and proud in front of Commander Spitfire.

Gallus was very pleased with himself for having put on a great performance and really showing it to Wind Raider and Stormbringer about just who was a great flyer here. As he waited for Commander Spitfire to finish her note taking, he snatched a few quick glances over at the two agitators with Stormbringer looking a lot less sure of himself just then. Gallus couldn’t hide his smug look of satisfaction, as if taunting them, praying they’d say something.

“Well done, you two.” Spitfire finished her notes, making sure to highlight and record what she saw and what to evaluate for a score.

The guys sound off loud and clear. “Thank you, ma’am!”

“You’re done with the Dizzatron,” Spitfire pointed to Solar Flare first, “but you still have to take your second turn.” She then pointed at Gallus. “You join the others for their second attempts and you,” she returned to look at Solar Flare, “can go hit the mess hall.”

Gallus forgot about that; he’d been focusing so much on the trial it completely slipped his mind. He wanted to recoup with his lead pony and go over what they did so the next time they flew it would be even better.

“Catch up with me and the others when you’re done. We’ll hold seats for you guys at the table.” Solar Flare, too, wanted to rest up and ‘debrief’ his wing pony so they could plan for the next time.

“Sure.” The griffon gave an easy smile and instinctually reciprocated the hi-low wing slaps that so many pegisus ponies did when saying hello or goodbye, watching Solar Flare head off to the mess hall. Gallus looked back over at his shoulder, seeing Wind Raider and Stormbringer standing there, at a loss for words after seeing what he could do. He was glad to leave them nonplus by his marked performance. He headed off to join the other recruits waiting for their turn on the Dizzatron.

“Recruit Wind Raider, recruit Stormbringer; you’re up!” The C.O. called out for the next pair, eager to get through this trial and get her paperwork done that was still waiting for her.

Brightstar, Rainsong and the others of the second group watched the duo step right up to the starting line and get into launch positions, no hesitation for their part about getting this done.

Spitfire didn’t keep them held up long. “Go!” She ordered.

Like cannon fire, the two of them were a blur to the eyes as they shot into the air and got quickly into position for the start of their routine. The two of them moved with razor-sharp precision through a chandelle and a quick pair of back-to-back two-circle flow loops, only to suddenly pull up to going soaring high into the sky, stalling out and then gently fall over backwards with Stormbringer perfectly positioned off Wind Raider’s right wing the whole time.

“Wow, they really are that good.” Firebolt only stated the obvious, awed by the super-precise movements Wind Raider and Stormbringer were performing. She’d felt pretty confident about her and Silverstream’s chances of impressing the C.O., despite the sudden misunderstanding between them causing some coolness and distance. But after watching the other pairs fly and how well Wind Raider and Stormbringer were doing, Firebolt felt a tiny bit of nervousness begin to creep in. She hoped their little issue would not affect the routine they’d worked out together.

The guys went for their big moment, plummeting out of the sky straight down to then suddenly pull up, surging into two complete displacement roll moves with Stormbringer playing the role of ‘attacker’ while Wind Raider was ‘defender’ in the display of air combat move and counter-move. They flew with skills well-honed from real life combat experience and countless hours of dedicated practice. Completing their final move with a flawless wing over move to turn around, the duo hit the mark of landing right on the starting line with perfect body positions. Any apprehension Stormbringer might have felt before their showing was dispelled instantly, having completed the routine as close to perfection as they possibly could have.

“Well done.” Commander Spitfire jotted down what she needed to evaluate this wing pony’s performance and noted his lead pony’s more intricate and demanding routine written for them to do.

Wind Raider was sure to have impressed the C.O. with this second routine, his flying skills shining brightly when paired with a capable wing pony like Stormbringer. Catching a quick look of the remaining recruits still watching, he could tell they had unnerved some of them with the showcase they’d just performed.

“You two are done for now; hit the mess hall and be ready for this afternoon’s regiment.” She dismissed them, the two guys throwing a salute to her before leaving the field, laughing to themselves in satisfaction.

“Recruit Brightstar, recruit Rainsong; you’re next!” Spitfire had planned for this; making sure to have the hippogriff and her pony partner fly last. This student of Princess Twilight’s school had shown her mettle and she personally wanted to see just how well Silverstream could do under pressure.

Brightstar and her wing pony stepped up to the starting line, getting into their launch positions much like the other recruits had. Brightstar took a quick look over at her wing pony, seeing the nervous look in Rainsong’s eyes right then. She’d done all she could to help her wing pony out and get the routine down to the best of her abilities. It was now or never.

