Top Wing

by LCranston

Chapter 3 - Clarion Call

Minutes later, Fluttershy arrived at the cloud home of her winged friend. Sounds of yelling and thumping were heard. Fluttershy knocked on the door timidly. At first, it seemed that no pony heard her.

She called out, “Rainbow? Are you home?”

The intense sound of hooves racing up to the door preceded the swift open of the portal.

An angry blue head stuck out, screaming, “I told you to leave me alone!”

Totally intimidated, the kind mare lowered her head submissively and backed off.

She acquiesced, “Okay, you seem busy anyway.”

Rainbow Dash blinked, then looked closely. She recognized the form of her friend. She smiled and then calmed down.

She said, “Hey, Fluttershy. C’mon in. I thought it was some others who tried to follow me home.”

Fluttershy walked inside and shut the door behind herself. She noticed several holes in the cloud walls of the house. She wasn’t an architect, but she imagined that it wouldn’t take much more for the walls to start crumbling.

The blue pegasus trotted over to a sofa and flopped on it. The yellow pegasus walked over to daintily sit down next to her friend.

After a few minutes of silence, Rainbow Dash tugged on her multi-colored mane and cried out, “I hate this! Why doesn’t everypony just leave me alone?! If I don’t want to try out, then I won’t try out!”

Fluttershy instantly agreed, “It must be annoying to have people encourage you to live your dreams.”

The colorful pegasus yelled, “It’s just ‘stop throwing things’ and always ‘don’t yell at me’ with them.”

The yellow pegasus said uneasily, “Yeah.”

Rainbow Dash rolled over on her back and smirked, “C’mon. Talk to me, ‘Shy. I can’t stand it when you’re quiet.”

The yellow pegasus smirked back and commented, “You haven’t called me that since flight school.”

Dash reminisced, “Yeah, those were the days…while they lasted.”

Fluttershy stated, “It wasn’t your fault.”

The blue pegasus snarled and stood up, pacing back and forth.

She griped, “That hardly helps, now does it? I nearly died. Those jerks never got punished. Finally, that instructor gets promoted for weeding me out!”

Fluttershy counter, “No, he didn’t. He just got offered a different job.”

The blue pegasus asked, “You remember what happened, right?”

*begin flashback*

Back in the late summer in the obstacle course of Cloudsdale Flight School for Foals, several winged colts surrounded a timid yellow pegasus. The colts all pushed her in different directions in mid-air, laughing as they did.

The yellow pegasus cried to herself as she was pushed. They always did this after lunch. She hoped they’d get bored soon so she could go cry by herself again.

“Leave her alone, you freaks!”

A bold little filly with a blue coat and a rainbow-colored mane zipped in, pushing a pair of the bullies aside.

One of the bullies taunted, “Coming to your lame friend’s rescue again, Rainbow Crash? Betcha can’t catch me to settle it!” He then took off in a wide circle.

The young Rainbow Dash crowed, “I beat you in a race. I can find you anywhere!” She took off, soaring faster and faster, eager to catch her quarry.

After the pair completed two full circles, another colt, waiting for his moment, took off directly at the side of the blue filly.

WHAM! The bully struck Rainbow Dash sideways, bouncing off and tumbling in the air.

Rainbow Dash’s world began to spin as she got flung off-course and strayed over the side of the large cloud that served as the school grounds. Her right wing was numb from the impact. Pain tickled its way up her wing, paralyzing her delicate pegasus nerves.

The crowd of bullies looked in awe at the results of the accident. If that filly didn’t recover, the fall from this height would kill her.

The original bully colt called out, “That wasn’t supposed to happen. Let’s get out of here!”

Fluttershy trembled and cried out, “Help! Mayday! Rainbow Dash is in a flat spin! She’s falling to the ground!”

The blue filly shook her head and looked around. The whole world spun out of control. Looking down, she saw the rock-hard ground approaching quickly. She tried to flap her wings, but her right wing would not respond. Her left wing flopped around uselessly.

Fear crept into her spine like an icy chain. It wrapped itself around her heart and squeezed it tightly.

She shut her eyes and cried loudly.

She bawled, “Help me!”

Suddenly, a pair of powerful hooves scooped her up and stopped her fall. Opening her eyes just a crack, she saw the gym coach carrying her up to the cloud of the school grounds.

When he crested the edge of the cloud, he dumped her onto the cloud and landed next to her.

He stuck his face into the blue filly’s face and gave her a glare of impatience.

He barked, “What is wrong with you? Did I not teach you how to recover from a flat spin?”

