> The Wonderbolt Academy's New Volunteers
>  by Jay Watson
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Ch.1 Rainbow Dash's Dilemma
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!  This is bad, real bad!”  Rainbow Dash sifted through the stack of files again as she sat behind her desk, trying not to panic.  She had run out of time, unable to find two suitable candidates for Wonderbolt tryouts after two of her selected prospects had called out with cases of the Ponypox, knocking them out of running.  Dash had spent all the morning trying to find substitutes to bring with her.

“There’s nopony left to ask!  I’ve looked through the entire student body and all of Ponyville and still can’t find anypony else to go.”  Dash felt the panic growing inside her, worried how she was going to look in front of her fellow Wonderbolt recruiters as well as Commander Spitfire.  She had only an hour or so before she was supposed to depart for Cloudsdale with her recruits and be at the training grounds for a first inspection.

“What am I going to do now?  There’s no time left and I’m going to look like such an idiot for not being ready!”  Blap!  Rainbow Dash planted her face onto her desktop with a thud.  “Oh, this is going to be the worst day of my life!  Commander Spitfire is going to have my butt in a sling for letting the team down like this, and I’m supposed to be the one setting the example!  This was all my idea.”  She groaned aloud.  “I’m doomed.  I’ll never get another chance like this.”  Dash was just about to admit defeat when a knock sounded at her office door.

“Come in.”  Dash didn’t bother looking up. She was so depressed at failing to do what her commanding officer had requested that her face was still buried in the pile of paperwork on her desk.

In stepped two students of Princess Twilight’s School of Friendship.

“Excuse us, Professor Dash, are we interrupting you?”  Dash looked up to see Silverstream the hippogriff and Gallus the griffon standing in her office, looking at her a bit bemusedly.

Dash sighed as she looked up from her misery.  “No, just resting my head for a moment.  What can I help you two with?”
Gallus was first to speak up.  “Well, word around the school is that you needed to bring some contenders to the Wonderbolt tryouts this week, so Silverstream and I thought we could help out.”

Rainbow Dash was not sure where they were going with this.  “How did you know I was looking for flyers around the school?”

“Professor Fluttershy told us this morning in class that you were in need of two ponies to bring to the tryouts, so Gallus and I thought we could go in place of the two who called out sick.” Silverstream was holding a book from the school’s library in her talons; a historical volume about the origins of the Wonderbolts.  She had been reading a great deal about them and had asked Professor Dash many questions this semester about the Wonderbolts.  Silverstream had been keen to read more about them, especially now that she was spending more and more of her time as a hippogriff and less as a seapony.  Dash looked rather questioningly at them.

“I’m not sure this is the time for an excursion to Cloudsdale.  Tryouts are a pretty intense time to be at Wonderbolt H.Q. and I’m going to be assisting in running the tryouts with the other team members.  I won’t have time to show you around the city or much of anything else.”

“We understand, Professor.  This is a big part of who you are and stuff, but we thought it could be like Headmare Twilight’s idea of having a cultural exchange between griffons, hippogriffs and pegasus ponies. We could go as students of the school and observe how pegasus ponies get in to the academy through the tryouts.  Maybe we could even get to meet some cadets and ask questions about what it’s like to be a part of tryouts week.”  Silverstream was very eager to know more about this.  Reading about it and seeing pictures only conveyed half of the story.

“Besides,” Gallus added flatly, “it’s spring break and I really wasn’t considering going back home to Griffonstone.  I was just going to stay here at the school in the meantime so visiting Cloudsdale seemed like a good alternative.”

“So, what do you say, Professor Dash?  Can me and Gallus go with you?”  Silverstream anxiously clutched the book a bit tighter to her chest.  Suddenly, Dash had an epiphany.  Silverstream and Gallus’ idea might just be what she needed.  True, it would be bad for Rainbow Dash to show up without her three recruits but how much better would it look if she came with exchange students who wanted to learn about the Wonderbolts?  They were flyers, too, after all.   It was a longshot at best, but she was out of time and had to try anything. Dash’s expression brightened a bit.

“You two really sure you want to go?  You’re not going to be bored by it?”  Dash wanted to make sure before she got her hopes up too high.  Silverstream nodded enthusiastically.

“Oh, absolutely!  I would love the chance to see it for myself!  So many flying ponies in one place at one time; how awesome is that!”  She was practically falling all over her wings with eagerness.  Dash turned to look at Gallus, trying to gauge his reasoning for going.

“Meh, given the choice between going back home and dealing with my family, staying here at the school and waiting for classes to start again, or visiting Cloudsdale to watch the Wonderbolt tryouts, it’s a no-brainer.  Seeing Cloudsdale for the first time is way cooler!”  Gallus stated most definitely. Dash felt her hopes rise yet a little more.

“Okay, then the two of you come with me.”  Dash had the two of them follow her to Headmare Twilight’s office just down the hallway.  The door was ajar and Dash could hear Twilight and Spike talking inside.  She faced the students once more.  “Wait here,” she instructed.  Dash turned back to the door and gently knocked.  Twilight’s welcoming voice came from the opposite side.

“Come in.” 

Taking a deep breath, Dash stepped into Twilight’s office.  Awaiting her were the various neat stacks of papers and forms placed on every flat surface available to use, awaiting Twilight’s magic touch for collating them into order.  Twilight looked up from her work, seeing her friend looking rather nervously about the room with a rather sheepish expression on her face.

“What’s up, Dash?  Something I can help you with?”  Twilight smiled pleasantly as she waited for Dash to speak.  

“Yeah, uh, there’s something I, uh, wanted to ask you.”  Dash couldn’t hide her nervousness; everything depended on Twilight saying ‘yes’ to her idea.  

“Okay, what is it?”  Twilight didn’t understand Dash’s hemming and hawing, she was usually the most outspoken and upfront teacher in the school. Finally, Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“I was thinking this morning that maybe this spring break I could, you know, maybe take Silverstream and Gallus along with me to the Wonderbolt tryouts.  I mean, not to try out or anything but to see for themselves what it’s like to go through the tryouts and learn more about it.”   Nervously, Dash rubbed the back of her head with a forehoof and bit her lower lip, waiting for Twilight’s answer.  But Twilight was no fool, she knew what Dash was up to.

“Rainbow Dash,” Headmare Twilight sighed a little in exasperation, slipping into her flat, explanatory ‘headmare’s voice’.  “You know perfectly well that I am in no position to simply ‘loan out’ students from the school to a teacher, even if she is a Wonderbolt.  I’m aware of what Commander Spitfire assigned you to do at your meeting with her during Winter Wrap-Up.  You were supposed to have a number of potential recruits ready for the tryouts this spring, remember?  I did proofread your proposal, you know.”  

“I didn’t have time to, Twilight!   Two of my recruits called out sick the day before yesterday and I was busy with all that extra teaching stuff this semester.  It ate up all my free time.”  Dash tried to make excuses but Twilight wasn’t having it.

“Well, maybe you would’ve had more time if you weren’t so busy competing against Apple Jack to win the Teacher of the Month award by doing all that ‘extra teaching stuff'.” Twilight continued with her paperwork unabated.  Dash tried a different approach to solving her quandary.

“It’s not like you’d be ‘loaning’ them out.  This could be the thing you were asking me and Rarity and the rest of us about; attempting a cultural exchange between species of Equestria.  You were telling us how even Princess Celestia thought it was a good idea.  Why wouldn’t this be a good time?”  Dash tried appealing to Twilight’s logical side, showing her friend there here was the opportunity she had been waiting for.  Didn’t this count as such an opportunity?  Twilight was quick to counter Dash’s stance.

“That’s not my point.  There are rules to field trips abroad for students; getting permission slips signed, getting approval from the Equestrian Educational Administration on the trip itself and to where, assigning chaperones for the trip…” Twilight went on and on about the rules and regulations that they, as teachers, had to follow.  Dash didn’t have any more time for rules, regulations and doing things ‘by the book’.  She had an emergency right now. This was all just noise in her ears.

Dash groaned in mounting frustration and desperation.  “Oh-h-h-h!  Twil-i-i-i-ight!  Why are you being such an egghead about it?  C’mon!  Help me out here.  Please?  Do you want to see me down on my knees, begging for help?”  Twilight didn’t look up from her desk, returning to stamping each page with the rubber stamp that bore her insignia.  Dash grew more desperate, the precious seconds slipping away as zero-hour approached.

“Look, I’ll even swear by the ‘Pinkie Pie Promise’ that I won’t let anything happen to either of them while under my watch, okay?  I wasn’t going to make Silverstream or Gallus participate in the tryouts; I just don’t want to show up with fewer recruits than the other team members.”  Dash’s confession did help her case a little as Twilight’s heart did go out to her friend.  No pony wanted to look bad in front of their friends or their commanding officer.  Twilight looked up once more and paused from her work to shoot Rainbow Dash a wary eye.

“You promise to make sure nothing happens to either of them?”  Twilight knew this was a big deal for the two students to visit the historic home of pegasi and a first time solo chaperone duty for Dash. But this was an awful lot of responsibility for one teacher.  Dash’s attention was going to be split between her duties as a teacher and that as a member of the Wonderbolts.  Twilight worried how Dash was ever going to be able to do that successfully.

Rainbow Dash recited the promise earnestly.  “Cross my heart, never to fly.  Stick a cupcake in my eye.”  She made the motions of crossing her heart and covering one eye with a forehoof. 

Twilight gave in with a sigh in the face of Dash’s utter desperation.  “Alright Rainbow Dash, I guess I can make an exception this one time.” The Headmare rolled her eyes, wondering to herself if this was such a good idea.  But Rainbow Dash was one of her chosen teachers here at the School of Friendship and she felt it was her duty to support such an endeavor.  “To be sure, I want to ask both Silverstream and Gallus if they really do want to go or if you’ve somehow tricked them into going with you.”  Instantly, Dash’s expression brightened.

The two students were waiting out in the hall when the Headmare came out of her office and walked right over to them.
“Silverstream, Gallus, Professor Dash tells me you both wish to visit Cloudsdale and see the Wonderbolt tryouts during spring break with her.  Is this true?” 

“Oh absolutely Headmare Twilight!  I’ve done so much reading about the Wonderbolts and their history!  I can’t imagine what a whole city of pegasus ponies floating in an enormous cloud looks like up close!  It’s going to be so amazing!”  Silverstream gushed, proudly displaying her book.  

“Meh, I’m not in the mood to deal with being back in Griffonstone.  Cloudsdale sounds like a much cooler way to spend the break.”  The griffon seemed rather nonchalant about it, but certainly wasn’t objecting to going.  Rainbow Dash’s cheesy grin grew, hearing them say exactly what was needed to convince Twilight.

Twilight glanced between the two of them, unable to discern any trace of coaxing or trickery on Dash’s part.  “Well, if you want to go and to give it at least some semblance of a ‘school trip’, instead of you two having to do the reading assignment I had in mind for the students over break, I would like both of you to write a report about your experiences visiting Cloudsdale.”

“Wow! Another personal assignment from Headmare Twilight!  Could this break get any better?”  Silverstream seemed over the moon at this request.

“Yeah, great.  A longer, more involved homework assignment to do.”  Gallus groused a little, but his eye-roll was clearly more habitual then displeased.

Twilight turned to face Rainbow Dash, the pegasus pony now just as cool and collected as she had been hysterical before.  “Alright Professor Dash, you’re in charge.  I hope you know what you’re doing.”  The warning came through loud and clear.

“I got this, Headmare Twilight.  These two are in good hooves with me!”  Dash was so relieved, she could almost scream.  She whipped her head around, looking at her new flying companions for this trip.  “How fast can you two get packed up to go?”

“Uh, how much time do we have?”  Gallus was not sure what and how much to bring with him.  Having never been to the famed floating city he wasn’t sure what attire would be appropriate.   Dash darted in and out of Twilight’s office to take a quick look at the clock on her bookcase.

“You got twenty minutes before we absolutely have to get flying if we intend to get there in time.”  Not a very big window of time, but enough to pack up some essentials and get back if they hurried.

“We’ll be back in ten!”  Silverstream grabbed Gallus by his foreleg and took off into the air, practically pulling Gallus’ limb out its socket in the process of trying to get back to their dorm room as quickly as possible. 

“Hey, what the-?  Ow!  Take it easy, Silverstream!”  Gallus yelped as he was being pulled along behind the hippogriff. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you and thank you!  You are so unbelievably awesome!  I won’t let you down!  I promise!”  Dash delivered a bone-crushing hug of thanks to Twilight before she took off in a flash to collect a few things.  Twilight barely had enough time to catch her breath from the hug and turn to face her office door when Rainbow Dash went flying back past her at blazing speed.

“Bye, Twilight!  Thanks again! You won’t be sorry!”  And with that, Rainbow Dash was out the door and heading back off to her cloudminium to pack.  Twilight couldn’t shake that little nagging feeling in the back of her mind about agreeing to this.  This wasn’t some friendship lesson daytrip where they’d be back at the school before sundown.  They would be gone several days.  This was a lot of responsibility for her friend to take on.  Twilight tried to quiet the fear. 

“I hope not, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight spoke into the empty air.
> Ch. 2  First Time Visit to Cloudsdale
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“C’mon!  We’ve got to get packed up!  This is so exciting!”  Silverstream burst through the door to their shared room, nearly colliding with Sandbar and Smolder.

“Whoa!  What’s up with you two?”  Sandbar ducked just in time to avoid the two flyers as they came charging in.  Silverstream finally released Gallus’ foreleg from her grip, the young griffon rotating his limb in its socket a few times to get the circulation going again.

“Professor Dash invited Silverstream and me to visit her home city of Cloudsdale and to check out the Wonderbolt tryouts at their headquarters.”  The dragon and earth pony gasped, delighted to hear of their friends amazing opportunity.

“No way!  That’s so cool!  I was going to go back home to the Dragonlands for my break but it sounds like you are going to have a better time with Professor Dash.”  Smolder cheered, smiling at their good fortune.

“You’re getting to see the city and the Wonderbolt tryouts for spring break?”  Sandbar thought it almost too good to be true.  “You lucky ponies!  I’ve always wanted to visit Cloudsdale.  Just do us a favor and take lots of pictures while you’re there.  I’ll bet this’ll be the best time you’ll ever have.” 

He dug out his camera from the drawer of his desk and passed it over to the excited hippogriff, who then proceeded to heedlessly cram it in her bag with the rest of her clothes.  

“Just, uh, you know, take care of the camera while you’re away.  I mean, it’s uh, not really mine.  Like, my dad loaned me his, so…”  Sandbar tried getting her attention but she was too preoccupied.

“Uh-huh. Yeah!  Sure!  I’ll take care of it!”  Silverstream continued to shove cram more clothes into the bag, not paying Sandbar any attention.  The earth pony could have sworn he heard a crunch or two coming from the bag.  He tried not to think the worst right then.   

“Well, you two have a great time.”  Smolder was a little envious of them getting the chance to go.  But, maybe at the end of the semester she and Yona could visit.  That would be something!

“I know! I know!  This is going to be the best trip ever!” Her bag was conspicuously overstuffed.  Gallus was much more selective as to what to bring with him.  He’d barely got the first few things in his carry bag before Silverstream was pulling on his foreleg for them to get moving.

“Wait up a second, I’m not done packing!”  Gallus pulled back against the hippogriff’s tugging, annoyed at being rushed.

“C’mon! Professor Dash is waiting for us.  I don’t want to be late.”  She actually pranced in place like a pony.  “Oh, I can’t believe this is happening!”  He’d just gotten the zipper shut on his bag when Silverstream again began pulling on his foreleg again, wanting him to hurry up.  Silverstream practically dragged Gallus back out the door, wanting to get back to the school as quickly as possible.

“See you guys when you get back!”  Sandbar called to them as they ran out the door and down the hallway.

Rainbow Dash stood by the entrance to the school with Solar Flare, awaiting Silverstream and Gallus’ return.  Even though it was only a few minutes’ wait and they had promised to be back in ten minutes, for Dash it felt like so much longer.  This was the first time she felt any pre-tryout anticipation jitters.  She paced back and forth, wondering what her commander was going to say when she arrived with three different Wonderbolt contenders. Before she could get herself too worked up about it, Silverstream and Gallus came charging across the campus grounds and right for her and her first recruit, Solar Flare.  

He was Rainbow Dash’s first choice for a recruit.  A short list of his credentials included a solid record of local service for Equestria’s Weather Bureau, a member of Ponyville’s traveling Buck-Ball team and a letter of recommendation from one of Prince Shining Armor’s lieutenants in Canterlot’s armed forces.  With his pale yellow color, stylishly trimmed brown mane and tail on that husky body of his, he looked the part of a Wonderbolt cadet too.  

“Nice to meet you!  You trying out for the Wonderbolt Academy?  That’s too cool!  What’s it like in Cloudsdale?  Have you ever been there before?”  Silverstream vigorously shook the stranger’s foreleg, rattling Solar Flare’s brains in the process.  Gallus rescued Solar Flare from further greetings from his excitable hippogriff friend.

‘You’ll have to excuse her, she hasn’t gotten out much from her home.  She’s kind of high strung.  She’s been a seapony most of her life.”  He indicated Silverstream with a sideways nod.  Solar Flare looked around the griffon’s shoulder to observe the hippogriff.

Silverstream was pirouetting and fluttering her wings, all while squealing “This is going to be so cool!”  Solar Flare looked again at Gallus.

“I see what you mean,” he replied knowingly.  Rainbow Dash got their attention.

“Okay we’re all here.  You three got everything you need?”  She didn’t want to have to fly back to Ponyville for something they’d forgotten.

“Yes ma’am.”  Solar Flare smiled and gave a friendly salute to her recruiter and Dash shot him a quick salute back.
“All set here!  Let’s go already!”  Silverstream couldn’t stand it another minute.

“I guess so.  I mean, I wasn’t sure what to bring to wear when staying in a city made of clouds and all so I just-” Gallus was cut off by Silverstream’s high pitched shrillness.

“Stop yapping and let’s get flapping!”   Rainbow Dash knew they were ready.

“Remember, you three.” She pointed up into the sky, right at the fabled home of the pegasus ponies, “It’s a three mile flight up to Cloudsdale from Ponyville.  I know it looks real close, but it’s not.  We’re gonna have to hustle some serious wing if we want to make it in time for signing in.”  She gave a quick stretch to her wings and legs, preparing for takeoff.  Her students and recruit did likewise, preparing themselves for the flight ahead.

“Let’s move’em out!”  Dash took off into the sky in a single bound, leading the way for them.  The trio soon were right after her, pumping their wings to catch up and keep pace with the Wonderbolt team member. 

Up and up they flew, leaving the ground far below them.  For the two pegasus ponies, this flight was no big deal, having flown it so many times in their lives already.  But for the duo of hippogriff and griffon, the height to which they were climbing was a bit unnerving.  They were not accustomed to flying such heights.  They were used to staying much closer to the ground, a ceiling of a few hundred feet at most.  

A fall from this height would surely be fatal.  Dash checked in on them.

“How are you doing back there?  Keeping up okay?”  Dash’s voice was hard to hear over the rush of wind by their ears, and the sound of their wings beating against the air didn’t help either.  They smiled back, not really sure what she was saying, but trying to let her know they were doing fine.

It took almost three-quarters of an hour to reach the outer edges of the cloud city.  Despite the tremendous effort it had taken to reach this place, Sliverstream and Gallus knew instantly the effort was worth the view.

“Welcome to Cloudsdale!”  Rainbow Dash proudly proclaimed, making a grand, sweeping gesture with her foreleg.  Solar Flare had visited here lots of times so this was nothing new to him.  But the two non-pony students could only look on at the incredible beauty and sculpted magnificence of this ethereal place.  The larger buildings were coming more into focus now as well as the many cities and suburbs dotting the soft billowy whiteness.  The small dots flying in the sky up ahead, slowly resolving into dozens of pegasus ponies heading towards one section of airspace, to a spot not far off to the right of where they were going.  

Even from this distance Gallus could make out some small details.  The rows of bleachers, the colorful banners hanging from the public address system poles and a large tarmac for the arriving ponies on which to land gave clue to what it was.  It reminded him of something like the practice field back at the School of Friendship. 

“Is that the Wonderbolt Academy over there?”  Gallus got his teacher’s attention, all of them now flying much slower and gliding more as they approached the city’s central area of population and culture.

“Sure is.  We made good time getting here, so let’s take a quick pass over the city so you two can get an idea of what it looks like for real before we head over to the academy.”  Dash turned to her solo pegasus pony recruit.

“You don’t mind making a quick detour, do you?”

“No problem.”  He looked back at the hippogriff and griffon flying behind them, grinning.  “C’mon.  We’ll show you all the cool stuff to see first.”  Dash led them on an easy gliding path over much of the city, Solar Flare pointing out the various places of note and some of the history.  Both Silverstream and Gallus remembered what they read from history class at the school when it came to the founding of Equestria and some of the details about pegasus pony culture.  But seeing it for real was something each knew had to be done by every creature at least once in their lives.  Silverstream quickly pulled out from her traveling bag the camera Sandbar had lent her and began snapping aerial pictures of what she saw.

“Wow!  This is amazing!” she exclaimed, clicking away.  

“There’s the Parthenon over there and the famous Theatre of Cloudsdale just off to its left.  From up here you can also see the tops of several other mountains nearby; that’s where Stratusburg and Nimbusville are.”  Solar Flare was enjoying this chance to play tourist guide with them, eagerly showing the newcomers around this special place in Equestria.
Gallus tried taking it all in.  The sights and sounds, not to mention the incredible aromas of food wafting up on a breeze as they lazily flew over the grand bazaar that was the center of the city’s bustling market hub right below them.  He couldn’t wait to check it all out and sample everything there was to eat. 

Rainbow Dash slowed up her flapping, allowing herself to drift back and fly alongside her two student-guests.  “What do you think of Cloudsdale so far?”  They were all smiles.

“I can’t believe I’m actually here!”  Silverstream tore herself away from the camera’s view lens just long enough to answer before returning to snapping away some more, not wanting to miss anything of interest.

“This is really something unbelievable, Professor Dash.”  Gallus could not help but catch a little of Silverstream’s infectious excitement.  None of his family had ever seen a place like this, and what a tale he could tell them about it when he got back home.  

“Glad to hear it.  We’d best get over to the tryouts.”  Dash picked up her pace and banked off to the right, heading towards their final destination.  The trio of flyers followed suit, flying in a loose formation.  The number of ponies became clearer once they were right over the grounds.

“Look how many there are!”  Silverstream pointed to the mass of Pegasus ponies flying in and around the Wonderbolt grounds.  “I’ve never seen so many ponies with wings!”  

“This is a pretty important day for a lot of pegasus ponies.  Lots of us have trained and worked for this day for a long time.  There’s a lot riding on everypony’s shoulders to get into the academy.  For some it’s a matter of pride or a legacy from older family members and some do it for the bragging rights of being part of an elite group of flyers.” Solar Flare explained.

“My dad tried out when he was my age but didn’t make the cut. He helped me train for this so I hope to make him proud by getting in.”   

Rainbow Dash led them in, gliding closer to the Wonderbolt Academy grounds, both students watching the pegasus ponies practicing below them as they got closer.  Dash spotted Commander Spitfire, standing off to one side of the landing strip, getting ready to inspect another group of potential recruits.  She brought them in for a safe landing on the edge of the tarmac, a bit away from the larger group of ponies clustered about in the middle of the landing area.

“You three wait right here.  I’ll be right back.”  Dash wanted to talk with her commander first, hoping to prevent an awkward scene.  She put on her camera smile and headed right for Spitfire, as if she had not a care in the world.

“Dash!  There you are!  What’s the idea showing up last with your recruits?  I told you were supposed to be here-” Spitfire had been heading for her right-hoof flyer with scorn in her eyes, but stopped dead when she looked over Rainbow Dash’s shoulder to see who, or what, she had brought along with her.  

Dash gulped down the lump in her throat, fearing the worst at her commanding officer’s look of disbelief.  She hoped she wasn’t about to get chewed out in front of Twilight’s students.  Both Gallus and Silverstream looked on, oblivious to the tension their arrival had caused.  They could not see how nervous their teacher now was when facing Commander Spitfire.  The two met in the middle of the tarmac.

“Dash, what’s going on? You’ve got Solar Flare here but where are Snowdrop and Inferno?  And who are those two… individuals you brought?”

Dash rubbed the back of her head with a free forehoof, feeling terribly uncomfortable just then. “Uh, yeah, well… I thought I’d best make an introduction to them and try to explain.  This might be a bit out of the ordinary for Wonderbolt protocol.”  With each step they took closer, Dash felt her nerves tightening up.

“Commander Spitfire, you already know Solar Flare from the file I sent you earlier this month,” Dash began her introductions as her C.O. stepped right up to Solar Flare and gave him a quick once-over, eying him up and down.  Solar Flare stood tall and at attention while being inspected, wanting to show the C.O. proper respect.

“I see.” Spitfire slid her sunglasses down her nose, and peered at him over them.  She got right in front of his face.  “You think you got what it takes to be a Wonderbolt cadet, do ya? Think you’re the fastest thing with two wings, eh?” 

Solar Flare knew what she was doing and would not cave in to the hard glare Spitfire bore into him with.
“I do not think I’m the fastest thing with two wings, Ma’am!”  Solar Flare barked in response, aware at how tough the legendary leader of this group was.  He was ready.   Spitfire moved on to the two creatures her top lead-pony member had brought today.  She didn’t know what to make of them.

“Commander Spitfire, these are two students visiting from Princess Twilight’s School of Friendship.  They’re here on a student cultural exchange visit to observe how candidates try out for the academy.  This is Silverstream from the Hippogriff Kingdom of Mount Aris and Gallus from Griffonstone.” Dash was as formal and polite as she had ever been, using her best Twilight imitation.      

This was completely unexpected and Spitfire was not sure how to react to seeing two creatures she’d never seen before up close.  “Are you serious, Rainbow Dash?  Now?  During the tryouts of all times you want to pull this?”  She planted a forehoof to her head, grimacing.  The strain of the tryouts were already giving her Pony Headache number thirty-seven on her list, and now she had to deal with insubordinate team members.  Was Rainbow Dash pulling some kind of prank?

“Oh, Mrs. Commander Spitfire, Ma’am, it is such an honor to meet you at last!  It must be so exciting to lead the Wonderbolts!  This is such an amazing opportunity to see for the first time!”  Much like how she introduced herself to Solar Flare, Silverstream vigorously shook Commander Spitfire’s free foreleg, thrilled beyond belief to be here. She had nearly shaken the Wonderbolt’s leader senseless with her overly friendly greeting when Gallus decided to step in and hopefully rescue them both.

“Nice to be here, your Commander-ness.  When do the festivities get off the ground, so to speak?”  His attempt to kid around with her fell flat.  Rainbow Dash was aghast at the cavalier way he greeted her commanding officer.  Spitfire shook her head a bit, getting her bearings back once more.  

“Dash, get over here!”  Spitfire ordered.  Once she and her underling got out of earshot of the trio, she spoke to Dash in a low growl.

“What in all of Equestria are you doing bringing these two here to the tryouts like this?  You were supposed to bring three pegasus ponies to the tryouts like the other team members.”  It looked like the jig was up and Dash had to confess why she had brought Silverstream and Gallus with her today. This was so embarrassing.   

“Well, it’s really because two of the recruits I picked called out sick the day before yesterday and I didn’t have time to scout out others,”  Dash tried to explain.  Spitfire’s displeasure grew.

“You were supposed to have at least six candidates selected and pick the best three to bring.  The extra three you selected were for covering situations like this!  Don’t you remember; that was written in as part of your proposal too!”  Soft and lethal with her tone, Spitfire made sure her annoyance was heard by Dash but not the two surprise guests.

“I know! I know!  I’m sorry for that, Commander, but I just didn’t know what else to do!  I didn’t want to be the only pony to show up without the right number of potential academy cadets, that’s all.  Besides,” she tried to find some silver-lining, “the proposal only said that each team member was to bring three recruits to the tryouts, there’s nothing in it that said they had to specifically be ponies.  It’s just assumed to be that way.  I mean, they are flyers, aren’t they?”

“Don’t pull that political splitting of hairs kind of talk with me, Crash!  I’m in no mood for it!”  Spitfire suspected Dash must have gotten help from Princess Twilight or one of her other friends to write that proposal.  It was much too clever of a loophole for her to have come up with on her own to exploit.  While technically correct about the proposal, due to time constraints Spitfire couldn’t hold up the tryouts.  There was so much she had on her mind as it was that this bump of turbulence would have to be overlooked for now.  They needed two-dozen candidates to hold a full tryout session and Spitfire did not want to have less than that.  She looked up over Dash’s shoulder again, peering at Silverstream and Gallus once more, trying to gauge them. 

“You think these two ‘guest flyers’ of yours would want to try their luck at going through tryouts with the other recruits?  They’re here for a cultural exchange, after all, and it was approved by the Princess of Friendship.”  

Dash couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  Spitfire was okay with the idea of Silverstream and Gallus participating?  Her day had just turned a lucky corner. She wasn’t going to be in trouble after all.  Even if this really wasn’t what Twilight had intended for them to be a part of, Rainbow Dash believed it to be the perfect way for Silverstream and Gallus to experience what it meant to become a Wonderbolt Academy cadet.

“Are you kidding, Commander?  They’d be thrilled by it!”  Dash seemed sure but Spitfire thought it best to ask the two prospects.  Dash was grinning like a fool and clearly relieved to be off the hook with her commanding officer.  They returned to where the three contenders stood waiting, wondering about the private words the two Wonderbolts were having.  The Wonderbolt leader addressed them, her rather serious expression was the polar opposite of Rainbow Dash’s obvious look of elation.

“Since you’re here with permission from Princess Twilight and we are missing two ponies to hold a full tryout session properly, as a gesture of what your professor says is a cultural exchange, I’m offering you both the opportunity to participate in the tryouts if you want.  No pony here is forcing you to do this, you can say no and that’s fine.”
Silverstream gasped softly, absolutely stunned.  Her eyes went wide.  Gallus barely showed any change of expression, only giving a casual nod.  Rainbow Dash, standing slightly behind her leader, made exaggerated gestures, trying to get them to stand at attention if they wanted to accept and show Spitfire respect as a commanding officer.  But the two either didn’t notice or didn’t get it.

Silverstream was euphoric.  “Yes oh yes oh yes oh yes! O-oh-w-e-e-e! I can’t believe it!  A chance to participate in the tryouts!  This is the greatest day of my life!”  She hopped up and down in one spot, practically exploding from her excitement. Dash kept trying to get their attention but they were only looking at Spitfire. This was not how you demonstrated to your C.O. that you were ready for Wonderbolt Academy tryouts.

Gallus casually looked up from his talons in a desultory fashion.  “Yeah, I guess it might be worth a few good laughs to see if some ponies can keep up with a griffon.”  Gallus, attempting to be amusing, gave Commander Spitfire a salute with the wrong wing and made a rather stupid expression, as if mocking the idea of showing her respect.  Dash cringed at her student’s irreverent behavior.

“You two absolutely sure you want to volunteer for the tryouts?  For real?”  Spitfire made doubly sure they were not kidding.  Both of them nodded, without hesitation.

“Oh geez, here it comes!”  Dash quietly groaned to herself, knowing what was coming. 

“That’s not the way you salute your commanding officer!  What in the sweet Faustacorn’s existence are you trying to do to my beloved Wonderbolt tradition, newbie?!  I’m giving you three seconds, exactly three seconds to get that stupid looking expression off your face or you’re going to find yourself doing wing-ups from now until lights out!  You hear me, newbie?!  Do you?!”  Spitfire screamed at Gallus, so close he could feel her hot spittle splash in his face. Terrified by the sheer intensity of this pony’s voice, Gallus did as ordered, correcting his salute and dropping the dumb expression, now standing as stone-faced as Solar Flare was.  This really was something new to experience!  

The Wonderbolt leader then turned her focus on Silverstream.  The hippogriff was no fool, she got herself straightened out quick and stood at attention, bracing for Spitfire’s assault.  She remembered how serious Solar Flare had been in responding to Commander Spitfire’s hardline.  She could do that too.

“What about you, newbie?  Think you got what it takes to be a cadet at this academy?  Think you’re some hot stuff where you’re from?”  Spitfire goaded Silverstream, trying to unnerve her.  Not quite as intense as she was with Gallus, Spitfire still had her face only a few inches away from hers and the drill instructor could feel the fear radiating off her.  

“No, Ma’am!” Silverstream shouted, looking straight ahead.  Spitfire eyed the hippogriff suspiciously, but could see that she was quickly absorbing how things worked in the military.  Spitfire was going to be her commanding officer for the tryouts and Silverstream was just some newbie trying to show off her stuff.

“Good.  I like honest flyers who can admit they’re not hot stuff.  Look to your left, newbie,” Spitfire instructed her to turn and face Gallus and Solar Flare, giving some room to her.  “The dropout rate of recruits is twenty percent by the end of first day and after that, it goes higher each day following.  You’d best take a good last look at them, ‘cause most likely one of ‘em isn’t coming back tomorrow.  Food for thought as to what you’re in for.  Now the three of you go join the others over there.  Quickly now, newbies, let’s get it done.”  The three flyers moved as fast as they could, gathering up their bags and hustling to where the large group of pegasus ponies stood around with their families and well-wishers, awaiting the time for them to leave.  

“I don’t know, Dash.” Spitfire sighed. “This idea of yours is not what I thought you had in mind when acting as a recruiter. We only discussed the idea of trying this part of it.  I’m not convinced that non-pony flyers have what it takes to get through the tryouts.”  

“I know it’s a stretch, Commander, but let them try to get through one day’s events; just to get an idea of what it’s like.  They’ll most likely give up during the first round of cuts.  It’ll solve a whole mess of problems; the academy gets the two dozen flyers to start tryouts with, Silverstream and Gallus get the experience of a lifetime, we get the notoriety of being the first group in Equestria to have non-pony flyers trying out, Twilight gets to brag about her students and she stays off my back about the whole trip.  It’s win-win-win all around.” Dash replied with positivity.

“There’s no way, Crash, no way could you have come up with this all on your own.  But I’ll trust your judgement of character with these two.”  The Wonderbolt leader turned her head slightly to look at Dash.  “You and I are going to have a little talk in my office later about your… ill-preparedness for this year’s tryouts.” Spitfire would trust Rainbow Dash’s unconventional choice… for now.
> Ch.3 On Most Hallowed Grounds
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hot dang, I’ve never met a griffon before!”  The pegasus pony seemed quite thrilled for this chance to meet Gallus, having only ever heard of his kind and never expecting to meet one here in her home city.  Gallus was incredulous.  Were these Pegasus ponies kept locked away from the rest of Equestria’s society?  

“Is that right? Well, I guess you’re about ready then, aren’t you?”  His answer only seemed to confound her more.
“Huh?”  She was oblivious to his sarcasm.  Gallus rolled his eyes.

“Never mind.  What are you looking at?” he snapped.

“Your wings,” she confessed sheepishly.  “I’ve always wondered what griffon wings looked like up close.”  

Gallus thought it kind of weird to admire another flyer’s wings but, what could he have expected?  He was sure not a single pony in this city had ever seen one of his kind here in Cloudsdale.  Silverstream jumped into the conversation.

“Hi, my name’s Silverstream!  What’s yours?”  The hippogriff was eager to meet everypony here during the tryouts, trying to say hello to as many as she could and take pictures as well.

“I’m Firebolt.”  The mare with a brownish-gold color and fiery red mane and tail happily introduced herself.  She quickly looked over Silverstream, her mind trying to put a name to a combination of eagle and pony.  “You have got to be a hippogriff, am I right?”

“That’s right!”  Silverstream beamed, still clicking away on the camera.  Firebolt turned to one side to make another introduction.  “This is my friend Brightstar.  We were recruited by Commander Spitfire for the tryouts.”  

Brightstar was glad to see some new faces.  “Nice to meet you.  By the way, who recruited you two?”

“Our teacher, Professor Dash from the School of Friendship is our host for this.”  Silverstream said proudly.  That got a few other ponies’ attention.

“You attend Princess Twilight’s school?”  One pony overhearing from nearby turned and stepped closer to ask Silverstream and Gallus, curious.

“Wait, Professor Dash?  You mean Rainbow Dash; the Rainbow Dash who made the first Sonic Rain-boom?  That Rainbow Dash?”  Another pony stepped closer at the mention of a great Wonderbolt he admired.

“The one and only!”  Gallus knew how to play to a crowd, seeing how their status of being students at the School of Friendship suddenly gave them some cachet amongst these strangers.

“My name’s Nightflight.  I heard there are dragons who attend the School of Friendship.  Do you know any of them?”  The navy-blue stallion with the silvery-white mane had squirreled himself closer in, wanting to see the two visitors.
“Well, actually we-” Gallus was cut off by another question.

“Is it true all of Princess Twilight’s friends are teachers there too?”

“Are there more griffons or hippogriffs at the school?”  Another question came from some other pony in the crowd around them. He did his best to answer all they posed while Silverstream got to talk more with Firebolt and Brightstar. 

“Mount Aris sounds like a beautiful place to live, at least, that’s what I’ve read in the papers about it since the Storm King’s defeat.  I’d sure like to see it someday.”  Brightstar admitted, wanting to travel their country and see this marvel of hippogriff engineering.

“You should!  Especially in the summertime, when Harmony Heights is in full bloom and the trees are all leafed out.  Oh, it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before.  So peaceful and relaxing.  When the wind passes through the meadows in high summer, you can hear the musical notes made from the pitch-stones placed all around the gardens there.  It’s like the wind singing to you!” Silverstream loved talking about her homeland, making it sound ever more like the most enchanting place in all the world.  She was passionate about where she was from and it showed.

“Whoa.  That sounds… amazing.”  Firebolt was rather astonished by the description Silverstream gave.  She had always been proud of her homeland of Cloudsdale, but the way Silverstream described Mount Aris, it was something way beyond anything she could’ve imagined. 

“We’ve pretty much lived our whole lives here in Cloudsdale.  The only place I’ve had the chance to visit was Canterlot and that was only for my brother’s graduation from the military school there.”  Brightstar was not sure what to make of Silverstream.  She’d never met one of her kind before and Silverstream certainly seemed super friendly, that was for sure.  Brightstar was just not used to another flyer having such a high level of enthusiasm.  

“A hippogriff and a griffon here at tryouts for the Wonderbolt Academy?”  A husky stallion’s voice spoke up, making his way through the small clutch of ponies huddled around the two strangers.  Coming in close to see if he was right, he was visably more shocked than anything else at the sight of them here.

“I know, right?  How cool is this?  This is going to be the best tryouts in Wonderbolt history for sure.”  Firebolt was all in for the two guest flyers participating in this. 

“You’re kidding, right?  The Wonderbolt Academy is going to accept recruits from countries that won’t even stand up and protect their own homelands?  There’s got to be some mistake.”

“What are you talking about, Wind Raider? What’s wrong with hippogriffs and griffons being here?”  Nightflight didn’t get what his fellow recruit was going on about.  He thought it was cool to have them here.  

Wind Raider turned towards Silverstream, eyeing her derisively.  “Doesn’t anypony here remember anything we read in history class back in school?  All the hippogriffs ran away from the Storm King when he attacked them at Mount Aris.  Instead of standing up to fight back when the Storm King wasn’t nearly so powerful, before he attacked Canterlot, they all fled Mount Aris and hid themselves away in Seaquestria, running away like a bunch of cowards.  Why should the academy even accept hippogriffs?  They wouldn’t stand up for their own homeland so what’s to say she or others like her would act any differently than before?  Anypony here want to tell me I’m wrong or that I’m lying?”  There was a moment of unpleasant silence and tension that hung like a knife over all of them.

Instantly, Gallus went to his friend’s defense.  “Look, fella.” He got right in Wind Raider’s face. “You’d better not make that comment again about my friend. She’s not a coward; Queen Novo and the other hippogriffs did come to help Princess Twilight and her friends defeat the Storm King in the end.”  Gallus gently poked a talon at the pegasus pony’s chest.  “I think you ought to apologize.”

“No, Gallus, he’s right about that part.   Our queen saw the danger coming but chose a path that made it worse for others.  It’s obvious to us now, but instead we endlessly debated what to do and in the end did nothing.”  Silverstream suddenly felt the eyes of everypony nearby on her now as she tried to explain why her leader had done what she did.
“She did what she thought was right for us at the time and I am truly sorry for what happened.”  It was all Silverstream could come up with off-the-cuff.  She saw some of pegasus ponies nearby looking back at her, empathizing looks on their faces.  Firebolt put a foreleg around Silverstream’s neck, wanting her to feel that she wasn’t alone.

“Hey, that was a long time ago.  That’s got nothing to do with the here and now, does it?  It’s in the past.”

Gallus was relieved to see that so many of these ponies didn’t hold any ill-feeling towards his friend or towards him either.  He hadn’t suspected this would be an issue with other ponies, but he’d not taken into account how many must have been affected by the Storm King’s attack.

“That might be okay for you, Firebolt, but I’ll bet you probably didn’t have to look at the casualty lists in the aftermath, checking for names to see whether they lived or died in the fight.  I did.”  Wind Raider emphasized.  That got Gallus’ attention.

“Oh, wait, you mean you had-” The griffon began to mentally reason out Wind Raider’s hostility towards Silverstream.

“Yeah, that’s right.”  The contempt in Wind Raider’s voice was clear as a bell.  “My big brother was one of the palace guards who were casualties from that siege on Canterlot.  He died protecting our homeland from invaders.”
That fact alone got many sympathetic looks from those nearby.  The death of a loved one in combat was a subject many of these recruits were familiar with.  A good number of them had come from families who had military service in their backgrounds.  Firebolt had to break this tension, no pony needed any bad vibes around when they were supposed to be getting ready for this important day.

“You need to chillax, Wind Raider.  This isn’t the time or place for pol-” Firebolt was cut off by a loud squeal of feedback that came over the public address system as it came on.  Everypony gathered emitted an audible ‘oh-h-h!’ wincing at the ear-piercing tone that seemed to go right through the brain.

 “Attention!  Attention, all personnel!  Attention! Tryouts for acceptance to the Wonderbolt Academy will commence at twelve-hundred hours.  All guests and family relations must exit the grounds by eleven-fifty hours at the latest. That is all!”

Silverstream and Gallus watched a small swarm of moms, dads and well-wishers collect around the half-dozen ponies nearby.

“Good luck today, son!”  Nightflight’s mom and dad hugged him before leaving with the rest of his family.    
“I’ll do my best!”  Nightflight promised, wanting to make his family proud.  His little sister gave his foreleg a quick hug before running after her mom and dad to catch up.  

“Go get’em, tiger!  I’ll be cheering for you.”  Brightstar’s mom gave her daughter a quick squeeze as she was about to leave.  Brightstar hugged her mom back.

“Thanks, mom.  Keep your hooves crossed for me today.”  She let go, watching her mom depart with the phalanx of ponies that made their way off the training grounds and out one of the gates.  In less than ten minutes’ time, the crowd was gone and the two-dozen recruits stood with Commander Spitfire and her team of instructors.

A loud, ear-piercing whistle shattered the air and got these raw recruits’ attention.  The ones who were aware of what was about to happen quickly scampered into position, standing shoulder to shoulder to the recruit next to them. The rest followed suit.

“Alright newbies, atten-tion!”  Spitfire barked and the entire group snapped to attention, standing tall before her.  Spitfire slowly walked down the line of new recruits, looking over each one as she passed by.  “I am Commander Spitfire, your senior drill instructor.  From now on you will address myself and your drill instructors as Sir or Ma’am, do you newbies understand that?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”  The recruits answered her back in unison but she wasn’t satisfied with their lackluster response.

“Meadow muffins!  I can’t hear you!  Sound off like you’ve got a pair of wings!” She demanded.

“Yes, Ma’am!” They shouted out this time.

“To gain acceptance into this academy, to enter these hallowed halls of legendary flyers, you’re going to have to work harder, fly faster, and push yourselves like you never have before, newbies!”

Walking just behind Commander Spitfire were Rainbow Dash and several other Wonderbolt members that nether Gallus nor Silverstream recognized.  Acting as recruiters for this trial run, they got to tag along for the inspection process, nodding to their selected flyers as they passed by.   

“I’ll bet plenty of you think you’ve got what it takes to be part of The Best; convinced you’re some crazy-awesome, spectacular flyer who’s totally untouchable by any other pony in the world, right?  Well let me tell you something, newbie,” Spitfire turned to face Wind Raider, getting up close and in his face, “you’re not!”  Wind Raider didn’t move a muscle.  He kept looking straight ahead.  Seeing she didn’t get a response, she moved further down the line.

Both Gallus and Silverstream held themselves rigid as Commander Spitfire continued her rant and paused right in front of them, her eyes looking over the two non-pony volunteers.  She saw Gallus swallow the nervous lump in his throat, clearly shook-up from a C.O. that was not afraid of taking him down a peg or two if so desired.  Satisfied that they’d fallen into line like the other recruits, she walked on.  Rainbow Dash shot them a small smile and nod, congratulating them on surviving their first inspection.  Dash watched as they momentarily relaxed. Spitfire stopped at another recruit down the line.

“What’s your name, newbie?”  Spitfire demanded.

“Firebolt, Ma’am!”  Nether Gallus nor Silverstream dared to turn their head to see what was going on.  They could only listen to the exchange.

“Firebolt, huh?  With a name like that, I’ll bet my last gold bit piece you think you’re the hottest stuff on two wings, right?  Bet you got some fancypants, hotshot moves that’s going to get you into this storied place, don’t ya?”  Spitfire got up close to Firebolt’s face, leaning in hard and trying to break her.

“No, Ma’am!”  Firebolt held fast, not letting the glare from the drill instructor bore into her.  This was her moment, she had been waiting for this day for too long to be intimidated out of it.

“That’s right, newbie!  You don’t! This isn’t some fly-by-night two-bit stunt flyer school we’re holding here!”  Spitfire stepped back, speaking now to all the recruits as she walked down the line further.  “You flyers, if selected, are to act as the first line of defense for Cloudsdale and for the rest of Equestria when called on by our leaders!”  She and the other recruiters walked along, eyeing each of the potential cadets as they stood at attention.

“It is my duty to weed out recruits who do not pack the wings to attend and serve at my beloved Wonderbolt Academy!  Not everypony becomes a cadet for the academy and fewer still go on to become a full Wonderbolt.  But if you listen to your instructors and apply what you are taught, you too can achieve this goal of ultimate expression of flight and become more then just another pegasus.”  Spitfire and her recruiters reached the end of the line and turned about with drilled precision, the team snapping to attention behind their commander.  “You can become Wonderbolts!” 

In spite of his initial meeting with Commander Spitfire and maybe getting off on the wrong hoof with her, Gallus clearly heard passion and conviction in the words she spoke.  It was rather stirring, calling up a deep sense of patriotism for those ponies who listened.  He could understand a bit more now why some served.        

“In the meantime, though,” she continued, “you newbies are going to give us five hundred laps right above us here on the training field.  Do it now!”  Spitfire again blew her whistle, sending a mighty blast of sound right at them.  Dash and the other recruiters jumped in.

“Move it!  Get going!  Hustle it up!” one Wonderbolt shouted at them, moving in to break them up.

“Get going! Fly! Fly! Get in the air now!” another team member barked, ordering them into action.

“What are you three waiting for?!  Get going!  Move! Move!”  Even Rainbow Dash had to step up in her duty today.  It was tough for Dash to act this way to her students; this was not her way of teaching at all.  But the two volunteers caught on quickly as to how their former teacher-now-drill-instructor had to act with them.  This wasn’t the School of Friendship; this was Wonderbolt Academy tryouts and that meant things worked differently here.  Rainbow Dash couldn’t treat them any different than any other newbie.  There were no exceptions for any recruit or volunteer.       

Silverstream and Gallus got moving along with the other flyers, launching themselves up into the air to join in with the large and circular parade of flying ponies, maintaining an easy dozen meter or so height off the ground.  The leader of the Wonderbolts and her recruiters watched from below, examining the flight skill and technique of this year’s recruits.  She was not impressed with the selection her team members had made for recruits.

“By the great Faustacorn herself!”  Spitfire swore aloud.  “How in Tartarus do those princesses expect me to make Wonderbolt Academy cadets when my recruiters can’t even find me two-dozen half-decent flyers to begin with?!”  Her displeasure now focused on her team members, glaring at them for bringing such sub-par recruits.  “Look at that bunch up there!”  She pointed up to the airborne individuals.

“Sloppy techniques with terrible body balance, no steadiness to their flapping motions and they’re all over one another!  None of them can fly steadily or evenly!”  

Firebolt was at the head of the circle with both Silverstream and Gallus right behind her, trying to get them to fly in unison and as stably as possible. 

“Follow my lead!  Do as I do with my wings!”  Firebolt yelled back to them, hoping they’d heard her over the rushing wind.  Silverstream heard her and caught on, mimicking Firebolt’s body motions and timing her wing flaps with hers.  Gallus wasn’t paying as much attention to Firebolt as he was just trying to keep in line and not overtake Silverstream in front of him nor have Solar Flare behind overtake him.  Flying in control and at fixed pace was harder to do then he’d imagined.

“These newbies are going to need the whole nine yards; Wonderbolts Thunderlane, Misty Fly and Blaze; I’m assigning you three to Flight Education Class detail to go over flight basics. Wonderbolt Dash; you’re be instructing both of the Resistance Training courses.  Wonderbolts Sky Stinger and Vapor Tail, you two will handle the Trick Flying Basics and Precision Flight Essentials.  Wonderbolts Silver Zoom and Fleetfoot; you two are in charge of P.T. and the Close Order Drill regiments between the training sessions.  I’m going to be running the Dizzatron with Soarin and High Winds to check on their progress after each of your sessions.  You understand your assignments, Wonderbolts?”

“Yes, Ma’am!”  Her Wonderbolt team hollered back.

“Wonderbolts Soarin & Dash,” Both team members stepped forward smartly.

“Yes, Ma’am!”  

“I want you two flyers to collect up the newbies’ baggage and personal effects and get the lot of them through receiving barracks.  And be sure you two don’t drop any of it along the way; I don’t any of their civilian slime touching the ground of this academy anymore!”

“Yes, Ma’am!”  Soarin and Dash moved as ordered, getting the bags and luggage onto a handy cart and into the nearby building where the receiving department clerks took responsibility for identification of owner and security.

Spitfire blew her whistle once more, summoning the pack of newbies out of the air to land on the runway in front of her.  Even after this brief flight around the field, many of the recruits were winded and less than a third could remain on their hooves when they landed.  

“Get to it, Wonderbolts!”  Spitfire turned and marched away, preparing her notes for the first day’s activities.  Finally, Dash could tend to her students and her lone recruit after this first encounter with their commanding officer, sure they were shook up by the intense nature of the academy’s lead drill instructor.

“Hey, how are you doing?  You two holding up okay?” Dash looked guiltily at the hippogriff and griffon, feeling like she was taking terrible advantage of them.  “You don’t have to do this, you know.  If you want to get out, just say so.”  
Silverstream and Gallus could see how this was making their teacher uncomfortable, even after they had agreed to participate.  They knew this was not what Headmare Twilight had in mind when they were supposed to be on a cultural exchange visit.

“Actually, Professor Dash,” Gallus spoke up, “I really want to see what this is going to be like.”  

“Me too!  I mean, I’ve only read about the tryouts and now I’m getting the chance to participate in them!  How awesome is this?!”  Silverstream seemed even more thrilled than before.  Firebolt, Brightstar and Solar Flare walked up next to them, wanting to join their new friends in conversation.

“Hey, you aren’t bailing on us, are you?”  Firebolt had seen them talking with Rainbow Dash and guessed that they might be backing out.

“I know Commander Spitfire can seem pretty tough, but she’s just making sure we’re serious about being a part of this.”  Solar Flare suspected Gallus and Silverstream had never been face-to-face with a teacher like that at the School of Friendship.

“She’s just doing her job and is like that to all newbies.  Don’t let it get to you.”  Brightstar seemed the most relaxed about facing such an intense drill instructor.  Gallus was a bit stunned by her ease.

“Are you kidding me?  Didn’t you hear the way she yelled at Firebolt?  You’d have thought she was going to tear her head off.”  Dash chuckled a little.

“That’s normal for Spitfire.  You get used to the shouting of orders and stuff.”  The sound of a bugle calling blared over the public address system horns, announcing the midday break.

“Lunchtime!”  Firebolt recognized the call. Her new friends seemed relieved for the chance to sit and relax for an hour or so.

“You five go on, I’ve got other things to do with the team for the first round of trials, so I’ll see you later on.”  Dash hated to leave them on their own, but seeing how fast they’d made new friends here, she figured they would be okay without her for at least a little while.  

“Let’s go while there’s still something to eat!”  Brightstar pulled playfully at Silverstream’s foreleg, wanting to get on the chow line before the crowd queuing up would eat all of it.  

For the two volunteers, this seemed almost surreal.  A few hours ago they were eating breakfast with their friends at the School of Friendship, planning on taking it easy over spring break.  Now they were about to sit down to lunch with twenty-plus pegasus ponies who were all about to undergo the tryouts to join the Wonderbolt Academy and they were participating along with them.  Neither could have imagined their day nor their spring break turning out like this.
> Ch. 4 Wonderbolt Trials pt.1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The five recruits sat and ate their lunch together, happily swapping stories about where they were from and what their plans were once they were in the academy, none of them even considering the idea of not being accepted.  Gallus got to tell Solar Flare more about what Griffonstone was like while Silverstream chatted up a storm with Firebolt and Brightstar, telling them about Seaquestria and life as a seapony.  Nightflight spotted the group from across the mess hall and trotted over to join them, wanting to ask Silverstream more about the hippogriff kingdom.

The time seemed to go by incredibly fast.  It felt like they’d hardly sat down and begun to talk when once more a voice came over the address system.

 Attention! All personnel, Attention!  All recruits are to report to the Quartermaster’s office no later than thirteen-thirty hours for receiving of their uniforms and protection equipment! That is all!

“Oh-h-h-h, we’re going to get uniforms next!”  Silverstream was thrilled at the prospect of getting to dress the part of a Wonderbolt recruit. “I wonder if they’ll look like real Wonderbolt uniforms.”

“They’re similar but in time anypony can identify the difference between the uniforms of a trainee, a reservist and that of a full Wonderbolt member.  I brought my own uniform for the tryouts.  I’ll show you when we get to the locker room next to the quartermaster’s office.”  Firebolt couldn’t wait to show off her hoof-me-down uniform, it had been in her family for years and was something of a family good-luck charm.  Both family members who had worn it had passed the trials and wanted to bestow onto her the same good fortune by offering it to her to wear this time. 

Another bugle call over the address system announced the end of the chowtime and the collection of newbies went filing out of the mess hall and down a hallway to the quartermaster’s office.  The excited chatter amongst the recruits grew for this next phase of their experience.  One of the Wonderbolt team members appeared in the office doorway and addressed the small throng. 

“Listen up, recruits!  I want everypony to get in single file behind this red tape line on the floor to the right of the window.  You will step up to the window, stand on the scale for weight measuring and await instructions.  There will be three goggle samples to try on.  Tell the quartermaster which one is the best fit and you will receive a pair along you uniform.  Once you have received your uniform and goggles, proceed to the changing rooms and get into your uniforms as quickly as possible.”

It was tough for Silverstream to stay calm during the wait to receive her uniform. Even as the other recruits chatted softly among themselves in anticipation, the hippogriff felt like pinching herself, to remind her that this was actually happening and she wasn’t dreaming.  Finally, Silverstream and her friends made it to the front of the line, listening for the quartermaster’s instructions.

“Next recruit!”  Misty Fly called out, getting through the line as fast as she could as she was acting quartermaster this year.  Silverstream stepped up to stand on the scale for weighing in.

“Name?”  Misty Fly had her clipboard and pencil ready to write the information down.

“Silverstream,” the hippogriff answered proudly.  Misty Fly read the meter on the scale and wrote down Silverstream’s weight.

“Size six uniform!” she called out to her assistant.  The reservist went digging through another box of new uniforms to find the right size.  “Check your goggle size, please,” she instructed as the uniform was unceremoniously plopped down on the counter in front of Silverstream.  The hippogriff tried on the first two goggle samples.

“This one, please.”  Silverstream held up the middle pair of the three to the quartermaster, the small orange tag hanging off one end indicating the size.

“Goggle size two!” Misty Fly called out again and a new pair of plastic-wrapped goggles were placed on the counter next to the uniform.  “Pick up your uniform and head down the hallway to the changing rooms, mares’ room is on the right side of the hall, stallions’ room on the left.  “Next!”

Silverstream waited off to the side for Gallus and her friends, wanting them to go together as a group. Silverstream noticed that Firebolt’s uniform had a somewhat worn look to it; it was even slightly threadbare in places.  

“I had mine in my overnight bag; it was with the rest of our stuff in the quartermaster’s holding locker,” she explained.  “This was worn by every member of my family who tried out for the Wonderbolts.”  Firebolt was so proud to be wearing this for her tryouts.  It had brought its previous two owners good luck; they both got in.  Now she hoped some of its magic would work for her. Off in a flash to the changing rooms they went, giddy with the excitement of stepping into the roles of Wonderbolt recruits.  Gallus and Solar Flare were first out of the locker room, giving each other a celebratory wing slap and a big grin.  Nightflight emerged from the locker room soon after, catching up with his fellow flyers and complimenting them on their new looks.

Silverstream looked at her reflection in the mirror again, adjusting the fit of her new outfit, elated with this new look but also incredibly nervous.  Firebolt and Brightstar stood beside her, helping her out.

“You look so awesome in that!”  Brightstar made sure Silverstream’s mane wasn’t caught under the uniform’s collar, making sure she was comfortable with the fit. The hippogriff gave a nervous laugh.   

“You think so?”  Silverstream was very grateful for their support.

“You look like you were born for this.  Trust us.”  Firebolt made sure her friend’s wings were free to move in the stretchy material.  The garment had not really been designed for a hippogriff’s proportions but Silverstream didn’t really mind.  “How’s that?”  Firebolt stepped back a bit, watching Silverstream model the uniform.

She turned to one side and then the other, admiring her appearance more and more, feeling the excitement building up.  “I just love it!” she squealed in delight.  The three of them waltzed out from the locker room together, showing off their looks to the friends who were waiting in the hallway.

“Wow!  You look so cool in that getup!”  Gallus was really taken by how much Silverstream looked the part now.  She was aglow in the delight of looking and feeling more part of this experience than ever.  

“You too, Gallus!  Oh, if only Headmare Twilight could see us now!”  She practically sang.

“We’d better get on out to the training field.  I’m sure Commander Spitfire and her team will be waiting.”  Firebolt was already heading down the hall to the exit, following after the other recruits.  Her friends hurried to join her.  

Out into the midday sun they emerged, now meeting up with the other recruits who stood in small clumps, scattered about the area close to the building.  A voice called out to them from close by.

“Hey you guys!”  The six of them turned to see Rainbow Dash trotting over, now dressed in her Wonderbolt uniform.  She was with them in seconds, grinning with pride.  For Silverstream and Gallus, this was a something of a personal moment for them to have with Rainbow Dash; a sense of closeness with their teacher that hadn’t existed between them in a classroom setting.  Rather than a coach or teacher from school, it was more like being on the same team together.

For Rainbow Dash, seeing her students and lone recruit now dressed in trainee uniforms and sporting flight goggles on top of their heads made her both smile and get a little choked up.  If only Twilight could see them now.
“This has got to be the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time!  You all look great in those uniforms.  I wish I had a camera to take some pictures with but I left mine back at my place.”  Dash had been in such a rush this morning that she’d forgotten a number of personal things to bring.  How she would love to keep this moment as a memento.  From within a small hidden pocket in her uniform, Firebolt produced a miniature camera. 

“I slipped it out of my bag along with my uniform,” she giggled, pleased to have been able to sneak it past the security guard pony. 

“Quick, before the C.O. sees us!”  Dash hissed softly at them with a mischievous grin.  Nightflight took the camera from Firebolt and the foursome got together close.  He snapped a few off, making sure to get a few up close shots as well.  
“All done.”  He passed back the camera to Firebolt and she returned it the hidden pocket on her uniform.  
“I’ll make sure we’ll all get copies when they’re developed.” 

Dash spotted some of her fellow Wonderbolt instructors heading this way.  It was time again for her to become Wonderbolt Dash; Drill Instructor.  “I’ll see you four later.”  She gave them a quick wink and ran off to join her team members, taking a clipboard from one of them with her assigned duties.  Again, the sound of a piercing whistle blow split the air wide open, making the entire group of newbies jump back.

“Alright newbies, atten-tion!”  Commander Spitfire appeared from behind them and ordered the entire group to get into line.  Moving quickly, the two dozen recruits got lined up, standing at attention and shoulder to shoulder once again.  Spitfire was pleased by how quickly they responded.  There might be some hope for them after all.

“Listen up, newbies!  Since the lot of you appear to be the sloppiest bunch of lackluster flyers that’s ever set hoof on my beloved Wonderbolt Academy grounds, you are all going to be attending Basic Flight Fundamentals classes before even one of you flaps a single wing for these trials.”  There was a small collective moan of disappointment from the group.  Spitfire’s head snapped up angrily from her clipboard.  

“What was that little outburst?!  Do I hear a bunch of mealy-mouthed bed-wetting babies complaining about their orders?  ‘Cause if there is, I have a remedial squat-thrust class that can substitute for flight training instead!” her voice seemed to thunder all around them, glowering at them as she stalked up and down the line, trying to see if some smart mouth was going to speak up.  None did.

“That’s right, newbies!  I didn’t hear you complaining!”  The silence was so intense, a pony could hear a pin hit the tarmac at twenty paces.  The seconds hung out long until Commander Spitfire spoke again.

“Wonderbolt Misty Fly!  Wonderbolt Silver Zoom!  Wonderbolt Thunderlane!”  The three team members quickly stepped forward, ready for instructions.

“Yes, ma’am!”  They responded in unison.

“You three are going to instruct the classroom portion of today’s lesson.  I want you to make sure each and every one of these newbies has their heads screwed on straight and focused on the right way to fly.”  Spitfire didn’t bother looking up from her clipboard as she rattled off the adjusted assignment duties.

“Yes, Ma’am!”

“Wonderbolt Blaze!”  Spitfire flipped over to the next page of her report, rechecking her changes to the program.  A winged mare stepped forward.

“Yes, Ma’am!”   

“You and the rest of the team get the gear set up for the first trials along with the special surprise for the newbies!”  The way Commander Spitfire said ‘special surprise’ made all the recruits uneasy.  Worse still, was the rather devious grin on Blaze’s face when receiving the order.  

“Yes, Ma’am!”  Blaze caught the looks of dread on their faces and decided to have a little fun with them.  “Hey Soarin, maybe you’d better use the fifteen-ton boom crane to move the ‘surprise’ out from the storage shed this time!  We don’t want the newbies to be denied the chance to see it!”  Dash and the other team members chuckled as the recruits muttered uneasily amongst themselves.

“Alright, Wonderbolts, you all have your assignments!  Let’s get it done!”  Spitfire ordered and the three instructors came over to count off them by groups of eight.  Silverstream and her friends had stayed close to one another and all became part of the same class. 

“You eight come with me,” the large stallion ordered, indicating Silverstream and her friends.  They went with their instructor to one of the small classroom outbuildings, watching other groups enter one of the other buildings.  The recruits quickly got in their seats, not sure just what they were going to learn today but eager to hear all the same.  Thunderlane took a quick headcount and watched from the doorway of his classroom to see Silver Zoom and Misty Fly each close the door to their classrooms.  

This is it! Here we go!  Thunderlane thought as he turned around to face the very first class of students he had to instruct.  A twang of nerves hit him again, but he kept it together.

“Good afternoon, recruits!”    

“Good afternoon, sir!”  The students answered back, his friendly smile putting them at a little more at ease.

“My name’s Thunderlane, and I’m here to go over the basic understanding of flight mechanics and essential flight techniques with all of you.  Now, I want everypo-” Thunderlane caught himself, seeing Silverstream and Gallus sitting right down front with two other pony recruits in the first four seats.  He remembered what Rainbow Dash had told him about the school where she taught; how to address students that weren’t ponies.  They looked at him with such bright eyes and alert smiles, waiting for him to impart his critical flight knowledge onto them.

“I want everycreature here to be at ease and not worry about books or tests or anything like that.  We’re just going to make sure all the recruits have the same basic knowledge before going further and answer any questions you might have had about flying.”  Thunderlane continued.  “Now let’s get started on covering some basic wing positions for climbing, diving, and turning.  I’ll show with a diagram on the blackboard here…”  He dug through the supplies stored in the drawer of the desk, trying to find a piece of chalk to write on the board with.  Something else in the drawer took his attention away from his quest for chalk.

“What the-?” Thunderlane pulled the object out to examine it.  “An air horn?  What in Equestria is an air horn doing here?”  Shrugging, he put the odd item aside and dug some more, finally coming up with a box of chalk to use.  “Here we go!  Let’s get started.”

Quickly, Thunderlane drew up some basic sketches on the board, listing the various parts of a wing and what the various feathers on each wing was for.  It was, for the most part, a general recovering of material they’d learned at early flight school when they were fillies or colts.  Both Firebolt and Silverstream repeatedly raised their hoof or talons to be the first to answer any and every question Thunderlane asked.  The class was lively with questions and answers, all of them picking up some bit of information they’d forgotten or had remembered incorrectly.  

But after an hour or so, Gallus felt himself becoming bored with what was being discussed.  He doesn’t get all this teaching about flight.  This was something that came naturally to griffons like him and he didn’t understand why ponies needed to be schooled like this. His look of disinterest was not lost on Thunderlane.

“Gallus?  Don’t you have a question about flying?  You’ve been pretty quiet so far during the lesson.”  He was eager to keep them engaged and interested.  He didn’t want one of Rainbow Dash’s volunteers to underperform because he didn’t take sufficient interest in teaching him.

“I guess I’m just a bit confused by all this teaching about flying.  I mean, why so much emphasis on relearning something that’s natural to all of us here?  According to some of the other recruits, we’re all ‘amazingly awesome, crazy good flyers’ already, right?” 

“Well, it’s true that only the best get selected for tryouts but that doesn’t mean we can’t pick up a thing or two we might have missed back during our first flying school days.  All young pegasus ponies had to attend some elementary flight school when they were six or seven years old.” Thunderlane explained to their guest flyers.

“Wait, so,” Gallus began figuring out one aspect of Pegasus pony youth, “all you ponies had to go to a school to learn how to fly?  It didn’t just come natural to you?” He looked about the room, seeing them nodding.

One of the students spoke up.  “Some of us learned on our own when we were little but for the most part, flying school was required for us.”

Nightflight followed on the heels of the answer given.  “So how do young griffons learn to fly?  Do your parents show you how?” 

“Meh,” Gallus started with casual wave of his foreleg talons, “when I was finally old enough, my mom and dad shoved me and my siblings out of the nest and we had to either fly or fall.”

The entire class of ponies gasped in shock.  “That’s horrible!” one mare cried, distraught at the idea of being dropped from a dangerous height by her parents and expected to fly without knowing what to do.

“That sounds completely crazy!  Didn’t your parents care if you got hurt?” asked another stallion, totally bewildered by what Gallus had said.  

“What?”  Gallus looked around at his classmates, puzzled by their extreme reactions.  “That’s just the way we learned.  Seems like a perfectly normal way to me.”

Firebolt spoke up, seeing how her classmates were confused and upset by what they’d just learned about Gallus.  “Hey, hey,” she got their attention, “griffons just learned to fly differently than the way we did.  It’s not right or wrong, just different.  It doesn’t matter how Gallus or other griffons learned to fly, only that they can and fly really well. Right?”  Faced with her classmates’ looks of doubt and skepticism, she turned to Silverstream sitting to her right.  “How about you, Silverstream?  How did you learn how to fly?”     

“Oh, it’s a little different for us.  Being creatures from two different environments, we really didn’t have to learn to fly.  It’s sort of ‘born into’ us.  Flying through the air as hippogriffs is as natural to us as swimming in the ocean as seaponies,” Silverstream shyly admitted, feeling a bit on the spot about having to explain this aspect of her kind.  These abilities were inherent to her, not taught.  Firebolt had made her point.

“See?  It’s all about the flying, not about where it came from in any flyer present.  We’re all great flyers here.”  

Thunderlane was impressed by the maturity level of his first class of students.  The mare seated down front, Firebolt, was already showing some leadership qualities by getting others in the class to think critically about what they believed and accept that which was different.  The class was about three hours long and the group was glad that class time was done with when the bell rang.  The eight of them exited the classroom to rejoin the others back on the field, all of them stopping and staring at the enormous object that was concealed by a huge drop cloth.  

“Hope you’re feeling rested, newbies, because we’ve got a surprise to show you.”  Commander Spitfire reappeared from one of the buildings off to one area, approaching the two-dozen recruits looking up at the strange object on the field.  She blew her whistle, giving the command for Rainbow Dash and Soarin to fly up and remove the cover, revealing what was in store for them. Every recruit’s mouth fell open when seeing the large mechanical contraption for the first time.

“Welcome to flavor country, newbies.  Here’s the test you will have to take and retake all during these tryouts.  The Dizzatron; it’s designed to make you very, and I repeat, very dizzy.  Your goal is to recover and return back here to the start/finish line in the shortest amount of time possible.  Today, you will be starting at the ‘rookie’ setting.  Before the end of these trials, those who make it will be able to make a successful run at the ‘normal’ level that all Wonderbolt Academy cadets train at.”  Spitfire enjoyed this part, seeing the recruits look upon the machine with dread, wondering what it was going to do to them once they were strapped in. 

“Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash!”  Spitfire shouted, ordering her team member front and center.  The pegasus mare didn’t keep her leader waiting, stepping up to receive her orders.

“Yes, Ma’am!”

“I want you to get in the Dizzatron and demonstrate to the recruits what to do.” Spitfire ordered. Dash instantly complied.
“Yes Ma’am!” She zipped right up to the machine and hopped into the carriage, lowering her goggles over her eyes.  The pony responsible for the machine’s function started up the electric motor, beginning to turn the apparatus slowly at first and then speeding up.  

The recruits watched nervously, seeing Rainbow Dash get spun around and around, some wondering if the machine was designed to torture its lone occupant.  After a good ten seconds, Spitfire barked out the command.

“Release!”

Dash was sent flipping and tumbling through the air, only to right herself with the snap of her wings suddenly opening, then come diving straight down.  At top speed she made a seemingly impossible right-angle turn at the last second before hitting the ground, heading right towards the start/finish line.  The seasoned Wonderbolt came to a near instantaneous stop in front of her commanding officer, astounding the cadets who stood there wide eyed and gasping in astonishment.

“That,” Spitfire turned to face her recruits and volunteers, “is an outstanding example of recovery from the Dizzatron!  Each of you will take turns on the Dizzatron and establish a baseline measurement of time.  Hence forward, you will maintain and improve that recovery time to such a point where you are able to keep it under specified academy standards.  Wonderbolt Reservists Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger are on duty with the catch net for all you so-so flyers who can’t sort themselves out for the Dizzatron.  Fall in, newbies!”  

The whistle blew and the two dozen flyers hustled right over to stand in closer to the machine, even more imposing now as they looked up at it.  No pony was looking forward to this aspect of the trials.  Rainbow Dash and the other Wonderbolts watched from nearby, finally getting the last bit of gear set up on the practice field.  It was a bit unnerving for Rainbow Dash to watch, fearful of how Gallus and Silverstream would react to getting put in the Dizzatron for the first time.    

“First pony up!”  Spitfire pointed at Nightflight, who didn’t look particularly thrilled by the honor.  He gulped down the lump in his throat, shoring up the courage to make a good show for himself.  Flying up into position and getting into the carriage, he flipped down his goggles to cover his eyes, psyching himself up.  Spitfire gave the nod and her assistant and he set the machine in motion again.  This was unlike anything Nightflight had experienced before.  No rollercoaster ride or extreme sport could’ve gotten him ready for this.  The ten seconds he was spun around for seemed to last for ages as the pressure built up in his skull.

“Release!”  Spitfire commanded and the machine came to a sickeningly sudden stop, catapulting its occupant into the air. 
Nightflight was sent hurtling and flipping through the air like a ragdoll.  He thrust out his wings to catch the wind, breaking his speed. Down he flew towards the start/finish line as fast as he could.  But he couldn’t focus his eyes on his target, his whole world was seemingly twisting clockwise in his head and instead of flying straight, he pitched and rolled off-center, desperate to get his body in line with his wings.  He just made it back, touching down with all his hooves but tripping and stumbling forward and almost crashing into his C.O. He fell to his knees, unable to stay upright and desperate to lay down to recover from having his brains scrambled.

“Sixteen seconds; I’m sure I’ll see worse but I wouldn’t brag about it to anypony either.”  Spitfire wrote down his time on her report list.  Nightflight managed to get up and stagger back to the line of recruits, only to collapse in a heap on the ground, moaning in agony.

“Feh.  This overblown carnival ride doesn’t look so bad.  Any decent flyer worth their wings could take it.”  Firebolt groaned and turned her head away slightly, overhearing Gallus foolishly mouth off.  Their C.O. heard the snarky remark and got right in Gallus’ face, screaming at him.

“Oh, is that so, Cat-Bird newbie!  Then why don’t you get your scrawny feline butt up there and put your wings where that flapping beak of yours is as our next volunteer!”

Gallus looked up at the mechanical monstrosity, wondering what kind of job it was going to do on him once he was locked in the carriage and set spinning.  Spitfire saw him hesitating and used the proper motivation.

“Move it!” she shouted at Gallus.  The griffon sprang into action, flying up to the Dizzatron’s carriage and getting into position.  

“Crank it up!” Spitfire gave the order and the machine began to spin, steadily getting up to the correct speed.

“Ey-a-a-a-a-a-h-h-h-h-h!”  Gallus started freaking out as he was spun faster and faster, convinced that the sustained g-forces his body was experiencing were going to force all of his guts up into his skull.  

“Release!”  Spitfire ordered, and the machine launched Gallus into the air.  Despite the spinning he took, Gallus was still cognizant and quickly snapped out his wings to stop his flipping.  With a quick body roll and hard flap of his wings, Gallus dove straight down towards the start/finish line with a short cork-screw twist to quickly break his speed at the end, coming to a rough stop just across the painted stripe on the asphalt.  Unconventional, but just as effective in coming to a stop.
“Whoa; twelve seconds? That’s not half bad for a first timer.”  Spitfire was duly impressed.  Gallus, on his way back to his place in the line, passed by Wind Raider in the line-up.  

“Keh!  Try to top that!” he dared Wind Raider under his breath, smirking.  Several more ponies experienced the Dizzatron’s wrath, wrecking all of them as none so far could get close to Gallus’ time.  For a good twenty minutes, he had the best recovery time.  Then it was Wind Raider’s turn.

He didn’t need to be told to get in, he was already flying up to the carriage once the last pony had been ejected.  He would show all these recruits how a real Wonderbolt cadet would perform on the Dizzatron.  Around and around he was spun, feeling the g-forces against his body as the pressure grew.  The C.O. finally gave the word.

“Release!”  Spitfire ordered as she hit the timer on her stopwatch for the next flyer’s time.  Wind Raider was good with his recovery, getting himself righted and wings spread out to stop his motion.  He flew as fast as he could back to the start/finish line, wanting to beat Gallus’ time.  Like Gallus before him, he came to a rough stop in front of Commander Spitfire, his head spinning all the while.

“Not bad; thirteen seconds; a respectable time.”  Spitfire commented as she recorded another time in her log book.  Good, but not better then Gallus.  The griffon couldn’t help but feel some smug satisfaction, seeing Wind Raider staggering back to his place in the line, almost falling down from the dizziness.  Six more trainees went through the Dizzatron experience, all of them taking more than fifteen seconds to recover and none able to stand up once they were finished.  The pile of dizzy pony bodies grew as each one ran the gauntlet.

“Firebolt, you’re up!”  Spitfire ordered.

‘Yes, Ma’am!”  Firebolt proudly answered back.   Was it Silverstream’s imagination or did she actually see a small smile appear on both Spitfire and Firebolt’s mouths when the C.O. ordered Firebolt into the Dizzatron?  Firebolt threw a salute to Spitfire, the only recruit to do so.  Something else Silverstream thought was unusual.

“Ma’am, I want the Dizzatron to be set to ‘normal’ speed for me.  I’m ready for it.”  Firebolt shocked her fellow recruits.  After witnessing a half-dozen ponies put to the test and only Gallus making a great baseline time, asking to be spun even faster and harder seemed like suicide to them.

“You sure about that?”  Spitfire warned.

“Absolutely, Ma’am!”  Firebolt slid her goggles over her eyes fearlessly.

Spitfire gave her assistant a nod.  “Do it.”  The go ahead was given and the machine was upped to its regular speed.

The recruits looked on with grim expressions, wondering what it must feel like to be spun around as hard as Firebolt was right then.  Firebolt held her breath, a tip she’d picked up from a Wonderbolt veteran, so as to keep the blood in her head and stay alert even as the pressure built.

Seven… eight… nine… ten!  She counted off in her mind, already feeling the carriages’ safety-bar unlatch and begin to launch her out and away.  End over end she flipped through the air, keeping her body relaxed and allowing the wind resistance to do its job, dragging her speed down.  

Four… five... six…  She counted again, snapping out her wings on the eight count.  She clenched her jaw as she felt her wings being jerked back, her wing muscles instantly made taut by the air resistance.  She made a quick roll of her body to the left and dove straight down, using some of the momentum left from the Dizzatron’s launch as a push into her descent.  Downward she flew, waiting until the last moment before she pulled up, suddenly flying parallel to the ground and heading straight for her C.O. standing at the start/finish line.  Firebolt made a perfect textbook stop, better than the other cadets who’d tried so far.  

She felt sick to her stomach but still forced herself to stay upright, even though her whole body swayed on her still-rubbery legs.  Firebolt wanted to hear her time before walking back to her spot.

“Eleven seconds flat.  Acceptable.”  Spitfire scribbled down the time in her ledger, not bothering to look up at Firebolt. 

Each step Firebolt took in getting back in line exacted a toll on her.  Her head was spinning, her stomach was doing flip-flops and her eyes kept seeing a world that insisted on turning itself end over end.  She shut her eyes tight, trying to breathe deeply and regain her bearings once more. Solar Flare and the rest of her friends all went to her side, helping her take the last few steps and getting her stable enough on her hooves to stand next to them.  A number of the other recruits still lay on the ground, moaning from the torture they’d subjected themselves to.  But Firebolt had her support group, they had her back and for that she was grateful to them.

“Next flyer!”  The C.O. shouted and that meant it was Silverstream’s turn.  Without hesitation, she flew up to the Dizzatron’s carriage and got in.  Spitfire had the machine’s speed reset to level one and then had it start once more.  For only a second or two was Silverstream unsure of herself.  But the machine did not make her nearly as dizzy as she had thought it would.  

“Wahoo-o-o-o-o!”  She let out a loud whoop, actually finding herself enjoying the sensation of being whipped around in a circle.  It was no worse a sensation then what she was already used to being spun around in a whirlpool or soaring up a waterspout as a seapony.  

“Release!” 

Into the air shot Silverstream, her body tumbling and flipping.  There was an audible snap that cracked through the air as she thrust her wings out, coming to a near stop in mid-air.  With another thrust of her wings, Silverstream was flying right for the start/finish line at top speed.  She didn’t make the most graceful landing but did stay upright, seeming unaffected by the Dizzatron’s effects.  When Spitfire looked her stopwatch, her mouth fell open.  Several other Wonderbolts who were watching from the activities field had seen Silverstream’s performance and hurried over to look closer.

Rainbow Dash had watched with fear gnawing at her gut, dreading Silverstream and Gallus getting hurt.  But first seeing Gallus do as well as he had and now seeing Silverstream do what seemed absolutely impossible, Dash had to see for herself just what her student’s time was.

Silverstream didn’t understand why Commander Spitfire was looking the way she was at the stopwatch on her clipboard.  She seemed shocked or upset by something.

“Did… did I do something wrong, Commander?” she fretted, covering her petite beak with her talons, fearing she’d violated some rule.  Dash and the others crowded in closer behind Spitfire, each looking over their commander’s shoulder to see the display on the stopwatch.

All of the recruits stood in silence, overwhelmed by the unbelievable performance they’d just witnessed and by a hippogriff, no less!  They were not sure if they’d seen what they’d actually seen.

“How fast was she?!”  Misty Fly was stunned.  Clearly the hippogriff was fast, but the stopwatch’s time couldn’t be correct.  Rainbow Dash stepped in still closer to look, her eyes wide.

“Five point six seconds,” she stated rather flatly.  

“Is... is that good?”  Silverstream shyly asked, thinking that perhaps she could have done better.

“Are you kidding?  You just beat the academy record by almost half a second!” Thunderlane cheered, thrilled to see such flying skill in a recruit. Misty Fly and the other team members were equally impressed by Silverstream’s run.

“Hold on, hold on,” Spitfire interjected, halting any jubilations.  “I must have slipped my hoof on the timer too quickly because this can’t be right.  I need you to take a rerun.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”  Silverstream did as ordered and got back in the Dizzatron’s carriage.  Spitfire gave the nod to the machine’s operator and once more, the clanking mechanism started up and spun Silverstream again.  Everyone was silent as Silverstream retook her run.  

“Release!”  Spitfire ordered and the Dizzatron once more launched the hippogriff into the air.  Thwack!  They heard it again, the snap of air as Silverstream threw out her wings, catching the wind and coming to a stop, and then taking off for the start/finish line right below her.  In a flash, she was swooping down and heading for Commander Spitfire, as if on a collision course.  

Silverstream came in too hot and miscalculated the distance, forcing her to lean much harder on her pony hooves to slow down in time.  She stumbled a bit more at the end, almost running into the Wonderbolt team as she tried to stop.  Silverstream turned to face her C.O. to hear the result, as did everypony else.  The silence was intense.

“Five point seven seconds!  A new record!”  Spitfire announced.  A cheer rose up from Gallus and her new pony friends, hearing that one of their group had done so well.  Firebolt and the others were the loudest, running right over to Silverstream to congratulate her.  Silverstream was positively euphoric.  She had set a new record on her first try.  It felt unreal.  They practically carried her back to their spot in the line.  Spitfire blew her whistle constantly, getting them back in line and restoring order to the ruckus.  

Gallus and Firebolt hugged Silverstream tightly, so thrilled for her at doing amazingly well with her first attempts.  It was one of the few times in her life that Silverstream didn’t know what to say and just relished in the glow of lofty accomplishment.  Gallus couldn’t help looking over at Wind Raider standing several ponies away from them, glaring with a burning resentment in his eyes for Gallus and his hippogriff friend.  Just to make it burn harder on him, Gallus blew a raspberry at him, snickering at Wind Raider’s impotent fury.  

All the team members were duly impressed with Silverstream’s performance, finding it a most unexpected and delightful discovery.  They wondered if all hippogriffs were this good at flying.  Soarin walked over to speak with the previous record holder, seeing the wounded look on Rainbow Dash’s face.

“Hey, how are you doing over here?”  Wearing an easy smile, he understood the sting she was probably feeling right then.  She tried to smile back, but it was hard to put on a front right then.  “Boy, that’s some flyer at that school you teach at back in Ponyville.  Both of them, for that fact.”

“Uh, yeah, they’re both really something.”  Dash’s weak response did a pretty poor job of hiding her true feelings.  Soarin tried another angle with her.

“Well, it’s not like they’re real recruits, right?  I mean, they’re just volunteers trying this out for a cultural exchange from the school you work at.  So, I guess it really doesn’t count against your record, right?”

Maybe that was true, maybe not.  This was something she hadn’t even thought of, nor could have anticipated, happening.  If Dash really meant this trip to mean something, it wouldn’t really be fair to deny Silverstream her achievement.  If she wanted to hold true to the Wonderbolt mantra of having ‘the best of the best’ flying with them, then she knew that had to include griffons and hippogriffs too.

“It’ll probably stand for the records.  I’m not going to protest; wouldn’t make any sense to.  She beat my time fair and square.  That’s all there is to it.  Besides, records are made to be broken.”  Rainbow Dash would be the bigger pony.  It was important to her that Gallus and Silverstream get to immerse themselves in the full experience of the tryouts.  If they had to endure the rigors and came out on top, then they deserved the accolades they earned.

Soarin moved up alongside her, giving a playful little nudge with his shoulder.  “That’s got to be the most impressive thing I’ve ever heard you say.”  He knew of her super competitive nature and how she liked to brag sometimes about her achievements.  But Soarin knew Dash felt like she’d been knocked down a peg by the loss of the record of fastest recovery time on the Dizzatron.   

A half-dozen or so more recruits tried their luck on the terrible mechanical catapult, desperate to make a good time against the first group of flyers who simply outdid even the instructor’s expatiations.   Save for Solar Flare’s lone finish time of seventeen seconds, the rest all took more than twenty seconds or they ended up in the safety net.  Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger had a good workout with having to catch so many poor flyers.  It was a bad showing for the recruits and a poor reflection upon the recruiters for selecting some subpar flyers.  Spitfire had sneaky suspicion that about one fourth of them must have been from ‘favors’ done for friends or family to get a shot at the academy tryouts. The first go-round was done and only four recruits had made an acceptable pass, and two of those were Dash’s students. Spitfire leaned in on the raw recruits.

“Fifteen seconds!  It should take no more than fifteen seconds to recover from the Dizzatron set to this level of torque.  You ponies are going to stay here until each and every pony here gets a recovery time of fifteen second or less.  That or until Mess Call is sounded.”  

The looks of misery were clear on the faces of the twenty-plus count of flyers, all dreading getting back in that torturous machine.  Spitfire moved on to the next part of the day’s duty.  “Wonderbolt Fleetfoot!  Wonderbolt High Winds!”
The mare and stallion pegasi stepped up to their commander.

“Yes, Ma’am!”

“I want you two to supervise these recruits rerunning on the Dizzatron.  Make sure they get at least two more rounds before drill time ends.”  Spitfire passed off her clipboard and pencil to them.  

“The four of you,” Spitfire addressed Gallus, Silverstream, Firebolt and Wind Raider who stood off to one side, “you beat the required time for a first run and are excused for the remainder of training session.  You can go hit the mess hall early.”  She then turned to the Wonderbolt team members standing behind her.  “As for the rest of you, to my office, now!” she commanded.  They knew their C.O. was not pleased with the first day’s results and all dreaded what she was going to say.

“This is great!  We did so well we don’t have to take another turn.  We were awesome!”  Silverstream cheered softly for her and her friend’s achievement. 

“You were just lucky, all of you.  This was only the first day.”  Wind Raider wasn’t pleased to see the two freak flyers getting singled out for exceptional performance.  The three good friends glared back at him, annoyed he was even bothering to talk to them.  “This was just the beginning.  You two half-breed freaks,” he sneered at Gallus and Silverstream, “won’t go the distance.  You’ll get wiped out by the end of tomorrow’s training.”  He looked at them with loathing, his voice dripping with contempt.  

“What’s your problem, anyway?  They haven’t done anything to bother you.  It’s like you’re going out of your way to give them a hard time.”  Firebolt went right over to him, not letting him get away with talking to her friends like that.  She tried staring him down but he wasn’t so easily cowed.

“I can’t believe you’re actually standing up for them.” He flippantly dismissed her with a wave of a wing.  That only made Firebolt mad.

“I’m not standing up for them, I’m standing with them, you pathetic moron!  You’d better get your head out of the sand and grow up!  Griffons, hippogriffs and pegasus ponies all have to share the skies and learn to accept one another.”  She could tell he wasn’t really paying attention, just patronizing her and only half-listening at best.  She went for a different approach.

“But I guess it’s really because you’re just jealous that all three of us had a better reaction time on the Dizzatron then you.  You just can’t stand the idea that a hippogriff, a griffon, and a female pegasus actually outperformed you and that’s just eating you up inside, isn’t it?”  She returned his smug look, knowing she’d hit a nerve by the scowl growing on his face.

“Yeah, Silverstream’s recovery time was half the length of yours!  She set a new record and you just can’t stand that.”  Gallus piled in.  He got the result he wanted, seeing Wind Raider’s face clench up more.

“C’mon you two.  Let’s go get cleaned up and grab an early supper together.  The air around her is getting too stuffy for me.”  Firebolt spun around on her hooves, her nose in the air.  She would not let Wind Raider’s ill will spoil their good fortune on this first day of tryouts.  The pegasus stallion watched with simmering anger at the two outsiders leaving for the barracks and an early meal as reward.  He especially hated the fact that the filthy hippogriff had set a new record on the first day.  

They won’t last!  They got lucky today.  These trials will eat them alive!  They’ll quit when it gets hard.  He was convinced this was so.  Neither one of those half-breeds would make it to the end of the tryouts.   