“Go!” Their C.O. ordered and off they went, quickly reaching the height they need to get started. Brightstar could see from out of the corner of her left eye that Rainsong was drifting a bit with her position, but it was too late to say anything about it now. She gave Rainsong the hoof signal and led her into the routine, executing total of seven trick moves that included a pair of cleanly done outward loops and a cleverly done barrel roll move with each of them doing the maneuver in both a clockwise and counterclockwise rotations so that they wove in and out of each other’s flight path several times. Their high point came with perfectly timed stall turn followed by a pair of corkscrew moves that brought them back to the starting line at the end of the last revolution. They pulled up out of the final move and came to land in front of Commander Spitfire with Rainsong having to take an extra step or two to brace herself from the sudden deceleration.

There was a small flush on Rainsong’s cheeks, messing up like she had after Brightstar had worked so hard to help her stick her landings better. She knew it was not going to help her score. Brightstar glanced over at her, seeing the sheepish look Rainsong had.

‘Sorry!’ She mouthed silently, making sure not to be seen by the C.O. when doing so.

“Recruit Rainsong,” Spitfire watched the recruit stiffen, as if expecting the worst and bracing for it.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“How is it you have competed in as many flight competitions as your records show and you still can’t stick a landing after all this time?” Spitfire thought it rather astonishing for a recruit with this kind of record to be struggling with a basic point such as that.

“I’ve won predominantly sprint races, ma’am, and the emphasis is on flying fast and not so much on stopping quickly.” It was all she could come up with for an answer, trying to spin the fact in a way to her advantage. Spitfire didn’t buy it.

“Best you get a handle on those landings, newbie, or you’re not going to make it through these trials.” The Wonderbolt’s commander did not want to see another recruit to drop out, wanting to retain as many of these first comers as possible.

If she could not figure out which one of them was the spy, at least the pony in question would report back how many recruits had not been eliminated or dropped out. Keeping as many from each troop who made an attempt to gain entry to the academy all the way to the end would reflect well on her and her team members. It would soften the blow of a bad report on her academy if they had a good completion rate.

“Yes, ma’am.” Rainsong fretted more as she watched the C.O. write down more on her forms, believing it was about her and the landing she’d messed up.

“You both still need to take a follow up run on the Dizzatron so go join the other recruits.” Spitfire pointed the way for them and the two mares saluted and did as she ordered. Spitfire’s recordkeeping was interrupted by Angel Wings who flittered over to speak with her. She landed close, saluting Spitfire.

“Ma’am, here is the updated scores from the second recruit group’s first solo trials.” She handed Spitfire the file and continued. “Captain Soarin’s presence is requested by Star Gazer for her lecture in Flight Dynamics class to give his first hoof accounts to the cadets.”

Soarin, overhearing Angel Wings, felt a shock of cold hit him with the sudden realization he’d forgotten about this morning’s extra duty. He hurried over to Angel Wings, dread on his face for being negligent like that.

“Holy moly! I forgot about the lecture!”

“We’re done here for the most part so head back to the classroom building. I can finish this alone. You and the rest of the team meet up with me in my office when you’re done. We’ll go over the evaluations together.” Spitfire wasn’t concerned. She had gotten through the trials and had just one pair left to watch. And this pair she was keen to watch.

Soarin shot his C.O. a quick salute and took off in a flash, heading to the classroom building and trying to remember what he wanted to say to the classroom of students.

“Keep me posted of any chances to the schedule.” Spitfire flipped through the pages of the file briefly before dismissing Angel Wings. The reservist saluted her C.O.

“Yes, ma’am.” She flew off and returned to her duties of the day while Spitfire’s focus returned to the last pair of recruits to fly. She thought it might be the stress making her imagine things but she had the feeling there was something off between this pair; a sense of disharmony when looking at them. The hippogriff had a rather flat and emotionless expression to her and kept looking straight ahead. The wing pony could not hide her distress as she, too, looked straight ahead.

“Alright, let’s see what you two you’ve got.” Spitfire put away the file on the second recruit group to focus on this pair. She watched the duo wordlessly step up to the line, the hippogriff still not giving her wing pony even a courtesy look to check. Spitfire could almost feel the tension radiating between these two recruits. Once in their launch positions, Spitfire clamped the pencil tightly between her teeth and sent them on their way.

“Go!”

The two launched themselves into the air, smoothly gaining altitude in just a few seconds. Silverstream could sense her wing pony’s position was right off her right wing and gave the signal for starting but did not look back at Firebolt to make sure she’d seen it.

Silver, please, look at me! I’m sorry! You have to believe me! The hurt in her heart grew worse with each passing second. Silverstream was ignoring her, and it crushed Firebolt’s spirit. All she could do for now was try her hardest to put on the best performance possible and try to talk with Silverstream alone afterwards. She had to clear this growing dark cloud between them. She had to explain to Silverstream how she really felt and not by what she’d said in the heat of the moment.

They flew through a cleanly done wing-over and into a pair of loop-de-loops, one inner and one outer loop and then into a brief time of synchronized inverted flying. Firebolt kept pace with Silverstream, keeping her eyes focused on the slightest body motion from her lead as they proceeded through the routine.

