Wonderbolts Rising
"Announcing the arrival of Spitfire, leader of the Blazing Squadron and Captain of the Wonderbolts!"
Flash stepped aside, allowing entry for the famed pegasus mare. Twilight and Spike smiled as she drew nearer, accompanied by two of her fellow Wonderbolts. When she was close enough, she bowed, and Twilight did the same. Only when she rose up again did Spitfire finally speak. "Thank you for the invitation, your Majesty."
Twilight giggled. "Your courtesy is appreciated, but you needn't speak to me like that, Spitfire. We've known each other long enough now."
The other mare chuckled, nodding to herself. "Yeah, you're right. Honestly, if you'd have told me back then that the bookish friend of one Young Flier winner I met once would be somepony I'd be bowing to one day, I'd have said you'd been downing one cider too many."
The pair of them laughed together, followed shortly afterwards by their respective companions. But after the laughter died down, Twilight mused on Spitfire's words, and glanced to her accompanying Wonderbolts. She recognised them immediately as Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger, whom she gave a smile and a nod to. But her smile faded, if only a little, as she again regarded Spitfire. "So...is anypony else coming with you today, Spitfire?"
As Twilight herself had said, the two had known each other a fair while now, so it took no time whatsoever for Spitfire to know what she was talking about. "Sorry, Twilight. But it was Rainbow's turn to head the classroom session for some of our latest recruits today."
Though naturally disappointed that her friend wasn't going to be here, Twilight nevertheless found some amusement in the answer she'd been given. "Oh dear, she won't like that."
Spitfire chuckled again. "Nopony does." Sighing, the Captain stepped forward. "But I imagine you didn't call me here just for a bit of casual conversation?"
Twilight nodded, gesturing to Spike, who began to write the details of the meeting as the former spoke up again. "What would you say if I were to tell you that I had plans to not only expand the importance of the Wonderbolts, but also their reach as well?"
Spitfire tilted her head slightly, raising one eyebrow. "I'd say you have my undivided attention."
Twilight turned, looking to several of the stained-glass windows that decorated the throne room. "As you've no doubt heard, there have been many incidents that have blighted ponykind over the years, and while those like my friends have done all they can to thwart those problems, we haven't always been there for everypony." She again looked to Spitfire. "Have you ever heard of the Hope Hollow debacle? Or the matter of the village whose cutie marks were stolen?"
Spitfire thought on that, then nodded slowly. "Yes, I've heard of them. But you and your friends managed to fix everything in those cases, right?"
Twilight nodded back. "We were, but in each case, they were problems that were going on for a long time without ever being noticed by me, my friends, or anypony else in the wider realm of Equestria." As before, Twilight looked to the windows, and specifically to the one that depicted the conflict between Celestia, Luna and Discord. "Princess Celestia loved other ponies. All ponies. And there is no doubt in my mind that she would have wanted to help all those who were in trouble." She took a deep breath, then exhaled. "But while it pains me to admit to this, it's now obvious that, though she clearly tried to keep watch over all of Equestria, there were some places that escaped her gaze, and who suffered because of it."
Here, Spike interjected, addressing Spitfire directly himself. "Places like Hope Hollow were going through bad times for who knows how long, and nopony else knew about it. And if the Cutie Map hadn't told Twilight about the village with the cutie mark problem, it'd probably just have stayed bad even now."
Spitfire, finally, understood her reason for being here. "I see. You want the Wonderbolts to go out and keep an eye out for problems like this?"
Looking back to her, Twilight nodded. "I do. Equestria is big, and that vastness is too great for even an alicorn Princess to properly look over at all times. I require eyes and ears out there, beyond the furthest point of Canterlot's knowledge." She smiled. "For centuries, the Wonderbolts have served as ponykind's greatest and most renowned fliers, and now I call upon you to serve ponykind and watch out for any problems that might have otherwise gone unnoticed."
Spike nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! And if some big bad like the Storm King ever pops up to cause trouble again, this way we'll have some kind of early warning against it before they get too close! I mean, heck, that guy's forces just showed up without anypony knowing until it was too late!"
There was no denying that much, and Spitfire was clearly deep in thought over the proposal, which ended with her giving a firm nod to her new ruler. "Princess, the Wonderbolts stand ready to serve Equestria. If this is a role you wish us to have, we'll serve as best we can."
Twilight, hearing the genuine acceptance in her voice, bowed her head slightly. "Thank you, Captain. I cannot say enough how much I appreciate this."
But then Spitfire hesitated, nervously scratching the back of her head. "Except...there is one problem."
Twilight's smile too faltered, though she kept her composure. "Oh?"
Spitfire sighed deeply, taking another step closer to her. "It's the numbers. Sure, the Wonderbolts may have more applicants now than ever before, but even if we were to accept and graduate every single one of them into our ranks, that wouldn't even give us half of the number of pegasi we'd need to cover the kind of ground you're talking about. And even among our top fliers, there's only a hoof-full of them that I'd feel confident sending out that far. To do what you're asking of us...well...we'd be stretched pretty thin."
Twilight considered that, and the way she now smiled to Spike, and how he smiled back, made it pretty clear that the two of them had already considered this particular issue. And so, when Equestria's ruler turned back to face her guest, she spoke with utter confidence. "There's no need to worry. I don't expect for you to instantly have all that you need for this task just because I've decreed it. But there is one solution that might help."
Curiosity came to Spitfire. "Oh yeah?"
Twilight nodded. "Yes. I believe the time has come for the Wonderbolts to accept those other than pegasi into their ranks."
Immediately, Spitfire's eyes widened. Not because she was upset by the notion, but simply due to surprise. "You mean...incorporate some of the other flight-capable races? The Griffons? Dragons? That kind of thing?"