The team members all crowded into Spitfire’s office space, jockeying for room by the door so as to be as far away from Spitfire as possible when she sat behind her desk and would begin her tirade.
Spitfire didn’t wait even for that, banging open her office door forcefully, causing it to swing wildly on its hinges to smack Thunderlane right on his muzzle as she came barreling in like a storm.  “Do any of you want to tell me why eighty percent of these recruits can’t even handle one turn on the Dizzatron without falling down all over themselves?!  What kind of pathetic buckets of stall muck did you bring to my beloved Wonderbolt Academy?!  This was the best you could find?  You ponies,” she now was standing behind her desk and glaring at them, “are supposed to be making the tryouts easier for me!  For sweet Celestia’s sake!  I could have made better selections blindfolded and picking out random resumes from the past three years’ worth of submissions that are stuffed in my filing cabinet!”  
“Commander, with all due respect, I think that’s a little unfair to-” Soarin began quickly, not appreciating the dismissal of his recruits.  He’d been careful and thoughtful with his selection of Nightflight for the tryouts.  Before things got too heated between them all, Thunderlane jumped in.
“I think all of us agree we’d picked the best ones for tryouts, you have the files from all of them to prove that much.  It’s not like they weren’t qualified.” Spitfire just rolled her eyes.
“I’m sure it’s just tryout jitters with them.  They’ll step up when they settle into the routine by tomorrow.”  Silver Zoom tried to spin it positively, as Spitfire took her seat behind the desk.  
Spitfire could tell by the looks on their faces how her team must be thinking they’d let their C.O. down for this first attempt acting as recruiters.  Maybe she’d pushed them a little too hard. This was the first time she wasn’t in control of the selection process.  Delegating the trust and duty to her team was not easy. This was bureaucracy stuff and not precision team flying.  That she trusted them with.  Dealing with Central Command’s higher-up brass and the red tape involved, that was her job.   
“Step up, eh?  The elimination process starts by the time second assembly is called and these recruits don’t look like they’re going to make it that far!  I suggest each of you offer your recruits some sage words of advice so that the whole lot of them doesn’t get eliminated by tomorrow’s mess call for supper.”
“They’ll prove themselves, Commander. Trust us.”  Misty Fly was almost imploring Spitfire.  The Wonderbolts’ leader took off her sunglasses, casually tossing them onto her desk and giving a huge sigh, running a free forehoof through her mane.  Just dealing with all these wheels in motion was getting tougher each year.
“Fine… fine.  I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.”  Her tone softened just a little more.  She knew they wanted to prove themselves, she just need to have a little faith in them.  “Please don’t let me down, you guys.  I got a lot on my plate to handle this year.  Dismissed.”
Her team filed out of the office quietly, more aware of the responsibility than before.  This was a big change in routine and no pony wanted to do poorly. “Not you, Dash.”  She singled out her best lead-pony to stay put.
Soarin turned around to see Dash staying behind in the office. She winked away his look of disappointment, telling him “I’ll catch up with you.”
Rainbow Dash shut the door and closed the blinds, giving them some privacy.
“Have a seat.”  Spitfire waited for Dash to get comfortable before the inquiry.  There was something of growing interest to her that need to be discussed with Dash.  Rainbow Dash pulled up one of the comfortable chairs closer to the desk and sat down.
“Okay, what’s up?”  Dash seemed oblivious.  Spitfire thought it obvious.
“I have to spell it out?”
“Spell what out?”  Dash wasn’t sure what her C.O. was getting at.
“Dash, your volunteer beat your record time by almost a half-second.  Doesn’t that strike you as more than just exceptional?”  Spitfire thought it unbelievable that one of her best flyers seemed so clueless or just blasé about her records.
“She did better then me.  What can I say?”  Spitfire thought something was up.  Why was Rainbow Dash seemingly so easygoing about this most impressive feat by an unknown flyer?  After all, she had brought Silverstream here to begin with, and not even as a recruit.           
“Silverstream really has something that might be considered real Wonderbolt material in her.  That was the best time set in who knows how many moons. Not to mention Gallus’ very respectable time on his first go-round as well.” 
Dash nodded with her commander’s statement but still felt the sting of losing her record of fastest recovery time on the Dizzatron.  But she wouldn’t let that bother her. 
“They’re really getting into the spirit of the experience of it all, I guess.  Who knows how well they might do tomorrow.”  
“Crash, level with me, flyer to flyer.  Where did these two come from?  That school you teach at isn’t some flight academy or something like that.  How in all Equestria did you find them?”  Spitfire finally came right out and asked.
“Well, some of it’s easy to explain and some of it, well…”  Dash made a rolling hoof gesture in the air, “some of it’s a bit… complicated to explain.”
“Okay,” Spitfire leaned back in her chair, “explain away.  Start with the easy stuff.” 
“Well,” Dash braced herself for a lengthy tale, “Gallus is an exchange student from Griffonstone; Twilight made some arrangements with a whole bunch of the neighboring countries to invite students from there to attend the School of Friendship and he was invited. It’s really important to Twilight that Gallus and Silverstream learn and understand about the Elements of Harmony and share with others of their kind what Equestria was about.”
“And about Silverstream; what’s her story?  She and her kind were missing for the last several hundred years, then they just return out of nowhere and now this incredibly talented flyer just happens to end up in Equestria at Princess Twilight’s school? This seems too much of a coincidence.”
“Well, it sorta happened this way,” Dash, as best she could, told Spitfire the entire story of the confrontation with the Storm King; about the siege of Canterlot, how she, Twilight and their friends all traveled to a place called Klugetown, meeting Capper Dapperpaws and his pudgy cohort Needy, barely escaping with their lives on pirate Captain Celaeno’s airship and finally discovering Mount Aris and Seaquestria far to the south.  They found the lost civilization of Seaponies and convinced them to help Princess Twilight defeat the Storm King by returning as hippogriffs and fighting alongside them and the regrouped Canterlot forces.
“And that’s the way it happened.  Honest.”  Dash concluded the retelling in about an hour’s time, leaving Spitfire sitting there with a most astounded expression.  She had been oblivious of what had really happened in the incredibly short amount of time between the day of the attack on Canterlot to the moment the Storm King was defeated.  She finally spoke up, intending to get at least one of her facts straight.
“You mean, that whole escapade you and Princess Twilight and the others all took was during those three days when the Storm King held Canterlot?”
Dash shrugged a little.  “More or less.  I’m not really sure of just how many days it was for us, it felt like so much longer when I think back on it. We got to know Queen Novo pretty well afterwards so Twilight made a personal invitation to any member of the seapony or hippogriff kingdoms to attend. That’s how Silverstream came to stay at Twilight’s school.”  
“Anything else you’re not telling me I should know?”  That was an enormous amount of information to digest in one take.  But for Spitfire, it was about to get even more complicated with the next thing Dash had to say.
“Actually, Silverstream the niece of Queen Novo.  She was selected to go as a representative.  Her mom is the queen’s sister.”   Spitfire was in shock; Dash had brought a member of a royal family that ruled a neighboring kingdom without telling her commanding officer or anypony else at Central Command of her intentions? This hippogriff was a visiting dignitary and Rainbow Dash didn’t think it important to tell anyone?
“You have got to be kidding me, Dash!  You brought a family member from the ruling monarchy of a kingdom to Wonderbolt tryouts as a volunteer?  Are you mad or were you just being ignorant on purpose?”  Spitfire banged a hoof on her desk as she tore into Dash, pissed off that she’d done such a risky thing, even with Princess Twilight’s say so.  It was incredibly irresponsible of Rainbow Dash to put her C.O. in such a predicament by bringing an important individual like Silverstream to the base unannounced. 
“I…I really didn’t think it was going to be a big deal.  It wasn’t like I was asking them to try out for the academy.  The both of them just got caught up in the excitement of being here.”  Rainbow Dash didn’t mean to mess up like this.  She thought she was doing something to help all her friends.
“I’ll let you in on a little news, Dash.”  Spitfire rubbed her temples, trying to relieve the tension building in her forehead.  “I got word through my back channels at Central Command that we’re due for a surprise visit at some point during the trials.  Your proposal went up the chain of command and caught the eye of some high-level brass member.  Somepony from Central Command is on their way to take a look around.  I don’t know who it is or when they’ll be here, but I’m sure it’s going to happen in the next few days.”
“Oh, geez!  You can’t be serious?  During tryouts?”  Dash groaned, seeing just how much she’d made things worse for Spitfire and the rest of the team.  She was staring to regret ever opening her mouth about this idea and should’ve just let Spitfire do the trials her way. 
“If either one of those two students gets hurt during the tryouts, especially that hippogriff, it could cause an international incident and create immense political headaches for us the likes of which you would not believe!”  Spitfire shook her head a little, unable to cope right now with how much more stressful the tryouts had become.  “I ought to pull both of them from tryouts right now, even if Silverstream did have a record-breaking time.”
It was the logical, rational thing to do.  This unknown visitor from Central Command could be here at any moment and she had no idea what their reaction would be to seeing a griffon and a hippogriff participating in the tryouts.  It could cost Spitfire her commission.  But Rainbow Dash stood up for her students, aware of just how much this meant to each of them to be a part of this.
“Wait, Commander, don’t pull them out just yet.  I mean, if we get in trouble for making some kind of rule infraction by Central Command, then we’ll pull them out and I’ll take full responsibility for it.  I know Twilight would totally vouch for taking part in a cultural exchange between the School of Friendship and the academy.  She’s got a lot of say with the princesses and is good with solving touchy problems like that.”
Spitfire felt like she was at her wits end.  At least it couldn’t possibly get any more stressful or complicated than it already was.  She was already in fairly deep for green-lighting a trial attempt of Dash’s proposal of the team acting as recruiters.  Thunderlane and the other team members backed Dash’s new idea and urged her to keep faith with them.  All she could do is sigh and go along with it. What else could she do?
“Does anypony else here, besides you and I, know that Silverstream is related to the ruling family of Seaquestria?”
“Just Gallus, he knows who her family is but I’m sure he wouldn’t go yapping about it to just anypony.  He’s pretty trustworthy when it comes to things like that,”  Dash assured her.  Spitfire sat with her eyes closed and holding her head with one hoof, trying to keep her thoughts together and not let the stress overwhelm her mind.  There was a longish pause before Spitfire spoke again.
“Alright Dash,” Spitfire finally sat up, “since we can’t stop the tryouts and no pony else knows about Silverstream, let’s keep all this tightly under wraps.  Even if we get busted for having those two here, there’s no need to say more than we absolutely have to, right?”  Spitfire wanted to make sure Rainbow Dash heard her loud and clear.  
“Yes, ma’am.  Mum’s the word.”  Dash understood.  From outside the window came the sound the entire collection of recruits was undoubtedly waiting for.  The melody of recall being announced over the address system carried all the way across the academy grounds, alerting all to the end of drill time.
“We’ll meet back here before morning drill time begins and figure out what to do when our visitor gets here.”  Spitfire didn’t want to think about it anymore for today.  She had enough with just running the tryouts to keep her mind busy.  Dash saluted her and opened the office door, about to leave when she looked back to see her C.O. sitting exhausted in the chair.
“Commander,” she got Spitfire to look up at her, “I won’t let you or the team down.” 
Dash would make sure of it.  She had her teammates backing her up and would prove their faith in her justified.
“I hope not, Dash.”  Spitfire was taking a terrible risk with her reputation and career to help Dash out like this.  There were no second chances or do overs if it went bad with whoever was showing up to snoop around.
> Ch.5 Wonderbolt Trials pt.2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gallus had finally gotten comfortable enough with the rather thinly-padded bunk he was attempting to fall asleep on, finally feeling his body relax and begin to drift off to sleep when all of a sudden…

Click. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! “Reveille!  Reveille!  Quit your whinin’ and let’s get flyin’!  Roll call will commence in two minutes, newbies!”  The bright overhead light flashed on as a stallion’s voice shouted to all inside the small barracks, noisily clattering a baton inside the metal garbage can sitting by the door while a loud obnoxious horn player somewhere outside repeatedly played the same loud obnoxious melody over and over.  The noise and yelling shocked them all awake for the most part.  Gallus bolted upright in his bed, yelping in surprise at the noise and shouting.

“C’mon, Gallus, time to get up!”  Silverstream was already getting her uniform on and her mane brushed out as he sat there dumbfounded.

“What in Equestria…”  He looked out the bare window near his bunk; the thinnest sliver of yellow light from the sun was coming up over the horizon to greet his eyes.  Something was wrong.  “What time is it?”

“It’s oh-five-hundred.”  Firebolt tugged her uniform into place, getting ready for roll call.  “You’d better get dressed quick.”  She, too, was getting her mane brushed into shape.  “What are you waiting for, Gallus?”  She saw him sitting up in bed and not moving.

“The sun’s not even up yet!  This is crazy!  Why in Tartarus do we have to get up so early?”  Gallus wasn’t moving fast enough so Silverstream had to almost drag his sleepy carcass out of his bunk and help him get dressed.  They barely had more than a minute or so left.

“Because that’s the time Wonderbolt Academy recruits get up for training; your day starts the same time as Princess Celestia’s day does.  Get it?”  Firebolt was already getting the door open so she and Solar Flare could join the others, a little confused by his cluelessness.

“This is part of being at the tryouts, Gallus.  Isn’t it exciting?”  Silverstream helped him on with his uniform as best she could.  She didn’t want to be late to roll call on the first morning.  Gallus could barely stand on his legs, getting virtually zero sleep on the minimal bed that was his to rest on while he was here.  He couldn’t understand how Silverstream could be so upbeat this early in the morning.  It was still dark outside!  She managed to get him dressed and out the door, getting into line just as two of the Wonderbolts came to take a headcount.

“Atten-tion!”  The two Wonderbolts ordered and eleven of the twelve recruits snapped to attention.  Gallus was having trouble staying upright, wobbling on his tired legs.

“What’s his problem?”  One of the Wonderbolt instructors was approaching Gallus, who was still almost asleep on his paws, his eyes nearly closed.  Silverstream sneakily gave his feline paw a swift stomp from her pony hoof.

“Ow!”  The pain shot up his foot and into his brain, shocking him awake.

“Nothing, sir.  He’s just not used to the early morning time up, sir.”  Silverstream’s ‘assistance’ was enough to snap Gallus out of his sleepy haze.  He had the decency to look embarrassed in front of the other recruits, glancing around and seeing them staring back, mocking grins on their faces.

“Best shake that morning sand out of your eyes, newbie.  Your day’s just starting,” the instructor warned him.  Gallus didn’t know which Wonderbolt was which but it didn’t matter.  He could see Wind Raider laughing to himself.  

Another bugle call sounded as the two instructors completed the head count and Commander Spitfire stepped forward to address the recruits.

“All recruits present and accounted for, ma’am.” the Wonderbolt mare reported. Her C.O. gave a nod in acknowledgement.  Spitfire looked up at the assembled ponies once more.

“At ease, newbies. After chowtime this morning, you will find the training sessions listed as well as the duty roster of instructors assigned to each posted on the main bulletin board by the activities field.  Your first tests today will be for flight strength and endurance.  Without these two foundation points, no flyer can hope to become a Wonderbolt.  You will have to push yourselves like never before in order to achieve this goal.  Failure to do so will lead to being cut from the tryouts.  Do you newbies understand?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Two dozen voices sounded off in unison, music to Spitfire’s ears.  These recruits were learning fast how to respond to their commanding officer.

“There will be other training sessions posted as the day progresses and some of you are cut from the program.  Protests against cuts must be submitted in writing no later than fourteen-hundred hours today. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!”   Spitfire nodded at them, satisfied.

“Dismissed.”  The recruits could relax.  The two inspecting Wonderbolts spoke quietly with the C.O. as the recruits mingled for a few minutes.

“You’d better get into the routine, Gallus.  This is the first full day of tryouts and it’s only going to get harder from here on out,” Firebolt warned her friend, seeing this griffon was not apparently enlightened about military life.

“I didn’t get any sleep.  How any of you are actually so alert after sleeping on those awful beds is beyond me.”  Gallus rubbed his eyes again, unaccustomed to being awake so early in the morning.

“You’ll feel more awake once you have a hot meal and some coffee in you.  That’ll get your feathers aligned right.”  Solar Flare was psyched for today.  He had his chance to do what no pony else in his family had; get accepted into the academy.

A bugle call sounded yet again, alerting the recruits to the next phase of the day.  Gallus looked all around them, trying to spot where this mysterious horn player was.  Firebolt pointed up at the public address horns affixed to the top of several light poles nearby. Gallus blushed a bit.

“Oh, I didn’t know…"

“You really thought there was an actual bugle player?”  Firebolt couldn’t help but laugh a little bit at his naïveté. 

“Awesome, it’s breakfast time!”  Gallus hadn’t expected Silverstream to know what the daily routine was like for the recruits at tryouts.

“How do you know that by the sound of a horn?”

“Isn’t it’s obvious? She came prepared.”  Solar Flare gently tweaked Gallus.

“I learned all about the various bugle calls and what they mean from a book that Professor Dash recommended after she was through teaching us about the Wonderbolts in class.  It was so interesting.  I read it three times.”  Gallus suddenly felt rather uninformed.

“Let’s get moving.  I’m hungry enough to eat my uniform!”  Firebolt pulled at Silverstream’s foreleg, urging her friends to follow after her and the others who were heading for the mess hall.

Waiting to greet the recruits early this morning in the mess hall were members of their families, getting to spend a quick meal with them and wish them luck on their trials today.  It was a happy, busy and noisy place as parents and siblings got in a final visit before the recruits were off for the day.  They would not be able to visit again until the last day of tryouts.
With plates filled with fluffy waffles and fruit toppings, the foursome found a table big enough for them to sit at.  Both Nightflight and Brightstar joined them, along with their families.  The parents sitting in for this meal were surprised to find a griffon and a hippogriff here for the tryouts.  But when Gallus mentioned that he and Silverstream were students from the School of Friendship, they became more intrigued.  One recruit’s little brother sat near to Silverstream, his eyes focused on her, smiling broadly.  She took his staring in stride, aware of his innocence to her kind’s existence.

“Can you really turn into a seapony?”  The little cyan blue colt asked, almost beside himself with delight at getting to sit near to an actual hippogriff.

“Sure can!  This,” Silverstream pointed to the Sea Pearl fragment hanging on the necklace around her neck, “helps me transform between being a hippogriff and a seapony.  It was a gift from my aunt.”  His eyes widened in awe.

“So cool!”  He said in soft whisper, enamored with her seemingly magical presence.  She found it endearing.

“So, Silverstream, how do you like being here at the academy?  It must be quite different from what you’re used to at Mount Aris or at Princess Twilight’s school.”

Brightstar sat opposite Silverstream and Gallus at the table, finally getting a chance to talk with them and find out about the school they went to.  It was her mom sitting just to her left who had asked the question.

“It sure is, but nothing’s ever been more exciting than being able to participate in this.  Gallus and I have Professor Dash to thank for this opportunity.  She really is an awesome teacher at Princess Twilight’s school.”  Silverstream beamed.  Her pride of being at Twilight’s school as well as her enthusiasm for participating were unmistakable.

“Professor Dash?”  Brightstar’s mom seemed to not know whom she was talking about for a moment, then made the connection.  “You mean Rainbow Dash?”

Silverstream and Gallus nodded.  “She believed it would be a great experience for us to see and try what pegasus ponies have to do to be accepted here, being that we’re both flyers as well.  It’s been pretty eye-opening, quite honestly.  A lot harder then I’d imagined after only reading about it a textbook.” Gallus hadn’t taken seriously just how tough it might be to actually try, and he already had a growing respect for the ponies who took up this challenge.

“Hey, were you there in Canterlot fighting the Storm King and his goons along with Princess Twilight?  I heard that Queen Novo and her army of hippogriffs came to help out,” Nightflight’s little brother butted in, wanting to participate in the conversation.  This just brought on a slew of other questions about what she and other hippogriffs must have been through in the epic battle.

“What’s Griffonstone like?”  A small pink-colored pegasus filly sitting across from Gallus asked, never having seen a griffon before and wondering about where they came from.

“Why did the Storm King attack the hippogriffs at Mount Aris?”  Another small colt sitting a few seats down next to Solar Flare tried to get Silverstream’s attention.

“Don’t fight it; ride the popularity wave for a while.  You’ve got a good thing going here,” Gallus roughly whispered in her ear as some of their fellow recruits asked her questions as well as the guests, all curious about her and her kind.

Silverstream did her best to field the questions while she ate her breakfast.  Firebolt and Solar Flare seemed amused by her new-found stardom among the family and friends of the recruits who’d never met a hippogriff before.

Gallus, too, had some admirers sitting with them, asking him simple inquisitive questions about griffons and what it was like living in Griffonstone.  Despite his normal reclusive nature, Gallus actually found himself enjoying the opportunity to talk about his homeland with these ponies. They didn’t seem to regard him as any different then themselves; they could fly and Gallus could fly.  For the youngsters with their youthful innocence, that was all that mattered.  One of them even said they wanted to visit Griffonstone and meet more griffons, assuming they all must be as friendly as Gallus.

Again, the sound of a bugle call filled the early morning air to alert the recruits to their next duty.

“That’s the call to Drill!  We’d better get going!”  Silverstream was the first up and out for her seat, anxious to get the day started.

“Drill call?  But, that wasn’t the same as the first.  How’d you know what that was for or what call is for what?”  Gallus was again surprised by Silverstream’s knowledge of academy training protocol.  Firebolt had to remind him once more.

“She studied it, remember?”  The flame-maned Pegasus was impressed by his flying skills but not so impressed with his lack of most the basic knowledge about Wonderbolt Academy workings.

Last hugs, kisses and well wishes were given to the recruits as they headed out of the mess hall in response to the bugle call.  None of them would see their families again until the last day of tryouts.  The two dozen flyers filed out and headed for the bulletin board by the field where the lists would be posted.

“Where are we on the list?”  Firebolt couldn’t get in close enough to see past the cluster of bodies.  Silverstream hopped up and down, trying to see over the others who huddled around the postings.

“Can’t tell; we’ll just wait a minute or two, then we’ll see.”  Silverstream waited on tenterhooks to find out what the first session was going to be.  The foursome moved in to see as others moved back. 

“Okay, let’s see now…”  Firebolt and her friends scoured the lists, reading off what training sessions were planned for the first day, and their instructors.  “Here, right here.”  She pointed with her wing to them.  “It says our first session is for Wind Resistance training.” 

“Who’s going to be instructing the session?”  Solar Flare walked up from behind, seeing his new hippogriff and griffon friends now peering at the multiple lists tacked up on the board.  “Check the duty roster.” 

“Looks like-”

“It’s going to be me!”  A voice behind them announced.  The four of them quickly turned about to see a familiar mare’s face grinning at them.   Silverstream and Gallus were glad to see her again.

“Professor Dash, you’re our instructor today?”  Silverstream was elated by this; it was going to be like being in gym class back at school.

“Sure am. How’d you guys like your sleeping arrangements?  You four rested up enough for today?”  Dash watched Gallus take another big yawn, showing he was still not fully awake.

“It was an amazing coincidence.  We just happened to get assigned the same barracks together.”  Firebolt was pleased for the small good fortune that had come their way.  Not having to deal with bunkmates with whom one did not get along made it much easier to focus on the tryouts. 

“Yeah, a pretty amazing coincidence, I’d say.”  Dash’s teasing tone and squint-eyed expression led the foursome to a conclusion they hadn’t expected.

“Professor Dash, did you get us assigned to the same barracks?”  Silverstream only made the obvious that much more obvious by stating it.

“Meh, I might have pulled a few strings here or there.  It was nothing special, really.  Just called in a favor or two from my teammates, that’s all.”  But Dash couldn’t help but smile.  Seeing how Solar Flare and Firebolt had become friends with her two students, it was important for Rainbow Dash to make sure her recruits were taken care of, so that included Firebolt now as well.  Dash almost considered Firebolt to be her fourth recruit, approving of the camaraderie that was growing between the four of them.

“Well, let’s get started! I can’t wait to try everything there is to do!”  Silverstream pranced in place a little, bubbling over with excitement.

“You four meet me over there by the wind generator in five minutes; I’ve got to get my clipboard and stopwatch for this.”  Dash pointed over to the large machine that sat at one end of the field with a few other recruits standing nearby.

“Yes, ma’am.” Silverstream gave a proper salute to her instructor. She and her bunkmates all headed over to the Wind Generator, spotting some familiar faces in the group.

“Hey, hey!  You guys are doing the wind resistance training first too?  This is going to be great!”  Nightflight ran right over to them, glad they and Brightstar were there with him too.

“Oh no, not him again?”  Gallus groaned, spotting Wind Raider and a couple of his cohorts standing apart from the group and eyeing Silverstream and Gallus suspiciously.  Nightflight noticed them as well.

“Oh, don’t let that blowhard put you in a foul mood.  He’s just a bitter pony, so let him be miserable on his own.  We’re here with you and that’s all that counts.”  Nightflight wanted his new griffon friend to know that he had his back.

After only a few minutes’ chit-chat, Rainbow Dash approached and blew her whistle, getting the recruits’ attention.

“Alright newbies, fall in!”  The dozen flyers all came in close to listen to her instructions.  “Today’s first training session is Wind Resistance and Endurance.  Each one of you will have to fly against the force of the generator’s wind for at least thirty seconds and maintain your flight position relevant to the machine while doing so.  Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, ma’am!”  They shouted back in unison. 

“Who wants to go first today?”  Dash tried to encourage them, not wanting them to feel intimidated like they were by the Dizzatron.  Gallus raised his foreleg.

“I will.”  The griffon boldly stepped forth from the pack of pony flyers to stand in front of the machine.  Gallus could see the giant fan blades behind the machine’s safety screen; it was enormous.  Dash fluttered up to the control panel at the top of the machine, carefully carrying the flask that held the magical formula for powering the machine.

“Ready?” Gallus lowered the goggles over his eyes and started hovering in one spot as he flapped his wings.

“Ready!” 

Dash activated the machine by administering a small portion of the wind formula into the fill port.  Slowly the blades began to turn, the machine building up pressure and rapidly producing a steady thrust of wind.  Several of the recruits actually backed away, not having expected such a powerful gale.

Gallus was doing very well for the first few seconds, maintaining his position and flying steadily.  Rainbow Dash added more of the concentrate to the machine and the wind force more than doubled in strength.

“Here it comes!” she yelled over the roar of wind, seeing Gallus now struggling to stay aloft and fly steadily.  He weaved up and down in the wind, trying to ride something of a steady current and pump his wings to keep stable.  It was a struggle to reach the thirty second mark. Gallus found himself out of breath from having to use his wings so hard once he was standing back on the ground.

“So…” he panted, “…how did I do?”  He tried catching his breath, watching Rainbow Dash scribble some notes on her clipboard of papers.

“Not bad; not great but not bad for the first time.”  Dash was lean with her compliments, trying to show impartiality to the recruits.  “Okay, who’s next?”

Gallus returned to stand with his friends in the line and recover for the next turn, all of them complimenting him on his first try.  Four more ponies went before the wind making machine; three of them were not able to withstand the force and ended up being blown back and caught in the safety net set up behind them.  Dash knew to expect this.  As their instructor, she couldn’t take it easy on any of them, administering equal amounts of magic formula to the machine to produce powerful bursts of wind for them to fly against.

“Who’s next?”  Dash called out and Silverstream stepped up.

“I’ll go next.”  She stepped up closer to the machine, ready for the challenge.  She slipped the goggles down over her eyes and began to hover in place with some quick flaps of her wings.

“Get ready, get set,” Dash dispensed the fluid into the port to activate the wind machine and could already hear the whine of its motor being to turn and spin faster.

“Go!” she commanded.   Silverstream rapidly made headway against the thrust of wind, flying steadily against it. Her friends all began shouting words of encouragement.  Out of the corner of one eye, she spotted Wind Raider standing close to the fan’s outlet and staring up at her with a most menacing look on his face.

“Give it up, freak!  You don’t belong here at the academy!  You don’t have what it takes to be a Wonderbolt!  All you hippogriffs are nothing but cowards and weaklings!  Why don’t you just go back to where you came from?”

Silverstream tried to block out the torrent of hatred being spewed at her, unwilling to let it throw off her determination.  Another pony came to stand beside Wind Raider as he, too, shouted angry words.

“Get lost, half-breed!  You were so lucky to even to get to set hoof on these grounds, never mind trying out.  No pony wants you around here!”  

Rainbow Dash added the last amount of wind fluid to the machine and the force of wind went up again.  Momentarily distracted by the shouting, Silverstream did not hear Rainbow Dash’s warning of the increase and she found herself being pushed back.  She struggled to stay aloft but couldn’t and was blown backwards out of the air.  Silverstream tumbled along on the ground, unhurt but embarrassed for having not done as well as she had wanted. Wind Raider, his sidekick and a few other flyers openly laughed at her.

“Nice going, loser!  Do it again; wiping out is obviously what you’re best at!” Wind Raider mocked, enjoying himself at Silverstream’s expense.  She put on a brave face but it was hard when others were laughing at her poor performance.  Her unhappy expression infuriated Gallus, who went right over to Wind Raider and got in his face.

“What’s your problem, dude?  I don’t like hearing anycreature making fun of my friend, especially some loud-mouthed punk who doesn’t know better!”  Gallus made sure to keep his tone low but lethal, making sure Wind Raider alone heard him. But Wind Raider was not intimidated by Gallus. 

“Out of the way, griffon.  I’ll show you how this is done!”  Wind Raider boasted as he stepped up to the machine.  Rainbow Dash watched as Wind Raider stretched himself in preparation.  He nodded to her when he was ready.

“All set?”  She held the bottle of wind serum aloft, tipping it to one side and about to pour some in.

“Sock it to me!”  Wind Raider demanded as he got airborne in front of the machine, eager to prove himself the better flyer.  Dash poured in the first amount of fluid and the machine began to whirl the prop blades housed within it.  Wind Raider was smooth and steady, barely even trying at this level of wind.  

“Get ready!”  Dash warned, pouring in the remaining amount and making the machine’s output stronger.  But Wind Raider was flawless in his run.  Not only staying airborne but actually flying in closer to the fan.  In spite of the tremendous force, he made it look incredibly easy.  His powerful wing muscles kept him steady and sure in the wind, easily reaching the required time. 

Once more on the ground, several of the other pegasus flyers crowded around him, congratulating him for the great performance.  Firebolt and her friends, despite Wind Raider’s disgusting attitude towards Gallus and Silverstream, had to begrudgingly admit that Wind Raider was pretty good at this.  He set the bar for the rest to measure against.  Rainbow Dash, too, could tell he was a really strong flyer and had set a strong precedent for the rest to reach for.

“Well done.  Next flyer up!”  Dash scribbled down the score on her chart, noting that Wind Raider was the only pony to do this well so far.  Seeing Wind Raider gloating about how great he was and the sycophants who echoed his sentiments only made Firebolt mad.  She despised braggarts and loudmouths like him.  She would make him eat those self-glorifying words. 

She stepped right up to the machine, looking up at Rainbow Dash.  “I’ll go next, ma’am.”  She flexed her wings a few times.

“All set?”  Dash again had the small flask of formula poised and ready to pour into the port.

“Let’s go for it!”  She was pumped and ready for this.  Dash poured in the formula again and once more, the machine whirled to life.  Firebolt got a jump on the machine’s output of wind, flying right up close to the machine.  She was just as smooth and steady as Wind Raider, flapping her wings and flying at a steady level off the ground.

“Adding more now!”  Dash yelled out over the noise of rushing wind.  But Firebolt was ready and pumped her wings furiously.  She was rock-solid, impressing her friends and instructor as well as silencing Wind Raider and his sidekick as she maintained perfect balance in flight.  She easily reached the time requirement, as Wind Raider had, showing the big-mouth just who was the best here.  Her friends cheered loudly for her great performance and she received many pats on her back and congratulatory wing slaps.

“Try to top that!” she dared the naysayers, glaring back to see who had the guts to follow after her.  The one pony who had been yelling at Silverstream along with Wind Raider timidly walked up to the machine, obviously uncertain about having to put his wings where his mouth was.  

“C’mon, Stormbringer, you can do better than her!  Show these nobodies how it’s done!”  Wind Raider shouted out.  But Stormbringer was not nearly as confident as Wind Raider or Firebolt had been.  Firebolt had upped the ante and the nervous lump in his throat was proving difficult to swallow. 

“All set?”  Rainbow Dash checked on the next flyer as she got the flask ready and in position to pour the formula in.

“Yes ma’am.”  Stormbringer got himself off the ground and hovered in place, ready to go.  The others waited and watched to see how well this pony would do. Dash poured in the first amount of formula and the machine’s blades began to turn.  Stormbringer flapped as hard as he could, trying to stay up in the air.  The cheers and jeers grew more intense as Stormbringer tried to keep pace with the wind pushing against him. 

He wasn’t at all steady, bobbing up and down in the wind as he desperately tried to fly level.  He was holding up okay until Rainbow Dash added the second portion of the formula to the machine.  The force of wind was like nothing Stormbringer had ever flown in and he was sent flying backwards hard enough to miss the safety net, hitting the ground about twenty yards away with a hard thud that knocked the breath from him. Now it was Gallus’ turn to mock. 

“Ha ha!  Nice flying there, chump!”  He felt that if Wind Raider and his little stooge could dish it out, they should have to take it.  But Firebolt stopped him, giving Gallus a small disapproving shake of her head.

“Don’t stoop to their level; be the bigger flyer,” she whispered quietly.  

Both Nightflight and Wind Raider went to check on Stormbringer, seeing him still laying on the ground and trying to catch his breath.  “You okay?”  Nightflight helped him to his hooves, as he was still gasping for air.  Stormbringer was clearly embarrassed, slinking past Silverstream and Gallus, avoiding their eyes.  Gallus still laughed softly to himself as Stormbringer plodded past with his head bowed low.

“Good effort.  You’ll do better on the next try, I’m sure.”  Silverstream said, not wanting to create more animosity amongst her fellow recruits.  Gallus shot her a rather annoyed look, hearing her trying to ‘make nice’ with a pony who cobviously didn’t like either of them.  But Silverstream would do Professor Fluttershy proud by showing kindness to anypony who didn’t understand or know anything about her or her kind.

Both Nightflight and Brightstar went up against the machine but Nightflight, too, could not withstand the gale force and got blown out of the air and sent into the safety net.  His friends would not let him feel bad, telling him he’d get it done on the next try.  Brightstar did well, staying aloft for the whole time and making a good show for herself.

Last up was Solar Flare.  He had been the quietest of all the recruits, clapping his hooves for those who did well and offering support for those who didn’t.  He preferred keeping a low profile and would let his flying do the talking for him.  He got into position in front of the machine and flexed his wings a few times in preparation.  Dash had the last amount of formula ready.

“All set?”  Dash watched him get airborne and hover right in front of the wind generator’s outlet.

“Ma’am, I’d like the full force of the machine for the whole duration.”  His request shocked some of his fellow flyers.  Dash raised an eyebrow.

“You sure you want to do that?”

Solar Flare lowered the goggles over his eyes, psyched up.  “Yes ma’am.  I’m ready for it.”

Dash shrugged.  “Get ready, get set.” She watched as Solar Flare got off the ground and hovered in front of the generator, waiting.

“Go!”  Dash dumped all of the mixture into the port and the machine jumped into high speed almost instantly.  Solar Flare flew as hard as he could, pushing himself to his limits and actually moving in closer to the machine’s outlet, striking the metal grating with his front hooves several times.  The wind was so strong that close to the machine’s opening that it blew the goggles he wore clear off his head, but that didn’t stop him.  With his eyes shut tight against the wind, he endured the duration of time and showed himself to be the best of the group. 

Firebolt and the others all cheered his amazing performance against the machine.  Passing by Wind Raider and his sidekick Stormbringer on his way to rejoin his friends, Solar Flare stopped to look them up and down, as if he was evaluating their worth.

“Feh!”  The disdain for them both dripped from the monosyllabic word, as if saying anything more was beneath him.  Dash tried not to smile as all of her trainees had stayed aloft and passed the first test. 

“All of you did pretty well for the most part but this was only the first round.  Now you will have to fly against the machine’s wind at full output for at least two minutes.”  She scribbled some notes on the sheets of paper, double-checking the formula for the second go-round.  Several recruits were confused by the statement, thinking this was all they had to do.  

“Wait, what?  Again?  We have to do this again?”  Gallus wasn’t sure if he’d heard the instructor correctly.  Even the other recruits seemed stunned by Rainbow Dash’s comment.  

“Of course.  You didn’t think it was going to be over just like that, did you?  As a Wonderbolt cadet, you have to be ready to fly in all sorts of weather and wind conditions, and not just on sunny days.”  Dash seemed a little amused by their stunned expressions.  A couple of them groaned at the thought of being put through the machine’s wind again.

“This time, those who did not stay up in the air during the first run have to go first.  Nightflight, you’re up.”  Dash ordered.

“C’mon, Nightflight, you can do it!”  Silverstream patted his back with her wing as she cheered him on, wanting him to succeed and move forward with the trials.  

“Just keep your wing angle steady and you’ll get through it.  Trust me.  You can do it,” Firebolt whispered in his ear as he stepped up.  He tried to give them a confident smile but felt maybe this might be too much to ask of him.  He loved flying but this was tough for him to do.  He got in front of the wind generator, flapping his wings to get airborne.

“All set, Nightflight?”  Dash held the small flask of super concentrate over the port of the machine, ready to administer it.
He took a deep breath and readied himself. 

Nightflight snapped the goggles down over his eyes.  “Yes, ma’am!”  

Dash added the formula and the machine kicked into high gear, producing a wind force much stronger than the first time he tried.  Firebolt and the others took a few steps back, wanting to get out of the way should Nightflight lose control and veer off and crash into one of them.  His friends watched as he poured all his strength into this attempt, not wanting to be eliminated.  His compatriots cheered loudly for him, whooping and yelping for him to go the distance.  Nightflight had never felt such strain on his muscles before, the wind howling in his ears as he desperately hung on and trying to keep his wing angle steady as Firebolt had told him.  It was the longest two minutes of his life. 

“Time!”  Dash yelled out as the machine’s wind died down and he felt the pressure decrease enough so he could finally land.  Nightflight collapsed to his knees, panting hard and dizzy from the heavy exertion.  Firebolt and Silverstream were right there by his side to help him up.

“You did it!  You did it!  I knew you could do it!  You were awesome!”  Silverstream was jubilant for him.  This meant he would go on to the next round of trials.  Nightflight, exhausted, still managed to smile at his friends as they helped him back to where they and the other recruits stood watching. 

“You were right, Firebolt.  All I had to do was keep my wing angle stable and I got through it.  How’d you know to do that?”  He leaned against Solar Flare for support, recuperating.

“Oh, it’s just a little something I picked up from listening to other great Wonderbolt flyers.  Stick with me, pal, and you’ll be a Wonderbolt too!”  Firebolt was pleased to have another pony as part their group; strength and support in numbers was key to success at the trials.

“Stormbringer, you’re up.”  Dash scribbled some more notes on her paperwork as Wind Raider’s lackey stepped up in front of the machine again.  This was going to be even harder then the last time and going after Nightflight’s good run only made it seem that much more impossible to do.

“Get ready.”  Dash had another amount of formula ready to pour in.  Stormbringer got in the air and hovered in front of the machine’s outlet, waiting for the signal.  “Go!”  Dash shouted as the machine again came to life.

Stormbringer gritted his teeth as he struggled against the ferocious wind, unable to keep steady against such an intense force.  He was being pushed back, his strength withering away by the second under the unbelievable pressure.

“Ar-r-r-gh!”  Stormbringer cried, not sure how much more he could take.  Every flap of his wings took an unimaginable amount of strength to do.

“Time!”  Dash yelled out, finally ending this grueling attempt for Stormbringer.  Stormbringer could at last stop, drifting off to one side and landing on his hooves but instantly collapsing in a heap on the ground, wheezing and gasping for breath.  Both Nightflight and Solar Flare came to his side to help him up.

“You did good, going the distance like that.”  Solar Flare pulled Stormbringer up to his hooves, steadying him after such intensity of flight. Nightflight steered him over to their little band of recruits, wanting to show him friendship.

“You were great up there!  We knew you could do it!”  Silverstream saw how he was so hesitant to look at her, after he had said such awful things to her, and now here she was extending an olive branch in a display of friendship.  Even Gallus was a bit surprised by the way Silverstream acted towards him.  For a fleeting moment, Silverstream had thought she might have won him over but her hopes were soon scuttled.  

“Hey, Storm, what are you doing?”  Wind Raider yelled at him, seeing Stormbringer being corralled towards the two ‘outsiders’ and the other pegasus ponies who were with them.  Silverstream saw the flash of conflict in his eyes for a split second when he chanced to look up at her; torn between wanting to make new friends with these strangers and feeling like he was abandoning others like him.  Quickly, he pulled away from them, returning to stand with Wind Raider and the others who had been standing apart from them in a separate group.  Silverstream’s heart fell at the thought of failing to make a friend of Stormbringer.

“Forget it, Silver.  You’re never going to convince those types to like or accept us here.  You’d best get used to that fact.”  Gallus didn’t like to rain on his friend’s parade, but it was the truth.  She wasn’t going to win them over anytime soon.

“I… I thought I could.” She spoke in a small quiet voice, only her friends near her hearing her answer.

“Next flyer up.”  Rainbow Dash continued to make more notes in her paperwork about their performances as well as their attitudes on display towards each other as well.   Silverstream stepped forward.  The hippogriff slipped the goggles over her eyes again, flapping her wings to get aloft.

“You ready?”  Dash had the formula ready to dispense.  Silverstream only nodded in reply.  “Go!”  Dash yelled and Silverstream took off like a bolt of lightning, flying with ferocious tenacity, pushing herself much harder this time and getting closer to the machine’s outlet. At one side of the machine stood her friends, all cheering and pushing her on to succeed while on the other side, Wind Raider and Stormbringer stood by and taunted her again.

“Give it up, half-breed!  You’ve got no chance to pass the trials! Just get lost and don’t show that ugly face of yours around here again!”  Wind Raider yelled at her over the roar of wind.  But Stormbringer, standing slightly behind his friend, said nothing and only watched like the other recruits.  Seeing and hearing Wind Raider’s jeering only made Silverstream madder and she pushed on like never before.  She, much like Solar Flare, reached the protective grating of the machine that kept anything getting too close to the fan blades.  Silverstream repeatedly banged on the metal grating, looking right at Wind Raider with such intense fire in her eyes that he actually stopped taunting her.  She was doing better than he had on her second try and she was still banging on the grating with her balled-up talons, like fists, when the time ended.

“Time!” Rainbow Dash announced to them and the wind from the machine lessened and stopped at last.  All the while, Silverstream had been looking right into Wind Raider’s eyes, silently telling him she did not like him and was not afraid of him.  She landed on the ground again, panting hard but now surrounded by her friends who hooted and hollered at her awesome job. 

“You were spectacular!”  Gallus gave her a high-low slap of wing, thrilled by how well she flew.

“That was absolutely blistering!”  Firebolt hugged her, amazed by her strength to maintain such strong and steady flight.  Nightflight was speechless.  He’d thought Solar Flare’s run to be super impressive.  But Silverstream’s was just awe inspiring. 

“Honestly, I’m impressed and I don’t impress easily, Silverstream.  Great going.”  Solar Flare was no fool, he recognized exceptional ability when he saw it.  He was grinning and nodding in approval of perhaps witnessing history in the making. 

Even Wind Raider and Stormbringer were stunned silent, as were the last three flyers yet to go. As much it was a total confidence booster to her, it was just as much of a psych out for the other flyers who had yet to redeem themselves.  Three more of the recruits went before the machine, trying to keep in the air as they flew but they could not go the distance and were blown back into the safety net from the intense wind.  The last remaining recruit, a mare named Moonlight, had just managed to hang on for her second run but she suddenly gave a sharp yelp and fell to the ground with a hard thwack.  Firebolt and Solar Flare ran over to help, seeing her lying ground and moaning from the pain.

“It’s broken!  It’s broken!  I broke my wing!”  Moonlight cried as she cradled her injured extremity, fearing the worst.  Rainbow Dash jumped down from on top of the machine to take a closer look at Moonlight’s injured wing.  Firebolt helped get Moonlight on her hooves and over to their approaching instructor. 

“I broke my wing!  I can’t fly now!”  Moonlight whimpered, flinching and twitching her left wing as Dash touched and moved the wing gingerly up and down, left and right, checking for a broken bone. 

“Owwww!  It hurts!  It hurts!”  she cried aloud, the motion in one particular direction now causing her to give voice.  It was as Rainbow Dash thought.

“No, you didn’t break it but you probably pulled a muscle or two pretty badly or possibly sprained them.  We’d best get you to the infirmary and have it checked out.”  Dash had given herself a similar injury not too long ago and remembered well how it hurt.

“I’ll take her to the infirmary.  I know where it is.”  Solar Flare stepped forward to help, feeling bad for a fellow pony who had given their all to the point of self-injury from pushing their limits of endurance.  She leaned on him as they walked off the field and towards the barracks and the main building of the academy. 

“Alright everypony, emergency’s over. Let’s get back to it.”  Rainbow Dash had to keep the trial moving along, she had a timetable to keep.  There was plenty more to do today and they were barely through the first trial.

All of those who had passed the first round of resistance training did so for the second round as well, getting through the two-minute minimum and staying airborne.  Only Gallus struggled at going the distance, almost getting blown away but managing to recover and stay in the air for the duration.  Rainbow Dash wrote down the results from the tests, marking those who should go on with her green pen and those who might not make the cut in red.  She didn’t like seeing potential flyers getting cut so soon but this was not her choice.  She had to follow protocol and evaluate their performances honestly, not letting personal feelings cloud her judgement.

The ten of them stood by and waited for their instructor to inform them what was next.  “Alright, gather around and listen up.”  She jumped down again from the top of the machine to address the recruits huddled together on the field.

“Most of you did adequately for this first test, but some of you,” she took a wide sweeping look at the recruits around her, “had better shape up for the next training session if you don’t want to be cut.” 

Silverstream and her companions all understood what they were being expected to do and none of them was looking forward to getting cut form the trials for slacking off on effort.  This first trial was only the tip of the iceberg and all of them silently understood that each ensuing trial was going to be tougher then the last.  Worst of it all, it wasn't even half-way through the morning and already one of the recruits from their group was out of the running with an injury.  How much harder it was going to get was anycreature's guess.
> Ch.6 Wonderbolt Trials pt.3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commander Spitfire and Soarin strode over to the group under Rainbow Dash’s watch.  “Status report,” Spitfire ordered as she returned Dash’s salute.

“All flyers have completed their two training sessions, ma’am.  One recruit sent to the infirmary with an injury, and I will be checking on her shortly.” Rainbow Dash passed her clipboard to her C.O.  Dash wondered what Spitfire was thinking about when she read the results for Silverstream and Gallus, but she didn’t pick up anything in her C.O.’s expression.

Spitfire returned the clipboard to Dash, giving the batch of recruits a quick once-over.  “Wonderbolt Soarin will be assisting you for the next session since we are running late this morning.  We need to have this second session wrapped up by twelve-hundred hours.”

“Yes, ma’am.”  Dash was all business, even as Soarin walked over to stand right beside her, smiling that charming crooked smile all the while.

“Carry on.”  Spitfire saluted them both, mindful of the possibility of the inspector from Central Command watching the goings on even as she spoke.  She would keep her eyes open for anypony she did not recognize walking about the grounds.  Soarin turned to face his fellow team member, smiling still.

“Good to see you again, Professor Dash.”  He saluted her and Dash returned the salute, somewhat bashfully.

“I’ve got to check on one of the recruits.  I’ll be back in a few minutes.”  She passed along her clipboard, hoping she didn’t look as nervous as she felt right then. Her eyes darted to and away from him with filly-like nervousness.

“Yes, ma’am.”  He saluted her, seeing her ever so slightly blush.  Dash made herself scarce, worried she’d let something slip if she stayed longer.

“You recruits follow me.”  He led them down to the opposite end of the field where the recruits found a series of large metal hoops mounted on the tops of tall flagpoles arranged in a pattern that snaked across most of the open area of the field.  They huddled around a large wooden crate while their instructor jumped up on top of it and gave a short blow of his whistle to get their attention.

“Alright, everypony, quiet down and listen up.  Here’s how this session is going to go,” Soarin began as they all watched and listened.  “Each one of you will be fitted with leg and body weights; your ultimate goal is to fly through all twenty-four hoops in the circuit without any part of your body touching any surface of any hoop. Academy standards call for sixteen hoops as an acceptable score for this trial.  If any part of your body hits a hoop, the bell mounted above it will ring and be scored as a foul against you.  You cause three fouls and your attempt will be disqualified.  Does everypony here understand what to do?”

“Yes sir!” they replied. 

“I need a volunteer to show how the weight gets strapped on.”  Soarin turned to look at the group, picking one at random.  “You.”

“Yes sir.”  Nightflight didn’t hesitate to step forward, still feeling buoyed by his first success.  He stood proudly in front of the others, his confidence high.  But that same sureness was not nearly as much once the weight was applied to his body.

“Each weight on your legs is equal to one fourth the weight that’s around your body.  That’s why you were weighed; you each have to carry your full body weight for this session.”  Soarin could not help but be a tiny bit amused by the facial expressions on the recruits as it dawned on them just how tough this part was going to be.  Rainbow Dash arrived back just in time to witness their reactions too.

“Ah, I see they’ve learned why we weigh them at the beginning.”  She looked over their faces, seeing some that were wide eyed and some that were worried and some that even looked sure of themselves.

“Alright newbies, suit up!” she ordered.

They were sorted out and fitted with the correct weights, the two team members getting them strapped in quickly and having the recruits get used to the weight on their bodies.  Most of them were looking rather worriedly at those hoops perched up high on the poles, wondering how they were going to reach them with all this weight on.

“Everypony stand single file right here behind this white line.”  Soarin got out the stopwatch from the flank pocket on his uniform, clipped it to his clipboard and watched Dash get the recruits lined up in a row.  She then took her position further out on the field so as to observe the flyers from a better vantage point.

“First flyer up!”  Soarin called and Nightflight got in position at the starting line, crouching halfway down so as to push himself up along with the thrust of his wings.  He took two deep breaths, focusing on the task at hand.

“Ready!”

Soarin had the stopwatch ready.  “Go!” he shouted and hit the timer.

Nightflight pushed up with everything he had, getting a good first thrust and flapping his wings like mad.  Up he went, quickly getting through the first hoop and headed on the path around the circuit, at first feeling like maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad.

Clang! Clang!  One of his hind legs had clipped two of the hoops he’d flown through.  All the extra weight was quickly sapping his strength.  Nightflight tried to maintain his flightpath, just clearing three of the hoops as the muscles in his wings ached from the intense workout.  His leg muscles started cramping up too, protesting the strain of holding his weighted limbs straight out in front and behind him.  Nightflight continued to sink lower as he pushed on, struggling to reach the tenth hoop.

Both his rear legs, dangling low beneath his body, clipped the hoop as he flew through, the contact throwing him suddenly out of balance and causing him to head straight for the ground. Nightflight made a gallant attempt at trying to land on his hooves but only stumbled a few steps and ended up eating dirt when he fell forward.  A couple of the recruits groaned sympathetically at the sudden impact.

“Oh no! Is he okay?”  Silverstream watched Nightflight stagger to his hooves, dizzy from the fall but unhurt for the most part.  He shook off the dirt from his body. 

“He’ll be fine.  It looks worse than it actually is.”  Firebolt seemed relatively unconcerned. This was all part of the training to her.  Nightflight plodded back to the line, panting from the strain.  Gallus silently watched him pass.

Just from seeing Nightflight’s spent expression and heavy panting, Gallus could tell exactly how tough this trial was going to be. A bit of dread crept inside the griffon.

“Crud!” he grumbled as a bit more of his confidence chipped away.

Nightflight headed for the back of the line.  “I need to sit down and rest.”

“Next flyer up!”  Soarin called to the next pony on line.  One by one, each recruit took their turn at flying and failing the painfully grueling course.  After watching three other ponies before her as well as Stormbringer foul out on their first attempts, it was now Firebolt’s turn and she strode confidently right up to the line while flexing her wings.

“All set, sir!”  She got in position, giving her wings one quick flap to get them set in launch position.

“Go!”  Soarin ordered and hit the timer on his stopwatch.  She took off in a blaze of speed, flying up and through the first clutch of hoops, hitting dead center on the first eight.

Clang!  Her left hind leg slapped the ninth hoop as she rounded the sharp turn at speed, her body pitching hard to the left and throwing her off balance.  Headstrong and refusing to slow up to regain her balance, she just barely made it through the following three hoops, twisting her body back into proper flight position.

Clang!  Her right leg had drooped down too low and hit the edge of the thirteenth hoop as she raced through it, setting off the bell.  She pressed on, trying to get her back end in line with her torso for the next hoop.  She was determined to get through this on the first try.

Firebolt didn’t slow down enough, going into the next turn too fast and letting her body swing wide.  Her left wing smacked the hoop as she flew through it.

 Clang!

“Foul!”  Rainbow Dash yelled, blowing her whistle and calling an end to Firebolt’s run.

Firebolt landed smoothly on her hooves without stumbling, something none of the other recruits had been able to do on their first attempts.  Silverstream and Gallus were impressed with her skill and expertise at flying under pressure.  She’d made it look almost easy.

“I guess she came prepared too.”  Gallus wondered how well he’d do at this trial, perhaps underestimating just how hard this was going to be to get through.

“Oh, for the love of Celestia!”  Firebolt snarled as she kicked at the ground a little, tromping her hooves back toward the line of recruits.  No pony missed the upset look on her face.

“You did great.  You flew through more hoops then everyone else so far.”  Silverstream tried to perk her up but Firebolt was very annoyed by her performance. 

“I should’ve made that last turn tighter than I did; wouldn’t have hit that last hoop like that if I’d slowed down sooner.  Besides, I fouled out so it doesn’t count.” 

“C’mon, Firebolt. Give yourself a break. No one here expects you or any of us to get through this on the first try.  That’s silly to think you have to.” Gallus made light of her seriousness. It wasn’t healthy to obsess.

“But I do.  I have to prove I can do this.”  To Gallus and Silverstream, it was more like she was telling herself this rather than answering them.

“To who?”  Silverstream asked the obvious question.  Firebolt hesitated briefly.

“It’s…it’s no one.  I…I just have to prove this to myself.  That’s all.”  She quickly headed for the back of the line, analyzing every moment of the first attempt in her mind and trying to figure out what she needed to do better.

“Next flyer up!”  Soarin called and up strode Wind Raider, sure and confident as any flyer here.  He was not intimidated by this.  A quick flap or two of his wings and he was in position and ready.

“All set, sir.”

“Go!” 

Wind Raider took off, his first wing thrust launching him high up in the air.  Silverstream and the rest of the recruits watched him fly flawlessly through the first eight hoops.  A cheer grew from among the recruits, witnessing a great run in the making.

Clang!  His hind left hoof slapped the ninth hoop.  Wind Raider had mistimed the change in altitude to make the turn.  Even though he was a powerful flyer, Wind Raider’s strength was not boundless.  The weight on his legs pulling them down forced him to concentrate more on keeping them up rather than focusing on flying.

Clang!  Again one of his hind hooves made contact with a metal hoop, setting off the bell.  One more hit and the run would be disqualified.  Through the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth hoops he endured, the golden target of the sixteenth just a few hoops ahead.   He just made it through the fourteenth hoop as his strength faded more, and rather than fouling out, he veered off to land instead, accepting only getting so far.  It wasn’t passing, but it was the best of the recruits and matched the distance Firebolt had gone.  There would be more chances to get it higher.  He landed close to Rainbow Dash, winded somewhat but more than capable of going again.

“Nice showing.”  She gave him a nod of acknowledgement and logged his stats in her logbook.

“I’ll get it on the next run, ma’am.”  He saluted her, wanting to impress his famous instructor with his serious determination.

“I’m sure you will.” She didn’t bother looking up, having heard that kind of banter before from previous recruits.

Now the pressure was on for those following in Wind Raider’s wake.  He’d set the mark to beat.  Gallus stepped up to the line, his time finally having come, keenly aware of his shortcomings.  His kind were more of the ‘gliding from high-up perches’ type and not really strong on the fast vertical take-offs like pegasus ponies were accustomed to.  But he would still make a go of it, undeterred by the challenge.

He got into position, mimicking how the pony recruits stood with wings spread out and ready.

“All set.”  Gallus looked right at the first hoop up ahead of him, everything else blocked from his mind, focusing on the objective.

“Ready?  Go!”  Soarin watched the griffon take off from a dead stop. His initial launch was lacking in both speed and altitude compared to his fellow flyers. Gallus flapped his wings furiously, gathering speed and making up a bit for his less than impressive take off.  Getting through the first two hoops wasn’t too bad but misjudging his speed and the weight he now had strapped on him, he overshot the sharp right turn for the third hoop and went soaring off the circuit.  He was losing precious time flying back to get on the circuit again, and trying to make up for the mistake, he got careless and desperate.

 Clang! Clang! Clang!

He smacked three consecutive hoops with both his hind legs, unaccustomed to the weight pulling down on his limbs.

“Foul!”  Dash pointed at Gallus and blew her whistle, watching him gliding down to the ground, his limbs drooping.  He was smooth with his landing, allowing himself plenty of distance to land on all fours without stumbling and falling like the other recruits. 

“Crud!”  Gallus snarled to himself, keeping his voice down so as not to let them hear his cussing.  He realized just how unprepared for this exercise he was, baffled at how any of the pegasus pony recruits could handle flying with all this weight strapped on.

“Tough break, but keep at it.”  Rainbow Dash pointed back to the line, still offering encouragement and a brief smile.

“Yes, ma’am.” He stepped to it, glad to still have her support.  Gallus headed back to join his friends, standing in sequence in the line of yet-to-go flyers.  
“Not easy, is it?”  Firebolt reached out to stop him, half-expecting Gallus to pull away and not want to hear any offering of sympathy about his first attempt. Unlike the previous trials, every participant here was too tired to even bother with taunts. None of them were looking very impressive to the instructors so no one wanted to waste the time or energy when they needed to recuperate.

“This is a total joke!” he paused to mutter a few disgruntled words, “no flyer could possibly do this without losing control or hitting the hoops while trying to fly fast and get anything like a decent time.  Your whole body balance is all out of whack with these things on.” He was a good flyer and he knew it.  This just seemed like a pointless exercise to him.

“It’s all about controlled flight, Gallus. It’s knowing just how fast you can go versus how fast you want to go. Get it?”  Solar Flare had been keen to see Gallus succeed, figuring that a griffon’s lighter frame was probably more suited for trick flyting and tight formation flight than mere power flying.

“No, not really.”  This was all new to him; flying was not something he analyzed or thought much about in itself.  So getting all technical about it didn’t make much sense to him.

“Watch the next flyer and I’ll explain.”  Solar Flare subconsciously knew he shouldn’t be helping fellow flyers who were competing for a spot in the academy along with him, but the spirit of friendly competition was in him and he wished to impart some insight to a new friend.

They watched the next pony, a blue-gray stallion, get into position at the starting line.  The instructor shouted for him to go and the pony took off with lightning speed.  Solar Flare stood next to Gallus and pointed out the flightpath of the recruit.

“Just watch how he flies and I’ll point out to you what he’s doing.”  Silverstream and Brightstar moved in closer to listen.  This could make the difference between passing and failing so they huddled in close to see where Solar Flare was pointing.

“See?  See how he slowed down before those turns and then sped up?  Look how far before the turn he does that, and then he makes it around the turn cleanly.  He knows he’s got more weight in his momentum so he has to slow down sooner in order to make the turns and not fly off the circuit.  That way he’s lined up to get through the hoops in proper body position.”  Using his left wing like a pointer, Solar Flare pointed out the spots above them as he explained how to stay more in balance.  With more analytical eyes, the group watched and learned.

“Now watch; he’s going to glide from the high point and down to the tenth-”

Clang!  The bell mounted above the hoop shook and clattered from the impact of a leg weight.  The flyer veered off the circuit, choosing not to risk fouling out of the run.

“Well,” Solar Flare was momentarily disappointed for the short demonstration.  “I guess I’m not going to be able to have you watch.  But that should help you get some better idea of how to approach this test.”

“Thanks for the help, I’m just so nervous right now!”  Silverstream twitched her wings, trying to shake off the pre-attempt jitters.  Brightstar put a wing around her shoulders.

“You’re going to do fine; we’re going to do fine.”   Brightstar made it sound like this was going to be a piece of cake, but after seeing a number of flyers foul out from the strain, it looked nearly impossible.

“Next flyer up!”   Soarin double-checked his roster, making sure he had the correct recruit’s name and spot to record their run.  Brightstar trotted right up to the line and got in position, wings poised at the ready.

“All set!”  Brightstar blocked everything out of her mind and focused only on the first hoop up and ahead of her, about one hundred yards away.  It was dead silent for a second or two, then the command…

“Go!”  Soarin set Brightstar on her first attempt, silently cheering on his selected recruit for these trials.  He was sure that those he’d chosen would reflect well on his ability to pick good flyers for the academy.  Being Wonderbolt team captain added to the pressure on him to pick good candidates.

Brightstar was sure and steady with her flight, clearly not flying as fast as the others before her but she got through first six, then seven, then eight hoops cleanly and right dead center of each.  Cheers again grew from the excitement of seeing a flyer making a good run.

“Go Brightstar!  Wahoo!  Go girl!”  Silverstream hooted for her, both excited for Brightstar to make it but also watching and learning how to go the distance too.

“She’s going to take the lead, I just know it!”  Firebolt was itching to see Wind Raider lose his spot as top recruit.  Gallus clapped and whistled loudly for Brightstar as she sailed through another fours hoops in a row.

Brightstar misjudged the distance and her speed in the turn before the thirteenth hoop and, like a number of other recruits, struck the hoop with a hind leg.

Clang!  The reverberation from the impact shot up her leg, making her wince hard and distracting her long enough that she was too low to reach the next hoop.  She held off completing her run, descending slowly back down to the ground and conserving energy by gliding in, much like Gallus had.  The pain her left hind leg throbbed terribly, making landing tricky as she favored it, trying not to put too much pressure on it. 

Rainbow Dash continued to record the information in her log, making small side notes on how each recruit performed.  “Keep at it; three more hoops to go.” 

“Thank you, ma’am.  I’ll try harder on the next run.”  Brightstar limped back to the spot where her friends were standing.  She hoped she could walk off the pain enough to recover for her next attempt. 

“That was really good; thirteen on the first try.”  Silverstream had watched every move her friend had made traversing the circuit, studying how and when to slow down and then push herself faster, trying to understand what to do and when.  Armed with this knowledge, perhaps this first attempt wouldn’t be as hard as it looked.

“It’s not great; I just wanted to get some kind of score on the first go.”  Brightstar was still breathing hard but she was not nearly as winded as the recruits who went for broke on their first runs.  Brightstar kept flexing her left hind leg, working the muscle and trying to block out the pain from her mind.

“Next flyer up!”  The call went out and now it was Silverstream’s turn.  Firebolt offered a last piece of advice, pulling Silverstream’s head down so she could whisper to her.

“When you fly, try keeping your flightpath aimed towards the top of the hoops, that way if your limbs start to droop, you’ll have the most clearance underneath as possible.”  If Silverstream performed as well here as she had on the Dizzatron, then she should be great.

“Thanks, I’ll remember that.”  Silverstream got to the starting line, crouching down and giving her wings a quick flick, getting them set in position.

“Ready?”  Soarin saw the look of determination in the hippogriff’s eyes.  Silverstream only nodded back.

“Go!”  Soaring hit the trigger on the stopwatch and Silverstream launched herself into the air with a thrust of her wings, kicking up a cloud of dust in her wake.  Her friends watched with excitement as she passed through the first eight hoops and then the ninth hoop and kept right on going.  Like for Brightstar before her, the recruits started to cheer for Silverstream.  The cheers became louder as she now reached the tenth, eleventh and twelfth hoops.  Gallus couldn’t help but get swept up in the excitement.

“Go, Silver, go!”  He hopped up and down a little on his haunches, urging his friend on.

“Keep your legs up, girl!  Keep’em up!”  Firebolt wished her friend could hear her, watching as Silverstream’s hind legs began to droop.  She was obviously starting to tire.  If she could, Firebolt would’ve flown right out there and held up Silverstream’s hind legs for her.

Lucky… lucky… lucky…Silverstream’s repeated to herself over and over again as she managed to fly through each hoop, the muscles in her shoulders and hips burning in pain from holding her legs straight out.  She was constantly correcting her balance, all that extra weight made those sharp right and left turns so much more difficult.  She wanted to push her speed, wanting to get as far as fast as she could before all her strength was gone. 

“…it’s knowing just how fast you can go versus how fast you want to go…”

Silverstream remembered what Solar Flare told her.  She knew she could go faster but doing so meant less control and so much more energy spent.  And she wanted to go further than any other flyer had so far.  She had to hold back, maintain a steady if somewhat unspectacular speed and get through as many hoops as possible. Her breathing became more and more labored, the strength leaving her.  Through the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth hoops she flew, the dream target of the sixteenth ahead of her. 

“Yeah!  Go Silverstream!”  Soarin cheered aloud, but suddenly planted a forehoof over his mouth, realizing he had violated the rules of conduct for instructors; showing bias or favoritism for any particular recruit.  Rainbow Dash had heard Soarin rooting for her student and, seeing him so embarrassed for having done so, she could only smile back at him; a silent ‘thank you for that’.  Having him supporting Silverstream’s efforts endeared him to Dash that much more.  He tried to not look too embarrassed but the slight pink tones on his cheeks gave him away.

Silverstream went for it, pouring it on to get through the sixteenth hoop.  Her friends down below cheered her on, as Silverstream near the goal.  Silverstream held on for as long as she could, flapping her wings furiously to keep aloft and make it through.  She thought she was home free when her hopes were rudely disrupted.

Clang!  The bell tolled as one hind leg weight had smacked the hoop as she darted through, her first fault of her run.  The seventeenth hoop was up ahead and, feeling the burn to push herself, she kept going, willing to risk the run if she messed up.

“She’s doing it! She’s doing it!”  Firebolt clamped Gallus in a vice-like hug of glee, the excitement overtaking her.  Wind Raider’s expression grew more and more infuriated as he watched one of the ‘freaks’ setting a new high mark for the others to beat.  Surpassing his mark.

“Go, go, go Silverstream! Do it!”  Brightstar cheered for her but Silverstream didn’t hear any of the cheers or yells.  Her whole focus was on reaching and getting through that eighteenth hoop.  All she could hear was the thud-thud thud-thud of her heartbeat in her ears.  Closer and closer she came, her muscles crying for relief from the burning pain, thinking her wings might actually fall off from the stress.

“She’s got it!  She’s going to get to the eighteenth!”  Firebolt squeezed Gallus a little tighter.

“Galk!”  Gallus croaked as he tried to get a breath in but Firebolt’s grip was crushing. 

Clang! Silverstream’s left rear hoof caught the edge of the hoop as she flew through.  She could see the nineteenth hoop about another fifty yards or so up ahead but her body was screaming out for the strain to stop.  Rather than fouling out, she wisely pulled off to land.  Once on the ground again, Firebolt and her friends ran over to her, holding her up, so thrilled to have witnessed such an amazing run.

“You did it Silver!  You’re on top!  You’re in the lead now!”  Brightstar reached her first, catching Silverstream as she almost collapsed.

“I…I did it!”  Silverstream was gasping for breath, practically falling down on herself from the strain.  She was limp, unable to return the embraces as more of her friends came to her aid, holding her up.  Even Rainbow Dash rushed over to congratulate her student for the tremendous run.

“You totally crushed it, Silver!  That was outstanding!”  Dash, too, hugged her student, overcome with elation for the performance.  Soarin smiled and watched from a distance, letting the recruits and Rainbow Dash relish the moment.  A piece of him wanted to join in too, but had to maintain a ‘professional’ appearance as a Wonderbolt team leader.  They were so lucky Commander Spitfire couldn’t see Dash behaving like that.

It took a few minutes to get the recruits to settle down and refocus on the task at hand.  Many of them were inspired by Silverstream’s performance and were psyched up to try again. Last up was Solar Flare, waiting until the noise had died down before making his first attempt.  Poised and patiently waiting for his turn, he would do his best to match or pass his friend’s very impressive score.   Standing at the starting line, he crouched down into launch position with his wings spread out and ready.  He gave Soarin a nod to let him know he was set.

“Ready?  Go!”  Soarin gave the command and Solar Flare took off, heading for the first hoop of the course. His strong and steady wing thrusts propelled him up and away, flying easily through the first eight hoops.  The recruits cheered for Solar Flare too; this good streak of strong flyers was putting on a great show for the less successful ones.

The yet-to-qualify duo of Gallus and Nightflight watched with eagerness at Solar Flare’s flight.  They wanted to get through this trial too.  Solar Flare clearly knew what to do so watching him was a sure way to pick up some tidbit of insight on how to get through this successfully.

“Hey, he’s really good!”  Firebolt hadn’t initially suspected him of being that strong a flyer, since he had always been rather quiet and only spoke when he had something to say.  They watched as he flew successfully on through the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth hoops, seemingly unfazed by the effort it was taking.

Silverstream and her friends loudly cheered him on, only easing off when the bell above the sixteenth hoop went off.  Solar Flare exited the circuit, stumbling a little on his landing but staying upright on his hooves.

“Well done, Solar.  I’m not surprised you made it on the first go.”  Rainbow Dash was quite satisfied with her crop of recruits.

“Thank you, ma’am.”  He still had strength enough to salute her before returning to the line where he received the accolades of his peers.

“On the first go-round, you lucky pony you!”  Firebolt gave him a hoof-bump and a wing pat for acing the requirement like that.

“You were so steady up there!  What’s your secret?”  Nightflight couldn’t believe it; back-to-back flyers reaching the goal on a first attempt.  He wanted to try again; seeing Solar Flare get as far as he did made it seem more possible now.
Soarin let them carry on for a minute or two before blowing his whistle to regain control over the excitable recruits.

“Alright!  Alright!  Take it easy, newbies!  Nothing to get so excited over.”   He attempted to get them to settle down.  “Some of you have shown a very good understanding of what’s required to complete this trial while others here need to focus more.  Recruits Silverstream and Solar Flare; front and center.”  The two recruits stepped forward.

“Since you two made successful flights that met the requirements, you are not obligated to take another attempt and therefore are excused from continuing.”  He expected them to react with relief but was surprised, as were the other recruits, when he heard their answer.

“If it’s all the same to you, sir, I’d like to stay and try for a better time on the circuit.” Solar Flare may have made a successful run but it wasn’t his best, and he knew it.  He would try for a better time.

“I’d like to stay as well; to support my friends, sir.”  Silverstream was earnest with her intent.  If she was rested enough, maybe she’d take another try at going the full length of the circuit.

“Well it’s up to you,” Soarin answered thoughtfully. “Perhaps you both could offer some encouragement or assistance to those flyers that need have yet to pass.  I’m sure no one here would object.”

“We’d be glad to, sir.”  Solar Flare turned and saw Silverstream nodding as well, wanting to help her fellow recruits.  Soarin liked the way the two leading flyers were willing to stay on even when offered the chance to rest.  Good leadership qualities like these two had were what potential academy cadets needed to have to succeed. He’d make sure to note such actions in their records, aware of how favorably it would reflect in their evaluations.

The recruits all seemed to be grateful that the two best flyers had chosen to stay on and help them.  Firebolt gave Silverstream a friendly nudge with her shoulder as she headed to get in line with the others.  The hippogriff caught sight of her friend’s bright red mane from out of the corner of her eye.

“Nice going, superstar!”  Firebolt grinned at Silverstream, who responded with a blush and a titter.

Whether intentional or not, having Silverstream and Solar Flare remain with the other recruits had the effect Soarin had suspected would happen.  It wasn’t as much of an impact as he’d hoped.  But he’d seen the division growing between the recruits and needed to put a stop to it.  It was necessary to break down that wall of unfamiliarity and build up the camaraderie of being a unified group that was essential for success in the trials.

Two of the stallions that had been hanging around Wind Raider and Stormbringer did venture over to speak with Solar Flare, seeking advice about some topic of flying.  Stormbringer made a half-hearted attempt at speaking with Nightflight, trying to find some aspect of the trials they could talk about that wasn’t Gallus or Silverstream.

When it came time for a second attempt at the circuit, every flyer that’d fouled out on their first attempt scored better, flying through at least the first dozen hoops before having to stop their attempts from fouling out.  Advice shared and trust beginning to build was yielding the results Soarin was aiming for.  None so far had fouled out of their run.  Things were looking up for this group.

Now it was Firebolt’s turn once more.  She’d watched all four of the previous flyers take their second attempt and all of them had redeemed themselves by getting some kind of respectable score.  She had to stake her claim as a top flyer and show the other recruits she knew how to succeed.

She stepped up to the starting line, watching Stormbringer being congratulated by Wind Raider and the two other stallions for having completed a run of fourteen hoops.  Their confidence and braggadocio was on full display with Wind Raider telling all in earshot how great he and his crew were and how they were going to totally squash the competition -shooting looks at Silverstream and Gallus- for this trial.

Firebolt found their boasting and gloating annoying to listen to but said nothing.  She would let her flying do the bragging for her.  Blocking out the background noise from her mind, she got into launch position at the line and flicked her wings a few times in preparation.

“Ready?”  Soarin looked over the young mare in front of him, seeing the determined look on her face as she awaited the command.

“Ready.”  Firebolt narrowed her eyes slightly, focusing intensely on the task at hand.

“Go!”  Soarin hit the switch on his stopwatch as he watched Firebolt take off in a near perfect vertical launch into the air above them all.

“C’mon Firebolt!  You can do it!  Show’em how it’s done!”  Brightstar yelled out, whistling and cheering for another mare to get on the scoreboard.  Nightflight and Gallus cheered right along with her, watching Firebolt soar easily through the tenth, eleventh and twelfth hoops, putting on a great show of agile flying.

“Careful Firebolt, don’t force it.  Pace yourself.”  Solar Flare urged on softly, seeing Firebolt heading along at a good clip and taking the turns as fast as she could.

“Look at her go!  She’s doing great!”  Silverstream clapped her talons, excited to see the first friend she’d made here at the trials showing everycreature here how strong of a flyer she was.

Firebolt quickly reached the same spot in the circuit where she’d messed up on her first attempt.  Slowing up just enough, she barely made it through the tricky down-up-down altitude change for the twelfth to fourteenth hoops, getting her rear hooves just out of the way of hitting the last hoop as she made it through.

No pain, no gain!  Push! Push! Make your stand! She would will this to be, giving her all to make it to the end of her run.

 Clang!  Her left hind leg struck the fifteenth hoop as she’d made the quick right turn too wide.  Firebolt tried to compensate for the speed by pitching her body hard to the right to get back in position but she overcorrected her flightpath and was now too far to the right to clear the next hoop cleanly.

Clang!

“Ow-w-w!”  She took the pain, clenching her jaw tight as her right wing clipped the sixteenth hoop, setting off the bell for her foul.  Annoyed at herself for making back-to-back errors, she pulled off the circuit, not willing to press her luck and lose out on a mostly successful run.

Her friends all watched her come in for her landing from close by, seeing the worn out look on her face and how her limbs drooped down below her as she approached.  She took a few stumbling steps as her hooves touched the ground, but managed to stay upright and not fall over like most recruits had.  Her clutch of friends were quickly surrounding her, offering congratulations.

“You did it, Firebolt!  You made it through all sixteen hoops!”  Silverstream was the most excited of her friends to see her succeed.

“That was an awesome flight.  You were blazing through those hoops.”  Brightstar reached out with a free foreleg, steadying her friend who was still having some trouble standing up.  She and Firebolt were fairly evenly matched in skill and size so it felt more reassuring to have another pony like herself go the distance.  But Firebolt didn’t seemed too pleased with herself right then.

“Yeah, well, I still got two fouls though.  It’s not like it was nearly as good as yours, Silver’s, or Solar Flare’s run.  I should’ve done better.”  She was her own toughest critic, wanting to appear competent and capable to all the other recruits.

“What’s the big deal?  You made the cut and that’s all there is to it.  There’s no sense in beating yourself up over a few little mistakes.”  Gallus didn’t understand why Firebolt was unhappy with making the grade.

“Going the distance without fouling at all was what I really wanted. I didn’t want to have any marks against my run when it gets submitted for evaluation to the C.O.”

“Why?  I don’t think she’s expecting any one of us rookies to be perfect flyers every time all the time.  You passed, so why get so worked up?”  But Gallus’ somewhat dismissive attitude rubbed Firebolt the wrong way and she seemed to get a bit more flustered.

“No, I can’t just-” Firebolt caught herself, not letting her frustration or her friend’s misunderstanding of how seriously she was taking this upset her more.  She had to keep it together as she reined in her emotions.

“You can’t just what?”  Silverstream could only guess what she was even talking about.  This was the second time she’d heard her friend making an odd comment about not wanting to look bad in front of the academy’s commanding officer.

“Nevermind, it’s nothing important.”  Firebolt quickly turned away, deflecting the question as she plodded to the rear of the line where she could rest with the others.  Silverstream let it go, as she could see Firebolt was too tired and too absorbed in her own thoughts at that moment, and she didn’t want to pester her.

Cloudy Sky, the blue-gray stallion whom Solar Flare had his friends observe flying previously, was about to step up to the line when he was rudely shoved aside by another pony.

“Hey, what the-?” He was almost pushed off his hooves.  He spun around to face whoever it was but suddenly had second thoughts when he saw it was a pony bigger and stronger than himself.

“I’m going next.”  Wind Raider glared at Cloudy Sky with intense fury, sending the smaller pony back several steps.  Some know-nothing mare had just beat Wind Raider’s score and he wasn’t going to wait around for another flyer to do so again.

“Uh, yeah, whatever you want dude.”  Cloudy Sky shrank back even more, not wanting any trouble.  Silverstream and her friends were incensed by Wind Raider’s unsportspony-like behavior.  Solar Flare marched right up to Wind Raider; the two biggest pony recruits now staring down one another, almost nose to nose.

“Cloudy Sky was up next.  I think you can wait your turn.”  Solar Flare was calm and cool when he spoke, pointing out Wind Raider’s inappropriate behavior towards his fellow recruits.  He had a pet peeve against ponies who bullied others.  But Wind Raider wasn’t budging.

“I said I’m going next!”  Wind responded with a clenched jaw and a scowl back at Solar Flare, not intimidated.  The two of them stood there, glaring at one another as the tension grew worse.  Soarin, sensing trouble brewing, got in between the two hotheads quickly.

“What in name of the Two Sisters is going on?  Is there some kind of problem here?  I said I want the next flyer up!” Soarin waited to see who was being stopped from their attempt.  Cloudy Sky carefully stepped around Wind Raider and Solar Flare to the starting line again, preparing to give this flight everything he had left.  Pulling at Wind Raider’s foreleg was Stormbringer, having stealthily crept in closer and getting him to back away from this stare-down.

“Forget it, Wind Raider.  Don’t waste your time on something pointless. Think about finishing the trial.”  Stormbringer only took a hasty look over at Solar Flare and the others, embarrassed by Wind Raider’s behavior.  He could almost feel the daggers shooting from their eyes at him and Wind Raider.  He quickly looked away, not wanting to make things worse.

Cloudy Sky got into launch position.  After watching Firebolt make the cut, he was confident he could reach the goal of sixteen hoops too.  Soarin got the stopwatch reset and ready.

“Ready?  Go!”  Soarin watched Cloudy Sky take off, getting up to flight speed much quicker this time.  He pushed his wings and body to the breaking point, getting through the first ten hoops perfectly.  His strength was fading but he refused to give up.

 If Firebolt, Silverstream and Solar Flare can do it, then so can I!  He knew he didn’t have the strength to take another attempt and would accept the consequences of pushing himself beyond his physical limits.  His whole body cried out from the strain, feeling his legs beginning to droop down below him.  He let them rest; only pulling his hind legs up higher when he had to pass through a hoop.  He was using his head, successfully passing through fourteen hoops and heading for the fifteenth.

Clang!  A hind leg smacked the hoop as he passed through it and set the alarm bell ringing.  But he was thinking ahead.  That was only the first foul and that meant he had a one alarm cushion to get through to the sixteenth.

His friends were cheering him on from down below, wanting him to go the distance this time. Cloudy Sky used up every bit of strength to reach it but both hind legs caught the edge of the sixteenth hoop as he flew through, completely throwing off his body’s balance and making it impossible for him to recover, sending his body tumbling towards the ground.  Cloudy Sky couldn’t slow his descent enough; his energy was spent from making the supreme effort of reaching the hoop.  He was headed on a collision course with the other recruits below.

“Look o-u-u-u-u-t!”  His alarm sent the recruits scattering in every direction, frantically trying to get out of the way.  Flapping his wings, Cloudy Sky tried in vain to slow down but only ended up crashing into Stormbringer and two other recruits who couldn’t move fast enough. Gallus and Firebolt ran to where their friend had collided with the others.

“Hey, you okay, Cloudy?” Firebolt helped an exhausted and groggy Cloudy Sky to his hooves, having him lean heavily on her and Gallus for help.

“Watch where you’re flying, you numbskull!”  Stormbringer helped his friends up, all of them checking themselves over to be sure they weren’t hurt.  As they were about to haul Cloudy Sky back to the line, Rainbow Dash hustled over to speak to them before they did, eager to share the good news. 

“Congratulations, recruit, you made it.”  Rainbow Dash was astonished at how hard this recruit had pushed himself. She had to ask herself difficult questions about each recruit that went the required distance.

 Was it determination or reckless abandon that allowed the recruit to achieve the goal?  Was the flyer under control of their flight?  Did they adjust and adapt to requirements of the situation?  Did each flyer make repeated mistakes and not learn from them? 

This was hard for Dash.  This wasn’t like teaching at Twilight’s school at all.  Back at the School of Friendship, no one got cut for ‘not being good enough’. Here, it was much tougher; she had to go with her gut.  Back at the School, she could allow herself to go with her heart.  She had no such luxury this time.

The two friends lowered the exhausted pony down gently to the ground, all of them aware they too were going to have to push themselves to their limits much like he had.  That was not lost on them, though they tried not to think about it too much.

“Just take it easy and rest yourself.  That was some performance you did.”  Gallus thought it amazing how hard some ponies would push themselves to get through such an arduous thing, such as these trials.   His attention returned to the next flyer and up walked Brightstar to the starting line.

She got into position, wings set and ready, eyes focused on the first hoop.

“Ready?  Go!”  Soarin hit the stopwatch once more and she took off getting a good first push up, steadily flapping her wings and rapidly building up speed and height.  From the starting area, Silverstream and the others watched her keep a steady pace, right on target, landing dead center on the first dozen hoops.

Breathe deep!  More oxygen for the blood!  That’s the trick!  Brightstar had to keep reminding herself, trying to keep up her strength to stay on track to reach the goal of sixteen hoops. The whistles and cheers grew for her as the other ponies watched her fly through the next three hoops.  The target of the sixteenth was right ahead of her.

C’mon! C’mon! The goal was only a few more yards away. It was all she could do to hang on and just make it through, both her hind legs clipped the hoop and set the bell ringing.  Her first foul, but it didn’t matter.  She couldn’t go on even if she’d wanted to.

Brightstar came in to land on her hooves too quickly, the strain on her legs turning the limbs limp and sore.  Like others before her, she made an unspectacular crash landing when she reached the ground.  More embarrassed than hurt, she still had enough strength to haul her body to her hooves and walk back unaided.

“Well done, recruit.  You made it.”  Dash wrote down the score and her observations of the flyer’s capabilities.  Brightstar only smiled wearily and saluted her drill instructor, walking unsteadily on her hooves but not still nearly as exhausted as Nightflight was after his run.  Her friends were there to congratulate her on making the cut.

“I thought I wasn’t going to make it there for a few seconds!  That hoop felt a million miles away!”  Brightstar smiled in-between her heavy panting.  She’d given this her all and was glad this trial was over for her.  That just left Wind Raider as the final flyer to go.

Most of the recruits were keen to see how Wind Raider would do this time.  The two previous flyers had made the grade and he was just as determined to do so too.  Wordlessly he stepped forward to the starting line, getting set in position to go.

“All set, sir.”  Wind Raider flicked his wings a little, getting them set in position.  Every flyer quieted down and watched, anticipating an impressive showing.

“Ready?  Go!”  Soarin had to shield his eyes from the dust cloud kicked up once more by the mighty wing thrust that launched Wind Raider into the air.  Of all the recruits he had the fastest launch times, getting up to speed and proper altitude for this trial quickly.

He made it look so easy, flying the circuit like a seasoned Wonderbolt, taking every turn and change in direction with trained fluidity, sailing through the first ten hoops flawlessly.  Stormbringer and a couple of other ponies started cheering for him, seeing Wind Raider easily keeping pace with the other recruits. 

“Yeah, go Wind Raider!  Go for it!’  Stormbringer reared and pumped his front hooves in the air, thrilled to see his friend doing so well.  Soarin and Dash watched as Wind Raider passed through another four hoops without showing any sign of slowing down or tiring.

Wind Raider dug deep for the strength to endure this, his legs becoming heavier and heavier with each passing second.  Silverstream and her friends watched with astonishment as Wind Raider passed through the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth hoops, pushing himself to the brink.  Stormbringer whooped and hollered even louder as his friend poured it on.

Not going to… give in!  Not… yet!  Wind Raider strained to keep a steady flightpath, losing the strength to compensate for the added weight on his body as he rounded the turns. Onward he pushed through three more hoops, bobbing and weaving his way through the circuit.

Clang!  Both his rear legs struck the twentieth hoop, setting off the bell from the impact.  Every muscle in his body ached from the stress, his head throbbing with the sound of the blood rushing in his ears.  The end of the circuit was only a few hoops further on, he would be a pony of such notoriety if he completed the circuit.  It was unimaginable that a raw recruit would be able to do this during the tryouts.

Clang!  He clipped the twenty-first hoop with his left wing, throwing him terribly off balance.  The last three hoops just weren’t worth it.

That’s it!  I’m done!  He gasped for breath as he turned away and off the circuit, unwilling to press his luck with two fouls against him.  He’d done even better then he’d hoped for.  Back on the ground, he could not help but collapse in a heap, his heart pounding furiously in his chest and making breathing actually hurt as his head throbbed painfully.

“That was quite impressive, recruit.”  Rainbow Dash had seen some strong flyers in her day but this stallion was something else.  If he scored like this on the other training sessions, he was sure to get accepted.  Stormbringer and a few other ponies came rushing to his side, helping him up and congratulating him on beating everyone.

“Oh yeah!  Who’s the best?!  Who’s the best?!”  Stormbringer bragged loudly about Wind Raider’s performance, irking Solar Flare and Brightstar to no end with his obnoxious cheerleading.

Firebolt could not believe what Wind Raider had done.  He’d trounced every other flyer’s score.  Even Gallus had to admit to himself that Wind Raider was an exceptional flyer, even if he did dislike him.

“Wow.”  The word fell softly from Silverstream’s mouth, taken aback by just how far Wind Raider had gone and how hard he was willing to push himself to be the best.

“Yeah, that was something alright.”  Firebolt was humbled, her confidence shaken at having witnessed what was likely to be a record-setting run.  She had been tough on her own performance earlier, but now she felt simply awful after seeing Wind Raider’s run that just totally outdid hers.
> Ch. 7 Wonderbolt Trials pt.4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nightflight wanted to be first up again, chomping at the bit to get through this while he still had the stamina.  Brightstar and Cloudy Sky were close by, giving him some last words of advice as he got to the starting line and into launch position.

“Ready sir.” Nightflight flipped the goggles down over his eyes, trying to block out the excited murmurs of his fellow recruits, still buzzing from Wind Raider’s run.  The noise died down, eyes now on him now as he awaited the word.

“Go!”  Soarin hit the stopwatch timer and off went Nightflight, getting a decent jump off the line. 

“C’mon!  C’mon!”  Firebolt watched every move Nightflight made, pulling for him to make it this time, pumping a forehoof in the air. 

“Smooth…smooth…”  Solar Flare watched Nightflight traverse the circuit, passing through the first dozen hoops successfully.  He hoped Nightflight had learned something from watching the others try.

“I think he’s gonna make it.”  Silverstream watched with nervous butterflies buzzing about in her stomach from watching her friend now pass cleanly through each hoop.  But Nightflight quickly began to tire, his legs hanging down and his flight not a smooth as when he started. Fatigue was beginning to tax him.

Nightflight struggled on.  The next two hoops were still up ahead, but he felt his strength draining away.  He couldn’t hold up his legs much longer.  Through the pain he pushed himself, desperate not to fail at reaching sixteen hoops.  Nightflight dug deep for that last bit of strength, making a go-for-broke bid to reach the last hoop he needed.

Clang! Clang!  He fouled on two hoops in a row, drifting too far to one side and overcompensating when he tried to correct his body position.  His goal of the sixteenth hoop was just ahead of him but he was losing altitude, unable to keep his flightpath up towards the hoop.

“He’s losing it!”  Gallus pointed to the struggling stallion who was about to stall out.  Nightflight pulled away and off the circuit, knowing when to give up and avoid injuring himself for no gain. This was the best run he’d could do and he had to accept that, whether he liked it or not.

Dang it all to Tartarus!  Nightflight silently cursed at himself. He was sure that this was going to get him cut from the trials.  He landed not too far from where Rainbow Dash was standing, ashamed to even look at such an accomplished Wonderbolt after failing so miserably.

“Good effort, recruit.”  Dash wrote down the results in her report, noting details on how he’d performed.  Nightflight’s head hung low.

“Sorry, ma’am.  I failed.  I guess I don’t have what it takes to be a cadet at the academy.” His comment got his instructor’s attention away from her record keeping.

“What makes you think you don’t have what it takes to be an academy cadet? Just because you didn’t reach a goal on one trial means instantly you’re eliminated?”

Nightflight blinked a few times and looked up at his drill instructor, a bit confused by her question.  Wasn’t that what Soarin had said at the beginning of this event?

“But, I thought if anypony doesn’t reach sixteen hoops, they’re eliminated from the trials.  Recruits have to get have to reach a certain number of hoops on the coarse with the shortest possible time by understanding what ratio of wingbeats to bodyweight will be required to-”  Hearing the recruit go on and on and on and totally overthinking the trial made Dash chuckle a little.

“Huh?  What’s so funny?”

“You know, you sure sound a lot like a certain pony princess friend I have.  You and she both like to overthink a problem or situation.  The trials are more than just performance charts and tallied up scores, recruit.  It’s also a measure of a pony’s character along with their abilities.  Don’t lose sight of that when you’re busy overanalyzing some trial attempt you aren’t happy with, okay?”

Dash knew just what to say to help pull a flyer’s confidence up so they wouldn’t be so hard on themselves.  It was something she held close to her heart; flying was really thirty percent ability and seventy percent confidence.  She wanted these recruits to feel confident and try harder.

“Thank you, ma’am.  I hope I at least made a good impression on you and the other instructors.”  He was already staggering back to his friends, buoyed by the small pep talk and eager to try his luck once more if there was time.

Gallus stood apart from his friends and closer to the starting line to watch the next two flyers make their third attempts at going the distance. He would try to study their flights and analyze what they did, wanting to glean every last bit of understanding about how to pass this trial.

Nightflight had gotten very close to the goal of sixteen hoops.  It had been extraordinary to see how long his strength had held out.  The griffon wondered if the two remaining stallions could match or beat Nightflight’s final distance. 

Even with the cheers and support from the other recruits, unfortunately they ended up scoring the same or worse than in their previous attempts.   To continue would require more strength and stamina than either of them had.

Stormbringer and Wind Raider helped the last flyer up to his hooves.

“You gave it your best shot; guess it’s not enough though.”  Wind Raider coolly consoled his pale-red coated comrade, outwardly supportive but not very sympathetic.  The recruits watched as Wind Raider held up his exhausted friend and walk him back where everyone stood to watch the remaining flyers take their turn.  Stormbringer offered a consolatory wing pat on his comrade’s back as he passed by them, heading for the starting line.  This would be his third attempt as he had only gotten a score of fourteen hoops on his second.  It was now or never for him. 

“Ready?”  Soarin reset the timer on his stopwatch, watching as Stormbringer crouched down and set his wings in launch position.

Stormbringer nodded, ready to unleash that first burst of energy from his wings.

“Go!”

Stormbringer got a good jump off the line, flapping hard and getting up to the correct altitude quickly to get through the first hoop.  He made steady progress through the circuit, making it past the tricky spots that had caused him to foul out the first time. 

“Go, Storm, go!  Go for it!” Wind Raider and a couple of other ponies cheered him on, watching him keep on pace to reach the goal of sixteen hoops.  Stormbringer couldn’t help but feel a little excited right then.  He’d gotten this far and now was on a roll.  But his glee was short lived, for the next difficult part of the circuit was upon him within seconds.

He tried to line his body up for the turn but was going too fast and his back end was drifting out.  Stormbringer struggled to get his body back into position but the next hoop was upon him and he knew he was going to hit it.

“Oh crud!” 

Clang!  His left wing struck the hoop hard as he sailed through it. Now both wings were aching from the strain of flight with one throbbing from the impact. He swore he could see a few drops of blood splattered on the feathers of his left wing.

Clang!  Before Stormbringer could think about what to do to correct himself, his left hind leg hit the next hoop, throwing his body out of balance and making it unbelievably hard to recover as all that weight strapped to his body made his limbs swing around like pendulums. 

 I can’t take any more of this!  He recognized this attempt was going bad and he needed to stop.  Stormbringer turned away and off the circuit to land, figuring it wiser than to press on to the fifteenth hoop in this condition.  He thought it would be suicidal to try.

If there was time, he would have to try again. He’d only tied the score from his second attempt.  But quite honestly, after three attempts, he wasn’t sure he could go the distance.  Wind Raider was first over to console him.

“Tough break, Storm.  Maybe there’ll be time for another try at this.”  He helped Stormbringer up to his hooves, leading him back to a spot nearby to rest up.

“Maybe,” Stormbringer managed to mumble in between gasps of air.  His whole body seemed to be throbbing with the pain from this exercise.

Gallus was the last flyer to make an attempt.  Of all the recruits, he had the worst first run but had redeemed himself with a respectful second flight of fifteen hoops. This time he had something to prove to himself and the other flyers here. All eyes were on him now as he stepped up to the starting line and got in position.

“Ready?”  Soarin looked over at Gallus as he reset the stopwatch, his hoof steady on the switch.  The griffon flicked his wings, getting them set to launch him up.

“Ready.”  Gallus never took his eyes off that first hoop.

“Go!”

Flapping his wings with all the strength he could muster, Gallus pushed himself up off the ground, clearing everyone else’s height with the first flap.  Off he went, actually managing to kick up a tiny swirl of dust from his acceleration as he launched.

 I’m going to do this!  I’m going to show them what griffons can do!  Gallus was determined, willing to push himself beyond anything he’d ever attempted to do.  His friends down below watched him fly, urging him on with cheers and whistles.  He ignored it, only focusing on the hoops ahead of him and the steady rhythmic thrum-thrum-thrum of his wing flaps in his ears.

Eight, nine, ten and eleven hoops he flew flawlessly through, making steady progress around the circuit.  He’d listened and learned from all the advice given and could already feel he was performing better than before.  It was thrilling to make a good showing for himself and demonstrate his skill at flying.