Sixteen… seventeen… eighteen… nineteen… twenty… Firebolt counted inside her head as she rolled her body upright and followed after Silverstream higher into the sky, pumping her wings forcefully to keep perfect body position to her lead. They reach the apex of their climb, allowing their momentum to slow and then stall out, only to fall over backwards and then descending straight down and each perform a slow turning corkscrew, completing two revolutions each before pulling up out of the dive and zoom off in opposite directions from the momentum and into a series of forward loops.

Just as Firebolt had calculated and together they had rehearsed, they each perform three loops and then rejoin at the top of their final loop and then descend to the starting line together. They touch down in near perfect unison, showing they had worked hard to get this routine right. Silverstream stood tall and proud of her effort, Wings spread out proudly, sure to have made a fine showing of herself.

Spitfire continued to scribble down more on her note sheets, getting down her thoughts of what she thought of this duo’s performance. She flipped the pencil out of her mouth and caught it behind her ear once more.

“Well done, you two.” She rechecked her timesheet, seeing where they ranked among their peers for Dizzatron times. She was expecting to hear some kind of whispery prattle of excitement between these two but was only met with stony silence in her ears. When she looked up again, the hippogriff was still standing at attention, eyes forward and unblinking.

“At ease, recruits.” Spitfire watched how Firebolt repeatedly looked over at Silverstream; fear on display in her green eyes as the hippogriff refused to acknowledge her wing pony’s presence. Silverstream folded her wigs up tightly against her body, still looking straight ahead and not looking or speaking to Firebolt.

“Since you both had the best times on the Dizzatron and are below the requirement to pass today’s run, you can hit the mess hall early.” She would reward them for the diligence they put into their work and for doing as well as they had. That, and to give them time to fix whatever was wrong between them before the next trial. If they didn’t, it would make going forward difficult for them both and sure to cause one or both to be eliminated.

“If it’s alright with you, ma’am,” Silverstream addressed her C.O. with a salute, “I’d like to join my friends who still have to take a turn on the Dizzatron and help them if I can.”

Spitfire was genuinely impressed to hear Silverstream show such loyalty to her squad and willingness to help out others. This student from Rainbow Dash’s school was turning out to be something special.

“I… I would like to stay too; for my friends, I mean.” Firebolt band-wagoned with the idea, hoping to get a chance for her and Silverstream to talk again. The C.O. didn’t miss the serious eye roll Silverstream gave when hearing Firebolt wanting to stay on as well.

“Alright,” Spitfire’s words rolled slowly from her mouth, her suspicions about there being trouble confirmed, “you both head over to the Dizzatron and see if you can help some of these newbies do any better on their times.”

Silverstream gave her a sharp salute and quickly moved away, putting space between herself and her wing pony, not looking back.

“Silverstre-e-e-e-e-m?!” Firebolt’s voice was a constricted squeal of desperation, reaching out with a foreleg in want of her friend to not leave her. For the first time while here, Firebolt felt fear, genuine fear, of having blown up all of her plans and ruined a special friendship in the process.

“Trouble there, recruit?” Spitfire emphasized her question, deigning Firebolt any cover for anything but the truth.

“Nothing I can’t fix,” Firebolt quickly looked back and forth between the rapidly exiting hippogriff and her C.O., “ma’am!” Firebolt blurted out, heading after her lead.

Spitfire raised a questioning eyebrow at the exiting recruit. “Keh, yeah you’d better.” She snapped the papers flat on her clipboard before tucking it under her right wing. She had work to do; tabulating scores and reassessing the situation about which one of these recruits was the potential spy with her team.

Comments

[KittyrinnAiko]

“Catch up with me and the others when you’re done. We’ll hold seats for you guys at the table.” Solar Flare, too, wanted to rest up and ‘debrief’ his wing pony so they could plan for the next time.

Debriefing should always come after a flight before doing anything else.

[KittyrinnAiko]

If she could not figure out which one of them was the spy, at least the pony in question would report back how many recruits had not been eliminated or dropped out. Keeping as many from each troop who made an attempt to gain entry to the academy all the way to the end would reflect well on her and her team members. It would soften the blow of a bad report on her academy if they had a good completion rate.

Recruits dropping out or being eliminated is normal and expected. The higher the standards the more dropouts can be expected.

Royal Marine Commando dropout rate can be as high as 75 to 85%.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Hm, seems there is still an impostor among them.

[Zubric]

Love the story flow so far. On a sidenote, I recently watched a bunch of videos about how birds land like, eagles, and such it’s quite fascinating

[Jay Watson]

11821051
I'm hoping it's still a secret to the readers! It's hard not letting too much out at one time and still trying to keep everyone guessing all the same.