Again, Twilight nodded. "Indeed. After all, Griffons, just as one example, have been included in Cloudsdale flight schools for some years now, correct? Rainbow Dash went to school with a Griffon named Gilda as you may recall. Is it really that big of a stretch to ask them to go from that to Wonderbolts? Or for others to join as well?"
Spitfire tapped her chin. "Hmmm...it might be a hard sell with some of the older members of the group...but I think it'll certainly help with our number problem."
Twilight giggled. "I have every faith in your ability to smooth out the kinks in the plan, Spitfire. One does not become a Wonderbolt Captain without ability and charisma after all."
Spitfire smirked to that. "Hehe, dang right, Princess!"
Spike too smiled. "And hey, you might already have a recruit lined up! Ever heard of Silverstream?"
Spitfire's eyebrow raised again. "The Hippogriff Princess?"
Spike nodded to her. "Yep! She talked about maybe wanting to join the Wonderbolts one day. So hey, maybe give her a shot?"
Spitfire thought on that, then smiled again. "A Princess Wonderbolt, eh? Huh, not a bad idea."
Twilight looked down to Spike, smiling to him and feeling confident that this was going well. Then, she cleared her throat, getting everypony else's attention, before addressing them all. "Well then, let's start sending word to the other kingdoms of this development. Would you care to join me in drafting out the messages, Captain?"
After a brief pause, Spitfire gave her a deep bow. "Princess Twilight, it would be my pleasure."
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good stuff, let's hope the next update doesn't take a MONTH
An early warning system? Unheard of.
Can Twilight get a conspiracy theorist of two? I could easily see someone construe this as Twilight spying on her citizenry.
Why does government procedure in an Equestria setting make me so happy?
NEXT CHAPTER she gets in touch with sunset and asks about satellites
hey sunset im rulling now, you know how i learnt about satalites in your world.
ya see i had this idea to have one in space and strap the elements to it that way when my wonderbolt scouts spot something i can solve the the problem before it gets here
se i got incontact with some of my scientists and they threw this together what do you think
Absolutely excellent job on this latest chapter. The exchange between Twilight, Spike and Spitfire concerning expanding the Wonderbolts' role was simply superb. And, for another griffon recruit, you can bet Gabby would jump at the chance. Not only does she have the talent AND heart for that sort of work, but it would ALSO allow her to see Spike more often (as he is basically the "number one" of Equestria's new ruler/the Wonderbolts' boss).
Anyway, the characterizations, general wrap-up and future chapter set-up are all quite well done in all the right places.
And still other possibilities for future stories:
Some stuff showing the Flim-Flam Brothers on the path of redemption (they were included in Applejack's "friends' memories" image during the finale of "The Magic of Friendship Grows", which implies that they DID reform during the two decade time-skip).
Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, Cadance and Flurry Heart visiting Twilight and Spike during her first Hearth's Warming as Equestria's ruler.
The first "Festival of the Two Sisters" AFTER Celestia and Luna's retirement (which is still some months down the road, but DOES have some potential as a one chapter story).
Luna setting up a support group for reformed villains as a way to keep herself busy in retirement while still being useful.
Discord doing assorted work for Fluttershy and the rest of the Mane Six (and Spike) as a way to further make up for his mess-up that COULD have gone much, MUCH worse.
Gabby and Ember meeting each other during a mass diplomatic gathering of the assorted realms.
And, I realize that I once again let my thoughts get carried away with me and I apologize for that once more.
Anyway, VERY definitely going to be looking forward to more of this.
9971571
Well, that's what it is. Apart, that is, from the fact that Equestria doesn't have citizens. It has subjects of the Crown, like any monarchy.
Pretty good suggestion from Twilight about expanding the Wonderbolts duties regarding early warning system & problem spots all around Equestria. Very proactive of her & his #1 assistant.
Well, Celestia, anyway; Luna's been 'ruling' for only a hoofful of years, considering her thousand-year time-out.
Good idea, Twilight. Expand the Wonderbolts ranks and make them Equestria's eyes and ears.
She will have all eyes and hears across Equestria then the world. She will rule the world with her smartbook.
All Hail The Mighty Nerd Egg Head
9971641
The thing is.... was it even mentioned in the show at all prior to the final season? :/
And no, Celestia doing that joke at the end of Horse Play from Season 8 doesn't count. :/
This is another good chapter. I liked Twilight and Spike's conversation with Spitfire and how they suggested letting non-Pegasus join the Wonderbolts. Maybe that means Silverstream's dream will come true and she will get the honor of being the first one.
YES! Silverstream is going to get her dream!
Again, nice work with this chapter. Good to see Twilight working to set up improvements.
.....This plan is BRILLIANT!!!!!
Speaking of griffins, wonder how Spike's special somegriffin reacts to this transition?
9971836
If Luna took control of the Moon at the same time Celestia did the Sun, then she had been ruling for about 110 years at the time of her banishment. Add in another 5 or so years from her return to her abdication. So not "centuries," but "century" singular would fit.
9975028
i'm sorry, but who would that be?
as far as i know, he had a special somepony
10228105
I think he's referring to the events of S9E19 'Dragon Dropped'. You know, Spike hanging out with Gabby and Rarity being quite jealous. They're just very good friends and it's not an official romantic relationship as far as I know, but you know how fandoms are with that sort of thing.
Spike nodded to her. "Yep! She talked about maybe wanting to join the Wonderbolts one day.
That's right I remember back in uprooted She did say she want to become a wonder bolts which that awesome for her And see other creatures in the wonder bolts is awesome