“He’s on track to make it, so long as he keeps his legs up.”  Solar Flare watched on like veteran flyer, able to analyze and pick apart another flyer’s capabilities.  Silverstream nervously tapped her talons against her beak, fretting as she watched along with the others.

“Oh-h-h-h-h, c’mon Gallus!  You can do it!”

Nightflight nudged Cloudy Sky and inclined his head to one side.  Cloudy Sky glanced over to see Wind Raider softly cursing at Gallus, obviously hating every moment the griffon passed through another hoop.

“What a jerk,” Nightflight sneered.

“Kinda sad, actually.” Cloudy Sky only shook his head and went back to watching Gallus.

“He’s got five… now four to go in order to make it.”  Firebolt watched along, pulling for him.  She felt as anxious about him as she did for Silverstream, wanting Gallus to show his mettle.

The beads of sweat rolled down his forehead and face, thankfully blocked from his eyes by his goggles that kept his vision clear.  His whole body burned from the strain he was subjecting it to.  There were just four more hoops to get through before he passed this trial.  Up he flew, getting through the next two hoops but just barely, his belly practically scraping the last hoop as he passed through.

“He’s losing altitude at an alarming speed!” Brightstar’s voice went tight at the sight of Gallus faltering so close to the sixteenth hoop. A groan went up among them at the sight of their griffon friend about to lose it all at the end of his run.

Gallus pushed on like his life depended on it, refusing to give up.  His steady pace had gotten him this far but now it might not be enough.  He flapped harder, but didn’t gain any real height.  It was taking all he had just to stay airborne.  Pitching and rolling to one side, he made his last ditch effort, burning up what little he had left to try with.

“He’s going for it!”  Firebolt knew he had something left inside, and hoped it was enough for him to get to the end.

“Thirty… twenty….”  Solar Flare counted down the yards till the sixteenth hoop. 

“Oh-h-h-h-h!”  Silverstream nervously pranced in place, the tension rising within her, wanting Gallus to do well.

Nightflight and Cloudy Sky were right next to her, stomping and digging at the ground with their front hooves with excited agitation, wanting their new friend to go the distance.

“He’s got a chance.”  Nightflight held out hope for him.

“It’s going to be close.”  Cloudy Sky was not so sure.

Gallus nearly flung his body through the sixteenth hoop, just reaching the lowest spot of the ring and giving one last great flap of his wings to propel himself over it.

Cla-Clang!  Both of his rear legs smacked the edge of the hoop hard and sent his exhausted body plummeting to the ground.  Firebolt and Solar Flare ran out onto the grounds, both of them leaping into the air and catching Gallus in mid-fall, preventing him from sustaining serious injury.  They got cheers from the recruits for their quick thinking and heroic action.

Gallus was almost unconscious, unaware of his rescue and still reeling from the strain on his body.

“Wai… wha…?  What’s going…?”  He felt himself gliding in for a safe landing, a pegasus pony holding him up by each foreleg guiding him in.

“That was close! For Celestia’s sake, Gallus, please don’t scare us like that again!”  Firebolt looked over at him, relieved he was still awake.

“That was an amazing effort, Gallus.  I’ve never seen any flyer push themselves that hard.”  Solar Flare got him down on the ground, releasing Gallus and now standing with his friends.  In a flash, Rainbow Dash was right next to them, worried out of her mind that her student was injured and what Twilight was going to say if he was.

“Gallus, are you okay?”  Dash quickly and nervously looked over his exhausted frame.  He was conscious but still regaining his bearings.

“Professor Dash?  Did… did I do it?”  Gallus’ memory of the entire event was just a blur.  Dash couldn’t believe it.  Here she was worried about his safety and all he wanted to know was if he’d reached the mark or not.  Talk about having the ‘spirit of competition’ in him!

“You made it, just barely, but you made it.”  Seeing as he was unharmed, she could afford a small congratulatory smile for his success.  Gallus weakly returned the smile, proud to have shown his teacher he could get the job done.

Soarin checked with the two high scorers from the previous round.  “Either one of you want to take another shot at it?  You could probably take the lead score for the trial.”  He was curious to see if either of Dash’s recruits could best one of the other team members’ recruits.   A recovering Wind Raider kept his eyes on the hippogriff and the pegasus stallion who’d stood up to him, wondering what they might say.   Silverstream caught sight of Wind Raider looking over at them with a smug smile on his face, as if daring them to take the chance.

“I’ll take a second run, sir.”  Solar Flare accepted the offer.  Silverstream was glad she’d done as well as she had and didn’t feel the need to press her luck.

“I think I’ll pass, sir.”  Her answer made Wind Raider smile.

“Coward.”  He spoke the word so softly that only those close enough to him could hear.  Stung, she looked back at him, that greasy smile of his getting under her skin.

“On second thought, sir, I’d like another shot at a better score.”  She wasn’t going to let him get away with the slight.  Her friends were caught completely off guard by her answer.  And after she’d done so well and was second only to Wind Raider, why should she risk it all?  Firebolt was shocked into action.

“Hey, Silverstream, what are you doing?”  She tried to physically stop her hippogriff friend from getting to the starting line.  Silverstream tried to gently push her friend aside.

“He’s not going to get away with calling me a coward.  I’ll show him!”  The hippogriff actually growled, seeing that smug look of Wind Raider. Oh, how she wanted to knock that smile off his face!  Now both Firebolt and Brightstar were trying to stop her.

“No, c’mon Silver!  He’s just a jerk.  Don’t let him get to you.”  Brightstar didn’t want to see her friend get hurt trying to prove herself when she’d already earned their respect.

“You did better than any of us.  No one here cares what Wind Raider thinks.”  Gallus didn’t want to see her get hurt either, easily reading into Wind Raider’s goading.

“Silverstream, don’t be stupid!  You’re in already.  Why risk your score or the chance of getting hurt trying to outdo some big mouth?  There’s no point.”  Firebolt thought her friend was being foolish.  Silverstream took umbrage.

“I’m not being stupid, I just don’t want him to get away with him calling me that.”  Silverstream was not about to take the insult lying down.  She wasn’t afraid of pushing herself.

Solar Flare had been near enough to hear the insult as well.  He’d been impressed by Wind Raider’s second run, but what respect he had for another good flyer was quickly extinguished by the mumbled slight. 

“I’ll go first for a better score, sir.”  Solar Flare walked around the three arguing girls, now determined to put Wind Raider in his place.  Having scored sixteen hoops did mean he’d met the requirement to pass, but it wasn’t his best.

“Remember, Solar Flare and Silverstream,” Soarin began. All the recruits turned to listen.

“Any flyer who goes for a higher score after hitting the goal forfeits their first score in place of the new one, even if it’s a lower score or a foul out. You could lose a qualifying run if you take that chance.”

The recruits could feel the tension suddenly rise.  For a second or two, no one moved or spoke. And then Solar Flare stepped up to the starting line anyway, undeterred.

He crouched down and set his wings for launch position, took some deep cleansing breaths to relax himself and flipped the flight goggles down over his eyes once more.  He nodded, not taking his eyes off the first hoop.  Soarin got his stopwatch ready.

“Ready?  Go!”  Soarin hit the stopwatch, seeing Solar Flare take off with an impressive first thrust, kicking up a serious cloud of dust from launch. 

Much like Wind Raider, Solar Flare flew flawlessly around the first part of the circuit.  He even made the tricky down-up-down height changes from the twelfth to fourteenth hoops look like the easiest thing to do.

The cheers grew louder for his attempt, watching him hustle his way around the circuit and clearly not letting up.  Wind Raider was watching as well, growing alarmed by how fast and well Solar Flare was doing. 

“He’s going for it... he’s going for it.”  Firebolt could see Solar Flare was not holding back.  He was pouring on the speed and taking every turn as hard and fast as he could bear.  This could be a yet another record breaker of a trial flight.

With every muscle on fire from the workout he was subjecting his body to, Solar Flare pushed on and surpassed Silverstream’s score of eighteen hoops. The weight on his body that felt like nothing to him at the beginning of this run was now causing him to pitch and roll more, his flightpath becoming harder to keep steady.

They were mesmerized by the attempt, some not wanting to blink for fear of missing even a moment.  Solar Flare looked up ahead, spotting his goal a hundred yards away or so.  He could try to glide it; trying to make it through the next two hoops and hold his strength back for the big climb back up to reach the twenty-first.  He would do it, if only to silence Wind Raider.

Down towards the twentieth hoop he raced, the momentum building with every second as he hurtled towards the ground.  At the last second he pulled up, swooping though the hoop at top speed, his legs swinging wide from the pull of gravity on them and just missing the metal surface of the hoop.  He soared right back up into the air, straining to get his body in line again.  Flying sideways just sapped the strength from him. 

His friends and a couple of other recruits cheered for him, as he headed for the final three hoops.  Solar Flare pumped and pumped his wings, trying to keep his momentum going to reach the high point of the course; the twenty-fourth hoop. It was still another forty or more yards up and ahead of him but it seemed light years away. On through the twenty-first and twenty-second hoops he struggled, flapping so hard he truly believed his wings would break off his body from so much strain.

Cla-Clang!  Both of his rear hooves clipped the next to last hoop as he just made it through, his strength tapped.  The spirit was willing but the body had nothing left to give; he couldn’t flap his wings anymore as the strain was just too much.  He turned away off the circuit, gliding back down to the ground with barely enough left in him to keep his wings steady.

He too made an unspectacular landing, stumbling to the ground after pushing his body to nearly its breaking point.  All of his friends came rushing to his side to help him up, cheering him none the less for the amazing run he’d achieved. None of them had done as well as he and, glancing off to his left, Solar Flare caught the look of red hot rage on Wind Raider’s face at once again being knocked out of the top spot.

“Any other flyers still want to take another run?”  Even though Soarin was asking all of them, he was really just looking at Silverstream, concerned the hippogriff might injure herself.

Silverstream first looked at her friends, then over at Wind Raider and his buddies, seeing them scowling back at her and Gallus for passing the trial.  She thought about what Brightstar had said to her.  Did she really need to do another flight?  Solar Flare had just routed Wind Raider while she and her friends had proven themselves to the instructors as capable flyers.  There would be other trials to come in which to show who the better flyer was.

None of the recruits spoke up to accept Soarin’s offer.  Rainbow Dash was relieved her students were not willing to risk their safety for bravado or reckless glory seeking.

“I think they’re done for this trial.  They look like two miles of bad road and I doubt they could take another flight even if they wanted to,” Soarin spoke matter-of-factly.  He was met with a chorus of moans and groans of weariness in response.  Rainbow Dash had to agree.

“I think you’re right.  Besides, it’s almost chow time so we’d better get these weights off them.”  The two instructors were now met with a great collection of relieved sighs from their bone-weary recruits. Some of them still lay prone on the ground, too tired to get up.

Dash and Soarin got the weight bands off the recruits and back in the storage box, watching as the recruits all stretched their limbs and flexed their wings, recovering from the rough training they had endured.  A bugle call went out over the P.A. system, alerting all in earshot to the time of day.

Never was there a more welcome sound to Gallus’ ears then that horn blowing.  “That means its break time, right?”  He had to ask Silverstream, still not sure what each call was for yet.

“It’s lunchtime!  That’s the mess call!”  Silverstream spoke the magic words they were waiting to hear. 

Nightflight was the last to get his gear off as his friends started to head off the field and towards the mess hall.

“Hey you guys, wait up!” he called to them, kicking off the last leg weight and getting it to land in the storage box along with the other gear.  He tried to catch up, his legs still feeling the effects of the weights and making his gait weirdly off-rhythm.  Finally alone with Dash, Soarin had to see what she’d written in her notes.

“How’d your students do compared to the rest?  You think they’re going to go the distance?”  She passed him her clipboard.  Soarin checked over the notes and scores she’d given each flier.  She’d showed no favoritism in her remarks and scoring of performance.  He gave her that signature lopsided smile of his.  Dash blushed momentarily, but quickly got back to business.

“I think Silverstream and Gallus will stick it out for a little longer but I’ll make sure to ask at the end of lunch if they want to continue.”  Rainbow Dash was very proud already of how well her students had done, considering they’d had no preparation for the trials at all.  The two Wonderbolts threw a salute to their approaching C.O. as she stepped out of a nearby building and made a beeline for them.

“Status report.”  Spitfire ordered and Soarin handed over the notes from his and Rainbow Dash’s clipboards. Spitfire looked over the notes from her team members.

“Hmm, four flyers didn’t go the distance.  Not surprised.  Looks like your recruit has set the high mark to beat for both groups, Dash.”  Spitfire didn’t look up at either one of her team members, absorbed by the stats in front of her.  “After chow time, you two are getting the other group of twelve recruits to take through the wind resistance and endurance training.  Let’s see if you both get the same results or better with them as well.”  They saluted her once more.

“Yes ma’am.” 

Spitfire saluted back and headed over to where Misty Fly and Silver Zoom awaited her, their paperwork in hoof to submit for review.  Blaze trotted over to Dash and Soarin as the recruits left the field and headed for the mess hall.

“You got a couple of strong flyers there, Dash, I was watching them.  But I wonder how they take direction when ordered by a pony they don’t know.  Misty Fly and Silver Zoom will have them after lunch.  You going to be okay with them out of your sight?”  She knew and understood more about Dash’s job at the school she worked at than the other Wonderbolt members.  These students were important to her, and Dash was responsible for making sure they didn’t get hurt under her supervision.

Rainbow Dash watched her students, along with their friends, walk and chat together as they made their way to the mess hall.  For Dash, it was better than she could have hoped for.  They were clearly making new friends, as Nighflight and Cloudy Sky now joined them in the conversations.  With a clutch of friends like that around them, she felt more at ease, and didn’t want to butt in to their bonding time.

“Yeah, I’ll be alright.  I’m not worried.” Dash replied nonchalantly. 

“Really?”  Soarin couldn’t believe how easygoing Dash was being.  These were students of Princess Twilight’s school.  Wasn’t she concerned?

“They need time alone and I don’t want to make them uptight by being around them so much.  They’ve got some good friends to keep them company.”  Both Soarin and Blaze appreciated how Dash approved their selections for this recruitment and how Cloudy Sky and Nightflight got along well with Dash’s students.

“Let’s grab something to eat from the clubhouse grille instead of the mess hall.”  Dash would rather relax someplace quiet anyway.  There was a waiting Daring Do book to catch up on reading and forget about being a drill instructor for an hour or so.
> Ch.8 pt.a) Getting to Know You
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The nearly two dozen recruits filed slowly in through the nearby doorway of the building, heading down a hallway towards the mess hall, nearly silent in their weariness except for the shuffling of hooves (and paws and talons) on the floor.  There was no bright chit-chat or excited words as there had been during this morning’s meal.  The only thing on their collective minds was getting something in their stomachs and resting up from the pounding they’d taken so far.

“I can’t believe how hungry I am.  I thought I’d stuffed myself at breakfast.”  Nightflight rubbed his belly, the growl even audible to his friends.  

“Me too.  I wasn’t expecting the workout we got.”  Cloudy Sky couldn’t wait to fill up on lunch.

Thoughts of food were momentarily forgotten as the group entered the mess hall and found, to their surprise, the student body of Wonderbolt cadets already dining at the tables.  One of the academy cadets spotted them lingering by the doorway and dropped his empty food tray and utensils, the flatware and tin plate making a horrible metallic clattering against the floor.  He succeeded in getting everypony’s attention in the room.

“Hey, check it out! The newbies are here!”  Dozens of pairs of eyes were suddenly focused on where the cadet was pointing; right at Solar Flare and the rest of his friends.  The room spontaneously erupted in shouting jeers and insults at the recruits, giving them a verbal hazing. 

The clutch of friends entered the mess hall slowly as some of the other recruits filed in from behind, none of them really sure what was going on.  Two academy stallions seated close by eyed Firebolt and Solar Flare as they led the group forward, ready to give them an earful. 

“Fresh newbies served today!  Ha! Ha! We’re rounding them up!”  The reddish-brown pony laughed and mocked the recruits, seeing Nightflight and Cloudy Sky hovering behind Solar Flare, Firebolt and Brightstar, trying to avoid being singled out.  The cadets all began stomping their hooves loudly on the parquet flooring and the tabletops.

“C’mon, newbie!  C’mon!  C’mon in an’ meet some real Academy cadets!”  A pale-yellow stallion taunted, shouting right at Cloudy Sky, unnerving and confusing the smallest member of the group. 

“Ignore them.  Every class does this to the recruits who want to get accepted into the academy.  It’s sort of a tradition of this school; a rite of passage for the new kids.”  Solar Flare saw the confused looks of his fellow recruits, blindsided by this seemingly hostile reception.  He hated bullies or those who’d act as such but knew the difference; this was part and parcel of the trials.  There was more to endure then just the physical aspects.

Firebolt wasn’t having any of it. She was familiar with academy ‘traditions’ but especially hated this one.  Brazenly she stepped around her friends to walk right up to the cadets sitting at the nearest table, getting right in their faces.  The taunting hoofbeats were reduced to a low background rumble as she gave it right back to them, shouting.

“Look, you slimy buckets of stall muck, why don’t you shut those flapping pie-holes of yours and show some respect?  Unless you want to take it outside and prove you got the orchids to spout off like some morons about how great you think you are!”

The room exploded with a roar of whoops and taunts again as the hoof-stomps shook the mess hall’s walls, the assembled cadets appreciating Firebolt trying to tell them off.

“Save up that fire in your belly, newbie! You’re going to need it to get through the trials!” another stallion piped up, enjoying the spectacle of Firebolt so irritated by their antagonizing. Worse still was when the cadets finally spotted the griffon and hippogriff among the recruits. The hoof-stomps stopped and the shouts and catcalls suddenly became an uncomfortably subdued buzz.  Gallus could practically feel the unwelcome glares and looks of disgust.

“’Let’s just find a place to sit.”  Solar Flare led them to a corner table at the far side of the room, away from most of the academy cadets.  All the while as they walked through the mess hall, Silverstream and Gallus overheard some of the cadets muttering mumbled insults and innuendo about her and Gallus’ kind.  The words cut deeply into Silverstream but only served to infuriate Gallus.

“I heard the smarter ones can actually use utensils,” some mare commented out loud as Silverstream and her friends walked by. 

A stallion’s voice replied “I heard only top-of-the-line models can even talk.” Silverstream forcibly steadied her breathing and kept her head high.

“Raider! Over here, dude!”  A stallion loudly called out and waved in their direction from across the mess hall, getting the attention of the newbies.  Suddenly, all of them found their bodies being pushed aside by someone walking up from behind.

“Out of the way, losers!” the husky voice ordered, obviously willing to barrel through any flyer in his way.
“What the hay-?”   Firebolt and Solar Flare were shoved forward into a cadet passing by, and nearly knocked his tray out of his wing’s grip.

“Hey, watch it, newbie!” the cadet barked out, glaring at them.

Firebolt backed away, smiling weakly.  “Sorry about that; my bad.”  They watched as Wind Raider and Stormbringer headed off to sit with a small cluster of cadets at a nearby table, clearly already friendly with some of the current classponies by the warm greetings they received.

The group wove their way over to some vacant seats at one end of a table, staking out some territory for themselves in this veritable sea of unknown faces and conversations swirling all around them.  Since starting these trials, until this moment, they as a group had never been alone in a setting without knowing somepony else there.

“That line’s pretty long.” The hippogriff pointed to the cadets and recruits waiting on the chow line along the wall on the opposite side of the dining room.  “How much time do we have?”

“We have ninety minutes.”  Solar Flare pointed to the clock hanging just above the exit to the kitchen.  “We have until thirteen hundred-thirty hours to get back to the bulletin board and see what our next trial will be.” 

“Wow, this place is packed.  I didn’t know there were this many students at the academy.”  Cloudy Sky kept looking around as well, wanting to see and remember all he could of this experience.  He knew he was getting to be a part of something exceptional.

“There’s got to be at least fifty or sixty cadets in here, by the looks of it.”  Silverstream hadn’t expected to see so many pegasus ponies in attendance.

“It’s probably most of the student body.”  Brightstar watched the rest of the recruits find seats wherever they could, splintering off in every direction.  Gallus suddenly felt much safer and glad he and his group had managed to get seats together, finding familiarity when it was scarce around them.

He watched Firebolt scan the room a few times.  “Looking for something?”

“Somepony I was hoping to find.”  Firebolt couldn’t pick out the face she sought from the throng of cadets.  She wasn’t sure if the pony she was looking for was even in here right now.

“You guys want to get on line first?  We can wait here to hold the seats for us.”  Even though Cloudy Sky was still a bit unnerved by the razzing he and his friends had received, he was willing to wait until they got back.  He wanted to stick together. 

“I can wait a few minutes more for lunch.”  Nightflight would stay as well, making sure they had a place to sit.  He looked around at all the cadets in the mess hall, feeling a little isolated by so many unfamiliar faces and some of the displeased looks being directed their way.

“Me too.”  Brightstar didn’t mind waiting.

Accompanied by Solar Flare and Firebolt, Gallus and Silverstream made their way to the end of the chow line.
“Solar Flare! Over here!” another stallion called out from close by.  Solar Flare turned and saw it was Cloudjumper, a friend from his younger days of flight competitions, waving at him from across the room.  The turquoise stallion hurried over to the group and gave Solar Flare a friendly hi-low wing slap.

“Hey, you’re here, finally!  How’s it going at the trials?” 

“Can’t complain.  I did pretty well on the endurance training portion.”  Solar Flare surprised his friends with the serious downplaying of his performance this morning.

“Good job; I’m pullin’ for you to make it.  My squad still doesn’t feel complete without my best spotter in it.”  Cloudjumper gave Solar Flare a friendly punch to his shoulder and toothy smile, remembering the good times they had when they were younger.  Only then did he look behind his friend to spot two creatures he’d never expected to see here at the academy.

“Hey, who’re the griffs?”  Cloudjumper jerked his head toward Solar Flare’s companions.  Solar Flare had to gently correct his friend.

“Uh, these ‘griffs’,” Solar Flare stepped aside to make introductions, “are my friends from Ponyville.  This is Gallus from Griffonstone and Silverstream from the kingdom of Mount Aris. They both attend Princess Twilight’s School of Friendship.”
Cloudjumper looked embarrassed for having addressed the griffon and hippogriff so disrespectfully.  “Oh, hey, I’m sorry about the ‘griff’ comment.”

“I suppose it’s okay.  I mean, back home we secretly call you guys ‘hooves.’” He rolled his eyes with the ridiculous lie, meant to show the older pony how dumb he sounded.  Cloudjumper took the jab in stride, figuring he deserved the ribbing.

“I’m just glad to meet an actual cadet of the academy. It must be so exciting to be here.”  Silverstream was finally getting used to the friendly wing-shaking that these pegasus ponies all greeted one another with.

“You folks get a bite to eat yet?  The cooks here know how to feed a flyer well.” Cloudjumper saw them looking ahead at the chow line’s length.  He could sense Silverstream and Gallus’ hesitation after the verbal onslaught the other cadets had doled out to them.  “I’ll go with you guys.  That should keep them from razzing you about being newbies.”

Silverstream thought it gracious of Cloudjumper to offer to protect fellow flyers from harassment.  He didn’t even know her or Gallus yet he was willing to help without being asked.

“Thanks.  To be honest, I wasn’t expecting the other cadets to have shouted at us like that.”  Gallus glanced around from where they stood, catching several cadets repeatedly sneaking peeks at them from nearby tables.  It made him uncomfortable. 

The chow line moved along quickly enough and the five of them talked and got to know each other better.  Silverstream and Gallus were glad to have met him; he was acting as a buffer between them and some of the more hostile cadets.
“Mind if I join your group?”  Cloudjumper held the swinging door open for Silverstream as they exited the kitchen area with trays full of hot food, giving Silverstream a little bow of his head.

“What a true gentlecolt.  Thank you, kind sir.”  Silverstream used her most polite and ‘regal’ sounding voice, making Cloudjumper grin.

“My pleasure, my lady.” He played along, not suspecting that she really was from a royal family.  Gallus bit his tongue and did everything he possibly could to not smile or laugh, knowing what he did about who Silverstream was.

“Hey, Firebolt! Over here!”  A female voice called to the group that was standing by the kitchen exit.  Firebolt looked about the room a few times, finally spotting the mare who’d called to her from across the mess hall, the pony she’d hoped to find today.

“He-e-e-y-y!”  Firebolt called back, quickly abandoning her friends and cutting across the room to get to the bright orange pegasus mare who was waving to her with a free wing. Firebolt almost dropped her meal when embracing the cadet.
“Gale Force! By the Two Princesses, it’s great to see you again!  How are you?”  Firebolt hadn’t seen Gale in almost two years, since her acceptance to the academy, and was half-expecting her friend to be off somewhere studying or out on a training mission.  Cloudjumper led the group over to where Gale and Firebolt were talking.  They were carrying on like little fillies, chattering away about this or that, trying to catch up on everything they’d missed out on.

“Ahem!”  The two mares were jolted out of their private conversation by Gallus.  Firebolt had forgotten all about her friends, but sensed them now standing right behind her.  Sure enough, she turned aside to find them there, smirking at her and waiting for a proper introduction.

“So, are you going to make the introduction or let us stand here like idiots?”  The sharp tongue of the griffon cut into Firebolt, pointing out her gaffe in his friendly smart-alecky tone of his.

“My mistake, guys.”  She half-mumbled an embarrassed apology.  “This is Gale Force.  Her family lived right down the street from mine back in Cloudsdale.   When I was younger, I used to watch her practice on the activities field after school.  She actually taught me my first flying stunts.”  

“Nice to meet all of you.” Gale noticed the two non-pony flyers standing with Firebolt’s friends.

“What the-?  Firebolt, what’s up with this?  You’re hanging out with griffs now?” 

“Uh,” Firebolt rolled her eyes a little at Gale’s rather off-putting comment. Gallus’ expression made it clear he was affronted by her attitude. “These ‘griffs’ as you call them, are my good friends.  This is Gallus from Griffonstone and Silverstream from the kingdom of Mount Aris.  They both attend the School of Friendship in Ponyville.”  Once again, the cachet of being a student of Princess Twilight’s school paid off as Gale suddenly looked terribly embarrassed for her comment. 

“Oh, I’m... I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean anything-” Gale began to apologize.

“Nah, I half-expect most dumb nags who go to this school wouldn’t even know how to talk with a griffon anyway.”  The sharp tongued griffon gave it right back to Gale, just enough to let her know of his displeasure at her attitude.  She got his message loud and clear.

“Don’t let it bother you.”  Silverstream brushed it off.  Her privileged upbringing had taught her to be less uptight about such small mistakes, but Gale felt simply terrible for having run off at the mouth so rudely. 

“You want to sit with us?  We were just about to eat.”  Silverstream wanted to make friends with these cadets, finding that having one around kept the insults down and the stares to a minimum. 

“Thank you, I would.”  Gale turned to head to face Firebolt.  “Maybe we can finally catch up on what’s been going on with you and your family.”

Firebolt and Solar Flare led the group back to their table where Nightflight, Cloudy Sky and Brightstar waited for them.  Firebolt made the quick introductions to them as the trio headed for the chow line, now that the rest of their group was back.
Cloudjumper had Gallus’ attention by regaling the griffon with a story of him and Solar Flare participating in the flight competitions when they were younger.   By the time Cloudy Sky, Brightstar and Nightflight were back with their lunches, Cloudjumper was at the climax of the story, telling of the close race they had against one another and how he had edged Solar Flare out to get the gold medal. 

This gave Gale the chance to speak more intimately with Firebolt and get to know the newbie hippogriff.  
“I’m glad to see you made it finally to the tryouts. How’s it going?  You holding up okay under the pressure?”  Seeing a mare from her foalhood neighborhood here was great.  She could remember the more innocent times of fun and flight with her younger admirer who watched her practice.

“Tough, believe me. I thought I was ready but, wow, it’s harder to do for real than just in practice.”  Firebolt was honest in her assessment but Gale gave her a certain knowing look.

“Oh, like you have anything to worry about getting into the academy, right?  You’re a shoo-in for sure.”  Gale winked at Firebolt with a sly look.  But the implication was lost on the hippogriff, still too excited at getting to hang out with real academy cadets.  

“I know, right?  Firebolt’s a fantastic flyer.  You should’ve seen her go. She’s going to get in for sure.”  The cheerleader in Silverstream came rushing out, always ready to support her friends.  Firebolt gave Gale a weak smile and chuckle, as if embarrassed by Silverstream’s words.  

“Um, that’s not really what I meant.”  Gale cocked an eyebrow, wondering to herself about the friendship between Firebolt and the hippogriff. 

“Really?  Then, like, how do you mean?”  Silverstream had no idea what Gale could have been referring to.  Firebolt shot Gale a pleading look with her eyes, begging Gale not to say anything else.  But Gale looked first at Firebolt and then at Silverstream, homing in on realization.

“So,” Gale turned back to Firebolt, “you didn’t tell her?  Or any of your friends?”

“Tell us what?”  Silverstream blinked a few times, confused, having someone talking over, under and around her and feeling left out of some critical aspect of the conversation.  Firebolt looked at Gale even more pleadingly, silently imploring her to change the subject.  But Gale had a most mischievous look to her now.

“I don’t know if she told you this yet but-” Gale was interrupted as Firebolt tried to cover Gale’s mouth with a forehoof.

“C’mon, Gale!  That’s my business!”  Firebolt dreaded anypony else finding out the truth.  This only made Silverstream even more curious to know.

“What’s your business?”  Silverstream got Firebolt’s attention away from Gale.  “We’re friends now, right?  You can tell me, I won’t tell any of your secrets.”  This was important to Silverstream.  She wanted to forge new friendships outside the School of Friendship and was eager to gain Firebolt’s trust.  Gale blurted the secret out anyway.

“She didn’t tell you that Commander Spitfire is actually a cousin of hers.  Firebolt’s dad is Commander Spitfire’s mom’s youngest brother.”  There.  It was out in the open.  Silverstream gasped in surprise.

“No way!  For real?  That’s so cool!”  Silverstream gushed, now understanding so much more of why her friend was so determined to succeed, and even where her recruit uniform had come from.

“Oh, thanks a lot, Gale!  Nice to know I can trust you with secrets like that!”  Firebolt huffed, very annoyed and embarrassed by her friend’s actions.  But Gale thought it amusing.

“Don’t get your mane out of shape, it’s no big deal.”  Gale didn’t see what the problem was.  So what if Firebolt’s cousin could get her in without this entire tryout stuff to go through?  Firebolt had it made. 

“Wow, I had no idea your family was so much a part of the Wonderbolts’ history.  It must be so exciting.”  Silverstream thought her new friend was one very lucky flyer.

“Exciting? No. Stressful? Yes.” Firebolt didn’t know how else to explain it but the words had no weight to Silverstream. 
“Stressful?”

Gale explained.  “Just think about it, Silverstream.  She’s got a lot to live up to in order to get accepted into the academy.  Her namesake runs this school and is in charge of the Wonderbolts.  That’s a lot of weight on a pony’s back.”

The depth of what Firebolt must be thinking about all the time suddenly hit Silverstream; those comments her friend had made but didn’t make sense at the time.  Now they did and Silverstream’s heart went out to her pony friend when understanding just what Firebolt must be dealing with inside.  

“Oh, I… I had no idea…” 

“Uh-uh,” Firebolt shook her head a little, wanting Silverstream to stop apologizing, “there’s no need to.  I don’t go around bragging about it.  I want to get in on my flying skills not on my family ties.”

The guys seated next to the trio of girls laughed out loud over whatever they were discussing, enjoying the meal as well as the story being told.

“Right, Gale?  Professor Hawkeye was so mad I thought he was going to chase us all the way back to Cloudsdale!”  Cloudjumper had the group roaring with an episode of school-time shenanigans they had been a part of here at the academy.  Gale had to think for a moment about what Cloudjumper was talking about.

“You mean that time we glued the door to the science lab shut so we couldn’t take the test he planned, right?  It was a riot.”  
“Don’t you ever get tired of pulling pranks like that?  It’s so juvenile.”  Firebolt gently tut-tutted.  Gale brushed off her concern.

“Hey, life isn’t all flight science, formation diagrams and time spent on the Dizzatron.  A pony has to have some fun too.”
“I was wondering,” Cloudjumper got both Gallus and Silverstream’s attention, “which Wonderbolt was your recruiter?” 

“Actually, we’re not recruits.  Gallus and I volunteered to try out.”  Silverstream replied.  That got Gale’s attention real quick.  

“You’re kidding?” 

“Nope.” Gallus shook his head.  “Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash asked us to take part in this year’s trials.  It was her idea to have some sort of cultural exchange between our three species by having us participating in the tryouts.  She’s one of our teachers at Princess Twilight’s school.” 

“That’s so cool that a famous Wonderbolt invited you here.  I got lucky; I won a local flight competition in Nimbusville for a slot to try out this year,” Cloudy Sky confessed, guessing the rest of his friends had some grand reason or meaning for being here.  Each of the friends shared in the round-robin explanation of why they came for the Wonderbolt trials. 

“Some in my family have served in Cloudsdale’s Defense Forces or Canterlot’s Royal Guard.  Serving in the military goes back several generations for my family.”  Nightflight got to share some of his family’s history.

“No pony in my family had served before but I wanted to be the first.  I think there’s a certain pride in service to the two princesses, not to mention that I want to protect my homeland.”  Solar Flare added his reasons.

“My mom is an officer in the C.D.F. and I’ve been a military brat my whole life.  I can’t think of any other way of living except in service to Equestria.  It’s an honor as well as a privilege to serve and protect.”  Brightstar puffed out her chest a little with pride in her family’s service.

For Silverstream, hearing how patriotic Brightstar, Nightflight and Solar Flare were and how passionately they spoke about wanting to serve and protect their homeland gave her pause to reflect on what Wind Raider had said earlier.  
Whereas her pegasus friends wanted to stand up and fight off danger, like the Storm King, the hippogriffs had turned themselves into seaponies and hid away in Seaquestria, their underwater kingdom.

For untold moons after and through many generations, the leadership of Seaquestria re-deliberated their decision of fleeing Mount Aris to possibly save their society versus standing up to that weather-controlling demon.  There had been much heated discussion amongst the body leadership of advisors and councilors and, in the end, a path was chosen that was thought to be the lesser of two evils.   It was only at the most perilous moment of Princess Twilight’s battle with the Storm King what Queen Novo and her armed forces finally joined with the ponies of Equestria and fought back.  Silverstream felt a little self-conscious about trying out for this elite group of defenders of Equestria when her kind had fled their homes instead of standing up to protect them.

“Since were almost done eating and there’s still a little time before you have to go back, anypony here want to take a quick look around the school grounds?”  Cloudjumper offered the two guests from the School of Friendship an opportunity to look around, having enjoyed Gallus’ dry wit and sarcastic humor while talking with him and the other recruits. 

“Really?  You would do that for us?”  Cloudy Sky jumped at the chance to tour the school, wanting to see where he very well could be attending classes next semester, if he was lucky.

“You think that’s a good idea?  What if one of the teachers spots you with them?  You could get in trouble.”  Firebolt was well aware that, as recruits, they were supposed to stay only in designated areas of the academy’s grounds.  Wandering around the hallways, even with a cadet, might be grounds for ejection from the trials.

“Oh, live a little, Firebolt.  C’mon, what’s the worst thing that could happen?  What, listening to crusty old Dean Witherhoof lecture us about ‘the rules’ while sitting in his office?  Like that’s so-o-o terrible.”  Gale playfully mocked Firebolt’s serious nature.  “It’s just some harmless, victimless fun.”

“I’d like to take a look around, as long as we don’t get in trouble!”  Gallus was right there with Cloudjumper, not afraid of getting into a little mischief.  

“I like the cut of your jib, Gallus.”  Cloudjumper gave the griffon the same sly look he’d given Solar Flare earlier.
“Uh-oh, Gallus.  When Cloud’s got that look to him, you know something is going to happen.”  Solar Flare warned, aware of his friend’s penchant for trouble.

“I’ll go with them, just to be sure they don’t do anything dumb. Like burn the school down.”  Gale’s attempt at levity only made Firebolt worry.

“Make sure you don’t get Gallus in any trouble, alright?”  Firebolt wanted to make sure Gale heard her loud and clear.
“Hey, don’t worry. It’s me, remember?”  Gale tried to downplay Firebolt’s concern.

“That’s what worries me.”  Firebolt wouldn’t let Gale’s nonchalant attitude ruin her friend’s chance at getting in to the academy.  Gale shot back a rather flat smile and a snort, as if annoyed by Firebolt’s concern.

“Can I join you?  I’d like to look around too.”  Cloudy Sky would not pass up the chance to see more.

“We’ll probably just stay here and meet up with you at the bulletin board when you’re done.”  Solar Flare preferred to play it safe with his new friends, letting Cloudjumper and Gale Force act as tour guides.

“We’ll catch up to you guys in a little while.”  Gallus and Gale were already on their feet and heading for the exit, dropping off their trays on top of the garbage cans.  Cloudjumper was soon after them.

“See you guys in a bit!”  Brightstar waved to them as they exited and headed for the main hall of the school.

“I was thinking of checking on that poor mare that was taken to the infirmary earlier.  I hope she’s okay.”  Silverstream had wondered about the pale white pegasus that Solar Flare had helped earlier.

“I can take you to the infirmary to see her if you want.  It’s just in the next building over.”  Solar Flare thought it rather kind of Silverstream to be concerned for a fellow flyer she had never even spoken to.

“We will catch up with you guys when you get back.”  Brightstar was staying behind, as was Nightflight who was too busy eyeing the desserts.

“I’m gonna check if they have any chocolate pudding.  I got a serious hankering for some.”  He smacked his lips.

The trio of friends departed from the lunch table and headed out the mess hall doors for the infirmary in the next building over, talking quietly about the trials and wondering what was in store for them from the C.O.
In less than ten minutes, they were standing at the front desk. A Wonderbolt reservist sitting behind the desk looked up at them.

“May I help you?” the mare asked her visitors pleasantly.

“Yes, um, there was a recruit brought in today with an injury from the trials, I wanted to know if she was still here.”  Silverstream tried looking over the nurse’s head and into the area but couldn’t see anything.

“Yes, the young mare with the wing injury. You are her friends, I take it?”

“Actually we’re fellow competitors at the trials but we just wanted to see how she was doing.  She was in an awful state when she was taken from the activities field.” Solar Flare could see that several beds in the emergency ward were empty but one bed space at the end of the row had curtains drawn around it.

“Oh, I think I remember you.”  She pointed a wingtip at Solar Flare.  “You were the nice stallion that brought her here, correct?”

Solar Flare nodded.  “Yes ma’am.”

“You can go see her; she’s right down there in the last bed on the left.”  The nurse pointed to the drawn curtains behind her.

“Thank you very much.”  Firebolt led them into the ward, quietly heading for the bed with the curtains drawn around it.

“Hello?  Moonlight?  Are you awake?”  Silverstream softly called to the mare behind the curtains.

“Yes?  Who’s there?”

The three of them slipped in through the split in the curtains, finding Moonlight laying on the bed with her right wing covered with several ice packs, her eyes shut. Moonlight slowly opened her eyes to see her guests, a bit surprised at finding that mysterious hippogriff and two ponies at her bedside.

“Oh, it’s you.”  She was not expecting to see Solar Flare here again and with the hippogriff and another mare too.  She smiled at them, wincing a little from the stabbing pain in her right wing. They tried to return the same but could not help but wince in sympathy.

“I’m… I’m sorry I didn’t come over and say hi to you or your friends this morning; I was a little preoccupied with the trials and stuff.”  Moonlight confessed to Silverstream, feeling a little bad for having kept her distance.  Silverstream could feel the sincerity in Moonlight’s words.

“I understand completely; this is a pretty intense scene.”  She gave a quick grin and nervous laugh to which Moonlight also gave a nervous chuckle and smile in response.

“Umm, hi, I’m Moonlight.” Moonlight tried starting over with an introduction.

“Hi, I’m Silverstream.” 

“I’ve never met a hippogriff before, but I’d read all about the fight with the Storm King and Queen Novo’s return to help Princess Twilight.  That must have been some epic battle to witness.  What was it like? Were you scared?  I was terrified when the counterattack came.  The noise was terrible, we could hear it all the way in Sire’s Hollow.” Reading about the battle in newspapers was one thing, hearing from an eyewitness would be something incredible.

“Oh, uh actually, I… wasn’t there for the fight with the Storm King.  Only the Queen and our Royal Guardgriffs went to fight.  Civilians were ordered to protect Mount Aris instead.  But I was still plenty scared of what the outcome could have been, believe me.”  She didn’t mean to disappoint Moonlight, but those had been the orders of the queen.

Again, the two girls gave a nervous laugh, both clearly feeling the awkwardness of the moment.  Fortunately, Solar Flare jumped into the conversation.

“How bad is it?  Are you going to be okay?”  Moonlight gingerly moved the three icepacks off her wing joint, revealing the sizeable swollen lump on her shoulder that made all three of Moonlight’s visitors recoil a little in shock.

“Oh, wow!  That looks super painful.”  Firebolt had never seen anything like it before.

“Oh, dear!”  Silverstream gasped.

“Is it bad, like, real bad?”  Solar Flare bit his lower lip.

“I tore part of my pectoral muscle from my shoulder; they’re transporting me to Canterlot General Hospital for surgery.  The doctors here told me it’s a pretty serious injury and I need immediate attention or I might lose the use of my wing.”  The three friends could hear the fear in the inflection of her words, scared she might not be able to fly ever again.

Solar Flare didn’t want her to worry.  “Canterlot General is the best hospital to go in all Equestria.  The doctors there are amazing; trust me.  A friend of mine had a mid-air collision with another flyer and fell four stories to the ground.  Whack!  Broke his left wing in two places and tore the ligaments as well.”  He smacked his forehooves together, emphasizing the drama of impact.

“Ew-w-w-w!” Firebolt hated listening to gross stuff like flight injuries and such.  Her too vivid imagination made her shudder with the thought of suffering them herself.

Solar Flare saw how Firebolt scrunched up her face in repulsion.  “But the doctors and surgeons there are top shelf and patched him up as good as new, so I know you’re in good hooves there.”  Moonlight’s tense expression relaxed, hearing somepony telling her she was going to be okay.

“You’ll be up and about in no time.”  Firebolt was sure she would be.  Their moment together was soon broken up as two orderlies stepped through the curtain.

“Pardon us, folks, but we have to get the patient loaded up for the ride to Canterlot.”  One of them wheeled in a gurney while the other pulled back on the curtains to allow easier access.

The three of them stepped back and watched as Moonlight was gingerly moved off the bed and slid sideways onto the gurney while one of the on-duty nurses was quickly getting her wing strapped and secured in a sling that held the cold compress in place for the trip.  

Silverstream followed the orderlies all the way out the exit to where some other patients were also being loaded onto the medivac.  Firebolt and Solar Flare had followed as well, hanging back some so as to give the nurses and handlers room to work.  Silverstream stayed by Moonlight’s side, right up to the point where the orderlies wheeled her into the ambulance to fly her to Canterlot.  The hippogriff stepped back and away from the ambulance doors.

“I guess this is goodbye.”  Silverstream waved a little to Moonlight with a sad smile as the pegasus pony was loaded in and the wheels of the gurney locked into the floor so as to keep still during the flight.

“Maybe just, see you later, instead?  When I’m better?”  Moonlight held out hope she’d get to see this hippogriff again, unhappy at having to say hello and goodbye in five minutes to three fellow flyers like this.

“I… I’d like that.”  

 Bang!  Silverstream watched the one of the orderlies slam shut the doors of the ambulance, giving the back door two sharp raps with his forehoof.

“Good to go!” he shouted and the small dirigible took off, its stubby winglets flapping, bearing it upon the air up and away from the landing pad. Silverstream and her friends watched it fly away while each pondered if they might be the next injury to happen.  

“We should just head back to the bulletin board and wait for the next posting.”  The stallion knew there was nothing else any of them could do for Moonlight except keep her in their thoughts and prayers for her speedy recovery.  Silverstream lingered behind to watch the zeppelin fly away as Firebolt and Solar Flare were turning to leave.

“C’mon, Silverstream, nothing else to see here.”  Solar Flare trotted back and pulled gently at her foreleg, urging her to stop looking at the disappearing zeppelin in the sky and to focus on the task ahead. 

“Right.” She had to get her head back on straight, the next part of the trials were at hand.  “Let’s get moving.” 

Together, they cut across the secondary field at the far end of the academy grounds and took the slightly longer way back to the main field where the trials were being held. For Silverstream, it was a chance to see, from a distance, the academy’s main office building, classroom building and student dormitory.  There was so much history in the structures that she’d read about.  She wondered what it must be like to attend classes here.

“What’s that over there?”  Silverstream paused to point out something off to one side in a grassy field, seeing three or four pegasi standing in front of some sort of outcropping of rock.

“Oh, that’s the memorial that was erected last summer.”  Firebolt’s answer didn’t really explain anything to Silverstream.
“A memorial?  For what?”  She looked at both her pony friends, who were clearly unsure how best to respond.

“It’s… it’s for the Wonderbolts who fought in the counterattack against the Storm King and the Storm Guards.”  Silverstream’s reaction to his answer was exactly what he and Firebolt thought it would be.

“You mean a memorial for the ponies that’d died in the fight, don’t you?”  Her words cut to the truth as her expression grew more pained.

“Yes, it is,” Firebolt quietly answered. 

“There’s one like it in Canterlot for the C.R.G. forces as well.  Both were dedicated by the Two Princesses and Queen Novo.  I heard both ceremonies were lovely and quite fitting for all those who attended.”  Solar Flare filled in the last bit of information. 

Silverstream felt that same guilt return to stab at her heart, seeing in her mind’s eye the flood of blood and tears paid by the ponies of Equestria in order to defeat the Storm King. She’d apologized for the tragedy earlier to one and all that had first seen her and had been greeted with open wings of understanding from fellow recruits.  But now she was having doubts about being here for the trials.

“I want to see it. Right now.”  Silverstream turned towards the field and headed for the monument, determined to pay her respects to those who had perished in the fight. Her queen had done so as had other dignitaries from Mount Aris who came to its revealing. 

But she herself had been home with the other hippogriffs, as a sign of respect to the ponies in mourning, not to crowd or intrude upon the ceremony.  As no formal diplomatic channels had been established at the time, it would have been gauche if Queen Novo had allowed anygriff other than those of the highest political station to attend such a solemn service.

Silverstream would finally see it with her own eyes.  It was high time for her to show some maturity as a member of her royal family.   She might not be a direct bloodline descendent to take the throne of Seaquestria like her cousin Princess Skystar, but damn her to Tartarus if she didn’t step up and at least act like a princess of Seaquestria.  

Firebolt and Solar Flare were following right behind, unsure how she would react to it.  Each of them was aware that the memorial could evoke a powerful emotional reaction with each visitor when viewing it for the first time.  But Silverstream paused as she approached, realizing which ponies were currently standing in front of the monument. 

“Maybe this isn’t such a good time.”  She spoke very softly as Solar Flare and Firebolt walked up along each side of her and observed who it was standing there at the memorial.

It was Wind Raider, along with three cadets, looking up at the smooth white granite markers.  Each half of the monument was shaped like a pegasus wing spread out wide.  Engraved in its highly polished surfaces and filled in with prismatic diamond dust were the names of the mares and stallions who’d given their lives in defense of Cloudsdale and greater Equestria.  Wind Raider didn’t notice that Silverstream and her friends were so close, so engrossed as he waas in looking at the monument in silent remembrance.  

Silverstream watched how Wind Raider’s head fell forwards in silent agony as he reached out to touch a name on the smooth surface with a forehoof, as if to reach out and touch the deceased.  His friends stepped closer and each put a wing of support around his shoulders, sharing in his mourning.

Then, she heard the most pitiable and heartbreaking sound she’d ever heard in her young life.  Wind Raider was crying, his body trembling with sorrow.  His friends were there, consoling him, like a band of brothers.

“It’s alright, Wind Raider.  Sky Chaser’s looking down on us right now; he knows we’re here for you.”  One cadet gave him a soft pat on the back with a wing, leaning in close to embrace him with one foreleg.  Now the tears spilled out of Wind Raider’s eyes unceasingly, collecting in tiny puddles on the marble base of the monument.

“Hang tough, Wind Raider.  We remember him too,” another confided, embracing Wind Raider as well.  They were military ponies and they knew what that bond meant to them.  Quite spontaneously, the third cadet broke out into the chorus of an old military song sung by veterans who’d served.  The other two cadets picked up the tune quickly and joined in.

“…and we’re going soon to meet them on the tarmac of the Soul,
As the shadows around us give warning.
And I want to see my brothers when the Heavens call the Roll,
All are ready for inspection in the morning.”  

Then, there was silence, broken up only by the gentle chirp of a nearby bird and Wind Raider’s soft sobbing.  Firebolt saw how upset Silverstream had become.

“C’mon, let’s go.  We’ve seen enough,” Firebolt whispered as she turned away from the sight, tugging at Silverstream’s foreleg to follow.  But Silverstream felt paralyzed with sadness at that moment.  She had mourned for her country’s lost heroes as well, but none of those had been for family or even relations thereof.  But for some reason, this moment she was witnessing seemed to hit her so much harder, like she’d been kicked in the stomach. 

Solar Flare, too, tried to get Silverstream to leave.  “We’d best focus on the next trials.  There’s still a lot more to go and we had better get back to the bulletin board and wait for our drill instructors.”  It took a few more tugs at Silverstream’s foreleg to get her to move.  This was not what a flyer needed to have on their mind during the trials.  She had to be focused or she wouldn’t make it to the end.

======================================**********============================================

Cloudjumper led the way to the main classroom building, towering and imposing with its white marble columns and long, polished staircase leading up to the entrance.  A large bronze plaque now tinted with weathered green patina, engraved in ancient Equestrian that dedicated the founding of the academy along with the names of the school’s founders, hung by the entryway for all to see.  Cloudy Sky was a bit overwhelmed by the grandeur and agelessness of this place but Gallus was playing it cool.

“So, what do you think of it, guys?  Impressed, I’d wager.”  Gale didn’t miss the stars in Cloudy Sky’s eyes as he stood there, wide-eyed and openmouthed.  She reached over to shut it for him, grinning at his expression.

“I can’t believe I’m actually standing here.”  Cloudy Sky had never thought he’d see the day where he would get to stand in front of these hallowed doors to the academy.  Ever since he was a colt, he had wanted to go here and be a part of Equestria’s greatest military academy and flight school for pegasus ponies.  He felt he was so close to achieving his foalhood dream of going here!  All he had to do was make it to the end of the trials and he would be in.

“Meh, it’s not bad,” shrugged Gallus.  “Not as cool looking as the School of Friendship, but I guess it’s got its charm.” Cloudy Sky couldn’t believe what his ears just heard.

“Are you kidding, Gallus?  This is the Wonderbolt Academy!  Home to so many legendary flyers of Equestria and beyond!  You can’t stand there and say you aren’t impressed with this place.  It’s been here, like, forever!”  Cloudy Sky thought it the greatest place to be.

“If this much impresses you, then I guess you need to see the inside.”  Cloudjumper pushed the doors open and poked his head through, checking to see if the coast was clear.  It was.

“Welcome to Wonderbolt Academy!”  Cloudjumper opened the doors wider, making a grand sweeping gesture with a wing to wave the small party inside.  Gale quickly shut the door behind them, shushing her fellow cadet for his overt showponyship.  

They didn’t have much time; lunch was almost over and soon the bell would ring for them to return to class.  Cloudy Sky tingled with delight at getting this sneak peek of the interior.  Gallus glanced around.  It certainly was different then the School of Friendship.

“This is the main classroom building; upstairs are the lecture halls and the two libraries, while down here on the lower level are the weather and environmental science laboratories, along with the aeronautics & mechanical design classrooms and shops.  We spend most of the day in this building.  During free periods we can go out and get some fly time or play some buck-ball on the field.  It’s up to us.”  The recruits listened attentively to Gale’s explanation.  

“We can show ‘em the flight labs and the lecture halls on this side of the building then double back though the gym and out the building’s west exit near the main field so they won’t be late for the trials.”  Cloudjumper tapped his chin a bit with a forehoof as he plotted the most efficient path through the school and back to the main activity field.

“Sounds good to me.”  Gallus found himself enjoying this, stepping away from being an academy recruit for a spell.  The possibility of getting in trouble only made it more enticing. 

“I think we should get moving.   It might not be a good thing if one of your teachers spots us.”  Cloudy Sky glanced about; voices were coming from two classrooms nearby as they stood near the entryway.

“Smart pony.  Let’s go.”  Gale led them around the bottom floor of the school, making sure no professor or instructor was about in any hallway before proceeding on.  She and Cloudjumper acted as both tour guide and warden of their safety.  Passing by a few of the lecture halls along the way, Cloudy Sky got to hear snippets of the subjects being taught in each.  Everything from advanced mathematics to the science of weather, political science to even classes about painting and sculpture. Truly someplace he wanted to be a part of.

Gallus listened to the small highlights his guides spoke of and pointed out to him as he took in more of the history and longevity of this institution.  Each wall was adorned with portraits of famous graduates and scenes of history from the Wonderbolts as well.   He even surprised himself by successfully recognizing some of the portraits on the walls by name, recalling what Professor Dash had taught him.  This was a storied place where legends were made.  His hosts were clearly surprised by the fact that a griffon actually knew Wonderbolt history.  The foursome rounded a corner, heading down the student activities hallway towards the gymnasium as the mare cadet continued.

“The program is eight weeks to go from recruit to cadet here, the trials are just a preliminary.  Once you’re accepted, you’ll have to go under evaluation again so as to figure out what major you’re qualified to study for and how long it’ll take to complete your curriculum.”

Gale was having a good time showing the recruits around and informing them about what it was like being here.  Gallus and Cloudy Sky asked questions about this aspect or that aspect of cadet life and what it was like living on campus.
They stopped at one trophy case display, seeing several large gold plated chalices and plaques listing championship teams and records set by both cadets and reservists alike. 

“I’m not one hundred percent sure but I think one of the recruits in your group had a family member listed on one of the winning trick flight teams from a few moons back.  I think his name was Sky Chaser.”  Cloudjumper pointed to a small nameplate fastened to one of the ceremonial placards that listed multiple teams over the years who’d won championships and led each team to victory. 

Cloudy Sky and Gallus drank in all they saw, amazed and impressed. Along the back wall of the display case were the numerous pictures of teams and their coaches, standing proud and tall.  Around their necks hung medals of victory as fans and students alike cheered in the background. 

Gallus wondered to himself what it might be like to be part of such a scene of camaraderie and loyalty.  Among his kind, those two things did not exist.  Yet with the lessons he’d learned at the School, he found himself longing for such contact; a feeling of belonging among peers who were bound together by something unique; being a great flyer among other great flyers.   

Cloudy Sky was on cloud nine, imagining himself on one of those winning teams, winning a gold medal and making his mom and dad proud.  To be the first in his family to attend a top rate secondary school would be the ultimate achievement.  Sportspony hero or not, he could fulfill his parents’ hopes for their only son; the opportunity for a better life.   The moment was suddenly interrupted by the sound of hoofsteps on the marble floor from an approaching teacher.  The sound instantly got all of their attentions.

“Uh-oh,” Cloudjumper knew he had to make both Gallus and Cloudy Sky disappear fast.

“Crud!”  Gallus muttered under his breath, the idea of getting caught no longer so thrilling.  He and Cloudjumper quickly looked around, trying to find some place they could duck into.  Gale ran over to one auxiliary activity room on the opposite side of the hallway and checked the door, it was unlocked.  A stroke of luck for them.

“Quick, get in here and don’t make a sound.”  Gale waved her guests over and both of them zipped right over to the open doorway, slinking inside and out of sight.

“Thanks!”  Cloudy Sky whispered to Gale as he dashed into the small room.  Gallus was right behind.  The griffon shut the door behind him and hoped they weren’t going to get busted.

“Excuse me,” a female voice whined in annoyance, “but we booked this room for use during lunch.”  Cloudy Sky turned around to find not one but three cadet mares, sitting at a table and doing what, he guessed by the quick glance at the books, was homework or research of some kind. He had to think fast.

“My apologies, ladies, we didn’t mean to intrude-”

“Hey, wait a second.  You’re not cadets!”  The pink mare suddenly pointed out, having recognized the outfits the two interlopers wore. 

“Uh, heh-heh, it’s like this, ladies,” Cloudy Sky gave a nervous laugh and guilty smile as he rubbed the back of his head with a forehoof, feeling uncomfortably warmer in his outfit all of a sudden.  Gallus turned around; about to say something in the hopes they would be cool about not reporting this to anyone else.

“I know this might seem a little weird and all, but-” Gallus stopped as the three mares suddenly and collectively gasped at the sight of him.

“There’s one of them? Here?”  The lavender mare almost leapt out of her seat in order to get closer to Gallus.  The other two mares followed suit, crowding past and ignoring Cloudy Sky.

“This is so cool!”  The silvery-white coated mare practically shoved Cloudy Sky out of the way, her eyes focused on his griffon friend.

“I wonder where he came from.  And he’s got a recruit uniform on!  That’s so cute!”  One of the mares squealed in delight as they surrounded Gallus, by their expressions, thrilled at being so close to a real griffon.

“Actually, he and I are recruits for the tri-”

“I’ve read everything the griffon Graymoor Talon has written about griffon societies over the last century.  He has the true feeling and understanding of the problems with griffons today.  What’s your opinion on his works?”  The pink mare seemed very eager to hear Gallus’ answer.

“Uh, I have no idea who-” He was cut off by the next mare’s comment.

“I’ve attended some Friendship for Aid to Hardship Countries rallies and functions with some friends last year.  We all agree; the time for all equine species to share in leadership of the world with lesser species is now!  More power to the non-ponies!” the lavender pony cheered.

“Well, that’s nice but we just-” Again, Gallus was cut off.  Cloudy Sky watched the scene unfurling in front of him, invisible to the three girls as they seemed to fawn over Gallus.  The mares just went on and on, regardless of whether Gallus cared to know or listen.

“I’m taking an advanced cultural studies class as an elective for my major this semester; I had no idea your species was so civilized.” 

“I did volunteer work for the Aid for Griffonstone Youth Foundation; all the young griffons there helping were so much cooler than the ponies in charge.”

“Did you know that property values actually go up when a family of griffons moves into a pony’s neighborhood?”

“Don’t you hate it when ponies call you half-breed or hybrid and not a griffon?  I think all griffons are gorgeous.”

“I met a female griffon once when I was just a filly who told me that ‘pegasi were the closest to griffons’.  We’re all pegasi, you know.”

The three mares had missed Gallus’ growing sour expression as they’d blathered on with the most clueless, mind-numbing drivel ever uttered.  Cloudy Sky couldn’t believe some of the things these girls had just said.  Granted, it had taken him a bit to figure out what to talk with a griffon about, but these girls were saying just about any and everything possible to annoy Gallus.  Even he knew better than this.

Gallus waited until they were done before taking a single drawn-out breath.  The three mares looked at one another excitedly, as though awaiting wisdom from an oracle. 

“If you gave as much of a crap about griffons as you say you do,” he began, his biting tone causing their gleeful expressions to fall, “you’d know that literally everything you’ve just said was nothing but the biggest pile of steaming hot stall muck!”

They stared in shock as he shouldered his way past them and back towards the door.

“C’mon, Cloudy, let’s see if it’s clear now.”  He waved for Cloudy Sky to follow and the bemused stallion trailed him past the three mares, all wearing baffled expressions at Gallus’ remark.

The griffon crept up on the door, listening.  He could hear some voices coming from the other side.  Cloudy Sky sidled up, listening as well.

“And, Ms. Force, please have your lab work submitted with your report together like your partners have.  This is the third time I’ve had to remind you.”  An elder mare’s voice tut-tutted Gale.

“Yes ma’am.  I won’t let it happen again.”  Gale sounded nervous.

“I’ll see both of you in class this afternoon.” The sound of hoofsteps heading away could be heard by the two stowaways. 

“Yes ma’am.” Two voices replied as the sound of hoofsteps got further away.  Gale opened the door as soon as her teacher had rounded the corner and was out of sight.

“Stupid old nag!”  Gale grumbled, annoyed at being chided for her sometimes neglectful nature.  Cloudjumper looked relieved, feeling he’d dodged a lightning strike.

“Phew! That was close.”  Cloudy Sky was the first to step forward, looking both ways before exiting the room.  Gallus crept forward, watching for any other teacher approaching.  It was all clear.

“Let’s not waste any more time and get back to the field.”  Cloudy Sky, despite wanting to see more, thought they’d seen enough for now.  

“Agreed.” Cloudjumper seconded the motion and both Gallus and Gale nodded.  Gale went on ahead down the hall, checking to be sure there was nopony else around.  She waved them on, keeping an eye on the two doors to the main office on one side of the adjacent hallway and the exit doors at the opposite.  Out those exit door is where they had to go.

“C’mon! Move! Move! Move!”  Cloudjumper hissed softly, directing the two recruits to keep moving and to watch Gale for instructions.  Gallus and Cloudy Sky did as they were ordered.  Gale silently motioned them to turn left and head down the hallway, all while she kept her eyes glued on those office doors. 

Cloudjumper followed after, making sure to give them cover from sight by anypony else.  “Through that door!” he ordered.  Cloudy Sky didn’t even break his momentum, getting his front hooves up onto the door release bar and pushing the door open all at once, exiting with Gallus and Cloudjumper right behind. 

Relieved, the two recruits paused and turned to see Cloudjumper standing with a hind hoof keeping the door from closing.
“You two know how to get back to the main field from here?”

Cloudy Sky glanced around, catching sight of the flagpole that was close to the bulletin board where they were supposed to be.  “Over there, I think.”  He pointed.

“I’d like to walk you back over but I just saw the clock and we’ve got only a few minutes before Gale and I have to-”

 Ri-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ig!

“Crud, the bell!  Listen, I’ve got to get to class.  It was nice meeting you both.  Check you two later!”  Cloudjumper kicked the door back open and hustled inside, letting it close behind him.  It was a rather abrupt parting but at least no one had gotten caught.

“We’re going to be late!”  Cloudy Sky took off into the air, heading back to where he thought they were supposed to be.

“Wait up!”  Gallus took off after him.  From up high they picked out their friends from the group of recruits collecting near the bulletin board, waiting for the next posting.  Gallus spotted Silverstream, easily picking her out of the collection of pony bodies, in spite of them all being dressed alike.  He glided in with Cloudy Sky following down to where everyone else stood around, waiting.  When Cloudy Sky stepped around Gallus, he was met by a rather upset looking hippogriff.

“Silverstream, are you okay?”  Cloudy Sky didn’t miss the expression on his hippogriff friend’s face.

“We just got back from seeing the memorial that was dedicated last summer here on the campus grounds.”  Firebolt had watched the two of them come flying in from their excursion, smiles on their faces from whatever they had been up to.  Now she had to bring them down a little.

“What memorial?”  Gallus tried to read the faces of his friends, seeing the rather long expressions.

“The one dedicated to the Wonderbolts who fought in the battle against the Storm King.”  Solar Flare was concerned for Silverstream, her mind was obviously elsewhere now and not where it needed to be.

“I remember reading about that in the Nimbusville Gazette newspaper; it was that special visit by Queen Novo and her officials with both princesses here and in Canterlot for the unveiling.  Only families of those being honored were allowed to attend it, nopony else.  Not even the press was allowed to see.”  Cloudy Sky had forgotten all about that.  He had been so wrapped up in the trials that it reminded him that he had promised himself he would go see it for himself. 

“I haven’t been to it yet.  I was planning to go sometime today when I had the chance.”  Nightflight, too, would make the short jaunt over to the other side of the grounds before the day was done and see it.

“I think Silverstream was a little… overwhelmed.”  Firebolt made sure to sidestep what she and her friends had witnessed.  No need to add more than necessary to get the point across.

“Maybe all of us should go and see it together, after suppertime today I mean.”  Gallus hadn’t heard of such an event happening while attending the School of Friendship.  He’d heard from Silverstream and the teachers of the School what had happened during the battle but had no idea there’d been a ceremony honoring those who had fallen in the fight.
“I think that is a very nice idea, Gallus.  We should pay our respects; it’s the proper thing to do.”  Brightstar wanted to see this as well.  Being a military brat, it was important to her to honor those who had sacrificed everything to protect Equestria.  Her friends all nodded solemnly.  

Out from a doorway in the nearby building came one of the Wonderbolt team members, carrying a clipboard and scanning the sheets held on it.  The recruits made way for him to get to the bulletin board, wondering what was going to be posted.

“Good afternoon, recruits,” High Winds greeted them, seeing the eagerness in their eyes for what was to come next.
“Good afternoon, sir!” the group simultaneously answered back.

“Here is the posting of trials for this afternoon until chow time this evening.  Please make sure you read carefully whether you are on the list to be cut or on the list to continue with the trials.  Good luck!”  High Winds pinned the four pieces of paper to the board.  Most of the recruits couldn’t wait to read the cut list, quickly gathering in close to see who hadn’t made it so far.

But the collection of green recruits were surprised and relieved to see that the cut list was blank; everyone had received a passing score.  No one was getting cut, at least not yet.

“Everypony on this list,” High Winds pointed to the first sheet, “is to head down to the other end of the field to meet up with Wonderbolts Misty Fly and Silver Zoom for p.t. and drill practice.  Everypony on this list,” he pointed to the second sheet of paper with a wing tip, “is to head over to meet up with Wonderbolts Rainbow Dash and Soarin for endurance training at this end of the field.  Let’s get moving, everypony!”  The throng of bodies began to break up and head off to their respective places.  Firebolt was worried for Silverstream; she still had the worst hang-dog look on her face.  Fortunately, this was just marching practice and exercising so it wasn’t going to take too much concentration.

“Hey, Firebolt, what’s ‘p.t.’ mean?”  Cloudy Sky hadn’t heard of that before.

“It stands for Physical Training.” She tried not to smile at his discomfort, hearing   Cloudy Sky groan in anticipation of what was ahead for them.

“You mean like calisthenics and that sort of thing, right?  I totally pigged out at lunch and now I’m probably going to cramp up.”  Nightflight had devoured everything in sight for lunch, knowing they weren’t going to get another break until suppertime.

“Don’t worry, guys,” Brightstar gave the stallions each a little pat on the back, “you’ll burn off lunch quick enough.  Cramps are the least of your concern.  Just make sure you both know your right hooves from your left.”

The seven of them were about to head off to their next trial when they spotted Rainbow Dash trotting over.  She was all smiles at first, but then the smile dimmed and turned into a look of deep concern.  She went right for Silverstream.

“Hey, is everything okay here?”  She looked around at the other ponies standing with them, wondering why her student was looking so unhappy.  

“I don’t think any of us were really ready for the greeting we got from the cadets when we entered the mess hall for lunch, ma’am.  It was a bit…”  Firebolt glanced around quickly at her friends' faces, gauging their reactions, “unexpected, and maybe a touch hostile.”

Instantly, Rainbow Dash knew what was up.  “Did the cadets single either of you out?  Tell me; I’ll let Commander Spitfire know and-”

“No! Please don’t!  I don’t want to cause any problems,” Silverstream pleaded.

“We were just, uh, not really familiar with all the rituals and stuff between the cadets.  That’s all.  We were just surprised by it.”  Gallus tried to make it seem like nothing big, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t so sure.

“Do either of you want to step away?  You don’t have to keep going if the other recruits or cadets are making it uncomfortable.  I should’ve foreseen something like what you went through in the mess hall.”  Rainbow Dash cursed herself for forgetting some of the workings of cadet lifestyle here on campus.

“No way!  I’m in this to the end or until I get eliminated.”  Gallus made his stance clear with the three stallions standing next to him, all grinning at the sound of his words.  Gallus had grit to him and that impressed the guys; he wasn’t a quitter.  Rainbow Dash tuned to look at Silverstream.

“How about you, Silverstream?  Still want to go on?  There’s no shame in stepping away.”  Rainbow Dash would keep her students safe, even if it meant having less than the desired number of recruits for the trials.  Their safety was paramount.
There was doubt in Silverstream’s eyes, Rainbow Dash could see it clear as day.  Whatever had rattled her, it’d thrown her confidence.  Dash went to the rescue, waving all of them in closer to listen privately and waiting a few seconds for some of the other recruits to head off before speaking.

“Listen, I want you to know that the Wonderbolt team is really impressed and pulling for you and Gallus.  Commander Spitfire, too, wants to see you make it to the end.  Trust me.” She kept her voice low.  All of Silverstream’s friends were excited for her; she had her teacher’s team cheering for her and Gallus.  This was no small feat.  The words seemed to reach the hippogriff and her frown lessened some.  Firebolt was first to speak up.

“All of us believe in you, Silverstream, and we’ve got your back. Count on it.”  Firebolt gave a quick wink and a nod to her friend, getting Silverstream to smile a little. The others piled on.

“Totally!  Best friend flyers stick together, right?”  Cloudy Sky stuck out a forehoof into the center of the group, wanting everyone else to join him.  Firebolt caught right on.   She stuck out her forehoof too, joining Cloudy Sky and smiling along with him.

“Definitely. Best friend flyers forever.” 

Gallus joined in next.  “I’m down with this; best friend flyers rule!”  He stuck a taloned foreleg in with his pony friends, eager to be a part of this group.  Brightstar followed suit. 

“More like, best friend flyers rock!”  Her forehoof joined in the pile.  Nightflight was right there with them.  He, too, placed a forehoof in with his friends.

“Best friend flyers rock because we rule the academy trials!”  Nightflight was all in with a grin.  He had their trust and he trusted them.  Solar Flare was last to say something. 

“This whole event wouldn’t be the same without you, Silverstream.  I think you’re a real winner; one of the best flyers I’ve ever met.  After what I’ve seen you do, I’d hate to see you quit now.”  He put a forehoof in the collection, smiling at her.  “Best friend flyers forever.”

“You know how I feel.”  Firebolt didn’t have to say anything, Silverstream and she had grown close, sharing more about themselves over the brief amount of time together, building up the camaraderie, the trust and loyalty.  She placed a forehoof into the cluster, smiling at Silverstream.

The hippogriff looked at the faces of her friends around her, feeling the love and support from them and making the gloom in her mind recede.  They wouldn’t let her give up on herself.  She finally placed a taloned foreleg in along with her friends, her smile returning at completing the circle.

“Best friend flyers forever.”  She could feel the warmth in her heart return.

Rainbow Dash was feeling pretty satisfied with herself, witnessing the birth of a new circle of friendship for Silverstream and Gallus.

“Alright!  Go team!”  She quietly cheered for them, trying not to be too obvious.  They all gave a soft laugh.

“You’d best get going down to the other end of the field.  Your drill instructors are not patient ponies when it comes to the trials.”  Reinvigorated from the meal and with renewed enthusiasm, they trotted off to where the two Wonderbolt instructors waited.  Rainbow Dash was so proud of both Silverstream and Gallus for sticking with the program and not giving up.  Whoever was spying on the trials for Central Command was going to see a hippogriff and a griffon fighting it out to the end of the trials.  Her volunteers had toughness and she couldn’t help but feel good about their prospects.
> CH.8 pt.b) Full Metal Hoof
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Misty Fly blew her whistle loudly, cutting the chatter among the recruits.  “Alright, alright, at ease everypony.  There’s plenty to cover this afternoon.  First off, we’re going to go through our core daily exercises and then take laps around the track.  Out on the activity field you will find there are small painted white X marks. You are to pick one to stand at for your exercising this afternoon.  Once we are through what will be your daily regimen of exercise, we have a special surprise for-” She was interrupted by three ponies flying in, a recruit led by two academy cadets.

“Excuse us, ma’am,” one cadet spoke up as he saluted Misty Fly, “but we brought back one of the recruits who was with us during lunch.  It’s our fault he is late.”

Silverstream saw who it was; it was Wind Raider.  She and her two friends standing close by could see by the look on his face that he must have just cleaned himself up to make it here in time.  He couldn’t clean off the redness of his eyes, though. 

“You cadets know better than that.  What were you three off doing?  Causing some kind of mischief?”  She eyed them suspiciously.  The second cadet shook his head and spoke up in defense.

“No, ma’am, we were looking at the new memorial during lunch and lost track of the time.”  That answer took the edge off of Misty Fly’s displeasure, realizing this recruit must have had a family member who perished in the battle.

“I see,” Misty Fly glanced first at the tardy recruit and then at her fellow Wonderbolt, seeing Silver Zoom shrug a little over whether this was an infraction worth noting or not.  Misty Fly opted for the latter.

“You two get moving on back to class; you’re late as it is.  You,” she turned to face Wind Raider, frowning, “get with the other recruits.”  The two cadets saluted both Wonderbolts before taking to the air and flying back to the classroom building.

“Yes ma’am.” Wind Raider moved to join Stormbringer and their friends in listening to the instructions.  

Silverstream couldn’t look at Wind Raider, she had to focus her mind on the next trial.  There would be time for reflection and contemplation later. Silver Zoom picked up where his teammate left off. 

“Like Wonderbolt Misty Fly was saying, we have a special surprise for you this afternoon.  Some of our less-than-stellar cadets that need some remedial drill time will be joining you.  That way, you can mess up together and we save the time of having to run two separate drill sessions.”  Both Wonderbolts rechecked the list of recruits and did a quick head count, making sure all were present.

“Alright, newbies, find a spot on the field,”  Misty Fly ordered, and each recruit stood on a spot on the grass that was marked off.  In seconds, they were standing in their spots.  Firebolt and Solar Flare stood close by Silverstream, wanting to be near her for support. 

“Alright, newbies, let’s start off with some jumping flaps. Begin! One, two, three and four!  One, two, three and four!  One, two, three and four!”  Misty Fly shouted as she and Silver Zoom walked up and down the small exercise area making sure these recruits were doing this correctly.  

“Wingtips must be touching each-other at full extension on the one and three counts, newbies!” Silver Zoom stood in front of Gallus, pointing out his incorrect wing flapping.   Doing this for a few minutes wasn’t so bad, but the session of jumping and flapping just kept going.  Soon, every flyer was panting from the exertion.

This is crazy!  I think I’m gonna puke!  Nightflight felt his stomach slosh and churn, wishing he hadn’t been so gluttonous at mealtime.

Are they trying to kill us? Geez! How in Equestria is Solar Flare keeping up with this?  Cloudy Sky could already feel his muscles start to ache, wondering if they were going to do this all afternoon.

Breathe!  Keep breathing!  That’s the trick!  Breathe!  Brightstar kept her eyes shut and focused on her breathing.  Deep breath in and deep breath out, consciously pacing herself to not overexert her body. She’d done well through the first part of the day and she was determined to finish out the day on a high note by going the distance.

Solar Flare and Firebolt kept one eye on Silverstream and one on Wind Raider.  Each could only speculate what they must be thinking about right then, having seen and heard what they had.  A moment of distraction on Firebolt’s part got the drill instructor’s attention.

“Eyes forward, newbie!”  Misty Fly got right up in Firebolt’s face, startling the mare and causing her to lose timing with the rest of the group.

“One, two, three and four and halt!”  Silver Zoom ordered and the group readily complied.

“Let’s continue with some squat thrust action, newbies! Count them off as we go.  Begin!”  Silver Zoom blew his whistle and the recruits hit the deck, cranking through the four-movement exercise. 

“Full extension of the hind legs for this routine, newbie!”  Misty Fly ordered, shouting close to Nightflight’s ears.

“One… two… three… sixteen!  One… two… three… seventeen!  One… two… three... eighteen!  One… two… three… nineteen!  One… two… three…” the recruits shouted out in unison as the count continued to rise.  Finally, after doing three dozen squat thrusts, Silver Zoom released them.

“Halt!” 

The recruits stopped in near unison, getting into the rhythm of working and moving as one.  Misty Fly added to her notes more of her observations on various recruit performance; who was leading and who was lagging.  Letting Silver Zoom give the orders allowed her more freedom to pick apart each one of them.

Some of the recruits were starting to waver.  “Alright newbies, wing ups!  Drop and give us twenty five right now!”  Silver Zoom blew his whistle, the air cracking with the high-pitched sound as it stabbed through each recruit’s brain.
Every flyer did as ordered, getting down on the ground and bracing their wings.  Then…

“Begin!”  All eleven of them pushed up against the ground, straining all the while to get through this drill.  The two instructors drove them still.

“Oh come on, you prissy little canary!” Misty Fly got right in Gallus’ face, shouting at him, “I’ll bet you’re weakest flyer in this whole bunch!”

Gallus tried to block out the burning pain in his wing muscles and back, willing himself to keep pace.  He’d rested up some during the lunch break but nowhere near enough to manage this level of strain. 

“A-r-g-g-g-g-h!”  Gallus made it to the top of another wing up, believing he’d blow his heart apart if he went on any further.

“C’mon! One for the commandant!” Misty Fly kept at him, driving Gallus to get another wing up done.  It was pure hell for the griffon but he kept going.

“One for the Academy! Push! Get up there!” Misty Fly watched this griffon drive himself hard, refusing to give up.  She could see real fire in his eyes. 

“Weak little griffon.”  The mumbled comment hit Silver Zoom’s ear just as he passed by a recruit.  He looked down was incensed by the smug look on the recruit’s face.  Silver Zoom didn’t tolerate talk during recruit workouts, even less so when it was somepony insulting another.  He got right in Wind Raider’s face.

“Oh, well lookie what we got here!  Some loudmouth who thinks he’s better at this then the griffon!  For that remark, you’ll do twice as many as he completes!  You got that?”  

“Yes… sir!” Wind Raider cursed himself for that. Angering the drill instructor was not the way to impress a Wonderbolt with one’s commitment to becoming a cadet.  He would suck it up and deal.

With their wing ups complete, the recruits got to their feet but all of them kept looking straight ahead, not turning to see what was going on.  They could only listen. Wind Raider waited for his sentence, a little nervous but positive the griffon couldn’t have completed that many.

“He did them all.”  Misty Fly announced, making Gallus’ friends proud for his having gone the distance, but also making some of them amused knowing what was in store for Wind Raider.

“That means fifty of them, bigmouth!  Now count them off as you do them!”  Silver Zoom let Wind Raider have it, giving him a good blast from the whistle.

“One sir, two sir, three sir…” the group listened to Wind Raider do all fifty wing ups, hearing him slow down as he went.  Both drill instructors leaned in on him, so hard so that even Solar Flare cringed just a little.  Finally, Wind Raider got to the end of his punishment, relieved beyond belief at finally getting through so many and got to his hooves once more.  But the drill instructors weren’t done with him.

“You think this is some game, bigmouth? You think you’re so much superior then all the others here?  Look at them!”  Misty Fly pointed with a wing at the group.

“You think he’s just ‘some pony’, or she’s just ‘some mare’ or he’s just ‘some griff’ you don’t care about?  You’re wrong!”  Misty Fly pointed to Solar Flare, then at Brightstar and then at Gallus.

“These are your brothers!  These are your sisters, and they’re going to save your life in combat someday, you stupid bucket of stall muck!”

Wind Raider was beside himself at being made a spectacle for the others to gawk at.  He tried to look over their heads and imagine he was not being excoriated like this.  He would be more mindful of who was nearby when he spoke.

“Now all of you recruits get going running some laps and don’t stop until the cadets get here!”  Misty Fly sent them on a run around the track.  Exiting from the classroom building were a group of cadets dressed in gym clothes, heading for the two Wonderbolts watching the recruits on the track.  A rather stout looking pale-gray, middle-aged stallion with a graying mane and tail of black hair gave a toothy grin at seeing who was running the regiment of physical training. 

“G’d afternoon tae ye both!  How goes the training with the latest batch?  Catchin’ any sassy back-talkin’ from ‘em?” The stallion’s unmistakable Emerald Isle accent loudly greeted the two Wonderbolts.  He threw each a salute and gave them both a friendly pat on their backs, recognizing the former students of his class.

“Good afternoon, Sergeant Bullhorn.  We’ve had them pacing around the track for the past twenty minutes while waiting for your squad to join us.”  Silver Zoom remembered well the rough times he’d spent in the sergeant’s detention class. He couldn’t even begin to guess what infraction these cadets must have committed in order to be subjected to the sergeant’s disciplinary action.  The score of cadets waited off to one side.

“Keh!  I can’t believe we have to do this with some lousy recruits,” one of the cadets muttered, looking over at the raw recruits with contempt.

“I know.  Who wants to be seen doing drills with some incompetent green newbies?” another commiserated. There was a general grumble of dissatisfaction about the situation among the cadets.  They watched the cluster of recruits stagger back around and finally get across the starting line, winded and panting hard from the exercise.

“Alright, newbies, fall in and listen up!”  Misty Fly ordered.  They huddled in close but the cadets still purposefully kept themselves apart from the recruits.

“This is Sergeant Bullhorn, the academy’s foremost drill instructor.  He’s brought with him some cadets to join in with today’s lesson.  You will listen and do exactly as he instructs.  Wonderbolt Silver Zoom and I will be assisting. Understood?”  Misty Fly looked about the recruits, making sure they were listening.

“Yes ma’am!”  They still managed to shout out a response.  

“Ach, ye got some lively ones with ye this time ‘round!  This should prove tae be a mite bit interestin’!” the sergeant quipped, impressed by how strongly the green recruits responded.  He took control of the session.

“Alright newbies, I want the lot of you and the cadets to stand in two columns; recruits to the left an' cadets on the right.  Now move!”  The sergeant blew his whistle and the clutch of trainees quickly got into formation, standing at attention in single file.  The sergeant was caught off-guard by the speed with which the recruits did as ordered, seeing his own score of cadets moping somewhat into place in their line.

Misty Fly and Silver Zoom walked up and down the rows, making sure each of them was the same distance apart front-to-back and from one column next to the next.  Satisfied, the two Wonderbolts stepped back.

“Now, starting with the left forehoof leading,” the sergeant looked over the collection of recruits and cadets, “forward on the half-step, march! Left… left… left, right, left!  Left… left… left, right left!”

Most of the recruits were clueless but simply mimicking how the cadets right next to them marched along seemed the fastest way to learn.  While they tried to keep a steady pace, both Wonderbolt instructors moved up and down the lines and pointed out the flaws in either the recruits’ or the cadets’ steps.

“Eyes forward, you!”  Misty Fly caught Stormbringer looking away, barking almost in his ear.  They made it all the way to the end of field before the next command came.

“Company halt!”  The entire group came to a disorganized shuffling stop, annoying the sergeant with their ineptness. 

“About face!” 

They spun about, none of the marchers turning about with any sense of unity.

“You have got to be the sorriest bunch of left-hoofed ponies I’ve ever seen! Right; forward on the half-step, march!”  Left… left… left, right left!”  He drilled them again, marching them all the way down to the opposite end of the field, his frustration growing at how they shuffled along, not marching in time. 

“Och, for Celestia’s sake, ye march like a bunch of crippled ol’ goats!  By the great Faustacorn herself, we’re goin' to be ‘ere day and night, everypony, ‘til we get this right!  Left… left…left, right left!”

“Tuck those wings in closer, mister!”  Silver Zoom shouted at a cadet that was lagging behind.

The cadet nearly jumped out of his skin, startled from the sudden blast of angry shouting aimed at him. Gallus felt himself tense up as the two Wonderbolt drill instructors passed by him, worried he’d get singled out for some misstep or infraction. With eyes forward and back straight, he kept in step as the sergeant commanded.  Then he and Silverstream passed in front of Sergeant Bullhorn for the first time, catching the senior instructor’s attention.

The sergeant had overheard some cadets chattering this morning before class about seeing both a griffon and a hippogriff here on the academy grounds.  But he’d dismissed it as the usual scuttlebutt of cadet misinformation and wishful thinking.  But he was wrong. He wondered how these two non-pony recruits would react to his form of instruction. Sergeant Bullhorn went for the hippogriff first.  Silverstream felt her whole body tensing up, unnerved by his closeness while still looking straight ahead.

“Oh, ‘tis a good day to ya missy Larkyn!  Are you some sort of emissary or noblecrature?  A spy or double agent of some kind?  Or maybe you’d be some kinda seapony princess here tae mingle among we freakish sort of land creatures, eh?”  He totally confounded her right then, the absurdity of the question coming from out of nowhere.

“Well, actually, my cousin is a prin-” She turned her head to look at Sergeant Bullhorn to answer but that only infuriated him.  He reached out with both wings and jerked her head around forcefully.

“Don’t look at me!  Look straight ahead!” he shouted, but she still tried to face him in order to answer.

“But you ask-”

“I said look straight ahead!  Look straight ahead!”  Again he yanked her head around so Silverstream was facing forward.  “I’ll have yer hide for lunch, missy, if you don’t listen up!”

Silverstream quickly realized she’d been tripped up by a drill instructor’s method to throw off a recruit’s concentration. She had been thinking about what she’d seen earlier and that made it easy for the drill instructor to distract her.  Gallus watched from a few places behind Silverstream, seeing how tough the sergeant was.  He would make sure not to be on the receiving end of the sergeant’s wrath.

From across the field, Rainbow Dash kept glancing over to watch the happenings. Even at this distance, she could hear the drill sergeant yelling out commands and how relentless Misty Fly and Silver Zoom were on all who were marching.  Rainbow Dash worried for her students, fearing they could not take the tough treatment of the drill instructors. She’d asked if they wanted to step back but they’d said no.  Maybe she should have stepped in right then as their teacher and stopped this.  This would have been more than enough of an experience to satisfy Twilight’s assignment for them to write about. 

 Clang!  A bell’s toll pulled her attention back to the recruit flying right above her, now leaving the circuit after striking a nearby hoop.  Rainbow Dash had almost forgotten what she was supposed to be doing.  She watched the mare come gliding in, rolling and twisting along as she showed off her moves and then landed neatly on her hooves when her flight ran out of natural momentum.

“How was that, ma’am?  Did I do well enough?”  The young mare literally bounced on her hooves over to where Rainbow Dash stood, eager to find out her score.  Rainbow Dash felt a small flush on her cheeks, realizing she hadn’t really paid attention to the last three flyers that’d gone so far.  The score sheet on her clipboard was seriously lacking in notes and observations.  She gave the mare a sheepish smile.

“Oh. Um, yeah.  It was a pretty good run.”  She fumbled through the clipboard’s stack of papers, trying to act like she’d been watching all along.  The recruit wanted to hear more from this noted pony of fame.

“Did you see how I did that corkscrew twist through the tricky part of the course, ma’am?  I thought it would make it easier to set up for the next hoop.  What did you think?”  She was all smiles with stars in her eyes, trying to impress the famous Wonderbolt instructor.  But Rainbow Dash had not a clue what she’d done during her flight.  She played along.
“Yeah, it was okay, Ms.….” Rainbow Dash quickly scanned the sheet with the names of the flyers she was supposed to be watching.  The mare pointed to herself with a wing, a sunny smile gleaming on her face.

“Razzle Dazzle!” she giggled.

Rainbow Dash tried not to look so embarrassed for not paying attention.  “Right.  Maybe in the future you’d do fewer tricks and focus more on just going the distance.”

Razzle Dazzle blinked a few times, confused.  “Um, just I did.  I made it through seventeen hoops.  Didn’t you see?”

Now Rainbow Dash really looked embarrassed.  She was missing flyers who were meeting academy standards of acceptance.  She made up anything complimentary she could when filling out her ‘observations’ and what score the recruit deserved overall for the performance.

“Of course you did!  I mean, you did a bang up job up there!  Why don’t you go back and join the rest of the recruits and rest up?”  She gave a nervous laugh, the blush of embarrassment on her cheeks glowing.  

“Okay!  Thanks!”  Razzle Dazzle gleefully flittered away.  Even with the weights attached to her body she still preferred to fly around rather then walk back.  Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe she’d gotten away with that.  If anypony else had seen her slacking off…

“Hold up on your run, recruit.  I’ll be right back.”  Soarin suddenly stopped the orange stallion next in line from attempting his flight, and headed off towards the field where Rainbow Dash stood. 

“Yes sir.”  The recruits looked among themselves, not sure what was going on.

Soarin marched right over to her, seeing Rainbow Dash trying to put on an air of seriousness.  But she couldn’t fool her team captain, he wasn’t smiling.

“What in Tartarus is going on over here, Dash?”  He kept his body between her and the recruits who watched from nearby.  None of them could see his face or hear what he was about to say.  He reached out with a wing to take her clipboard away, startling her. 

“What the-? What are you doing?  Why is this page almost blank, Dash?”  His anger now turned away from the page, boring into her with his eyes.  She withered a little under his gaze.

“I didn’t mean to-” She fumbled for an excuse but Soarin wasn’t having any of it.

“This is important, Dash!  The team got behind your proposal, even with the fact that somepony from Central Command is due or already here looking in on the trials!”  Soarin snarled just loud enough to let her know how upset he was but not enough for the recruits to hear.  She jerked her head up, shock in her eyes as she softly gasped. 

 He knows? Rainbow Dash suddenly felt a little sick to her stomach. She watched his eyes narrow.

“I’m still team captain, Dash.  The Commander briefed me on the ‘situation’.  I can’t believe you’re messing up like this with all that’s on the line right now!” The Wonderbolt captain shook his head in disappointment.  Rainbow Dash’s head fell once more.  

“Look at me when I’m speaking to you, Wonderbolt Dash!”
“Yes, sir.”  

“You did not properly score the last three recruit attempts; why?” he demanded.  Rainbow Dash told the truth, no sense in trying to cover it up.

“I’ve just been… a little distracted, Captain.” Off in the distance Soarin could hear Sergeant Bullhorn ordering the recruits around along with their Wonderbolt team members.  He noticed how each time the sergeant or her teammates yelled at one of the recruits, Rainbow Dash involuntarily looked over to see if it was one of the two students from her school being reprimanded.

“It’s your students, right?”  His voice lost some of its gruffness.  

Rainbow Dash had no defense but the truth.  “Yeah.  This is a lot harder than I thought it would be.”  In fact, this was exactly what Twilight had been warning her about; not being able to do both jobs at the same time.  

Rainbow Dash had downplayed Twilight’s concern, thinking it was just her friend’s usual eggheadedness that made her so over worried about something that was going to be so simple. But trying to be a teacher for two visiting students and trying to be part of Wonderbolt Academy trials was proving her wrong and Twilight right.  She could almost hear Twilight lecturing her about it.

“I’ll bet you’re close to these two flyers; probably more so than your other students.”  Soarin tried to gauge her feelings.

“They’ve only been at the School of Friendship for a few moons but it feels so much longer.  Being their teacher sometimes feels like more than that.  I’ve seen them grow so much at the School.” 

“I think it’s admirable you’d want them to grow a little more by having them participate, but I need you here, Dash.  The team needs you so we can get through this.”  He tried to get her to understand.  “Help us so we can help you.”

“I’m sorry if I let you or the team down, captain.  I won’t let it happen again.  I give you my word.” Rainbow Dash was a big enough pony to admit she was in over her head a little and needed help.  This time it wasn’t Twilight or the others from Ponyville who were helping, it was her Wonderbolt team helping. Soarin could see by the look in her eyes she meant what she said.  He felt surer now; he had his best Wing Pony back on the team.

“Alright then, let’s get done with the trials today. If you want, we can talk later about it.  Okay?  Clipper is here for you, Crash.”  Soarin returned the clipboard back to her.

“I know you are.”  Rainbow Dash gave him a quick smile before double checking her clipboard, making sure she had the right flyer’s name to follow on the next attempt.

“And by the way, I just saved your tail." Soarin shoved a hoof-ful of papers in Dash's direction.  "You’re welcome.”  The team captain didn’t look back as Rainbow Dash looked down to see he'd given her an accurate set of notes on the last three flyers.  

For the next several hours, Rainbow Dash listened as the recruits and cadets were marched up and down the length of the activities field.  Left, right, forwards and backwards, all the while learning how to step in time and move in unison.  Rainbow Dash would not look over at the group, blocking out anything that might distract her from her duty.  She had given her word to Soarin and she would keep it. 

The marching around turned out to be a good distraction for Silverstream; having to focus on something rather than thinking about what she’d seen at the memorial a short time ago. 