Rainbow Dash just sobbed, gulped a breath of air, and whimpered, “But-but my wing…hurt.”

The tall, strong stallion reared up and declared, “If you don’t find a way to overcome your own pain, then you’re better off dead. The world isn’t a nice place and I won’t be there to save you every time! Now get back to class!”

The stallion flew back towards the group of colts who were trying to hide behind a dumpster. He shouted, “Hey, Hoops! What did I tell you about picking on fillies?!”

Rainbow Dash just cried and cried. Nothing seemed to cheer her up.

Fluttershy said, “Um, Rainbow Dash? It’s all over now. You can get back up.”

The blue filly wailed her anguish.

The yellow filly asked, “What can I do to help?”

Dash replied through her sobs, “J-just…talk…t-t-to m-me…Fl..Fl…Flut…”

Fluttershy, understanding the true request, walked around to lie down next to her friend. She draped a wing over her distraught friend and smiled gently.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and buried her face in her hooves. Her mind whirled around in circles, seeing the hard stones of the far ground rise up to slam into her. She begged, “Talk to me, ‘Shy…please. I can’t get it out of my head.”

The yellow pegasus started saying, “There’s nothing to be afraid of. You are Rainbow Dash, the fastest, bestest flier in all of flight school. Why, just a couple of days ago, you did something that nopony in history thought was possible! You did a sonic rainboom, without even trying! You’re my hero, Rainbow Dash.”

The blue pegasus calmed down, and only sobbed occasionally. She turned to her friend and asked, “R-really?”

The yellow pegasus nuzzled the blue pegasus gently. She said confidently, “Definitely. I wish I had even one-tenth of your courage. Why, if I had just a drop of your courage, I could save all of Equestria every day! There’s nopony better at flying than you.”

Rainbow Dash just leaned into the nuzzling, taking in the gentle attention.

*end flashback*

The kind mare insisted, “I really meant it. You are my hero. You’re not afraid of anything. You even kicked a full-grown dragon right in the face without even flinching.”

Dash griped as she paced, “Fat load of good it did me. Hoops and Dumb-Bell went right back to trying to nail me sideways to make me flat spin onto the playground. I dropped out of flight school that week.”

Fluttershy asked, “Why didn’t you go to the teachers?”

The blue pegasus’s complexion blossomed into a crimson rage. She screamed, “I DID!!! Those jerks! Who would ever believe a trouble-maker?! They just told me to ‘play nice’, as if that just solved anything.”

The yellow pegasus asked, “Well, why did you run away?”

Rainbow Dash pawed the floor of her home aggressively, saying, “If they did it once, they’d do it again when the teachers weren’t around. I wasn’t safe there. I left to make my own way in the world. I could fly faster than anypony, so I got a job managing the weather in Ponyville. I could do the job of two mares, so I stayed on. I figured nopony from flight school would follow me there.”

Fluttershy walked over to gently nuzzle her friend briefly. She gently said, “When I made a home in Ponyville, I was so glad I found you.”

Rainbow’s temper just dissolved like mist in the morning sun. She smiled back awkwardly, saying, “Yeah, that was pretty sweet. Thanks for coming over, ‘Shy.”

The yellow pegasus started to leave, saying over her shoulder, “Anytime. Whatever you want to do is fine with us, but you know that Twilight and Applejack are in harm’s way. It would help them if you tried out. The Wonderbolts are protecting the area they’re in. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As Fluttershy closed the door behind herself, Rainbow Dash looked around her house. Mentally counting the number of holes, she cringed at all of the work she’d have to do repairing the walls. She figured that trying out had to be easier than this, and Rainbow Dash always preferred the path of lesser resistance.

After flying back to the skies above Ponyville, Rainbow Dash wondered if she had the right place. There was a complicated obstacle course and only five ponies hovering around. She flew up to take her place in line and listen to the competition.

The one in charge was a tough-looking stallion wearing mirrored sunglasses and constantly writing on a clipboard.

He bellowed, “Do you call that flying? You were slower than a broken wagon! You failed the time trial. Get out of here!”

A mare with a gray coat, yellow mane, and crossed eyes sniffed once, wiping away a tear. She flew off awkwardly. Nopony knew if it was her natural flying or the stallions berating.

A stallion piped up, “Hey, you can’t talk to her like that. It’s rude to a lady.”

The stallion growled and stared down the stallion with hate in his eyes. He said dangerously, “Oh, so you’re sensitive, are you? Well, you can go cry together because you’re out! No soft hearts here! Now get out!”

