Short stories about ponies and whatnot

by shutaro

Five hundred rounds around the base

Spitfire looked into the mirror in her locker one last time. “Ok! This is your one last chance, sport. Don’t blow it!” She would have loved to have somepony cheer her up, but she was the only pony in the mares’ changing room, the last mare in the Wonderbolts. She pulled the gold-and-white hood of the uniform over her head and fixed her mane. She picked her lucky pair of aviator goggles from their hook and closed the locker. She took a deep breath. “Don’t blow it!” she said aloud for the last time and walked out of the room.

***

485

The wind in her mane! That was the best! The adrenaline, the thrill, the knowledge to be the best of the best, the elite-flyers of all of Equestria! She counted every second. Not just because it was essential for the art of stunt flying, but because she loved it! Every single second.

490

The formation came out off last loop and seamlessly changed into a nose dive until they were on the exact level of the stands.

493

They pulled up and the resulting shockwave blew through the spectators. Not that there are that many. A treacherous thought during a performance? Spitfire would have send herself to do five hundred rounds around the base on the spot, but right now was a bad time. She would have to do that later.

500

The formation reached the peak of the rise and turned for the grand final stunt. Spitfire’s eyes took in the stands far below, the great ring of the arena, Canterlot. The ponies seemed like ants, even the Princess in her booth … Spitfire’s body continued the stunt as practiced, but her eyes stayed fixed on the royal booth. The empty royal booth. How could Princess Celestia leave while the show was not even over? The Wonderbolts are the pinnacle of pegasus flying! The best of the best! Once the formation raced past the stands and again send a burst of air over the spectators, Spitfire’s mind returned from those questions.

505

Pull up, pull up! Routine kicked in; they had practiced this a thousand times and she was sure none of the ponies below could notice, but she felt: her comrades had seen it too. The Princess was gone; the show was over; the Wonderbolts … history.

***

Spitfire wanted to be alone back at the base, sitting on the ceiling of the barracks, looking out over the rolling hills that surrounded Canterlot on it’s mountain. She hadn’t even done the five hundred laps she had ordered herself to do. She didn’t cry or anything. She was a professional after all. She would return to the air force of Cloudsdale, become … maybe a drill-sergeant? Yeah, that sounded right. And it would be a great way to blow off some steam. She heard hooffalls behind her and quickly checked her goggles.

The voice of Soarin behind her was a bit thinner than usual. “Your goggles didn’t fit right too? That’s like an epidemic, everypony was rubbing their faces today.”

Spitfire looked up to the stallion and grinned half-heartedly at his reddened eyes. “Yeah, must be something like that,” she answered. “Maybe somepony burned something in the city?”

“Could be.” Soarin shrugged his wings before he sat down next to her. The two shared a few moments of silence before he spoke again. “You know why the Princess left? What she said?”

Spitfire shook her head. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to know, but there was little she could do. The anger in Soarin's voice was silent, but they were like family on the team, she could hear it.

“I have seen enough. She didn’t even see our finale. And she left to see some entrance exams for her school. Can you believe it? She left us behind to watch some brats do magic tricks!” The sound of splintering glass echoed over the place as his goggles hit the ground. “Today the royal guard is the hot apples. Every foal want’s a helmet and to stand in front of the palace for the whole day? Do you get that? Standing around all day long? What are they teaching kids today?” He sprung up and stood on his hind legs. “When I was young there was nothing better for a pegasus then to be a flyer, a racer, a Wonderbolt!”

He spread his wings and for a moment Spitfire thought she could see all the ancient glory of the pegasus race in this one stallion. Then he folded his wings back up and was only Soarin again. “But today they complain that there are no new tricks, that everything we do is rehashed and that we should rather be useful.” There was a glint in his eyes, “We are soldiers, we could be useful with maybe some griffins.”

“I don’t even want to know what you just thought,” Spitfire knocked her hoof on the stallion’s head. “Don’t be stupid. It was a fun time, and now it’s over. We tried our best but there was no last minute — “

BOOOOOM

From far below Canterlot, in the plains under Cloudsdale a circle of rainbow colors crept over the land. The two pegasus ponies watched as the ring of magical light dissipated. Both stood up, spread their wings and shuddered as the shockwave rolled over them. They looked at each other and for a moment everything was right with the world. Then a siren started howling, and whatever calmness had settled over them evaporated just as fast as they recognized the signal. “A dragon attacking the city!?”

***

“Now that’s my kind of budget cut!” Soarin stood in the soon-to-be airfield of their new base. “Our own mountaintop, no longer under the control of the royal guard and it’s even close to Cloudsdale!”

Spitfire landed next to him. “I’m not yet sure about that Inspired Youth-thing the Princess hatched, but we get to keep doing our stuff, so that’s a good thing. And new uniforms!” She shook her mane and tail in the azure flight suits they had been issued. She pulled a scroll from under her wing and hoofed it to Soarin. “First order of business: Get this old place in shipshape; second order: training; third order: prepare a new show; fourth order: find out what that strange rainbow boom was.”

Soarin looked at her. “You really enjoy that new command, do you?”

Spitfire grinned to him and took off. “We’ll see. But first I have five hundred rounds around the base to burn through.”

Author's Note:

I really wonder what kind of stone you'd have to hide under to not be influenced by that Sonic Rainboom.

---

The Prompt: The 500 seconds that changed the world.

Comments

[Twilightsparklefairy]

5739969 Oooohhhhhh... Now I get it . I thought Spike had disappeared HIMSELF somehow

[Twilightsparklefairy]

5742051 Oooooooooo I love it

[shutaro]

5742339
The answer is of course: "Because I'm here to make you my mare, Celestia."