Firebolt and Solar Flare were occasionally sneaking a peek over at their hippogriff friend to see how she was doing.  They couldn’t tell if she was better or worse than earlier this afternoon but would talk with her later, perhaps during chowtime.
Nightflight, Cloudy Sky and Brightstar marched right along in step, managing to avoid any serious scolding from either Wonderbolt instructor or Sergeant Bullhorn.  

Finally, as the hours rolled on and sun dipped low in the west, the recruits and cadets heard the sweetest musical sound they could imagine come blasting over the public address system; the sound of a bugle playing the call to mealtime.

“Company halt!” the sergeant ordered and the entire group came to a stop in unison.  “Right face!” he ordered again and the troop all spun to the right and faced the three instructors.  Sergeant Bullhorn first glanced at Silver Zoom and then at Misty Fly.

“Wonderbolts, what be your thoughts on these sorry bags of bones?  Ye think they got what it takes to be cadets?”

“I’d say they’re green left-hoofed newbies, but they didn’t stink that much.”  Misty Fly was generous.

“Oh, stop gushing over them!”  Silver Zoom gave no quarter. “Half of them couldn’t tell left from right when marching.  It’s going to take a whole lot of practice to get these recruits ready for the academy.”

“You cadets are dismissed.”  Sergeant Bullhorn’s detention duty for his troublesome cadets was done and the students all slipped away to their dorm rooms or other engagements before chowtime.  “I thank both ye Wonderbolts for allowing us the honor of participating in today’s routine.”  The academy’s long standing drill sergeant turned an eye to both Silverstream and Gallus, his withering look making both flyers shrink back.

“I’d be keeping me eyes on those two!”  His voice, a low grumble of warning, made Silverstream recoil still more.  She could only imagine just how tough of a drill instructor he could be on any recruit or cadet.  She was almost glad it was two Wonderbolts leading this trial and not formal teachers from the academy. 

The sergeant gave his fellow instructors a salute and headed off back to his office to finish up his work for the day.   The almost-dozen recruits stood about in loose formation, all panting from the workout and too tired to do much else.

“Alright, newbies, that’s the end of the trials for the day.  Your scores will be posted on the bulletin board in the morning along with the cut list.  Dismissed.” Misty Fly was met with grateful groans of relief from the collection of flyers.  Once more, every flyer was too exhausted to trade any barbs or petty insults after the workout they’d had.  All of them had been run into the ground by the drill instructors.  They moved off into familiar clumps of friends before departing the activities field once more.

“Thank the princesses we’re done for today!” the weary griffon groaned, plopping on the ground and rubbing his sore paws from so much marching about.

“You said it!  I don’t know how much longer I could have gone on.  My hooves are so tired right now.”  Cloudy Sky sat down next to Gallus, exhausted.

“And just think, we’re probably going to have to do this at least two more times before we’re done with the trials.”  Brightstar joined them, sitting on the ground to recover.

“Or the trials are done with us!”  Nightflight, too, was feeling the soreness on his hooves too.  “Never thought I could walk so much in one day and not actually get anywhere.”

“We just need a good meal and a solid eight hours sleep tonight.  We’ll be okay in the morning.”  Solar Flare stretched his legs again, trying to prevent his muscles from cramping up.

“That, and a hot shower.”  Firebolt was already looking forward to that, wanting to wash off the grime and sweat from the day’s activities.  The recruits moaned in agreement at the thought of that welcoming comfort.

“Should we eat or head back to the barracks to clean up first?”  Silverstream watched most of the recruits heading off for the mess hall, all looking forward to a hot meal and some down time.

“I think we should eat first.  If I shower now, I know I’ll not want to move from my bunk after I get dried off,” Firebolt confessed with a small chuckle, aware of her disposition about hot showers and how relaxing they could be for a tired pony.  Her friends all nodded. 

“We’ll eat and then go see the memorial together.”  Solar Flare decided aloud. 

“I guess this means we have to get up now.”  Cloudy Sky hauled himself to his hooves, hunger driving him to get off his butt and head for the mess hall.  Together, they slowly made their way to their destination, in dire need of sustenance and time to recuperate.
> CH.8 pt.c) A Great Generation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That was some A-one prime chow they served us tonight.  Better than a lot of mess hall food I’ve eaten in my time, I can tell you.”  Brightstar had had enjoyed the meal and quiet company she had with her friends, getting to talk with Silverstream a little more about where she was from.

“Didn’t think the cadets here ate this good.”  Cloudy Sky popped a last bit of cake in his mouth as he followed his friends outside, leaving the mess hall behind and heading along a flagstone path away from the building.

“I could get used to it.  I think it’s better than some of my mother’s cooking.”  Nightflight laughed to himself, remembering his mom’s kitchen mishaps.  “So, where are we headed to now?”  

“The memorial site is just over to the left of the main office building on a small field.”  Solar Flare pointed it out to them, down a path a short distance and on the other side of a small rise. 

“Let’s go.”  Silverstream was first to get on her way, sure she could see it now without feeling like she was interrupting another flyer’s private moment.  The walk was short enough; cresting the small rise in the landscape, the group was met by an enormous pair of outstretched pegasus wings carved from pure white marble, spread out as if to launch into the air. 

In a small park-like spot were several stone benches where one could sit and look upon the monument.  The friends stepped onto the memorial’s grounds to look upon the crafted memory of time frozen.

In the clearing as well were several cadets, looking up at the stone’s polished surfaces, to the engraved names of those remembered.  The last sunrays of light streamed beams of red, orange and yellow from behind the memorial, bathing the white reflective stone with a halo of glowing heavenly radiance.  Together they moved closer and saw the names immortalized for the ages.  Firebolt and Solar Flare stood by Silverstream and Gallus, looking up at the names in silence.

Nightflight, Cloudy Sky, and Brightstar started at the end of the right wing to read the names and titles of each group that was lost.  Nightflight recited several of the squadron’s names etched in the marble surface.

“The Thirty-First Flyer Group; the ‘Golden Pegasi’, the Seventy-First Flyer Group; the ‘Sky Runners’, the Twenty-Eighth Flyer Group; ‘Cloudsdale’s Guard of Honor’.”  Cloudy Sky and his friends walked slowly along, taking in the magnitude of the monument.  For some of the friends, those who were of military disposition, it was a mix of pride and sorrow to see and understand the sacrifice made.  It moved them all.

Gallus silently read the names engraved into the stone’s surface; each one a story unto itself of bravery and sacrifice made.  He wondered what it might have been like to stand alongside Princess Twilight and her friends and stand up to the Storm King.  That feeling of standing tall and proud of who one was and not being afraid to give one’s all to protect and defend what one creature believes.  Even to the point of giving one’s life for that belief.

“There’s over one hundred names engraved in the stone; so many selfless acts done to protect Equestria.”  Firebolt gazed up at the monument, the pride of service to her homeland swelling her heart.  Her family had served for many years and so would she.  Her glory lay ahead in a future of fealty in service to her princesses, both current and ascending, and to her homeland. 

“All gave some; some gave all.”  Solar Flare read the engraving above the dedication, feeling the deep sense of duty and loyalty from those who had gone on before them.  He had no death wish, but believed these flyers would live on forever in the lore and history of the Wonderbolt Academy.  He wondered if his name would be so venerated in years to come as a legendary flyer of Ponyville. 

Silverstream’s eyes swept over the length of the monument, trying to take in its magnitude and meaning.  The names of so many ponies that had perished engraved in the stone; they had gone through just as much if not more as her own kind had. 

In war there is enough pain, suffering and misery for all species who stand up against oppression. There had been deaths and mourning among a number of hippogriff families for their fallen heroes as well, with the counterattack on occupied Canterlot.  She could feel for these heroes immortalized in white marble, they were not so different than those of her homeland.  The enemy had been a mutual one.

Gallus moved a little closer to Silverstream, wondering what she must be thinking right then.

“This is quite something to see, wouldn’t you say?”  An unfamiliar moment of silence between the two friends.

“Yes,” Silverstream spoke very quietly, “it is.  Back home at Mount Aris, we have something like this in honor of our fallen warriors as well, though it is a good deal smaller than this one.”

She kept looking up at the names on the stone surface, wondering who they had been.  These brave souls were the best of Equestria’s best and they had set a great precedent for all those who followed about those principles taught at the academy and how a real Wonderbolt shows their loyalty and courage when called to arms. 

She stood up straight and tall, as if addressing a superior officer.  Silverstream saluted the names of the service ponies who had helped free her country from the Storm King’s reign of fear.

“Thank you, good ponies, for your service to us all.” Her words, spoken loud and clear, were overheard by those cadets who were there too.  Solar Flare watched their reactions to seeing a hippogriff showing a proper military salute to another species of flyer.  Firebolt had been keeping an eye on them, just in case they were going to come over and start something.

But any look of displeasure at seeing Silverstream here was gone in a flash at her show of respect for their fallen comrades. Looks of bewilderment and hushed words shared between the cadets caught the griffon’s attention away from the monument.  He chose to extend the moment by adding his own salute to hers. 

The two cadets were astounded. A hippogriff and a griffon saluting a monument dedicated to pegasi?  This was most perplexing to them.  The griffon could see out of his peripheral vision the looks of confusion on the cadets’ faces. If he had wanted to send a message that he and others like him were aware of the sacrifice and honored those who had fallen, he had succeeded.  Something like this just might change some minds about non-pony flyers being here for the trials.

He recalled the words spoken by Commander Spitfire when he first arrived here, seeing the light of what she’d said.

 “…you can be more than just another flyer.  You can become Wonderbolts!”

Cloudy Sky was touched by the fitting monument to those who had perished in the battle.  He stood next to Brightstar, a question on his mind he wanted to ask his friend, just not sure how to ask tactfully.  

“I… I don’t suppose you actually knew any of them, did you?”  

“I knew a few of them.  Their families were living at the same housing complex as mine on a few of the bases we were living on.  I didn’t know them very well, since they were all older than me and I only saw them sometimes on weekends. I knew a few of their siblings better, they were in the same school as me that we went to on the base.” 

“Oh, sorry about that.  I didn’t mean-” Cloudy Sky began but Brightstar stopped him. 

“You don’t have to apologize, Cloudy.  It’s something everypony who serves in the military has to accept.  The danger is part of the job.  We know the risks involved but I appreciate your sentiment.” She reached out and gave him a friendly pat on his back with her wing.

Cloudy Sky felt honored to have met a mare like Brightstar.  Her steadiness under pressure was admirable, as was her determination to succeed.  He would make her and their friends proud of him by giving it all that he had for these trials.  To do any less then that would be insulting to these heroes and heroines enshrined here, and to a future heroine like Brightstar. 

For about an hour or so, the friends sat and contemplated the depth and meaning of the monument in quiet reflection, observing the other ponies that came and left who paid their respects as well.  

“I thought I might find you here after mealtime.” A mare’s voice brought Firebolt out of her thoughts and into the present.  She and Solar Flare turned around to see a familiar cadet walking up to meet them.  Nightflight and the others walked over to say hello to Gale Force again.

“Hey guys, whatcha up to?” asked Gale.

“We were just curious to see the monument.  None of us had the opportunity to see it until this evening.”  That was a bald-faced lie and Firebolt knew it, but there was no need to make more of this then necessary.  It was something between her, Silverstream and Solar Flare and neither of them called her out on it.

“And what do our volunteer flyers think of it?  I am curious to know.”  It wasn’t out of meanness or spite she asked, only that she was not expecting them to be here at the memorial.

“Very inspiring for me.  There’s a lot for the academy to be proud of engraved on those stones.”  Gallus’ words came from the heart.  It came from respect and maybe even a bit of awe drawn from his stroll through the school this afternoon as well.  Gale cracked a smile, pleased to hear him so influenced by this place. 

“It’s quite lovely.  Very peaceful.”  It was all Silverstream could come up with.  The normally chatty hippogriff didn’t know what to say that would convey any more feeling without it seeming like she was overdoing it.  Gale didn’t miss the look in Silverstream’s eyes.  There was an honesty and purity that said so much more than her few words. Gale could see Silverstream understood what the academy meant and what this memorial represented to the pegasus ponies here. 

“I’m glad you find it so.  I’ve come out here more than a few times to find some quiet time to think.”  Solar Flare covered his mouth as he yawned.

“Excuse me.  I was planning on turning in early tonight.  This was a hard day for me and I’m sure tomorrow won’t be any easier.”  The soft-spoken stallion rubbed his tired lavender eyes with the back of a foreleg, weary from the day’s grind.

“Any of you feel like visiting the rec room for a while?  You can meet the other recruits and some of the cadets there if you’d like.” Gale tried enticing her new acquaintances.

“Wait,” Gallus wasn’t sure if he had heard her correctly, “a wreck room?  What’s that?  You cadets have a special room to go smash things up in?”  His cluelessness made everyone laugh a little.

“No, not ‘wreck room’ like in smashing stuff.  I mean a ‘recreation room’; our place to hang out and have some fun away from class.  There’s a juice bar if you guys want something sweet to drink, and we just got a new air-hockey table.  We were thinking of doing a tournament tonight.  Anypo-” Gale caught herself, remembering how she’d misspoken before.

“Anycreature want to join in?” 

“I’ll go!  I love air-hockey and you never know what cute mare may show up to cheer on a winner.”  Nightflight didn’t hesitate.  He was always ready to rub hooves with new ponies and meet a new girl.

“Maybe for just a little while.”  Cloudy Sky wanted to see more of cadet life here on campus.  When he passed the trials, he wanted to feel more familiar with the surroundings.

“Better watch yourself, Nightflight,” Brightstar cracked her hooves in anticipation of a little friendly competition of another sort, shooting him a rather mischievous look, “you never know who’s going to show up to play.”

Gale was pleased with her efforts.  “Cool!  Three recruits joining in!  This’ll make it interesting.  How about you, Firebolt?  Up for some fun?”

“No thanks.  I’m pretty beat up too.  I want to take a nice hot shower and be ready for tomorrow.”  The fiery-maned pony politely declined, her full belly and weary limbs dictating her actions for the evening. Gale turned to the hippogriff and the griffon.

“Let me make it up to you both for acting like such a bonehead by introducing you to some of the cadets here.  I know who’s cool to hang with and who to steer clear of.”

“Perhaps another night this week would be better.  I am rather tired from the long day as well.”  Silverstream demurred, using the same polite ‘royal’ lilt to her voice that she had used with Cloudjumper.

“Okay, but I’m going to call you on that, Silverstream.  Count on it.”  Gale warned with a wink, intending to get Silverstream to join in before the week was out.

“Give me at least one day’s rest up and I’ll take on all comers for a tournament.”  Gallus was not one to back down from a challenge, even a friendly one like an air-hockey tournament.  He wanted to join in, to be a part of this experience, but not when he felt so beaten up and spent from the day’s routine.

“That’s two recruits I’m holding to their word.”  Gale turned to the three newbies next to her.

“C’mon.  Let’s see if they’ve got the sign-in sheet figured out.  Some of these featherbrains may fly okay but they sometimes can’t organize themselves out of a wet paper bag.”  

“See you at reveille.”  Solar Flare and his bunkmates waved as Gale led their friends off to the student lounge for some downtime. 

“I call first dibs on the shower!”  Firebolt yelped.

“Seconds!”  Solar Flare was just as fast in calling dibs.

“Aww, shoot!”  Gallus was annoyed at himself for not calling out quicker.  He was so looking forward to that hot shower.
“You can go ahead of me, Gallus.  I don’t mind waiting.”  Silverstream offered. 

“Eh, who cares?” said Gallus, mollified by her genericity.  “I’ve been dirty all day, what’s a little while longer?” 

====================************===========================

Once back in the barracks the foursome shared, they peeled the smelly uniforms from their bodies, tossing them in the hamper by the door for the school service pony to pick up and launder.

“Oh-h-h-h!”  Gallus groaned wearily as he flopped face first onto his bunk and pillow, unconcerned by how lumpy or thin it was.  Just getting off his paws and talons was wonderful.

“You said it!  This shower is going to feel awesome.”  Firebolt pitched her soiled uniform from across the room with a toss from her wing, rebounding it off the wall and getting it in the hamper.  “Score!  Oh yeah, who’s the best?” she hooted, shutting the door to the bathroom behind her with a kick from a hind hoof. 

Each of them got to indulge in a lengthy shower, with Gallus taking over an hour for his.  Clean, relaxed and now each adorned in their pajamas, the foursome sat atop their bedding and chatted about today’s experiences.  Gallus recounted his and Cloudy Sky’s sojourn into the classroom building with the two cadets they’d met at lunch.  The tale made them all squirm in discomfort from those three mares’ ignorant comments.

“You know Firebolt and I don’t feel that way about you or Silverstream.”  Solar Flare was embarrassed to know that fellow ponies could be so clueless and misinformed.

“Ignore them; they’re just idiots.”  Firebolt snorted, annoyed that her friend had had to put up with such harassment, even worse, coming from cadets.  

“I know.  I just wish they could be more like you two.  I just don’t get how it could be so weird like this; guys like Wind Raider and Stormbringer at one end and then you, Firebolt, Brightstar and the others at the opposite end.”  

“You seemed to make a good impression with Cloudjumper and Gale Force easy enough.  I’m sure in another day or so, everypony else will come around to you both.  Word will get around campus about how a newbie hippogriff beat an academy record of a Wonderbolt.”

Silverstream had almost forgotten about that from this morning.  The whole day’s workout had been intense and her mind had been distracted enough to push aside the recollection of her achievement.

“You think so?” Silverstream wanted to believe that.  After hearing some of the things the cadets had said to her and Gallus, she wondered if they or any other non-pony flyer could be accepted here.

“This place runs on so much ego from the cadets.  The moment some student does something that grabs the student body’s attention for five minutes, they suddenly become a hero and adored, until the next thing comes along. It wouldn’t surprise me if by lunch tomorrow some of the cadets start asking for your autograph.”  Firebolt rolled her eyes a little with a small shake of her head.

A bugle call came across from the public address system outside, puzzling Gallus.

“Another call?  This late?”  Gallus looked to Silverstream and Firebolt for an answer.

“It’s the Call to Quarters; all cadets and recruits have to return to their dormitories or barracks for the night.  Soon they’ll play Taps and that’ll be lights out.”  Firebolt knew these calls like the back of her hoof.  She, like Brightstar, had grown up in a military family.

“I’m ready for lights out now.”  Gallus yawned once more, his eyelids heavy from the long day.  He slipped under the bedding, giving a big sigh of relief to be lying down at last.  Both Silverstream and Firebolt did likewise, ready for some well-earned rest.

“I’ll get the lights.”  Solar Flare hopped off his cot and flipped the switch by the doorway, plunging the small living space into darkness.  Once under his blankets, he felt his whole body relax at last.

“G’night you guys.” Solar Flare snuggled down into his pillow, finding just the right position to get comfortable in.

“G’night,” three voices answered back. So exhausted were they that none were awake when the call of Taps came over the public address system, signaling the end of a day here at the Wonderbolt Academy.  Tomorrow, they would have to soldier on through the trials and prove themselves once more to their drill instructors and their peers.
> Ch.9 Wonderbolt Trials pt.5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bugle call for reveille hadn’t finished its reprise by the time Gallus had his uniform on and was heading out the door of their barracks, right behind Firebolt and Silverstream. The first dim rays of the morning sun were on the horizon as they all got into position, lined up in front of their quarters awaiting their C.O.

Solar Flare lagged behind for only a few seconds, taking a bit more time to get his uniform on correctly and stand in line next to Silverstream.  He just made it to his spot as one of the Wonderbolt team members came to do a headcount.  The recruits watched and waited as Commander Spitfire approached.

“All recruits present and accounted for ma’am.”  He saluted her.  Spitfire returned the same.

“Very good.” The academy’s C.O. turned her attention on the recruits, stepping closer to address them.

“At ease,” she ordered.  “As I was tallying up your scores last night and evaluating the notes left by the instructors on each one of you, I’ve noticed something particular about this group of recruits.”  Spitfire marched up and down the line of recruits, her eyes passing over each of them. “It’s been some time since any group of recruits came to the academy for tryouts and done as well as this group has.” The cadets relaxed visibly, having been convinced she was going to start calling out those who had been eliminated from the trials.

“Apparently, we’ve got some flyers here,” she paused in her step right in front of Gallus and Silverstream, “who know a thing or two about what it takes to be exceptional flyers.”

Silverstream and Gallus couldn’t help feeling a bit proud for being singled out by the C.O. for notice.  Silverstream’s confidence was back and she was eager to get started for today’s trial, as was Gallus.

“After chowtime, the latest list of trials for today will be posted.  All decisions as to recruit assignment are final. There shall be no switching between designations unless formally submitted by your instructors and by my review. Any questions?”

None of them spoke up.

“Recruits dismissed.”  She turned now to Blaze standing next to her.  “Find your captain and co-captain.  I need to speak with them in my office.”

“Yes ma’am.” Blaze knew where they’d likely be, in the lounge.  It was Rainbow Dash’s turn to make breakfast today.  She headed off to get them.  Spitfire still had her morning rounds to do; the principal of the academy was waiting for her.

The bugle call for the first meal of the day sounded and they headed for the mess hall, hungry for food and even hungrier for what was coming next. Cloudy Sky was ready with a great comeback if any cadet gave him any trouble.  To his surprise, none of the cadets heckled or catcalled at any of the recruits as they walked in.  Everypony was sitting and eating their breakfast peacefully, chatting normally, and not giving them any notice whatsoever.

“Huh? What’s going on?”  Cloudy Sky couldn’t help but wonder aloud.  “Why aren’t the cadets yelling at us?”  He turned to Firebolt and Solar Flare, confused. 

“No sense in doing the same thing to us two days in a row, Cloudy.  It wouldn’t be as shocking or unnerving as it was yesterday. The cadets will know we’re ready and prepared to call them out for it so there’s no shock or surprise in repeating the razzing again.”  Firebolt saw the look of disappointment on Cloudy Sky’s face.

“Shoot! And I came up with the best zinger of a comeback last night if they were going to give us a hard time again.”

Solar Flare gave him a sigh.  “Don’t worry, Cloudy.  I’m sure the cadets will find some other way of giving us a hard time. Trust me.”

The group headed to the same table they had sat at yesterday, finding some semblance of routine comforting.  The conversation between them was light and happy as they ate.  Silverstream expounded more about Mount Aris as well as more about her time with Gallus at the School of Friendship.  None of the other recruits gave Gallus or Silverstream a second look.  Gale Force stopped by their table to say hello.

“Oh, there he is.  Mister ‘I’m the greatest air-hockey player of all time’ himself!”  Gale playfully teased Nightflight.  His friends looked at his rather smug expression.

“What happened?”  Firebolt was curious about Nightflight’s exploits last night in the student rec room.

“Oh, Nightflight took on pretty much everypony at the game and gave them a good shellacking,” Brightstar told them with a small chuckle.  Nightflight’s grin grew.

“How badly did he beat them?” asked Silverstream.

“He won eight straight games in a row.  Not a single cadet or recruit could even come close.”  Gale narrowed her eyes at Nightflight, a little deviousness shining in them.  “Tonight, I’m making sure you’re on my team for the tournament.”

“Unless the rest of us decide to join in the competition; maybe we should form our own team.”  Firebolt played a little one-upsmanship with her friend, wanting to stake her claim on Nightflight.

“Well, that also depends,” Gale turned her head to look right at Gallus and Silverstream, “if our two volunteers decide to join in the game tonight or not as well. It’s four members to a team.”  Gallus was not going to pass up the chance this time.

“Count on it. This griffon is ready for anything!” Gallus bragged, his confidence already high.

“I’d like to try tonight.  Maybe get to meet some other cadets too. Air-hockey sounds like fun.” Silverstream wanted to make more friends with these ponies and taking part in some student activities seemed like a good way to start.

“I guess we’re all in for this, right?”  Solar Flare looked around at his fellow flyers.

“Oh, absolutely.”  Brightstar would not sit this out.  After Nightflight’s performance last night, this would be epic.  She wondered just how many cadets he was going to piss off tonight.

“If you guys come up short a member, I can sub in if you want.”  Gale took a quick visual headcount, figuring the seven of them were their own clique.

“That’d be cool to have a cadet on the team; adds to my credibility.”  Nightflight got Gale’s goat a bit, having bested three of her friends including her boyfriend.

“Then it’s a date!  We’ll meet back here at dinner and go together afterwards.”  Firebolt thumped a forehoof on the table.  She was already looking forward to having both her new hippogriff friend and an old friend from her foalhood together on the same team. It felt like the best of both worlds.

After consuming as much food as they could in preparation for the long day, the group headed out for the bulletin board with the other recruits.  There was an anticipatory buzz in the air.  Just as Commander Spitfire had stated, the group had done very well.  Solar Flare and the others could all see that the cut list only had three names on it and none were because of poor performance.

“What’s the first trial for today?”  Silverstream couldn’t get close enough to see, since everypony was crowding in to read the lists.  Being a bit smaller than his friends, Cloudy Sky could wiggle his way through the mass of bodies to get to the bulletin board and read the instructions.

“Classroom lecture?”  He wasn’t sure if he’d read it right.  This was the first thing everypony was so excited about?

“First half of today is class time then after lunch its first trials of trick flying. See?”  Another recruit pointed to the two lists just to Cloudy Sky’s right, indicating who was going in what classroom.

“Hey,” Gallus had made his way closer too and read the lists.  Alarmed, he announced, “we’re not in the same class together. Look.”  A few more recruits stepped aside now, allowing Firebolt and her friends closer.  Brightstar read out loud;

“It says here, every flyer on the blue page goes into the first classroom and every flyer on the yellow page goes in the second.  Wonderbolt Blaze and Wonderbolt Thunderlane are to be the instructors today for the classes.”  They all looked at the title of each page. Gallus and Cloudy Sky were not sure what the titles meant.

“This list says Lead Pony and that one says Wing Pony.”  Nightflight scanned the lists, finding his name among those in the Lead Pony category.  Everyone else read the lists, looking for their names. 

“What the-? Wing Pony?!”  Firebolt almost choked when she found hers.  She was a top-tier flyer and she knew it.  Why was she being put in the Wing Pony category?

“They’ve put myself, Nightflight, Brightstar and Silverstream in the Lead Pony class today and Firebolt, Cloudy Sky and Gallus in Wing Pony class.”  Solar Flare wasn’t surprised to find himself in the Lead Pony category but all of the friends were surprised that Silverstream was included in that class when Firebolt wasn’t.  

“But, Firebolt, you’re a great flyer.  Why did Commander Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts put you in the class with me and Gallus?”  Cloudy Sky found this to be rather perplexing.

“I guess we shouldn’t delay. Everypony else is heading for the classrooms.” Brightstar pointed to the other recruits heading to the classroom outbuildings they were assigned to. Firebolt only growled a little in frustration, feeling she was being held back.

“Maybe it’s a mistake?”  Silverstream, too, thought there must be an error in assigning Firebolt to the Wing Pony class.  

“No, they’re pretty good at assessing a flyer’s skill level.  Commander Spitfire wouldn’t place a pony in a class if she didn’t think they were capable of handling the requirements.”  Nightflight hated to be the one to rain on Firebolt’s parade today, but there was nothing any of them could do about it right now. Cloudy Sky and Brightstar headed off to their assigned classrooms, wanting to get the day started.

“I’m going to speak with the C.O. about this!” Firebolt followed after, feeling slighted by having been assigned to what she considered a lesser class.

Off the seven of them went, ready to take all the knowledge they could glean from the instructors.  Firebolt, Cloudy Sky and Gallus sat next to each other in the classroom as more of the recruits filed in.  While the two or three recruits sitting with Stormbringer gave them sideways looks, the rest didn’t even pay attention to Silverstream or her friends.  Everyone there was focused on the task at hand. In trotted a familiar Wonderbolt instructor, ready to share what he knew with them.

His big friendly grin put his students at ease.  “Good morning recruits!”  Thunderlane boomed.

“Good morning sir!”  

“Nice to see some familiar faces in a classroom setting once more,” he was looking over at Gallus and his friends, pleased to be teaching one of Rainbow Dash’s students again, “so let’s not waste time this morning and get right to it. Today, you recruits are going to get a chance to show what kind of flyer you are.  No tests of strength or endurance; just an introduction to some of the aerobatic moves you will have to build up into a routine for your first evaluation.”

This got the students murmuring happily, hearing the prospect of getting to show their stuff like they wanted to.  “Every flyer come up and take a textbook off the desk and open them to chapter one so we can begin.”  Thunderlane watched as they hurried up to his desk, all of them smiling and excited as they scooped up a copy and got back to their seats.  Gallus grabbed one for himself and each of his two friends and hurried back to his desk, passing one each to Cloudy Sky and Firebolt.  

“Everycreature have a copy?”  Thunderlane scanned the room, making sure they were all ready with a book for each of them.  “Alright, let’s begin.”

====*****====

“There’s some empty seats over by the window.”  Solar Flare was moving and pointing at the same time, trying to nab some seats clustered together for himself and his friends.

“I wonder what they’re going to teach us.  What does a Lead Pony do that a Wing Pony doesn’t?”  Silverstream took the seat furthest from the window, wanting to be near the front of the classroom.  Nightflight and Brightstar took the middle two seats between their friends.

“I don’t know, but that’s why we’re here, right?”  Nightflight was curious as to why he’d been selected as Lead Pony.  He didn’t think his performance had been any better or worse than his friends.  He thought Silverstream and Solar Flare were the leading contenders for such a position.  More recruits filed in.  

“Oh no, it’s him again!”  Nightflight groaned quietly.  His friends all turned to see what it was that had caught Nightflight’s attention.

With that air of superiority radiating off him, Wind Raider strode through the door and looked about for an empty seat.  Silverstream felt her stomach tighten a little bit.  She should have suspected he would be in this class as well.

“Over here.” One of the recruits waved Wind Raider over to sit with a cluster of three or four stallions, welcoming him among them.  Brightstar didn’t want to waste the energy or brain power thinking about that creep.

“Don’t worry about him. Just focus on the lesson for today.” Brightstar watched as the black-maned pony took a seat on the other side of the room, keeping his distance from them. The other recruits filed in and quickly got into any seat as their instructor was right on their hooves entering the classroom and shutting the door with a thud.  The class was already at attention before she even got to her desk. 

“Good morning, recruits!”  Blaze’s voice carried clearly across the room, cutting off any last lingering chatter between the newbies.

“Good morning ma’am!” 

“I’m sure most of you flyers must be wondering why you are here.  Some of you might be wondering why their talents haven’t had the chance to be seen by the instructors yet.  Why all the fitness testing and training?  Why not start off with what you’re good at?” Blaze paused for a moment, her eyes scanning over the assembled recruits.

“Allow me explain.  I and my fellow instructors, as well as Commander Spitfire, have watched you flyers demonstrate exceptional flying skills and abilities that set you apart from the other recruits.  Because of your skills, you have been selected as Lead Pony as well as considered potential candidates for Officers Training School or other programs to capitalize on those skills.  The academy needs young talented flyers to fill its leadership roles, and you are believed to be those needed the most.”

Her words were forthright and honest.  The weight of what she said was not lost on any flyer in the room.  The Cloudsdale Defense Force as well as the Wonderbolt Academy had lost many good ponies, and the need to fill the vacancies left behind was urgent.

“I want each of you to take one of these textbooks and open to chapter three so we can begin with today’s lessons.”  She pointed to the stack of books on the desk.  Each flyer stepped up and took a copy, returned to their seat and opened to the right page.

“We will review some of the basic trick maneuvers and common flight formations from chapters one and two only briefly and then start with chapter three. Before the break, I want all of you to be at chapter four so we can be on schedule for the afternoon’s first flight sessions.”  Blaze saw their expressions perk up.  “Any questions before we begin?”  The room went silent.

“Very well, then.  Let’s begin with the fundamentals of proper flight formation.”  

=====******======

“What should we do with the gear from the weight training course ma’am?  Put it all away or leave some out for training?” High Winds asked as he, Silver Zoom and Rainbow Dash were pushing the wind making machine off the field and back towards the storage shed.

“Keep three or four of the hoops set up, the rest can go back into the shed too.  Tell Fleetfoot and Misty Fly to hurry up with the safety nets.  I don’t want these recruits waiting around for us.”  Spitfire reread the to-do list again, keeping on schedule of the trials on track as well as what she was planning for the next day’s work out.

“Good morning, ma’am.”  Soarin saluted his commander as he walked up and stood tall in front of her.  She barely noticed him, too deep into her notes to even realize he was there.  “Anything wrong, ma’am?” he cautiously pressed, not sure if his leader was in much of a mood to talk.

“I don’t get it.”  Spitfire muttered, more to herself then her team leader.

“Pardon, ma’am?”  

“I don’t get why I haven’t been able to find who’s supposed to be here from Central Command to look into our trials this season.  I’ve kept such a close watch on the grounds, checking the visitor logs and all incoming communications.  This should not be hard for me to find out.”  Spitfire’s brow furrowed, her mind at work analyzing when was in front of her eyes.

“Permission to speak freely, ma’am?”  There was caution in the Wonderbolt captain’s voice.

“Granted.”

“Ma’am, with all due respect, maybe… maybe your sources at Central Command are wrong this time.”  He trod very lightly into this area, knowing well that her inside sources had been very reliable over the many moons.  “Maybe it’s just a false alarm or something to throw us off our game?”

The commander of the Wonderbolts paused from her reviewing, turning to look at him and ponder this possibility.  “I’d like to believe so, Clipper, but without something to show either it was or was not going to happen I can’t risk being caught off guard and nether can the academy if they show up.  We just have to keep vigilant.”  Soarin didn’t like seeing his C.O. so worried over something as simple as a routine inspection from Central Command Headquarters.  They’d been through lots of inspections before.

“Yes ma’am. I’ll make sure the team has all the gear set up and ready for the recruits before they head off to lunch.” Soarin would carry on as his C.O. had instructed, determined to make sure this series of trials went off without a problem.  As he left, he asked a final question.  “Commander, do you suppose this has anything to do with Rainbow Dash’s proposal?  I mean, they’re not coming here and expecting to actually see a hippogriff and a griffon trying out for the academy, are they?”

“I’d like to know myself.”  Spitfire was still at a loss for the reason for this visit.  She could not recall a single instance when the academy hadn’t kept strict adherence to its code of conduct. She wondered what this visitor would say if Rainbow Dash’s students were seen among the recruits.  No matter; she would cross that bridge when she came to it. 

====******====

“So how’s the class going for you?  What’s it about?”  Gallus stretched his wings out again, cramped after having to sit at a desk for the past three hours.  Both classes got a fifteen minute break between lecture times in order to grab a snack or get some fresh air before continuing with the studying.  Silverstream tried to explain what she was learning.

“It’s a lot more about being a leader for a squad, flight formations and more advanced tricks; ones like I’ve seen the Wonderbolts do in a show.  They’re also teaching us about our roles in… combat.” Silverstream had a bit of trouble getting that word out, never having considered herself a fighter or a warrior. She admired the Griffguards who served their kingdom as well those of the pony nation but it felt odd to suddenly imagine herself in that role.

“I’m learning about flight formations and tricks too, but they’re focusing on learning to take directions from out flight leaders.  I didn’t know about any of this from our readings in Professor Dash’s class.” Gallus had never suspected what recruits of a military school actually studied, finding it interesting and genuinely appealing.

“I’m just glad Brightstar is with me.  Nightflight and Solar Flare are having a tough enough time with this too.  She’s been a big help for me.  I don’t think I’d understand half of this without her explaining the terms to me.”

“Firebolt is kinda doing the same thing for me.  I didn’t know any of the flying moves we do had so many names and different ways of doing them.  This is all so new to me.  I hope I can keep all this straight in my head.”  Gallus thought it quite challenging to comprehend the intricacies of stunt flight and the coordination it took to make it work right.  His appreciation for the Wonderbolts’ skills grew with his new understanding.

“Hey, you two.  How’s the class time going?  Your brains ready to explode from so much learning about trick flying?”  The familiar mare’s voice spoke from close by, getting their attention.  They turned to see their teacher smiling at them, dressed once more in her Wonderbolt uniform.

“Professor Dash, I never suspected you and the other Wonderbolt members all had to go through such intensive training to fly as a team.  I’d assumed you flew well together because of your natural skills.” The griffon made room for her to stand with them.

“Me too. There’s so much more to being a cadet at the academy than I first believed. No wonder it’s so hard for a flyer to get in.”  Silverstream, as well, felt her respect and admiration for Rainbow Dash and her fellow Wonderbolt team members increase.  This was becoming more of an eye-opening experience for her with each passing hour.

“That’s why we only accept the best of the best here; there’s no room for second tier flyers.  There’s too much riding on its cadets and the reservists who run it for the most part.” Rainbow Dash felt that same glowing feeling of closeness with her students again, sharing more of her world and life experiences with two young flyers.

“Is this a private conversation or are non-students of Princess Twilight’s school allowed to join in?”  Nightflight joked as all five of the friends came over to say hello, seeing Silverstream and Gallus talking with their teacher.  Rainbow Dash was glad to see them again.

“How are the classes going for you guys? You able to keep up with the subject matter?” she joked lightly, making them smile.

“It’s tough, but we won’t let down our recruiters.”  Solar Flare was glad to get a break; this was a lot of information to take in so short of a time.

“That’s because we’re the best and nothing is going to stop us from getting into the academy!” Nightflight was unwavering in his belief, his confidence strong.  

“Um, yeah, if you say so, Nightflight.”  

All seven of them looked at Cloudy Sky, who wore a most worried expression.

“What’s wrong, Cloudy?”  Silverstream saw the look of doubt in his blue eyes.

“I… uh…” He looked about his friends, suddenly feeling a little less worthy of being part of the group. His face colored with embarrassment.

“You can tell us.”  Solar Flare encouraged him still.

“We’re here to listen, Cloudy.”  Firebolt, too, wanted her friend to feel safe.

“Would it help if I left?”  Rainbow Dash offered, believing it might make it easier for him to not have an instructor hanging around.

“No, it’s not that.  It’s...” Cloudy Sky hesitated, biting his lower lip, wondering what they would say or think of him if he told them. Brightstar came to stand next to him and put a reassuring hoof on his shoulder.

“What is it, Cloudy?”  With that gentle look in her eyes and the way she spoke to him, like a big sister helping out her struggling sibling, he felt he could let his guard down and tell the truth.

“I… I’ve never done any trick flying before!  I don’t understand what the instructor is talking about!” he blurted out, waiting miserably to hear them laugh.

“Cloudy,” Firebolt got him to look up instead of at the ground, “why didn’t you say something to me at the beginning of the class? I could’ve helped you from the start.”

“You were helping Gallus and working really well together.  He caught on so much faster than me that I didn’t want to be a bother to you. I was too ashamed to say anything.”  He looked down at the ground again.  “Now the instructor is talking about even more complex stuff and I can’t make head or tail of it. I don’t want to flunk out already!”  His voice quivered with fear.  Rainbow Dash stepped closer to speak with him.

“You know, one of the teachers at the school I work at had a similar issue.  Instead of being embarrassed to ask for help because she didn’t know what to do, she didn’t ask for help because of her pride; she felt she alone had to get her job done and wouldn’t ask for help.  In fact, she refused help when it was offered.”

“Let me guess; Professor Applejack, right?” Gallus’ instincts were right on the money.

“You know it.”  She winked at the griffon, acknowledging his sharp perspective before turning to face Cloudy Sky again. “It took a lot to convince her to speak up and ask for a helping hoof. Don’t be afraid to ask for help; it might be the difference between making it in to the academy or not.  You have your friends to call on when you need them. I know I do.”

He knew she was right; he just had to believe again.  He had his friends who were there for him, as much as he was there for Silverstream or Gallus or any of them.  He didn’t have to take this on alone.  

Rainbow Dash and the others watched how his spirit lifted from her pep talk. A small smile returned to Cloudy Sky’s face and he breathed a little easier now.

“Thanks… Professor Dash.”  Cloudy Sky blushed, looking up admiringly at the famous Wonderbolt, addressing her as if he were her student.  Rainbow Dash smiled right back at the gray stallion, giving him a friendly pat on his shoulder with her wing.

“Hey, think of it as a personal ‘friendship lesson’ courtesy of yours truly.”  The whole group was smiling in gratitude for her guidance.  Suddenly a bell rang out, ending their break time and sending them back to class.

“You guys get going.  Let me know how it goes later today.  I’d like to hear about what you learned.”  Rainbow Dash waved to them as she headed back to the activities field to help finish setting up the gear for the first flying sessions.

They did as they were told and got back to their classrooms, heartened to push themselves on and persevere.  With Cloudy Sky seated to her left and Gallus to her right, Firebolt made sure both her “flight students” understood all the flight terms and proper usages.  Cloudy Sky asked Firebolt about certain aspects of doing trick flying; which way to spin into a barrel roll from a certain angle, how to time yourself when doing loop-de-loops and other details that eluded his understanding. 

She helped him sort through the choices and pick out four straightforward maneuvers to do and explained how he could string them together into a routine.  Cloudy Sky started to catch on, things started to make sense.  Gallus, too, picked up a pointer or two from hearing Firebolt’s explanations, mentioning small particulars that were not covered in the textbook and were only from actual flight experience.

Firebolt felt puffed up with pride, shepherding her friends along into this new world of high-flying stunt work and precision flight.  Thunderlane walked around the room and listened in to what the recruits were planning for a routine.  Back at his desk, he made notes in their files about who was helping who and how well the recruits listened to his instructions. No doubt his C.O. would be most interested in knowing such details.  

After an hour, Thunderlane called an end to their first flight lab.  “Okay, recruits, I want each of you to come up to my desk and show me what you have planned for a first routine.”  Most of the class was eager to show the friendly Wonderbolt instructor what great and awe-inspiring first routines they had come up with.

Cloudy Sky hung back a little, still unsure of what the instructor would say about his routine.  He waited until a few of the more boisterous students had gone ahead, each getting approval from the instructor for their efforts and giving each other congratulatory wing-slaps.  Finally, Cloudy Sky stepped up to Thunderlane’s desk and nervously handed in his assignment, waiting with Firebolt and Gallus to hear what the instructor’s response would be.

“This is all you’re planning for a routine?” Thunderlane looked at the young stallion, noting his fidgetiness and inability to look him in the eyes.  

“Ummm…” Cloudy Sky hesitated, not sure what to say.  

Firebolt quickly went to his rescue.  “Excuse me, sir, it was myself and Gallus who helped him pick these moves to do.”

“These moves you’ve selected are pretty basic.  How come?”  Thunderlane had seen all three of these recruits fly and didn’t understand why Gallus and Firebolt had selected more challenging maneuvers for themselves but such an elementary combination for their friend to perform.  Cloudy Sky felt a small flush of embarrassment.

“Cloudy’s not really a stunt pony, sir.  He’s never done aerial tricks before.”  Firebolt explained simply.

“Ah, it makes sense now.”  Thunderlane gave an understanding nod and an easy smile.  “A first time stunt flyer, I take it?” 

Cloudy Sky still had trouble looking up at the famous Wonderbolt, feeling small and unworthy.  “Yes, sir.”

“Well,” Thunderlane rubbed his chin with a forehoof as he leaned back in his seat, “I’m not so worried about it at this stage. It’s really about getting familiar with the motions and learning how to develop a routine. Give it a try, but just remember, evaluations are based on the completion and execution of the routine and not on flashiness or overly complicated moves.”

A lavender mare with an almost insane amount of blue and reddish-pink curls for her mane and tail leaned over to look at the sheet of paper and read what Cloudy Sky had composed. Her bright amber eyes scanned Cloudy Sky’s routine.  She squealed in delight.

“Oh-h-h, a loop-de-loop!  I love doing loop-de-loops, don’t you?  Those are my favorite tricks to do!  I could do those all day long. Loop-de-loop-de-loop-de-loops! I’m doing a double inverted corkscrew loop in my routine.  It’s really similar to a traditional corkscrew but-”

“Excuse me, Ms. Dazzle, I’m sure the young stallion appreciates the input but I think he’s in capable company.”  Thunderlane had to politely cut off this chatterbox of a mare.  He’d had to stop his lessons twice today due to her incessant talking to everypony around her and her seeming inability to focus for more than five minutes.  

Not that Thunderlane discouraged input between recruits, but he’d known and worked with younger inexperienced flyers like Cloudy Sky who’d easily get overwhelmed by the information from over-eager helpers.

“It’s alright, sir.  Any help is welcome.”  He faced the colorful mare who’d joined in the conversation.  “Hi, I’m Cloudy Sky.”

The mare returned Cloudy Sky’s perky grin, giggling like a little filly.  “My name’s Razzle Dazzle!”  Her wings were constantly flicking and twitching. 

“Are you nervous?”  Firebolt wondered about the wing spasms this mare seemed to be having.

“No, just really excited to be here.  This is going to be so much fun, I just know it.  I can’t wait to start flying!” she practically yelled out, prancing in place. Their instructor was not pleased by the outburst.

“Ms. Dazzle!” His tone was less tolerant this time.

“Oops. Sorry everypony,” she tittered. The other recruits returned to their work in their groups once more.

“I’m Firebolt and this is our friend Gallus.”  She waved over her griffon friend to meet the new acquaintance. Cloudy Sky watched as Razzle Dazzle’s eyes went wide when she saw Gallus come over.  He was already anticipating a repeat incident from yesterday, by her expression.

“Nice to meet you.”  Gallus extended a friendly wing to the mare in polite greeting but was caught off guard by her sudden approach into his personal space, her eyes twinkling with the light of discovery.

“Hello! How are you?”  The gentle lilt in her voice and look in her eyes left no question to her intense interest as she drank in every detail of Gallus.  The griffon grew slightly uncomfortable with her closeness, pulling back a step or two before answering.

“Uh, fine.” He glanced over at Firebolt, looking for help.  Both she and Cloudy Sky stood by and watched, for the moment.

“Good.” Razzle Dazzle smiled, her head tilting slightly to one side.  “If you don’t mind, I would like to take a quick look at you; just to get an idea of why a flyer such as yourself might be here today; what interest you might have at attending the Wonderbolt Academy.” She looked him over, observing him from every side and possible angle as she walked around him, stopping suddenly to peer deep into his eyes as if she were attempting to see his soul.

“Um-hmm…yes....”  She muttered to herself, contemplating her observations.  Cloudy Sky and Firebolt didn’t know what to make of such an odd pony.

“Alright… interesting.”  She took a step back from him, looking away as if thinking over what she had seen.  “I’m not really…I’m not sensing anything or seeing anything just yet, but I think… I think I just need to focus and concentrate a little more.”  Again stood right in front of Gallus, her eyes shut as the feathers on the tips of her wings now massaged her temples, as if to focus her brain’s energy. “Concentrating… concentrating… it will come to me…”  Razzle Dazzle scrunched her face some and gritted her teeth a little, as if willing her mind to pick up whatever ‘cosmic vibrations’ she was attempting to channel. Gallus was at a loss what to make of this mare’s antics.  Cloudy Sky and Firebolt looked on, amused by this show.

“Concentrating… u-m-m-m… nope!  I picked up absolutely nothing from it.”  She shrugged in mild disappointment but was still smiling.

Gallus blinked once or twice, looking over at his friends and then back at Razzle Dazzle. “Ha… have you ever been able to read another creature’s mind or stuff like that?”

“Oh, um, no. I haven’t been able to do that yet but that never stopped me from trying.  My paternal grandfather was a unicorn and I’ve always believed I could tap into the magical power inside me. Persistency pays off, except for when it doesn’t; great words to live by!”  Cloudy Sky and Firebolt chuckled a little at her flighty thinking.  Thunderlane only sighed and shook his head.  A stallion from her group trotted over to them.

“Hey, you guys want her to work with you?  Go ahead! Please, she’s driving us crazy with her constant chattering!  We can’t concentrate on finalizing our routines and the three of us actually want to pass the trials!” he begged.  Gallus and his friends all looked over at the red and blue stallions in the corner who looked back at them, each with horrible silent pleading looks.

The lavender mare valiantly tried to defend herself.  “Hey, I was just riffing on ideas for moves with you guys. I kept trying to get your attention and explain how the loops can interconnect and then lead to the-blulp!” An unexpected forehoof from Firebolt over her mouth halted the onslaught of information and she was momentarily startled by the sudden silencing.

The trio looked at one another, wondering if they could help out.  Cloudy Sky shrugged innocently at Firebolt, he didn’t mind if she joined them.  He thought she was an interesting pony.  Firebolt didn’t mind either, so long as she didn’t talk too much of the time they were working.

Gallus wasn’t so sure.  This mare seemed awfully curious about him.  “Well,” he scratched the back of his neck and looked up at the ceiling, “do we really need a fourth to the group?  I mean, we’re working so well as a trio and all…”  

The yellow stallion that had come over to plead with them smacked a hoof to his forehead in frustration.  The other two ponies of their group moaned with dread at the prospect of being stuck with this blathering mare for the rest of the day. 

Firebolt released Razzle Dazzle’s mouth, catching from out the corner of one eye how Thunderlane was quietly watching and listening to what they were saying and doing, taking notes of what was unfolding. She seized the opportunity.

“Why not? Anypony who could come up with a routine like that,” Firebolt inclined her head toward the sheet of paper Razzle Dazzle had left on their instructor’s desk, “has got to be some special kind of a flyer.” Firebolt recognized the talent it took to come up with such an aspiring routine.  It was more complex than either of hers or the one they’d devised for Gallus.

“Could I? I’ve always been incredibly fascinated with griffons and how they fly!”  Razzle Dazzle’s eyes lit up.  She’d never had the chance to fly with a griffon before.

“Perhaps you three could help her trim down her routine down some?  It seems overly ambitious for a first evaluation.” Thunderlane wanted to see if the trio that included one of Rainbow Dash’s students would work with a challenging team member.  Could one of them help this mare focus more on the task given to her?

When Cloudy Sky looked at the sheet of paper Razzle Dazzle had submitted, his mouth fell open.  This bubbly spirit of a mare had strung together a symphony of ten maneuvers that flowed together seamlessly. 

What is she doing here in the Wing Pony class? He thought.  She belongs with Silverstream and the others in the Lead Pony class.

Hearing disapproval in the instructor’s tone, Razzle Dazzle whipped her head around to look at Thunderlane.  “It’s… it’s not right, sir?”  Her voice was full of hurt.  The Wonderbolt raised an eyebrow.

“Ms. Dazzle, I said it’s overly ambitious. I didn’t say it was incorrectly written out.  If this was a routine for a final solo evaluation or the advanced class in trick flying, then it would be more appropriate.  The assignment I gave was for each of you to create a routine of four to seven maneuvers from the textbook.  You weren’t paying attention during the lesson, young mare.  Too much chattering with the others.” 

Cloudy Sky stepped in to help out.  “I’m sure the three of us can help Razzle Dazzle come up with something a bit more in line with the instructions, sir.”

The griffon shrugged, speaking with nonchalance.  “Meh, I guess it’s cool; we can help out.”

“Thanks a bunch! Seriously, we owe you.”  The yellow stallion breathed a huge sigh of relief, as did the two others of his group. He headed back to his study group.

“I suggest you get going on your final drafts.  There’s not much time before we break for lunch.”  Thunderlane pointed to the clock hanging above the doorway.  It was Oh Ten Hundred-Thirty hours now; they had ninety minutes left to work.  If they were going to help Razzle Dazzle and Cloudy Sky, they had to get moving and quickly. Firebolt scooped up both Cloudy Sky’s and Razzle Dazzle’s submissions from off the desk, hustling all of them back to their desks.  

“Yes sir. We’ll get right to it.”  Once they were all on the same page in their textbooks, she got down to work.  Gallus sat back and mostly listened to Firebolt coach Razzle Dazzle, trying to get Razzle Dazzle to simplify her routine like the assignment required.  She emphasized it being more about proper execution than about flashiness or impressing the other recruits or the Wonderbolts.  Each time Firebolt would try to simplify one part of Razzle Dazzle’s routine, the changeable mare would add to another part in order to ‘make up’ for the lack of excitement.  At least, that’s what it seemed like Razzle Dazzle was thinking.

Cloudy Sky thought Firebolt had the patience of an Alicorn for managing to keep cool in spite of the time restriction and Razzle Dazzle’s apparent tendency to get out of hoof with her selection of aerobatic moves.  That, and their new friend’s terrible tendency to veer off and talk about the most unusual topics that had nothing to do with flying.

“C’mon, work with me here, Razzle.  Focus! Less about how interesting you thought it was watching a boll weevil walk across a rock last summer at your aunt’s house and more about understanding and applying the principles we learned today.” Firebolt wondered what she’d gotten herself into.  

  For the love of Celestia, what’s up with this girl?  She’s all over the place!  

After forty minutes or so, Gallus thought Firebolt needed a break.  “Before we tie ourselves up in knots trying to get Razzle’s selection figured out, let’s try to help Cloudy out some.”  The griffon moved in closer to his friends.  “There’s got to be something in the textbook we can find that’ll make his routine better.”

“I… I just need to find something make it shine; to make it dazzle.”  He tried to make a small joke with his new acquaintance’s name.  She giggled a little, appreciating the reference.

“I don’t think adding an extra trick move is the way to go.”  Firebolt looked over the textbook’s chapter again with them, flipping through a few pages and trying to find something they might have overlooked the first time through.  After listening for a few minutes of her new friends recite some of the choices and weather Cloudy Sky could do them, Razzle Dazzle offered up a suggestion of her own. 

“Did you consider doing a flipty-loop instead?” Her three new acquaintances were clearly unfamiliar with that maneuver.

“A what?  Where did you see that?” Cloudy Sky flipped back through the pages of the book.

“What’s a ‘flipty-loop’?”  Firebolt knew a lot of trick moves but this wasn’t one of them.  “There’s inward and outward loops.” She looked over at Gallus. 

He innocently shrugged back at her.  “This is all new to me.”

Razzle Dazzle stared at their uncomprehending faces, perplexed by their confusion. “You know; a flipty-loop!” she repeated, expecting them to catch on, but still only seeing the same confused expressions. “Here, I’ll show you.  You start off in a loop like this,”  she used her forehoof to demonstrate a pony’s body in flight, “then do an outside loop for the first half then flip over to the inside loop position here,” she indicated the change point at the bottom of the loop, “then you go around one complete time around for the inside loop and just as you get back to the beginning point of your inside loop,” again she pointed to the bottom of the loop, “you flip yourself over again to finish the outside loop position here, and then hit your landing like you planned over here.  See?  A flipty-loop!”

It took a few seconds to understand her odd explanation, but Cloudy Sky smiled and even began laughing a little once he got it.  Razzle Dazzle’s explanation worked far better for him then the textbook.  He could actually envision himself doing the trick, seeing the precise movements in his mind’s eye.  

“Wait, I see it! I see it!  I see how you mean about rotating about my body centerline and actually doing two loops in one! I would never have thought of that!”

Cloudy Sky’s friends, as well, made the connection.  They were impressed by the interesting combination of two classic aerial tricks.  It was very insightful.

  I should’ve thought of something like that myself.  Why didn’t I see it?  Firebolt was a little annoyed with herself for missing what she thought should have been obvious.  She’d spent so much time preparing for the trials, and here was a mare she’d never met before showing her reinterpretations of ordinary tricks like she’d never imagined.  Firebolt had always believed herself to be a great flyer, not a spectacular one like her cousin, but she knew her stuff cold and had a good repertoire of aerial tricks she believed that could get her into the academy.  But this got her attention.  How much more did this mare have tucked away in that brain of hers under that ridiculously huge amount of bouncy curls?

“That was quick.”  Gallus couldn’t believe this had gone so smoothly.  He had assumed Cloudy Sky’s routine would take longer to work on, and here it was tweaked and ready to go.

“Now you can help me work more on my routine!  I’d like very much to get a griffon’s input on these maneuvers I want to do.” Razzle Dazzle turned now to Gallus with a big toothy grin.

“Yeah, well… I’m sure Firebolt could-” Gallus didn’t have the chance to respond as the sound of the bugle blaring over the public address system caught every flyer’s attention.

Cloudy Sky looked up at the clock over the doorway to the classroom. “Hey, why’s the bugle playing?  It’s not lunchtime yet.”  The rest of the class looked up at the clock as well.  

“That’s call for assembly!”  Thunderlane got to his hooves quickly, getting the class up as well. “Everycreature head outside right now! Let’s move it!”  He hurried them out the door and over to where the other recruits were assembling on the field.

“What’s going-?”  Firebolt and her friends hurried out of the building when a second bugle call went out. “Hey, that’s the call for all officers too.”  She and her friends made their way to the field, seeing all the Wonderbolt team members joining the recruits on the field.  Solar Flare, Silverstream and the others from the Lead Pony class were heading out for the field as well, joining Gallus and their classmates.

====******====

“The flight lead is ‘in command’ both on the ground and in the air.  They have the general responsibility for planning and organizing the mission, leading the flight and ensuring the mission is safely accomplished.”

“The flight lead must know the capabilities and limitations of their wingponies.  On the ground the flight lead will plan, brief and debrief the mission.  They may delegate tasks within the flight if the formation size supports it.  Once airborne, the flight lead has final responsibility for navigating, communicating, formation, airponyship and leading the flight successfully through the mission.”

Silverstream listened along with the class and studied the diagrams in the textbook, concentrating on every word.  She snuck a peek over at her friends, seeing all of them focused intently on the lesson. This was serious stuff.  The subjects touched on were numerous in this class and still were only a sample of what she would study if she were to attend this school.

Having to learn about giving and reading visual signals and cues as a flight leader and how to fly in proper formation was very new to her.  Flying was flying.  She and Gallus had never given much thought to what they as a griffon and a hippogriff did so naturally.  They never felt the need to analyze and perfect a natural skill like flight. Seeing and experiencing just how the pony recruits took flying so seriously was, in spite of her reading of the history of the Wonderbolts, something she had underestimated. Learning how that raw talent of flight had to be harnessed, focused and directed into a single mindset in the quest for perfection of flight was essential.  

There was so much to cover that Silverstream felt a little overwhelmed by all the topics. She wrote down all she could, taking notes about this or that aspect of being a flight leader and what to do in various situations.  The time seemed to fly by for her, feeling like she was running just to keep up with the lecture and her classmates.  Blaze finally brought her lecture to a finish, much to the relief of the class.

“That’s all I wanted to give as an introduction to Flight Lead class today, and I do want to see by our next class session how far you have come with your hoof signals.  I will be testing you on how well you remember them.”  Blaze could see that after nearly three solid hours and only a brief fifteen minute break, her students’ eyes were rolling into the back of their heads from the onslaught of information.  She knew how to perk them back up again.

“For now, I want all of you to start with chapter four; Introduction to Advanced Flight Maneuvers and Formations to begin planning your first solo flight routines.” Instantly, the classroom became abuzz with what they’d been waiting for, the chance to fly and show off their stuff.  She knew it was just the ticket to make them interested again. One recruit raised her foreleg, wanting to ask a question.

“Yes?” Blaze pointed to the waiting mare.

“Ma’am, are we working in groups or by ourselves for this assignment?”

“I will leave that up to the flyer in question; this is a good exercise to build teamwork but also it’s to see how well you can plan a routine and execute it for yourself.”  Blaze would use this as another litmus test of the recruits, seeing how many would choose to work together and who were better at working solo.  The ten recruits split off into five pairs of study partners. 

“Brightstar, could… you help me with some of this?  I’m not really sure what we’re supposed to do,” Silverstream asked humbly of her friend, having listened to Brightstar answer a bunch of questions posed by their instructor this morning.  She seemed to know a great deal about being a Lead Pony.

“I’d be glad to.”  Brightstar welcomed the chance to work closer.  They’d only talked briefly during mealtimes and the pegasus pony was interested in learning more about her hippogriff acquaintance.

Sitting with Silverstream, Brightstar quickly reviewed the first three chapters they had gone through so far, making sure Silverstream had a basic understanding of the terms and meanings.  

“Roll, pitch, yaw, and center.”  Silverstream shut her eyes as she recalled the terms for flight from memory.

“Very good.” Brightstar checked off the terms from the list she’d made, as Silverstream got each of them correct. “I think we can start picking out moves for you from the book.”

“You think so?  I mean, I feel like I’m not ready to be a Lead Pony, I’ve never done trick flying like this before.”  Silverstream shook her head a little, her voice unsure.

“You’ve never done a loop or a barrel roll when flying?  Not even for fun?”  Brightstar couldn’t believe that.  Even the most timid of flyers she knew did a little bit of ‘fun flying’ when they were happy or celebrating something.  

“No, no, that’s not what I mean.”  Silverstream flipped to the chapter in her book where she started getting lost. “It’s all this other stuff.”  She pointed to the first page of the chapter in question.  “Everygriff can do little tricks or flips in the air just like ponies or griffons. I’m having trouble with how this is supposed to go together like she explained.”

“Okay, it’s that last topic she was teaching us.”  Brightstar figured this might be hard for a newbie like Silverstream to grasp. “I’ll guess that seaponies never had to do complicated swimming routines, I take it.”

Seeing her pony friend grinning like that made Silverstream relax, Brightstar understood her dilemma.  “Well,” Silverstream tried to think of some kind of parallel, “back home in Seaquestria, there are seapony groups who do choreographed shows for the royal family, but it’s for the entertainment of the Court and not really for competition.”  

“Also, I didn’t know there were ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’ ways of beginning and ending a particular trick or flight maneuver.  I always just twisted and moved my body in whichever way felt right or comfortable. I never knew there were certain ways to do tricks in order to string a whole bunch of them together.” 

After she and her friends had watched Silverstream perform like she had during the first day, Brightstar knew her hippogriff friend was capable.  Silverstream just needed the right kind of direction.

“Don’t let it throw you off.  The easy part is learning the trick moves, it’s only putting them together into a single routine that makes this part challenging.  Let’s start at the beginning; your take off and first move.”

Slowly, Brightstar began helping Silverstream to pick out eight flight tricks from the book to put into her first routine.  Brightstar explained how to select the order to put each move in and how best to both set-up for and exit from each move so as to be in position for the next.  Silverstream soon caught on; it wasn’t easy but the whys and hows for each move selection was eventually explained and put into order.

“You know,” Silverstream looked over her textbook again, scrutinizing one page in particular, “this reminds me of something I’ve seen other seaponies do in one of those choreographed swimming routines.  They spun themselves around a lot like this.”  Silverstream pointed to a particular flight maneuver on the page. Her words caught Brightstar’s notice.

“I thought you said those seapony teams only did routines or shows for the royal family and the Court of Seaquestria.  How do you know what their routines were?”  Silverstream went pale, realizing she’d let slip a pretty big clue to her background.  She had to think quickly.

“I… I actually got to spend some time in the royal palace as a youngster.  My family often had business there, so I got to see a performance or two.”  Silverstream relaxed a tiny bit; it was plausible and not quite a lie.  She observed Brightstar carefully for her reaction. Thankfully the suspicious light had gone out of her friend’s eyes.

There was a pause between them just long enough to be awkward. “Interesting,” said Brightstar. “Maybe another time you could tell me what that’s like? I imagine it’s lovely.”

Silverstream grinned at her, unaware that her visible relief had once again piqued Brightstar’s curiosity.  “Definitely. The motions are so graceful, partly because it’s harder to move in water than in air.”

“Well, if that’s so,” said Brightstar, “then maybe we can incorporate some of the seaponies swimming moves into your routine; make it more representational to both hippogriffs and seaponies.”

Silverstream was only too happy to move the topic back to the work at hand.  She had barely managed to avoid a serious slip-up and would have to be much more careful when she spoke.  She was desperate not to let her secret out. 

Meanwhile, Solar Flare and Nightflight toiled away as a team, quizzing each other repeatedly about this term or that topic and making sure they remembered. An hour’s worth of intense planning passed before some of the recruits completed their first drafts for their instructor to evaluate.

“I’m ready, ma’am.”  Wind Raider was one of the first to be at her desk with plan in hoof, ready to impress. Blaze looked over the list of maneuvers and how they were strung together, seeing this recruit understood the material well.

“Very good… this is a good variation to this move,” she commented without looking up at him. It didn’t matter, every other flyer in the room had heard her praise his efforts.  “Other than the direction of the barrel roll you want to do here,” she pointed out the small error on the page, “it’s fine for your first flight. Fix that one thing and it’ll be good to go.”  Wind Raider was chuffed at hearing how well his routine was planned.

“I will, ma’am.  It’ll be perfect for this afternoon.”  He scooped his notebook off the desk and got back to his seat to effusive congratulations from his study partner.  More recruits posed their routines to their instructor, some getting the okay to do their selected moves while some had to redo portions of their routines for one reason or another.  Silverstream and her friends were next in line, each handing off their assignment to Blaze.  The Wonderbolt went over Firebolt’s submission first, nodding silently to each of the maneuvers selected and then signing off on the routine.

“It’s fine; you’re good to go with it.” Blaze only took a cursory look up at Firebolt as she signed the paper and moved on to Solar Flare’s work.  

“This is wrong here; you’re not going to have your body in the right position if you want to do this move that follows it.”  She turned the page around to show him what she meant.  “Here,” she pointed to his change from an inverted loop into a descending corkscrew, “you’re going to be facing the wrong direction if you try this and have to twist your torso around an extra time in order to be in correct position.  It’s going to throw off your timing.”

When Solar Flare looked at his work again, he saw what she was talking about. “Oh, wait, I see it. I’m supposed to turn clockwise at the end of the corkscrew in order to be in the right spot for my loop.”  

“Just change the direction of that and you’ll be fine,” she assured him.  “It’s a good selection if you can pull it off.  It’s going to be quite a challenge to get correct for this first flight.  You sure you can do this?”  

“Absolutely, ma’am.  It’ll be flawless when I’m done.”  Solar Flare took back the sheet, heading back to his desk to get to work.  Next up was Nightflight, who handed over his work with a big grin of confidence on his face.  Blaze looked over the selection.

“Interesting… interesting…” she mumbled, more to herself then the waiting recruit. Nightflight wasn’t nervous; he’d been flying like this for a long time and this was right up his alley of experience.

“It’s a good selection, just be sure you hit those transition points dead on or else you’re going to look bad up there.  You don’t want to stop in the middle of it to correct yourself,” she gave warning as she signed off on his routine.  This was one of the more ambitious plans she’d seen so far.  Brightstar was next, handing over her repertoire of flight moves for her first showing.  Blaze read the list of seven moves and was pleased that Brightstar had obviously put a lot of thought and care into planning them.  All the small details of timing and position were accounted for.

“Very good, young mare.  This is a well-balanced routine and you’ve got two moves back-to-back that are creatively interconnected.”  Blaze signed off on her routine too, thrilling Brightstar, who was relieved she didn’t have to redo any portions of it.  Finally, it was Silverstream’s turn.  She handed over the page with her selection, waiting nervously for what the Wonderbolt instructor would say.  

“This routine is rather unusual with all these variations.  What’s the reason for altering these moves so much?”  Blaze looked up at the nervous hippogriff.

“Well, I was trying to include some aspects of some of the swimming routines I’d seen back home in Seaquestria into a flying routine.  I discovered that swimming and flying have some similarities so I thought I could make it work.”  

Blaze scrutinized it closer, trying to envision what Silverstream was attempting to achieve.  It was different, incorporating elements of both environments Silverstream was from and melding them into a single routine.  “Well,” Blaze sighed a little, “it’s a bit like some of those ‘sky-dancing’ routines I’ve seen some flyers do.  But, since it’s incorporated fairly smoothly into the moves you want to do, I don’t foresee a problem with it.”  

Sliverstream breathed a sigh of relief, glad it hadn’t been rejected outright.  Blaze signed off on her submission.  “Word of advice,” Blaze got the hippogriff’s attention away from her two friends standing behind her.

“Yes?” 

“You’re adding a lot of showiness to it, and a recruit’s routine is primarily based on covering the essentials. Just don’t let the flashy aspect of it outshine what we need to see you do.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll make sure it’s acceptable in time.” Silverstream eagerly agreed, delighted at having successfully completed her very first flight plan.  She and her friends rejoined Solar Flare and Nightflight at their desks, excited for this afternoon.  After another twenty minutes of work, a bugle call came over the public address system.  Just about every flyer looked up at the clock.

“Hey, isn’t it too soon for lunch?”  Solar Flare hadn’t finished his work, aware he had at least forty-five minutes left before he had to submit his assignment.

“That’s the call for assembly, everypony!  Let’s go!” Blaze got her students to their hooves and hustled them out the door and towards the activities field.  Within seconds, the entire group of recruits were standing on the edge of the tarmac, waiting.

“What’s going on?”  Silverstream looked about to see the rest of her friends heading over to them.

“Do you know why they called us to assembly?”  She asked Firebolt and Cloudy Sky.

“We were going to ask you the same thing.” Cloudy Sky looked around at the gathered recruits and ‘Bolt instructors standing near the tarmac, watching Rainbow Dash heading over to them. She slowed only enough to speak with her fellow team members briefly before continuing. 

“Hey, gang.” She made a quick headcount, finding one extra pony with her students.  “Wait, don’t I know you?”  Rainbow Dash did a double-take, her memory momentarily jolted.  The mare giggled and pointed to herself with the tip of her wing, grinning widely.  

“It’s me; Razzle Dazzle, remember?”

It took Rainbow Dash a few seconds to reconnect the name to the recruit.  “Wait, I remember you now.  The fourth pony yesterday who reached seventeen hoops, right?” Razzle Dazzle nodded excitedly at getting to meet the famous Wonderbolt again. 

“Professor Dash, why’d they call everyone to assembly, including the Wonderbolts?” Silverstream inquired nervously. 

They all turned at the sound of the door from the classroom building opening and saw Commander Spitfire heading right for them, a look of deathly seriousness on her face.  Rainbow Dash knew that look; it was trouble. Big trouble!  She felt the worry in the back of her mind tick up a level or two.

“We’ll find out soon enough.  Everyone into formation, on the double!”  She ordered softly, and the group quickly got into place and stood at attention with the rest of the recruits.  Rainbow Dash hurried over to stand with her team.

Commander Spitfire was joined by both Soarin and another reservist from the academy, all heading towards them.

  I wonder if it’s because of Gallus and me being here.  Did we get Professor Dash or Commander Spitfire in trouble?  Silverstream thought to herself as her C.O. headed for them.

====*****====

“All recruits present and accounted for, ma’am.”  Thunderlane saluted his captain and commander.

“Very good.” Soarin returned the salute and Thunderlane took his spot in the line of team members facing Commander Spitfire. Soarin stood next to her.

“At ease, recruits,” Spitfire began, clearly suppressing her annoyance. “This scroll just came in from Central Command.  It reads: ‘At oh-thirteen hundred hours today, a second group of recruits will be arriving at the Wonderbolt Academy grounds as part of the ‘Wing Up’ recruitment drive initiated this month.  You are to incorporate this second group into the current rounds of trials immediately and recall as many additional team members or instructors from the school as are needed in order to comply.”

There was an audible gasp from the Wonderbolt members, hearing how their workload had just doubled, if not tripled.  Spitfire heard some of the whispered comments from her team members behind her but continued on.

“Additionally, you recruits are to be immediately moved from your current housing assignments and relocated to barracks B near the main dormitory of the academy for the remainder of the trials.  Wonderbolt Soarin will assign two team members with the duty of directing you to your new housing.  Be ready by twelve-hundred hours.  Understood?”

“Yes ma’am!” All twenty-one of the recruits barked back, realizing they only had twenty minutes to get packed up.

“Dismissed!” Spitfire turned to her team captain. “Get going, captain.”  She scratched off another item from the list on her clipboard, handed him the files and headed off to the front office to gather up the next batch of files for the coming recruits.  This year’s tryouts were getting increasingly complicated.

“Yes ma’am.” He took the stack of files from her, turning to Rainbow Dash just to his right and handing her a list.  “Dash, go get these ponies from the school. They’re probably upstairs in the classroom building’s teacher lounge.”  

She took the list and gave him a quick salute.  “Yes sir. I’ll be right back.”  In a flash, she was off for the classroom building, wanting to nab the reservists while they might still be teaching.

It took Rainbow Dash less than five minutes to round up the requested reservists, racing through the hallways and poking her head into lounges and classrooms. Each reservist reacted with surprise, and then dutifully hurried off to the conference room.  Everypony knew Commander Spitfire hated waiting.

The last reservist on her list, Hyacinth Dawn, was right behind her as she pushed open the door to the conference room to find most of the active ‘Bolt team assembled.

It was crowded in the small space and everypony jockeyed around to allow Rainbow Dash inside and closer to the table.  Hyacinth Dawn managed to squeeze in and find a spot to stand, allowing Spitfire to begin.

“Everypony here?  I want to see the reservists up front right now,” she ordered, watching pony bodies moving aside to let the five of them step forward.  Vapor Trail, Sky Stinger, Mountain Haze, Angel Wings and Hyacinth Dawn moved in closer to Commander Spitfire who sat at the head of the desk, facing their C.O.  Spitfire eyed the reservists standing in front of her.

“You ponies,” she began, “were selected by Soarin and myself to help us this year with the academy trials; we felt you five were the most capable and ready for this assignment.”

The five reservists seemed a bit surprised by this revelation.

“Excuse me, Commander,” Sky Stinger spoke up, “but wouldn’t the other ‘Bolt team members be better choices?  I mean, we’re just second year reservists.  It’s not like we’ve had any experience with running the trials.”

“But you do have more teaching experience then the other ‘Bolt team members and are the best of the reservists.  I simply can’t pull every full ‘Bolt team member off their teaching assignments from the academy to run the trials.”  Spitfire countered.  While Sky Stinger enjoyed and relished the compliment of being considered ‘the best’, Mountain Haze was humbled by the kind words as were Angel Wings and Vapor Trail.

“Plus, we’ve got a situation on our hooves right now,” Soarin added, some worry creeping in to his voice.

“What kind of situation?”  asked Hyacinth Dawn.

Spitfire continued her briefing. “Apparently, Central Command has decided to dump another two or three dozen fresh newbies on our doorstep for trials without bothering to consult us.” 

“But, they can’t do that, can they?” A shocked Sky Stinger looked to the senior team members for elucidation.

“What’s the thinking behind that?  I mean, why now and why all of a sudden?  Without any notice?”  Mountain Haze thought it most peculiar for Central Command to do something like this. This certainly didn’t sound logical or rational.

“How are we supposed to do all of this with only fourteen of us to get it done?” Vapor Trail didn’t think they could. The school required at least ten Wonderbolt members to instruct the classes full time and also to have some reservists on call for help.  This would mean there would be no extra team members. The entire teaching staff would be on duty at the same time.

“Who’s going to act as substitute teachers in the academy if we’re helping run the trials, commander?”  Hyacinth Dawn looked around at her fellow instructors, unsure if they could pull this off.

“For the next four days, let’s just hope nopony calls out sick because we need all hooves on deck to get through this one.”  Spitfire leaned back in her chair, flipping back through the notepad she’d been writing down her instructions on.

“Here’s the assignments; Rainbow Dash, I want you to head up the team members who are in charge of the new arrivals.  Get them processed and through the receiving barracks and into their housing assignments ASAP.  Then I want you, Blaze, Thunderlane, Mountain Haze, Fleetfoot and Hyacinth Dawn to start at the beginning with them; first evaluations, assignment to classes if necessary and then get them started on the first phase of training.”  

“You can count on us, commander.”  Rainbow Dash took the instructions from her commander, already starting to figure out what training gear she was going to need from the shed.

“Soarin,” Spitfire began filling out the same forms again with the next list of names, “I want you, Misty Fly, High Winds, Silver Zoom, Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger to continue with the recruits we’ve already started with.  I’ll leave it up to you and Rainbow Dash to assign jobs to whomever you feel is qualified for the duty.”  She handed off the orders to Soarin.  “Angel Wings,” she now looked right at the pony standing nervously at attention, “you have to be the liaison between the groups and report back to me. When everypony has their duties assigned, I want-”

Knock! Knock!  A hoof knocking at the conference room door interrupted Spitfire’s train of thought. Silver Zoom reached over to open the door and in hurried Icy Rain, one of the few reservists who were to remain on call during the trials for academy classroom teaching assignments.

“Message for you, ma’am.”  He handed her the newly received message and quickly departed.  Spitfire quickly read its contents and growled.

“What is it, commander?” Soarin didn’t like seeing his C.O. more upset, well aware of the pressure she was under.

“Oh, it just gets worse by the moment!  Listen to this,” she spat.  “To encourage the next generation of ponies to take interest in the academy, new arrivals and those recruits currently in the trials are permitted to have their families join them for tomorrow morning’s mealtime.  There will be a brief ‘meet & greet’ to take place for one-half hour afterwards so the family members may meet the Wonderbolt team members up close and personally before departing.”

A collective moan came from the Wonderbolt team members, once more called on to do PR work for the academy.  

“Geez, as if this year’s trials aren’t hard enough already,” Silver Zoom muttered under his breath.

“I’ll get everything in order for the meet & greet, commander.  It shouldn’t take long.” As always, Soarin stepped up to take charge.  Spitfire let out a huge sigh, leaning back in her chair again and trying to cope as best she could.

“Misty Fly and Silver Zoom; I want you two to take care of moving the recruits over to the barracks B, get them settled in and off to lunch.  I have to be waiting by the main entrance to the grounds with Commander Spitfire when the newbies arrive.  You reservists,” Soarin addressed the five ponies standing near the desk, “get suited up and ready for your assignment post lunchtime.  We can’t let anything lag behind the timetable for the trials. Everypony has their duty; let’s get it done, folks!”  He ordered. The five reservists stood tall and saluted back.

“Yes, sir.” The team began to file out of the room, aware of what was expected of them and of the academy trials now. There was going to be real trouble if this didn’t go off like clockwork.
> CH.10 Wonderbolt Trials pt. 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Let’s move it, everypony.”  Misty Fly led the recruits across the compound to their new housing assignment; barracks B.  It was perhaps a two-minute march, but the students from the School of Friendship suddenly found themselves someplace they did not expect themselves to be; outside the sectioned off compound that was only for recruits, and moving onto the actual campus grounds.  

“Oh, wow!” Cloudy Sky whispered, more to himself than to anyone around him.

“There’s putting us here?”  Silverstream, too, was stunned to find where they were going to be residing together for the next four days. 

“How cool is this; we’re getting to stay on campus now!  It just doesn’t get any better!”  Nightflight was already scanning around the immediate vicinity, seeing a few attractive cadet mares walking to class.

“Halt!” Misty Fly stopped them just outside the barracks, making sure all the recruits from this group were present. 

“All right, recruits,” Silver Zoom got their attention, “here is where you will be housed for the remainder of your time at the trials.”  The collection of newbies looked up at the simple clapboard-sided building, painted a beige color with drab olive green trim surrounding the two entryway doors and the windows that lined the exterior. The whole building, while old, maintained an air of timelessness as the last of the original barracks constructed for the Wonderbolt Academy from its inception centuries ago.  This structure had a long and storied past as a who’s who of flyers to have resided here at one time or another. The collective body of young flyers stood reverently beneath the aura of time it radiated.

“Find yourself a bunk and head over to the mess hall for lunch.  We’re picking up where we left off, everypony, so don’t be late,” Misty Fly cautioned as she and Silver Zoom parted to let them sort out the sleeping arrangements.

The barracks welcomed them inside as two recruits pulled open the building’s double doors, the sparkling clear fitted glass panes allowing the rays of light to bathe the interior space.  The aged wooden planks that composed the floor bent and flexed under the heavy load of pony hooves as the recruits each sought out a bunk for themselves.  At one end of the room was a pair of walled-off separate spaces for what they guessed would be their drill instructor’s sleeping quarters.  At the opposite end, an open doorway that led to what they all assumed were the bathrooms and showers.  

In spite of its plain whitewashed interior walls, minimal florescent lighting and similarly lumpy bunkbeds, the place wore its age well. Maintained over the passing years by the many occupants who resided here at one time or another, the barracks stood as a legacy monument of the academy.  

Silverstream and her friends staked out the bunkbeds at the far left end of the room, keeping together near the drill instructor’s quarters.  Stormbringer and Wind Raider, seeing the two freakbeaks along with their pony-pals clustered at one end of the room, moved to the opposite end, close to where the showers were.

“Just keep to your end of the barracks and we’ll all get along fine,” Stormbringer warned as he and Wind Raider walked toward the door, exiting and glaring balefully right at the griffon.  Gallus wasn’t intimidated.

“Fine! The same goes to you and your loser friends!” he sneered back at the two ponies as they left the barracks, already disliking their new living arrangements. Solar Flare was about to say something to Gallus when the bugle call finally went out for the recruits to head for the mess hall; lunch was being served.

“Don’t waste time bickering with those two, Gallus. They’re not worth your energy.” The husky stallion put a reassuring wing on his friend’s back.

“I know, but it stinks that we have to be housed in the same barracks as those jerks.” Gallus couldn’t help sounding put off, wondering if there was going to be a problem with some of these ponies later on.

“C’mon, let’s go grab a bite and forget about it.”  Solar Flare didn’t want Gallus to be distracted by those two. They had plans to work together and show what a pony and griffon could do.

“You guys don’t like the living quarters, I’d guess, by the looks on your faces.” Brightstar was waiting by the door to the mess hall. Their friends were already inside and holding their places at the table.  Solar Flare sighed a little.

“We had some words with Stormbringer on the way out. He and Wind Raider won’t make this easy for any of us.”  

“We’ll just keep an eye on them. You know, to make sure they don’t try any funny stuff,” answered Brightstar soothingly. Once inside the mess hall and sitting with friends again, the weight of the sleeping arrangements didn’t bother Gallus as much. There was too much excitement in the anticipation of getting to fly for evaluation for the first time.  The whole room was a buzz of energy; a most delicious and palpable anticipation for all. The time for talk was over.  The time to show what a flyer had was nearly upon them.

===*****===

“Oh-h-h, this is going to be great!” Silverstream could barely contain herself. She and her friends clustered together, awaiting the next Wonderbolt team member to instruct this next and most anticipated part of the trials; a first solo flight.  All the recruits stood near the bulletin board, most watching the door from the main classroom building to see who was coming to post the next trial for them.

“I know! We’ve all been waiting for this!”  Firebolt found Silverstream’s excitement infectious and the two girls giggled like fillies.  Every recruit was chattering away, each telling the pony closest to them how great their first routine was going to be and how they were going to impress Commander Spitfire to no end.

Gallus and Solar Flare were quietly but intensively planning their routine between them.

“I can’t wait to get started.”  Nightflight pawed at the ground with a forehoof.

“Me too. By the looks of every flyer here, there’s going to be some real contenders,” Brightstar could see the hunger in her friend’s eyes, eager to get on with the flying.  

Cloudy Sky took another deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to not let his nervousness get to him.  He had a nice, simple four-move routine, nothing fancy, just something he was sure he could do.  But doing it in front of all the Wonderbolts, their C.O., and the other recruits was going to be daunting.  

The sound of a door opening came from the classroom building, causing every recruit to turn to look. The silence was deafening as Blaze walked closer; all the recruits’ eyes were on her and the clipboard she held.

“Good afternoon, newbies!”  Blaze announced, tacking up the two sheets of paper to the board.

“Good afternoon, ma’am!” they barked back at her.

“Alright, everypony, listen up!  We’re now ready to see your first forays into precision flight this afternoon.  I want all of you to head to the opposite end of the field where you will meet the instructors who will be doing your evaluations. Remember, scoring for your first routine is on precision and successful completion.  Don’t worry about doing flashy tricks; that’s not what this part is about.  We are evaluating your skills and abilities, not your hype.  Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!” they shouted back.  Blaze pointed with her wing.

“Well then, what in Tartarus are you doing standing around here for? Get going! Move it! Move it! Move it!” she ordered, and the group noisily ran or flew off.

Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail watched as the small phalanx of recruits headed right for them.

“You set, Vapor?”  Sky Stinger glanced back as his partner, seeing her clutching the clipboard given to her by their captain.  She didn’t answer aloud; only smiled and nodded nervously.  In seconds, the group was right in front of them, excited and eager for their first official flight. Sky Stinger took control, getting the high-strung recruits in line.

“All right, all right, settle down, everypony, and listen up,” Sky Stinger got their attention, “there’s lots to get through so let’s not waste any time. My name is Sky Stinger and this is my fellow instructor, Vapor Trail.  I have right here the routines you wrote out in the classroom lectures for you to perform.” He held up his clipboard for all to see.  “We have set aside most of the afternoon for practice on those routines and then you will showcase what you’ve learned today.”

Vapor Trail continued.  “If any flyer needs help or has questions about how to perform their maneuvers in flight, myself and Sky Stinger are here to assist.  All flyers that complete their routine are to see the Wonderbolt team captain to begin your first level of synchronized flight instruction immediately. There is to be no break in training until mealtime. Does everypony here understand what to do?”

“Yes, ma’am,” they responded.

“Sky Stinger and I will be going around to watch and help. So, everypony, let’s get started.”  Vapor Trail looked at all the smiling, eager faces of the recruits, hungry to show her and Sky Stinger all they knew.

Sky Stinger handed back their submissions, watching the score of fresh-faced flyers quickly scatter off in the designated area of the field.  He walked over to Vapor Trail, whispering in her ear.

“Well, so far so good.  I don’t foresee us having any problems with this group.”  Sky Stinger was sure this was going to be a cakewalk for them. Their first instruction assignment as acting Wonderbolt team members was going to be great.

“Let’s hope so.”  Vapor Trail wished she were as sure as he was.  Classroom teaching was one thing.  But being an instructor for the academy trials was a whole other scene that neither one had experience with.

“Relax, Vapor.  What could possibly go wrong?”  Sky Stinger was less concerned, positive they could handle anything that came up.

=====*****=====  

Rainbow Dash watched as Spitfire launched into her usual opening routine, getting in the faces of a couple of newbie recruits and watching said recruits simply melt under her shouts and glaring.  It never ceased to amuse any Wonderbolt team member at a first review to see a newbie intimidated by Commander Spitfire.  They all remembered when it was they who were shaking in their horseshoes under her first once-over that dripped with judgement.

“That’s right, newbie!  You’re not hot stuff!”  Spitfire shouted in the face of one of the new recruits, causing the stallion’s knees to buckle slightly with fright.  Spitfire moved further down the line, eyeing each recruit with the same toughness. “If any of you were as half as good as your submissions claimed you were, you’d already be Wonderbolts!”

The two dozen new arrivals stood at attention, trying not to let their new C.O. scare them.  Although this was always fun to watch, Rainbow Dash kept sneaking looks over at the activities field, seeing her students along with the other recruits, starting their first practice session. More than anything, she wanted to be there for them and their clutch of friends; to be supportive and help them achieve their goals.  But she couldn’t.  That wasn’t her assignment.  Her team and her C.O. were counting on her.

“Now give me five-hundred laps staring right now! Go! Go! Go!”  Spitfire ordered and some of the recruits took to the air while some still stood uncertainly on the tarmac.  Rainbow Dash and her squad made a line for the recruits, hollering at them to get moving.  Spitfire conferred with her squad leaders once the new arrivals were in the air.

“You got the assignments worked out for your squad, Crash?  Time is critical.”  Spitfire reached for Rainbow Dash’s clipboard, looking over what her number two flyer had planned.  

“All set, ma’am.  We’re ready to do our jobs.”  Rainbow Dash stood tall and proud in front of her squad; three veteran Wonderbolts and two Wonderbolt reservists, prepared for this new duty.  Spitfire silently nodded in agreement as Rainbow Dash listed off the names and duties assigned to them. One choice caught her attention.

“Thunderlane’s teaching again?” She raised an eyebrow at the team’s co-captain. Rainbow Dash just gave her a little shrug and a quick grin.

“Actually, he requested the duty.  He said he enjoyed doing it.”

“Whatever.” Spitfire returned to looking over the paperwork.  “Make sure Mountain Haze gets out of the classroom for some time flying.  I know he’s something of a ‘book horse’ but don’t let him get out of his flight practice.”  Spitfire returned the clipboard to Rainbow Dash, feeling a bit more assured now that things were underway and her two squads were primed and ready.

“Yes, ma’am.” Rainbow Dash was very pleased with herself.  The fact that her choices for duty for each of her group hadn’t been changed by Spitfire meant a lot to her.  Knowing her C.O. trusted her decision-making as a leader was a pretty awesome feeling.

She stood next to Soarin and watched as the fresh batch of recruits came in for a thunderous crash landing at Spitfire’s whistle.  

“That was pathetic! Where did all of you learn to fly anyway?  The circus?”  Spitfire proceeded to take them apart further for their mediocre flying.  Rainbow Dash’s whole squad would be busy this afternoon, with how much work the new arrivals were going to need.  She was thankful she had two good ponies who could teach.  

=====*****=====

Silverstream and her companions staked out one corner of the activities field for themselves, furthest away from the instructors.  Solar Flare was first up.

“Watch this!” he bragged, taking off very quickly and gaining altitude.

Whoosh!  He was off and into his routine, climbing high to begin his first try.

“He’s fast!” Firebolt was impressed by her soft-spoken friend’s rapid ascent into the air.

“Look at him go!”  Silverstream clapped her talons excitedly.  The companions watched Solar Flare start his routine and manage to get the first three maneuvers correct, only to find himself facing the wrong way from over spinning his loop and stopping in mid-air to reorient his body. His recovery was sloppy as he tried to make up for the mistimed part and he ended up missing the last loop he had planned to do, then stumbled forward to his knees when he tried to hit the landing correctly.  He was huffing and puffing harder then he’d anticipated.

“I… was a… total mess… up there!”  Solar Flare gasped for breath.

“What went wrong?  You were doing so great,” asked Firebolt.

“This is so much harder to do then it is to write down on paper.  My timing is all over the place.”  He knew this was going to be the toughest thing for him. He was a strong, tough pony but not necessarily a graceful one in flight.  Flying with a plan was more difficult than he had first thought.

“I’ll go next.”  Nightflight took off, getting up to height.  He also flew through the first three moves of his routine only to mess up terribly when trying to do the corkscrew spiral down, going much too fast and spinning for too long, and then pulling up out of the move just as he was going to hit the ground.  Nightflight, too, made a not-so-graceful landing, stumbling forward off his hooves and onto the ground.  He hauled himself up, slightly embarrassed.

“That was awful!”  Nightflight cursed at himself.  “I think we need to refresh ourselves with the textbook some more.”  This was going to take some serious reviewing to get right.

“Hold up, let me go before you start digging through the book again.”  Firebolt was not going to let them start second-guessing themselves.  She would show them what to do.  “Try to follow what I’m doing.” 

The friends watched as Firebolt took off from a dead stop up into the air, gaining some altitude before she started. The fiery-maned pony had enough experience in trick flight to be able to fly freestyle with the best of the recruits here. She launched into six of her favorite flight moves, albeit very quickly and not overly gracefully, to demonstrate how a routine ought to look.

She landed precisely on her hooves in front of them, leaving them wondering at how she made it look so easy.  Slightly winded, she was all smiles now at the sight of how much she had impressed her friends.  “See? Something like that.”  

“That was something.”  Silverstream was in awe of how quickly Firebolt could put moves together and make it seem as natural as anything.  She had outdone both Nightflight and Solar Flare in one go.  Both stallions were somewhat humbled.

“Thanks! I’ve practiced a lot for the trials. It took a long time to understand what to do.”

“Let me see if I can match you.”  Brightstar took a short run before launching herself into the air, climbing steadily higher. She got to the height she needed and started her run, flying through five of the moves she wanted to perform. 

“Wow! Look at Brightstar go!  She’s great!”  Cloudy Sky cheered for her, watching her move along through the maneuvers and only stumble a little as she landed on the ground at the conclusion. She, too, was panting but not as much as either of the boys had.

“You’re really good, Brightstar!  How did you do that?”  Cloudy Sky was eager to know her secrets.  

“Practice, Cloudy.  Just lots of practice.”

“Let me try next.  I think I know what to do.”  Gallus was ready to give it his all, wanting to push himself for this next trial.  He crouched into his launch position and gave a good solid thrust up, getting up into the sky quickly. He waved to them before plunging into a dive, building up speed before he pulled up out the dive and went into a zooming climb straight up into his first maneuver.  

Up and up he went, reaching the zenith of his momentum, hanging motionless in the air for a second or two before falling backwards briefly. He shifted his wings forward slightly and extended his hind legs out more to catch the wind of his fall which allowed him flip forward and into the dive.