The stallion huffed and flew away.

That voice echoed in Rainbow Dash’s mind clearly. It was the same stallion. He was tall and muscular with a tan coat, white mane cut short, and fierce yellow eyes normally covered by mirrored sunglasses, and a flank symbol of mirrored sunglasses crossed with a single wing. Yup, it was Thunder Boss, all right.

He growled at the next mare and said, “Well, are you flying today or waiting all day? Go!”

The mare took off into the jungle gym of hoop-shaped clouds. She flapped hard, trying to build up speed.

Dash kept watching her with dismay. She thought, No, you’ll just get out of control that way. Your turning radius is too wide for that speed. Slow down, you fool.

The mare’s wing clipped three hoops in a row.

Thunder Boss yelled, “Disqualified! If you can’t fly better than that, you’ll be dead before you even take off! Get down on the ground with the cows!”

The mare burst into tears and flew away.

Thunder Boss yelled at the last applicant, “You’re next, get going!”

The remaining stallion complained, “What is wrong with you? We’re here to do you a favor and you just attack them like that? What are you trying to do, sabotage your own membership drive?”

The stallion in charge shoved his face into the others’ face. He spoke evenly, “I’m trying to make sure that weaklings don’t join up. We’re not going to have a tea party, we’re going into battle! If you’re sensitive, you’ll be too busy crying to save your teammate’s life! Now are you going to fly or walk?!”

The other stallion turned around and huffed, “I wouldn’t join your bunch if you paid me!” He flew off to comfort the mare who quit before him. She could still be heard even though she was halfway to the ground.

Thunder Boss screamed, “Oh, that’s just great!!! There’s nopony in all of this backwater to join up! We’re doomed!”

Rainbow Dash made her presence known, “No, you’re not.”

The stallion looked over to her, and his mouth twisted into a grimace.

He spoke evenly, “Well, well, look who it is. It’s the filly who gets picked on by everyone else. Feel like getting your tail kicked by other winged creatures now?”

Refusing to rise to the bait, Dash stated, “I’m here to join the Wonderbolts. You need me and I need to defend my friends. Two of them are hauling that precious statue you want so badly.”

Thunder Boss barked, “I don’t care if the entire Ponyville orphanage is singing for their lives! I am NOT going to give a uniform to a drop-out who can’t even pull out of a flat spin!”

Rainbow Dash pushed her nose into his nose and spoke dangerously, “I can pass any test you give me, ‘coach’. Now click that stopwatch and time me. I can clear your stupid little obstacle course in ten seconds flat.”

Without warning, the blue pegasus zoomed off at high speed right for the first cloud hoop and cleared it before the stallion could remember to start timing her.

Dash poured on the speed, remembering to tilt the fronts of her wings into the turns and pull her wings close to her body for straight-aways. She felt the wind pull the skin of her face backwards, trying to cheat her of victory.

Flaring her wings for tight turns, she flapped and twisted her body to shorten her turning radius and dove for the next gate. She pulled up sharply right before the gate and felt her left wing slice through the hoop.

She pulled up in a half loop and rolled upright, tucking her wings in. She turned left sharply, feeling the next cloud hoop blast across her face.

She thought, Oh, come on! I can’t blow this! Gotta slow down and finish on time!

She flared her wings out and pulled up to clear the next hoop and then galloped in mid-air while pumping her wings hard to clear the last hoop.

Thunder Boss clicked the stopwatch off, reading the number on the display. He frowned slightly.

Rainbow Dash glided back down next to him and gloated, “Ha! There! Now let’s get me fitted for my uniform.”

The stallion crossed out her name on the paper and turned his back.

She complained, “I just finished your obstacle course! Now let me in!”

Thunder Boss looked back at her and said, “I remember you perfectly. Not just back then but now. You’re that immature showoff that did the sonic rainboom in an unsanctioned race as a filly. You could have killed somepony if you were aimed at the seats when you did that trick. Then you showed off at the Young Flier’s Competition with another sonic rainboom. You had a great routine but you were so nervous you abandoned it because you found it hard. Ever since school, you’ve got a reputation as a slacker in the Equestria Weather Service.”

He turned around and stared her down, saying, “The Wonderbolts do not give uniforms to any random lazy, disrespectful mare who sleeps half of her shift away, no matter how fast she is!”

Dash argued, “If you’re recruiting in an open drive, then you’re desperate for replacements. Just how many Wonderbolts are left out of the original eleven? Can you afford to reject me?”