“He got the stall turn right,” Firebolt watched with great intensity, seeing her ‘student’ trying what she and Razzle Dazzle had taught him this morning.

Gallus fell downward into a slow clockwise corkscrew, his eyes focusing on one spot on the ground below so as to limit the dizzying effect on his senses.  He spun himself around no less than six times before pulling up and into the first part of a figure-eight.

“Wahoo! Go Gallus!”  Nightflight hooted when seeing the griffon attempting such a tough series of tricks.

“Nice moves!” Firebolt was impressed by how Gallus took the harder way into doing a figure-eight; starting from the outside loop rather than the inside.  

But the griffon quickly ran into trouble. He flew through the first two turns but then lost control, flipping end over end in the air.  Dizzy, the griffon glided down on unsteady wings, tripping over his paws and talons, barely staying upright as his head spun around and around.  He leaned on Cloudy Sky to stay on his feet, holding his head.

“That was awful.”  Gallus grumbled, wondering just how bad he looked to his friends.  But Cloudy Sky was first to cheer him on.

“No way, Gallus. You did those first tricks all right.”  Gallus was not one to take false praise or compliments but knew Cloudy Sky was being honest.

The griffon gave the pony a small smile. “Thanks.”

“I’ll go next.  I’m not sure I’m going to be very good at this.”  Silverstream moved out onto open ground and launched herself up into the air, flying high above their heads to what she thought was a safe altitude.

“Here I go!” She yelled down to them, hovering in the air for a few seconds as she began her routine.  Despite never having done any substantial trick flying in her life, Silverstream glided easily through her six flight maneuvers, only missing the transition between her flying inverted to the Cloudsdale-Eight maneuver.  

“Hey, check out the competition!  Looks like some flyer’s been holding out on us!”  Silverstream’s constant denials of her skills had led Nightflight to expect a much less impressive first flight from his hippogriff friend, but she’d surprised him greatly.

But Silverstream’s ending came with a scare.  Turning downward into her loop, she misestimated the arc she was flying and nearly collided with two of her friends as she reached the bottom of the loop.

“Look out!” Solar Flare dove out to one side, knocking Firebolt over in the process and sending their friends scurrying out of the way.  Silverstream cut her routine short, doing a quick turnaround, and landed close by. She came running back over, worried she’d might have struck them.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry; totally my fault.  Is everycreature okay?”  She looked over the three ponies as they got back up off the ground.

“That was a close one.”  Solar Flare brushed off the dirt from his uniform, a little shaken but unhurt.

“That was exciting!  Can you do that again?”  Razzle Dazzle squealed, loving the rush of wind and the thrill of being so close to a creature in flight.  Her new acquaintances looked at her oddly, as if she had said something wrong.

“I’d like not to get walloped, thank you very much.”  Gallus shuddered at the thought of feeling such an impact.

“Let’s all stand back and give space to whomever is flying, right?  Safety first?”  Brightstar took the lead, stepping back to make room.  They agreed, giving her a quick nod and stepping back.

“Smart pony.” Nightflight was glad someone was thinking ahead.

“Who wants to try next?” Firebolt was looking right at Cloudy Sky, eager to help him get through this. Cloudy Sky shrank back a little, intimidated after seeing his more-skilled friends struggle.  Nightflight put a forehoof on the youngest stallion of their group, encouraging him.

“C’mon, Cloudy.  Show us what you’ve got.”  

Cloudy Sky did his best to gulp down his nervousness.  Brightstar was right there with Nightflight, making sure Cloudy Sky felt supported.

“You can do it, Cloudy.  Just give it your best try.”

“Yeah! Clou-dee! Clou-dee! Clou-dee!”  Razzle Dazzle started cheering for him, and the rest quickly joined her.

“Clou-dee! Clou-dee! Clou-dee!” They all started chanting for him, clapping their forehooves and talons, making him blush. He stepped forward onto the grass.

“Okay, I’ll try.”  He took a deep, cleansing breath and then took off into the air, his mind racing.

He got up to the proper height, flying around in a lazy circle before beginning.  His friends watched intensely as he began. Cloudy Sky started out simply enough, executing a clean wingover and pulling out in an inverted position, flying upside down.

“Nice…clean…” Solar Flare muttered, more to himself then to his friends.

But Cloudy Sky was having trouble already; so disorienting was it for him to fly upside down that he couldn’t maintain level flight.  He wove up and down unsteadily, barely able to reorient himself back upright in time for his next move.

Dizzy with the blood draining from his head so suddenly, Cloudy Sky swung his hind legs around, causing his body to swing in a lazy series of falling pirouettes, rather than a tight circular descending pattern as his shaky first attempt at a Flat Spin maneuver. 

“That’s not going to cut it.”  Firebolt’s heart fell a little at the sight of Cloudy Sky’s weak flying skill, getting worse as he went along.

Out of the final spin and into his last trick; a ‘flipty loop’ like Razzle Dazzle had taught him, with his head still dizzy from the spinning, he managed to level off and set himself up for it.

  I’m gonna get this right!  I have to get this right! Everycreature is watching me! Cloudy Sky told himself, beginning the first part of the outside loop.

“He’s going for it!”  Razzle Dazzle squealed while clapping her front hooves together.  

The ground came rushing up to meet his face, scaring him.  Cloudy Sky, with all his strength, twisted his body around as hard as he could, getting himself oriented correctly to do the inward loop.

  Zoom! He whizzed past his friends, continuing the trick and surprising himself along the way.

 I did it! I really did it! He momentarily cheered for himself, elated in his success as he completed the inward loop.  Now he had to finish the outward loop, twisting his body once again so as to finish the trick and then go for his landing. 

“He’s got it! He’s got it!  Go, Cloudy, go!” Silverstream cheered Cloudy Sky on, seeing him get the hardest part of his routine correct.

“C’mon, Cloudy, hit that landing!”  Gallus, too, shouted encouragement.

But the end came very quickly for him; he finished his outward loop and flapped his wings hard, futilely attempting to slow his momentum down enough to land.  

“Cloudy, slow down!”  Brightstar yelled, but it was too late.  Cloudy Sky couldn’t slow down in time.  He came rushing in, tripping as his hooves touched down and catapulting him forward to smack the grassy field on his belly, skidding along the ground for a good thirty feet or so before coming to a halt and lying there crumpled up and motionless.  His friends ran to him.

“Cloudy, are you okay?”  Firebolt was first to his side, wanting to see if her ‘student’ was unhurt.

“Ow-w-w-w!” He groaned out loud, the pain from the impact curling him into a tight ball.

“How bad is it?  Should we call for a stretcher?”  Silverstream looked to her friends, thinking they needed to get Cloudy Sky to the infirmary for some medical attention.

“What did you hurt?”  Solar Flare saw the particular way that Cloudy Sky lay scrunched up on the ground, moaning in agony.

“I… I totally whacked my orchids when I hit the ground!  Oh geez! The pain; the pain!” He rolled around a little, continuing to moan.  Nightflight, Solar Flare and Gallus tried to hide their smirks, aware of just what he had hit against the ground.

“His what?”  Razzle Dazzle looked to Firebolt for an answer. Firebolt and Brightstar blushed a little at her question.  Silverstream was trying to cover her beak with her talons, holding back a chuckle.

“You know,” Firebolt made a rolling hoof gesture in the air, smirking and not really looking at Razzle Dazzle, “his… his stuff.”  That didn’t clear up anything for the lavender mare.

“Huh?” 

Gallus attempted to clue her in on male anatomy. “His twig and berries? His bread and two veg?” Razzle Dazzle’s confused expression didn’t change. “His rattle and flute? His stem and leaves? His carrot and apples?” Silverstream finally stepped in and slapped a talon over Gallus’ mouth when it started to look like he might be getting carried away. 

“His private parts, Razzle,” she said gently. The other girls were rolling their eyes at Gallus’ euphemistic litany.

“Oh, that.”  Razzle Dazzle was actually relieved. “I thought it was something serious, like breaking a wing or something.” The boys did all they could not to smile or laugh even while being slightly pop-eyed at Razzle Dazzle’s odd response; it was a guy thing.  Every male creature at some point in their life had had a ‘personal’ accident like that and they knew what kind of pain Cloudy Sky was in. Finally, Gallus carefully helped Cloudy Sky to his hooves.

“C’mon, Cloudy.  Just walk around for a bit, that’ll make the pain subside.”  He tried not to smile, seeing Cloudy Sky staggering on his hooves somewhat.  His injury elicited looks of sympathy from the girls, able to imagine how much it was hurting Cloudy Sky.

Two other mares that’d seen Cloudy Sky’s less-than-spectacular landing from close by openly mocked him.

“That’s your routine?”  The pink mare’s voice dripped with sarcasm.  “Maybe if you were going for a comedy routine, you’d pass. But if that’s the best you’ve got, you should just quit now and avoid embarrassing yourself in front of the Wonderbolts.”

The red mare from the same group piped up.  “My little sister can do better tricks then you; she’s probably half your age and twice as skilled!  You haven’t got a chance!”

Her words cut him deep, because he knew she was probably right.  He wasn’t a great flyer, not like his friends and certainly not like the other recruits selected for this opportunity.  The sound of those two female voices laughing in his ears as they pointed right at him had to be the most humiliating moment he’d ever felt in his young life.  

“Don’t laugh at my friend.”  Gallus warned the trio of ponies. “He’s new to this; he’s never done stunt flying before.”

The two girls continued to snicker at him.  “’New to this’? Oh-h-h-h,” continued the pink mare, “I’m guessing he’s just one of those pathetic ponies who won some two-bit flight competition for a chance to try out for the academy, right? He’s not a real flyer.”

Brightstar marched over, infuriated by the comments coming from the two recruit mares. She didn’t miss the injured look on Cloudy Sky’s face; his confidence was shaken enough as it was.  She wouldn’t allow that to happen to her friend.

“Oh, and I suppose either of you two are so much better at this; so much so that you can put others down for trying?” Brightstar stepped closer to the two girls; her wings mantling in anger.  Like Solar Flare, she had a real dislike of bullies.

“Pbbth, well, yeah!  I mean, look at him; he’s puny and not very good at all.”  The pink mare seemed unafraid of Brightstar’s closeness but the other backed away a few steps at the sight of Brightstar’s expression.

“So, I guess you could easily do his routine, right? You being so much of a superior flyer than him, right?”  There was an aggressive edge to her speech, slightly mocking the mare’s west-coast Applewood way of speaking; daring this mare to put her wings where her mouth was.

“I could, but why waste my time when I need to practice the routine that’s going to get me past this trial and onto the next.”  The pink mare began to turn her back, dismissing Brightstar with a flippant wave of her wing.

An aqua-blue stallion came over to defuse the tense moment, trying to pull his partner away. “C’mon, Sunglow, let’s get back to our practicing.  Just let them be.”

“That’s because you can’t do his routine.  You’re not good enough.”  Brightstar goaded her.

The pink mare stopped and turned back around, scowling at her bright yellow adversary. Brightstar eyed Sunglow up and down, sneering a little. 

“You think I can’t do that stupid routine of his?” Sunglow didn’t like the way Brightstar looked down at her.

“Oh, I don’t think you can’t do it, I know you can’t do it because he’s better flyer then you’ll ever be.” Brightstar snarled, laying her ears flat.

This was something neither of the guys never suspected of Brightstar. She was so laid back and easygoing, never showing them any kind of ‘military tough girl’ attitude. But Sunglow wasn’t going to take anypony’s guff about who was or wasn’t a good flyer. She would prove them wrong.

“Fine. Step aside, losers, and let a real recruit show you how it’s done.”  Sunglow pushed aside Brightstar with a wing, getting the space clear.  She took off into the sky, getting up high in the air and went into the routine.  Her arrogance made her sloppy, her transitions between moves done either too soon or too late.  When Sunglow attempted the ‘flipty loop’ move of Razzle Dazzle’s, she mistimed the transition and went sailing off, crashing into the ground. Red-faced, she tried to collect her dignity as she pulled herself up to her hooves.  Brushing off the grime from her formerly clean uniform, she desperately tried not to look at Brightstar’s grim smile as she backed away.

“C’mon, we still have work to do.”  The same aqua-blue stallion who’d tried to deescalate the moment herded the two mares away, looking suitably mortified by Sunglow’s actions.  Cloudy Sky bit down on his lower lip, trying not to laugh. Brightstar looked uncharacteristically smug.  

“Let’s go, Cloudy, we should get back to practicing.” She led the way back to where their friends were waiting.  Cloudy Sky didn’t feel so terrible about his attempt anymore.  He remembered what Professor Dash had said; that he should rely on his friends who were there for him.  He trotted after to catch up with Brightstar, wanting to walk by her side and thank her for doing that. Gallus only grinned as he walked behind them.

“What was that all about?”  Solar Flare asked the obvious question, once they rejoined their group.

“Let’s just say,” Brightstar stopped in front of her friends, casting a reassuring smile at Cloudy Sky, “I don’t like bullies either.”  He blushed a little, feeling suddenly warmer in his uniform than a moment ago. 

“Oh, oh, oh! It’s my turn!  It’s my turn!” Razzle Dazzle bobbed up and down on her hooves, excited to show all her new friends how she could fly.  She stepped out onto the grassy field, stretching her wings in preparation. Firebolt had the copy of Razzle Dazzle’s routine, remembering what Thunderlane had said about paring down the overly complex first routine.

“Alright, Razzle, let’s see if we can-” But Firebolt never got the chance to complete her sentence as the lavender mare with the bouncy curls launched herself up into the sky.

“Ooh we-e-e-e-e-e!”  Razzle Dazzle squealed out loud as she went into her ‘routine’, laughing all the while. What the friends witnessed was astounding to the point of impossibility.  It could only be described as the manifestation of pure joy in flight. They watched as Razzle Dazzle twisted and turned her body, doing just about every aerial trick move they’d read about in the first chapters of their textbooks this morning, and more.

“I don’t believe it!” Solar Flare’s mouth fell open, stunned by the mare’s flight skill. “How is she doing that?”  Firebolt only shook her head a little, never taking her eyes off Razzle Dazzle as she reached over to shut his mouth with a forehoof.  She, too, was made speechless by Razzle Dazzle’s fluid-like movements in the air.

“Sweet Celestia’s cutie mark!  She’s amazing!”  Nightflight swore.

“Oh… wow.”  Cloudy Sky was awestruck and humbled, seeing Razzle Dazzle’s effortless flying.  The lavender mare was giggling like a filly the whole time, clearly enjoying herself.

“She’s been holding out on us! Go Razzle!”  Gallus clenched his talons and pumped an approving fist at the chatty mare as she flew by.

“Boy, are Commander Spitfire and the Wonderbolts in for a surprise.” Silverstream clapped her talons, excited to watch such an amazing performance.

“She’s got the goods to make it, that’s for sure.”  Brightstar was impressed, not having expected the flighty mare to be such a talented flyer.

  If she’s this good, why was she put in the Wing Pony class?  This doesn’t make much sense.  Firebolt could not understand it.  This mare was flying circles, literally, around them talent-wise but had been put in the same class with her, Gallus and Cloudy Sky.

Razzle Dazzle did two back-to-back loop-de-loops before coming in for a landing close to where her friends were standing. With a firm thud, her hooves hit the ground, making a near perfect textbook landing.  She stood proud and tall, her wings extended in a bit of showponyship.  

“Ta-dah!” Razzle Dazzle finished.  There was a brief moment of silence, with none of them sure if what they’d just seen was actually real. Then they all broke out in cheers.

“You’re amazing, Razzle Dazzle!”  Cloudy Sky was so in awe of her flight skills, making them all seem like rank amateurs.

“Really? You think so?”  She looked to her new friends for confirmation, wondering if they really meant it.

“Are you kidding me, Razzle?  Commander Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts are going to be blown away.” Nightflight had no doubt in his mind about it.  He couldn’t wait to see the other recruits’ reactions when they saw her fly for evaluation. She was going to intimidate them all.

“Definitely!” Solar Flare was also positive of her ability to impress.

“You got my approval.  They’d better watch out for you.”  Silverstream clapped her talons.  She was extra pleased Razzle Dazzle was part of their group now.

“Mm-hmm!” Gallus gave her a nod, grinning all the while.  Here was a pony he was eager to fly with; one who showed superior flying skills.

“That’s so nice of you to say!”  Razzle Dazzle felt lucky to have met some flyers who liked her.  The two instructors for the trial came over to check up on the biggest group that was working together.

“Hey, I caught sight of that last flyer’s practice run; who was that?”  Sky Stinger inquired.

“It was Razzle Dazzle; isn’t she amazing?”  Cloudy Sky was the first to point her out to the instructors, causing Razzle Dazzle to blush slightly.

“You are a very gifted flyer, young lady.”  Vapor Trail stepped closer, “What class were you assigned to?”

“Wing Pony class, ma’am,” Razzle Dazzle’s words echoed with pride.  Her response stunned both instructors.

“Wing Pony class?”  Sky Stinger wasn’t sure if he’d heard right.

“Yes, sir. It was a surprise to us as well. She is some special kind of flyer.” Firebolt had met great flyers before, but Razzle Dazzle had just outdone most of them with sheer zest and skill.

“Well, whatever the reason, after seeing what you can do, I don’t foresee you having any trouble passing this trial.”  Sky Stinger’s words boosted her confidence wonderfully. 

“Did any of you have questions about your routines or need some help?”  Vapor Trail walked around the eight of them, checking with each to make sure they were on track.

“Well,” Solar Flare was the first to speak up, “I think all of us could use a little help getting through our routines. Turns out flying them is a bit tougher than just writing them out,” he finished with a wry smile.  

Only Firebolt did not agree wholeheartedly with Solar Flare’s suggestion. She felt her moment to shine as a group leader was slipping away; where she would show that she could be a team leader by helping her friends with their routines. Doing so would make her stand out among the other recruits.

“I’m sure we’re fine just working together.” She gently tried to turn the instructors away, wanting her fellow recruits to ask her for help instead.

“If it’s not a bother, ma’am, could you watch us and offer any suggestions?” Cloudy Sky wanted to pass this trial very much and was eager to get all the help he could. He looked past Firebolt to the instructors standing behind her for guidance, missing Firebolt’s mildly wounded look at being passed over.

“But, Cloudy, I can show you-”

“Let’s see what your routines are and we’ll help out as best we can.  But we can’t spend too much time, we have to keep watch on everypony here.”  Vapor Trail stepped around and took the small collection of papers out of Firebolt’s hooves, taking control away from her.  Reluctantly, Firebolt agreed, going with the flow of her friends, in spite of her belief that they were fine on their own.

“Let’s have a look here,” Sky Stinger looked over what tricks they’d chosen on each of the routines, answering questions about this or that aspect.  

“How about each of you fly for us and we’ll see what needs help.” Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger watched Brightstar, Razzle Dazzle, and Firebolt each perform their routines, picking out the small errors that would be counted against them when it was time.

“You three girls are definitely ready for your first solo flights.  I don’t think there’s much either of us could offer that would help out. Keep limber for now and be ready to fly when you’re called.” The three mares grinned excitedly at one another.  

For the next ten minutes or so, the two reservists did what they could to help the flyers who needed the most attention before moving on to the next group. After watching both Gallus and Silverstream fly, it was about helping them get the transitions between the moves correct and smoothed out for each of them.  For Solar Flare and Nightflight, it was modifying or reducing the moves so they could perform them correctly rather than how they dreamed of performing them.  Nightflight was reluctant to tone down his routine, feeling this was the first chance to show his stuff to the instructors and Commander Spitfire.

“Remember, you guys, it’s just the first solo flight.  It doesn’t have to be big and fancy, just correct. Later on during the formation flying trials you’ll get to show off a bit more.”  Sky Stinger urged them to simplify the routines and pick just one ‘special’ move to showcase their talents, if they were so insistent.

Solar Flare revamped his whole routine; having Vapor Trail point out how to string the revised moves together was a huge help. Firebolt offered suggestions, but they were quickly discarded in favor of something from the instructors. Firebolt tried not to take it personally.  The instructors were, after all, real Wonderbolt reservists.  She saw how Cloudy Sky looked at them; kind of like a star-struck fan.  How could she compete with that?  

When Solar Flare went to retry his routine, he found the transitions between tricks much easier thanks to Vapor Trail’s help.  He was smiling from ear to ear when he landed, much more confident now than when they first started.

“See? Not so hard to do now?  Simpler is sometimes better.”  Vapor Trail was pleased to see how much improvement the young stallion had made in such a short time.  “I think we’re done here for now.  Good luck on the first flights.”  

She and Sky Stinger moved on to the next group of flyers down the field a short distance, ready to help out all they could.  The group went back to work in earnest, more focused then before. With Gallus and Silverstream now feeling up to the task with some more practice runs, Solar Flare and Nightflight having tweaked their routines and flown them a few times too, and Firebolt, Brightstar, and Razzle Dazzle primed and ready for their trial, that only left Cloudy Sky in need of help.

“We’d best hurry up and try for anoth-” Firebolt was cut off by the sound of a loud blaring whistle.

“First flyers ready for their trial, come down to this end of the field!” shouted Sky Stinger, waving them in.

“Uh oh.” Cloudy Sky started to worry.  “I’m… I’m not ready yet.  I need more time to practice.”  He took a step back, not wanting to leave the practice area just yet.

“Already? I thought we’d have more time than this.”  Nightflight knew they hadn’t spent enough time practicing.  It was still too soon.

Several other recruits were heading over to where the two instructors stood, getting the names written down and into a running order. Firebolt, Razzle Dazzle, and Brightstar were ready and headed off to join them.

“We’re going first and then coming back to give you guys some more help.” Brightstar assured her friends, seeing Cloudy Sky still looking worried.  Solar Flare and Gallus got his attention away from the small group of first attempt flyers.

“We’ve still got time.  We’ll stay here and help until you feel sure.  Just remember, Cloudy, it’s our first times doing this too,” Solar Flare reassured him.  Knowing his friends were just as raw and green as he was made Cloudy Sky a little less worried.  They were all here to help him, just like Professor Dash said.

“Thanks, you guys.”  The butterflies in his stomach calmed down some.  “I’d best go fly my routine again.”  

He took off into the air, trying to get through the four maneuvers as smoothly as possible. His friends watched from down below.

Not much time left; I’ve got to make this practice count!  He was suddenly surprised to find someone flying alongside him.  It was Silverstream.

“Hey, I had an idea.  Why don’t I fly along with you through your routine?  That way if you need help, I’ll be right next to you.”  Silverstream wanted him to get through this as much as he did.  

“Do you think it would help?”  Not that Cloudy Sky would turn away her assistance; he just found the offer pleasantly unexpected.

“It couldn’t hurt, could it?”  Not much of an answer from the hippogriff, but what did he have to lose? 

“Let’s try it!”  Cloudy Sky would give it a go.  Anything to get a better understanding of trick flying.

=====*****=====[

“First flyer up.”  Sky Stinger called out. A pale yellow mare at the head of the line stepped up, passing him a copy of the routine she intended to fly. Commander Spitfire suddenly appeared from around one of the large pieces of training equipment that had been set up on the field and headed right for them.

Sky Stinger caught sight of his C.O. out of the corner of one eye and turned slightly to the recruits next to him.

“Atten-tion!” The recruits snapped to attention as Commander Spitfire approached.

“At ease.” She reached out for the clipboard that Sky Stinger held in one wing.  She first glanced over the paperwork, then looked over her sunglasses at the two first-time instructors to the trials. “Status report.”

“First group ready for their evaluations, ma’am,” Vapor Trail reported proudly. 

“I’ll be evaluating this group; the new arrivals are still in class with Mountain Haze and Thunderlane.  You two spot the flyers during their evaluations.”  Spitfire didn’t look at the two reservists, stepping up to the start/finish line to look over the first recruit.

“Yes ma’am.” The reservists took a step back, ceding the floor to their C.O.

“First flyer up!”  Spitfire ordered and the pale yellow mare once more stepped up to the starting line. “Name?”

“Windflower, ma’am.”  She saluted her C.O. before setting herself in position.

“Go!” Spitfire ordered and Windflower took off, getting a good jump and started off into her routine.  Firebolt, Brightstar, and Razzle Dazzle watched as the first recruit successfully performed a routine of six aerial tricks, the last trick bringing her back down to the ground with a precise landing. Windflower stood proudly in front of her C.O. with a big smile, convinced she’d set the bar for the rest of the recruits to measure up to.

“Tighten up on that barrel-roll; your transitions in and out of it were pretty sloppy.”  Spitfire knocked the grin right off Windflower’s face, stunning the mare with the tough language.  “Next flyer!” Windflower stepped away from the starting line, crestfallen.

Brightstar was next, stepping up to the starting line and passing along her written routine to Spitfire.

“Name?” 

“Brightstar, ma’am.”  She didn’t look at her C.O., getting her body into launch position and focusing on the task at hand.  Spitfire scribbled down something on the form before giving the command.

“Go!”

Brightstar took off like a flash of lightning, getting up high and into her routine’s first move.  Firebolt and Razzle Dazzle watched intently, silently urging her on.

She made the precise flying look so easy, the discipline of a military upbringing shining through in her smooth flying.  After her spins, a pair of inward and outward loops finishing off with a classic Cloudsdale-Eight move, she came in for her landing like a seasoned Wonderbolt, only taking a small extra step forward from her momentum. She stood tall at the end, her expression void of emotion, as if carved in stone.  Spitfire scribbled down her notes.

“A little hot comin’ in there, newbie. Best get a handle on that approach speed.” Spitfire flipped the pencil back into her mouth, catching it with her teeth to jot down the notes. Once more, she flipped it out of her mouth and caught in between her wing tip feathers.  “Who’s your recruiter?”  

“Wonderbolt Soarin, ma’am.”

She jotted down more notes.  “Next flyer up!” she called out and a reddish-brown stallion strode confidently up to the starting line as Brightstar headed back to her friends.  

“Quiet in the ranks!”  Spitfire snapped at the trio of mares chattering softly behind her.  Vapor Trail came to stand close by the three girls; keeping an eye on them to make sure they didn’t repeat the offence and anger their C.O.

The girls watched two sturdy-looking stallions, the one that came right after Brightstar and another that followed, go on to do a fine showing for their first trials, each getting a small critique from Commander Spitfire at the end. The two guys were pleased with their first attempts, giving each other congratulatory hoof-bumps and came to stand close by Brightstar and her friends.

“Nice job, you guys.”  She was sincere in her praise, having watched their routines and thinking both had a real chance of moving on.

“Hey, thanks. You were great up there too.” The orange stallion was grinning broadly, relishing in the completion of this first flight trial. Brightstar knew that feeling well.

“Next flyer up!” the C.O. ordered, and up strode Firebolt, confidently passing off her written program of flight moves to Spitfire.  

“Name?” 

Firebolt raised an eyebrow at her cousin, but then remembered it was just an expected formality.

“Firebolt, ma’am.”  She didn’t look over at Commander Spitfire as she got into position, hearing the C.O. scribble more notes down on the paperwork. She was focused and determined.

“Go!”

Firebolt was off, heading up high into the sky above them and getting right into her first three moves; a stall-turn that turned into a power dive, building up her speed for the two giant loops, one flown inward and one flown outward. This was straightforward enough, done mostly with just gliding from her previous speed before setting up for the next part of the routine. She twisted her body easily to the left, setting herself onto her trajectory of a three-spin barrel roll from right to left, allowing her transition into flying inverted and then finally heading in for a landing at the starting line.  As a bit of flair, she executed a quick single-turn corkscrew ending at the last second, mimicking the flight move she’d seen Gallus do.

She, like Brightstar, landed in near perfect form right in front of Commander Spitfire. She was so proud of herself, confident like never before. She waited for the inevitable praise that was sure to come for such a great first flight.  Spitfire silently scribbled down her notes about this flyer.

“Next flyer up!”  Spitfire demanded, leaving Firebolt nonplussed at not getting what she thought were her due accolades. She shrugged, figuring her C.O. couldn’t let anypony else know they were related and didn’t want to show any favoritism. She went back to her friends.

“That was awesome!  You really nailed your routine.”  Brightstar quietly cheered for her friend.

“Wait, what? It was your turn?”  Razzle Dazzle was caught off guard.  “I was busy watching this little green caterpillar walking on the blade of grass down here and-” the colorful mare prattled on, oblivious.

“Grrrr!” Firebolt planted a forehoof to her forehead and dragged it down the length of her muzzle once more, her teeth clenched together. Razzle Dazzle had missed the awesome flight she’d just done, all because she was too busy watching some dumb bug crawl on the ground!

“What’s wrong, Firebolt?  You have a headache or something?”  Razzle Dazzle didn’t understand why Firebolt seemed upset.  Was it something she said?  Brightstar gave Firebolt a little pat on the back with a forehoof, understanding her frustrations.

A sandy beige mare with a platinum blond mane and tail went up to the starting line, passing to Spitfire the routine she was going to perform.  

“Name?” 

“Amber Haze, ma’am.”  Her voice was soft and willowy, like a gentle breeze blowing through a meadow.  She crouched down and got ready.

“Go!” Spitfire sent her on her way.

The trio of friends watched together, able to pick out flaws in Amber Haze’s routine.  They watched as she came in for her landing too slow, almost stalling out as she approached the ground.  It was not a smooth ending for this recruit.  She landed poorly and stumbled to the ground, looking embarrassed.  They all watched Spitfire’s expression, wondering if they could determine if she had passed or not.  Spitfire gave no clue as she scribbled down her notes.

“Who’s your recruiter, newbie?”  Spitfire didn’t look up.

“Wonderbolt High Winds, ma’am.”  The mare answered, embarrassed for her lackluster showing.  Spitfire silently wrote down more notes, making the recruit very nervous.

“Next flyer up!”  Spitfire called out, leaving Amber Haze jittery and fearful of getting cut.  Now it was Razzle Dazzle’s turn.  Bubbly and cheerful, she bounced on her hooves over to the C.O. and passed along the paperwork with her touched up routine on it.

“Name?” Spitfire remained focused on the clipboard.

“Razzle Dazzle, ma’am!” she sang out proudly, flipping her goggles down over her eyes and getting herself in launch position. 

“Go!”

Off Razzle Dazzle went, like a shot out of a confetti party cannon, speeding into the air and gliding easily into her routine.  Brightstar and Firebolt watched as their friend soared, zoomed and whooshed rapidly through seven complex aerial maneuvers and landed right in front of Commander Spitfire, her wings spread proudly and her head high.

The C.O. looked over Razzle Dazzle’s submission, and began scribbling down her notes.  “It says here,” she began, “you were moved to a second group of recruits for some additional help with your routine, correct?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Who were you working with?”  Spitfire looked over at the two mares Razzle Dazzle had been chattering with.

“Oh, I was working with my new friend Firebolt, ma’am.”  Razzle Dazzle looked back over her shoulder and waved at her two friends, smiling innocently.

“Oh no,” Firebolt groaned softly at being pointed out by Razzle Dazzle like that.

“What?” Brightstar looked back and forth between Firebolt and Commander Spitfire.

“I see!”  Spitfire’s inflection made Firebolt cringe; the C.O.’s expression made her cringe even harder.  Razzle Dazzle rejoined her friends, confused at the sight of Firebolt slapping a forehoof to her head again and grimacing.

“What’s wrong Firebolt?  You still have a headache?”  

“Razzl-l-l-l-le!”  Firebolt groaned aloud, raking her hoof down her muzzle in taut frustration again.

“What did Razzle Dazzle do?”  Brightstar didn’t understand why Firebolt looked so upset.

“It’s not what she did do, it’s what she didn’t do!” Firebolt whipped around to face the lavender mare. “Why didn’t you do the moves we worked out back in class?  You wrote them down; it’s what you gave the C.O!”

Firebolt tried not to sound upset, but this was not looking good for her or for Razzle Dazzle.

“Wait, that show she just put on for us, that wasn’t-”

“No, it wasn’t.”  Firebolt cut off Brightstar. “She didn’t do any of the maneuvers we had worked out together in class, and that was after I’d offered to help her.”

Now it was Razzle Dazzle that was cringing; she had made her new friend upset at her. “I’m sorry… I thought having all of us write out the routines was just a classroom exercise.  I didn’t realize they wanted us to do the same as we wrote down.”

Firebolt got even more exasperated with her.  “What did you think the whole classroom time was for?!  It was supposed to be for us to make a routine and then fly it afterwards. Weren’t you paying attention?”

“Why didn’t you do what you had written down, Razzle?”  Brightstar was curious to know. She’d never seen a flyer quite like her.

“I just…” Razzle Dazzle groped for the right words, “… just didn’t feel like doing the same thing over and over.  That’s boring.  Why not try something new every time we fly?  Why not make it exciting?”

“Because,” Brightstar countered calmly, seeing Firebolt growing even more upset at Razzle Dazzle’s apparent cluelessness, “that’s part of what Wonderbolt Academy is all about; learning about and performing precision flight.”  

“Now I look like a moron to Commander Spitfire; because I was supposed to help you get your routine in order and you totally blew off what we’d been working on, all because you didn’t ‘feel like’ doing what was written down.” Firebolt just couldn’t conceal her irritation.  Razzle Dazzle looked down at the ground, her ears drooping.

“I’m… I’m sorry I did something wrong and got you into trouble.  You don’t have to be friends with me anymore if you don’t want to; I won’t bother you guys.” Razzle Dazzle was about to turn and leave when Firebolt caught her by her foreleg, stopping her.

“Oh, don’t be so overdramatic, Razzle.  I like you,” Firebolt sighed, getting Razzle Dazzle to look up at her and Brightstar.

“Re… really?”

“Of course we do.  I mean,” Brightstar glanced over at Firebolt, the annoyance still on the fiery-maned pony’s face, “you’re probably the best flyer here.  That was really some performance you put on.” 

Hearing that Brightstar was impressed by her flight made Razzle Dazzle perk up. “You think so?”

“Heck yeah, I know so.  I’ve been part of the military my whole life and I’ve seen plenty of flyers come and go.  You’ve got so much potential, I know you can be a great flyer for the Academy.”

“But you have to listen to instructions, Razzle. You can’t just go off all willy-nilly and do whatever you want because you feel like it.  Do you understand what I’m saying?”  Firebolt hoped to get through to her, aware of her potential too, but still wishing to demonstrate to the instructors that she could be a good leader by getting her ‘group’ through these trials.

“I do, and… I’m sorry for making you upset.  I really didn’t mean to.”  The two girls could clearly see how sincere she was.

Firebolt, taking a deep breath and exhaling to rein in her sometimes fiery temper, let go of the moment.  “It’s alright.  I want us to get through this and get into the academy.” She put a wing on Razzle Dazzle’s withers.

“I’m not mad at you.  Still friends?”  She watched as the big smile returned to Razzle Dazzle’s face once more.  She lunged at Firebolt, tackling her to the ground and squeezing her in a tight hug with her forelegs, causing Brightstar to snicker a little.

“Urk!”  Firebolt quacked, feeling the stuffing getting squeezed out of her by the brightly colored mare.

“Friends!” squealed Razzle Dazzle happily.  Firebolt let Razzle Dazzle relish in the moment briefly before dislodging herself from the lavender mare’s grip and getting back to her hooves. They turned around to head back to their friends.

“We’d best get back to the fellas and help Cloudy out some more.  They’ve got-”

Fweeeeep!  “Just where do you three think you’re going? Get moving over to the next phase of the session.”  Spitfire stopped them in their tracks with a blow from her whistle.

“I thought we could-” Razzle Dazzle pointed back to where the rest of their group was practicing, waiting for them to return.  Spitfire pointed in the opposite direction, towards the two waiting Wonderbolt instructors who were already starting with four of the recruits who’d just completed their first flights.

“You are to continue with the trials; there’s no break or stopping until chowtime today. Now get moving!” she snapped.  Brightstar and Firebolt did as ordered, moving off to the area where the next phase of the trial was going on.  Razzle Dazzle looked back at their friends out on the field, still working with Cloudy Sky.  Firebolt tugged at Razzle Dazzle’s foreleg.

“C’mon. We’ve got to get moving.  Let’s hope Solar Flare and Nightflight can handle getting the others in shape for their flights.”

“Hey… he-e-e-y!  Where… where are the girls going?”  Cloudy Sky watched Brightstar, Firebolt, and Razzle Dazzle head off for the next part of the afternoon’s trial.  The trio of mares looked back to the practice area, seeing Cloudy Sky looking at them, worried about not having them with him to help out.  Silverstream came to stand beside her pony friend.

“I guess they couldn’t wait for us; we’re supposed to move on to the next phase of training once this is done.  We’ll catch up to them.”  Cloudy Sky felt like he’d just lost half his support group.

“But… I’m not ready to try yet.” Cloudy Sky had only re-flown his routine three times and still wasn’t sure if he was doing it correctly.  Solar Flare came to stand next to Cloudy Sky.

“Well, we’ll just have to make do without their help and get through this the best we can, Cloudy.”

The gray stallion groaned with worry, the nervousness returning to his stomach once more. Silverstream turned to face him, wanting her friend to feel sure he still had help.

“Why don’t Gallus and I fly with you through your routine again?  You’re almost ready to do it for real.”  

“We’ve got a bit more time so any more practice you can get in will help.” Solar Flare had flown his routine four times and felt confident he was going to pass. He didn’t need more practice but would stay as long as possible to help.

“Let’s get moving.”  Gallus got up in the air, wanting them to join him.  Cloudy Sky and Silverstream took off, the three of them getting to the right height so as to begin.  Nightflight and Solar Flare spotted them from below.

Once more Cloudy Sky began his routine with Gallus and Silverstream flying on each side of him, watching carefully.

They flew along with Cloudy Sky, watching him successfully do his Wing Over move and then fly inverted.  He started to panic from the sensation of being upside-down, his flying becoming unsteady.

“Oh… oh… oh no…oh!”  Cloudy Sky began to panic.  Flying upside down like this made the whole world look so crazy to him.

“Cloudy, don’t flap!  Don’t flap your wings. It’s what throwing you off.”  Silverstream saw how shakily he was flying inverted.

“You’ve got to glide when flying upside down like this.  Resist the urge to flap your wings and you’ll be much smoother.” The two flyers flew inverted as long as they could alongside Cloudy Sky, wanting him to get familiar with the sensation. 

“Here comes the transition, Cloudy!  Make sure you’re in position.”  Solar Flare yelled out from below.

“Count down with me, Cloudy. Four… three… two…”  Silverstream carefully guided Cloudy Sky along.

“…one!” Cloudy timed it correctly and rotated himself upright, gliding easily into his Flat Spin maneuver, much better than his previous attempts. His hind legs swung effortlessly around, his body descending slowly in a tight circular pattern, his hind legs acting like a pendulum. He completed the four required spins for the maneuver before smoothly leveling out and setting up for his last and most difficult move.

“By Celestia, I think he’s got it!”  Nightflight reared and pumped his forehooves in the air.  Solar Flare was smiling and nodding, relieved to see Cloudy Sky getting his routine down.

“Count down again, Cloudy.  Five… four… three… two…” Silverstream flew just to his left wingtip.

“…one!” He dove down into the ‘flipty loop’ maneuver, doing the first part of the outward loop before twisting his body into the inward loop portion.  Silverstream and Gallus landed close to Solar Flare and Nightflight to watch Cloudy Sky finish.

“Oh-h-h-h, c’mon Cloudy! You can do it!”  Silverstream watched with her talons clutched tightly together, the tension within her growing.

“Almost… there…”  Solar Flare, too, watched intensely at Cloudy Sky’s last move, pulling hard for his friend.

“He’s so-o-o close!” Gallus didn’t want to blink, fearing he’d miss something in his friend’s best run so far.

“Hit it, Cloudy! Hit that landing!”  Nightflight spun a forehoof in a circle above his head.

  Gotta make it! Gotta make it!  Cloudy Sky told himself over and over, trying to keep count of how long between transitions within the trick.  The earth and sky raced up and down in his eyes as he spun in the loop, throwing off his balance. But he kept counting to himself, keeping time as the hardest part of the trick came rushing up to him.

“…ten!” he yelped, twisting his body hard to the left so as to fly inverted briefly before soaring back up to complete the outward loop at its starting point.

His moment of elation at completing the trick was replaced with the terror of now trying to slow down enough to land without wiping out like he’d done every time before.

“Too hot…he’s too hot…”  Solar Flare could tell Cloudy Sky was in trouble.  

They watch as Cloudy Sky flapped his wings furiously.  

“He’ll get it... he’s slowing down.”  Nightflight hoped he was right, seeing how hard Cloudy Sky was flapping to slow as momentum.  Cloudy Sky extended out his hind legs from under his body, wanting to touch down with them first and then his forelegs, so as to catch himself.

“Oh… no! UGH!” Cloudy Sky touched down on his hind hooves, the ground passing under him far too quickly. He fell forward and smacked the ground again, sliding on his belly for a few feet before stopping.  This time he was unhurt, except for his pride. His friends were right at his side to help him up but he managed fine on his own, getting to his hooves.

“I messed up again! Why can’t I get this?” Cloudy cursed at himself, not really directing the comment at his friends.

“That was the best attempt you’ve done so far, Cloudy.  You’re almost ready.”  Solar Flare brushed off some of the dirt from Cloudy Sky’s uniform.

“You’ve got to start slowing your approach down sooner, before you even get to the apex of the outward loop.”  Nightflight was fairly certain that was the sticking point his friend needed to get right. The shrill sound of another whistle blow pierced the air, alerting them to the next session of trial flights.

“Next group of flyers ready for their evaluation head down this way!”  Sky Stinger called out and more of the recruits started heading over.  Now more than half of the recruits were leaving the field.  Only Cloudy Sky and a small number of others remained behind. From behind them came the soft clip-clop of hooves and then came a gruff voice.

“So, any of you losers want to show what you got or are you just too scared to try?”  

They recognized the voice, instantly putting their nerves on edge.  They turned around to find two ponies they really didn’t want to hear from right then.

“Not now, Wind Raider.  Shouldn’t you be heading over to do your flight?”  In spite of what he’d seen at the memorial the other day, Solar Flare really didn’t need this right now.  They’d been lucky for most of the day, not having to deal with him or Stormbringer, since everyone was focusing so much on the trials and not thinking about much else.

“I’d offer you good luck, but I doubt it would help a pony like him. He’s pathetic.  I can’t wait to see him wipe out like that in front of Commander Spitfire!” Stormbringer laughed and pointed at Cloudy Sky, having enjoyed himself watching the light gray stallion repeatedly fail. Wind Raider stood by and only grinned, watching his friend have at the pony friend of the two freakbeak volunteers.

“Yeah, well… well… we’ll see about that! Put your wings where your mouth is and show me what you got!”  Cloudy Sky demanded, surprising his friends a little by standing up for himself.  Gallus looked over at him, pleased his friend’s confidence was up, in spite of his bad landing.

“Fine! Let’s go, right now!”  Stormbringer pointed towards the starting line where Commander Spitfire stood waiting. Cloudy Sky’s eyes went a little wide. 

“Like, right now?”  A cool tingle skittered across his coat, bringing with it a wave of worry about what he’d just committed to.

“Yeah, right now!”  Stormbringer wasn’t bluffing, he was prepped and ready to take Cloudy Sky to task. 

“Uh…” Cloudy Sky stammered a little, glancing over to his friends.  Gallus watched Cloudy Sky’s confidence buckle.

  C’mon, Cloudy! Don’t let that punk psych you out! He’s nothing! Be tough! Gallus silently urged his friend on, wanting Cloudy Sky to not be intimidated by another flyer.

“Yeah, just as I thought; he’s not a real flyer.”  Stormbringer sneered at Cloudy Sky and his friends.  The angry glares they shot back at him show how easily he’d gotten under their skin.

“You miserable little piece of-!”  Gallus rushed forward, incensed.  Solar Flare caught him, preventing an international incident right out in front of the C.O. and everypony else.  

“Save it, Gallus.  Save it.” He held the griffon back firmly in his forelegs as Gallus struggled to get at Stormbringer, wanting to sock him right in the muzzle. Wind Raider and Stormbringer laughed, pleased to have provoked Gallus.

“We’ll see you at the starting line with Commander Spitfire.  That is, if you’ve got the guts to actually try.” Stormbringer aimed his comment right at Cloudy Sky, seeing the smallish gray stallion seemingly become even smaller. They headed away from Silverstream and her friends, laughing.

“What a couple of jerks!”  Nightflight spat.  

“Just some nopony losers, that’s all.”  Solar Flare took their jibes with a lick of salt, aware they were trying to play mind-games with him and his friends.

“I can’t wait to see them eliminated from the trials!” Gallus clenched his beak tightly, grinding his teeth and scowling back at the two antagonists.  

“There’s not much time left, so I think you should try one or two more times practicing, Cloudy, before you try for real.”  Solar Flare saw that while a few scattered recruits were still waiting, most of them now were on line to try.

“I’ll stay with Cloudy to help him, you three go on ahead.  We’ll keep practicing until they stop us.”  Silverstream moved to stand next to Cloudy Sky.  “Best Friend Flyers always have each other’s backs when it’s crunch time, right?” She saw the smile return to Cloudy Sky’s face, glad he had such a good friend in Silverstream.

“Right!” Cloudy Sky really appreciated Silverstream’s assistance, having seen her practice her routine and having her and Gallus fly along with him had been a great help.

“All right, if you think you’ll be okay.  We’re going to go do our flights and join Firebolt and the others down there.  Just find us when you’re both done.”  Solar Flare, Nightflight and Gallus waved to them as they headed off to get in line with the other recruits.  

“Let’s see how many more times I can try before we have to go.”  Cloudy Sky was already up in the air, ready to try again. Silverstream was right behind him.

“Hey, wait for me!”  She followed him into the air.
> Ch. 11 Wonderbolt Trials Pt.7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Next flyer up!”  Spitfire ordered, and another mare recruit stepped up to the line, passing her routine to the C.O.

“Name?” 

“Sunglow, ma’am” The pink mare crouched down and got into launch position, waiting. Spitfire scribbled down some notes before giving the order.

“Go!”  

The mare who’d taunted yet failed to show up Cloudy Sky took off and put on a good show, completing five maneuvers and landing solidly back on the ground in front of their C.O.

Gallus, Firebolt and Solar Flare were impressed by the competition, realizing this was not going to be a cakewalk.  They watched as three more recruits each stepped up to the starting line and put on a respectable display of flight skill, but most still got some part of their routine picked apart.  Gallus watched and listened intently in order to gain insight on his own performance.  An incorrect twist here, a missed roll there; he saw more clearly now in his mind how his routine of five moves would look and should feel like once he was in the air again. Finally the moment was upon one of them at last.

“Name?” Spitfire waited for the response.

“Nightflight, ma’am.”  The dark blue stallion nervously dropped his paperwork as he tried to pass it to the C.O., only to bump heads with her as they both bent over to reach for it.

“D’oh!” A small burst of white light flashed in front of Nightflight’s eyes upon impact, the shock wave echoing around his skull.

“Sweet Celestia’s cutie mark, what is your malfunction, recruit?!” Spitfire shouted, rubbing her forehead fiercely.

“Nothing! Ma’am!”  Nightflight answered desperately as he scooped the paperwork up as fast as he could, trying to regain some dignity in front of his peers.

“Get moving, newbie!”  Spitfire’s voice went tearing through his ears, sending him on his way in an instant.

He made it cleanly through the first four maneuvers of his routine but, in his terrified excitement, overspun his corkscrew and was suddenly out of position and off-timed to go into his next planned move. Quickly he rolled to his right instead and went into a small dive, giving up on the two moves he’d originally planned there, and salvaged the routine with a single inward loop and a spin before landing back at the starting line. But that didn’t save him from Spitfire’s merciless harangue.

“That knock to your head must have scrambled your brains, newbie!  You couldn’t keep count of how many times you’re supposed to spin in that particular move!  You think I don’t know how many spins are supposed to be in that maneuver?” 

“No, ma’am!” Nightflight stood rigidly at attention, not daring to move.

“No ma’am what?  You sayin’ you can’t count or that I don’t know?!” Spitfire got right in Nightflight’s face, shouting.  The other recruits watched the blue stallion simply wither under her tongue lashing.

“Yes, er, no ma’am!”  Nightflight didn’t know what to say in response, confused.

“You had best get your mind straight, newbie, or I will unscrew your head and twist it clean off your neck!” Spitfire was mere inches away from Nightflight’s face, droplets of her spittle landing on his cheeks.

“Yes, ma’am!” Nightflight shouted back.

“Get out of my face, newbie!  Next flyer up!”  Spitfire pointed the direction out for Nightflight and he hurried away, shaken by her intensity. The next flyer up, a pale green mare, tried an exceptionally hard trick in her routine and ended up colliding with the ground and ruining her first showing.

“Recruit, you’d best square your hindquarters away and start demonstrating you know how to fly, or these trials are definitely going to mess you up!” Spitfire marked up the recruit’s information on her paperwork, making sure the next instructor knew to keep watch on her progress.

“Yes, ma’am.” The mare got to her hooves again, horribly embarrassed. She couldn’t even look at her fellow recruits as she waited for Spitfire’s next inquiry.

“Who’s your recruiter, newbie?”

“Wonderbolt Fleetfoot, ma’am,” she managed to get out in between coughing fits, still recovering from the impact and believing she’d get eliminated after this poor showing.

“Next flyer up!”  Spitfire ordered as the mare plodded away, heading towards the next instructor.

Now it was Gallus’ turn to fly.  Confidently, he walked right up to the starting line and passed his C.O. the routine he was ready to perform.

“Name?”

“Gallus, ma’am.”  The griffon crouched down into launch position.  Spitfire scribbled some notes down on her clipboard and then gave the order.

“Go!”

Gallus was off in a flash, quickly getting up to the height he needed, and went into his routine.  He started off with a big power dive and then zoomed back up into a vertical corkscrew, spinning no less than six times before coming out perfectly level and flying inverted for several long seconds, then rolling easily backwards into his two inward loop-de-loops, cleanly executed. His friends were excited to watch him perform so well after so little formal training.

“He’s a natural stunt flyer.  Look at his transition points; he’s hitting each one right on.”  Nightflight was suitably impressed by Gallus’ steady performance, believing now more than ever that a griffon could be a Wonderbolt.

“I knew that the moment I met him.  That’s why I want him as my partner for the next part of the trials.”  Solar Flare was looking forward to that chance to fly with Gallus.  Performing a flight routine together would demonstrate to everypony here that a griffon could fly just as well as any pony.

Gallus landed on his paws and talons right in front of Spitfire, beaming with pride. The C.O. silently made her notes on her forms and his submission.

“Head over and join the rest of the group for the next phase of the trial. Next flyer up!” Spitfire left him wondering but Gallus wasn’t going to worry.  He was sure his performance was more than adequate, on par with any pony recruit. He headed away, looking back at his friends and shooting them a quick wink.  

As he headed on for the next part of the trial, he spotted Professor Dash with the other Wonderbolt team members putting the new group of recruits through the first phase of the trials.  He wanted to run over and tell her about his great first flight and how excited he was for getting to the next part of the trial. But she was busy doing her job and couldn’t be distracted.  Gallus told himself he would try after the end of today’s workout to find her and relay what he’d experienced.

Stormbringer walked up and deliberately bumped into Solar Flare on his way to the starting line, grinning like a fool when Solar Flare scowled back at him.  He handed off his form to Commander Spitfire and got into launch position.

“Name?” The pencil was poised over the clipboard, anchored tightly in the C.O. teeth.

“Stormbringer, ma’am.”  He flicked his wings a few times before settling in to the take-off position.

“Go!” Spitfire ordered and Stormbringer shot straight up and went right into his routine of six aerial tricks.  Solar Flare watched, in spite of his dislike of him and Wind Raider, as the pale blue pony executed a near-flawless flight and effortlessly landed in front of their C.O. with a solid thud of his hooves on the ground.  Stormbringer stood tall with an expression of absolute confidence, no doubt in his mind of making a good impression with Spitfire.

“Who’s your recruiter, newbie?”  Spitfire scratched more notes on her paperwork.

“Wonderbolt Blaze, ma’am.”

Spitfire finished her note taking, and pointed out the direction he needed to go with a forehoof.  “Get moving and join the others to continue today’s trial.”  Stormbringer saluted her.

“Yes, ma’am.” He did as ordered, heading quickly off to join the other recruits who were listening in to the next instructor’s briefing.  It was just Wind Raider and Solar Flare left from this group to fly.

“Next flyer up!”  Spitfire looked up to see which one of these two was going next.  Neither one stepped forward.  Solar Flare kept looking back to the activities field to see Silverstream still working with Cloudy Sky along with four other recruits who were trying desperately to get a last few minutes of practice time in before their flights. Spitfire grew annoyed.

“I said, next flyer up!” she barked.  Wind Raider saw how concerned Solar Flare was for his friends, and thought he’d have some fun with him.

“Oh, please, by all means, do go ahead of me.”  Wind Raider bowed his head to Solar Flare mockingly.  Solar Flare didn’t miss the nasty smug look on Wind Raider’s face.  He knew Wind Raider was just hanging back so as to give Silverstream and Cloudy Sky a hard time when they came over for their first flights.  Solar Flare countered the snarky gesture.

“Oh no, not me, my good pony.  You should go first, I insist.”  But Spitfire didn’t have time for games.

“Look, I don’t care which one of you goes first but somepony is going now!”  She rechecked her watch, aware of the time that was passing and the schedule they had to keep.  Reluctantly, Solar Flare stepped up to the line, catching sight of Wind Raider’s smug smile of satisfaction out of the corner of one eye.

“Name?” Spitfire waited for the answer.

“Solar Flare, ma’am.”  He got down in his launch position, focusing on the job he had to do.  She wrote down some bits of information before giving him the signal.

“Go!”

The husky stallion took off and went soaring high into the air, getting into his routine straight away.  His routine started with a big climb into the sky and into a power dive, building up his speed as he descended.  He whooshed passed the C.O. and Wind Raider, soaring back up high into the sky and performing first a four-turn corkscrew and then moving into an easy barrel roll, turning slowly over four times in an outwards body position, arching his back all the way through the move.

Some of Wind Raider’s arrogance was tempered while watching Solar Flare’s well-planned routine of seven aerial moves.  Even not wanting to give an inch of praise to Solar Flare, Wind Raider had to admit to himself that Solar Flare was a great flyer. Both of them were fairly equal in both size and weight, proving to the black-maned stallion that there was plenty of tough competition trying out for the academy.

On through his two inward loops, a twisting figure-eight and finally finishing with an ingenious back-flip in the air that landed him near-perfectly on his four hooves right in front of Commander Spitfire, his knees buckling slightly under the pressure of the landing.

He stood at attention at the end, his head high and his wings spread wide.  Spitfire wrote down some more notes.  “Who’s your recruiter, newbie?” 

“Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash, ma’am.”  Solar Flare spoke the name of his recruiter with pride, aware of the weight it carried. Spitfire scribbled down more notes, making Solar Flare wonder what the C.O. could be writing about him.  

“Get going and join the others at the next part of the trial.” She didn’t look up from her clipboard.

“Yes, ma’am.” Solar Flare saluted his C.O. then headed off for the group of recruits who were listening to Wonderbolt Misty Fly giving her briefing.  Another Wonderbolt came hurrying over to Spitfire and saluted, then passed along some paperwork for the C.O. to look over; it was the roster of families to attend the meet-and-greet.

“Status report, Angel Wings.”

“Ma’am, the second group of recruits are approximately halfway through their first training sessions.  Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash is getting them ready for the change between training assignments. Next instructions, ma’am?” Angel Wings waited for her orders as Spitfire scribbled down more information.

“Get this back to the main office and have the front office ponies get started on it. I’ll be over to check on Dash’s groups shortly.” Spitfire wrote more down on the paperwork before handing it back to Angel Wings.  “Dismissed.” She saluted her underling and Angel Wings returned the same, heading off once more.

“Reservists Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail, front and center,”  Spitfire called.  The duo were standing in front of her in seconds flat.

“Yes, ma’am?” Vapor Trail responded.

“Get those few stragglers in to do their first evaluations; the next group is going to need the space on the field and we’re short on time.  Once you’re done here, we’ll need your help running the Dizzatron.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The duo were more than surprised by their C.O.’s remark.

 She wants us to help out more?  Vapor Trail wondered what could make her C.O. have need of her and Sky Stinger.

Oh, yeah! Headin’ for the big time! The big cheese needs our help to run the trials!  Sky Stinger tooted his horn loudly within his head, giving himself many pats on the back for an awesome first time instructing.

Spitfire turned back to the last waiting recruit; Wind Raider.  The stallion didn’t need to be told to step forward, already anticipating his C.O.’s desire to finish the trials quickly.

“Name?”

“Wind Raider, ma’am.”  He got into position, crouching down with wings erect, ready for that all important first launch thrust.  Spitfire added him name to the list, noting the young stallion’s fit physique and deadly serious expression.

“Go!” She sent him off.  That first push launched Wind Raider quickly up into the sky and into his routine, flying effortlessly above them.

He went through the required basic moves, demonstrating he was a steady flyer.  For the important part of his flight, Wind Raider went for a grand ending by soaring high into the sky and going into power dive, getting up a good head of speed.

Zoom!  He went soaring past Spitfire and went into a triple set of outward loops, each progressively higher in altitude. With the last bit of energy from the third loop, flying vertically upward, he stalled out for a second, only to fall gently over backwards and straight back down with a slowly twisting corkscrew that had him leveling off briefly and exiting his routine with a forward flip, landing right in front of the C.O.  It was an impressive first routine and he knew it.

Commander Spitfire kept him waiting for a few seconds before speaking, writing down some notes and rechecking his records.  “It says here,” she began slowly, “you’re a legacy to the academy, correct?”

“Yes, ma’am. My brother served as a reservist.”  Wind Raider held his head higher when speaking of his connection to this hallowed place.  

“Retired?”

“No, ma’am,” he replied, tiny flickers of his expression revealing a sliver of inner torment at the memory of his lost brother, “he’s out on permanent reconnaissance overflights.”  It was the military slang used for flyers who’d been lost in battle. Spitfire understood.

“What’s the reservist’s name, recruit?”

“Sky Chaser, ma’am.” His voice wavered slightly.

Spitfire only nodded slightly.  “Very well. Best go join the others for the remainder of the trial.”  She added more to her notes as Wind Raider saluted her and headed away.  Sky Stinger gave a last blow on his whistle, waving at the few recruits to get their attention.

“Everypony in for their flights!  Practice time is up!”  The few stragglers on the field headed over to the instructors at last, now facing the moment of truth, whether they were prepared or not.

=====*****=====

“That’s it, Cloudy! You’ve got it! You’ve got it!”  Silverstream clapped her talons together joyously, applauding her friend’s success at flying inverted for as long as he had.  He flipped himself upright again and landed right next to the hippogriff, smiling and reaching out to embrace Silverstream in gratitude for her help. She hugged him back, glad to have helped him out.

“I did just like you said; closed my eyes and just counted to ten and I was fine the whole time!  I didn’t feel nearly as dizzy.  How’d you know that’d work?” He let go of her, excited that he’d figured out this sticking point in his routine.

“Oh, it’s just a little trick we seaponies use sometimes while we’re swimming.  I’m discovering there’s overlap between some aspects of swimming and flying; it’s really interesting.  I can’t wait to write it all up in my report when I get back to school. This has been such an amazing experience.”

Hearing more about Silverstream’s life away from here and her school was something of interest to Cloudy Sky. At mealtimes she’d talk about her friends there or some of her teachers at the school, but so little about Seaquestria or her home at Mount Aris.  She was the first hippogriff he’d met and he was curious about his friend.

“Silverstream, there’s something I wanted to ask you about, and I hope you don’t mind.” Cloudy Sky felt a bit nervous asking, though he knew he shouldn’t.

“Sure, what is it?” She was all smiles.

“What’s it like being a seapony?  I mean, now being a hippogriff and all.  Do you miss it, the ocean I mean?” 

“I was wondering if any of you were ever going to ask me about it.”  She gave a small girlish laugh.

He sighed in relief.  “No, I really did want to ask.  We just talked so much about the trials and stuff at break times but I never got to ask you about where you’re from.  From what I read in books and from Queen Twilight’s account in the newspapers, Seaquestria is one of the great wonders of our world.”

This was an unexpected and delightful distraction for her; being asked about Seaquestria rather than Mount Aris, as many of her new pony friends had queried her about.

“Well, it’s wet all the time so you don’t have to worry about taking showers.” They laughed together at her silly joke.

“I’d like to see it for myself someday; that and Griffonstone.  I think it’s so cool that Gallus is here as well.  I feel bad for him and the other griffons.”

That caught Silverstream’s interest.  “Why would you feel bad for Gallus?”

“From what I learned in history class, back when I was in primary school, griffons were one of the original founding races of creatures of our world.  The griffons had, at one time, the greatest empire in the east.  Their society contributed a whole bunch to the development of math and the sciences we use today.  Now there’s so little left of its past; lost to time and mostly forgotten.  I read about the last griffon king, Grover, and the lost treasure of Griffonstone too.  The whole country has been without any leader for so long.  It just seems so tragic to me.”

She was rather moved by his concerns for griffons; it was genuine of him.  “You should tell Gallus that.  I’d bet he’d like to hear how much you care about his homeland.  Most ponies think very little about it.” But Cloudy Sky shied away from that idea.

“I couldn’t do that.  He’d probably think I was just kissing up to him or something.” He didn’t want to sound like those awful mares that’d bugged him the other day; acting like clueless idiots.

“I wouldn’t worry about that, Cloudy.  I’ve known him as long as anycreature at the school has, so I’m pretty sure he could tell if you were being genuine.  He’s a pretty perceptive griffon.”  Silverstream was sure Gallus would like to know he had Cloudy Sky’s admiration.  A whistle’s scream broke up their conversation. Both of them turned to look at where the sound was coming from and saw one of the instructors waving at them.

“Everypony in for their flight evaluation!  Practice time is up!”  Sky Stinger waved them in.  Silverstream looked over at her pony friend.

“You ready to fly?”  She hoped he was more confident now, having re-flown Cloudy Sky’s routine four more times with him and ironed out the last sticking points he needed help with.  But she didn’t have to worry; he was smiling the whole time.

“Thanks to your help, I am.”

Together, they walked over to the spot where they and the remaining recruits lined up for their turn.  Cloudy Sky was a little concerned seeing it was Commander Spitfire doing the evaluations and not the two instructors.  

“Next flyer up!”  Spitfire called out and an orange stallion strode up to the line, passing his routine along to the C.O.  “Name?”

“Sunstrike, ma’am.”  The stallion flipped his goggles down over his eyes and got down into launch position as Spitfire finished writing down.

“Go!” She ordered and Sunstrike took off.  Silverstream and Cloudy Sky watched as Sunstrike performed a routine of five solid maneuvers and then landed back at the starting line seemingly without a flaw in his performance.  Cloudy Sky tried not to feel intimidated by the other pony recruits.  He had a solid routine and a great friend who’d helped him out. If he could keep his cool, it would go off like clockwork.

Spitfire wrote down her notes on this flyer’s performance, noting his time and maneuvers done.

“Who’s your recruiter, newbie?”

“Wonderbolt Thunderlane, ma’am.”  She scratched down some more notes.  “Get going and join the rest at the next part of the trials.”  She pointed out the way to him and he eagerly got moving.

“Next flyer up!” she called out.

Cloudy Sky and Silverstream watched as three more stallions each put on an impressive display of flight skill, none of them getting more than a cursory critique of their performances.  It was now down to just him and Silverstream.  Before their C.O. could call out, Silverstream stepped up to the line, ready to fly, and passed to Spitfire her written out routine.  

“Name?” Spitfire knew who she was but still had to go through with the formality.

“Silverstream, ma’am.”  The hippogriff flicked her wings a few times, settling into her launch position and awaiting the command.

“Go!” Spitfire shouted and Silverstream took off, reaching the correct altitude quickly, and began her routine of six aerial trick moves. Cloudy Sky watched her performance; doing a wing over maneuver followed by flying inverted from a Griffish Bunt move was similar to what he had planned to do in his routine.  A pair of loops, one inside and one outside, done sequentially to get her flying upright once more and then finishing off with a beautifully executed Tailslide maneuver that ended with Silverstream making a dramatic dive straight down, only to pull up at the last second to fly parallel to the ground and come to an easy stop right in front of the C.O.

“How was that, ma’am?” Silverstream couldn’t help herself asking, so eager to know if she’d shown herself to be a great flyer.  But Commander Spitfire gave no clue as to how well she’d done, simply scratching down some more notes.

“Go catch up with the other recruits for the next phase of today’s trials.”  Like with most of the other recruits, she didn’t bother to look up when she spoke and only pointed out the way with a wing. Silverstream saluted her but rushed back to Cloudy Sky to give him one last tight supportive hug.

“Hey, newbie! I said-”

“Give it all you’ve got, Cloudy. I believe in you.”  She gave him one last bit of support before rushing off in the direction the C.O. had indicated. Spitfire was only briefly annoyed by the show. She watched as the smallish gray stallion walked up to the starting line and passed her the routine he intended to fly, a small blush on his cheeks as he got into launch position.

She took the form from the recruit, noting that it consisted of the minimum of four maneuvers, the only recruit to do so.  She scribbled down some notes about him in her records, instructions for other instructors to read should this recruit get through this assignment.

“Go!” she shouted and Cloudy Sky took off, glad to get this started at last.  It was now or never, and he would make his friends proud of him.

“Two… three… four…”  He counted the seconds though each maneuver he did, timing himself as Silverstream had taught him to.  Up and over with the smoothly done Wing Over move and he rolled his body easily to the right to fly inverted.

  Don’t flap your wings! Don’t flap your wings! Resist the urge! Cloudy Sky kept his eyes shut for the whole time he flew inverted, counting in his head how many seconds to go, gliding steadily along his trajectory.

“…nineteen… twenty…”  He rolled his body to the left, opening his eyes, and suddenly tensed up, realizing he had messed up the transition.

  No… no… no…! He started to panic but kept his head long enough to swing his hind legs around and execute the Flat Spin move.

I goofed! I totally goofed!  I rotated the wrong way out of that move!  He lost track of his count, fretting when he should have been concentrating.  He overspun the move with an extra revolution of his body, not technically incorrect, but he’d only planned to do four turns for his routine.

  What was the count at?  He tried to recall but knew it was gone.  He had to rely on his instincts for the last move; the hardest move. In desperation, he started counting from the first number that popped into his head.

“Forty seven… forty eight… forty nine…”  It didn’t really matter now; all he could do was hope to get it right.  Down into the first part of Razzle Dazzle’s noted ‘flipty loop’ move he went, twisting his body into position for the inward loop, and then twisting once more to right himself when exiting the inner loop, to then complete the outer loop.

Cloudy Sky rotated his wings forward, catching more wind to break his speed. Like before, he had gotten the completion of the trick down and now it was all about getting the landing. 

 Oh please…oh please… oh please…! He flapped his wings hard, feeling the relentless pressure against his wing muscles pulling and straining, slowing him down faster then he’d ever forced them to.  The ground still seemed to come rushing up to him frighteningly fast as he pumped his wings harder and extended his hind legs out from under his body, readying for the impact. 

  Oh-h-h-h-h-h-h-h!  Cloudy Sky shut his eyes for a split second, not wanting to see the horrendous crash that was going to be his landing.  His rear legs touched down with significant force, although gentler then they’d ever had in his previous attempts. He felt his body pitch forward at the impact, driving his forelegs forward and down to make contact with the ground.  

His eyes flew open upon his forelegs touching down and the sensation of him now running on his forelegs as his back end was about to come up and over his head like a flip.

“Oh oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!”  Cloudy Sky walked for about twenty feet on his forelegs, holding himself at an almost perfect forty-five degree body position before he snarled at himself, stiffly planted his forehooves into the dirt and stopped himself from falling forward, forcefully driving down his back half with his hind hooves finally giving a solid thud at the routine’s completion.

He was shocked to discover himself still standing upright and not in a heap on the ground like before.  He’d never once hit the landing in all the times he practiced but just now he’d managed to get pretty close when it mattered the most.  Cloudy Sky did all he could to suppress his giddiness as he stood proudly before his C.O.  She trotted over to him as she scored his routine.

“A little hot on that approach comin’ in there, recruit. You’d best work more on that,” she pointed out, writing more down about his performance before looking up the recruit’s file on her clipboard.  She suddenly discovered what she’d been looking for over the past forty-eight hours.

  It’s him! He’s got to be the one!  Look at his record! Spitfire saw how nearly blank the file he submitted was, no post-school flight training or work related experience listed. Cloudy Sky waited patiently for the C.O. to say something else, but felt his nerves grow with each passing second, seeing her reading something off her sheaf of papers. 

  Don’t let on! Play it cool or the whole thing is blown!  Spitfire made sure to put on her best poker face. 

“According to your record here,” she began slowly, “you won Nimbusville’s semi-annual flight tournament last autumn, correct?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“No previous work with the Weather Bureau as a weather pony, or flight school training?” she inquired casually.  Suddenly, Cloudy Sky felt his answers were going to put his chances of getting past today in jeopardy, regardless of his performance.

“No, ma’am,” he replied glumly.  It wasn’t what he wanted to say to his C.O. right then.  He wished he could have afforded to go on to flight school like the better flyers from his graduating class, or had the grades to get a job at with the Weather Bureau in some capacity.  No, he was just a young delivery pony who got lucky one day and won a race. That’s all.

He watched as Spitfire continued writing on her clipboard, fearing what it could be. His mind was instantly thinking the worst; that he was going to get cut because he didn‘t have enough flight experience. 

“Get moving on to the next part of the trial with the other recruits.”  She inclined her head toward the next field.  Cloudy Sky was relieved to go, trying to get a hold of his imagination and just stay focused on what was ahead. 

  Better clue the team in on this. Spitfire told herself, relieved to have finally solved the mystery of who had been sent from Central Command to spy on the trials. It was a classic ploy; use the least likely candidate to make it into the academy to spy on the whole operations; the candidate who has nothing to lose by not getting in; the one with the cleanest record.  Both reservists were at their C.O.’s side as the last recruit trotted away.

“Orders, ma’am?”  Sky Stinger wondered what she had in mind for them.

“Let’s move.”  Spitfire snapped her paperwork flat on the clipboard and tucked it under a wing before heading towards the group of recruits who were listening to the briefing. The two reservists followed, seeing how serious their C.O. suddenly looked; like a pony on a mission.

“Status report?”  The C.O. demanded quietly, getting right to the point.

“All the recruits are present.  Silver Zoom and I are waiting for Misty Fly to get done with the initial briefing so we can sort the better ones out for level two formation flying.”

Spitfire shook her head.  “Change of plan. Scrap the idea of running any flyers for level two today and just have them concentrate on pairs, extra practice time and the Dizzatron.”

That was an unexpected deviation.  “But, Commander, that will put us behind schedule if we want to keep the first group ahead of the new arrivals.”  Soarin didn’t mean to object, but thought this was a pretty obvious problem his C.O. should have been aware of.

“I want these two,” Spitfire pointed to Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail with a wing tip, “to take care of the practice time for the recruits, and Misty Fly with High Winds to run any level-one recruit trials.  Silver Zoom,” she next turned to Soarin’s partner, “I want you to run the Dizzatron and send Dash over here on the double.”

Silver Zoom saluted her. “Yes ma’am.”

She was not kept waiting, as Rainbow Dash was right at her C.O.’s side in the blink of an eye.

“Yes, ma’am?” She saluted Spitfire, awaiting her orders, a bit confused at suddenly being drawn away from her duty.  Spitfire finished with the reservists first.

“You two know what your job is. Get it done.”  She looked over her sunglasses at the two reservists, her brow furrowing some, making sure they understood her seriousness.  They saluted her back.

“Yes, ma’am! We won’t let you or the team down.” Sky Stinger could feel his C.O.’s glare going right through him, like he was a transparent piece of tracing paper. Vapor Trail was just as nervous but honored that Spitfire had picked them for additional trial duty.  Spitfire must have been satisfied with their job with the recruits so far.  The two of them went to stand close by the recruits once more, listening to the lesson and ready to help out.

“You two; let’s take a walk.  I have information to relay.”  Spitfire headed away from the gathering to talk more in private but still be able to observe the recruits.  Her two team members followed, wondering what she wanted to tell them.  They got out of earshot of anyone else before Spitfire stopped and turned around to speak.

“We’re far enough away now.” 

“What is it, Commander?” Soarin and Rainbow Dash waited to hear, glancing at one another.

“Remember our ‘situation’ here? With Central Command sending somepony here to spy on the trials?”  She kept her voice low to make sure only these two could hear her.

Rainbow Dash grimaced, recalling the talk she had with Spitfire.  Soarin’s expression only grew more serious, aware of how many things were in motion for the trials this time around.

“What about it?”  Soarin wondered what it was she had to tell them.  Spitfire’s eyes narrowed as a rather sneaky-looking smile crept over her mouth.

“I know who the spy is.”  Both Soarin and Rainbow Dash were surprised to hear this, both their brows rising on their foreheads.  How could she have figured it out?

“Who is it, Commander?” Soarin leaned in closer, as did Rainbow Dash.

“He’s sitting with your students from the School of Friendship, Dash, just to the left of them; the one with the medium blue mane and tail.”  Spitfire carefully looked past Soarin at the spy standing among the others.  The trio all traded places so Soarin and Rainbow Dash could see who Spitfire was referring to.

“You mean the pony to the left of Silverstream; the little gray fella?” Soarin sounded unsure.

Rainbow Dash also quickly picked him out, recognizing him as one of the BFFs of the circle of friends Silverstream and Gallus had formed.

“Him?  Cloudy Sky? You think he’s sent here from Central Command to spy on the trials?” Rainbow Dash glanced back and forth incredulously between the recruit and her C.O., but Spitfire seemed convinced.

“Didn’t either of you read his profile?”  She saw both of them give embarrassed looks, unable to recall any specifics about any single recruit.  She growled a bit at their lack of attention to detail.

“Uh-h-h-h…” Rainbow Dash looked up and away from Spitfire, embarrassed.

Soarin tried to explain. “We’ve looked at an awful lot of files over the past two days, ma’am.  It’s a little hard to recall-” Spitfire cut him off, showing them both the clipboard with each of the recruit’s profiles.

“His profile was almost blank. He hasn’t any previous job-related experience and he has no flight school training post-primary school.”  She spelled it out for them.  Rainbow Dash still didn’t see the connection.

“So, big deal, right?  Plenty of ponies have tried out for the academy without-” Rainbow Dash was cut off by Soarin, who suddenly saw what his C.O. meant.

“Wait,” he gasped softly, “I see it now, Commander!  An unassuming recruit; a flyer who has the least obvious record of flight experience.  The least likely to stand out.”  Soarin was intrigued by how Spitfire had determined who the spy was. It made sense to him.  Spitfire smirked a little, seeing the light bulb go off over his head.

“Exactly. He’s interacting with Dash’s students; checking to see how they like participating in the trials and getting feedback from other recruits about them.”  Spitfire was already formulating what this spy’s reason for being here could be. Soarin nodded along.

“It makes sense to me.  I mean, we did submit Dash’s proposal in the autumn, and Dash just so happened to bring two non-pony flyers this spring to the trials…” Soarin began putting the pieces into place.

“Are… are you sure of that, Commander?  He seems more of just a friend to Silverstream and Gallus from what I could tell.”  Rainbow Dash could follow along with Soarin’s thinking.  It sounded plausible, but was it right?

“That’s probably his whole angle, Dash. Play it off as the innocent pony and buddy-up with the hippogriff and the griffon.  This means Central Command is taking your proposal seriously, Dash.  It’s why they sent the second group of recruits so soon after starting; they’re investigating us now!”

Spitfire’s claim seemed tough to argue against.  So much of it seemed to fit together.  Rainbow Dash didn’t have any evidence to counter her C.O.’s claim, so it seemed like the most logical answer.

“So, what do we do now, Commander? If he is the one sent to spy on the trials, what’s the plan?”  Soarin hadn’t really thought of what it was they were supposed to do once this was discovered. They knew who the spy was. Great. Then what? 

“We stay on top of it; the trials have to go off smoothly and problem free. I want this year’s trials to be so perfect that when the eggheads and bookworms write more of the history of the Wonderbolts, it’ll say it was due to Commander Spitfire’s leadership and her greatest team that the species barrier was first broken for a non-pony to become a student here at the academy.” Spitfire began reformulating the plan, both what needed to get done, and by when. 

Angel Wings came rushing out from the main office building and flew right for her C.O. who was standing with Soarin and Rainbow Dash by the field.  Swiftly landing and retrieving her clipboard from her pack, she saluted Spitfire before speaking. 

“Latest update, ma’am.  School staff has been notified and is making adjustments to the morning menu to accommodate the guests. The Quartermaster’s office has also issued all recruits a second uniform as per your request.”  

“You have your plans for the meet-and-greet finalized for tomorrow morning after chowtime?” Spitfire looked up to her team’s captain from the clipboard she was skimming over.  Soarin passed her the simple two-page written instructions he and Rainbow Dash had quickly put together earlier today from off his clipboard.

“It’s going to be real simple; all of the team members out on the field for pictures with the families.  We’ll use the same backdrops from our last showcase for the photo shoot and I got the school’s student paper to cover it.”

“Did we want to let everypony know Silverstream and Gallus are here?” Rainbow Dash saw this as a problem, recalling Spitfire’s comment about wanting to not draw attention to their presence.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem now, Dash.  Most if not all the students and staff have found out by now. Besides, I don’t think the student paper doing a quick story of the meet-and-greet is going to get any circulation beyond the student body in general, so it’s safe.” The four of them all nodded.

“I think we’ve got the bases covered, Commander. Dash and I will get the gear out of storage and ready to set up on the field once we’re done with the trials today.” Soarin wanted to get going, disliking the idea of having unfinished duties hanging over his head. 

“Report back to me when it’s done.  I want us to get the schedule set for the guests so we don’t waste the whole morning. Dismissed.” She saluted them and they headed over to where Rainbow Dash’s team were working on the new arrivals with the wind resistance training and the weight training obstacle course.

“C’mon, let’s get the gear out of the shed and set up.”  Soarin led the way, confirming the following day’s plans with his wing pony. He recited aloud what responsibilities he had to juggle this season and Rainbow Dash could tell he was feeling the pressure. Alone with him, Rainbow Dash got to tease him a tiny bit.

“You worrying like that makes you sound a lot like my friend Twilight.” 

“Is… that a bad thing?”  He did not get her implication.

“She just worries a lot, but it always works out for her in the end.” She gave him a friendly shoulder bump and a grin. He was glad to have her helping, she knew how to relieve some of the tension and get him to smile a little.
> Ch.12 Wonderbolt Trials pt.8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cloudy Sky trotted happily over to rejoin his friends, beaming.  

“Did you see-?”  He started to ask, but was cut off by a hug.

“We saw! We saw!”  Firebolt embraced him tightly, as did the other girls, congratulating Cloudy Sky for getting through his first real test as a flyer. The guys all gave him congratulatory wing-slaps, glad he’d made it through.

“I knew you could do it!”  Silverstream saw how happy Cloudy Sky was for getting past that test.  She’d only had the chance to watch part of his routine but it was the important part; she’d watched him get through Razzle Dazzle’s tricky loop move and manage to stick a landing at the end. 

“Clou-dee! Clou-dee! Clou-dee!”  Razzle began to chant, interrupting the instructor and annoying the other recruits who were trying to listen.

“Quiet in the ranks!”  Misty Fly shouted.  Gallus reached out with his talons to clamp Razzle Dazzle’s lips shut, not wanting them to get in more trouble.

“Sh-h-h-h!” The griffon held up a talon to his beak.  Her friends were all staring at her.  She got the message; shut up.

“If I may continue,” Misty Fly got the recruits’ attention back on her.  “There is the remainder of the afternoon for you to practice your first formation trial with your partners, and we would encourage any pair of flyers who feel ready for the challenge to try for their level one trial, pending approval of your routines.”  

High Winds doublechecked the roster of recruits, scanning to see what boxes were checked off.  “I see by your records that none of you have any experience with organized flight or formal training; just a lot of solo flyers, correct?”  He looked the collection of recruits over.  Most of them nodded; they were all hot doggers and not team flyers. High Winds turned to his partner. “I guess no level two flyers happening today.”  Vapor Trail waved her forehoof at him, getting High Winds’ attention.

“That’s what we’re here for.”  She and Sky Stinger came to stand in front of the recruits once more.  “Commander Spitfire had Soarin and Rainbow Dash take care of some special assignment for the academy.”  Vapor Trail turned to look out over the group of familiar faces. “Hello again, everypony!  Looks like you’re not done with us quite yet.”

“She has us subbing in for Soarin while Silver Zoom is running the Dizzatron in place of Rainbow Dash.” Sky Stinger filled in the rest for his partner.

“My suggestion is to have any flyers who get done with this part of the trials take turns on the Dizzatron for the rest of today’s training time.” Misty Fly watched the recruits sag visibly at her suggestion. 

“Let’s get them started with formations before we subject them to any more punishment.” Sky Stinger guessed by their expressions that they really weren’t looking forward to the Dizzatron again.

“Agreed.” Misty Fly looked out over the body of recruits.  “To get every flyer accustomed to formation flying, I want each Lead pony to choose a Wing pony partner to practice with.”

High Winds added to his partner’s instruction.  “For practice time, you don’t have to pick the flyer you want to do your trial with but we do recommend working with at least two different flyers.  You might find a flyer closer to you skill level the more you try practicing with others. Who knows,” High Winds smiled, “you might just make a new friend, too.”

“It might prove to be quicker to catch onto the principles of formation flying if each Wing pony learns the routine of a Lead pony.  That way, only one flyer has to learn a new set of moves.”  Sky Stinger wanted to get them flying sooner, eager to demonstrate to his fellow instructors that he and Vapor Trail were up to this duty.

The recruits all murmured happily among themselves, liking the idea of working together on material they already knew.  If it made getting through this part of the trials easier, they were all for it. They broke up into clumps of twos and fours, finding agreeable partners to team up with.  Silverstream and her friends broke away into their clique once more, excited to be working together again.

“This is going to be awesome!”  Silverstream practically sang out loud.

“I know, we are so going to blow them all away!”  Firebolt was excited to finally get the chance to fly with Silverstream as her partner.  They’d talked so much about it during mealtimes and now the moment had come.  

“Time, to quote the vernacular, to rock and roll!”  Solar Flare was ready, still planning in his mind what he and Gallus could do as a flight duo.  The griffon was ready too.

“There’s no way they’re going to stop us, Solar!  We’re definitely going to take the top spot!”  The griffon and pony shook hoof and talons.

“Uh, excuse you, Gallus.  Who’s going to have the top score?  It’s going to be moi and my partner who’re going to take the top honors this time.”  Nightflight wasn’t going to give any ground.  Friends or no, they were still vying to get in to the academy and that meant finding the best partner and putting on an impressive routine.  

“I beg your pardon, Nightflight,” Brightstar spoke up next, “but don’t count your griffon chicks before they’re hatched.  I think I and my partner are going to be the ones to take the top honors for this trial.”

Gallus shot the mare with the aqua-blue mane a flat smile at the jab, coaxing a smirk from Brightstar in return.

“Uh, no,” Firebolt chimed in, “I think Silverstream and myself are going to be the top pair in this trial.”

“Hey, c’mon, you guys.  We should work together so we all can pass, right?  Best Friend Flyers help each other.” Cloudy Sky was the first to pull for a team effort, recalling what Rainbow Dash had told him previously, not wanting the trials to force them to compete against one another as opponents. To him, the friendship bonds they’d forged were more important, drawing strength from the unit rather than each going the lone flyer route.

For a few seconds, there was a little tension between the friends, each wanting to succeed and get top honors for this trial and look the most impressive to Commander Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts.  But they knew in their hearts that what Cloudy Sky was saying was true.  If they worked together, they had a better chance of passing the trial and moving on.

“Spoken like a true student of the School of Friendship.”  Silverstream put her talons on Cloudy Sky’s withers, smiling warmly at him. “Professor Dash would be impressed.” He blushed a little, causing the others to chuckle.  

“Best Friend Flyers?” Razzle Dazzle looked around at her acquaintances, confused.

“Oh,” Cloudy Sky realized, “we forgot.”  He took a few steps over to Razzle Dazzle, taking up one of her forehooves in his. “We’re the BFF’s; Best Friend Flyers. We’re committed to getting into the academy by working together as a team. I think you’d make a great member of our team too, right guys?”  He looked to his friends for affirmation.

Razzle Dazzle gasped a little and smiled, thrilled to be asked to join a clique of friends.  “Really? Can I?”  She, too, turned to look at the group members, eager to join. “What do I have to do?  Is there some kind of initiation ritual?”

Cloudy Sky took the lead to initiate her.  “You already have; you taught me how to do that fancy looping trick.  I’m sure it’s what got me a passing score for my first flight challenge.  I wouldn’t have thought of doing a trick like that. I owe you for the help.”  

Firebolt thought she should say something. “I guess we could always use another ‘crazy awesome incredible flyer’ to hang with us, right?”  She walked over to stand next to Cloudy Sky.

The others all seemed to agree with the notion, stepping closer together.  Razzle Dazzle was cool to have around.  She was kind, funny, and kooky, and nopony could help but be infected with happiness from the smile that was always on her face, eagerly shared with one and all. 

“The more the merrier!”  Silverstream giggled a little, loving the idea of Razzle Dazzle as part of their friendship circle. 

“I think I could learn a thing or two from you.” Brightstar joined in.

“You’re a winner in my book; real top-shelf flight material. You belong with us.” Solar Flare saw what the others did too; a great talent for flying that only needed to be focused. He thought it smart to have her in their company.

“I want to find out what else you got tucked away in that brain of yours.  If you had that wacky loop trick to show Cloudy, what else are you holding back?”  Gallus had initially been wary of Razzle Dazzle, never having met a pony who took such intense interest in griffons before, but he still found her to be likeable and passionate about flying, one topic she and Gallus enjoyed conversing about at mealtimes with his friends.

Nightflight really couldn’t think of anything else to add that would make it any more obvious that she was welcome with them.  “Meh,” he shrugged, “why not? Eight’s a nice even number.”

Razzle Dazzle watched as they made an inward facing circle and each placed a forehoof or talons together at the center. Cloudy Sky moved over to let her in next to him.

“Join in.” He waved her over with a wing and a smile.  Razzle Dazzle followed his lead, standing next to him and placing her left forehoof in with the rest of them at the center.  “What do you say, fellow BFF’s? All in favor?” He took a head count.  Everyone was nodding yes to the question with a grin.

“You mean, I’m in now?”  Razzle Dazzle glanced around uncertainly at her new clique.

Gallus couldn’t help himself.  “No, first you have to swing a sack of moldy potatoes around your head for three hours while standing under a full moon for three nights in a row on three legs. Then you’re part of the BFF’s.”  That only confused Razzle Dazzle more.

“Really? Where did you guys get the old potatoes to use?  From the mess hall?”  she asked innocently.

There was a small groan of astonishment shared among the friends. 

“No, Razzle,” Firebolt got the new member to look at her, “he’s being his smart-alecky griffon self; he’s joking. There’s no sack of potatoes or anything like that.” She shook her head, astounded Razzle Dazzle could be gullible enough to believe Gallus’ cockamamie remark.  The others could not help but choke back a laugh or two.  Razzle Dazzle blushed.

“Let’s get started.  We have a few hours to practice before going up and showing the instructors our routines.” Firebolt was excitedly pulling at Silverstream’s foreleg already, wanting to get as much practice time in as possible.  

The friends paired off.  Solar Flare and Gallus wasted no time in getting their creative ideas flowing and working the routine Solar Flare had in mind.  Silverstream and Firebolt were much the same, the two of them quickly finding common ground on which moves they wanted to perform together.

Nightflight teamed up with Razzle Dazzle, figuring he could glean a new aerial trick like Cloudy Sky had.  He, like Gallus, was curious as to what other high-flyer moves she knew. 

“I’m so glad you got through the first flight trial, Cloudy. How’d you do it?” Brightstar would be Cloudy Sky’s partner, eager to help him with what she could. He was still grinning from his success.

“I was really nervous, but Silverstream was such a big help.” Cloudy Sky gushed a little.

“Really?” 

He continued eagerly.  “Gallus too. They flew alongside me a whole bunch during my practice times and they helped me get over some of my fear.”  

“I’m glad to hear they were so helpful. Makes me wish I’d stayed behind to see for myself. Do you think I could be your partner for practice?” Her question sort of surprised him. She was a much more skilled and experienced flyer; easily of Firebolt or Silverstream’s skill level. For only a moment was he uncertain, thinking he could not fly with such talent as hers.  But a realization hit him.  Flying with her meant he could learn from her too, as he had with Silverstream and Gallus. He had to remind himself of what Rainbow Dash had told him; your friends are here to help. Call on them when you need to.

“Sure! Let’s get flying!”  He couldn’t believe his luck; getting to work with a great lead pony like her.  Cloudy Sky felt sure that with Brightstar’s help and as her wing pony, he couldn’t fail this next trial.  He leaped up and intended to take off, only to have Brightstar catch his curly blue tail in her teeth and stop him.  He flapped his wings against her for a few seconds, not sure what had snagged his tail. Cloudy Sky looked back, saw it was her holding him back, and landed quickly.  Brightstar let go.

“I think we should plan something out first. Plus, we have to wait our turn.”  She pointed out the area left for the recruits to use.

As the newer batch of recruits had need of most of the field for their trials, those who were doing a First Formation trial had to take turns with their allotted airspace. Grumblings grew from the gathered flyers, anxious about getting flight time in order to pass this part of the trial.

“Ma’am, are any of us going to get the chance to fly today?  How are we supposed to practice?”  One of the lead pony stallions had stepped over and complained to Misty Fly, who was in charge of this trial for the Wonderbolt team. She never took her eyes off the pair of airborne ponies above her as she answered him.

“You’ll have to be patient.  There’s only enough space for two flyers at a time up there.  You’d best make good use of the wait and plan out the routine you and your partner will fly.”  She and High Winds had to keep watch on the four flyers up in the air, making sure they kept clear of one another and didn’t encroach on the airspace of the second group of recruits doing their endurance flying trials. The recruit retreated back to his group, telling the others they would still have to wait longer.

It did little to settle the general unease of some of the recruits who wished to fly and get their routines started.  Forced to wait their turns, the anxiety clicked up a few notches.  The waiting was tense.  Small clusters of recruits made use of the limited practice space as best they could.

Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail moved about the various pairs of lead and wing ponies, seeing how they were getting on with their routines and trying to keep the antsy recruits from getting too riled up from the delay.

“How are you folks doing over here?  Do you have any of your routines ready for us to look at?”  Sky Stinger noticed that this particular group had stayed to themselves all during the previous trial, working together. 

“Were there any questions?  I know some of you flyers might have missed the first part of Misty Fly’s introduction.” Vapor Trail was eager to engage them, feeling more confident in this new role.

“Ma’am,” Cloudy Sky was the first to pipe up, “do wing ponies have to do the routine of their lead pony or do we have to create a whole new routine?”

“Good question.  It could be anything you like; a new routine, a repeat flight of a lead pony’s routine, a repeat flight of a wing pony’s or a combination of both.  It’s really up to the pair.” Vapor Trail encouraged them to be creative and to try new ideas.

“As we’re pressed for time, I’d discount creating a whole new routine.  Easiest trick of passing this part; do the easier of a duo’s routines.  Usually, that’s a wing pony’s flight plan. It’s an old trick to pass this particular trial; that’s how Vapor and I got through it.”  Sky Stinger winked at them, a sly smile on his lips.  They all laughed a little, getting some sneaky inside help with this part of the trial.

“Sky!” Vapor Trail objected softly in that particular two-tone way she spoke his name, reprimanding him.  The recruits suspected there was more between the two instructors then they let on.

“Oh, c’mon, Vapor.  It’s good for instructors to bond with young flyers like this.  It builds a rapport.” 

“Were you two partners for the whole trials?  What was it like?  What are the next trials going to be?”  Cloudy Sky peppered him with questions.

“We can do a Q & A session later. Right now, let’s just focus on the task at hoof, okay?”  Vapor Trail wanted to keep them focused and ready.  Their C.O. was standing only a hundred feet away, observing the new group of recruits at the moment doing their endurance training. Being a good instructor with Sky Stinger was important to her; showing Commander Spitfire she and her beau were up to the duty.

“Like Misty Fly was explaining, this first test of formation flying is all about precision; how a duo can fly in mirror image of one another or as a synchronized pair; it’s a test of whether you understand the basic principles of timing and coordination.”

“This exercise is also to build up teamwork between a lead pony and their wing pony and test their agility in flight as well as their flying technique.” Sky Stinger filled in more about the purpose of the morning’s exercise.

From the stack of forms submitted by the recruits, Vapor Trail retrieved those belonging to this group of flyers, watching as four of the eight sheets were selected for the pairs to base their formation plans on.

Solar Flare and Gallus needed no help; they already knew what they wanted to do for a routine.  It would consist of the first three moves from Solar Flare’s routine and the last three from Gallus’; they had planned for this.  By each of them taking part of the combined routine they wished to showcase as part of each solo flight, they could score extra points for doing an original routine while every other pair opted for an established one. Gallus was intrigued by Solar Flare’s insight into how to get ahead of the others.  He thought it a most admirable and worthy trait in a pony friend to possess such griffon-like cunning.

Silverstream and Firebolt got to work quickly, selecting Firebolt’s routine as the best one they could perform successfully with the least amount of preparation.  While some of the group queried the instructors, they moved off and walked together through the routine, like a slow moving dance, on what available ground around them there was to use.  The other recruits were doing much the same. She and Silverstream had decided to fly as a duet; in synchronized flight.

“I’m so lucky to have you as my partner.”  Silverstream banked her body to the right, rotating and twisting it slowly in a somewhat circular pattern as if to mimic performing a series of barrel rolls in the air. Firebolt was right off her extended right wing tip, rolling along in time with her, softly counting to herself the seconds to perform the move, trying desperately not to smile and lose count of where she was.

“…eighteen… nineteen… twenty.” She glanced up at Silverstream.  “Twenty-one. Now do the wing over move; bank left and I’m on the outside.”  She led the way through the last of her part of the routine. Together they mimicked the movements of performing a wing over with Silverstream crouching down low to imitate flying under Firebolt as they moved into position.

“Me too. I get to fly with a record setting recruit as my partner. We are so going to totally crush them because we’re the best!” Firebolt bristled with eagerness to get started, intent on staking her claim as a top flyer here.  It pleased her to see that Silverstream, too, was feeling the drive to succeed.  There was fire in her eyes and Firebolt knew she’d helped put it there.  

Silverstream felt on top of her game and ready to prove herself today. With Firebolt as her wing pony, she felt unstoppable.  Their routine was not overly hard.  If done cleanly they would make a solid presentation of precision flight and set a good mark to beat.

The two friends continued to practice while they waited for their turn, discussing the idea of going to the academy’s recreation room together. It would be a welcome break from the intense workouts and a chance to introduce Silverstream to a few of her friends here at the academy.

Nightflight had his hooves full in keeping Razzle Dazzle on point. His torment grew as he tried to get Razzle Dazzle to concentrate on the subject without getting distracted by a butterfly flittering past or the unusual shape of a cloud overhead. By the time Firebolt and Silverstream had completed several ‘practices’ of their flight plan, there were three or four pairs of flyers already lined up for a chance to at least get one practice in before having to make a flight for a score.  But Razzle Dazzle and Nightflight had yet to complete a single run-through.

“Get a spot on line for us.  I’ve got to make a rescue attempt.”  Firebolt headed over to the spot where Razzle Dazzle and Nightflight were sitting. She sat next to them and listened in on the flight plan Nightflight was trying to get Razzle Dazzle to agree to.  She had to step in as her stallion friend was starting to lose his patience. 

“C’mon, Razzle, remember what we talked about?  Fo-o-o-o-cu-u-u-u-s!  This is important.  Nightflight’s counting on you.”

“Oh, right! Sorry. I just love butterflies, don’t you?  They’re so gentle and delicate with-”

“Argh!” Nightflight planted a forehoof to his head, finally understanding Firebolt’s frustration in dealing with Razzle Dazzle.  Firebolt did what she could to get Razzle Dazzle to agree to what Nightflight had in mind.  

“But Nightflight, you’d said yourself that you messed up on your first flight.  And you want us to fly the same routine?” Razzle Dazzle wasn’t so keen on that idea.  Why do the same bad thing twice? 

“There’s no way in Equestria I’m going to be able to follow along with what you flew for your first solo flight so maybe it’s best to try mine.  We don’t have a whole lot of time to come up with a new plan anyway.”  He passed Firebolt his original solo flight he’d planned out.  Nightflight had thoughtfully both drawn out small diagrams and a brief description of each move of his routine; it was straightforward enough and clearly explained.

“What do you think, Razzle?  Think you can help out some?”  Firebolt tried to be encouraging, trying to instill a sense of teamwork as she then passed his paper over to the colorful maned mare seated next to her. She seemed confused by what she was looking at, turning the paper over a few times.

“Well…” Razzle Dazzle scrunched her eyebrows at the page.  Nightflight leaned over to see what detail she was so intensely scrutinizing, then snorted in frustration and rolled his eyes.

“Uh, Razzle,” The words stumble hesitantly from Nightflight’s mouth.

“Yeah?” She looked up.
“You’re looking at it upside down, in case you didn’t notice.” He smiled flatly back at her.

Razzle Dazzle looked down again at the paper, seeing that indeed, he was right, she’d been looking at it all wrong.

“Oh, silly me!”  She waved off the mistake with a giggle.  

“She’s not even trying to help me out!”  Nightflight’s frustration grew. The lack of available preparation time and the wait to practice was putting every flyer on edge. Every second counted.

“C’mon, Razzle.”  Firebolt tried not to sound pleading, wanting to get back to Silverstream who was waiting on line for her.  “Try to focus, please.  I know you can work with Nightflight.”  

“Well,” Razzle Dazzle sighed a little and looked at his routine again, “I guess I can try to help fix it so it’s easier for him to do. It’s okay, sort of.” Razzle Dazzle seemed to not realize that she had insulted Nightflight. Nightflight winced hard from the rather rude remark.

“Uh, excuse you?”  He had invested his class time wisely in study and now he was thoroughly offended. Firebolt gave a nervous laugh and quickly moved to take the edge off Razzle Dazzle’s clueless comment.

“What she means is that, maybe she can tweak the routine some?  Alter a part so as to make it smoother, I’m guessing?”  She tried to lessen the sting of the remark, hoping he wouldn’t get too pissed off.

“Ri-i-i-i-ght, okay.”  Nightflight took a deep breath and let go of the moment.  This was no time to squabble.  “So, what do you suggest to make my routine better?”

Before Razzle Dazzle could speak, a voice called out.

“Firebolt, c’mon! We’re next up!”  Silverstream waved for her pony partner to join her. 

Misty Fly and High Winds kept the line of recruits moving along as best they could, not letting the flying time go to waste. 

“Next pair up! Let’s go!” she ordered as the next pair of recruits took off and went right into a first attempt of their routine.  Silverstream moved up the line again, now second in line and running out of time.

“Gotta fly, guys.  You two have to try and work it out for now. I’m taking a test flight.”  She gave each a quick pat on their backs and scurried back to the hippogriff who stood anxiously on line.

“Nervous?” Firebolt quietly asked her friend as she flexed her wings a few times.  She wanted to make sure she didn’t cramp up during this trial.

“I think I’m okay, but I’m feeling a lot better with you next to me. I was just thinking, isn’t it funny how we got to be partners?  I mean, I was surprised when you weren’t selected for lead pony class like me.” Silverstream took two steps forward in the line as the pair of flyers in front of them stepped up to the starting line and were readying for their first flight.

“Me too. I so wished we were in the same class together.”  Firebolt knew they’d be great study partners, working together to be the best lead ponies in the class.  Firebolt kept flexing her wings, getting the blood flowing and priming the muscles for the workout she was about to subject them to.

“Then I thought, if we were in the same class together then we wouldn’t be able to fly together like we are now.  We’d be competing against each other.  Isn’t it funny how it worked out for us so we don’t have to?  We get to be teammates rather than competitors. See?” Silverstream wondered how fate had smiled on her so much.

The sudden change in perspective actually stopped Firebolt in her tracks. “Yeah, uh… funny.” She looked across the field to where Spitfire stood observing the second group of recruits doing the endurance flight trial.  A thought crossed her mind.

  Did she assign me to wing pony class for that reason?  She hadn’t even considered that.  She had been so focused on her performance and not thinking much beyond her goal of passing the trials. Was there more to her being in wing pony class then she had assumed?

  Nah.  A coincidence, that’s all. She put it out of her mind, believing it was Spitfire’s job to push her hard and make her prove she deserved to be part of the academy and not just let her skate in on just her credentials.

“Next pair of flyers up!”  Misty Fly waved them forward and the girls stepped up to the line, getting into launch position. 

“Go!” the Wonderbolt ordered and they took off, jetting up into the sky.  Firebolt quickly got in position right off Silverstream’s right wing, ready for their run.  The hippogriff made the sign for starting the run with her talons and Firebolt read her loud and clear.

  Three... two… one… Silverstream counted in her head and then led her friend into a sweeping right turn and into their first flight as a duo. They moved well together, keeping time with each other and only showing the usual first-timer mistakes of rolling too much to one side or doing one maneuver slightly faster or slower than their partner.  But as the two went through the two final loops and landed only a little off timed from one another, they showed real promise. 

“Well done, recruits.”  High Winds shot the duo a quick nod of approval, impressed by the duo of pony and hippogriff.

“Thank you!” Silverstream squeaked but was too busy embracing her pony friend to say much else.  Firebolt was just as pleased with the first flight.  She held onto Silverstream and the two of them hopped up and down a little, squealing with glee.

“E-e-e-e-e-e-e! That was totally awesome!  We are so going to crush everypony here!” Firebolt had been a little nervous at first about how good Silverstream might be in this trial but was thrilled at how well her friend had done as lead pony. With a few more practice flights, they’d be flawless.

“I want to do that again! Let’s get back on line right now!”  Silverstream, too, was filled with the drive to succeed, wanting to be the best and show she could perform at the highest level of skill.  

“Yes!” Firebolt pumped a forehoof in the air, psyched to have a partner who was just as driven to win as she was.  “Let’s go!” They ran to get behind the last pair of ponies in the line.

  Fw-e-e-e-p! The sound of a whistle stopped them in their tracks. 

“Hold on there, hot wings!”  Misty Fly called to them. “You two have to wait until all the others have had at least one practice flight before you or any other duo gets to fly again.  This is the time when you’re supposed to discuss your flight in a debriefing, lead pony,” she emphasized to Silverstream, “with your wing pony and tell them what was done well and how they can improve.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Silverstream had forgotten about that part from class.  There was so much to recall; she felt lucky to have remembered to make the signals with her talons to communicate with Firebolt in the air.

“Next pair up!”  Misty Fly called out and another duet of fliers stepped forward.

“But-” Firebolt tried to object, watching the instructor return to focus on the clipboard’s contents and ignore her.

“Forget it. Let’s just get back with the others and I’ll… debrief you, I guess.” Silverstream looked back over her shoulder, watching Firebolt stomp her hooves in frustration at being denied more flight time.

“Oh this is so lame!  How is Commander Spitfire expecting any of us to do this trial if we can’t get any serious flight time in!” Firebolt huffed.  She understood the delay, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.

They rejoined their group, explaining to them what was going on.  When Cloudy Sky and Brightstar finished their ‘flight practice’ of walking through their routine together on the ground and rejoined the others, Firebolt told them too.

“This is going to present quite the problem.  I don’t know how all the pairs of flyers are going to get enough time to practice before trying to fly for a score.”  Brightstar tapped her chin thoughtfully with a forehoof.

“My point exactly.  We’ve got, what, maybe two hours left to today’s session before we’re out of usable daylight?”  Firebolt wanted to fly again, sure if she and Silverstream could get another try they would be set for a good score.

“So, what else can we do while we wait?” Gallus looked around at the others for an answer.

“Well, for one, you and I are getting on line now so we can have at least one flight together. After that, we’ll see what the instructors have to say.” Solar Flare didn’t want to wait any longer than they had to.  After two rehearsals of doing their routine here on the ground they felt ready to try for real.

“Let’s go. I don’t want to be the last pair to fly.”  Gallus was already heading for the line with the other recruits with Solar Flare right behind him.

Ahead of them on line and separated by one pair of recruits in front of them, were Wind Raider and Stormbringer, next up to do their first flight.  Gallus gave Solar Flare a little nudge to get his attention.  

“What-?” Solar Flare watched the griffon silently incline his head to indicate where he should look.  Solar Flare recognized the duo ahead of them even from behind.  He looked back at Gallus, wondering what his partner must be thinking. The griffon spoke in low tones.

“Let’s see just how good they are. They talk big but let’s see if they actually got the goods.”  After taking the guff from those two about who was a great flyer and who didn’t belong here, Gallus wanted to see for himself if they were all they claimed to be.

“Next flyers up!” the instructor called out.  Wind Raider and Stormbringer stepped up to the line and got into launch position.  Misty Fly looked up and watched for the recruit from the endurance training trial to clear the airspace above them.

“Go!” Misty Fly sent them on their way as soon as there was room.  

The duo of pony and griffon watched as the two agitators performed a well-executed display of six flight maneuvers with only hints of roughness to their showing; minor mistakes that would not take away from the overall performance.

The feeling of apprehension grew inside Gallus as he watched the performance; perhaps he had underestimated the skill these two had due his dislike of them. It was as if Wind Raider and Stormbringer had flown together as a team all along.  Stormbringer made following Wind Raider’s lead look so easy.  

High Winds kept watch on both flyers up in the air doing their routines and when the next recruit from the neighboring trial was getting into place to take off. It was a challenge to keep things moving along on schedule. Once Wind Raider and Stormbringer were finished, he waved to Fleetfoot to let her know she should send another recruit airborne to keep the endurance trials moving.

“Well done, you two.”  Misty Fly wrote down her observations, noting the performance of this particular pair of skilled flyers.

“Thank you, ma’am.”  The duo sounded off in unison, throwing the Wonderbolt instructor a salute.  They passed by Gallus and Solar Flare who still waited on line.

“Let’s see you top that, losers!”  Wind Raider sneered. 

“Not a snowflake’s chance in Celestia’s sun to beat us.”  Stormbringer wore a look of smug contentment as he passed by Gallus, getting under the griffon’s feathers with that condescending expression.

“Miserable little-” Gallus growled a little, balling up his talons into fists, but Solar Flare steadied his hot-blooded partner, putting an assuring hoof on Gallus’ shoulder.  Gallus reined in his anger again.

“Let’s let our flying do the talking for us, Gallus. Don’t waste your brainpower thinking about them.”  Solar Flare got Gallus to settle himself down, trying to keep his griffon friend focused on the routine they were about to do.  The griffon knew he had to be on his game if he wanted to score well for this trial.  They waited only a few minutes longer as the next pair of flyers in front of them stepped forward to the starting line for their first flight.  Misty Fly held them up for a moment, watching for the airspace to be clear again.

“Go!” Misty Fly watched carefully as the lead stallion and wing mare went into their routine. But they were not yet ready for this test.  After only a few seconds of flight, the duo were completely out of sync with one another as the lead pony got too far ahead of his partner. It looked bad to all who were watching, the two so out of time and then stopping in midair, realizing just how bad their flying was going. Both returned to the ground in front of the instructors, red faced.

“Seriously?! That was awful, you two!  Weren’t you listening to the instructions? What were the two of you doing for the past hour?  Playing tiddlywinks or something?”  The Wonderbolt mare admonished them sharply, causing them to hang their heads in shame. 

“You two had better shape up if you’re thinking of passing this part of the trials.” High Winds piled on, watching Misty Fly scribble down more notes about their lacking performance.  The two flyers plodded back to where the rest of the flyers were practicing their routines, looking rather downcast after their first showcase.

“Next flyers up!”  Misty Fly looked over at Solar Flare and Gallus.  

“This is it; here we go!”  Gallus said it more to himself then his lead pony, getting focused.  He followed Solar Flare up to the starting line.  Solar Flare had a look of unshakable confidence as he got into launch position.  Gallus got into launch position as well, right off his partner’s right wing.

“Oh,” Misty Fly’s interest perked up some.  “It’s one of Rainbow Dash’s students from her school. This should be interesting to watch.”  

Gallus felt the pressure tick up a little more, hearing one of his teacher’s co-workers taking a personal interest in his flying abilities.  He stole a quick look at Solar Flare, his partner glancing back at him to shoot a quick wink, assuring Gallus they were up to the challenge. Those few seconds of waiting seemed like an eternity to the griffon, waiting for the signal to begin.  And then…

“Go!” Misty Fly ordered and off the two of them launched into the sky, getting quickly into their flight positions with Solar Flare taking the lead.  Up and back down together through the Wing-Over move, setting up the first of three sequential outward loops, keeping a measured distance between them.  

  Keep steady… keep steady… Gallus told himself over and over, counting the seconds as they cycled through the moves.  Down into a power dive to build up some speed, pulling up at the last second as they hurtled towards the ground.  Up into the sky they soared, the sun in their faces now as the momentum took them higher.  They stopped at the very apex of their flight, gently falling over backwards in a Stall Turn move and heading down once more in a slow descending spiral corkscrew with each of them flying in opposite directions alongside each other; Gallus spinning clockwise and Solar Flare spinning counter-clockwise. Each time they passed one another in the descending, Solar Flare saw Gallus’ expression grow more relaxed and he actually smiled, relieved as they approached the end of their flight.

But what was supposed to be a clean finish for them by doing a Figure-Eight move with each of them at opposite starting points, ended up with them crashing right into one another in mid-air as both flyers went in the same starting direction rather than opposite ones.  

“Gallus, look-!” 

WHAM!

Seas of bright white stars exploded in front of their eyes as their heads smacked into each other hard enough to cause them both to stop flapping and fall from the sky.

“Oh no!” Vapor Trail cried out as the recruits in line all loudly gasped.

“Let’s go!” Sky Stinger took off, speeding towards the faltering flyers who clearly couldn’t recover.  Vapor Trail was only a split second behind him.

Solar Flare tried to recover, catching some air under his wings some to try to slow his descent.  The griffon coughed and wheezed, flapping his wings and trying to stay airborne.  

“Gotcha!” Sky Stinger caught Solar Flare in his forelegs, steadying the younger flyer.

“I have you!” Vapor Trail caught the winded griffon in her forelegs, gingerly bringing him back to the ground next to Sky Stinger. It was a close call that could have ended very badly for Gallus and Solar Flare.  Back on the ground once more, the two reservists let go of the recruits.  Both Gallus and Solar Flare managed to stay upright on their hooves, paws and talons, but very unsteadily.

“Do either of you want to go to the infirmary?  That was a pretty hard hit to your heads you took.”  Misty Fly was ready to dismiss them for the day if need be. Safety was a top priority for the trials.  

From out of the corner of one eye Gallus could see both Wind Raider and Stormbringer each covering their mouths with a forehoof, restraining their laughter. Gallus decided he would show he was tough enough to take it.

“No, ma’am.” He shook his head some, trying to clear the cobwebs, but doing that only made it hurt more.  His pony partner was rubbing his own head, but that didn’t seem to be helping either.

“I’m okay, ma’am.  I can go on.” Solar Flare would soldier on too, unwilling to give those two smug ponies the satisfaction of seeing him leave the field injured.

“That was a close one, you guys.  Let’s try to keep the damage to a minimum.”  Sky Stinger wondered what might have happened had he and Vapor Trail not been there to help.

“You sure you’re okay?”  Vapor Trail doublechecked.  “Maybe a cold compress for your heads?”  As enticing as it sounded to Gallus, even knowing he was going to probably have a lump on his head in the morning, he still refused the offer, unwilling to look weak in front of Wind Raider and Stormbringer.

“No thank you, ma’am.  We’ll make it.”  He nodded back and managed a smile, assuring the instructor all was well.

Misty Fly wrote more in her notes on the performance of these two.  “Other than that last part, you two were doing alright. A little more practice together with your timing and spacing and you two will do fine.” 

“Yes, ma’am.” Solar Flare tried saluting her but his head was still spinning from the impact. Gallus took a few wobbly steps away, only to have Solar Flare steady him before he fell over.

“Here,” the pony put one of Gallus’ forelegs around his neck, taking on the extra weight of Gallus’ body, “let me help.”

“Oh-h-h, my head!”  The griffon groaned wearily as he rubbed the top of his skull, the sound of his pulse throbbing in his ears.  The bruised duo made their way back to the area where their friends were still waiting and practicing. Solar Flare was carefully helping Gallus along when they were confronted.

“Nice showing, losers!  Maybe they call you two the Dysfunctional Duo ‘cause you both fly like you’re molting!” Stormbringer stung them, getting some other recruits standing around to snicker at the comment.  Through the haze of pain, Gallus felt the flush of anger return to his face.  He glared back at the clique of flyers Wind Raider was hanging out with as they passed by.  Again, Solar Flare reined in the griffon.

“Ignore them, Gallus. They’re not worth the-” 

“What does anypony expect to see when you team up a good-for-nothing griffon with a loser flyer that’s probably never won a single flight competition?” a mare’s voice announced for all in the vicinity to hear.  Gallus saw who it was; that mare named Sunglow, the one who’d been bothering Cloudy Sky earlier.

Gallus wanted to say something back, to get her to shut up.  Even after Brightstar had gotten in her face, she still kept at it. Now she was aiming for Solar Flare. That grating, taunting tone of her voice; oh, how he hated it so! 

“Oh, why don’t you just shut up, Sung Low?” Gallus made a play on her name, by moving the ‘g’ of her name to the first syllable of her name.  “No one wants to hear you!” He dropped his voice by an octave or two, mocking her name and almost singing the sentence to her.  It made her red-faced and a few of the recruits snickered at the curious and clever way Gallus insulted her.

“It’s Sunglow!”  She hissed, baring her teeth at him.  Gallus kept at her.

“Right, Sung Low!”  Gallus did it again, singing her name in a false baritone voice, making Sunglow all the madder still.

“Sunglo-o-o-o-w!”  She yelled at him, stomping her hooves angrily at his turn of phrase.  The other recruits moved away some from the upset mare who was not used to being on the receiving end of antagonism and behaving quite immaturely from something she brought on herself. 

“C’mon, let’s go!”  Solar Flare shuffled on with his griffon friend staggering next to him, heading back to where their friends were waiting, leaving the mare nonplussed and fuming at them both.

“Thanks for that.”  Solar Flare spoke quietly to his partner, still reeling from his dizzy head.  

“That was for what you did this morning. I owed you one.” Gallus felt the bond of friendship grow stronger with Solar Flare, seeing the grateful smile he had despite the pain they both were in.  Razzle Dazzle saw that wounded look in Solar Flare’s eyes when he and Gallus rejoined them.

“What’s wrong?  You two did really well up there for a first flight.  You just bobbled the ending, that all.”  The colorful mare didn’t understand Solar Flare’s upset look, thinking he must be worried about his flight with Gallus.  Solar Flare eased Gallus down to the ground, where he could sit and recover some.  Solar Flare kept on his hooves, glaring down at the ground.

“We were okay up there for the most part.  It’s just Sunglow and her big mouth; she’s super annoying.”  Gallus had had his fill of that mare and hoped she would back off at last.

“Solar? Are you okay?” Firebolt saw how her friend’s expression had a mixture of anger and sadness in it, as if wrestling with some inner turmoil.  She could see his eyes had that ‘far away’ appearance to them, like he was revisiting something in his past.

“It’s… it’s nothing. Just forget it.”  He dismissed her concern away with a wave of a wing, not comfortable talking about it right then. Firebolt let it go for now, reminding herself to talk with him later when they had a chance.

“Well, we don’t have a lot of time, so Cloudy and I are getting on line for our flight. We’ll be back in a few minutes.” Brightstar, too, saw the look in Solar Flare’s eyes, seeing something more in them then just being riled up by some nasty comments.

“You coming, Brightstar?” Cloudy Sky turned around, seeing her looking back at Solar Flare, concerned.

“Let’s go get on line.”  She would like to ask Solar Flare what it was that was bothering him but had to get through this trial first.  She and Cloudy Sky got on line, waiting patiently, as three more duos in front of them still had to fly.

“You all set, Cloudy?” Brightstar checked one last time as they moved up closer and closer to the starting line.

“Ready, willing, and able!”  Cloudy Sky’s confidence was higher than it had ever been. He had a great lead pony as a partner and a simplified routine for them to do.  Instead of Razzle Dazzle’s ‘flipty loop’ move, Brightstar made a change to just a pair of outward loops done sequentially at the end and then the landing.  Finesse over flash; that was Brightstar’s mantra, and Cloudy Sky knew to trust his lead pony’s decisions. Then, the moment had come.

“Next pair of flyers!”  Misty Fly called out and he and Brightstar stepped up to the starting line and got into their launch positions.  The Wonderbolt instructor waited for the signal that the airspace was free. Fleetfoot waved to High Winds and Misty Fly, letting them know they could send another duo up.

“Go!”  

Brightstar led Cloudy Sky up high, waiting for him to get into position off  her left wingtip.  Having done this routine only an hour or so ago made Cloudy Sky feel sure he could do this.  She gave him the hoof signal to begin the routine and Cloudy Sky nodded.  Up and into the Wing-Over move and then into the inverted flying position, flying steady and level for a good ten or fifteen seconds before they rolled their bodies upright.

“They’re doing great!  Look at Brightstar and Cloudy go!” Firebolt was watching right along with her friends.

“I don’t think they’re going to have too much trouble passing this trial if they keep this up.”  Silverstream could tell that both of them were enjoying the flight, seeing them smiling even from down on the ground.

Down through the Flat Spin maneuver, they faced each other as they spun in a slow descending spiral around a common center.  Cloudy Sky could not help but smile at Brightstar, so happy to be doing this correctly and having a great friend like her to help him out.  Seeing him so relaxed and confident made Brightstar feel good, and she grinned back at him.

They leveled off, flying straight for a few seconds before descending into the two sequential outward loops smoothly and finally coming to a solid landing in front of their instructor.  Not the fanciest routine but one of the cleanest performed.  The two of them stood proud and tall, with wings extended and heads held high.

“Very nicely done.”  Misty Fly scribbled down her findings on the report, making note of this duo’s performance.

“Thank you, ma’am!” Cloudy Sky was feeling nothing short of ecstatic after his first completely-successful trial flight.  Rejoining their friends again, they received hi-low wing slaps and hugs of congratulations. 

“You two looked so good flying up there, just like real Wonderbolts.” Cloudy Sky blushed a little as Silverstream hugged him, proud he had done so well.

“I couldn’t have done it without Brightstar as my lead pony; she’s the best!” Cloudy Sky gushed, holding the hippogriff in return, so happy to have a partner who could help him.

“I caught some of it; you two looked really steady and in synch up there.”  Gallus, still holding his head, praised their efforts, privately wishing he had done better with Solar Flare.  His partner only smiled and nodded along with his assessment, glad for them but his mind elsewhere.

“Well,” Firebolt turned to Nightflight and Razzle Dazzle, “looks like you two are the last ones to try. Got that routine figured out yet?”

“No,” Nightflight’s frustration was clear his tone when answering.  “She keeps wanting to change my routine all around.  There’s not enough time to redo the whole thing. I don’t know why Razzle won’t do it the way I wrote it.”  The friends coalesced around the two of them, examining the sheet of paper with Nightflight’s routine.

“I’m lead pony and she’s supposed to follow my plan.”  Nightflight pointed out. 

“It looks alright to me.”  Firebolt gave it the once-over at least three times, the sequence of maneuvers making perfect sense to her.

“How can anyone tell when a routine is wrong or right?”  This was all still new to Silverstream.  She had struggled in class, even with Brightstar’s help, to come up with her own routine and felt she didn’t have the eye to spot the problems.

“Why do you keep changing Nightflight’s routine, Razzle?” Brightstar did not see what the issue was with what Nightflight had come up with.  Neither Gallus nor Cloudy Sky spoke up, wanting to listen and learn from the more knowledgeable flyers.

“It’s got no life to it. Like, in this part here,” she pointed to his change between his third and fourth move, “these… these two moves don’t really go together; they just don’t flow right. Your body is all twisted and out of position for the next trick. It’s like they’re just stuck together without thought. I mean, isn’t it obvious?” That just made Nightflight more upset; hearing a mere wing pony knocking his routine as a selected lead pony.

“Hold on now, Razzle,” Firebolt could hear Nightflight growl under his breath, the tension among them growing as some of her friends didn’t appreciate Razzle Dazzle’s bluntness.

“Well… no, it isn’t.  Can you fault us for that?”  

Everyone looked at Cloudy Sky as he spoke up. He was looking right at Razzle Dazzle and she was looking right back at him.

“I didn’t understand any of these moves or how they went together at first.  Then Firebolt and everypony else helped explain it to me and it started to make sense. It’s not fair to us; we’re not as good as you, Razzle, so it’s hard for us to see what you do.”

His words stunned them, his delivery plain so as to help Razzle Dazzle understand Nightflight’s point.  He wasn’t trying to hurt her feelings or make her angry, she just didn’t or couldn’t see it from anypony else’s point of view.

“Oh! I did it again, didn’t I?” Razzle Dazzle was stung by the soft-hoofed rebuke, truly never having thought nor realized that what she was saying was insulting or worse.  Her ears drooped and she turned to face her partner, looking as though she was going to burst into tears.  “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, Nightflight! I didn’t mean to sound mean, if you know what I mean!”

She covered her eyes with her forehooves, upset with herself.  “See? This is why I keep messing things up and can’t make any friends!”  

“No, no,” Brightstar momentarily put a forehoof on her withers, getting Razzle Dazzle to look up at her, “not messing up, just…um-m-m-m…” Brightstar tapped her chin as she tried to come up with the right words, “…let’s call it not being aware of what your friend might need from you at that moment, okay?  Like Firebolt mentioned focusing on your routine, you have to communicate what you’re thinking to your partner when you work together. I know you can do that, can’t you?”

Razzle Dazzle looked about at the disapproving expressions from her fellow fliers, save for Cloudy Sky, upset at having crossed them so soon after gaining their friendship. “I can. I… I’ve just never had anypony want to work with me. They always pushed me away for some reason.  Everypony always ends up hating to work with me, like I had mare cooties or something!”

“You don’t have mare cooties, trust me.”  Cloudy Sky assured her.  “But I think Brightstar is right. Tell us what you see and we’ll help amend Nightflight’s routine to make it right. We’ll help out together.” 

“Yes, please… if you could… help me?”  Razzle Dazzle looked around at their faces, showing vulnerability and her willingness to work together.  The disapproving looks softened. They really couldn’t hold it against her, she was new to the group, after all.

“Sure.” Brightstar was first to extend her hoof, quickly followed by the others, sitting together in a semi-circle near Nightflight and Razzle Dazzle.  They had to hurry.  The remaining duo of flyers who’d yet to fly were already on line.

“Alright Razzle,” Firebolt plopped down next to Nightflight, ready to help. “Let’s take it from the top.”  Slowly and with great effort, Firebolt, Brightstar and Solar Flare got Razzle Dazzle to explain, in her own way, just what she wanted to do to improve Nightflight’s routine.  When any of them used technical terms or phrases about flight, the words seemed to mean nothing of relevance to her.  She got flustered trying to use the fancy words or terms, lost in the correct linguistics.  

“See? Like this?”  She did the only thing she could do, got up and physically demonstrated the body movements of the routine to explain herself.

“I see it now; rolling your body in a counterclockwise direction sets up the flyer to go into the inward Barrel Roll.” Brightstar picked up quickly on the correction for the error in the routine. It was small mistake; even the instructor had overlooked it when proofreading the routine.  

“Ye-e-e-e-s! Exactly!”  Razzle Dazzle did a little backflip of joy in the air at finally being understood by her friends.

“Oh, wait,” Nightflight reexamined the part Razzle Dazzle was pointing to.  He understood now what she was doing.  She would change the routine completely either before or after his incorrectly written transition point, trying to keep one half or the other of his routine whole.  “Now I see it.”  He felt embarrassed for having gotten so upset with her.  The others of the group collectively homed in on the error.

“Oh-h-h-h,” Cloudy Sky mused, learning yet another tidbit about flight routines. The tiny detail had caused such a headache for both Nightflight and Razzle Dazzle.  He wondered if he would have been insightful enough to pick up on the mistake as easily as Razzle Dazzle had.  

“I wouldn’t have seen that.”  Gallus could follow along the diagrams and explanations of the moves Nightflight chose, but never thought that just the direction of rotation a flyer would pick could cause such problems. This precision flying stuff was much more detailed and nuanced then the griffon had ever suspected.

“Why didn’t you just tell Nightflight what was wrong in the beginning?” Brightstar believed this all could have been avoided.

“Oh,” Razzle Dazzle scrunched up her muzzle in repulsion, “I can’t remember all those funny terms and things.  We’re flyers; you just have to fly and feel the wind whipping through your mane to understand sometimes!”  She got swept up in the drama of the explanation, fluttering into the air and doing a small back flip above them, giggling.

It seemed Firebolt’s instincts were right; Razzle Dazzle was a brilliant but undisciplined flyer. Flying was such a natural part of who she was that Razzle Dazzle never gave thought to any of the finer points of flight.  It was all innate feeling and instinct she flew on. 

“Alright then, let’s get this thing fixed and you guys ready.”  Brightstar produced a small pencil from a chest pocket in her jersey and proceed to help mark up the draft, carefully changing what was necessary to make it work.  Nightflight was pleased to see most of his ideas had remained and had liked Razzle Dazzle’s variation to his loop; having each of them flying one hundred eighty degrees out of sync, crossing the midpoints of the loop at the same moment but at opposite ends of the loop. It was a small detail that could none the less get them noticed.

“Finished!” Brightstar passed the corrected paper back to Nightflight and Razzle Dazzle.  “You two had best do a quick run through together here on the ground before you get on line.” 

“Oh, let’s just go for it, Nightflight!  Who cares if it’s good or bad or what?  It’s just practice, and the first time for us.” Razzle Dazzle felt aglow with the excitement of getting to perform once more.  

“Um-m-m-m, you really want to do that?”  Silverstream didn’t want to rain on their parade, but it seemed kind of reckless. Flying in pairs was a lot harder than it looked.

“I wouldn’t.” Cloudy Sky shook his head, clearly disapproving of such haste. Besides, they could get hurt.  Didn’t they see what happened with Gallus and Solar Flare?  And they’d practiced a whole bunch before trying for real.

“Kinda crazy to try, if you ask me.”  Gallus was in line with Cloudy Sky’s thinking.

“It’s up to you two.”  Firebolt wouldn’t get involved with the decision making.

“That’s a pretty big gamble to take, but it’d be pretty amazing if you could pull it off.” Solar Flare was, as usual, last to speak and generally neutral on the subject.

“We’ve got a solid routine to do so I’m pretty sure we can do it; we’re both capable.” Nightflight decided to throw caution to the wind, willing to give Razzle Dazzle a try.  After seeing what she was able to do flying solo, then surely she must be just as good when flying as a pair. They hustled over to the line, now down to just them as the final pair of flyers left to go.  

“Last pair up!”  Misty Fly had been eyeing the group as they worked, wondering about the delay and if the last pair was going to get any flight time in today.  She watched the two of them get into launch position. “You two set?”

They nodded.

“Go!” She sent them on their way as they all watched this final pair try for a first flight together.

Razzle Dazzle looked over at Nightflight for the signal.  He looked back, making a rolling gesture with his hoof to indicate the start of the run.  Razzle Dazzle gave him a big cheesy grin in return and followed his lead.

“C’mon you two, get it done.”  Firebolt was hoping for them to make a good showing; everypony was watching and she knew that could make the pressure to perform well ratchet up.

“I think they’ll do great.  I believe in them.”  Silverstream was sure Razzle Dazzle would not let Nightflight down, not after all the hard work they’d put into helping them.  The friends drew closer together, watching intently.

Gallus held the sheet of paper up for all of them to follow along, watching how well they kept to the program. Brightstar was more concerned for them than she had been for her flight with Cloudy Sky.

Nightflight led his wing pony on through the Wing Over and set up for Cloudsdale Eight move, both of them hitting the half-roll points of the move with their bodies in the correct positions and staying in relatively good timing with one another.

“They’re doing pretty good so far,” Solar Flare commented, watching along with his friends as the duo performed steadily together.  

Nightflight took a quick glance to his right, catching sight of his wing pony’s colorful mane blowing in the wind.  Again she smiled at him, letting Nightflight know she was okay.  From the Cloudsdale Eight move they slipped into an easy Griffish Bunt maneuver, now flying inverted steadily above the crowd. Razzle Dazzle giggled from the fun sensation of flying upside down like this, her long curly mane drooping down from her head.

“Nice; look how stable they both are.”  Firebolt knew from her own experimenting that flying inverted like that with a partner and staying in formation was difficult.  

Her friends all nodded, watching along as the duo rolled their bodies erect and level, only to turn left and descend suddenly into two sequential outside loops, the second loop lower in altitude then the first.  

“O-h-h-h-h, look how cool that is!”  Silverstream was in awe of the skill they were showing, seeing them keeping in position as they looped around.

“I think they’re going to nail it!”  Gallus pumped a taloned fist in the air, sure his friends were going to get it on the first try.

“They still got to get the last move and hit the landing.”  Brightstar didn’t take her eyes off them, wondering if Razzle Dazzle was going to keep up with Nightflight.

“They’re awesome!”  Cloudy Sky couldn’t help but get swept up in the moment, seeing how well his friend flew and longing to fly with such skill too.

“C’mon.., c’mon… c’mon…”  Solar Flare quietly urged them, fixed on the sight before him.

Nightflight felt his heart racing, the excitement building up.  Razzle Dazzle could see him smiling from off his wingtip, relaxed and enjoying his flying with her.  That was what she wanted to see most of all; another flyer actually liking to spend time flying with her.  Words weren’t necessary to convey the feelings of happiness, of a freedom that no earth pony or unicorn could ever possibly understand.

She felt the excitement too, edging up closer to his side instead of staying off his wingtip. Nightflight started to speed up, trying to stay ahead as lead pony, but Razzle Dazzle sped up as well, wanting to keep up.  They began the long climb into the sky for the last move.  Nightflight pushed harder, trying to stay ahead of his partner who seemed intent on ‘racing’ him to the apex of the move.

“What’s Razzle doing, Firebolt?  Why isn’t she staying in position?”  Silverstream asked. Razzle Dazzle was now almost next to Nightflight.

“She’s going to pass him if she’s not careful.”  Brightstar warned, seeing the colorful mare not paying attention to what she was doing.  They were so close to the end, she didn’t want to see them foul it up, even if it was just a first flight.

“Razzle, slow down! Don’t pass me!”  Nightflight tried to get her attention but she was lost in the bliss of flight, zooming past him and reaching the apex of their climb before he did.

“Wait! Wait!”  He called to her but she was already falling backwards, hind legs first and into the flipping portion of the Tailslide move; her head and torso rapidly dropping downward into a vertical dive.  By the time Nightflight had started falling backwards and flipping himself forward from the momentum, he could see Razzle Dazzle rapidly falling away and ahead of him.

“Oh, why is she doing that?”  Firebolt couldn’t help but groan in frustration for Nightflight.  The duo had started off so well but now it was falling apart right at the end.

“She’s not paying attention to what she’s doing.”  Solar Flare tsk-tsked Razzle Dazzle’s lapse into her habit of losing focus.

“Oh-h-h-h!” Cloudy Sky moaned watching the two flyers getting further apart as they headed straight down towards the ground. 

“Wh-e-e-e-e-e-e!”  

They all could hear Razzle Dazzle’s gleeful voice as she started to spin about in a corkscrew, unscripted, as she dove downward.  Gallus slapped his talons over his eyes.

“She’s not doing that, is she?”  He didn’t want to believe it, but he could hear some other recruits muttering about how badly she was goofing up.

“She sure is.” Brightstar’s heart fell, having been the one who had mediated the rift between Nightflight and Razzle Dazzle about the routine, and now here was Razzle Dazzle forgetting all about it.

“What the-?” Nightflight watched from behind Razzle Dazzle doing a corkscrew move as part of the routine. That wasn’t scripted! This was turning into a disaster. All he could do was finish as best he could, then confront his wing pony about her ‘technique’ in private.

Razzle Dazzle had spun herself around a half-dozen times and stopped herself in a perfect position to make a sharp quarter-loop, flying only a few feet above the ground and dead level, zooming right past the other recruits. Nightflight did the same, only a few seconds after her.  

She hit the mark, landing smoothly on the starting line near Misty Fly, wings spread out and head high.  Nightflight landed after her, standing likewise but glaring at her unhappily.

“Wing pony,” Misty Fly looked right at Razzle Dazzle.

“Yes ma’am?”

“You want to tell me just what in the great Fausticorn’s mane you were doing up there? You’re supposed to stay behind your lead pony in flight!”  Misty Fly got in close to lean in on Razzle Dazzle, watching the recruit wither somewhat under her glare.

Razzle Dazzle felt her heart sink, a cool tingling sensation skittering across her skin with the knowledge of her error.  She could already see out of the corner of one eye the unhappy look on Nightflight’s face.

“You two need a lot more work on that timing of yours.  And what’s up with missing the corkscrew at the end?”  Misty Fly continued scribbling down more notes on her paperwork.

“You’re lead pony and you forgot one of your routine’s parts?”  High Winds looked on with an eyebrow cocked, questioning if this recruit was lead pony material.

What could Nightflight say?  He had only one defense.  “It was my first flight as lead pony, sir. I’ll try harder next time.”

“Keh, yes you will.”  High Winds affirmed, giving him a warning look. 

His friends were wowed by the cover he gave to Razzle Dazzle.  After all the headache and ruined effort he had put into the routine on such short notice, he still held his cool.  The two flyers headed back to the spot where their friends had watched from.  Cloudy Sky stepped closer to give her a supportive hug.

“I thought you were fine up there.  But…” he pulled back from the embrace, looking at her with some trepidation. Razzle Dazzle didn’t need to be told. She’d messed up yet again with her scatterbrainedness.

“I’m finding a different partner for this trial; one that actually listens to instructions!”  Nightflight ground his teeth, annoyed by Razzle Dazzle’s seemingly careless attitude.  Even at a first practice flight, they were supposed to show capability of flying in formation.  Instead, they looked foolish.

“But… I can do better! Really!  With a little more practice I can-” Razzle Dazzle implored, not wishing to lose a partner already after only one flight. 

“Oh Razzle, what were you thinking up there?  We worked so hard together to make it right for you both.  And why did you add that corkscrew move at the end? We didn’t put that as part of Nightflight’s routine.” Firebolt didn’t mean to be so harsh on her, but she found herself slipping into the role of group leader.  The others didn’t speak up.  What Firebolt was saying was true.  Why did Razzle Dazzle not stick to what they had planned?

“I… I just got caught up in the excitement of flying with a friend.  I guess I wasn’t thinking.”  Her ears drooped, unhappy with herself right then. She had not only made herself look bad in front of the instructors and other recruits, but Nightflight, too.
> Ch.13 Wonderbolt Trials Pt. 9  Aces High (raw & unedited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Misty Fly had just finished cleaning up some of the notes she took when Angel Wings trotted over to speak with her.  The nervous ‘Bolt reservist glanced about the cluster of fellow instructors.

“Um, Commander Spitfire wants to know how many recruits have completed their first formation trial.  She is trying to get the schedule set for tomorrow morning and wanted to get to the training right after the meet and greet.”

“Tell her none.  We just got through the first practice flights for each pair.  Sharing the airspace with the second group killed the flying time.  You’re going to have to give her the bad news.”  Misty Fly showed Angel Wings the scoresheet she was filling in.

“Oh, I hate telling her bad news. She yells so much.”  Angel Wings bit her lower lip, looking for help from her fellow ‘Bolt members. 

Vapor Trail came to her rescue.  No sense she take the brunt of the yelling from their C.O.  She’d fill in the details for her friend.  “I’ll go with you.”

“Tell her if Fleetfoot stops running the endurance trials for the second group, we can run them quickly through a second flight.  I don’t think we’ll get final flights in today.”  Misty Fly looked over the so-so scores of this group after their first attempts.  Some showed real promise but most need more flight time before attempting for real.

They watch their teammates set off across the field, reporting to their C.O. and relaying the news.  They couldn’t hear what was being said between the Wonderbolts and their leader, but by the first ‘What!’ they heard Spitfire yell and the way she gestured with her forelegs in obvious displeasure at the rate of progress, rattled off her instructions to her team members and send them scurrying back to Misty Fly and the others.

“What’s her answer?”  Sky Stinger saw the rattled expression on Angel Wings’ face, but not his belle.  She’d grown more accustomed to their C.O.’s demeanor.  Even as gentle and soft spoken as Vapor Trail was, she knew it was Spitfire just being herself and not aiming her rage at her.

“Commander Spitfire doesn’t want to stop the second group getting through their first stages of trials.  She said since no recruits are ready to go for their trial flight, then get as many through a second flight with the lead and wing pony partners swapped.” Angel Wings was still trembling a little from being on the receiving end of Spitfire’s wrath, never comfortable with her C.O.’s intensity.

Vapor Trail filled in the rest of the C.O.’s instructions.  “When they’re through their second flight they’re to go on the Dizzatron for another session.  There’ll be more practice time in the morning for them and then do their actual formation flights.”

“Geez, she is cutting it close with the time, you guys.”  Misty Fly let out a sigh in exhaustion at the pace they were going to have to keep up with for today and tomorrow.  The workload seemed to be ever mounting.  Her teammates agreed with weary nods.  Misty Fly gave a loud blast from her whistle, getting the recruits attention as she and her instructors approached the cluster of recruits who’d been waiting.

“Alright, newbies, listen up!  We’re short on time this afternoon so you’ve lucked out. You won’t be doing your actual first formation flight this afternoon.  That’s being scheduled for tomorrow morning.  Instead, we need to get as many pairs through a second practice flight but this time a different wing or lead pony. You need experience flying with an unfamiliar partner.”

“When we complete the second flight, we can knock off early for chowtime, right?” Silverstream recalled how well she and Firebolt were treated after doing well the first time on the Dizzatron.  

“Wrong!” Misty fly was quick to put the kybosh on such optimism, grinning sarcastically at the hippogriff.  “After your flights, you’re off for another round on the Dizzatron!  This time, you have to beat your best time from the previous day by at least one-tenth of a second.”

A number of flyers groaned in dread of getting in that mechanical torture device once more. That was not what the Wonderbolt instructors wanted to hear coming from them.

“Again?” A female voice croaked from the group.

“Another tenth of a second better?  Seriously?” A stallion from somewhere spoke up as well, believing they were demanding the impossible from them. This only irked Misty Fly and High Winds.

“Oh, should we make it a minimum of two-tenths of a second better? How about three tenths? Or maybe four?” High Winds walked along the length of the group, eyeing them sternly.  They all looked away from his glowering, not wanting to make this worse for them. Misty Fly got them focused back to the next immediate hurtle to get over.

“I want each lead pony to select a different wing pony to fly with on their next flight. Don’t worry so much about the selection maneuvers; just get familiar with another flyer’s style and presence.  You’ll make a final partner selection tomorrow.”

“Get to it, newbies.” High Winds ordered. 

What was supposed to help break down walls of unfamiliarity between the recruits only highlighted the tension he and the other instructors had noted in their writings when making observations and scoring of the group. They watched how the ponies associating with the two students from Rainbow Dash’s school simply switched places within their group, much like the other cluster of flyers were doing.  Only one mare and one stallion ventured out of their peer group to work with a different flyer from another.  This was not what the instructors wanted to see. High Winds gave a loud blast from his whistle, getting the attention of all the recruits from their quiet talking. 

“Alright, alright…”  Misty Fly stepped out in front of the recruits once more, interrupting their plans, “let’s break this up.” She pointed to all of them with a sweep of her left wing, making.  “You dunderheads don’t seem to understand the idea of this training exercise. What I don’t see is a whole lot of teamwork! I see a whole bunch of potential failures who’ve got something to learn about that.”  Misty Fly paced up and down the length of this group, looking them over in frustration.  Her three fellow instructors stood still just behind her, watching these recruits over. 

“Vapor Trail,” She looked over her right shoulder to the silvery white mare just behind her who saluted her.

“Yes, ma’am?” She was still a reservist and Misty Fly was a full Wonderbolt team member and, therefore, her superior officer.

“Break out the Equalizer for these whiny complainers.  I think it’ll help get the point across to them.”  Misty Fly turned back around to face the recruits, a flat smile on her face that filled the recruits with unease, wondering what she had in mind for them.

“Yes ma’am.” Vapor Trail took only a minute or so to fetch from the shed what Misty Fly had requested.  The recruits had no idea what the small items were that their instructors were fiddling around with amongst themselves.  They were too far away to see any detail.  They didn’t have long to wait.

“Alright newbies, I want wing ponies to the left and lead ponies to the right. Quickly now,” She and High Winds moved into the group, separating them by classification and now facing one another.  The recruits now saw what it was the two reservists’ were carrying.

“This is the Equalizer; in each of these two bags are twelve numbered ping-pong balls, one all odd numbers and one all even numbers.  Lead ponies will draw one ball from the bag with odd numbers and wing ponies will draw from the bag with even numbers.”

Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail walked down the two lines of recruits, having them draw a ping-pong ball from each bag, assigning them a number.  The two reservists observed the varied expressions, from reviled to overjoyed, at the idea of trying to fly with an unfamiliar partner as they walked along. This would prove to be an interesting show of character from these recruits.

“Lead pony number one goes with wing pony number two. Lead pony number three goes with wing pony number four… etcetera, etcetera. You recruits get the idea.” Misty Fly watch as the group sorted themselves out, finding their partners. 

“What number did you get?”  Firebolt hurried right over to Silverstream, hoping they were paired up again. 

“Eleven.” Silverstream held it up between her talons for her friend to see.

“Six.” Firebolt present hers to her friend.  Cloudy Sky and Gallus joined them, curious to see who was paired up with who.

“Who’s your partner?”  Gallus, too, held out his numbered ping-pong ball for his friends to see. He had selected number ten from the bag, looking at their assigned numbers.  Cloudy Sky presented his numbered ball as well, showing he had selected number eighteen from the bag.

“I don’t know yet, haven’t found them.”  Silverstream looked around at the other recruits, each trying to find their assigned partner.  A mare and a stallion trotted over to Silverstream and her small clutch of friends, both smiling at them.

“Oh, um, excuse me,” the mare softly chimed in; concerned she was interrupting the conversation.

“Yes? Are you looking for your partner still?”  Silverstream took a step or two closer to them, returning the smile.  The stallion spoke up first.

“Yes we are. Do you or your friend’s have-”

“Oh, hello there!  I’m Razzle Dazzle, what’s your name?”  The colorful mare of the group came zipping right over, seeing her friends meeting two new recruits. She held out her ping-pong ball to show all of them her number. The two newcomers took a step back from then intensely inquisitive Razzle Dazzle, unprepared for her lack of perception when it came to personal space.  

“I’m Whirlwind and this is Amber Haze.”  The roan-colored stallion made the introduction of himself and his gold coated mare companion. They each held out their respective numbered ping-pong balls, finding a match for two of them.

Razzle Dazzle gasped.  “Awesome! We get to be partners!”  She had selected a ball with the number four on it from the bag and Whirlwind had chosen number three.  She reached out to embrace Whirlwind, crushing him somewhat in her forelegs. He was straining to smile when finding his who his new partner was, wondering if she was this enthusiastic all the time.  “This is going to be super-duper fun! I get to fly with a new friend!”

“Uh, yeah.” Whirlwind looked to the ponies close by who must be Razzle Dazzle’s friends, each watching with amused smiles at his predicament.  Amber Haze looked at the numbered ping-pong balls the other flyers were displaying.  

“I drew number eight; so I need to find-”

“Lucky number seven!”  A male voice from close by boomed, clearly elated at the prospect ahead.  They turned around to see who it was.

Nightflight trotted smartly over to his friends who were clustered together, his eyes fixed on the lovely mare with the blonde mane and tail standing there.  She was smiling back at him, pleased by the discovery.  

“Hi!” She spoke in a dreamy voice, looking at him with doey blue eyes of infatuation, seemingly lost in those steely gray eyes of his. The girls didn’t miss the looks of attraction between Nightflight and Amber Haze, more than just flight chemistry flowing between them. 

“I guess we’re partners now.”  Nightflight only stated the obvious, grinning at his good fortune.  Amber Haze giggled softly.

“Lucky stiff.” Cloudy Sky muttered softly with a smirk while observing from close by, a touch of envy that Nightflight had been paired up with the attractive mare. Gallus only shrugged, not really thinking about that right then.

“Meh, whatever.  C’mon Cloudy, let’s find our partners.”  The griffon led his friend into the small throng of recruits, watching Solar Flare and Brightstar finding their new flight partners do much the same.  Cloudy Sky was turning around in his place when he bumped into another recruit.  

“Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to-” He began to apologize but stopped when he saw who it was.  A wave of dread crashed over him as he took a few steps back, not wanting any trouble right then.

“Hey! Watch it, pipsqueak!”  Wind Raider snarled at Cloudy Sky, seeing the smallish gray stallion looking right at him.

“Ss… sorry, Wind Raider.  I didn’t see you there.”  Cloudy Sky tried not to make eye contact with the larger pony, fearing it might provoke him. He happened to glance down at the numbered ball Wind Raider held in his left wing-tip feathers.  Wind Raider followed Cloudy Sky’s eyes to what he was looking at.

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re my partner for this exercise? This sucks!” Wind Raider snorted, upset with the idea of getting stuck with Cloudy Sky as a partner.  Cloudy Sky gulped down that fearful lump in his throat before speaking.

“N… no, I’m not.  You have number nine, I picked number eighteen.”  Wind Raider had such the look of relief, almost smiling when hearing this.

“Whew! Thank the great Fausticorn for that!”

Gallus walked over to where Cloudy Sky stood, momentarily not seeing him standing there with Wind Raider as his view was blocked by other pony bodies.  He’d gone to investigate three other recruits to see if they were his partner. None were.  The griffon actually reared back in disgust when seeing who it was Cloudy Sky was talking to.  Wind Raider retuned the look of contempt.

“What do you want, freak-beak?”  Wind Raider drew his sword first, never losing his adversarial mindset towards Cloudy Sky’s griffon friend.

“Nothing from you, if I could help it!”  Gallus spat back. He looked at Cloudy Sky, who was looking at the numbered ball Wind Raider held.  When Gallus homed in on what it was Cloudy Sky was looking at so intently, his heart began to pick up and he felt himself grow upset with the discovery.

“Uh, Gallus…” Cloudy Sky tried to speak up, but there weren’t any words for it.  Now Gallus and Wind Raider were looking at the two ping-pong balls each had chosen.  It was the worst possible outcome for the two of them.

“YOU? You’re my partner for this? I can’t freaken’ believe this!” Wind Raider swore out loud and stomped his hooves, making sure his displeasure was heard by all.  

“Of all the lousy luck; I get stuck with the likes of you!”  Gallus angrily thumped his balled-up fist of talons against the ground, frustrated by the situation and growled.

“I’d sooner have him as my partner then you!” Wind Raider pointed rudely at Cloudy Sky, as if it was a compliment to the gray stallion to be picked over Gallus. Cloudy Sky didn’t want to be in the middle of the two combative flyers and slipped away as both Gallus and Wind Raider stormed off to complain to the instructors.

He snaked his way around the group, listening to snatches of conversations as he sought out his assigned partner.  He came into contact with three more recruits, one of them being Stormbringer. 

“Hey look, it’s one of the ‘pony pals’ of those two freak beaks. What do you want, loser?” Stormbringer taunted Cloudy Sky, making sure he understood that Cloudy Sky wasn’t welcome in the conversation. But the insult backfired; making the two other recruits Stormbringer stood with confront him, resenting his comment.

“What’s your problem, anyway?  Why do you and that loudmouth friend of yours go out of your way to give the friends of those volunteers a hard time?  He hasn’t done anything to you.”  The burnt-orange stallion frowned at Stormbringer, having some misgivings about this pony’s attitude. 

“That hippogriff set an academy record on the Dizzatron. I wish I could’ve gotten a score as good as hers; she’s awesome! I’m sure we all could learn a thing or two from her.”  The light blue mare gave Cloudy Sky a friendly smile, telling him she didn’t feel the same way like Stormbringer did about griffons and hippogriffs.  Cloudy Sky was relieved to find other flyers that were more open-minded. He looked down at the numbered ping-pong balls they all held out.

“Hey, we’re a team!”  He’d found his partner; this light blue mare with the blaze of white on her muzzle. “My name’s Cloudy Sky.” He gave her a big grin.

“My name’s Harmony Blues and this is my friend Sunstrike.” When she spoke, it was in a soft sing-song way as opposed to just speaking.  Cloudy Sky thought she had the most beautiful voice, soft and alluring and rather fitting for a girl with a name like that to respond as she did. 

“Oh,” Cloudy Sky looked again at the numbered ball being held by Harmony Blues’ friend. “You have number five.  My friend Firebolt has number six.  She’s the one with the big, poufy red mane and tail over there.”  He pointed back to where she, Silverstream and Razzle Dazzle stood with some other recruits, getting to know one another.

“Hey thanks.” Sunstrike was grateful for the directions and trotted over to meet Firebolt. Cloudy Sky looked down at the ping-pong ball Stormbringer held in between his wingtip feathers, biting his lower lip some.

“So what are you looking at?”  Stormbringer saw the odd look on Cloudy Sky’s face, wondering.  Cloudy sky didn’t want to say, preferring to let Stormbringer find out for himself.

“Let’s go figure out what maneuvers to do for our routine, Harmony. We don’t have much time.” He was quick to lead his partner away from Stormbringer and over to meet the rest of his friends before getting started on the assignment.

“Sure.” She followed after Cloudy Sky who made a first introduction of her to Solar Flare and Brightstar.  

Stormbringer continued his search, finding just about every other recruit had found their partner except him.  Unable to find his lead pony partner, he went to the instructors for help.  He showed Vapor Trail the numbered ball he had picked.

“What lead pony here had picked number eleven from the bag?”  She called out over the low conversation talk of the recruits, trying to find Stormbringer’s partner.  They only had to look about the group for a second or two before they got their answer.

“I did.” Silverstream stepped forward from the group of recruits, grinding her beak together and a look of dread on her face, discovering just who her partner now was. Stormbringer was just as unhappy about his partner as Wind Raider was.

“Her?!  I have to work with… with one of the freak-beaks for this assignment?!  This is total meadow muffins, I swear!  She’s not even a real recruit!” He, too, stomped his hooves on the ground, unhappy with what fate had presented him for a partner.

Silverstream glared back him with just as much distain, wishing for any other partner then Stormbringer.  “Trust me, the feeling’s mutual, pal!” But the instructors wouldn’t allow such rancor to foment more.

“Whether you like it or not, both of you,” Vapor Trail pointed at the two arguing flyers and getting a little tough with them, “are partners now. So I suggest you get started on your routine. Understood?” Vapor Trail made sure she was heard but by the looks of these two, neither recruit was going to work together. They were too busy not talking to each other. 

=====*****=====

“Oh, shut your trap, hybrid!  No pony cares what you think!”  Wind Raider spotted his target straight ahead, his step quickening as he closed in.  

“Well, at least I can think, meatbag!  Smart enough to know you’re an ass and don’t want to be your partner!”  Gallus was right behind him, intent on getting someone else to fly with.  They swoop in on Sky Stinger who was in the middle of relaying something about flying to the few recruits nearby.  Wind Raider barreled right through them to stand I front of the reservist, interrupting him.

“Hey-!” One of the recruits objected to the hard shove he received.

“Sir, I demand to have a different partner!  This is a total joke!”  Wind Raider looked ready to lose it, infuriated by this insult of having to work with a griffon.  

Gallus was right on his hooves, showing respect by saluting Sky Stinger before speaking, unlike his forced partner. He could not help yelling in anger.

“Sir, I have to agree!  I do not want this pile of stall muck as a partner for this exercise!  I sooner take twenty turns on the Dizzatron in a row then deal with this butthead for one second!” 

Before he could get address this problem, Vapor Trail arrived with Silverstream and Stormbringer in tow, unable to get them to cooperate in the least about working together. 

“What’s the problem with these two?”  Sky Stinger really didn’t have to ask, he could read his belle’s troubled expression loud and clear. She needed help.  The two recruits answered his question for Vapor Trail.

“I don’t want him/her for a partner in this exercise!”  Both yelled in almost perfect unison, pointing rudely back at each other. They turned to glare at one another and growl, shooting daggers from their eyes when hearing the other say the exact same thing.

This was not what either reservist thought this day was going to be like.  Long and busy? Yes, but not having to deal with a personnel problem like this.  Sky Stinger had to do something quick; the ruckus caught both Misty Fly and High Winds’ attention away from their recordkeeping. If she and High Winds saw that he and Vapor Trail couldn’t handle some unruly recruits, they’d report that back to Commander Spitfire.

And if Commander Spitfire learned he and Vapor Trail couldn’t handle the assignment, they’d not get selected again for special duty like this for a long time. And that meant less of a chance to get to become full Wonderbolts sooner, rather than later.  He wasn’t going to let that happen because of some dumb dispute. From out of the corner of his left he spotted the two senior Wonderbolts start to head his way.  Desperate, Sky Stinger reached out with both forehooves and snagged Wind Raider and Gallus by the collar of their uniforms and jerked them both right up against his muzzle.  Sky Stinger laid heavily into the two troublesome flyers with a low, grumbling voice, his teeth clenched in a snarl.  Both Wind Raider and Gallus yelped a little from the sudden sensation of being slammed right up against the instructor’s muzzle.

“Look here, you punks,” his eyes bored into the two recruits, each newbie becoming suddenly deflated by his menacing glare, “the two of you are going to shut your traps and do as ordered for this exercise!  And if I hear so much as one peep out of the likes of either of you for the rest of the day, I swear by the great Fausticorn herself and the Two Princesses, you both will be ejected from the trials for insubordination! Do I make myself clear?!”  He pulled even tighter on their collars, mashing the beak and muzzle of these recruits harder against his muzzle.

Vapor Trail turned to do likewise to Silverstream and Stormbringer; getting right up in each recruits face and making sure they heard her.  “That goes for the both of you too!  Suck it up and deal with it!” She poked right at Silverstream and Stormbringer’s chests with a tip of a forehoof, staring them down hard. Both recruits looked away, unable to face her.

Realizing their desire for a change in partners wasn’t going to happen, the four troublesome recruits backed down, each growling with simmering discontent. Vapor Trail waved to Misty Fly and High Winds with a nervous smile, as if to signal to them ‘everything is fine over here’ to the two full Wonderbolt instructors.  The two lead instructors paused, witnessing the four recruits seeming to back off from confrontation and doing as ordered. They waited to see if the conflict was going to flare up again.  It didn’t.  The four recruits turn away and return to the assignment soon due.

Sky Stinger, too, gave the two lead instructors a nervous smile and salute; trying to convince their senior officers they had the situation well in hoof. It worked. High Winds and Misty Fly looked on for a few seconds more before turning back and refocusing on their group of flyers. 

“Wow, now that was close!”  Sky Stinger let go of his held breath, planting a forehoof to his head with relief at having avoided a problem like that.

“Let’s just hope those four hotheads cool off enough to get through this trial.  I had no idea it was going to be like this; they looked like they were ready to kill each other!”

Sullen and unhappy, Gallus and Silverstream rejoined their friends and some of the new flight partners they were working with to stew over their conundrum.

Firebolt was sympathetic to them both but a realist about it too.  “Look, I know this sucks, but just deal with it for the next hour or so and you won’t have to deal with them again.  It’s just like taking icky tasting cold medicine; the faster you get it down the better it will be afterwards.”  

Solar Flare had to agree.  “This is just one time. After it, we’ll all be back with the partners we want and working on our routines.  I’m sure a griffon as tough as you, Gallus, can put up with Wind Raider’s attitude for a short while.”

But the griffon’s sour expression didn’t lessen, stubbornly refusing to work with a terrible pony like Wind Raider.  Solar Flare tried a different tactic.  “Just remember how much we’re going to prove to the academy leaders and the rest of the Wonderbolts that a griffon and a pegisi pony can work together and be the best flying pair the academy has ever seen.  We are going to rock them to the core with our routine.”  

His approach worked.  Gallus’ bent expression softened some when hearing how much his pony friend wanted to be his partner and was looking forward to setting the school staff on its collective ear when they perform together in flight.  Firebolt managed to break some of the tension with her quick follow-up.

“Uh, excuse you, but Silverstream and I are going to rock the academy with our routine and show hippogriffs can fly with pegisi ponies at the academy. There’s no way in Equestria you can beat us.”  She threw a foreleg around Silverstream’s neck, getting her hippogriff friend to not feel so upset and getting Silverstream to smile a little.  Firebolt kept it friendly between herself and Solar Flare, wanting to illustrate that they could be friends and competitors at the same time. It still took some convincing from Solar Flare and Firebolt to get Silverstream and Gallus on board with the idea of working with Wind Raider and Stormbringer.  If they wanted to continue being part of the trials, then they had to do this.  Reluctantly, the two non-pony fliers comply. They would at least try to work with the two antagonistic ponies.

Firebolt led Gallus and Silverstream back to where Wind Raider and Stormbringer stood waiting with Sunglow and Crimson Sky.  She was willing to act as mediator between her friends and the two partners they were compelled to work with.  The foursome stood and listened to what Firebolt had to say.

“Look, no pony here wants trouble. This is just for one exercise today.  After this, none of you have to work together. So let’s all just try to get along to avoid any problems from the instructors or from Commander Spitfire.  I know none of us want to get on her bad side right now.”

There were grumbles and smothered growls from the fourflyers about the situation but what Firebolt said was right.  If Wind Raider and Stormbringer didn’t work with Silverstream or Gallus, they were going to be in trouble and possibly ejected from the trials for insubordination. Finally, Wind Raider spoke up.

“Fine! Fine! Let’s just get this over with already!” He glared at Gallus who was slowly walking up to stand by Firebolt’s side, sneering back. The legacy pony was disgusted to have to be near a dirty griffon for any length of time.  But if he wanted his chance to show up every other recruit flight pair with Stormbringer as his wing pony tomorrow, then he had to deal with it.

“Yes, let’s! The faster we get through this, the less I have to look at your ugly mug!” Gallus could barely restrain his disgust for Wind Raider.  Only the thought of getting to show him and Stormbringer up tomorrow kept him from refusing at all.

Firebolt turned to Stormbringer next.  “So, are you going to work together with my friend or throw your chance of getting into the academy away by refusing?”

What choice did Stormbringer have?  He wanted in to the academy very much.  If it meant he had to suck it up and deal with a flyer he didn’t like to get through the day, then so be it.  His desire to get in was stronger than his dislike for the hippogriff and would comply with the directions.

“Whatever! Can we just get going on this?  I don’t need to be harangued more!” Stormbringer rudely turned away, not looking back to see if Silverstream was following.  Firebolt saw she wasn’t, still standing next to her with a most unhappy look on her face.  She gave Silverstream a small pat on her back with a wing, getting her attention.

“It’s just for an hour or so.  Then we’ll start planning our routine at suppertime.”  It was enough to get Silverstream moving after Stormbringer, reluctant as she was about the whole exercise.  Firebolt breathed a small sigh of relief.

“I’m going to the latrine before I get started.”  Wind Raider continued to glare at Gallus.  “Being around dirty griffons just makes me want to shit that much more in repulsion!”  The muscular pony tromped off towards the gymnasium doors, grumbling all the while.

Gallus ground his beak together so hard he thought sparks were going to fly out from the friction. His clenched and unclenched his fists of talons, ready to rip Wind Raider’s head clean off his body. Suddenly he felt a pony hoof gently touch his shoulder, distracting his anger for a second as his attention was away from the departing Wind Raider.

“I want you to know you’re being a good friend to Solar Flare like this, Gallus. Putting up with that loudmouth for a little while and getting through this will shup any pony else who thinks you can’t make the cut.  Just try; if only for Solar flare and wanting to fly with him.” Brightstar was proud of him, as was Firebolt.

The griffon gave a big sighing exhale, resigned to his temporary fate.  Like Stormbringer, his desire to compete alongside Solar Flare as his ‘wing-griff’ and show griffons could be a part of the trials was greater than his dislike of only one or two ponies. Thinking of his new friends and the bonds of friendship he had forged with them, he would endure.

“You’re right, Brightstar.  I’ll try, if only for Solar Flare’s sake.”

Firebolt was relieved to have gotten the two factions to agree at last.  As tenuous at it was, her reasoning proved enough to have them put up with one another until chowtime. She gave him a hug, wanting Gallus not to be so upset and to put his best talon forward.

“Good. Do your best and we’ll get through this together.”  She let go of him and headed back to where Sunstrike and the others were waiting. She had to get started with her new partner on the assignment.

=====*****=====

While the other recruits got to know their new partners better and begin practicing what moves to perform, Silverstream and Gallus were having problems with their partners after only a few minutes working alone with them. 

“We should do the inverted loop here and then the series of flipping loops there!  Why are you arguing with me?  I’m lead flyer!”  Silverstream had come up with, what she believed to be, a straight forward set of tricks to do so as to get past this assignment as easily and quickly as possible.

“That’s not the way these are supposed to go together!  You don’t know a single thing about flying in formation!”  Stormbringer started to shout, fed up with a lesser flyer’s inability to see the problem in the routine.

Not too far away from them was Gallus and Wind Raider, attempting to do much the same as the other recruits but having the same problems with their partners. The hostility between them was already coming to ahead. 

“Look you mongrel,” Wind Raider began, “we’re doing the routine I came up with and that’s that!  What don’t you understand about that?!” Wind Raider refused to hear any of Gallus’ ideas or suggestions of what tricks to do.

Vapor Trail hurried over to investigate the commotion between these recruits.  Not surprised, she found the same ones at each other’s throats.  

“What’s going on over here?  Why is there all this arguing?  You’re supposed to be working together as a team.”

Wind Raider complained first.  “He’s not good enough to fly with me; he refuses to fly the routine I wrote out. It was already approved by both you and the other instructor. He’s being an ass about it.”  

Gallus argued back.  “No, you’re being the ass about it! The instructors told us it’s supposed to be about skill and precision flying and not doing the flashiest tricks! That’s what they instructed us to do!”

Vapor Trail knew this was one of Rainbow Dash’s students from the School of Friendship and had to handle this situation carefully. She addressed the lead pony of this duo. “The routine you wrote out is fine on its own, but I don’t think you as lead pony are taking into consideration you wing’s unfamiliarity with flight formations or lack of experience when writing out your routine. Perhaps you should focus more on the essentials so your wing can follow you more successfully.”

“I’m not going to dumb-down my work for the likes of him, just because he stinks at flying! Why should I suffer with a low score because he can’t handle what I wrote out?” Wind Raider was insulted by the suggestion.  

Before she could respond, Vapor Trail caught sight of Misty Fly watching her deal with these troublesome recruits from across the field, conferring with High Winds and their C.O. as the observed.  She had to show she could be a disciplined instructor and handle the two arguing factions quickly and effectively.

“You know what; I’ll make it simple for the both of you.”  She snatched away the paper Wind Raider had written down their routine on and altered it for them.  With the pencil clamped between her teeth, she quickly made the changes necessary, selecting some from his routine and some of her own choice for them to perform. “Here’s the routine I’m ordering you to fly.  So quit your bellyaching and get to it!”  She spat out the pencil and thrust the sheet of paper back to Wind Raider, scowling at the two obstinate flyers, fed up at last. 

Sky Stinger, too, had seen Vapor Trail getting tough again with the unruly recruits, making sure they listen to her.  This assignment was turning out to be much tougher than either one had thought. He would do likewise in setting the dispute between the hippogriff and her partner.

“What is going on between you two?  You’re both capable flyers.  Why can’t you agree on a routine like the others?”

“He’s not following my lead!  All he does in contradict everything I say or propose!”  Silverstream folded her forelegs across her chest, putting her beak up in the air in defiance.

“She’s an idiot!  This ‘griff doesn’t know or understand the first thing about being a lead pony.  Besides, she’s only half-pony, at best!  She’s better off back where she came from, in the sea!”  Stormbringer took a shot at her, infuriating Silverstream with such a blatant racist remark.  Her head snapped back around to now look right at him, fuming from his insult and growling with her talons balled up into tight fists. Sky Stinger yanked the recruit around to face him, glowering.

“You open your mouth like that again and I swear you’ll be out on your flanks from the academy grounds so fast your head is going to spin!  Is that clear?”  He pointed at Stormbringer, putting the recruit in his place.  Stormbringer back down, averting his eyes from the instructor.

“Crystal clear, sir.”

Sky Stinger took up the paper Silverstream had started writing on to form a routine. He gave a quick examination of what she had come up with, seeing it was uncomplicated and relatively easy to do for a first time flight.

“What seems to be the point of contention?  This looks fine to me, except for these transition points here.” He showed them both where he saw the error in the flight path.

“See? That’s what I’m talking about.  She doesn’t know anything about being in command of a flight group or how to arrange the maneuvers correctly.  She’s incompetent!”  Stormbringer pointed out how he was technically correct, which angered Silverstream. He was right; she was so new to this and it felt like an awful lot to keep track of in her head when planning a routine. 

True, she did get a lot of help from Brightstar back during the lecture time in class with selecting and arraigning her solo routine.  But she believed she had a handle on the topic but couldn’t understand her partner’s constant berating and belittling of her efforts. Sky Stinger asked the obvious follow up question.

“Well, did you at least try to help her understand by explaining or just act like a curmudgeon and refuse to help?  She is new to this, you know.”

“Keh! Why should I help her?  She’s ‘lead pony’ after all!  She’s supposed to be familiar with all this already. That’s why she was selected for that class, right?”  His smugness and arrogance grated on Sky Stinger’s nerves.  Never had he seen such disrespect and flagrant disregard for another flyer’s needs. He got tough with him.

“You’re her wing pony.  You should be helping her with what she may not understand.  You’re supposed to be supportive and assist your lead pony, not acting like a damn fool and refusing to help.”

“I don’t care.  This is just practice for us anyway.  It doesn’t count for anything. Why should I lift a hoof in helping if it doesn’t count?” Stormbringer would let the chips fall where they may, unconcerned for the consequences of his inaction.  Sky Stinger took the matters into his own hooves.

“Fine, don’t help her!  But I will.” Sky Stinger moved in between the two recruits, acting as a barrier between their bodies.  “Here, let me explain…”

He went into detail about what he saw was wrong with what Silverstream had come up with, explaining what she had to do to make the transitions between the moves smoother.  Silverstream listened to his instructions, absorbing all he shared with her. Stormbringer tried to interject but Sky Stinger silenced him.

“Hey… hey… you didn’t want to help her so keep your mouth shut! You are going to do whatever she and I come up with for a routine. Understood? You’re her wing pony so you’ll do as she says and like it!”

Silverstream actually cracked a smile at her instructor, so grateful he had her back at this difficult moment. Sky Stinger felt a small flush touch his cheeks, a little embarrassed from her admiring looks.  This was one of Rainbow Dash’s students and he would not let her be on the receiving end of such treatment. After only a few minutes, they were done.

“I think that’s all you need right now.  Follow this and you’ll do fine.”  He passed back to her the sheet of paper; sure she could do this routine even with an obstinate and uncooperative partner.  “Trust me when I say,” he now looked at Stormbringer, “this is all going into the records for Commander Spitfire to read up on later today.  I’m sure she’ll have some words with you and your friend.”

Stormbringer waved away his warning flippantly with a hoof, as if waving away a servant from his presence.

All the recruits were working diligently at their assignments, getting familiar with a new flying partner and quickly walking through the short routines they would have to do.  Misty fly and High Winds now quietly walked among the recruits, listening to them work together and ready themselves for their second flight, checking to see how well the recruits were doing under the two Wonderbolt Reservist’s instructions.

The two senior Wonderbolt members watched as the two reservists, rather than try to answer so many questions posed to them at the same time, took to the air and gave a quick demonstration flight for the recruits, showing the correct ways to move and time themselves as well as refreshing some of them on the principals of precision formation flight.  

Watching the two reservists roll, twist and turn in synchrony up close like this was exciting as well as informative, answering their questions getting them more prepared to fly.  Misty Fly noted in her records how well the two Wonderbolt reservists were handing their first time instructor roles for the trials; seeing a creative way to educate as well as inspire the recruits.

Before ay recruit could fly, each pair resubmitted a routine that listed what moves and order they were going to be performed in. Each recruit pair had to execute four to eight aerial tricks in synchronized flight and land at the same time at the same place they started from. Both Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail scanned the recruits paperwork once more for the changes they had made and gave them the go-ahead to perform the routine with only a few adjustments needed to two of the submissions before all the recruits were approved. Sky Stinger offered a few more words of advice for them.

“Don’t be discouraged if your first attempt to fly in tandem doesn’t work out. It’s tough to keep in time and takes practice. But the timing will come more quickly if you keep your routine straightforward and don’t try to overdo it. We want to see precision flight for this trial, not flashiness. ” 

The practice went on for a while longer by the time came for the recruit’s attempts as Vapor Trail blew her whistle and waved them in from their spots on the field. The recruits hustled their way over to the two instructors while Wonderbolt Misty Fly left High Winds to keep an eye on the second recruit group to record the more experienced first recruit group’s showing.  

“Alright, newbies, time to see what you’ve learned today.  Line up and let’s get flying.”  Sky Stinger called them over, taking their paperwork and adding it to the clipboard’s quantity of notes. Misty Fly stood by the starting line with her clipboard too; ready to write her observations down of both recruit and instructor.

First pair up was Razzle Dazzle and her partner Whirlwind.  They stepped up to the line and Sky Stinger passed to Misty fly the routine they would perform.  She looked over it briefly, nodding at what she read then passed it back, ready with her stopwatch.

“All set?” Misty Fly watched them both get into launch position; wings spread out and ready to take to the air.  Both Whirlwind and Razzle Dazzle nod.

“Go!”  

The duo shot high up into the sky to start their routine, surprising some with their takeoff velocity. They did a clean routine, consisting of a Wing-Over, three Loop-de-Loops, a big Power Dive down and back up into the sky to finish off with a Tail Inversion move that sent them straight down to the ground, pulling up at the last possible moment and then slowing down to land in front of the three Wonderbolt instructors. The timing was off somewhat from the beginning between the two recruits, resulting with Razzle Dazzle landing more than a full second or so after Whirlwind.  But the other recruits still stomped their hooves and cheered for the fine showing.

“Not bad for a first time flight.”  Misty Fly scribbled down her notes into the report.  “You two are done for now. Go hit the Dizzatron for your next exercise.” She pointed to the giant mechanical monstrosity just across the field. Fellow Wonderbolt Silver Zoom patiently awaited those done with formation flying for a second round. 

“Next pair up!”  Misty Fly kept the line moving along. Next pair was Silverstream and Stormbringer, both looking as edgy and angst-ridden as could be at wanting to get through this without ending up throttling each other.  The two of them refused to look at one another, barely tolerating the other’s presence.

“Ready?” Misty Fly saw no change in their facial expressions, each as disgruntled as the other.  They grunted some unintelligible words as they got their bodies into launch position, both desperate to get past this moment of forced alliance.

“Go!”  

Off they flew, gaining altitude and staring their run.  Through the first moves of a Half-Cloudsdale-Eight and a Flat Spin, all seemed well.  Silverstream banked to the left as she exited the move and was about to lead Stormbringer into the next when she was blinded by some bright light, coming from somewhere below.  

She bobbled some and slowed her flying, her timing thrown off her as she tried to get back into position for the Lazy-Eight move next.  Stormbringer had caught up closer to her, almost at her side now.

“What are you doing?”  He yelled at her.  “You’re supposed to be leading!”  

She blinked several times, trying to clear the spots and focus again on the move. Flying into the one-quarter loop up move and then into the half-loop down, she led Stormbringer cleanly into the upsweep and back into the Wing-Over part once again, maintaining her lead position once more.  As she reached the transition point into the quarter-loop back down to finish the Lazy-Eight, she was blinded again by some bright reflection in her eyes, this time lasting for more than a few seconds. The brightness seemed to follow her if she tried to avert her eyes away.  She could feel the bright light shining against her closed eyelids and she could not open them. 

“Look out!” She heard Stormbringer cry out as she veered off and collided into him.  “Oh no-o-o-o-o!”  Neither could recover in time and both of them came tumbling out of the sky, crashing into a cluster of tall pine trees on the edge of the activities field.  The sound or snapping branches and muffled swearing greeted the recruits and instructors who rushed over, watching the two of them dropping down from the tangle of tree limbs and hit the ground with a dull thud.  Silverstream was a bit bruised and a dizzy from the impact but otherwise unhurt. The senior instructors rushed to their sides.

“What happened?  Are you two alright?”  Misty Fly helped Silverstream steady herself on hooves while High Winds helped Stormbringer up.  The stallion recruit yelped when High Winds touched his wing.  He’d taken the brunt of the impact and was now furious at Silverstream for messing up like that, believing he could have been seriously injured from the fall. 

“You idiot! I knew you were going to mess up like this!  I could’ve been killed!” Stormbringer roared, trying to flex his right wing, feeling the pain shoot up the muscles from the hard impact with the bough of the tree.

“It wasn’t intentional!  Something was shining in my eyes and I couldn’t see where I was.”  Silverstream tried to defend herself from the accusation of recklessness by being honest.  But it seemed unconvincing to most of those who were standing there, wondering about what went wrong. 

“Maybe she was blinded by the sun a couple of times?” Some pony anonymously in the group quietly offered up from among the group, giving some plausible explanation.

“No, it wasn’t the sun. It was-” 

“I don’t care! I never want to ever fly with the likes of you again! Sweet Celestia’s cutie mark, you have to be the worst flyer I’ve ever been partnered with!”  Furious, Stormbringer stomped off, heading for the infirmary, cradling his right wing gingerly so as to minimize his injury from getting worse.  All the while he was shouting his blame at Silverstream for this injury and his possible elimination from the trials.  

“Don’t pay him any mind. It was an accident; pure and simple.  Those are the breaks; any number of recruits and applicants get injured and dropped out during the trials.”  Misty Fly scribbled down her notes and score for this flight, explaining to this student of Princess Twilight’s school more about what happens here during these trials. I

“Yes, ma’am. Just an accident, but one I made that could have been much worse.” She thought herself lucky, escaping with only some minor scratches on her body and a small tear in her uniform.  In spite of her open disgust for Stormbringer, she could not help but feel a little responsible for his plight.  

 I swear it was something else! It came from off the ground! It got me right in the eyes!  Her mind went over and over the routine she flew, trying to imagine where she was when she was blinded like that. Silverstream slowly walked away and headed for the Dizzatron, lost in her thoughts of what it could have been that caused her to mess up like that.

Three other pair of recruits subsequently went on to perform adequate, in not unspectacular flight routines following Silverstream and Stormbringer’s flight, making a decent impression on their instructors.  

To set a higher performance bar to follow after was Firebolt and Sunstrike.  They had been the first pair done with their selection of routine moves and had the most time to go over what they planned to do. Their performance showed in it.  They completed their routine of five moves and had accomplished two of the tougher trick maneuvers on the list with sure and steady flying.  The duo got hoof-bumps and hi-low wing slaps of congratulations from their friends for the marked performance when back on the ground once more.

“Very nice job.”  Misty Fly made sure to write down what she observed of them, noting they made an excellent pairing.  “You two head over to the Dizzatron for your turns.”  She pointed the direction to go with an extended left wing.  They saluted her and did as ordered, relieved for doing as well as they had on such short practice time.

Now came Harmony Blues and Cloudy Sky’s turn at flight pairs.  Cloudy Sky just couldn’t help but beam with happiness at his good fortune in getting paired up with Harmony Blues.  She knew her stuff, telling him of her time at flight competitions and her awards from winning.  Even as they’d worked, he enjoyed her storytelling and her explaining this aspect or that finer point from her experience.  He really liked the way she talked, her words sounding like musical notes in his ears.

He felt confident and ready, crouching down next to her as they got into position at the starting line.  He stood just off her left wing, his eyes darting over to look at her face, stoic and in repose as she stood ready.  He looked over at their instructor, waiting for the command.

“Ready?” Misty Fly looked right at him, watching him nod quickly and then look up and ahead into the sky above.

“Go!”  

They shot straight up, getting over every pony’s head in just two pumps of their wings, setting off to the correct height to begin their run.  Harmony Blues repeated his solo flight as he had explained to her but, like Brightstar had done, she replaced the ‘flipty loop’ move of Razzle Dazzle’s and replaced it with a simple Barrel Roll move. They landed sure and sound right back where they started with Cloudy Sky only landing perhaps a half-second later than his lead pony.  But he didn’t care. He’d done it; successfully flown with a different lead pony and made a new acquaintance; a female one to boot!

Misty Fly made a quick note or two about this pair.  “You two go get in line for the Dizzatron. You’re done here.”  The two of them headed off together, glad to have gotten past that last trial.

“Next pair up!”  Misty Fly called out and up strode Brightstar and her wing pony, a chestnut stallion with a ruddy colored mane and tail.  He seemed pleased to have been paired with whom he had.  Misty Fly noted the confident looks on both their faces as they got I position at the starting line.  The duo waited for the command patiently.

“Go!”  

They got airborne lightning quick, soaring higher up and into their positions for their run.  Brightstar had altered her wing pony’s routine slightly, changing out the Tail Spin move for a Griffish Bunt so as to make the transition to flying inverted smoother. Crimson Sky, the stallion lucky enough to have been paired with a military brat like her, never questioned her change.  She’d flown better then he in all the previous trials.  He needed to perform well in this trial.  

He followed right behind her, banking into the Wing Over and into the two sequential backflips and then into the Griffish Bunt, flying inverted for a good ten seconds.

Brightstar looked back at him as they flew upside down, seeing him give her a quick grin and nod, telling her that her wing pony was hanging in there.  They moved onto an outward loop, to return to flying upright once again and then into a small corkscrew for two spins and then landing in front of the Wonderbolt instructors.  Their timing was good, only a fraction of a second off between each touching down.

Crimson Sky felt so relieved.  He almost wished that had been his flight for scoring, doing as well as he felt he’d done.  His current partner was alright at flying, but on the same level as Brightstar.

“Well done. Get going.”  Misty fly continued to write down more as she pointed the direction to the Dizzatron to them.

Brightstar turned to her left, seeing the grinning stallion that had been her wing pony for this exercise, was grateful for her help.  “You’re pretty good so I don’t think you’ll have a problem with tomorrow’s trial.” She then spotted standing just a few meters behind Crimson Sky, the three ponies that he was working with and recognized them as those who had been giving some her friends a hard time. 

“Thanks for the help.”  Crimson Sky offered a wing-shaking in a show of gratitude but was a little surprised when she did not reciprocate.  He watched her expression change, from friendly to questioning and how she looked at him now, as if second-guessing herself and questioning his character.

“You’re working with them?” She gave a small head nod towards Wind Raider, Stormbringer and Sunglow, unwilling to call them name or look at them directly.  They were not the best of company to be seen with.  At least, that’s what she’d seen and experienced from those three so far these pasts few days.  “Are you sure about that?” 

“So?” The red stallion with the wavy white mane and tail only gave a shrug in response, not understanding her disapproval.  You’re working with them?” He turned it back to her, nodding towards Silverstream and Gallus who were waiting for their turns to fly. “I’m all about getting in to the academy; those two guys I’m working with are veteran Resistance flyers. I’ll have a much better shot at getting accepted then if I wasn’t. What’s your plan; waste time and energy with a couple of hybrids who are most likely not going to go the distance or get accepted?”  He left her momentarily nonplussed.  

“Let’s get going, you two!”  Misty Fly ordered again, seeing them lingering about and talking instead of hustling over to the Dizzatron.

“Next pair up!”  The Wonderbolt instructor kept the recruit line moving; waiting just long enough after another recruit from the second group cleared the airspace above them from doing an endurance flight.  Solar Flare got into launch position at the starting line with his wing pony, a pearly white stallion with a thin dark blue stripe that stretched the length of his muzzle and dark blue socks appropriately named Blue Streak, standing just off to his right.  He glanced over at his new partner.

“All set?” Solar Flare checked once more, flipping his goggles over his eyes.
“Lead the way.” Blue Streak was ready, looking straight ahead into the air, focused.

“Go!”

They took to the air and wasted no time.  Solar Flare didn’t have to look back to know his wing pony was just of his right wing, hearing him flapping and getting in proper position for the first move.  He gave the signal to with his right forehoof that they were starting their run.  Misty Fly and the other instructors watched as the duo make a rapid vertical up climb, right into first a Split-S maneuver followed by a short flight of inverted flying, setting them up for an easy transition into an Inward Loop. 

Solar Flare only checked once over his right shoulder on Blue Streak, his wing pony was steady and focused.  He turned back around and started the steep vertical climb into the sky, giving two or three last flaps of his wings as he reached the apex, allowing his momentum to ‘stall out’.

As Solar Flare began to fall backwards and flip his hind leg out to catch the air, he watched from out of his right eye how Blue Streak was right where he was supposed to be, watching his wing pony reach the apex of the climb and began falling backwards as well. He heard Blue Streak suddenly cry out.  Solar Flare looked up.

“Hey!”  He yelled, watching how Blue Streak allowed his falling body’s momentum to over swing his hind legs around and almost flip him over and losing control momentarily. Blue Streak managed to catch himself, steadying but now lagging behind his lead pony.  

Solar Flare cocked his wings forward to expose the underside and catch more wind, slowing him down some.  It worked, allowing Blue Streak to catch up but only briefly.  They were coming to the end of the routine and Solar Flare had slow down more, heading for the landing spot at the starting line and Blue Streak hadn’t caught up yet.  In his eagerness to make the landing together and make up for his error, Blue Streak tucked his wings in tightly to his flanks, speeding up and falling like a dart from the sky.  He waited as long as he dared before he threw his wings wide open, rapidly catching back up with Solar Flare but now passing right by him.  The wind-shear tore at his wing and back muscles, the strain feeling like it would rip the wings clean off Blue Streak’s body as he tried to slow down. 

  Too hot! I’m too hot!  The words screamed in Blue Streak’s mind, unable to slow down enough and forcing him to veer off to one as to clear hitting any pony standing close by who scrambled out of his flightpath as he came roaring in at a frightening rate of speed.

“A-r-r-r-g-g-h-h-h!”  Blue Streak cried out as he ungracefully hit the ground, sliding along on his left side for about a dozen yards or so.  Solar Flare, having made the proper landing was already running over to Blue Streak’s side to see to him, as was their instructor.  

“Hey, are you alright?” Solar Flare helped his partner to his hooves.  Stunned and his breath knocked from him, Blue Streak was for the most part unhurt but felt foolish at his poor showing in front of the other recruits.  Standing next to his lead pony, he knew he could have done better and waited the instructor’s stern words. Misty Fly confronted the wing pony after making sure he was unhurt.

“Recruit, anymore second-rate flying like that is not going to get you into the academy.  My advice to you is to put tomorrow’s practice time to good use and get those moves down.” She tut-tutted him, jotting down her observations of his missing of such an elementary move. The white and blue stallion’s ears drooped, feeling smaller now.

“Yes, ma’am.” Blue Streak then turned to Solar Flare, looking rather guilty.  “Sorry about that.”

“It’s just practice. We tried; what else is there?” Solar Flare wasn’t worried. His focus was working with Gallus.  Their first attempt went bad and he was determined to get it perfect.

“Get moving, you two.” The instructor pointed the way to the Dizzatron.

They headed off and joined the others in line, watching yet another recruit get catapulted from the machine.

“I’m not looking forward to this again!”  Blue Streak confessed, hating the idea of being sent flipping through the air like rag dolls.

“Join the club.”  Solar Flare sighed and shrugged a bit.  A pony had to do what a pony had to do to get past these trials.

Misty Fly kept the trial moving along.  “Next pair up!”  

She saw it was just three sets of them left, two stallion and mare pairings plus the duo of that griffon student from Rainbow Dash’s school and one stallion recruit. By the looks of those two, neither wanted to be a part of this exercise. 