Thunder Boss turned away and said, “I’d rather go back empty-hoofed than send unreliable showoffs like you into battle. You’d just get killed and it would be my fault. Go home.”

The blue pegasus stared hotly at the back of the stallion. She felt her temperature rise until she shook with rage.

She declared, “I will be a Wonderbolt! I’ll get on the team and show you I’ve changed! Just you wait!”

She sped off at top speed right for Canterlot. She had an ace to play and now was the time.

In the throne room, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sat in their twin thrones, fretfully eating their dinners. They had insisted on average fare during times of crisis. It showed humility and deference to the fate of the common pony, lest they forget whose welfare they were serving.

Princess Luna forced the last spoonful of oatmeal down her mouth and swallowed the mess.

She grimaced and complained, “Sister, ‘tis noble of us to not partake of sumptuous feasts as sacrifice on behalf of our subjects. But would a light glaze of peaches really be that disrespectful?”

Celestia cleaned the oatmeal from her mouth with a napkin. She tried to come up with a wise expression to convince her sister to stop thinking of such luxuries. However, the fresh taste of peaches sounded really good right about now.

The double doors to the throne room burst open.

BLAM! An exhausted blue pegasus stood boldly in the middle of the throne room.

She approached the princesses without fear or announcement.

The pair of armored earth ponies charged to block her path.

Rainbow Dash called out forcefully, “I want to be a Wonderbolt! You need me and I need to defend my friends! Twilight and Applejack are risking their lives to get that stupid statue and Thunder Boss just cheated to keep me out of the one post that will help me bring them home alive! I am going to be a Wonderbolt no matter what!”

She glared at the two alicorn sisters and demanded, “Are you going to help me or not?!”

The sisters looked at each other and gave a slight smile.

Princess Celestia declared, “Guards, escort Miss Rainbow Dash to Steele for her armor fitting. I will draw up her appointment papers immediately.”

Princess Luna added, “Sister, I will send word to the outpost to expect Miss Rainbow Dash soon. I’m sure Spitfire will be glad to get any extra fliers she can receive.”

Rainbow Dash found herself in the last place she expected. She had never seen an armor smithy before. She thought there would be huge bonfires the size of houses. Racks and racks of wicked-looking weapons and armor, all polished to gleaming finishes with elegantly-lacquered insignias.

This was just a double-wide room with a hearth, anvil, and big pile of firewood. Still, the tall red pony was nice enough. He really seemed to care about his work.

He asked a lot of questions about the fit and motion of joints. He would take off a piece, pound it with his massive hammer, and fit it back on her body. It always moved better afterwards.

She asked, “Are you sure this metal casing on my wings won’t screw up my ability to generate lift?”

Distracted, Steele just kept hammering on her helmet.

He replied, “That’s right, Miss Dash. The wing armor only covers your leading edges and flexible joints. Your actual feathers are not covered. Your back, head, and hooves will be protected as well. This will stop a blade directly, but not any unprotected areas. I had to pull back armor from some places as a trade-off for covering your wings. I had to stop your wings from getting cut up. You’ll be slower, but you can flap just as hard as before. Just remember to pace yourself or else you’ll run out of energy too soon.”

He placed the helmet upon her head and fastened the chin strap. He stepped back, smiling at his work.

He asked, “How does that fit?”

She flapped her wings, rising slowly off the ground and turned her head left and right.

Landing on her hooves, she said, “Feels good. I’ll take it.” After a moment, she added with a chuckle, “Kinda looks like that outfit Rarity made for me once. Maybe she should learn to work metal.”

Steele chuckled and said, “Just bring it back without your blood stained on it and I’ll be happy.”

Suddenly, the enormity of it all hit Rainbow Dash.

She was going into battle. She might die.

She shivered a little and tried to reply.

Steele, seeing this happen to Royal Guards who don their armor for the first time, placed his massive hooves upon her shoulders.

He stared into her eyes and said calmly, “You got the best armor, the best training, and the best heart of any one on that battlefield. If you want out, you better say so now. There’s no shame in changing your mind.”

Rainbow Dash thought about Twilight and Applejack, broken and bleeding on the ground. She felt fear, but she felt something else. She felt anger. Anger over what in the world caused this to happen.

She banished her fears and replied, “Not a chance. I gotta help my friends and you just gave me the means to come back alive. Thanks, Steele. Something I can do for you?”

He smiled and asked, “Yes. Tell that little brother of mine to come back home alive. I miss his boring stories over dinner.”