They sat far apart from each other, sulking and bitter.  She could only wonder what they were going to be like once in the air. The pair of Nightflight and his lovely wing pony Amber Haze stepped up to the line, seemingly unable to keep their eyes off each other, grinning like fools.

“Ahem!”  The instructor broke up the symphony of violins silently playing for the duo. “Excuse me, you need to focus now!” She groused about the lack of focus being displayed by these recruits.

The two recruits seemed to snap out of their daze, suddenly realizing where there were and what they were supposed to be doing.  With scarlet-hued cheeks, they got into launch position at the starting line, Amber Haze just off to Nightflight’s left wing.

He flashed a quick wink back at her, making sure she was ready.  She gave a girlish titter back, pleased to have caught the eyes of a handsome stallion like him.  Misty Fly rolled her eyes and gave a small grunt, wishing these two were taking this more seriously.

“Are we ready now?”  Her sarcastic tone was thick as she tapped an impatient forehoof on the ground.  The two of them nod, finally ready.

“Go!”

The instructors watched on, expecting a reasonable showing of flight skill from these two.  Instead, they watched the duo, starting from a relatively low altitude, perform a series of perfectly executed descending forward loops, each of the recruits alternating between flying an inward and outward loop each time.  Nightflight and Amber Haze landed gently on the ground back at the starting line, pleased with the showing they had done.

“You two have got to be kidding me!  That was your routine?!  What in Tartarus were you doing for the last hour, playing tiddlywinks or something?!”  Misty Fly let them have it. Granted, the four loops each recruit had performed were with razor-like precision in both form and body position between lead and wing, but there was nothing else. It seemed like the most minimal effort they could have done.  High Winds slapped a forehoof to his head, stunned that these recruits had wasted time and did so little to show they were listening to instructions.

“This isn’t some game, newbies! You’d better start taking this more seriously!” High Winds piled on with his co-instructor, annoyed with the antics of these two.

The duo looked only mildly embarrassed and tried to smother their stupid grins, getting caught so quickly by their instructors for having spent way too much time getting to know one another and way too little time planning their routine.

“Get out of my face!”  The Misty Fly hollered and they scurried off, barely containing the childish laughter. “Alright, next pair up! You two, let’s get moving!”  

The duo of pony and griffon headed for the starting line, stomping hooves, paws and talons as they did while refusing to acknowledge the other. The tension between the two recruits, so palpable to all four instructors, practically radiated off them like heat waves.

They immediately got into their launch positions, standing like a couple of stone statues, their bodies taught with pent up tension.  Misty Fly set them loose, relieved to have finally gotten through all the recruits in time.

“Go!”

Gallus lagged behind Wind Raider from the get go, pumping his wings twice as hard in an effort to catch up to Wind Raider.

“Don’t fall behind, you stupid griff! I don’t want to have to make excuses for why you can’t fly!”  He yelled out over the sound of the rushing wind back to Gallus, not turning around so as to be heard better by his partner.

“Just shut that pie hole and get on with this, meatbag!”  Gallus had to stay just off Wind Raider’s right wing, despising the fact he had to fly so close to him.

Wind Raider purposely didn’t give him the hoof signal to begin the routine, trying to make Gallus look bad, like he wasn’t paying attention to his lead pony. The griffon wasn’t fooled, keeping a steady eye on Wind Raider’s head, watching for the slightest movement to forecast what his lead flyer was going to do next.

He stayed close and banked to the left and into the routine.  For the instructors, these two presented a real problem.  The open hostility between them, the long day of training and tough pace they had to maintain, was bound to cause one of these two to snap.

Through the first three moves of a quick zoom climb and into a descending vertical Corkscrew for six rotations, then leveling off for inverted flight showed there seemed to be no issues.  Gallus never took his eyes off Wind Raider, trying to keep count of the seconds through each move and when to rotate his body for the next maneuver.  

“So far, so good.”  High Winds watched as he stood next to Misty Fly, wondering if they were actually going to go the distance.

“Maybe focusing all that anger is making them actually fly together better.” Vapor Trail believed they wouldn’t have gotten this far. 

“Let’s hope they hold out to the end before they try killing each other.”  Sky Stinger watched along, having dealt with both of them.

They watch the two flyers go into the Barrel Roll, each keeping the proper position through the maneuver.  They were in the home stretch, one last trick move to do, hit the landing and this torment would be over for them.  Wind Raider had other ideas about how to end the routine.

“Rolling Scissor move; do it!”  The lead pony commanded, suddenly rolling his body to the left and climbing up into the sky.

“Damn it! I just knew he was going to pull something!  I’ll show him!”  Gallus recalled the diagram from his textbook and from the scribbling Wind Raider had done to demonstrate the move he wanted in the routine.  It was a very tough maneuver; the timing required was tricky as well as avoiding collision with each other. Their instructor had made an outward loop the last trick to perform, overriding Wind Raider’s choice.

This was just pure spite and revenge on Wind Raider’s part, defying the instructions and doing the move he wanted anyway.  Gallus flapped harder, picking up his pace to get in time with Wind Raider.

He wasn’t keeping count of the seconds, starting late and trying to position himself by dead reckoning.  

C’mon… c’mon…!  He sped up and slowed down his flying, finally getting locked up in position just as Wind Raider was diving down towards him and while swooping up out of his lead flyer’s flightpath, missing one another by scant inches between their bodies as they passed by.

Up and over Gallus twisted his body over as he flew, now inverted and look up (or down, was it?) at Wind Raider’s body, both of them reaching the peak and trough of their arcs, now heading for the second intersection point. 

The wind rushed past Wind Raider’s ears as he soared back up to the second crossing point, a bit surprised to see up and ahead of him the griffon pushing hard to keep in time. Wind Raider had convinced himself that was Gallus too small and slow to even attempt this maneuver. But apparently he’d underestimated his nimble-winged flyer’s abilities.  Even with lagging behind from the beginning of the routine, Gallus had not only managed to catch up but also ‘slip in’ to the timing of the maneuver, now in the proper positon for his part.

Their flightpaths were reaching their respective apexes with both flyers arching back to cross one more time like before and then come in for the landing.  Both Gallus and Wind Raider pushed on, speeding up as they came closer to the final crossing of flight paths.  Gallus was diving down to the intersection while Wind Raider was heading up towards it.  Then, it happened…

WHAM!  

“A-r-r-r-g-g-h!  My eye! My eye!”  Wind Raider pitched hard to the left, still climbing but now was faltering as he tried to recover from the impact. 

Gallus was briefly knocked off balance but maintained control, Wind Raider, who was momentarily above him, quickly fell behind and was slowly descending to the ground. The griffon shook his left foreleg a repeatedly, wincing hard at taking the impact with some part of Wind Raider’s body when they’d cross paths like that. 

“What the-?” High Winds watched a pair of flight goggles hit the ground not some twenty feet away, knocked off from one of the recruits from the impact.  When he looked up again, both recruits were now returning to the ground, one apparently injured.  The griffon landed first; his leady pony managed to land on only three legs, one foreleg was covering an injury on his muzzle.

The instructors were right on top of the situation, getting in between them and keeping them apart.  Gallus backed away with High Winds and Sky Stinger, seeing how mad Wind Raider was now.

“That dirty half-breed,” Wind Raider roared, “tried to tear my eye out with his talons! He took a swipe at my muzzle! Look!”  He removed his foreleg, revealing a nasty gash below his left eye that left a trail of blood as it ran.

Gallus was stunned silent, his beak falling open a little in shock.  Again he flexed his left foreleg and his talons, recalling the impact he felt as he flew past Wind Raider.   A terrible cool sensation caused his fur to stand on end and his eyes went wide when looking his talons, seeing the evidence of the impact.

On the tip of his index talon was a smear of blood, suddenly realizing he’d done something quite bad. He had drawn ‘first blood’. Wind Raider’s blood.  And when he looked up at his now former partner for this exercise, the fire of hate that burned in Wind Raider’s eyes could have set all of the White Tail Woods ablaze with just its intensity.

“That dirty ‘griff  tried to blind me!”  Wind Raider looked as ready the trash Gallus limb from limb.  Misty Fly pulled Vapor Trail’s head down to her mouth, not wanting to alert any pony else.

“Get Dash over here now!” She hissed softly in Vapor Trail’s ear.

The reservist took off, heading for the outbuildings and shed where the teams gear was often stored. 

“Rainbow Dash!  Soarin! Where are you guys?”  Vapor Trail darted all about the buildings, desperate to find the team captain and co-captain. Finally, she found them behind one of the storage sheds, setting up some gear for tomorrow’s photo op.

“Dash! Soarin! We need you over on the activities field! We’ve got a problem on our hands!”  Vapor Trail forgot herself, saluting them after telling them what was happening.  

“What happened?”  Soarin dropped what he was holding onto, his attention focused on Vapor Trail.

“It’s one of your students, Dash; the griffon! There’s been an incident! Apparently one of them had-” Vapor Trail didn’t get a chance to finish as both her captain and co-captain took off like streaks of lightning, getting to the field and investigating in a matter of seconds.  Soarin took control of the situation.

“What happed here?”  He looked to his teammate instructors for an explanation.  Misty Fly explained what she’d seen.

“Apparently this recruit, while disobeying directions from an instructor,” she emphasized her point, “had his wing pony execute a Rolling Scissors maneuver with him. Their timing wasn’t correct and,” Misty Fly paused as she tried to tread lightly on this part, “Gallus apparently struck Wind Raider in the muzzle during one of the flight path crossover points.”

“Apparently?! That sick bone-cruncher over there tried to take me out! He should get ejected from the trials for this!”  Wind Raider’s shouts were now distracting the other recruits from their Dizzatron practice.  Some now were wandering back over to watch and listen to the unfolding story. 

“Is Misty Fly right?  It was an accident?”  Rainbow Dash pulled Gallus aside, getting some space to talk quietly and privately with him.

“It was, I swear it!  I got paired up with Wind Raider for the exercise. I must’ve been slightly ahead of him with my timing when we crossed flight paths.  I felt something hit my left foreleg but didn’t know what it was. I thought I might’ve hit his leg or hoof because I twisted my wrist hard.  Besides, he’s got it out for me. He doesn’t like griffons or hippogriffs here for the trials.  He was being such an ass to Silverstream and me ever since we got here.”

To Rainbow Dash, it just sounded like one of those ‘fight mishaps’ in that their routines didn’t go as planned. That’s what part of this training exercise is all about. They step back over to rejoin Soarin and the other instructors.

“Let’s see how bad it is.”  Soarin took a closer look at the laceration.  Wind Raider waited, expecting to hear the worst.  “Well, it’s a decent cut but I don’t think you’re going to die and probably not need a stitch or anything like that. Get over to the infirmary for some first aid. They have that new medical glue to patch up cuts like this. You’ll be fine.”

“I didn’t mean it to happen.  It was an accident and I’m sorry.  Honest.” Gallus thought it was the only thing he could say right then to maybe defuse the bad situation some.  He didn’t like Wind Raider and thought him conceded and arrogant but he certainly wouldn’t have done anything to cause problems for Professor Dash or hosts, being here on his teacher’s invitation.  It felt so very strange for Gallus, standing there and wondering, second guessing himself if maybe he instinctively did reach out to swipe at Wind Raider in anger.  

Rainbow Dash let out a huge but silent sigh of relief, so grateful it was not as bad as she thought.  The Wonderbolt captain and other instructors took Gallus at his word; it was an accident, nothing more and let it go at that. 

“I can’t believe you are going to let this slide!”  Wind Raider was outraged, believing this was an offence worth getting ejected from the trials.

“Flyer’s bad luck; that’s all it was.  Recruits have gotten much worse injuries during the trials then just a cut on the muzzle. You’ll survive.”  Soarin was putting an end to the situation and had more important things to then babysit a recruit who got a boo-boo.  “Go take your turn on the Dizzatron with the other recruits once you’re patched up.” He turned to his co-captain. “Let’s go and get the backdrops set up for tomorrow’s showcase, Dash.”  He wanted to get done, he and Rainbow still having to speak with their C.O. before being done for the day.

“Oh, this is total meadow muffins! This is… is…is…!”  Wind Raider stammered, unable to believe the entire Wonderbolt crew was under the spell of the griffon’s innocent ploy, buying into him not being the aggressor.  Only the thought of wanting to get through the trials and getting accepted into the academy kept him from losing it right then and pounce on the griffon. Sputtering and unable to say anymore, Wind Raider stormed off to the infirmary, barely restraining his rage. Now, the incident was over at last. Misty Fly shooed the other recruits who’d wandered over to watch.

“Alright…alright… show’s over every pony! Nothing left to see here.” 

“I guess our time is done.”  Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail came to stand in front of Misty Fly and saluted her; both of them weary from the day’s work.  This had proved quite the challenge and different from the classroom settings he and Vapor Trail were used to.

“Thanks for the help today, you did a good job.  We might call on you some more if we need to.”  Misty Fly returned the salute.  “Dismissed.”  

Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail took leave, heading back to the housing complex on base for the instructors, ready for some downtime. 

“You’d best get over on line with the other recruits, Gallus.  There’s still time to get in at least one turn.”  Misty Fly gently encouraged him, seeing him obviously upset about the incident and occupied in his thoughts.  Not a very good way to end the day for an academy volunteer.  

“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted, leaving the two Wonderbolt instructors and heading to where his friends had been watching from their spots on line.  When the griffon did join them, the friends came to stand in close to him in a show of solidarity and support. Cloudy Sky put a wing around Gallus’ shoulders.

“The jerk had it coming.  It was his own fault; not listening to the instructors like that.”  He tried to bolster his griffon friend’s sagging spirit, assuring him he was not his fault. The griffon only nodded a little, acknowledging Cloudy Sky efforts.

“You didn’t mean it; no different than when we messed up on our flight together.” Solar Flare made sure his partner didn’t blame himself, plenty of flyers today made lots of mistakes.  It was a learning curve for all of them. Gallus searched the faces of his friends, unsure of himself.  

They believed in him. How was he to be expected to perform a tough maneuver like that totally on the wing with a partner that despised him all the while? It was impossible not to mess up. 

Gallus gave a heavy sigh.  “I suppose, Solar.”  The griffon started to wonder if this whole escapade was worth the aggravation he’d been through.  He didn’t have to be here. He could leave if he wanted.  He had experienced enough over the past two days to write a whole term paper about it if he wanted.  What was the point of going on?  It didn’t matter if he succeeded or not.  It’s not like he was going to actually going to be an academy cadet in the end.  Could he just walk away from these ponies; abandon his partner?  What would they think of griffons if he quit on them? Would they feel the same now the next time they met another griffon?  He looked again at the faces of those whom he called his friends. 

It was because they were his friends; because they did have his back, just like he said he’d be there for them. No, friends don’t abandon one another and certainly not the BFF’s.  This was supposed to be tough to do.  Crazy awesome, incredible flyers didn’t quit.  He wasn’t a quitter. To quit now would only achieve exactly what Wind Raider and Stormbringer wanted. Seeing him and or Silverstream leave.  

From somewhere inside him, Gallus found the resolve to put this behind him, to keep on pushing ahead.  He wanted to fly at Solar Flare’s wing, he wanted to help his friends achieve their goals, see them get in to the academy like they desired. Going the distance and proving griffons were capable flyers to join would be the high mark he would aim for. Even if nothing came of it, the satisfaction of doing what no griffon had done and the bragging rights that came with it would provide a lifetime of memories and make him that much more a superior flyer.

His hippogriff and pony friends watched as he seem to find the sunlight beyond the hazy clouds of doubt in his mind, having the support group to lean on.  A small smile returned to his beak, glad they were here for him.

“Right; it was just bad flyer’s luck. That’s all.  I’ll do better tomorrow.” 

They were relieved to see him pull himself up out of the doldrums, not giving in to self-doubt.  Cloudy Sky gave him a pat with his wing and an assuring grin.

“We’ll all do better tomorrow.” Like Silverstream, Cloudy Sky would champion them sticking together, working as a unit.  

As if by some divine intervention at that moment, the recruits were greeted to that same familiar welcoming sound blaring over the public address system; the bugle call that sounded the end of the day’s workout and to get ready for mealtime. Save for Firebolt and Razzle Dazzle having to take another go-round on the Dizzatron, the rest of the group had been spared a brain-scrambling this afternoon.

“Whew! Made it!”  Cloudy Sky was never so glad to hear that sound.  “I really wasn’t looking forward to that machine again.”

“Me neither, though I’m sure we’ll have to make up for it tomorrow at some point.” Nightflight was sure of it. 

“All I want to do is get cleaned up and something in my belly.  Don’t forget, we’re joining my friend and some of the other cadets for some fun tonight in the rec room.”  Firebolt watched all her friends’ faces perk up, reminding them of what was in store a little later on.  

“Some downtime will make all of us more relaxed and ready for tomorrow’s trials.” Brightstar was looking forward to it already, needing her mind to think about something else other than flight routines and the dynamics of formation flight.

“Race ya’ to the mess hall!  Last one there’s got molting feathers!”  Cloudy Sky playfully challenged them all as he took off, leaving his group behind. Silverstream, Firebolt and Razzle Dazzle took off after him, accepting the challenge.

“Oh, you’re not going to outfly me, Cloudy!”  Firebolt took off right after him with Razzle Dazzle not far behind.

“Ie-e-e! Let’s go!”  She happily joined in, squealing in delight at the chance to race two friends.  The rest followed on hoof and talons, preferring not to appear like children running for supper when called. A hot meal and a quick shower was what they need to forget today and just relax for a few hours tonight. It would be a welcome break.
> Ch.14 Wonderbolt Trials Pt.10 (raw&unedited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Boy, am I starving!” Cloudy Sky was first of the BFFs to get on the chow line, beating his friends, “I thought I wasn’t going to make it.” He rubbed his tummy again, the grumble getting louder. Firebolt and some of his friends joined him on the chow line while the rest went to grab a table for them and hold their seats. 

“Me too. Today was some workout for us all.” Firebolt was thinking of how good this was going to be; a hot meal and then showing the layer of grime from off her body. Getting to hang out with Gale and some of her other friends was going to be great and she could not wait to introduce Silverstream to them. She’d not seen some of them for almost two years as they had been accepted into the academy before her.

Brightstar was right behind Firebolt.  “I just want to relax for a while and not think about anything. Hey,” she turned around to Silverstream to get her attention away from talking to Firestrike behind her.

“What is it?” Silverstream now faced her, wondering what Brightstar was going to ask.

“I don’t know if you noticed, Silverstream, but there were a couple of cadets during our time out on the field who were watching you today. I watched them pointing you out when you were flying with Stormbringer; they seemed to be watching you pretty intensely.”

“Me? Why?” Silverstream seemed genuinely surprised. 

“Oh, c’mon, Silver.” Remember what I told you the other day? This place runs a whole lot on ego and competition for bragging rights. You set a new record right at the start. Pardon my expression but, that’s a pretty big ‘feather to have in your cap’, so to speak. You got every pony’s attention here.”  Firebolt was sure of it. Nothing could have made a bigger splash, except by getting every pony’s attention immediately by breaking a Wonderbolt record.  

The door to the cafeteria swung open at last, one of the kitchen staff standing by the door to keep it open. “Good evening, every pony. Supper is served.” He proudly announced to them as the recruits and cadets filed in, each picking up a tray from off the pile just to the right of the serving line. Three cooks behind the counter stood ready to serve them, posed with spoon ready next to each steam tray.

As Cloudy Sky came to stand in front of the first server, Silverstream suddenly noticed how both Firebolt and Brightstar seem to be frowning, as if repulsed by something. They watched their friend being served.

“Potatoes, recruit?” The cook scooped up a spoonful, ready.

“You bet!” Cloudy Sky eagerly held out his tray, grinning.

Thud!  The spoonful of powered mashed potatoes hit his tray like a rock, lumpy and dry looking. Cloudy Sky looked disappointingly down at the mound, moving down to the next station.

“Green beans or succotash?” The second server opened two more steam trays as Cloudy Sky stood in front of the station. He opted for the safe choice.

“Green beans, please.”  Cloudy Sky watched as the large spoonful of bleached, soggy and overcooked greens plopped onto his tray, looking rather unappetizing, the once crisp and flavorful vegetables now swam in a green hazy swill, most of the nutrients boiled out. Further disappointed, Cloudy Sky continued on down the counter, hoping something was going to be better looking to eat.

Silverstream was served right along with Firebolt and Brightstar but she didn’t understand why her friends seemed to not like what they had on their trays.  

“What’s wrong?  Isn’t this good to eat?”  She gave Brightstar a small nudge, getting her friend’s attention away from the tray.

“We’ll know in just a few seconds. There’s a particular smell in the air Firebolt and I recall all too well and we hope it’s not being served.”  Brightstar tried not think about it, wishing it was not so. The hippogriff grew more confused by the way her friend cryptically spoke, as if foretelling something terrible about to happen. 

They were standing right next to Cloudy Sky with the eyes of every recruit and cadet on line was now on the last steam tray, all having taken what they could and awaited the final reveal.  The third cook was about to pull the cover off the last steam tray, ready to surprise them.

“And for the entrée today…”   

Firebolt could smell it already, her eyes looking up to the heavens, hoping against hope it wasn’t what she feared. Brightstar saw how much Firebolt dreaded what was coming next.

“Here it comes…” Firebolt moaned.

“Steady.” Brightstar placed a forehoof on Firebolt’s withers, wanting her friend to feel supported.  The cook removed the lid from the tray and a great cloud of steam billowed up, momentarily blocking everyone’s view.

“We have creamed, minced vegetables on whole wheat toast.” He stated rather proudly, sure it was going to go over well. Instead, he was beset by a throng of groaning and whining recruits and cadets, upset at the offering.  The hippogriff was not ready for Firebolt’s reaction to hearing what the entrée was.  

“I didn’t hear you say that, because it’s not possible!  It’s cruel and indecent for that dreck to still be served at the academy! The ancient treaty of the Three Pony Tribes expressly prohibits the killing of our taste buds!” Firebolt started to rant.

“Firebolt, take it easy.” Brightstar had to reel in her friend’s disgust, she not being the only one here who didn’t like what was offered for tonight. 

“Sorry about that, every pony.”  The head cook tried to quell the noise coming from the hungry student body.  “The menu changes for tomorrows meet and greet left no time for us to make anything fancy.”  He scooped out and placed the first slices of the meal onto Cloudy Sky’s tray, trying to smile in the face of such revolt.

Silverstream watched as both Firebolt and Brightstar took a serving as well, neither of her pony friends smiling when looking down at their trays.  She took her portion from the cook as well, not suspecting if she was to like or hate what she was looking at.  “But what is this?”

“It’s called ‘crap on a cracker’, Silverstream! Every pony in the academy and in service hates this for supper!”  Firebolt had this meal only a few times and hated each time she had to choke down the concoction.  The two mares were already looking down to the end of the counter for the sliced fruit and tossed salad in order to make the meal somewhat more bearable.

Exiting the serving line, Cloudy Sky and his friends wound their way out of the cafeteria and into the mess hall, spotting their friends sitting together and holding their seats.  Gallus took notice in the difference in the expressions of his friends; how Firebolt and Brightstar seemed glum while Silverstream was her perky self and Cloudy Sky looked worried about something. Some of his friends were looking down at their trays of food, staring. 

“What’s that?”  He got up from his seat to follow after Solar Flare and some other recruits to the chow line.

“It’s creamed, minced vegetables on wheat toast.”  Cloudy Sky looked up from his food, trying to smile at what he had been served and wondering how he was going to eat this mélange. But then, his stomach answered that question for him, growling loudly. Hunger outweighed appearance of his food and he would get it down. At least he had a pile of strawberries for desert, making the meal not a total loss.

“It looks like-”

“Crap!” Firebolt loudly cut off Gallus’ verbal observation. Plopping down in her seat next to Silverstream and Cloudy Sky and across from Brightstar, she was still looking down at her meal, quite sullen. 

“Well, I wasn’t going to go quite that far but that’s a pretty good description of it.” Gallus chuckled a little and watched his friends try eating the meal. Silverstream didn’t seem to mind it at all.

“It’s not bad, really.” She found it very different than anything she’d eaten before, but it was rather bland.  She added a few shakes from the salt and pepper shakers helping improving the taste but not by much.

Gallus caught up with Cloudjumper and Solar Flare on the chow line, talking to Gale Force in front of them.  As he stepped into the cafeteria and picked up a tray for his food, the loud complaints and griping was still in the air.

“Are they trying to kill us?” A male voice carried over the grumbling of the recruits and cadets.  “This is, like, the third time this month!”

“I don’t need to do the Canterlot two-step after another bout of this again! Gads, I’m just recovered from the last time.” Another male voice complained.

“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Gallus reached for a second dinner roll as he got to the first serving station and took his serving of mashed potatoes, then the succotash and then his portion of the creamed vegetable mixture that now oozed into a muddy puddle in one compartment of his meal tray.  Like his pony friends, he helped himself to an extra portion of fresh fruit and green salad at the end of the serving line, all of them silently hoping it would add up enough to fill their stomachs.

Gale gave a resigned sigh as they head back to the table.  “You just get a little tired of it after a while.  The school likes to splurge for the fancy meet and greet events and whatnot while we get the ‘old standby’ meal.”

Together again, the BFFs sat and tried to consume their evening’s meal without choking on it. After only a few mouthfuls, Gallus already hated it. It was so bland; he could taste what was left of the now-soggy vegetables mixing in the runny cream sauce. The over-toasted sliced wheat bread crumbled into nothing at his first chomping down, doing little to sop up the runniness of his meal.

Gale, pausing in her conversation with Firebolt, came to Gallus’ rescue. “Here,” she got his attention, “you’re going to need these.”

Zip! Zip! Zip!

She expertly slid the condiment bottles down the tabletop, missing every dinner tray along the way.  The trio of bottles came to stop almost right in front of where he sat.  He gave all three of them a shake over his meal and took a small taste of the concoction, finding it more palatable now. He sopped up some of it with a bread roll while looking over one of the labels of what he’d just added, trying to parse out the pronunciation.

“Parr… meee… sea… ann cheese?”

Cloudjumper almost choked on his food when hearing Gallus butcher the word, alternating between laughing and coughing from it.

“It’s pronounced parmesan cheese.”  Gale could not help but laugh, amused by the mispronunciation.  Some of his pony friends were grinning and trying not to laugh as well. It was just the right kind of laugh and distraction the BFFs needed after the day they had.

For Silverstream, it was another chance to talk with Gale about the academy and what it was like living here. Gallus got to share more with his friends about Griffonstone and about the griffons that lived there. Having spent more time with his friends and growing closer, he could let his guard down and tell them more about his homeland. Cloudy Sky got a small appreciative pat on the back from Gallus for knowing and retelling his friends about Blue Moon Festival and a small snippet or two of obscure Griffonstone history that Gallus never suspected any pony would have any knowledge of. 

Still, the conversations among the friends returned to the trials and what they were anticipating for tomorrow. Gale and Cloudjumper explained to the recruits what one of the exercises and drilling regiments were for and why it was so important.

“You mean, it’s not just about training for show flying?” Silverstream had first assumed that all there was to being here at the academy but even during the classroom time she’d spent in she already knew the answer.

“I’ll give you an example.” Cloudjumper began, “do you have any idea why the instructors strapped all those weights to your bodies and had you fly the course like they did?”

“Sure. It was a test of strength. It was who could go the furthest.” Gallus thought it an easy enough question to answer.

“Well, yes, in a way it was.  That exercise is actually called ‘the downed flyer scenario’.” Gale could tell by the looks she was getting from both volunteers that they didn’t know what she was talking about.  “Use your imaginations for a minute or two.  Let’s say Princess Celestia sent you and Silverstream on some super important but very dangerous mission as Wonderbolts.  But during the mission one of you got injured so badly you couldn’t fly on. But it’s vital both of you get to your destination. What do you do?”

“Um-m-m-m….” Silverstream found herself momentarily dumbfounded by the proposed situation.  She had never imagined finding herself in such a circumstance and having to make such life and death decisions.

“I… I guess we’d carry our partner on until we got to where we needed to go, right?” Gallus figured the right answer would be the toughest one. Both cadets nodded.

“That’s correct.  One of the tenants of the Wonderbolts is ‘no flyer left behind’, ever. We never leave a fellow flyer behind enemy lines.” Cloudjumper emphasized its importance and getting Gallus’ attention to his point.   

“But, you’re training to become Wonderbolt Reservists. I mean, you’re going to be performing shows and flight demonstrations all across the country.  It’s not like the princesses are going to call the Wonderbolts into action if there is danger.” Silverstream did not see the connection of the training to get into the academy and the explanation Gale gave. 

“Since Lord Tirek’s reappearance and defeat by Princess Twilight as well the Storm King’s failed invasion attempt of Equestria, our head stallion of the academy as well as the Board of Trustees have made it a priority to reintroduce classes and training to get us ready for active duty. Most of the armed forces that serve Canterlot were caught flat-hoofed and the new protocols implemented here and at other academies are to prevent that.”

“We want to serve our country, Gallus. It’s a small price to pay for the opportunities we get for being the ‘best of the best’ at what we do.  Even after we graduate, there’s no guarantee we will be selected to join the Wonderbolt team. But with what we learn in school, we can get good careers with the Weather Bureau and become weather scientists, environmental specialists, or any other profession we’ve studied. It’s not the end but just another phase.” Cloudjumper filled in some of the answers they must have about the academy by the volunteer’s expressions in reaction.  

Could or would any griffon do that? Could I do that? Gallus wondered about the idea of fighting and dying for his homeland, or Equestria for that matter, to protect it from danger. These ponies were willing to do that; service to their country for the opportunity of a better life afterwards in return.  

Gallus recalled all of what he’d learned about flying so far; what he’d seen in the academy’s classroom building and all he’d experienced since being here. The friendships, the camaraderie with the BFFs and making new cadet friends while attending this event made an impression on him. A thought entered his mind that he never, ever could conceived of having, not in his wildest moment of imagination.

Maybe I could get in after all; if I complete the trials and ask Professor Dash about it. Maybe she could speak to Commander Spitfire for me. Part of him wanted to dismiss it as silly childish fantasizing and that it was dumb to think about it.  But a part of him could not squelch the idea of just asking about it. What harm could it be? Gallus had started to wonder more recently about what he would do once he was done with the School of Friendship. He couldn’t stay there forever. Did he really want to go back to Griffonstone?  

The conversations turned towards lighter topics with Gale reminding them of the air-hockey tournament tonight. She, Cloudjumper and some other cadets had been planning this and were looking forward to some friendly competition from the recruits, especially Nightflight.  One or two of Gale’s classmates were looking for a rematch after the shellacking he’d given them the previous night.  

“Meh, I’m not worried.”  Nightflight was as confident as ever, seemingly relaxed and looking forward to the challenge.  His eyes kept falling on the lovely palomino mare sitting at the table opposite them he had been paired with this afternoon, shyly smiling back at him. Solar Flare waved a foreleg in front of Nightflight’s eyes, seeing his friend clearly thunderstruck for her and oblivious to his attempts to get his attention.

“You know, you could’ve just invited her to sit with us.” He gave him a little shake, interrupting Nightflight’s thoughts and suddenly bringing him back to the table’s conversation.

“Wha? Oh, you were saying something, Solar?”  

Firebolt jumped in, seeing him so distracted by the mare.  “Not his style. He likes a challenge.”

“To quote the slogan: getting there is half the fun.’” Nightflight returned a confident smile back at the girl seated across the way, clearly having more than just air-hockey on his mind.

“The student rec room won’t be open for another hour so if you want, you can hang out with us in the Quad and meet some other cadets.” Both Cloudjumper and Gale were curious what some of their classmates would say when meeting a hippogriff and a griffon here on campus.  Both cadets had been keeping watch on the recruit scoreboard, reading how these two were consistently scoring and placing in the top third of the recruit class, generating a buzz among the student body by it.

“I want to take a quick shower before going. I don’t want to stink like a used gym sock around some cadets during the tournament.” Cloudy Sky had more than just the air-hockey game and making a good impression to some of the cadets on his mind too.  He was hoping to find Harmony Blues in attendance, believing he’d make a good impression on her when they’d been teamed up this afternoon. Now he could ‘bump’ into her and get the chance to ask if she would be his lead pony partner for the remainder of the trials. He didn’t want to be partnered with Wind Raider or any of his crew.

“Me too; if I’m going to kick some pony tail playing air-hockey, I want to do it in style.” Nightflight would make himself look dashing and debonair for Amber Haze. They’d worked well together and had built up a rapport. He invited her along to watch tonight him take on all comers.

“I’d like not to offend the crowd before they see me play.” Solar Flare joked with them, unsure how he’d fare tonight against the others. Like a few of his friends here, he’d never played the game before. It sounded simple enough to play by Nightflight’s explanation, but was incredibly fast paced. 

“You guys go clean yourselves up and meet us out in the Quad when you’re ready.” Cloudjumper had some plans for the two volunteers. “C’mon you two,” he made a sideways nod of his head to indicate Silverstream and Gallus, “let Gale and me introduce some of our friends to you.”

The BFF’s split up with the two volunteers along with Brightstar and Razzle Dazzle going with Gale and Cloudjumper outside towards the center of the campus while Cloudy Sky, Nightflight, Solar Flare and Firebolt returned to the barracks for a shower before rejoining their friends.

Silverstream marveled at the buildings as she walked along with Gale Force and Brightstar. The tall, white marble columns and long but shallow staircase, flanked at the bottom by two statues of pegisus ponies in flight, leading up to classroom building was a most awe inspiring vision, rivaling any structure in Mount Aris for its grandeur.  

Silverstream clicked off some more pictures while following, trying to preserve as much of this on film as possible and eager to show her friends at the School of Friendship when she got back, sure to impress them with where she had been. 

Here we go,” Gale led them to a spot of green grass, under a shady oak tree where they could sit. A number of other cadets were sitting about in the open green space, some talking quietly among friends while others were reading or working on homework while a few others played some games to pass the time. Silverstream looked around the student body that were out here, most not taking an interest in she or Gallus at the moment but one of them came over to where they were sitting to join in. 

“It’s very nice to meet you.  I’m Stardust; Stardust Glitter.” An ice-blue mare with a silvery-white mane and tail was the first to break the ice, smiling warmly and eager to meet these ‘mysterious’ creatures that had come to academy for this year’s trials.

“Uh, wait, did you say your name was…” He thought he was imagining it; it sounded like she said ‘Starlight Glimmer’, the student counselor of the School of Friendship. “…Starlight Glimmer?”

The mare shook her head a little, correcting him. “No, it’s Stardust Glitter. Why?” She seemed a bit perplexed by his confusion but he waved it away with a stupid grin and a small chuckle.

“Nevermind. It’s nothing.”  

Silverstream understood exactly why Gallus had asked, finding the similarity of names catching her ears as well. Gale made the introduction of the recruits to her.

“I heard some of the guys in class saying you set a new record on the Dizzatron the other day. Is it really true?” Stardust thought every pony was exaggerating just to hype this year’s trials. 

“Um, yes, I guess I kinda did.” Silverstream acted rather innocent about it, not wanting to brag or make a big deal of it.  She was humbled by the attention she’d garnered from both the mares and stallions of this school. The cadets all seemed to be rather friendly, if a little nervous being around her and Gallus.

“I’m sorry,” she tried not to look too embarrassed as she stumbled to ask some basic questions about Silverstream and her homeland, “I’ve… never met a griffon or hippogriff before.  I never knew how great a flyer you both are.” Stardust shyly admitted.

“Don’t worry, Stardust, Silverstream and I won’t hold it against you.” Gallus got a small laugh from the cadets and his friends for his quick wit and soft ribbing of Stardust’s lack of ‘social contact’ outside her species. His easygoing attitude made the other pony students feel at ease. Two stallions came over to talk, seeing Cloudjumper and Gale sitting with the recruits.

“Hey, Cloudjumper, you’re hangin’ around ‘griffs now? What’s up with that?” One of the stallions called out to their classmate as he approached.  Cloudjumper already saw the grim look on Gallus’ face when being called that. He quickly corrected his classmate.

“Hey, dude, that’s not cool to call these volunteers that.”  The two stallions seemed a bit surprised to hear Cloudjumper sound off like that. The cadets stopped in front of the gathered group, wondering about these two volunteers who had somehow gotten into the trials. Stardust, too, looked uncomfortable from the way her fellow classmate just spoke to Silverstream and Gallus.

“Okay, okay, no need to get all bent out of shape over it.” One of them casually dismissed the slight with a wave of his wing, thinking it no big deal. Cloudjumper made formal introductions, hoping it would help smooth over any momentary bad vibes.

“This is Star Striker, he’s in my Flight Dynamics class and the other is Lunar Eclipse, he’s head of Student Council and activities director.” 

“It’s very nice to make your acquaintance Star Striker; Lunar Eclipse.” Silverstream spoke in her most polite voice, hoping it would help make the first meeting go smoother, not wanting to make a fuss about their vernacular. 

“Likewise, I’m sure.”  Lunar Eclipse was cordial, not ruffling any feathers by saying something obnoxious like Star Striker had. Cloudjumper invited them to sit with them and get to know the two volunteers.  They do, and both Silverstream and Gallus get more familiar with these new acquaintances. 

Gallus noticed that, unlike the others he’d met so far, these cadets each wore a green bandana around their neck with a small gold pin in the shape of a blazing sun coming over the horizon, clipping the knot at the center.  Quite naturally, Gallus assumed it must be because they belonged to some club or organization on campus.

The recruits learned that both stallions were, respectively, third and fourth year students here and had rooms on the same floor of the student dormitory. They and Cloudjumper were responsible for a good amount of pranking that went on in the dorm on the unsuspecting newbies and first-year students.

Listening to some of their pranking escapades and learning more about school life here from all four cadets made a deeper impression on Gallus. The school had made the elements of honestly and loyalty into a foundational pillar of principles for a way of life. The camaraderie and ‘horsing around’ the cadets shared between them stirred something inside the griffon.

This wasn’t like the friendships he had with Smolder, Sandbar, Yona or Ocellus back at the School of Friendship.  This was a different kind of friendship that these cadets shared.  The fact that each one could very well have the other’s life in their hooves one day in the future on the field of combat is what it made it so unique for Gallus to appreciate and respect. Each of them was going to have to trust and rely on the other to save their lives if necessary.  He found it to be such a stark contrast to everything he knew and understood about his fellow griffons back in Griffonstone. They would never act so selfless like that; it was every griffon for themselves. 

“Nice talking with you. We’ll catch up with you folks later.”  Star Striker nudged Lunar Eclipse, getting him to look over across the Quad, to where some of the girls from their Weather Analysis class were sitting and looking their way, smiling. He didn’t need a second hint. The two cadets made a beeline for the girls. Spotting one of her girlfriends exiting the student dormitory and looking about for some pony, Stardust Glitter waved to her, getting the mare’s attention.

“Aurora, over here!” 

The cadet mare trotted over to where the group sat, spotting her classmate sitting among some recruits and the two ‘rumored’ volunteers. She was eager to meet them after hearing of Silverstream’s incredible achievement.

“Hey, every pony! How’s it goin’?” She was bright and chipper, aglow with a natural friendliness that was hard to miss. She was only momentarily surprised to see Silverstream and Gallus sitting with Gale Force, doing a brief double take when seeing them up close unexpectedly.

“Well well! Look who’s hangin’ out in the Quad like they’re students here?” Her voice had a just a tint of friendly sarcasm to it, not expecting to see either of them so casually hanging out with some cadets.  She noted how little attention the other cadets paid the two volunteers, as if most thought it were no big deal they were here.  

“Siverstream, Gallus, I’d like to introduce my lab partner for Cloud Composition class and head of the academy’s Booster Club; Aroura Light.”  Aroura eagerly extended a wing in greeting and both Silverstream and Gallus return the gesture.

“I’m glad to see both of you here.  I’ve wondered for the longest time when either a griffon or hippogriff was going to show up for the trials.” It was much like Firebolt had told Silverstream; she’d gotten the attention of the student body and made a serious impression. Silverstream didn’t set out to be a record breaker for the trials but the instance did produce the result she’d desired since arriving here. She had the opportunity to increase her circle of friends. Even more importantly, it was in a place outside the School of Friendship and outside her homeland of Mount Aris. They treated her like any other recruit attending the trials and being a hippogriff didn’t seem to make a difference.

Only a minute or two after the introduction, Cloudy Sky and the rest of the BFF’s arrived to rejoin the group, cleaned up and ready to have a good time. Firebolt caught wind of the cologne Cloudy Sky was wearing, noting the lively step in his trot.  She smiled to herself, thinking of how he was going to ‘run into’ Harmony Blues by chance. She thought it sweet he had a case of ‘colt’s heart’ for an older girl. Together, the collection of recruits and cadets made their way across the campus to the second classroom building, to where the student rec room was located on the ground floor.  

They chatted about this or that, walking up to the entrance, only to be stopped by a large male cadet who was minding the door.

“Hold up,” he thrust out a forelimb to prevent any of them from entering, looking down his muzzle at the clutch of recruits, “just who are these jokers?” Cloudjumper slid up to the head of the line, next to Gale, and put on the charm.

“It’s cool, bro, they’re friends of mine.” Cloudjumper made sure to look over to the two volunteers to give them a slick smile before returning his attention to the door monitor.  “Recruits are allowed in with escorts; Gale and I will vouch for them.”  For only a second or two, Silverstream thought they weren’t going to be allowed in because they weren’t ponies, believing their kind was not welcome. But the stallion stepped aside and let them pass, watching the ten of them file in and kept an eye on both Silverstream and Gallus as they walked in.  He caught Gale’s foreleg as she was about to enter.

“We don’t want any trouble from those two, hear me?” He warned.  Gale Force only rolled her eyes a little at him as she pulled her foreleg free and entered.

“Take it easy, Lightning Flash, they’re not going to cause a problem. Geez, you let this job go too much to your head.”

Both Silverstream and Gallus were delighted to see the place buzzing with activity from the gathered cadets and recruits. Some of their fellow recruits recognized them from this afternoon’s practice and waved to them.  Cloudy Sky quickly scanned the room.  As he had suspected, off in one sitting area was the girl he wanted to see.  

Harmony Blues was sitting with another mare recruit and two mare cadets from the academy, sharing in a funny moment as he watched them all laugh from one of the cadet’s comments.  

“I’ll see you guys in a bit.”  Cloudy Sky made a beeline for Harmony Blues and her group, ready for action.  Nightflight was grinning at the sight of Cloudy Sky’s determination and plucky nature to follow after a mare that had caught his eye.  The two of them had talked about girls and dating stuff while getting ready back in the barracks.  Nightflight offered some advice and a quick splash of cologne that was sure to help his friend out.  Cloudy Sky wanted all the help he could get; he wanted to get Harmony Blues’ attention. Now Cloudy Sky had his chance and he was going for it.

Amber Haze sauntered over to the group, locking eyes with Nightflight as she approached, pretty oblivious to his friends around him who she was here to see.  Nightflight made the formal introduction but it was unnecessary by this point.  The BFF’s had all seen the two of them during today’s workout carrying on like a first time love-struck filly and colt. She pulled gently at his foreleg, wanting him to join her alone at a corner table and away from every pony else.

“Let’s find somewhere to sit.”  Gale led the way to a cluster of comfortable couches, away from the nosier bar area to where they could relax and chat together.

“Hey, where’d they go?”  Firebolt turned her body around, surveilling the busy room to see their group had now lost a couple more members as Solar Flare and Gallus followed Cloudjumper with two stallion cadets to a table while making introductions all the while.

Gale sat down on the comfy sofa with Stardust next to her.  “Let the guys have some alone time, Firebolt,” she waved for Razzle Dazzle, Brightstar and Silverstream to sit down on the sofa across from her. “I’m sure Aroura would like to hear how your partner set a new record on the Dizzatron, beating the record set by Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh, that! I was just lucky.” Silverstream was modest in her bearing, wishing to blend in more, not stand out.  

Aroura Light gasped a little, delighted.  “So it’s true!  There’s been a whole bunch of rumors going around the school about a hippogriff and a griffon attempting for real to get in to the academy!  That was an amazing flight you did from what I hear. How does it feel to hold a record already?  Pretty awesome, I’ll bet.” She now looked over at Firebolt. “And she’s your lead pony? Who would’ve guessed, right?” Stardust Glitter knew Firebolt from some of the flight competitions they’d participated in together. She’d seen Firebolt win and place in the top three many times. If Firebolt was regulated to wing pony, then Silverstream must be an amazing flyer, she reasoned. 

“I’m the luckiest pony in the group to have her as my lead. Together, we are going to pass every trial and totally blow away the instructors with what we’ve got planned.” Firebolt looked up at Silverstream, seated to her left, smiling happily. “It’ll be historic moment; for us both and the academy for sure. The first pony and hippogriff pair to be accepted.” 

“She’s an amazing flyer! She’s sure to make the grade to get in; I’m sure all of us are going to!”  Razzle Dazzle was sure and confident that they would all pass the trials. They were a team working together. What could go wrong? 

“Don’t get your hopes up too high there, missy,” Aurora had to bring Razzle Dazzle back down to the ground, “Not every pony gets in, even ones that go the distance of the trials and aren’t eliminated by the instructors.  It’s still a competition to be accepted.”

“Silverstream has the skills to make the grade; I know the instructors see it too.” Brightstar was right there to champion her friend and classroom lecture partner, seeing how these cadet mares were so interested in her performance during the trials.

“I’ll bet your folks back home at Mount Aris are thrilled that you’re trying out for the academy, right? Got any brothers or sisters cheering you on back at home?”  Stardust knew how exciting the trials could be for both families and recruits. When she was selected, her family threw her a party to celebrate. It was a tremendously thrilling thing to be selected to try out.  

Silverstream tugged a little at her mane-like crest, feeling a bit nervous at having to make another confession. “Well, actually,” she stopped fidgeting momentarily, “my parents don’t know… I’m here. Gallus and I were asked to participate by Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash.”  That was something none of them were expecting to hear.

“Wait, what?” Gale Force did a double take, surprised by Silverstream again.

“Your mom and dad don’t know you’re trying out for the academy?” Stardust Glitter turned to her friends, trying to make sense of this.

“So, you’re not really trying out for the academy?” Aurora Light thought she had her story straight, but apparently not so.

“You don’t want to get in to the academy with us, Silverstream?” Razzle Dazzle could have sworn she heard Silverstream and Gallus talking about wanting to get in, just like the rest of them.

“Wait, let me try to explain,” Silverstream went about telling the three cadet mares how she and Gallus got into this situation and why they were taking part in the trials.  The cadet mares were stunned; all this effort just so she and her griffon friend could hand in a report back at the School of Friendship! Gale Force and Stardust Glitter had to ask more.

“But, don’t you want to be accepted in to the academy? I mean,” Gale took a quick look over at her classmates before continuing, “all kidding aside, most of the student body has been keeping tabs on you and your friend’s scoring. You two aren’t slouches. We see you’re keeping right up with the trial’s program.”

“What do your classmates say about she and a griffon trying out?  Do they like the idea of them being here on campus?” Brightstar had seen some of the looks given to both Silverstream and Gallus by a small number of cadets when gathered in the mess hall at meal times. Other than Wind Raider’s troublesome small cluster in the recruit group, it was confined to variety of looks from the cadets; from indifferent or curious to mute hostility.  But still, she was glad to learn how a segment of the cadet students were taking an interest in Silverstream and Gallus’ progress.

“Well,” Stardust didn’t want to rain on the bright moment but felt honesty was necessary, “there’s some grumblings from a few cadets; mostly from those who served in the Resistance against the Storm King’s invasion.”  She now looked right at Silverstream. “They still kinda blame your kind for what happened. They think all hippogriffs are cowards; griffons for that matter too.”

It wasn’t so much as an awkward silence that suddenly fell between them, but more of a sad silence, holding them in a moment of self-reflection about the topic in general. No pony enjoyed talking about the Three Days War, or the various theories of how it could have been avoided. Silverstream understood perfectly what the ponies around her must be thinking about. Firebolt was the first to break the silence. 

“It’s long in the past, Silver. You weren’t responsible for decisions made centuries ago and I don’t believe any pony here holds it against you. Right, girls?” She had been the first to stand with Silverstream against Wind Raider’s bullying. She looked among her fellow flyers seated around her, seeing them think about what to say. 

“I guess not. That was over three hundred years ago. I mean, I don’t think any pony could have imagined what would or could happen in the future.” Gale tried to be logical about it, believing it not possible to have foreseen future events and forecast if or when the Storm King’s return might have been. Her fellow cadets seemed to accept the conclusion, unable to come up with any logical one of their own.

“You have a point. It’s not like Silverstream or her family is personally responsible for what happened. That was a really long time ago.  Silverstream’s just a citizen of her country, like we ponies are of Equestria, and not part of the ruling family or anything like that. They were the one’s responsible for what happened after all.” Stardust Glitter had no idea how wrong she was at that moment and Silverstream didn’t try to correct her.  

Silverstream tried to smile and not let the comment dig at her too much, though she and the other BFFs knew the truth. To her credit, Silverstream kept her cool at being the center of attention of these new acquaintances, fielding their inquisitive natured questions. Getting to tell them more about her homeland and Hippogriff life there was a much more pleasant distraction, moving the conversation away from politics and any desire to rehash the past.

Meanwhile, Gallus made a good first impression with his hosts by retelling a quick tale or two of daring flight from his times back home in Griffonstone. Cloudjumper’s fellow cadets liked the griffon’s laidback confidence with his storytelling. In turn, the cadets clue him in to something about life here at the academy, broadening Gallus’ understanding of the academy and its function.

“…and that’s more or less what we study here for the first two semesters or so.  It’s a lot of class time and study of flight and some practice, but it gets more interesting the second year.” 

Star Striker showed the griffon his class schedule that had been taped to the inside of the loose-leaf binder the pony cadet had in his pack.  Some of the courses listed on Star Striker’s schedule reminded Gallus of the names on the classroom doors he’d seen the other day in the main classroom building.

Gallus felt an elbow gently bumping his left foreleg and get his attention away from the binder to look up. Solar Flare made a quick sideways nod.

“Hey, look who showed up.”  The sandy stallion eyed the new attendants warily, hoping there wouldn’t be any problems.

“Great!” Gallus grumbled while rolling his eyes, his spirit dampened some by the appearance of Wind Raider and Stormbringer.  They did not spot him or Solar Flare as both ponies quickly moved off to one side of the room to meet up with some of the recruits.  The three cadets followed to where Gallus and Solar Flare were looking, pick out the two recruits Gallus had watched come in to the rec room.  They recognized one of them.

“What’s up with you guys?”  Lunar Eclipse sensed some kind of issues between the two guests he was with and the two recruits standing on the other side of the room.

“He doesn’t take kindly to hippogriffs and griffons being here.”  Solar Flare made it as polite sounding as he could.

“Which one?  The smoky-white pony with the cropped mane or the blue fella with the goofy looking long bangs?” Star Striker was not sure whom they were speaking of.

“I’m talking about the one with the cropped mane and bent expression on his face.”  Gallus’ description was pretty accurate, but only for a second or two as Wind Raider and his compadre were all smiles as they were greeted warmly by some cadets who came over from the bar, inviting them to have a drink.  

“You mean Wind Raider?”  Lunar Eclipse surprised both recruits by naming the pony in question.

“He’s a top contender for the academy; a legacy. I and a few other guys from flight dynamics class got out early and went to watch him and some of you recruits from under the bleachers.” Star Striker continued to surprise the recruits with his knowledge of who was who among the recruits.

“You were watching us?”  Solar Flare wondered if they had seen the terrible showcase he and Gallus had done on their first try.

“We’re not supposed to; the teachers and instructors think it puts undue pressure on you newbies if we’re out there watching all the time.  They think we’re spying on you.”  Lunar Eclipse had seen some other classmates get busted for committing the infraction but most just got off with little more than a verbal warning.

=====*****=====

“What happened to you two today?” Misty Dawn saw the good size band-aid on Wind Raider’s muzzle, just below his left eye and Stormbringer’s left wing was cradled in a nurse’s sling and two ice packs. 

“We got paired up with the two freak-beaks and were nearly taken out. That clueless hippogriff ended up crashing me into a tree and I bruised my wing. I’ll be okay for tomorrow with a few ice packs on it tonight.”  Stormbringer glowered at the hippogriff from across the room, seeing sit with the cadets who were admiring the half-breed like they were.

“That griffon almost took out my eye while crossing my flightpath and took a swipe right for me; the dirty bone-cruncher! He could have blinded me or torn my eye right from the socket!  The Wonderbolt instructors let him off scot-free, for cryin’out loud!”  Wind Raider’s eyes burned with hate for Gallus for what he did, glaring at the griffon volunteer from where he sat.

“That’s terrible! How could the school administrators allow this to happen?” Misty Dawn gasped, shocked by the news, wondering if these strangers to the academy were here to cause trouble. As a proud third-year cadet, she was concerned for the integrity and outstanding stature of her school among those in Equestria. Hearing of these two creature’s troubling interactions with two pony recruits was upsetting and an affront. The griffon and hippogriff should not be allowed to be here if they acted so reprehensible.

“They’re allowed to be here?  How? Who recruited them to begin with? This is way out of line for the academy.” Platinum Star had thought it nothing but scuttlebutt around the school when hearing of a hippogriff and a griffon here at the trials. For him, seeing is believing. Platinum Star would not fall for stupid rumormongering that often ended up being nothing when looked into. But he’d seen these two fly this afternoon, sneaking out a back exit of the classroom building close to field where the trials were being held to watch the new recruits.  He had watched both Silverstream and Gallus fly, finding what he thought to be rumors to actually be true for once. 

Two other recruits who were housed in the barracks with Wind Raider and Stormbringer walked passed their table, heading for the juice bar.

“Hey,” the two recruits paused at Wind Raider getting their attention, “you guys don’t actually believe those two half-breeds should be allowed in to the academy, do you?  Their kind doesn’t belong here.”

Blue Streak looked over at the three cadets and Solar Flare talking with Gallus, all of them seemingly getting along quite well and having a good time together.  He had been partnered with Solar Flare this afternoon for the second flight and had briefly met both Silverstream and Gallus.  

“Quite honestly, I couldn’t say.  They seem nice enough; I really don’t see an issue with it.”

Whirlwind had the opportunity to be partnered with Brightstar for his second flight and, as well, had spoken a few friendly words to Gallus in greeting.  From across the room he saw Silverstream sitting with her recruit friends along with some mares from the academy, all chatting together just fine and having a good time.

“Eh, they’re alright being here.” He reached up to scratch the back of his head with a forehoof, not really looking at Wind Raider right then when answering, as if to avoid eye contact. “Silverstream did set a new record on the Dizzatron, after all, and that’s not a small feat to accomplish.”

“What?!” You guys can’t be serious.” Wind Raider couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  “You’re okay with have the likes of them here?  At our academy?” 

Both Blue Streak and Whirlwind gave him strangled looks, as if unsure if they herd him correctly about what he was saying. “You know,” Blue Streak thought of a way to make clear his feelings about Wind Raider’s attitude.  “This is still a competition to be accepted in to the academy, Wind Raider. No pony is guaranteed entrance, and that includes both non-pony flyers and legacy ponies as well. Maybe you should spend less time thinking about keeping other flyers out of the academy and more about whether or not you’re going to get in.”

The two recruits moved on towards the juice bar, leaving Wind Raider and his friends behind.

“I can’t believe they actually approve of having them here.” Stormbringer was not expecting the two outsiders to have made such an impression on the other recruits, let alone on some of the cadets.

A yellow stallion cadet came walking around to all the various clumps of ponies lounging in the rec room, carrying a clipboard and getting some of the flyers to sign up for the night’s air-hockey tournament.

“C’mon, every pony, sign right up for our exciting tournament!  Tonight, we’re having teams to compete against each other. Grand prize is a gift card for the Rift Café in downtown Cloudsdale for each winning team member.” He got more to signup, making sure to get Firebolt and the rest of the BFF’s to play. A number of other recruits signed up, along with a small number of cadets, eager for a distraction from the day’s schoolwork and flight trials.  

“Alright, who’s going to be on what team?”  The cadet in charge corralled the contenders into a corner of the room, getting them sorted and names together on one team.

Most of them didn’t care, but Firebolt made sure to keep Nightflight off the same team as Amber Haze.  The two had spent the whole time at a small table in a quiet corner making googly eyes at one another.  Every pony in the room gave them space, not wanting to be the awkward one in the room who stared at them. Along with Nightflight, she and Silverstream chose Razzle Dazzle as their fourth, wanting to show their newest member to the BFF’s a good time together as friends.

“Good luck.”  Cloudy Sky didn’t want to be on a different team than Harmony Blues, watching her join Amber Haze, Rainsong and Windflower for an ‘all mare’ team.  He hadn’t yet asked her to be his partner for tomorrow’s flight trial.  They’d made a good showing, even if his routine was the most basic of any in their group and way below her skill level of flight.  He was sure with her as his lead pony that as long as they did his four selected moves perfectly, he could pass.

Gale Force and Stardust joined Star Striker and Lunar Eclipse as the cadet team for tonight’s tournament.  Star Striker desired revenge on Nightflight for his three losses to the recruit the previous night.  For the cadet, this was personal.  Being routed by a recruit in front of his classmates was pretty bad. He’d been on the receiving end of some razzing from them all day and was looking forward to this rematch.

Solar Flare and Gallus quickly recruited Brightstar to their team, hearing at lunchtime today of how she’d surprised the other cadets with her air-hockey prowess from the previous night.  Cloudy Sky joined them, wanting to be on the team with three of his friends.

“Who else should we get?”  Stormbringer scanned the room, seeing most of the ponies signed up choosing their teams.  Sunglow spotted one recruit still looking for a team.

“How about Crimson Sky over there?  He’s not teamed up yet.”  She pointed to the red pegisus pony talking with Whirlwind and Sunstrike by the bar. 

“Leave that to me.” Wind Raider was sure he could get either one to join them for the tournament.  He walked over to his fellow recruits, a pleasant enough smile on his face. “Hey you guys,” he got their attention, “anyone of you want to join us?  We need a fourth for our team and I’m sure you’d want to be on our team, right? The best recruit team.”

Wind Raider tried to turn on the charm, playing up to any pony’s desire to been seen as great and impressive while here at the trials.  But Sunstrike and Whirlwind had already had a taste of Wind Raider’s attitude towards the two students from Princess Twilight’s school.  They really didn’t want anything to do with him.

“Eh, maybe later this week, Wind Raider.  We just want to relax after today’s workout. Sorry.”  Whirlwind was as polite as he could bear to be with his fellow flyer, not wanting to get involved with whatever petty plan of showing off Wind Raider had in mind.  Sunstrike felt the same way.

“Yeah, we’re just kinda tired and want to take it easy, Wind Raider.  You know how it is.”  He tried to put on a smile, trying to deflect any ill will Wind Raider might display for having turned down his offer.  Wind Raider scowled ever so slightly, picking up on their vibes of not wanting to be around him for some reason. But his spirits picked up when hearing Crimson Sky’s response.

“I’ll join you. I’d like the chance to take on either one of those two volunteers in a game; see if they can handle the spotlight and pressure.” Crimson Sky watched as several more recruits and cadets entered the rec room, looking about to see if the games had started.  Wind Raider was pleased to have his team set now.

“Great! C’mon, let’s get some practice time in before we start.”  Wind Raider led his team over to where several other recruits were already playing. Nightflight was helping out by giving instructions for those who wanted to try taking him on.  After three other recruits tried and got beat, Gallus stepped up to the table. 

“It’s pretty basic, Gallus.  All you have to do is keep your eyes on the puck and try to get it passed me and into the goal.”  Nightflight took it easily at first, not wanting to turn off his griffon friend from the game by beating up on him too much.  Gallus got into the swing of it pretty quickly, deftly moving the paddle around and mimicking some of his friend’s techniques for controlling the game’s pace.  

  Ka-ching!  Went the little bell on the goal as Gallus managed to get the plastic puck passed Nightflight’s paddle and score a goal.  The griffon was all smiles at having done that.

“Not bad… not bad…” Nightflight conceded, watching Gallus enjoy this game and get a few pats on the back from their friends. Nightflight decided to have some fun with him.

“Best watch out, Gallus.  I’m not going to go easy on you this time.” Nightflight made sure the griffon was paying attention for this was going to be quick.

“I’m ready!”  Gallus grasped the paddle firmly in his right talons, eyes narrowing with his focus on Nightflight’s paddle.  

Clack! Clack! Clickity-clack! Clack! Clack!  The puck went back and forth across the playing field with blinding speed, both players not taking their eyes off the red blur that was the game puck.

“Go, Gallus, go!”  Razzle Dazzle cheered for him, clapping her front hooves together, seeing him keep pace with Nightflight. It went on for a good twenty seconds, neither one able to score.

“Hey, he’s good at this!”  Solar Flare was pleasantly surprised by this turn.  His flight partner had some natural skill playing air-hockey. He thought his team might have a real chance to win tonight. 

Clack! Clack Clackety clack! Clack! The plastic puck still zoomed back and forth as the many pairs of eyes watched on with intense interest.

Ca-chung! Ding! The bell rang again as Nightflight scored a goal against his friend, making it two goals to one goal and the griffon’s defeat.

“That’s game!”  Nightflight watched as Gallus gracefully bowed out, passing the paddle off to Silverstream.  “Good game, Gallus.  You’re a natural.” He was gracious in his winning, looking forward to squaring off with Gallus again.

All of his friends gave him congratulations, seeing him do as well as he had.  Silverstream was next, a little unsure she if she was going to be any good at this game.

“Just try, Silverstream.  I’ll take it easy like I did with Gallus. I just want you to get familiar with the action.”  Nightflight saw her nervousness at being the center of attention, so many eyes on her now.

Everyone was standing so much closer now, looking right at her, their whole attention focused on her actions.  All that time spent with her aunt, the queen, in the court of Seaquestria was once again put to good use as Silverstream could put on that calm & regal air about her, successfully cloaking any nervousness with a confident exterior to show the world.

Cautiously at first, she tried to counter the passes of Nightflight, starting off easy.  After only a minute or so of trying, she felt her confidence growing, countering the increasingly quick shots of her opponent.  Her eyes were glued to the puck, watching and anticipating where she thought it would go.

 Cling! She didn’t see it whiz past her paddle, the puck’s blazing speed totally passing by her in a blink of an eye. Startled, she looked up, Nightflight was grinning back at her.

“You picked this up just as quickly as Gallus. Keep going.” He waited for her to pick up the puck and try again.

Solar Flare and the others watched her try again, this time it was only a few seconds before the next scoring.

Cling!  The bell on Nightflight’s goal went off, Silverstream managing to get one past him and surprising herself in the process. Several other recruits and cadets ‘oohed’ at the ability of the hippogriff to score against the ‘unbeatable’ recruit. She blushed a little from the attention.

It didn’t last long as Nightflight delivered back to back goals against her, despite her best efforts to keep up.  Nightflight passed the paddle off to another player, warmed up enough and ready for the tournament.

He stepped around the table to congratulate Silverstream.  “You’re going to do fine. We’re on the same team so I can give pointers if you need.” She was thankful to be on the same team. More recruits joined in trying the game for fun while the others signed in for the tournament grouped together with their teammates, getting the running orders set. Both Gallus and Silverstream grew more comfortable among the recruits and cadets, joining in with the fun and feeling like just another one of them.  Silverstream clicked off some pictures, then passed the camera around to have more pictures taken when Cloudy Sky and Harmony Blues joined them for a short spell. It was great fun for them all, creating memories to last a lifetime. 

While talking to some of the cadets who’d watched him take on Nightflight, Gallus caught out of the corner of one eye Cloudjumper talking with another two or three cadets, quickly jotting down something in a small spiral-bound notepad he carried after showing them the clipboard of teams that were participating.  Curious, he excused himself and went over to investigate, picking up on a bit of conversation Cloudjumper was in the middle of.

“…and that’s ten on the cadet team by two points in the final round. Gotcha.”  Cloudjumper was too busy to spot Gallus walking up to him, his focus totally on the notepad in front of him and writing down what he needed to.  The pencil clenched in his teeth moved furiously quick to get it all written down, then flipped it out of his mouth and expertly caught it in between two right wingtip feathers in a flash.  

“Hey, good luck tonight.”  The sea-green cadet stallion wearing glasses offered happily to Gallus as he walked passed, finished with Cloudjumper.

“Hey, Cloudjumper.”  Gallus got his attention away from whatever he was busy writing down. The cadet seems startled to find Gallus in front of him unexpectedly.

“Oh, hey, Gallus. What’s up?”  He smiled innocently as he deftly slipped the notepad into a shirt pocket, all while looking right at Gallus and keeping his acquaintance’s attention focused. 

“I was just wondering if you were in charge of the tournament; you have the sign-in clipboard.”  Gallus glanced down to see the item in question tucked under Cloudjumper’s left wing.

“Oh, uh, yeah… yeah something like that, you could say.”  Cloudjumper’s voice cracked ever so slightly, a touch of nervousness creeping in. Another cadet came over to see Cloudjumper.

“Hey, you got me down for fifteen on Wind Raider’s team, right?  I’ll cover the spread you gave for his team winning.”

Cloudjumper’s weak smile just added more guilt to his exposure.  “Yeah, uh… I got you covered for that.  I’ll check in with you later.”  Cloudjumper felt the griffon’s eyes devour him, mentally taking him apart as he was scrutinized. There was an awkward silence between the recruit and third-year cadet, making both of them a little uncomfortable. 

“Are… are you… taking bets on the tournament?” The words came slowly from Gallus’ mouth, not sure what was up with Cloudjumper or how to even broach this situation.  Cloudjumper decided to fess up, figuring he could schmooze his way with an ‘outsider’ like Gallus. What danger was there?

“Hey, be cool Gallus, be cool.  A recruit needs a little hustle on-the-side nowadays. Besides, how do you think Aurora Light and the rest of the booster club comes up with the gold bits to afford the air-hockey table? School bake sales, or something? I mean, this doesn’t bother you, does it?” Cloudjumper tried to reverse the awkward moment around, as if to test Gallus’s willingness to keep quiet about what he’d seen.

Gallus understood where Cloudjumper was coming from, he could relate; every griffon from Griffonstone loved hording gold bits and he knew very well what it was like to be without money.

“No no, nothing like that. I was just… you know, curious.  I mean, griffons like having a big pile of gold bits too; nothing wrong with that.” He wanted Cloudjumper not to worry.  He wasn’t going to snitch; he wasn’t that kind of friend. He tried something different.

“So,” Gallus’ eyes suddenly took on a mischievous glint, narrowing them as looked right in Cloudjumper’s eyes, “what odds did you give me for trouncing everyone else tonight? You did give me at least two points, right? I’d be insulted if you didn’t, you know!”

It had the right effect, Cloudjumper visibly relaxed when hearing Gallus was not uptight about this, clearing up any misunderstanding and going with the flow of events.

“Don’t worry about that, my friend.  Just concentrate on playing your best and let ol’ Cloudjumper take care of the rest.” 

The other cadet in charge of running the tournament came over to retrieve the clipboard in order to get started. He seemed to be stepping in the middle of some conversation his partner and the new volunteer flyer were having.

“Hey, everything cool over here?”  He looked back and forth between Gallus and Cloudjumper, checking to see if there was a problem.  Gallus spoke up first.

“Yeah, we’re cool over here.”  He made sure to convey the right feeling; he wasn’t going to say anything.  Cloudjumper was as relaxed as could be.

“It’s all good.”  Cloudjumper passed the clipboard back to his partner, sure now the evening’s plans were not going to go awry.  The yellow cadet stallion looked again at both Cloudjumper and Gallus, making sure there wasn’t some misunderstanding hanging in the air.  

“Okay then, let’s get this show started.”  The cadet corralled Gallus and Cloudjumper back to the area where the teams stood by the table.

“Alright, every pony, let’s get the tournament started. Get with your teams and let’s pair off.”  The cadet in charge waved his clipboard over his head, trying to get everyone’s attention and coral them over to the air-hockey table. The four teams of recruits and the one team of cadets each gathered around a small table, separating them from the crowd of observers, each group quickly coming up with funny or quirky names for their ad-hoc teams.  

“First teams up are the Sky Queens and Strike Force.” The stallion in charge called out to the groups, causing eight of them to move towards the table.

“Hey, that’s Harmony Blues’ team and Wind Raider’s.” Cloudy Sky pointed out to his friends who watched as the two teams each moving to a different end of the hockey table.

“Both teams have your running orders set? There’s no changes allowed after the first puck drops on the table. Is that clear?” Everyone nodded, ready to play. “Let’s get started; first players up.”

Silverstream and her friends watched as Wind Raider almost single-handedly defeated the Sky Queens, quickly scoring goals against the team of Amber Haze, Rainsong, Windflower and Morning Glow in rapid succession.  The pace was fast and furious. Some of the recruits cheered on one player or another, but for the most part the room was quiet and only applauding when a goal was scored.

“Hey, c’mon Wind Raider, give another pony a chance to play, will ya?” Stormbringer mocked, as he and the others waited for their turns. Finally the moment came.

 Ca-chunk. Ding! The bell on Wind Raider’s goal went off as Harmony Blues managed to save her team from a shutout, finally getting a goal. Wind Raider seemed amused by it. Several others in the gathering let an auditable moan and or sigh of relief, not wanting to see such lopsided playing between teams. Stormbringer was up next for his team.

“You serve.”  Harmony Blues’ naturally melodic voice was a low growl of frustration. Her team was not making a good showing.

“Hope you fly better than you play this game, Harmony.”  Sunglow piped in, getting Harmony Blues to glance over at the pink mare for only a split second. It was all Stormbringer needed.  

Thawack! Ca-clink! Ding!  The bell on Harmony Blues’ goal rang out, ending her game. Harmony gasped slightly from the sudden change of fortune, the end coming so fast she was momentarily stunned. Sunglow cackled with glee at Harmony Blues’ team was defeated by her team, irritating Harmony Blues as she looked over at the pink mare that seemed quite proud of herself.

“Winner; team Strike Force!” The ringleader jotted down the scores and what team on his records.  “Next two teams up are the High Flyers and the Silver & Scarab Experience.” 

Rainsong led Harmony Blues away from the table, the team leader was still scowling from how quickly she and her team were defeated and pissed off at Sunglow for distracting her like that.

“C’mon, we’ll win the next match.” Rainsong tried to sound upbeat, in spite of the sting of loss when replaying how fast Wind Raider had scored in her mind. The four mares switched places with Silverstream and her team with Harmony Blues leading them on to the juice bar for a drink and a chance to cool off while watching the others play.

The tournament continued to play out. Nightflight provided some excitement with a three-in-a-row scoring, staging a major comeback for his team.  Only to get bested in the end by Gallus who banked the winning shot off the sideboard and past Nightflight.  The small crowd got into the action and cheered as Gallus saved his team from defeat. Firebolt, Silverstream and their teammates were gracious in defeat, congratulating him on the good game.  

Both Firebolt and Harmony Blues’ teams faced each other, seeing who would face the cadet team first.  Firebolt was expecting Nightflight to play as hard as he had against the other teams.  But when he had to face Amber Haze as his opponent, the two of them couldn’t have cared less about air hockey at that moment.  Each of them was barely shuffling the puck back and forth across the table.  This lasted all of one minute or so before the complaints started.

“Oh, come on, Nightflight! Just play, already!” Firebolt quickly got fed up with the two of them as others began to grumble aloud.

“Hey, fun flyers, get a room would ya?!” Someone shouted from the crowd, watching the two players making googley eyes at each other instead of playing to win. 

“Will you just put your puck in her goal already?” A stallion from the crowd complained loudly, causing a brief ripple of snickering and restrained laughter at the sexual connotation the statement implied if thought about in a certain way. Both Amber Haze and Nightflight were snickering at the comment too.  

“Finish this, for sweet Celestia’s sake!”  Another pony shouted out, fed up after over three minutes of this nonsense.  Nightflight finally made a lazy bank a shot past Amber Haze, ending the match.  Many of the flyers gathered gave a loud grunt with the match finally ending.

The ring leader of the tournament announced the next match.  “Next match up; Strike Force versus High Flyers.”  The two teams moved to opposite ends of the hockey table with Wind Raider and Solar Flare set to square off first.  Gallus missed Cloudjumper sideling up to him, catching him momentarily off guard.

“Hey, that was a great first game! You’ve gotten every pony’s interest and we’re excited to see how you guys do against these next guys.” Cloudjumper’s closeness startled the griffon, almost whispering in his ear and speaking softly so as to not alert any pony else nearby hear what he had to say.

“Oh, what? Right. I guess we had luck on our side. Wind Raider and his team are tough.”  Gallus quickly gathered his thoughts, trying not to appear rattled by the cadet’s sudden close appearance.

“Keep it up. It’s making a difference, trust me. We can’t wait to see you face off against that friend of yours; Silverstreak.”  

“You mean Silverstream, right?” Gallus corrected.  Cloudjumper had met Silverstream a few times already and he forgot her name? 

Cloudjumper made a rolling hoof gesture in the air and rolled his eyes a little, side-stepping his forgetfulness. “Yeah… yeah… whatever her name is. It looks like that match will most likely happen after the two teams play after your match.”  He gave Gallus a brief pat on the back and a somewhat patronizing smile, pleased with the show’s progress.  “We’re all looking forward to it.  Let’s make it a good one.” 

“C’mon Gallus, we’re up.”  Solar Flare called to him from the crowd, getting the griffon’s attention away from the cadet that was now heading into the crowd.  He kept looking back over his shoulder as he rejoined his team, watching Cloudjumper move through the throng of pony bodies, pausing to talk to one and then move on to another.  He got his mind back to the task at hand, looking now at his teammates. 

“We’re doing the same running order?”  Gallus glanced at their faces.

“Check!”  Solar Flare was psyched for this match. Of all his friends, he’d been making sure to keep the peace between Gallus and Wind Raider.  Now here was a chance to give back some.

“Let’s take’em down!”  Brightstar got into the moment, urging them on to dish out a little vengeance and humiliation.

“Right! No mercy!”  Gallus joined in with the mood, desiring a chance to smite Wind Raider, even if it was just a game of air hockey. 

“May the best team win!”  Leave it to Cloudy Sky to never put another pony down or not want every pony to feel supported.

“First players up!”  The call went out and both Solar Flare and Wind Raider stepped up to the table, each taking up the hockey paddle with one hoof. They glared at one another, the simmering tension just below the surface of the calm and passive expressions.

“You serve.”  Solar Flare was handed the puck. Wind Raider stood ready.

Solar Flare did his best, trying to score against Wind Raider and strike the first blow. The audience was hushed as they watched the puck go zinging back and forth on the table.

Clack! Clack Clickity-clack! Clack!  The puck was a red blur to watch as eyes darted left and right to keep pace with the action.  The action lasted almost two solid minutes, neither player successful at scoring until…

Ding!

“Yes!”  Wind Raider roared, finally besting Solar Flare.  The sandy-yellow stallion scowled and accepted the loss, wincing slightly from his defeat.  He stepped away from the table, relinquishing the paddle to Gallus.

“Step right up, freak-beak! I’m going to enjoy taking you down!”  Wind Raider saw how terse the griffon’s expression got with the taunting. Gallus stole a quick look over at his teammates, seeing the silent looks of encouragement. He was not going to get whooped.

“You serve.”  Wind Raider was given the puck and the black maned pony wasted no time. Gallus was on the defense, just trying to keep his eyes on the puck and keep the paddle close to the goal. Wind Raider changed tactics, pausing between each attempt by dribbling the puck against the side rail of the table as he contemplated his next strike.

Click… click… click… Wind Raider kept his opponent guessing and the crowd on the tips of their hooves for the next shot, seeing Gallus’ intense look of concentration.  The griffon’s eyes were locked on the puck, slowly moving his paddle back and forth in front of his goal to protect it.

“C’mon, Gallus!” Brightstar ever-so-softly encouraged through her clenched teeth, urging him to hold on for the right moment.

“Get’em Wind Raider!” Stormbringer shook a forehoof in the air, wanting to see the moment of the kill.

The whole room was nearly silent with the sound of Wind Raider dribbling the puck as the only sound carrying over the whole room. Wind Raider had only paused his attack for a few seconds to assess his opponent’s apparent skill at defense.  

“Hey, Gallus, what’s that?”  A female voice suddenly asked, breaking his concentration for a second.

“What?  Where?”  He took his eyes off the puck, suddenly looking up to where he thought the voice had come from.  It was Sunglow, Wind Raider’s teammate, smirking as she got him to look at her and not the table.  Wind Raider made a move.

Click-clack!  The puck rebounded off the left side rail, heading on target.  Somehow, from the corner of his eye, Gallus spotted the red blur of the puck moving on the table, bouncing off the rail.  Moving like greased lighting, with the paddle in his left forelimb talons, Gallus shot the puck back at Wind Raider, rebounding the puck off the side rail like Wind Raider had pitched it.

Click-clack! Ding!  

“What the-?!” Wind Raider jumped back a little, absolutely stunned at what just happened. For that fact, neither could Gallus.

“No-o-o!”  Sunglow cried out, her little trick of distracting players backfiring on her this time and caused her team’s leader to be defeated.  

The griffon had no idea how he scored that goal, the moment was over in the blink of an eye.  He must have ricocheted the shot right back so fast that Wind Raider simply wasn’t not ready.

A wave of applause and cheers ripped through the audience and awaiting teams, all surprised and excited for the match as Gallus defeated Wind Raider.

“How the…?”  Stormbringer couldn’t believe it, his jaw almost hitting the floor with shock. It happened so quick, he wasn’t sure if it actually happened.  

“Way to go, Gallus!”  Solar Flare was laughing and thumping his forehooves on the floor, loving the look of bent anger on Wind Raider’s face.  

“Great shot!  I’m glad you took him out.  Now we can take down the rest of his team too.”  Brightstar knew from the previous night’s experience of playing that Wind Raider was going to be tough to beat, having lost to him in a one-on-one match.

“Oh crap!  He’s going to be so mad the next time he’s up to play.”  Cloudy Sky could only guess how irate Wind Raider must be right then from getting bested by Gallus like he did.

Firebolt and Silverstream clapped their hooves and talons in celebration.  They, too, liked seeing Gallus get one-up on Wind Raider for some of the harassing he had to put up with over the past few days.

“Wait, what happened?  Gallus beat Wind Raider in the match?”  Razzle Dazzle was expertly balancing several drinks on each of her wings, deftly twisting and shimmying through the gathering of pony bodies to bring her and her friends some refreshments.

“Too bad; you missed it! It was the shot to end all shots!”  Firebolt was gleeful at the sight of Wind Raider grumbling and simmering in anger like he was, looking like the chump. She relieved Razzle Dazzle of the fizzy cherry drinks by first placing them on the nearby table and then handing them out to their friends.  

“Oh-h-h-h… fiddlesticks!”  Razzle Dazzle swore aloud, having missed the moment by getting stuck on line at the juice bar.  

Stormbringer was up next, swearing he was going to take down Gallus. But in his anger and growing desperation to score against Gallus, it opened him up for a sneaky bank shot that slipped behind his paddle and into the goal.

“Ar-r-r-r-gh!” The cyan blue stallion stomped his hooves his frustration, losing to the griffon in half the time of Wind Raider’s match. Another cheer erupted from the watching recruits and cadets, all of them getting into the action. Cloudy Sky and Firebolt gave Gallus a quick high-low congratulatory wing slap.  

Gallus’ blood was up; he was in the zone and could feel the wind of luck at his back. His teammates gave some of the same ribbing back to Wind Raider’s group, the tension rising between the two teams.

Sunglow was last up and lasted longer than Stormbringer had but she, too, acted desperate to score a goal and kept the puck flailing across the table without much thought of attack. Gallus waited, playing defense tightly and letting Sunglow have at him with her wild attempts of scoring. She sent the puck off the table several times during the match, smacking the puck with abandon in hopes of getting it past her opponent.  When he got possession of the puck, he slowed the game pace, studying how she played.  He saw how to exploit her loose defense; she would allow her paddle position to drift forward too much from her goal during her aggressive playing, leaving her vulnerable.

Click! Click! Click! Gallus slowly dribbled the puck against the side of the playing field, looking right at Sunglow and keeping her guessing. With lightning fast speed, Gallus smacked the puck to the opposite side, banking the shot past her when she overreached on the table, trying to intercept the shot. 

  Ca-click! Ding! It was three in a row and Gallus couldn’t believe his luck.  He’d taken down those three annoying ponies and put his team two points ahead.  

“Hope you fly better than you play this game, Sunglow.”  Cloudy Sky actually got to zing her, using the same line she’d used with Harmony Blues.  It was his way of getting back at her for the mean way she’d talked to him out on the field the other day.

“Who said that?! You miserable little-” Sunglow scanned the crowd repeatedly, glowering while unable to spot who it was among those chattering nearby.  She stomped her way off to be next to Wind Raider and Stormbringer, grumbling. Firebolt and Silverstream were gleeful at seeing the three bigmouths finally silenced for a while, bested by Gallus.

With his friends urging him on, he took on Crimson Sky but the patient and crafty pony slid the puck past Gallus and scored a goal, bringing the game to within one point.  Defeated but not disappointed, he rejoined his friends to quietly watch Brightstar take on Crimson Sky. She was more than adequate at taking on her opponent, the match lasting less than a minute to get the puck past Crimson Sky’s defense and win the hard fought game. There were cheers once more for the victors, the crowd invested in the matches and delighted by the outcomes.

Cloudjumper, again, congratulated Gallus for the good game and keeping every pony there captivated by the action. There was one more game to go, that between Harmony Blues’ Sky Queens team and Firebolt’s Silver & Scarab Experience team.  It was another spirited game that came down to the last two players of each team, Razzle Dazzle and Windflower, to face off.  Both mares played like the amateurs they were as each of them missed numerous times the chance to score.  The two mares seemed more interested in having fun and making a new friend then necessarily winning a game so when Windflower scored, Razzle Dazzle was the first to congratulate Windflower for winning, displaying exceptional sportsponyship.

There was a break in the action before the cadet team took on the four recruit teams. Stardust Glitter and Aurora Light came over to talk with Silverstream and Firebolt while Star Striker came over to talk with Gallus and Solar Flare, a big smile on his face.

“That was a great game, you two.  You had us all on edge right up to the last goal.” Star Striker gave kudos to the recruits, enjoying his time here and watching. Gallus, and most of the recruit group for that matter, had won over a number of the cadets attending with a great night’s entertainment for them all.   

“Hey, Solar, maybe you and one of your friends could shang out and chillax up in my room after tomorrow’s trials? I’d give me a chance to introduce my flight team to you.”  Cloudjumper was eager to have friend away from his recruit clique and hang out for a while to catch up. It’d been two years since he’d a chance to talk with his friend again, entering the academy while Solar Flare was still attending secondary school and participating in local flight competitions. 

It was against the rules for recruits to be inside the cadet dormitory, but students like Cloudjumper knew how to get guest ponies in and out without security seeing them. Solar Flare suspected Cloudjumper would try to do it again. He’d risked getting in trouble by taking Gallus and Cloudy Sky through the school the other afternoon.  

Solar Flare thought of bringing Gallus with him, believing some of his friends from back home who were now enrolled in the academy would be cool with it. Maybe Gallus could get a letter of recommendation from them and have it submitted to Commander Spitfire before the end of the trials. 

Like Brightstar and Firebolt, he believed Gallus should try to get accepted. Completing the trials should prove it to everyone. He could always request a transfer; Solar Flare didn’t believe the Princess of Friendship would object to it.  If his friend had a potential future with the Wonderbolts, or at the very least have the opportunity to get in to this school, then surely she would see this as a good thing and allow him to go. 

Silverstream clicked off more pictures on the camera she’d brought along tonight, quickly changing the film roll again and passing it around to them all so as to be photographed with her friends with even a few cadets getting in some of the pictures.  The cadet mares were starting to warm up to Silverstream, overcoming their inhibitions of unfamiliarity with hippogriffs and able to talk with her more.  Silverstream thought it was wonderful to break through at last, finding these ponies to be nervous but curious about her and politely ask a question about this or that about where she was from or what her family was like or what Mount Aris was like. 

Firebolt gave her hippogriff friend a little poke with an elbow in the ribs at one point, getting Silverstream’s attention momentarily away from who she was talking to, looking at the hippogriff with a satisfied if not smug smile of silently saying ‘I told you so about this place’ with a little raise of her eyebrows.  

Silverstream got the message. Her friend had been right. But the break from playing wasn’t long and they soon resumed the matches.

Gale Force and her cadet team strode confidently up to the table, standing behind her at one end and awaiting the first team. She had watched recruit teams play and mentally sorted out which players would give her team problems and which they wouldn’t have to be concerned with.  Only Nightflight on Firebolt’s team might prove to be troublesome to beat. He’d trounced most of his opponents and Gale did not want to look bad in front of her friends by getting beaten by mere recruits.

“Alright newbies,” Gale announced, “you’ve had fun time, now it’s time for us to show you who really knows how to play this game.”

“Don’t get up on your victory pedestal just yet, missy. We’ll see just who’s the better player soon enough.” Nightflight was right there to bring her down, getting a quick hoofbump from Firebolt for not letting Gale mouth off trying to intimidate Firebolt’s team members. Amber Haze watched from close by, excited to see how many in a row Nightflight could defeat in a row and amusing the reactions of his vanquished opponents.

All the other recruit teams gathered at opposing end of the table and awaited their turn against Gale’s team of cadets.  The Gale’s academy team made quick work of Harmony Blues’ team, shutting them out scoreless with Lunar Eclipse doing the honors. The cadets did not exalt in vanquishing the Sky Queens team, instead offering consolatory words in good sportsponyship. 

Silverstream couldn’t help but feel under pressure as the first one up to play for her team to face off against Gale Force.  Silverstream could tell by Gale’s expression that she wasn’t going to go easy on her. The cadet mare had her game face on and he focus was on her now.  

The hippogriff gave her best try, managing to save herself from defeat with some deft deflecting of the shots taken by Gale, reacting in the nick of time to save her team. But Gale still managed put the puck past Silverstream in less than two minutes. 

“Good shot.” The hippogriff was gracious in defeat but it stung none the less and she clenched her beak tight as silently walked away from the table to wait with her team.

“Thanks.” Gale was on a roll; two for two in her knocking off opponents. She wanted to face Nightflight; eager for the rematch.  After the solid thumping he’d given her a couple of her friends the other night, they were looking forward to the chance.  

“Sorry about that.”  Silverstream sighed, having not performed as well as she hoped, and already putting them behind in points. Firebolt was next, undeterred by the pressure to face one of her old friends. She headed up to the table, ready.  

“Forget it.  Wish me luck; I’ll give her everything I got.” Firebolt would do her best to not have her team be shut out like Harmony Blues’ team had.  

Firebolt stood ready, hoof on the paddle glaring back at Gale, now frenemies on the game table. The two mares stared hard at one another, each ready to take the other down.

“You serve.”  Gale’s words were tainted with just a touch of condescension, ever so slightly goading Firebolt.  She knew her friend well; knew what got her ‘going’ when in competition. 

Firebolt calmly took up the puck and placed in front of her paddle, focusing on her opponent, focusing that ‘inner burn’ as she liked to call it, on her objective.

Clack! Clack! Clicky-Clack! The puck flew back and forth across the table with the action lasting at least a solid minute that was fast and furious, only to then creep along as each side paused their attacks, slowly dribbling the puck against the side of the rail, strategizing. They calculated each shot they took, trying to slip the puck past the defender’s paddle. The room fell quiet as they watched, only to be broken by an intermittent shout of encouragement for one of the players. The game was stretching to an unbelievable four minutes without a goal. Every pair of eyes in the room was watching.

  Ca-click! Click! Ding! 

“Damn it!”  Gale swore out loud, moving too slowly to deflect that last shot from Firebolt.

“Oh, yeah! Wahoo!” Firebolt got the lucky shot she needed, banking the puck off the right rail and just past Gale’s paddle. The crowd responded with loud hoof-stomps and cheers and whistles, the match being spirited and intense.

“Oh, darn! I don’t get another chance to show her up in front of her friends.”  Nightflight pretended to be disappointed, making light of his missed opportunity.

“Oh, cram it, newbie!” Gale whipped her head around, recognizing who said it.  She had heard the low breathed comment only meant to be heard by his ‘lovey dovey’ mare admirer whom he stood next to. She rejoined Lunar Eclipse and the rest of her team to watch, annoyed at being shown up.

Stardust Glitter was up next for the cadets, no doubt the weak member of the team as Firebolt put her on the defense very quickly. Stardust could not keep up with the pace Firebolt pushed at. Ironically, the end came for Firebolt when the puck deflected off her paddle and went backwards into her goal by mistake.  Despite Firebolt’s objections, it was counted against them and she had to relinquish the padded to Nightflight.

“Smooth move there, Firebolt.”  Gale smirked at her old friend, losing to Stardust in the most amateurish way. 

But, in turn, Nightflight took down Stardust fairly quickly, faking her out with where he was going to send the puck only to shoot it directly at the goal, rocketing past her like a missile. 

“Oh, I’m no good at this game!” Stardust kicked at the floor as she walked away, feeling terrible for folding under pressure like that. Getting good test grades and performing with her flight group was easy. But standing alone in the spotlight in one-on-one settings with every pony watching? Now that was hard for her.  

Star Striker strode up to the table, taking Stardust Glitter’s place and was ready to take on this scourge of air hockey. It was tied two goals each and it was up to Nightflight to carry them to victory.  But Star Striker played ‘tight’ with his defense by keeping his paddle close to the goal, frustrating Nightflight and drawing out the match to over three minutes. It only took one mistake for Star Striker to pounce, seeing the opening in Nightflight’s defense and getting the puck into the goal.

“Oh, ho!  The unbeatable pony just got beat!” Gale was first to take a jab at Nightflight from among the cadets but he let it roll right off him.

“Well, at least I didn’t lose three games in a row in solo competition last night, unlike some pony I know.” He casually reminded Gale of her defeats the previous night. It made him grin when remembering the angry scowls Gale wore when he shut her out scoreless two out of the three games they played. 

That just left Razzle Dazzle to try and stop the cadet team. It wasn’t even an effort on Star Striker’s part to get the win. She was clearly not concerned with the game and was more fascinated by the way both the puck and her paddle seamed to magically ‘float’ on the table’s surface.  He toyed with her for a few seconds of play, then sent the puck home and won for his team.

Firebolt was not pleased to lose, even if it was to a friend in a game.  She wanted her group to be impressive but came off looking mediocre at best.  It was then between the High Flyers and the cadets for the third game.  Cloudy Sky was first up for his team and had to face Lunar Eclipse from the cadet team.  Try as he did, Cloudy Sky lasted all of maybe twenty seconds before Lunar Eclipse slipped the puck past him and defeated Cloudy Sky. An inglorious first showing that he hoped would not be repeated.

Solar Flare was next for the cadet to take on but the recruit could keep pace with the action but mistakenly let his paddle position move too far forward on the table and it allowed Lunar Eclipse to bank the puck off the rail and score, much to Solar Flare’s annoyance of forgetting what to do.

Now it was Gallus to face the flaxen-blonde Stallion with a zero-to-two score working against him. The match lasted a good two minutes with neither one being too aggressive.  Gallus had to be patient for his moment after the puck went off the table and out of play after deflecting the shots from Lunar Eclipse.  

He held his own against Lunar Eclipse as the cadet started to get annoyed and more aggressive at not being able score against Gallus.  The match was stretching out longer than he anticipated. Gallus played very tight and waited for his chance to score.  Cleverly drawing Lunar Eclipse forward with short side-rebounding shots, he sped the puck by Lunar Eclipse and into his goal. A brief cheer erupted from the group watching on from the great action on the table.  The stallion reluctantly stepped away, relinquishing the paddle to his classmate.

“Don’t underestimate him; he’s quick.” Lunar Eclipse warned. It was now Gale Force’s turn and she was sure she could to take him down.  

She wasted no time, quickly going on the offence as it was her turn to serve. 

Clack! Clack Clickety-Clack! Clack! She kept up her assault, keeping Gallus on the defense. The puck zinged back and forth across the tabletop.

“You think you can take me down, griffon? You haven’t got a chance! Why don’t you just put the paddle down and spare yourself the embarrassment!” She tried to psyche him out some, seeing if he could handle a bit of trash talk.  It didn’t work.

“Spare me your overblown ego!”  The griffon quoted, recalling something Councilor Starlight Glimmer had once said during a friendship lesson she was explaining.  He kept up with the action, his eyes never taken off the puck. Once more, the game went several minutes long, neither one being too aggressive or defensive.  

Gale launched the puck right at him, causing Gallus to instinctively react with a swipe at the puck, sending it slapping of the left rail of the table with blinding speed. Then…

Click-clack! Ding!

“What?!” To Gale’s shock, he’d scored, her face showing the disbelief. Gallus felt elated by the streak of luck he was on tonight, his teammates crowded around him, giving wing-slaps and hoof-bumps at his fantastic work of catching them up. If he wanted to make an impression on the cadets, he was, maybe just not quite the greatest one to make by defeating three of them.

Cloudjumper slithered his way around the room, speaking softly to some of his friends, writing down yet more in his pocket notepad, quite pleased with the action in the room.  He had an idea of how having both Gallus and Silverstream playing tonight would pick up interest, but this was working better then he could have ever hoped. 

It was now left to Stardust Glitter to be the teams anchor and bring home a victory if she could. This team of recruits was giving the cadets a hard time and she didn’t want a repeat of the previous night when facing Nightflight during singles playing. The recruits only needed one more goal, the cadets needed two.

Stardust tried to take her time and be more calculating with her aiming but it just made her defensive in reaction to Gallus’ quick shots rather than keeping up with him. Gallus, feeling confident, let his paddle position drift slightly forward, anticipating Stardust’s return. His mistimed the puck coming at him with the strike from his paddle and inadvertently knocked the puck back and into his own goal.  

Some of the cadets jeered Gallus for the mistake, causing the score to be tired again. 

“It doesn’t count! It was an accident!”  Firebolt tried to argue to the cadet in charge but to no avail.

“Sorry, but a goal is a goal.  It was an error; yes. But the score still stands.” The rebuke came from pony with the signup clipboard and rulebook, holding his ground, in spite of Firebolt’s fuming right then.

“Give it up, Firebolt.”  Brightstar pulled at her friend’s foreleg, getting the pony with the flame-like mane to settle down.  Firebolt was getting a little too into the competition for the evening. This was supposed to be fun. It was now Brightstar’s turn at the table, relieving Gallus of the paddle.

Once more the room came to cheers and applause as the yellow mare had made a come-from-behind victory possible.  

All of Brightstar’s friends were cheering for her, wanting her to make the miracle showing and the upset comeback. It was now three-to-two in their favor and Star Striker had the dubious honor of saving face of getting beat by the recruit team.  It was the single longest game they’d watched as both players tried again and again to score.  A very lucky shot from Star Striker got past Brightstar and once again tied the score up. 

Gallus watched as Cloudy Sky nervously walked up to the game table, the game now riding on his success of scoring.  Even with him and Solar Flare urging him on and telling him not to be intimidated, Cloudy Sky didn’t last long against Star Striker.  Much as he’d done with Razzle Dazzle, Star Striker let Cloudy Sky try to score but in less than six shots; he’d scored the winning goal and saved the cadet team from embarrassment.

Cloudy Sky was disappointed, letting his team down like that.  Solar Flare and Gallus made sure to make Cloudy Sky feel alright; that it was just a game and didn’t reflect on him as a poor teammate or a bad flyer. 

All the participants stayed on to watch Wind Raider’s team take on the cadets, also bringing the drama of a close scoring game that came down to Gale Force taking down Sunglow for the victory. The pink mare with the fluffy blonde mane and tail only grumbled under her breath at being defeated but consoled herself in the knowledge that at least she didn’t lose to one of the freak-beaks.

Cloudjumper, still tallying up something on that little notepad of his and slipping it into his uniform’s pocket and out of sight, came over to join Solar Flare and his clique.  
“Hey, my main flyer, Gallus! You were something special tonight. That was some win streak you were on.”  He was gregarious with his approach to the griffon, clearly pleased about how the night’s event played out.  Gallus and Solar Flare turned to face him, pleased to have made some new acquaintances among the cadets.

“This was just the thing we needed. I just wish we could have this kind of excitement around her more often.”  Cloudjumper gave Gallus a quick wink and nod, indicating what the two of them had spoken about before the tournament started.  Solar Flare missed his friend’s indication, believing Cloudjumper was merely talking about building up the friendly competition between them all.

Gallus got the message.  The uptick in game interest made Cloudjumper’s interest rise with it.  He could only guess how many gold bits must have been wagered and won or lost for each of the matches.  Not that he was against it. Far from it.  Gaming like this was common between griffons and not discouraged in Griffonstone. It was just another way of getting as many gold bits possible for a griffon’s gold horde. 

Silverstream, Firebolt and the mares with them were all smiles about having the fun time together and any feelings about winning or losing during the games was quickly forgotten about in the spirit of friendship, effused by the two non-pony flyers in attendance.

“You know what?  I’m gonna buy you a drink, just ‘cause I think you’ve got some coolness.” Cloudjumper pointed to the juice bar with a forehoof, eager to thank the griffon for the gameplay this evening.  Cloudy Sky, Nightflight and the other BFFs came over to join him.

For Gallus and Silverstream, this was a small victory of sorts.  Making inroads with these cadets and recruits; using those friendship lessons they studied at their school to good effect.  Gallus looked back over his shoulder at Wind Raider and his cohorts, glaring at him and his friends with simmering hate.

“Dumb ponies.”  Wind Raider groused, seeing how some of the cadets and fellow recruits were enamored by the two freak-beaks, accepting them like other recruits.

“Easily impressed by a hybrid.” Stormbringer dismissed them all as easily duped by something new and different; a curiosity of freak interest and nothing more, he convinced himself.

“Ever since the Storm King’s defeat, it’s been the ‘in’ thing for ponies!”  Sunglow hated being outshined, especially by that hippogriff.  She was the top mare here at the trials and seeing Silverstream do as well as she’d done so far just got under Sunglow’s feathers to no end. It was bad to get bested by another pony who was a record setter at the trials, but it was even worse it to have done by some unknown hippogriff that seemingly strode in from out of nowhere and set a new academy record. She’d managed to get another mare flyer knocked out from the trials already.  Now it seemed she’d have to double her efforts.

Gallus and his friends were led up to the juice bar by Cloudjumper and Gale Force, chatting a bit more with Silverstream about Mount Aris and what it looked like.

“It’s on me; what’ll you have?”  Cloudjumper pointed up to the small menu of fizzy fruit drinks on the wall in front of them, just to the left of a giant mirror that ran the length of the bar. Above it, were the portraits of six academy cadets, side by side, each dressed in their Wonderbolt Academy cadet flight uniforms. The bartender had his back to them, preparing anther mixture for one of the cadets. It got Gallus’ attention as to why they were up there.

“Hey, check out the collection of hooves on the wall! What are they up there for?  Setting a record number of failures on the Dizzatron or somethin’?” Gallus unsuspectingly insulted the silent images on the wall before him. Silverstream piled on, amusing herself.

“Or maybe it’s for setting a record number of losses at air hockey, right?” The two non-pony flyers amused themselves, oblivious to the bartender who was now turned around to face them both and incensed by their flippant comments.

Two large and heavy pony hooves came thundering down on the hard oak antique bar right in front of Gallus and his friends, startling them and halting their laughter, not to mention getting every one’s attention immediately. Gallus and Silverstream suddenly recognize who it was standing behind the bar.  

The blood drained away from Gallus’ face, horrified to see who it was standing there.

“Oh, no! Gallus, we just-” Silverstream pointed with her talons to a commemorative plaque, dedicated to a squad of pony flyers that perished in the three day battle with the Storm King’s forces.  Each portrait was adorned with a small brass plaque, a pony name engraved in each. The last photo in the line was that of a pony named Sky Chaser; Wind Raider’s big brother.

It was Sargent Bullhorn behind the bar, keeping the community of students in line by acting as their chaperone during non-school time activities. His eyes bore deep into the griffon and hippogriff’s souls, causing them to seemingly shrink before him while he inexplicably seemed to grow to tower over them both.

“Ye gots tae’ die!”  The drill Sargent roared, indicating with the point of a wingtip to the first picture on the wall; that of his son being squad leader of ‘The Flying Sixty-Ninth’ flight squad.  Behind the lead pony’s framed memorial photograph hung two miniature crossed flags; one was the recognizable flag of Equestria and one of that of the Emerald Isle; where Sargent Bullhorn’s family hailed from.

Ka-thud! Smash! Smash! The shattering of glass mugs on the floor broke the tense moment that was all around them, starling everyone in the room and getting their attention away from Silverstream and Gallus and where the shattering sound came from.

“You bastard half-breeds!  Let me at ‘em!  Let me at ‘em!  I’ll tear ‘em apart! I’ll rip those ugly-ass beaks clean off their heads!  I’ll stomp their bones into dust!”  So enraged was Wind Raider that both Stormbringer and one other cadet pony had to tackle and wrestle him to the floor, preventing the husky pony from lunging for the two non-pony flyers in a desperate attempt to subdue him. The thrashing about had knocked the table and chairs clear of them as they rolled around.

“C’mon, dude!  Don’t do anything stupid!  They’re just a couple of shit-for-brains half-breeds, anyway! Don’t throw it all away now! We’re too close!”  Stormbringer did all he could to hold Wind Raider down and not injure his wing more. The cadet assisting was doing most of the restraining on Wind Raider, pinning the wings being the legacy pony’s flanks.

“Wait, what did those two say?” A female voice questioned aloud, wondering if she’d heard correctly.

“Uh, did they just say what I think they just said?” Gale was standing right next to Firebolt, turning now to look at her friend with a raised eyebrow. They were both in perfect earshot of the two recruits in front of her.

“I beg your pardon, what was that comment?” Another male voice from close by sharply spoke up, indignant at the uncouth remarks about the deceased.  

The two volunteer’s friends didn’t know what to say or do at that moment as every pair of pony eyes in the room seemed to be focused on them with none looking pleased by what Gallus and Silverstream had said, even in jest.  

“Geez!” Cloudjumper slapped a forehoof to his head, astounded.

How could these two be so oblivious to where they were before opening their collective beaks and saying something so dumb! 

“Nice way to kill the positive vibes, dude.” The sea-green cadet shook his head a little, unable to help the two volunteers from whatever the other recruits or cadets might think of them now.  He glanced around the room, sensing the shifting perceptions of his classmates about the two volunteers in real time. He knew what to do.

“Pal, you’re on your own.” With his parting words, Cloudjumper slunk away from Gallus and the BFFs, not wanting to be a part of this scene and exited the building out into the night.

“I’m fine! I’m fine! Let me up already!”  Wind Raider shouted, suddenly relaxing his body and giving in to the two guys holding him down. Cautiously, they let up on their restraint, keeping their forelegs on him, incase Wind Raider still decided to lunge at the griffon.  He didn’t. The grayish-white pony got to his hooves, regaining some of his composure.

Furious at the insult and not wanting to be anywhere near the BFFs, Wind Raider stormed out, the impact of his hooves on the wood floor could be felt across the room.  “I need some air!”

“Wind Raider, wait up!”  Sunglow followed after, worried about what her friend might do in his state.  Crimson Sky only rolled his eyes and shook his head at Silverstream and Gallus in disbelief, astounded by was said by them as he left to follow after Sunglow.

Stormbringer looked at the two volunteers with such disgust and contempt for their disrespect of the dead. He wanted to unload on them; tell them off like he felt they deserved. But instead, he just blurted out what the first thing he thought of.   

“You’re a couple of dumbasses, you know that?!”

He, too, went after Wind Raider, fed up being around such ignorant creatures like the two volunteers. The cold silence of the room was terribly uncomfortable for the BFFs.  

Several other cadets were eyeing Gallus and Silverstream with similar feelings in their hearts.  Perhaps they had mistaken the character of these two non-pony flyers or come to too quick of a conclusion before talking more with them. Two of the cadets who’d been participating in the games, Star Striker and Lunar Eclipse, step forward to confront the two volunteers about the comments they’d made.

“What do they teach you at that school Princess Twilight runs, eh?  How to insult a host?”  Star Striker felt much the same as Wind Raider right then, only he had the discipline of the academy’s training to not get emotional when discussing topics like the attack on Canterlot and the ensuing running three days of hand-to-hoof street battles.

“Didn’t they educate you anything about what happened during that time?  Don’t you have any idea what Equestria went through?”  Lunar Eclipse was stunned, seeing how these two wore expressions of pure ignorance, either willful or just plain stupidity about the recent history of the pony nation.

“Our future leader of Equestria has these as students of the school she runs?  What kind of leadership is that?” A mare from close by openly asked the whole collection of ponies in the room as she stepped forward. It was Aroura Light, looking at the hippogriff and griffon distastefully as she came to stand next to Star Striker.  Never before had Silverstream and Gallus felt so on the spot.

This wasn’t something that was going to be solved with magic or with the understanding of a friendship problem from one of Princess Twilight’s lectures.  These were ponies who’d gone through something neither one of them could imagine was like. 

Being part of the ruling family of Seaquestria did give Silverstream access to the details of what transpired in the fight between the allied ponies and hippogriffs against the Storm King, but she never pursued the topic with her parents or her aunt. She did not wish to bother her innocent mind with such unsettling things like war and suffering. Her privilege to be apart from it shielded her from the truth. 

“Great couple of friends you got yourself there, Firebolt.”  Gale gave her old friend a flat smile, not appreciating their kind of ‘humor’, such that it was.

“Pull up a chair.” Star Striker indicated with a forehoof to two empty chairs at the nearby table where his knapsack lay open and a book was peeking out from under its open flap.

“Actually, we were just about to leave-” Gallus wanted to deescalate the situation by getting out of there as fast as he could. His friends around him quickly pick up on his intention and moved together as a group. But the fourth-year cadet was not having any of it.

“I said, pull up a chair!” Star Striker’s serious tone left no question that this wasn’t a request and caused the BFFs to stop them in their tracks.  Silverstream, Gallus and the rest of their friends knew that this was something they’d better do. Cloistered around two of the closest tables, the BFFs all sat together, wondering what was coming.  

Brightstar sat close to both Silverstream and Gallus, making sure to be there to protect them should things get out of control.
Many of the other recruits and cadets left the rec room, the lively mood had suddenly turned grim and uncomfortable.  In spite of the horrible gaff, Sargent Bullhorn still brought over the juice drinks for them, paid for by one of the cadets before they had left. He was shooting swords from his eyes at both the griffon and the hippogriff with only their ignorance to Equestria’s recent history saving them from his wrath. For now. Gallus stole a glance to see the intense look in the drill sergeant’s eyes, a feeling of dread gripping him.  Gallus quickly looked away, shuddering.  The drill instructor retuned to stand behind the bar, listening to what was about to be told by some of the survivors.

“Here’s something you two are probably never going to hear, much less, ever know about.” Star Striker reached for the book in his pack, the brown leather-bound with gold embossing was held reverently by the cadet.  “I and some of those who served in the resistance force collaborated to write this book,” he turned to show the collection of newbies who sat silently and listened, “a chronicle and history of many first-pony accounts of we went through for those three days. I think you two,” he now looked right at both Silverstream and Gallus who shrank back some from the intense look he gave them, “ought to hear some of what those bastard Stormguards did to us and how we fought them like real soldiers of Equestria.” 

Though their pony friends knew what had happened, having lived through it as well to a much lesser degree than some here, they too listened to the first-hoof account of the events unfolding that day as all three storytellers were in the thick of the action, as well as Wind Raider and Stormbringer.

It was a harrowing retelling as the trio of cadets did not spare their captive audience any censoring of the graphic details preserved for the ages.  One minute, these cadets were on break from school and planning on attending the celebration at Canterlot, all of them looking forward to Songbird Serenade’s concert. Then, seconds later, alarm sirens blared out all across Canterlot and the call for the population to take cover. 

Silverstream listened quietly to the stories of desperate fighting, rebellious capture, horrific torture, outright slaughter and rampant devastation to the capital city of Equestria as well as a number of outlying cities and towns in a well-choreographed sequential attack.

Gallus couldn’t believe at how these three could retell of the violence and destruction they witnessed so easily; how they could explain through scholarly examination and research how the enemy of all Equestria had formulated his plans of battle and how well it was executed.  But most importantly to the trio was the telling of a part of Equestria’s history that was being glossed over or even omitted in the newspaper reports and in the rewriting of history books for youngsters to learn from. Most upsetting to hear were the accounts from soldiers in the field and the ‘citizen soldier ‘of Equestria who’d fought and what they had seen and experienced. Star Striker began the first recounting to the newbies:

“…we are nine in ditch; nothing will get us out of here. But we have eaten the last of our rations must relieve ourselves. The first of us, our lieutenant, finally succumbs to the urgings and climbs out from hiding; she’s been lying there for two hours in the street, ten feet away, with her uniform down around her fetlocks. The blood from her bashed-in skull runs down the cobblestones after the Stormguards found her and she resisted them. They killed her, laughing and gurgling in their guttural language as they did.”

Star Striker passed the book to Lunar Eclipse, who picked up on the following page of another eye witness to the fighting. “The scene before me was indescribable. The dead and dying were everywhere, the cries of pain, anguish and despair screamed catastrophe. I stood there as if in a dream, too horrified to think.”

It got the reaction he thought it would, seeing Gallus shudder slightly at the images of what the scene must have looked like. Lunar Eclipse continued.

“As I look about the wreckage of the plaza, I discover a severed hind leg lying on the ground, almost ridiculous in its horror.” 

The recruits all gulp down the lump in their throats, hearing the grizzly details of one soldier’s account of the first hours of battle. Neither Silverstream nor Gallus had any idea of the severity or lethalness of force in which the troops under Tempest Shadow dispatched to all who resisted. 

Lunar Eclipse recounted more from the passages in the book to his captured audience.  “In his book ‘The Equestria of Yesterday’, the famed pony writer Wild Sky captured the prevailing pessimism of the first day’s encounter with the Stormguard forces. He writes: ‘The peaceful steps of Canterlot castle are awash in pony blood.’”  

Lunar Eclipse then passed the book to Aurora Light, who read several pages from the book about what those at the rear of the fighting were facing; those whom took care of the wounded in makeshift triages or a field hospital. She recounted one of the medic’s experiences in particular to them.

“…they cry for air and complain of burning in the chest and stomach.  We have seen it all; ghastly wounds from avalanches of steel, bodies trampled to death from panic-filled hooves, but they are nothing to the fog that darkens the sun in the sky for hours, which seemed like centuries.”

She addressed the newbies directly. “For as long as any creature can recall, the cruel and destructive use of asphyxiating gasses of any kind of were outlawed by every leader of every nation in our world years ago.  But the Storm King didn’t care; he used every poisonous concoction possible to try and kill us off in-masse.”

All of the BFFs listened to what was told, never imagining just how bad it was for those on the front lines, those who faced down the threat and suffered in due course for such resistance. It gave all of them something to think about; begin part of an elite group that could very well be facing such dangers again. Aurora Light passed the book back to Star Striker, who was not yet ready to let these two volunteers off the hook so easily for speaking like they did.  He continued with another account.

“Our patrol has captured one of the Stormguards; its arms are bound behind its back and brought before General Flash Magnus for examination. It is the first time I see them up close. There is a mixture of hate and curiosity that fills my heart as the weight of my spear weighs heavily on my withers; I long to pierce the belly of this vile creature with it!” 

He read on for a few pages more, telling the newbies of what the soldiers of Equestria had experienced; both during and after with its repercussion on the mind and body. War, Lunar Eclipse explained, changes a pony. He read a passage from a private that had served in the Canterlot Armed Forces, surviving the three day’s blitz of attacks and how adjusting to the horror forever altered their view of life and death.

“…I saw the body of a soldier that was killed earlier today and a horrible sight it was.  Such sights do not affect me as they once did. I cannot describe the change nor do I know when it took place, yet I know there is a change. For I look on the carcass of a dead pony now with pretty much the same feeling as I would if were a dead fish or dead worm.”

This was very hard to hear for Silverstream. She felt the tears begin to collect in her eyes and Brightstar put a foreleg around her friend’s shoulders, holding and supporting Silverstream. All of the BFFs huddled in closer, feeling the need to be close to a friend when listening to these heartbreaking experiences.

Aurora Light took the book again, reading another soldier’s experience after being in battle and witnessing the aftermath. “…this morning a lieutenant from Company A was executed and buried for abandoning his post and fleeing in battle from the enemy. Everything went on as if nothing had happened, for death is so common that little sentiment is wasted.”  Aurora looked up from the book to look right into Silverstream’s eyes, driving home the meaning of the last sentience. 

“It isn’t like death at home.”

She retold more from the book of the conflict between the armed Resistance force and the Storm King’s army and what awaited those who were captured as prisoners of war. Both Star Striker and Lunar Eclipse point to the green bandanas around their necks and around the necks.  Each bandana bore a small gold medal, indicating they had been part of that Résistance force and had survived capture. 

“It was on Tempest Shadow’s orders when those bastards did this to us!” Star Striker hissed.  Gallus and his friends grimaced when the two cadets pulled down the bandanas to reveal the band of circular scar tissue around their necks.

Aurara Light explained on. “The Stormguards fastened electric shock collars to their necks and repeatedly shocked them, trying to break them. Unable to make them reveal their hideout or numbers of freedom fighters, Tempest Shadow ordered the Stormguards to shackle the prisoners and work them mercilessly; whipping and bludgeoning some prisoners to death in the process.”

It was an awful story, the tears now spilled down the sides of Silverstream’s beak. Brightstar was there for her as was Firebolt, leaning out to hold her friend too. She and the rest of the BFFs could only guess what Silverstream must be thinking right then; feeling somehow responsible for what happened to these recruits not so long ago.

“I think I’m going to be sick.”  Gallus held his stomach, looking at his red strawberry fruit drink and imagining it was a glass filled with blood.  It turned his stomach, killing his thirst instantly and he pushed it away.

The BFFs learned how Wind Raider had been given the position of a flight leader; in charge of eight ponies, some of whom were actual cadets of the acaqdemy. Wind Raider’s brother had been accepted to the academy a year and a half before; giving the ‘little’ brother some gravitas as the best choice to lead their group of resistance fighters. 

Of the eight of them that were his to lead, only he and Stormbringer were never captured. Star Striker, Lunar Eclipse and another cadet in the room, the one that had been helping hold down Wind Raider when he lost it in rage, had been captured and survived the conflict. Three of their group, two mares and another stallion, had been whipped and tortured to death when they refused to tell where Wind Raider had them all safely held up in a secure hideout. They paid for their loyalty with their lives. The other cadets in the room wearing the green bandanas had belonged to other resistance fighting factions who had survived the dungeon torturing sessions as well.

“I was there, listening to my friends being tortured like that!  You should consider yourself damn lucky to never have heard what I heard!” One of cadets, a light blue stallion, directed his comments right at Silverstream and Gallus. 

“When you insult a flyer you’d better be sure to look ‘em in the eyes when doing so!” Star Striker made sure to get his point across, holding Gallus fast with his gaze.  The griffon felt like such a fool for having spoken like he had. Silverstream felt much the same for it was her kind that had brought this tragedy upon Equestria and hearing of the suffering they had endured only brought home to her heart the horrors of war.

“What?  You thought the whole world is about every pony holding hooves together, singing ‘Kumba Ya, my Princess’ as magical rainbows suddenly appear out of nowhere and the world instantly becomes a bastion of everlasting friendship?! You two are sadly mistaken, my fellow feathered friends!” Another cadet who had stayed to listen ranted somewhat at the two non-pony flyers.

“After all we ponies went through, I’d like to know just one damn thing; where were the damn griffons from Griffonstone when Equestria needed help?!  Where was a supposed ‘ally’ of the pony nation when the call to arms came? Nowhere, that’s where!” Lunar Eclipse angrily shouted at them.

“With allies like griffons, I pray by the great Fausticorn’s grace that we never have to face another return of Queen Chrysalis or Lord Tirek or, Celestia spare us, a return of something like Grogar!” Another mare cadet weighed into the two volunteers, making sure they heard her too.  The looks of embarrassment and shame each of the non-pony flyers wore showed that they did all of them.

=====*****=====

“They spit on my brother’s grave!  Those filthy half-breeds spit on my brother’s grave after the sacrifice he made to protect their miserable meaningless little lives!” Wind Raider sputtered in outrage, snorting his breath with his temper barely restrained, stomping about in circle within the clearing of the Wonderbolt monument was erected.  His three bunkmates were with him, simmering in similar hostility.

“Stinkin’ griffon! They’re nothing but thieves, beggars and scavengers! And that hippogriff,” Sunglow kept up her tirade, “she’s such a phony; sucking up to the other recruits and cadets like that!  Who does she think she is?  And to think my little cousin actually attends the same dopy School of Friendship with her!  What does Cozy see in being around these filthy creatures?”

“I want them both out of here so much!” Wind Raider could not believe this was being allowed by the academy’s leadership. This was one of Equestria’s most hallowed places.  Why would letting in a race of cowards and a race of lazy good-for-nothings even be considered?

“There’s nothing we can do about it, Wind Raider. But who cares, right? It’s not like they’re going to get in. They’re here as some guests of one of the Wonderbolt team members so it’s not like they’re going to get accepted, right?  All we have to do is get to the end and then we’ll never see them again. Simple.”  Crimson Sky had a point.  These two outsiders were guests and not really recruits trying out for a spot in the academy.  But his comments did lead Stormbringer to the obvious next point.

“You’re missing the point, Crimson. Even if they’re not trying to get in, that’ll mean other half-breeds like them will come and try to get in to the academy for real; and that’ll mean less spots open for our kind to get in.” 

“That’s not going to happen!”  Sunglow scoffed, finding it impossible to imagine those dirty creatures actually being allowed to attend the academy.

“Not if I have anything to do with it!”  Wind Raider stopped in his angry pacing about to look over at his companions. There was a look of grim determination in his eyes and it caught Sunglow’s attention.

“What did you have in mind?  A boycott or something?”  She guessed blindly to what he was coming up with. Crimson Sky quickly scoffed her idea.

“Keh! Yeah right! Like that’s going to change the situation.”

“Shut up!” Sunglow sneered back at him.  “At least contribute something to this conversation or just don’t talk.” The trio’s attention returned to their squad leader.

“No, but I’ve got an idea on how to get the message across that their kind aren’t welcome here and shouldn’t come to try out for the academy!” He gave a hard stomp of a foreleg hoof, emphasizing his determination.

“You’re not going to try killing them, are you?” Sunglow knew he was pissed off, but wondered if his war experience had darkened his mind to the point of entertaining the thought.

“No. But if this tryout session is going to follow the standard routine order, regardless if those freak-beaks are here, we’ll be required to have to run ‘The Gauntlet’ as the last trial before the final exam flight.  That’s where we’ll get rid of them, during ‘The Gauntlet’. I can make sure they don’t finish!” The idea began to form in his mind, recalling the many parts of the final trial and what could be utilized as a way to oust them from the school grounds once and for all.

“How?” Sunglow didn’t see where he was going with this. Wind Raider huddled them in closer to keep any pony else from hearing.

“He’s my idea of how we can get rid of those two. Listen…”    

=====*****=====

The BFFs made their way back to the barracks, pausing at the bulletin board by the entrance.  Gallus was carrying the book Lunar Eclipse had left behind as a ‘gift’ for them, telling him and Silverstream they ought to ‘educate’ themselves on history before opening their mouths like that.

‘Attention all recruits: as of zero-six-hundred hours tomorrow, there will be meet & greet for visiting families for the second recruit group. First recruit group housed in barracks B are to be ready for general inspection before being escorted by an instructor to the mess hall at zero-six-thirty hours. All recruits are to be dressed in clean uniforms before greeting guests who are visiting the academy grounds and show exemplary conduct becoming of potential Wonderbolt Academy cadets.’    

“Well, at least we won’t have to fight for seating at a table with all the recruits and cadets eating at the same time.” Firebolt tried to find the bright side of anything right then for the mood among the BFFs was somber. 

“After hearing what we did, I don’t want to even think about food.” Cloudy Sky’s imagination had made what the older cadets had recounted all too vivid in his mind, making his stomach sour at the idea of eating. While it was a nice bit of news, when they walked in to the squad room, the tension in the air was thick with some of their fellow recruits eyeing them suspiciously from afar.

The talk was very low and scattered among the other recruits as Solar Flare and Firebolt led their group silently over to their bunks to get ready for lights out.  Walking to and from the latrines was unnerving for Gallus, feeling all those questioning eyes looking at him, judging him.  Of his group of friends, he was the quickest at getting ready for bed, showering as fast as he could and getting back to his bunk.

When Wind Raider, Sunglow and the others returned to the barracks they turned their heads away from the BFFs direction and retired to their bunks, refusing to even acknowledge their presence. Their calm and cool demeanor left most wondering about the sudden change. They’d seen how Wind Raider ‘lost it’ and had to leave the rec room. Now, it was like it never even happened. 

Razzle Dazzle’s bunk was right below Rainsong’s at the other end of the room and right next to Harmony Blues’ bunk. Though friendly with all the other recruits, she did feel the desire to stay with her new friends at the other end of the room who were understandably keeping their distance. Without a second thought, she went straight to her bunk and gathered up her few items from within the footlocker at the foot of her bunk and was about to head away.   

“Razzle, no!”  Rainsong softly scolded as she reached out to hook Razzle Dazzle’s foreleg with her own, wanting her not to act rashly.

Razzle Dazzle’s fellow recruits watched in silence, unsure of what to think of making such a decision after what they’d all learned about Wind Raider, Stormbringer and some of their cadets they had met. It was awkward to say the least.

“They said they were sorry for the insult; they didn’t mean it.  They just didn’t know.”  She addressed the looks she was getting from a few others nearby.

“Ignorance is not an excuse for disrespect.” A male pony spoke up, everyone in the barracks recognizing it as Wind Raider who said it.  He slowly turned to look at Razzle Dazzle while sitting on his bunk, her coat standing on end from the deathly serious look in his eyes that held her motionless.

“Do you understand?” He was so calm and emotionless in his speech that Razzle Dazzle could only dumbly nod ‘yes’ in response, her hooves seemly glued to the spot where she stood from the gaze. She blinked her eyes a few times to snap out of the trance-like state she was in, returning to moving her possessions to the footlocker at the foot of the empty bunk below Gallus’.

The tension in the room still hung heavy in the air with the recruits preparing for bed. The guys let the ladies go ahead of them, still chivalrous at heart for their fellow female flyers. 

Silverstream was heartbroken as several mares looked away from her as she passed by on her way to the showers.  She read no anger or hostility from their expressions, only uncertainty and indifference at her presence, as if wondering if it was such a great idea of a hippogriff being here with them. Only Snowblossom was looking at Silverstream from her perch on her top bunk, right above Sunstrike’s. The hippogriff looked up for a second or so, able to read perfectly the words silently being transmitted by the pearly-white mare through her lavender eyes.

You shouldn’t have said that.  

Silverstream looked even glummer, silently returning a look tyo Snowblossom that screamed remorse.

I know! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to say that! 

When in the latrine and washing up for bed, one of the girls already at a sink, moved down serval spots, not wanting to be near her while sharing the same space.  The mare left the sink area without a word to her, as if Silverstream were invisible and not worth acknowledging.  Sighing heavily, Silverstream washed up for bed, hearing the running water from the showers just on the other side of the low wall behind her. Splashing some water on her face and beak to rinse off the soap she was using, she looked up at the mirror in front of the sink she stood at to see Sunglow standing behind her, glowering. Silverstream stiffened; unsure of what was going to happen next and not bothering to dry herself with a towel just yet. Sunglow walked right up to confront her, her voice soft and lethal as she gently poked Silverstream in her chest with a forehoof.

“You’d best watch your ass from now on, missy, or you’re gonna wind up with a couple of broken wings if you don’t! Your kind isn’t welcome here so why don’t you do yourself a favor and make like a tree and get out of here!” Sunglow’s eyes burned with a fiery intensity of hate, her dislike for Silverstream on full display.

Even though Silverstream knew Sunglow meant ‘make like a tree and leave’, she didn’t want to provoke a fight by correcting her. Silverstream stood there, unmoving and afraid to say anything that might make this moment worse.

“Oh… okay.” It was all Silverstream could squeak out at that moment. Salvation came in the form of Brightstar entering the latrine to get red for bed, interrupting the conflict. The yellow mare with aqua-blue mane and tail instantly knew something was afoot between the hippogriff and Sunglow by the look on Silverstream’s face.  She walked over to confront the two of them.

“Is there some kind of problem here?” She looked back and forth between the hippogriff and fellow pegisus, obviously interrupting some kind of conversation.

“No, just giving our little beaky friend here some good advice she should take to heart. That’s all.”  Sunglow’s slightly mocking tone grated on Brightstar’s nerves, aware she was being lied to.  Sunglow left the room, leaving Silverstream rattled and Brightstar suspicious of what happened. She turned to face Silverstream. 

“What did she say to you, Silver? Did she threaten you?  If she did, we need to tell-” 

“N… no, she didn’t.”  Silverstream avoided eye contact with Brightstar, wishing for the ugly moment to just be over and get into bed. Brightstar, suspecting there was more to the altercation between Sunglow and Silverstream, let it go for now. She would keep closer watch over Silverstream and Gallus. After this evening’s social blunder by the volunteers, she suspected there would be more hostility directed towards them.   

Firebolt and the BFFs faced similar looks and soft mutterings as they walked past to and from the latrine.  When the call to quarters came over the public address system, most of the recruits jumped into their bunks and a number of the overhead lights were turned off. The two remaining overhead lights, the ones over the BFF’s bunks remained on.  The spoke very quietly for a few minutes more, trying to find a way through this rather uncomfortable situation with their fellow recruits.

The call of Taps rang out and the last overhead lights were suddenly turned off on the friends, causing them to quickly jump into their bunks and get under the blankets.  Silverstream and Gallus lay silently in their bunks, wondering what the next days were going to be like for them.  Everything they’d built up using what they’d learned at the School of Friendship felt in jeopardy.  Insulting their hosts like they had was not tactful.  It was going to take some serious reconciliation to win back some good will from the other recruits.  

The squad room was deathly silent as the last strained notes hung in the air from the bugle call sounding outside.  The stillness was only broken by a soft cough or two and the sound of a pony bodies moving in their bunks for a more comfortable position before a single male voice spoke.

“Have a good night’s sleep, ‘griffs!” Every flyer in the room knew it was Wind Raider who spoke, aiming his remark at the two non-pony volunteers.  

Neither one answered back, not wanting to make a problem worse by speaking up.  Needless to say, the night past exceedingly slowly for the hippogriff and the griffon, guessing what would come in the morning and what could be done to undo whatever damage they might have done.  This would take all the friendship lesson learning they had to make this right again.
> Ch.15 Wonderbolt Trials Pt. 11 (raw&unedited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The call to reveille roused the drowsy griffon from his semi slumber-like state, keptawake half the night, tossing and turning from the haunting stories he’d heard last night. The sounds of the other recruits getting out of their bunks forced his brain to put his body into motion, not wanting to lag behind the others. 

He flipped the thin blanket from off his body and stretched his legs, trying to get the stiffness out and lazily rolled his body over. Yawning, he flopped out of his top bunk and fell down to the floor.

“Gallus, look-!” The female voice yelled to him but it was too late. The sensation of sharp, stabbing pain in his paws instantly shocked his brain to full awake.

“Eyah-h-h-h-h-h-h!”  Gallus screeched as he jumped onto the lower bunk next to him, where Razzle Dazzle had been sleeping.

“Gallus, are you okay?!”  Razzle Dazzle and his friends all rushed to his side, watching him pluck something stuck from his paws.

“What are they?”  Solar Flare couldn’t tell what was stuck in Gallus’ paws, the fur in the griffon’s paws obscuring them from view.  

“Get the first aid kit! He’s bleeding!” Razzle Dazzle yelled and Cloudy Sky stumbled across the bunk and over to the kit that hung on the wall next to the barrack doors. He nearly tore the kit off the wall in his franticness, rushing back to Gallus’ side, watching the griffongrit his beak as he carefully picked out some kind of small metal barbs from his paws with his talons. Each object made a distinct metallic clinkas they hit the wood floor when he dropped them.

Cloudy Sky threw open the lid and spilled at least half of the contents on the bunk where his friend lay injured.  He got the alcohol and some gauze pads ready; sure his friend was going to need them. 

“How bad is it?”  Brightstar moved in close to examine the injury. It annoyed Gallus being crowded like this, even if they were trying to help.

“Get back! Get Back! I’m fine! I’m fine!”  He loudly shooed her and the others back, panting a little from the shock as he plucked out the last two or three things from his paws. His pony friends, and Silverstream as well, were taken back by his curt tone, not wanting to be coddled over like some helpless griffon chick.

The friends saw he had a couple of small puncture wounds on the pads of his hind paws, small trickles of blood oozing from them when Gallus squeezed the injuries gently to gage the severity.  Silverstream helped by smearing some anti-bacterial ointment on the sterile pads and then carefully covering the puncture wounds, applying some gentle pressure to his hind feet for a minute allow the blood to clot and stop the bleeding. He let her play nurse on him, suddenly feeling bad for snapping at all of them like he had. They were his friends and only wanted to help.

“Here, use these.”  Cloudy Sky got out the medical tape and tore several long strips from the roll so Silverstream could affix the bandages in place and allow Gallus to get up.  Nightflight looked over the side of the bunk Gallus was lying on to see what it was that his griffon friend had landed on.  

Next to the bunks, someone had sprinkled some toy Jacks, a unicorn foal’s game of horn training for magic, on the floor.  Gallus’ hind paws had landed squarely on the scattered toy pieces.

“Hey, check that out.” He motioned with a forehoof for Brightstar and Solar Flare to look, pointing to what Gallus had landed on.  They could image how much it must have hurt Gallus’ paws to land on those sharp metal pieces.

The sound of several ponies laughing caught BFFs collective ears.  They looked up to see Wind Raider and his friends laughing at what they’d done to Gallus.

“Oh, so some pony here wants to play dirty, eh?” Brightstar scowled at the foursome standing near the center of the barracks, watching.

“They’d better not, or they’re gonna be real sorry they did!” Firebolt was not afraid of getting ‘down and dirty’ if necessary with the likes of these four. If they wanted to be a couple of sneaky bastards, she could stoop to their level and get back right at them. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?”  Silverstream looked Gallus over as he got up from the bunk and jerked his uniform on roughly, his anger growing with each second as his growl grew louder.  He stood tenderly on his still sensitive hind paws, now securely wrapped in the bandaging.

“Yeah, yeah! I’ll survive!”  Gallus, too, looked right at those four nasty ponies; none of them even attempting to conceal it was they who did this. 

The BFFs had already suspected something like this was coming; some form of retaliation after last night’s gaff. Silverstream was surprised it was something as minimal and juvenile of a response. Though she’s suspected something worse coming from those four, they’d went just far enough to make their point and not get in trouble for it, perhaps a verbal reprimand at most for their actions from one of the instructors.

“Now we’re even, dirty ‘griff! Eye for an eye, I say!” Wind Raider pointed to the injury on his muzzle that was still covered with a protective bandage. Both Stormbringer and Crimson Sky laughed it the injured griffon and his pony friends. Sunglow looked on with a smug smile.

Solar Flare jumped into his uniform, as did the rest of the BFFs and the other recruits, to get ready for inspection.  This undeserved attack on his friend and flight partner was a last straw for him. The quietest pony of the BFFs had finally had enough of these miscreants.  He’d silently put up with their uncouth remarks and harassment towards Silverstream and Gallus since the beginning of the trials, always taking the high road of ignoring them and supporting his friends.  But now he was pissed off and was going to make them stop.

“Solar?... Solar?!  What are you going to-?!”  Brightstar had seen the fire burn in Solar Flare’s eyes from this attack, watching him angrily yank on his uniform and then go tearing around her and Firebolt in a headlong rush right at Wind Raider at full speed.

“You miserable son of a bitch!”  Solar Flare yelled as he lunged right at Wind Raider, catching the lead instigator off guard with his speed and ferocity. He covered the distance from his spot standing next to his friends to pouncing on Wind Raider in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Wind Raider never had a second to react. 

  WHACK!

Solar Flare’s left forehoof landed right on the spot where the bandage covered Wind Raider’s flight injury. The hit knocked Wind Raider down briefly and sent Sunglow and Crimson Sky scurrying out of the way. Stormbringer dove to his right and hit the floor belly first, getting out of Solar Flare’s path just as the blow was delivered to his lead pony. He was risking reinjuring his still-recovering wing and hustled to a safe distance from the action in the room. The other recruits also moved back, so close to the epicenter of what was about to explode.

“Ow-w-w! You bastard!”  Wind Raider cursed at Solar Flare, getting back to his hooves and checking on his injury. He gingerly touched his wound and saw the smear of blood on the coat of his foreleg. The cut on his muzzle had been torn open and was bleeding again.  The legacy pony snorted and was instantly in fight mode, the hair of his short mane bristling up in anger as he swished his bobbed tail hair vigorously. 

“Okay, ‘griff lover, you want to rumble?! Let’s rumble!” Wind Raider flew right at Solar Flare, rearing back and landing his own punch right upside Solar Flare’s head, sending Gallus’ partner stumbling to the floor. Instantly, the barracks exploded with loud shouting and rooting by the other recruits as the two combatants tore into each other. The simmering animosity between the BFFs and Wind Raider’s group had finally boiled over.

“Oh, it is on! It is on!” Stormbringer was the loudest in the room, witnessing the chaos erupt.  He and the other recruits backed up still more as Wind Raider and Solar Flare now wrestled about on the floor, flailing wildly away at one another.

“Get’em Solar! Stomp his stinkin’ guts out!”  Gallus stood close to Solar Flare with the other BFFs, caught up in the fury of the moment. Gallus was mad at those instigators and he desperately wanted to give them ‘what for’ about messing with the wrong griffon. But his leady pony was doing a pretty good job in his stead.

“Teach him a lesson, Solar!  Don’t let up on him!”  Firebolt stood right next to Gallus, shouting encouragement, watching Solar Flare roll around on the floor more while grappling with Wind Raider and pinning the legacy pony’s wings behind his flanks.

  WHAM!

“Get off me, asshole!” Wind Raider slammed the back of his head in the side of Solar Flare’s head, right on the temple. A crack of sharp pain and a bright white flash exploded in Solar Flare’s eyes, stunning him.  His grip on Wind Raider’s wings loosened more, unable to focus as his head swam with nauseating disorientation.

“Solar, stop it! Stop it!  It’s not worth the trouble!”  Brightstar rushed forward in an attempt to jump in but she was tripped up by Sunglow’s extended hind leg that she’d stuck out. The blonde-maned mare sent Brightstar sprawling to the floor, her breath knocked from her lungs.

“Mind your own business, sister!  This is between them!” Sunglow stood over Brightstar, scowling viciously, trying to stare Brightstar down. 

“Screw you!”  Brightstar sucked in a huge gulp of air, forcing her body to move though the pain and still try shoving her way past Sunglow, who used her body to block they way. 

For Silverstream this was a nightmare made real, unfolding right in front of her eyes. Even more concerning for her was seeing how Gallus was so caught up in the fury and rage; giving in to those baser instincts, rather than relying more on what they’d learned at the School of Friendship at resolving problems. This was aside of him she’d never seen before. Something about this place, about being part of these trials, seemed to bring out aggressiveness in him and she found a little unsettling.

“Stop! Stop! Oh, please, every pony please stop this fighting!” She vainly waded into the group, trying to get their attention but it was no use.  This had gotten way out of control. After that awkward speaking moment in the rec room last night with herself and Gallus, the confrontation with Sunglow in the bathroom right before lights-out, and now her friend getting into a fight on Gallus’ behalf felt like it was becoming too much for her to handle in so short amount of time.  The thought of stepping away from the trials had briefly crossed her mind last night but now, in the middle of this fracas, it was looking more like a viable choice.

What would Professor Dash say if she found out there was a fight among the recruits caused by her and Gallus’ presence here at the trials? Would she be in trouble with Commander Spitfire and cause some kind of problem for Head-Mare Twilight?

“Get him, Solar!  Sock him in the head!”  Gallus yelled, balling up his talons into fists that were trembling with the fury, longing to be the one hitting Wind Raider.  The two ponies continued to wrestle around on the floor more, egged on by the catcalls and yelling. 

The whole melee lasted maybe a minute or so before Brightstar jumped in, attempting to pull Solar Flare off before some pony was really going to get hurt and in serious trouble.

“Solar, stop it! Stop it! Don’t risk your future at the academy over this muttonhead!” She pried at his forelegs, desperate to get him to let go of the headlock he had Wind Raider in.

It the heat of his anger, Solar Flare was unwilling to relent, so desperate was he to dish out some much-deserved justice onto the legacy ponyand to make himself understood.

“Leave my friends alone, you asshole!  Do you hear me?! Leave them alone!”  He squeezed Wind Raider’s head tighter, clamped within his forelegs.

WHAM! WHAM!

“Get off me, dipshit!”  Wind Raider landed two well-placed punches from his right forehoof into Solar Flare’s ribs, causing the sandy-tan stallion to loosen his grip. Brightstar’s hard pulling on Solar Flare’s forelimbs finally got him to release Wind Raider from his grasp.  Solar Flare was panting hard, wincing from Wind Raider’s body hits as Brightstar pulled him back.

Crimson Sky did much the same, finally jumping in to keep Wind Raider apart from Solar Flare when it had gone too far. The legacy pony was still taking swings in the air at Solar Flare after being separated, his fury still at peak level.

“C’mere, punk! I’ll knock your ass into the middle of next week!” Wind Raider fought against Crimson Sky’s restraint, eager to continue.

“Dude, cool it! You made your point, so stop! This is not what we need right now!” He wondered if Wind Raider realized how much he was jeopardizing the plans to get rid of the two volunteers as they had clandestinely worked out last night.  

WHAM! 

The doors to the barracks swung wildly back on their hinges, slamming against the wall from being violently flung open. The sudden noise and the loud clatter of charging hooves on the wood floor got every flyer’s attention away from the fight and to where the sounds came from. Like a blue flash of lighting, the Wonderbolt instructor tore into the fray.

“What in Tartarus is going on in here?!”  Misty Fly’s voice carried over the din, standing now between the two opponents who were being held back by Brightstar and Crimson Sky.

“Atten-tion!” Brightstar shouted out as she let go of Solar Flare, so as to stand at attention. They all snapped to attention, now seeing the Wonderbolt instructor was in the room with them. Wind Raider and Solar Flare stood at attention too, realizing the trouble they were now in.

“You two,” Misty Fly collared Wind Raider and Solar Flare by their jerseys and jerked them both towards her, “are coming with me!  Fighting during the trials is a surefire way for any recruit to be ejected! We’re gonna pay the C.O. a little visit in her office and you two can tell her yourself!”

The nightmare kept getting worse for Silverstream. Her good friend was going to get ejected from the trials for standing up for Gallus like he had.  It was so unfair!  Wind Raider and his friends were the instigators of the whole ordeal!

“Oh, there’s no need for that, ma’am.” Brightstar stepped in closer, trying to avoid any pony from getting in trouble. Interjecting into the situation caused Misty Fly to whip her head around and glare at the recruit.

“What’s that, newbie?!”

“Wha… what I meant is,” Brightstar glanced around at her fellow recruits in the room, trying to come up with some excuse to downplay the whole episode, seeing the looks of quiet desperation of her to come up with anything at that moment, “it… it was just a dumb recruit’s argument, ma’am. That’s all.”

Misty Fly looked about the oddly silent squad room and at the faces of the recruits standing at attention.  None of them spoke up to either agree or deny what Brightstar just gave as an explanation. Clearly she had intervened in something they wanted to settle themselves without their instructors intervening.  

Against her gut instincts, she’d let it slide for the moment. There was too much going on today and this was just going to compound the headaches for all of the instructors, what with the scheduled meet & greet planned in an hour’s time. She had a backup plan.

“You recruits get your bunks in order and line up for inspection outside in two minutes; move it!” She released Wind Raider and Solar Flare, ordering the recruits into action and watched briefly as they hopped to it, working in silence.She could still sense the unresolved tension in the barracks as she walked outside to await them for inspection.  

“C’mon, every pony, let’s get to it!”  Brightstar used her wings to corral her friends away from the others, not looking back or making eye contact with Wind Raider’s crew as she did. The last thing she wanted to happen was having any of her friends ejected because they lost their cool and acted rashly.  

For Misty Fly, this ruckus was an affirmation of something she had been concerned about. Over the past few days, she and her fellow ‘Bolt instructors had noted in their reviews and write-ups about how the recruits interacted with the hippogriff and griffon who were participating with them. To the instructor’s relief, the majority of recruits seemed positive and welcoming to this change.  But there were signs of problems with some recruits who had made their displeasure known. What had ignited this particular outburst between two of them was unknown and she would have to keep a closer eye on this group for the remainder of the trials. 

I’d better let Dash and Soarin know what happened this morning first. Maybe together we can come up with a way of telling Spitfire without her losing her cool over it. Worse, that spy from Central Command was watching the whole time and who knows what else that might had happened before I got in there.

With any luck, the whole incident would stay quiet and out of any official record.  

=====*****=====

“Dismissed!” Misty Fly blew her whistle, releasing them from morning inspection after giving them the ‘once over’ three times about what she’d witnessed.  She made sure every recruit was in a fresh jersey and looking presentable, ordering a few of them to straighten up their sloppy manes and tails before heading over to the mess hall. 

The BFFs stood by the doors to the barracks, awaiting some their group to reemerge from being sent back inside by their instructor.

“I’m hungry.” Gallus bemoaned having to wait for Silverstream and Razzle Dazzle to come back.  Even from over here, he could smell the odors of this morning’s meal wafting wonderfully over from the campus’ kitchen.  His stomach gave a growl.

“They’ll be just a minute longer, Gallus.” Firebolt said with a yawn, stretching out her forelegs once more.

“So, how’d it go last night? Did you ask her to be your lead pony?” Nightflight had forgotten to ask before lights out, remembering his talk with Cloudy Sky before going to the rec room together.

“I spent the whole time before the tournament talking with Harmony Blues and her friends but couldn’t get a moment alone with her to ask.” Cloudy Sky sheepishly confessed, wishing he’d been bolder in the time he had.

“Why didn’t you just ask her then? You would have looked twenty percent cooler and confident if you’d asked in front of her friends. It’s a gusty guy that asks a girl in front of her friends; being bold.” Nightflight thought he’d gotten Cloudy Sky prepped for his chance with his pep talk and advice.

“I... I just wasn’t sure if I could handle her rejecting my asking in front of them. I guess I had a case of ‘cold hooves’.” Cloudy Sky couldn’t help feel intimidated to ask Harmony Blues to be his lead pony. 

She was probably three years older than him and a very talented flyer that expertly showed him that she had the skills to back up her stories of winning all those flight competitions. Not to mention Harmony Blues was a very pretty mare. But what made his heart feel like there were a million little needles pricking at it and made it a little harder to breathe was listening when she spoke. Her words sounded like musical notes hanging loftily in the air, caressing his ears with its melodic tones.

“You’ve got maybe an hour this morning to ask her before we’re going out on the field. Make it your priority to find her and ask her, regardless of who’s around.” Nightflight wanted Cloudy Sky to get in to the academy and knew his friend needed an exceptional partner who could help him. Asking Harmony Blues to be his lead pony was his best chance.

“Right. Top priority; ask Harmony.” Cloudy Sky took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind and relax for when he saw Harmony Blues again. No fancy leading up or anything; just come right out as ask her.

“Here they come.”  Brightstar spotted the two they were waiting for through the barracks’ windows, heading their way towards the doors.  

“We’re back! We-e-he-e-e!”  Razzle Dazzle gave a leap in the air and fluttered her wings happily, flittering in the air for a moment in celebration of her new mane ‘do.  Her friends took notice of the change.

“Wow! Check out her mane!”  Firebolt liked the change Razzle Dazzle had made, pleased to see her friend maybe taking the trials a bit more serious now with keeping her mane under control.

“How’d you do that?”  Brightstar wanted a closer look, impressed with the detailed work.  Razzle Dazzle shook her head a little with a girlish giggle, making the long braded strands shimmy.

“I did it for her. She asked me to braid it so it wouldn’t get in her face so much when she flies.  What do you think of my handiwork?”  Silverstream was pleased with the end results, able to help get her friend’s somewhat abundantly curly mane into a manageable form.

“I think it suits you; very stylish.” Brightstar gave an approving nod, having observed Razzle Dazzle struggle with flying because of her mane getting in her face and blocking her eyes several times. 

“I think we’d best get moving.  I’d like to have as much time to eat as possible before heading out this morning. It’s going to be a long one so we’d best be ready.”  Solar Flare rubbed the side of his head once more, tenderly feeling around the spot where Wind Raider and head-butted him a short time ago during their fight.  His head still rang a little from the blow and he could feel a small lump had formed on the impact spot. With an aspirin or two, he was sure to be fine.

Together they made their way over to the mess hall, talking quietly among them and following after the other recruits and family members who had come for the meet and greet. Though they were in some low spirits after this morning’s trouble, the sight of seeing some of their fellow recruits happily joined by their families did perk them up a little. They were about to enter the mess hall when, in the middle of the conversation she was having with Nightflight, Razzle Dazzle blurted out her sudden revelation.

“Hey, I haven’t tried my magic on a hippogriff yet to see if it worked!”

“Wait, your what?” Nightflight thought he misheard her, thrown off the conversation by her inexplicable change in subject.

“My magic.”  She stated simply and proudly, confusing some of her friends. 

Gallus slapped his left grip of talons against his forehead, eyes rolling at yet another delay. “Oh, not this shtick again!”

“What magic?” Solar Flare had no idea what she was talking about. Razzle Dazzle was all too happy to explain.

“My material grandfather was a unicorn so I must have some real unicorn magic inside me.  I’ve been trying to tap into it ever since was a little filly.” She was all smiles, getting to tell the rest of her friends her big secret. “Once I figure out how to tap into my power, I’m going to mush it together with my flying so I can do even fancier trick moves.” 

Razzle Dazzle’s friends found her explanation rather odd and confusing with Cloudy Sky pointing out the obvious fact.

“But, Razzle, you don’t have a unicorn horn. How can you use magic?” 

“It’s naturally inside me, silly. I’ll show you.” Razzle Dazzle turned to Silverstream standing next to her.  “Would you allow me to try to read your mind?” The question, asked quite innocently by her friend, caught Silverstream so off guard that it actually intrigued her to see if Razzle Dazzle could.

“Uh, okay. So, what do I have to do?”  Silverstream was willing to give her friend a chance to showcase her magical talents. What harm could there be?

“Hope she doesn’t zap your brains if it works this time.” The griffon couldn’t help himself to take a dig at the silliness of this exercise, smirking. Nightflight stifled a small chuckle from the comment, getting the griffon’s intended joke.

“Gallus, that not nice.” Silverstream gently called him out; reminding him he shouldn’t make fun.

“Here, just stand in front of me and I’ll try to read your thoughts.”  Razzle Dazzle gently positioned her hippogriff friend to stand with her back to the rising sun.  Razzle Dazzle explained; “I want to absorb Celestia’s morning sun energy to help boost my magic power.”

“Uh, Razzle, I… I don’t think…” Cloudy Sky was about to say something but he was stopped by a gentle tap on his withers from Firebolt, giving him a silent headshake and quick hoof-wave, indicating to Cloudy Sky that he was wasting his time. 

“Ohm-m-m-m-m-m-m-m.”  Razzle Dazzle began, closing her eyes and rubbing temples to first clear her mind. Finally ready, she opened her eyes and looked deeply into the eyes of her subject, as if to peer into the hippogriff’s mind and read her thoughts.  She drew in closer to Silverstream’s face, her eyes widening more and staring intently as the tip of her muzzle just touched the tip of Silverstream’s beak.  

“Concentrating… concentrating… it will come to me…”  Razzle Dazzle rubbed her temples again, focusing her mind’s energy even more on Silverstream, trying to reach some higher plain of awareness.

Silverstream stood perfectly still, wondering what was going to happen if Razzle Dazzle was successful. Could a pegisus really read another creature’s mind? 

“This is ridiculous. Can’t we eat now?”  Gallus was watching the number of recruits getting on the chow line inside the mess hall ahead of them.  His stomach grumbled again, complaining about the delay.  He’d seen this act before. It was going to be a repeat outcome.

“Ohm-m-m-m-m-m….” The brightly colored mare scrunched her muzzle a little and squinted more, as if trying to force her brainwaves to penetrate her subject.

“Any idea on how long it takes?”  Solar Flare assumed there would be some kind of big, splashy burst of magic light when it happened.

“I’ve… no idea. I didn’t know she could mind-read.”  Brightstar shrugged a bit at the show in front of them, just as bewildered. 

“Um-m-m-mm…. nope!  I couldn’t sense anything coming from you.” Razzle Dazzle gave up with a smile, seemingly unconcerned by her lack of success of accessing her magic.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Would it have helped if I had concentrated on you in return?” Silverstream wondered if it might have made some kind of difference.

“Razzle, have you ever successfully read another creature’s mind?” Solar Flare had never heard of any pony being able to do that, except real unicorns that used very powerful magic.

“Um, no, I’ve tried a whole bunch of times on other ponies but this week was the first time I’ve tried with a griffon and a hippogriff.  I was sure I’d make some kind of breakthrough by now.”  

“So, how many more ponies do you have to try with before actually being able to read their minds? Is there some kind of minimum threshold or something?”  Nightflight was lost on just why she would keep doing this after zero success in so many moons.

“I just have to keep trying at it until I find the right subject. You know what they say: persistence pays off, except for when it doesn’t. Great words to live by!”

Her friends thought it sweet but strange for her to believe she could read minds like that. Anyone of them would have given up long ago.

“Now can we go eat?” Gallus whined a bit louder this time, physically getting behind them and moving them along with his wings towards the door at last.  They entered the mess hall, greeted to a mixture of newer and current recruits and their family members who were sitting and eating together in the mess hall or standing on the chow line.

“Wow, it’s pretty full up in here.”  Firebolt scanned the room for any seats, not finding more than one or two unoccupied at the moment.

“Do you think we’ll find someplace to eat in time?  I’m hungry too. I don’t want to do the trials today on an empty stomach.”  In spite the troubles they had this morning back in the barracks, Silverstream knew this day was going to be challenging and wanted to be ready for the workout ahead.

“Solar! Son, over here!”  The friends turned to the left to see, emerging from on the chow line, a chestnut-colored stallion hurrying to where they stood.

“Dad!”  Solar Flare was grinning as he charged right over to hug his dad with affection, buoyed by seeing him here.  “You made it.”  Solar Flare quickly looked about his father and the mess hall.  “Where’s mom and Nebula?  Didn’t they come too?”

“Your mom couldn’t get away from her job today on such short notice and your sister has to study for mid-terms next week.  But your ol’ dad made it here!”  He gave his strapping son a fatherly mussing up of his mane, smiling and laughing, getting his son to relax and be happy.  Solar Flare laughed right along, flipping back his mane.

“So, are these members of your flight squad?”  The elder stallion nodded towards the group of flyers who were hanging back, all of them smiling and watching. Getting to meet Solar Flare’s dad was a welcome ray of sunlight on this rather gloomy start of their day for the BFFs. 

“These are my friends. I want you to meet-”

“Perhaps you could kindly do more than just one introduction for your father.”  A strawberry-roan mare with an accompanying bay stallion walked right up to the duo of father and son, momentarily stopping them with her request.

“Mom! Dad!” Brightstar gasped as she rushed over to embrace her parents, not expecting to see them so soon.

“How’s my little Twinkles doing? Knocking those instructors out with your amazing flying, I’ll bet.” Her dad doted over her more, cupping her muzzle in his forehooves and loving the chance to see his darling daughter again.

“Da-a-a-a-d! I thought we talked about not using that name in public, especially around my friends!” She groaned with expected daughterly protest of him using one of his pet names for her so brazenly. That only encouraged him more.

“Twinkle, twinkle, my Brightstar. Oh how lovely, yes you are. Up among the clouds so high, shining brightly in the sky.” Her dad sweetly sang as he embraced his only offspring again.

“Sweet Luna’s moon!” Brightstar’s swore as her cheeks seared red with embarrassment, hearing some of her friends snickering and choking back laughter. Even her mom was tittering. He finally let go of his only child to look on her admiringly once more. Trying to regain some semblance of respectability from her overly loving father, she and Solar Flare made introductions of their families to their friends, some for the first time and some reacquainting.

“Oh, Twinkles, is it now?” It was too delicious of a moment to let by and Gallus simply couldn’t help himself, sliding over a few steps closer to where Brightstar stood to tease her, a sloppy grin plastered on his beak.  Annoyed, she gave him a soft verbal slap down for being a smart-ass griffon right then.

“Clap that beak shut and don’t go there, birdy-boy!” the tip of a primary feather on the end of her right wing just grazed the end of his bony facial protrusion that was grinning so stupidly back at her. Wisely, he backed off; getting to have some fun at Brightstar’s expense and helping everyone else forget about what happened this morning in the barracks. Brightstar’s mom came to her daughter’s rescue from the embarrassing moment.

“Your father has some business on base to take care of so I tagged along today. He’s going to eat with us before his meeting with the school staff.” 

“It would be nice if you both could stay for the meet and greet with the Wonderbolts. We can have a little bit more time together or at least, watch us warm up for our trial this morning.” Brightstar straightened out the wrinkles from her jersey, recuperated from her father’s affectionate display. 

With her father on the road so much as a sales-pony, she didn’t get many long stretches of time with him. But when their times coincided, getting to share one of her passions with him brought them closer. There was nothing more than he enjoyed when home then catching up with all she had been doing since they’d last been together.

“Sunstorm Blaze; it’s very nice to make everyone’s acquaintance here.” He made sure to shake every flyer’s wing, glad to meet them but was momentarily startled to find both a griffon and a hippogriff here at the trials.

“This is Gallus and Silverstream; Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash brought them along from Princess Twilight’s School of Friendship to participate in the trials.” Solar Flare made sure to clue his dad in on the details.  Sunstorm Blaze greeted each of the youngsters with a wing shake and a smile.

“It very nice to meet you.”

“Gallus is my wing partner for the trials.  He’s a real ace flyer, as good as any pony recruit here.  I’m lucky to have him as my wing.”  Solar Flare wasn’t the bragging type. He spoke honestly about Gallus. All the recruits had seen Gallus’ scores posted on the bulletin board; he was right in the thick of the top rank of flyers. 

“I’m glad to hear that, son. I knew it was going to be tough to find a partner you could work with. Does he have your back?”

Gallus stepped forward, standing proudly next to his lead pony. “We’ve got each other’s back, sir.” Solar Flare put a foreleg around Gallus’ neck, hanging on to his friend like an old schoolmate, smiling.

“That’s what I like to here!” Sunstorm Blaze felt surer of his son getting into the academy now then at the beginning of the trials. Seeing his son partnered with a flyer that was both capable and a trusted friend put his mind more at ease. This was not like flight companions his son entered in; there was no second place award. It was pass or fail for every recruit.

“Sterling Morning; it’s a pleasure to meet you.”  The mare greeted Solar Flare’s dad with a wing-shake.

“Likewise, I’m sure.”  Sunstorm Blaze then turned to first accept a business card from the stallion standing next to Sterling Morning before being vigorously wing-shook with an overly friendly greeting before being hit with the pitch. 

“Swiftwind; head sales pony for the Little-Giant Cloud-Making Machine Company of Saddlesore Junction. Are you in the need of a new-”

“Honey, please.” Sterling Morning stopped her husband from, once again, launching into his sales-pitch whenever meeting new ponies. He corrected himself, spotting his daughter shaking her head with this look of ‘please don’t do that’ all over her muzzle, wishing he would not give in to those natural sales-pony instincts so easily.

“Pardon me; just a bit anxious about my big meeting later.” He gave a nervous laugh for forgetting himself like that. Sunstorm Blaze smiled and waved away the gaff.

Sterling Morning had told her husband about both Gallus and Silverstream attending this season’s trials. But for Sunstorm Blaze, it was quite unexpected.  

“This was something of a surprise to find at this year’s trials. Apparently the academy is attempting to make the opportunity of entry available to more creatures that can fly. Quite the change, wouldn’t you say?” Sterling Morning was curious as to what another parent thought about this, her attention turning to the collection of young pegisi standing with the two non-pony flyers.

“You know,” he scratched his head with a forehoof when contemplating his point to make, “I’ve wondered about in all the years of the academy’s existence why a griffon hadn’t tried before, or have they? I don’t know so I really couldn’t say about such things.” Sunstorm Blaze then looked at Gallus, giving the griffon an approving nod and wink. “But I’m glad at least one’s here teamed with my son. I’ve got my hooves crossed in luck for them.”

Hearing Sunstorm Blaze’s approval gave Gallus’ confidence a nice boost. He was eager to put on a show today and demonstrate how good he and Solar Flare were going to be.

Having only read recently of the return of hippogriffs after their many moons of self-isolation in the local newspaper, Sunstorm Blaze never suspected to find one here during the trials. “Please excuse my unfamiliarity,” he politely addressed Silverstream, “I’ve never met-”

“-a hippogriff before.”  Silverstream finished the sentence with an easy smile, having heard it spoken to her no less than a dozen times by various other parents, recruits and cadets. They gave a small chuckle at her anticipation of what was about to be said. Suddenly, there was a sharp gasp from one of the BFFs. 

“Silverstream, you can read another pony’s mind?!” Razzle Dazzle rushed to stand in front of her friend, beaming with delight.  “Maybe our attempt triggered something in you instead! Here, let’s try once more but this time-”

“Oh, no, no, no! We’re not going to waste our time with that again! Once today is enough!” Gallus swiftly interjected, putting a stop to this. He was going to eat this morning no matter who’s pony hooves he was going to step on to do it.

“What is your friend talking about?”  Sterling Morning looked to any of her daughter’s friends for an answer. 

“We’ll explain over breakfast, ma’am.” Firebolt wondered what her friend’s parents were going to say when hearing of what Razzle Dazzle believed she could do. 

“Let’s try to find some seats so we can all sit together and eat.  There’s a lot to tell how we’re doing.” Solar Flare was eager to tell his dad and Brightstar’s parents how the trials were going. Cloudy Sky stuck his head inside the mess hall, looking about to see how crowded it was. Some of the cadets, recruits and their families had finished and were heading for the exit, but it still was quite full.

“Why don’t some of us wait here and keep an eye open for some seats while the rest of us get on line?  That way if a table is-”

“Cloudy! Sweetheart, over here!” A mare’s voice called to him from somewhere close by, interrupting Cloudy Sky’s sentence.  The friends all turned about to look from where the voice came from amid the collection of bodies in the hallway that were moving to and from the cafeteria area and mess hall. 

“Over there.” Nightflight pointed to the three ponies moving towards them from the far end of the hallway, smiling happily at the sight of the group of recruits.  Cloudy Sky moved out in front, surprised to see who was heading their way.

“Mom! Dad! Sis! You’re here!”  He rushed over to greet them all with a huge hug, elated to see them. His friends followed slowly after, allowing Cloudy Sky a few moments with his family.

For the BFFs, the morning was becoming brighter still with the appearance of still another of their members’ family. The incident in the barracks this morning receded still further in their minds.

“How’re you doin’, son?  Hangin’ in there with those hot shots, are ya’?!”  The big dark-gray stallion with midnight blue mane and tail held his whole family within the protective folds of his wings.

“I missed you, Cloudy!”  The small pale-yellow pegasus filly held onto Cloudy Sky, her forelegs wrapped tightly around his body and so happy to see her big brother after three days.

“Oh, just look at my future superstar; looking so dashing in his Wonderbolt uniform!”  The gold-yellow mare with the wispy brown mane and tail simply glowed with motherly pride when stepping out from her husband’s embrace to admire her son dressed in a crisp Wonderbolt jersey.

“Wait, how is it you’re here?  You said you were coming at the end of the week when the trials were over.” As happy as he was to see them right then, Cloudy Sky knew something was amiss.

“We couldn’t see you off when you left Nimbusville so when we got the notification from the academy about the meet and greet, your mother and I used a vacation day up to come.  We wanted to see how things were going.”  Stormy Sky was very proud to see his son was still in the running and hadn’t been eliminated.  He knew how much his son wanted to go to this school.

“But…but that’s your anniversary vacation to Las Pegasus! You’ve been planning to go on that trip for, like, forever!”  Cloudy Sky felt his heart grow heavy with the revelation of what his parents sacrificed to make this visit possible.  This was something his parents had talked about doing and saving up their gold bits for as long as he could remember. It was supposed to be a special time for them. He and his sister were to say at their aunt’s house in the countryside this summer while his parents were away for that week.

“So it’ll be six days and five nights. No big deal.”  Stormy Sky wanted his son to relax and not worry about it. Cloudy needed to stay focused.  

Sunny Sky reached out to caress the side of her son’s muzzle with a forehoof in the way only a mom could, soothing him with her touch.  When she looked at him with those loving amber eyes of hers, Cloudy Sky knew his mom was speaking from her heart.

“Nothing is more important to us than to watch you reach for your dreams, Cloudy. We wanted to be here to tell you how proud we are.”

Cloudy Sky reached out to hug his parents, his blue eyes tearing up and his breath coming a little quicker.  “I love you all so much! Thank you for being here for me!”  He made sure to say it just loud enough for them to hear but not enough to have any of his friends hear him get all ‘mushy’ with parents. But he couldn’t deceive his friends. Even from afar they could tell just from the body language that this was something very personal and special for Cloudy Sky to have his family here.  

Sunny Sky turned her head to see the group of recruits and family members her son had been standing with now coming over to join them.  “Oh,” she got her son’s attention away from his little sister, “are these some of the flight teams you’re with?”

“These are my new friends! C’mon, I want you to meet them!”  He hastily rubbed away the tears with the back of a foreleg and eagerly tugged at his mom’s foreleg to come with him.  His dad and little sister followed right after.  Off to one end of the corridor away from the gathered ponies on the chow line, Cloudy Sky got to make the introduction.

“Mom and dad, I’d like you to meet Firebolt, Solar Flare, Brightstar, Gallus-”

“E-e-e-e-e! A princess!” A shrill young filly’s voice pierced the air, making a loud declaration of discovery. A streak of yellow color flashed past Cloudy Sky as he watched his sister rocketing directly for Silverstream. 

“Princess! Princess! Princess!”  Breezy Sky squealed loudly with delight as she hopped up and down, almost going ‘fan-girl’ at whom, or more correctly, what was now standing less than a yard in front of her.  Stormy and Sunny Sky looked momentarily embarrassed by their daughter’s rather sudden and odd proclamation as they went around introducing themselves to Brightstar’s mom and dad as well as Solar Flare’s father before getting to their overstimulated child.

“Stormy Sky; it’s a pleasure to meet you.”  The stallion gave the young flyers all a smile when greeting them and a quick wave.

“Sunny Sky; it’s wonderful to see you all working together like this; being such good friends of Cloudy’s.”  This was something she had hoped for her son, glad to see Cloudy was coming more out his shyness and making new friends.

“I wasn’t aware other creatures were trying out for the academy now.”  Sunny Sky was surprised to see, not only a griffon here, but also one of those hippogriffs that just reemerged from hiding relatively recently from the southern Celestial Sea. 

Cloudy Sky was eager to introduce Gallus and Silverstream as his friends to his family.  “Oh, yeah, it’s something new the academy is trying.  One of the Wonderbolts from Ponyville brought Gallus and Silverstream along.”

Stormy Sky stepped forward to first address Silverstream, embarrassed a little by his child’s behavior. “Please, forgive my daughter’s enthusiasm.”  

“Sweetheart, what are you talking about?”  Stormy Sky crouched down to talk with his overstimulated daughter.

“Remember, daddy? Remember?  In Canterlot; at the really big parade we went to!  The seapony queen came to meet the pony princesses!”  Breezy Sky was beside herself with glee, standing wide-eyed so close to a real princess and trembling slightly in excitement.

“Pbth! Yeah right, kid! A princess.” Firebolt dismissed the claim with a wave of a forehoof, as if too ridiculous to be possible. Silverstream wasn’t a princess.

“Who’s a princess?”  Razzle Dazzle was pulled back into the conversation away from the bee buzzing around the ceiling that must have gotten trapped inside from flying in through an open door or window.

“Silverstream, do you have any idea what she going on about?”  Brightstar watched as Cloudy Sky’s little sister simply bubbled over with unbridled excitement.

For a moment, Silverstream felt on-the-spot about where she was from and who she was.  But then quickly recalled what this little filly was carrying on about; the visit to Canterlot and celebration exactly one week after the Strom King’s defeat.

“Oh wait,” Silverstream gave them an easy wave of her talons and laughing a little, “that was Princess Skystar on the float you watched with Queen Novo my aunt, not me. Every ‘griff gets me and her mixed up because Skystar’s my cousin and are so much alike that-”

Silverstream suddenly slapped all her foreleg talons over her beak, clapping it shut, realizing what she accidently just revealed about herself.  All of her friends did a double-take when hearing what she said.

“Wait, what?” Firebolt suddenly pulled in closer to her hippogriff friend, looking right in Silverstream’s eyes with some disbelief.

“Did… did you just say…?”  Solar Flare didn’t finish the question; the look in Silverstream’s eyes answered it for him.  His dad was just as stunned by what he heard.

“Yeah, I… I think she just did, son.” Sunstorm Blaze was pretty sure she said what she said.

“Woah!”  Nightflight, too, was speechless, only stating the obvious about the magnitude of what was just revealed. That was about the last thing he was expecting to hear this morning.

“That’s nice. Oh, there’s that poor bee again…”  Razzle Dazzle gave Silverstream a happy smile for her stature as princess before the small buzzing insect got her attention away, flying right past her nose. An awkward silence hung among the gathered flyers and family members, still processing this piece of seemingly impossible news.

“Oops.” Silverstream barely squeaked out, her cover blown and looking like a thief caught in the act.

“Wait, you… you mean you’re… you’re like…”  Cloudy suddenly became overwhelmed by his new perception of Silverstream, the realization that he was practicing flying with seapony royalty, “…like…like… like Princess Twilight?!” His little sister let out another loud squeal of delight that could have shattered glass.

“See?! I told you! I told you! A seapony princess! A seapony princess!” Breezy Sky was quickly yanked down to bow before Silverstream properly by her mother; it was disrespectful to act like that to a princess.  Sunny Sky could barely keep her daughter still. Breezy would not stop giggling and squirming. Stormy Sky as well as Sunstorm Blaze did the same, showing proper respect to a princess.

“Oh, no, please every pony, please don’t do that!”  Silverstream quietly begged them to stop as she went about and tried raising them up to cease their bowing. It was attracting some unwanted attention as well from a few cadets nearby who heard Breezy’s loud proclamation. 

Reluctantly, the respectful ponies did as she requested, unsure why a princess of another country didn’t want her due courtesy.

“Is… it true? You are a seapony princess?”  Solar Flare was reluctant to ask, unsure what to believe just then about his new friends.

Not wanting more unnecessary attention than they already garnered, Silverstream and Gallus hustled their friends and family members right around the corner to the adjacent hallway that led to the quartermaster’s office and the two locker rooms they used, near to the gymnasium.

“Will some pony tell me what all this secrecy is about?”  Nightflight did not understand why Silverstream and Gallus moved them further away from the other recruits, getting corralled around the corner like this.

“Yes, I think you’d better.”  Brightstar wasn’t taking this lightly; this simple omission made by Silverstream was nothing short of a bombshell. Had her new flight student been deceiving her all this time?

Silverstream looked about her friends, confronted with a situation she’d hoped to avoid, seeing the questioning looks directed at her.  Silverstream took a deep breath and began.

“Yes, Princess Skystar is my cousin and Queen Novo is my aunt.  So, in a… funny, small sense,” Silverstream tried to diminish her royal credentials, “I am part of the royal family. But, I’m not in line for the throne or anything like that!”

She wanted so much to be treated like every other flyer here trying out and not like some diplomat or special envoy in spite of the aggravation given to her and Gallus by Wind Raider and his group of friends. She wanted to have the same experience they would and did not want to be given preferential treatment.  When she looked at Cloudy Sky, he kept looking down at the floor, as if unworthy to look at her.  As she stepped closer to him, he took a step back, intimidated by her.  Silverstream could almost feel an invisible wall go up brick by brick with each passing second, separating them by social status.

“Cloudy… Cloudy, please look at me.”  She reached out to him, feeling his friendship slipping away because he discovered she was a princess. He struggled to do as she asked, allowing himself only the most modest glance up at her.

“Ye… yes, Princess Silverstream.”  Cloudy Sky’s voice cracked a little with nerves, more than a little unsure of how to address her now.  Silverstream dreaded the thought of Cloudy Sky putting her up on some pedestal of unimaginable grand magnitude of importance.

“Please don’t call me that, Cloudy. We’re friends.”

“Let me get this straight,” Firebolt tried to wrap her head around this fact, “you’re a real princess of Seaquestria and you never told us?” 

“But I’m still the same girl you knew two minutes ago!” Silverstream insisted to them all, seeing a myriad of reactions to her confession.

“Yeah, but with power!” Firebolt thrust high into the air her left forehoof in an expression of mightiness or triumph while wrapping her right foreleg around her friend’s neck, momentarily startling Silverstream. Firebolt gasped softly, an idea striking her and she suddenly turned to face Silverstream, her muzzle mashed up against her partner’s beak as she looked right in the hippogriff’s eyes.

“With you as a princess,” her green eyes started to gleam, “you could ask Queen Novo to help get us all into the academy!  She could apply some political influence to the school administrators, if you know what I mean, eh?” She gave Silverstream a gentle jab in her ribs with a foreleg elbow and a quick wink, an ever-so-slightly oily smile on her mouth to convey the implied meaning.

“Silverstream,” Brightstar stepped closer to address the flight student she’d been mentoring, “you lied to me; to all of us?” Firebolt let go of her partner, still taking in the gravity of what Brightstar was saying.

“No-o-o! I swear I didn’t!  I… I just…”  Silverstream looked around at all the faces of her friends and their families again, nervously running her foreleg talons through her mane-like crest and feeling like a charlatan for not being forthright with them from the beginning.  

“I just… didn’t… tell the whole truth.”  Her voice became smaller as she attempted to explain herself.

Brightstar then turned to face Gallus.  “And, I’ll assume, you knew this all along but weren’t going to say anything, right?”

Gallus suddenly felt unusually warm in his uniform.  “Well,” he pulled on the collar of his jersey, finding it a bit too tight just then, “Silverstream hadn’t bothered to mention it in conversation yet, so-o-o… I just figured… she would at some point or another. I mean, we all became such fast friends that I thought it wouldn’t matter.”

That was a pretty poor excuse to use for keeping such information from close friends and partners like them. Both Solar Flare and Nightflight looked on, wondering about their friendships with the two non-pony flyers and how they felt deceived by them when they had been open and honest from the beginning with them.

“You couldn’t trust us to keep something as important as you being a princess of Seaquestria under wraps?”  Nightflight had admired Silverstream and Gallus’ raw skills and adaptability to the trials but felt for some reason put off by the secrecy they’d kept. Maybe it didn’t seem like all that much to either Silverstream or Gallus, but to him and the BFFs, it felt like Silverstream was playing them for simpletons or something.  

Solar Flare had similar feelings. “We wouldn’t have told a soul your secret, Silverstream. I thought we were all friends here.” 

Brightstar took a couple of steps back to stand closer to her parents, still looking at Silverstream and Gallus, upset by this deception.  “Heck, who knows what else they’re not telling us or lying to us about. Maybe they’re spies or something for their kingdoms; a couple of infiltrators using the School of Friendship as a front and just posing as friends.”

“Oh, come now Twinkles, you’ve been reading too many of those wacky conspiracy-theory magazines in your spare time. I think you’re being a little paranoid.” Swiftwind found it very hard to believe a team member of the Wonderbolts would have knowingly brought a couple of ‘spies’ to this school’s tryouts, especially if they were students from the School of Friendship.

“She’s a princess from another country, for Celestia’s sake. I think it’s quite remarkable she decided to take part in…” Sunny Sky searched for the right words, “…I guess a kind of cultural exchange experience.” 

“Why would two neighboring ally nations send spies to this flight school, of all places anyway? That doesn’t make much sense to me.” Sunstorm Blaze tapped his chin with a forehoof while contemplating what the young lady had said. 

“Heavens, no! We’re not spies! It’s like we told you, Gallus and I are going to give a presentation at the School of Friendship about our experience here when we return. Princess Twilight herself asked us as part of a new friendship lesson.” Silverstream did not want such assumptions made about her or why she was attending the tryouts.

“Silverstream is telling the truth.  Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have brought us if she believed having us here would’ve presented some kind of danger to the academy or to the other recruits.”  Gallus was unwilling to be accused like that, not even from a friend. He looked back at Brightstar just as hard and tough, standing his ground.

“Wait, so,” Swiftwind tried to understand the situation, “you two aren’t trying out for the Wonderbolt Academy?”

“Well, er….no, we’re not, but-” Gallus tried to explain but Solar Flare jumped in to help.

“Firebolt, myself and ever pony else here had talked about writing a letter to the Board of Trustees that, if Gallus and Silverstream completed the trials that the school should consider both of them for acceptance.”

“Really son? You feel that strongly about it?” Sunstorm Blaze knew his son was not one to get behind a cause or become a cheerleader for something unless Solar Flare felt it was something important.  His son turned to look up at him.

“Absolutely, dad. If any of you get the chance,” he then looked to Cloudy Sky’s family and then Brightstar’s, “check the scores for all the recruits. You’ll see how well they’re doing. I can’t see a reason why they couldn’t be accepted.”

“You feel the same way, Twinkles?” Swiftwind looked down at his daughter, getting her to look up at him, trying to read her feelings, in spite of the revelation of Silverstream’s pedigree and how she had kept it hidden.

“Well,” Brightstar paused to consider her words carefully, “I thought I could rely my instincts about sizing up a flyer’s character,” She then turned to face the two volunteers, eyeing them with suspicion. “but now after learning this, I’m not so sure.”

Silverstream was going to set the record straight with her mentor, aware of how much Brightstar invested time and effort with her and had been first to volunteer to help.  She walked right up to Brightstar, holding her friend where she stood as Silverstream looked directly in her eyes as she spoke.

“I wasn’t honest with you and that was wrong of me. I didn’t trust my instincts and confide in you,” she then looked at all the other BFFs, “or any of you. I apologize for not being forthright with you.”

When she looked again at Brightstar, Silverstream could see the yellow mare’s expression soften some, seeing and hearing how much she’d meant what she said.

“I suspected something was up by the way you sidestepped my question when we were sitting together in class.”

“I was just worried you’d treat me different; like not wanting to push me hard for fear of getting me upset.” Silverstream felt better when finally getting this off her chest and not having any more secrets between herself and her pony friends.   

Hearing all this, Firebolt quickly came to the conclusion that for her, it really was a non-issue for Silverstream to be a seapony or hippogriff princess.  If anything, it brought Silverstream closer to her, each sharing another secret between them.

Silverstream turned to look over at Cloudy Sky, seeing him repeatedly avert his eyes when she looked at him; like he was beneath her recognition and how he bowed his head to her when she approached, his whole body seemingly tensing up while in her presence.  This was upsetting for Silverstream to see him so unnerved by being near her.

“Cloudy? We’re… we’re still friends, aren’t we?”

“But…you’re… like… some pony important… a real-life princess and… and… and I’m just no pony.”  He put himself down in front of them all, including his family. Silverstream couldn’t stand to hear him belittle himself, not after all the hard work he put into his training and how close they’d become as friends.

“No, you’re not no-pony!  You’re some-pony and a member of the BFFs. You’re also my good friend, Cloudy, don’t ever forget that.”  She reached out to hold him gently by his withers with her talons, encouraging him to stop looking at the floor and look her in the eyes again. Silverstream could see he was struggling, having trouble separating the friend from the ‘royal princess’ standing before him. 

A real princess of another country wanted to be his friend. How much cooler could that be? 

“Really? You… you mean it?” It felt like too much of a dare to ask her if it was true, but it was just so unimaginable to him, allowing himself to meet her gaze.  She held him steady with those lavender eyes of hers.

She could almost feel that invisible wall, as quickly as it had been erected between them instantly come tumbling down with understanding of how much his friendship mattered to her.  She wanted to be his friend.

“I wouldn’t trade your friendship for all the gold bits in the world.”  She watched as his whole body relaxed instantly and that familiar smile of his returned, only for them both to suddenly recoil back in shock at the sheer volume of his little sister’s high pitch squeal of delight.

“Cloudy’s best friends with a seapony princess! Cloudy’s best friends with a seapony princess!”  Breezy Sky was beside herself with excitement, prancing wildly in place like an over-stimulated fan-girl.

Silverstream decided to have a little fun and sent Breezy Sky over the top.  She leaned over to talk with Cloudy Sky’s little sister. “And having a big brother whose friends with a seapony princess could lead a visit to my home in Seaquestria. Would you like that?”  She gave Breezy Sky a quick wink.

That was it. Breezy Sky lost it, falling over on her side and squealing with joy at the prospect of actually getting to see Seaquestria.  Her parents tried to get their daughter to compose herself while their son looked expectedly mortified by his little sister’s behavior.  The tension was broken as everyone got a quick laugh from Breezy Sky’s reaction to Silverstream’s invitation.

“Well,” Nightflight had made up his mind, “I guess Gallus is right.  It really doesn’t matter in the end.” He could understand her reasoning to keep her identity under wraps. Maybe he would’ve acted differently at first, thinking he might have not treated her as ‘one of the gang’ and more like a guest of a pony school. 

“About what?” Razzle Dazzle looked at her friends, confused by their rather serious looks. 

“Uh, about how Silverstream just told us she’s a princess of Seaquestria.” Nightflight clued in the scatterbrained mare about what they’d been talking about for the past few minutes. He shook his head with disbelief at her having her head in the clouds so much of the time.

“Oh, that’s nice.  I thought you guys were arguing over which was better for breakfast this morning; pancakes or waffles.”  Razzle Dazzle could have sworn that’s what they were last talking about, her stomach giving a small growl.

“Pbth! That’s easy.  It’s obviously pancakes!”  Solar Flare was thinking about breakfast, feeling much like Nightflight with regards to Silverstream’s actual royal status and how she wished to be treated no differently than before.  

He liked both volunteer flyers and could understand their thinking for keeping Silverstream’s identity under wraps. Admittedly, he would’ve liked to known earlier as a sign of trust between them.  But, since it was out now and everyone here seemed in agreement to keep quiet on Silverstream’s linage, it wasn’t anything to fuss over really.

“Oh, Please!” Firebolt rolled her eyes, pretending insult.  “Pancakes are what you make when you can’t make waffles correctly.”

“Hey, I have an idea.  Why don’t all of us continue this round-robin discussion about breakfast while actually eating breakfast?”  Solar Flare’s dad pointed out the fact why they were here and really did want to sit and eat with his son and get to know his friends more. Realizing the morning was slipping away and they still had to eat and go to the meet & greet, they started to make their way around the corner and back to the mess hall.

Silverstream and Gallus were so relieved to see how their friends had not held this moment of misjudgment against them.  Firebolt again threw a foreleg around Silverstream’s neck once more, grinning broadly.

“Sisters of a feather; stronger together.” Firebolt really meant it, now knowing Silverstream trusted her with the knowledge of her ‘secret identity’ made Firebolt more confident that they were going to blow all the competition away during the trials. There was nothing hiding between them now. She got her lead flyer to smile and laugh a little, everyone now feeling more relaxed then they were earlier.

As the entourage disappeared around the corner, the door to the girl’s locker room gave a low creak as it was slowly opened, a mare recruit’s head emerging cautiously and checking for any more coming from the voices she’d been listening to. The hallway was now clear, no pony aware of her eavesdropping.

“Oh, a seapony princess is she, eh?  Little Miss Record-Breaker wants to cosplay being a Wonderbolt recruit and show me up, does she?” Sunglow slipped out an oversized compact from a pocket in her jersey, cradling in a forehoof. She flipped open the lid to check on the round reflective surface that was mounted to the underside, grinning to herself at how well she could get the sun to angle off it and blind any creature flying above her. 

“I could’ve taken her out with this before if I didn’t have to be so careful not to get Stormbringer in the process. This time she’s not going to be so lucky. Her freak-beak friend too; I can get rid of him too without Wind Raider’s plan to-”

Sunglow looked down at the mirror, not seeing her reflection but the reflection of another recruit mare standing silently behind her, having heard everything she’d just said. She instantly recognized the pony with the pearly-white coat and silver dapple marks that was glaring very angrily back at her. She had no time to react, gasping softly as it happened too fast.

WHAM! SLAM! CRAK!

The compact was knocked from her forehoof, the glass surface smashing on the hard linoleum flooring into many shards. The heavy wood door of the girl’s locker-room was almost closed on her head as the rush of wind it striking the metal doorframe echoed in the empty room around them. The strike of a hoof upside her head knocked her back into a corner, stunning her and rendering her dizzy for a few seconds. It was all her assaulter needed to make her point.

“Ow! Ow-w-w! Ow-w-w-w, that hurts!” Sunglow whined loudly she felt her long, lustrous blonde mane she’d spent part of this morning quaffing into the most perfect ‘ponytail’ was being pinned very tightly against the wall by the assaulter’s hoof, right up close to her scalp.  “Snowblossom, why are-” 

“Cram it, bitch!” Snowblossom snarled through her clenched teeth; her muzzle only inches away from Sunglow’s, their eyes locked. She was caught and at this pony’s mercy. 

“It was you who slipped something in my cereal during the trial’s first mornings’ meet &greet that sent me to the infirmary for the past two days! You were sitting next to me! You were the only one! I know it was you!”

“I…I don’t know what you’re-” Sunglow’s meek attempt at denial and averting her eyes away from Snowblossom’s scrutiny just angered the white-coated mare more. Snowblossom growled as she pushed down harder on the long tresses she had pinned to the wall, making them pull harder on the roots attached the Sunglow’s head.

“Ow-w-w-w-w-w!” Sunglow whined louder still, her breath coming quicker now, the fear growing as to what was going to happen to her.

“I said cram it, bitch! Quit your whining!” Snowblossom watched as her pray bore the intense pain, a tear collecting in each of Sunglow’s now shut eyes, trying to hang on.

“I don’t know what you and your hoodlum friends are planning, but I’m warning you to leave that nice hippogriff girl and her griffon friend alone.  Pull something like what you did this morning again, and I swear you will regret it! You hear me?!”  Snowblossom leaned in harder again on the large clump of hair she pinned to the wall, holding Sunglow fast by her mane tightly.

Sunglow knew Snowblossom wasn’t fooling. She’d kept the threat vague enough to make her worried as to what it could be but sure Snowblossom wouldn’t go so far as to try beating her up or something like that.

“I-e-e-e-e-e! Yes! Yes! I get it! Please stop!”  Sunglow was at the limit of her endurance. She could feel some hair-strands getting pulled out, pinched off by Snowblossom’s forehoof.

“Don’t hit me!” The pink mare whimpered, fearing retaliation.

“I’m not going to gamble the way Solar Flare did; risk my acceptance in to the academy by acting impulsively chivalrous, even if it was well intended.” Snowblossom suddenly released Sunglow and shoved the pink mare hard into the corner, the back of Sunglow’s head bouncing off the cinderblock wall from the impact. Sunglow yelped at the sudden sharp pain and cowered in the corner as Snowblossom loomed over her, making sure her words were heard.

“You’d best watch your flanks from here on out, Sunglow.” Snowblossom pointed with a forehoof at the pink mare who was recoiling back from her.  “Consider yourself warned.”  Snowblossom turned away, making sure to stomp the rest of the compact and its mirror into useless trash on her way out from the locker-room, leaving the pathetic Sunglow huddling in the corner. Momentarily stunned and humiliated by the confrontation, Sunglow steeled herself, bent on her plan.

“Bitch, I’ll show you!” Sunglow growled, stomping her hooves as she marched over to a locker among the one used by the cadets. One of her academy mare friends had a locker in here and gave her use of anything she kept in there if Sunglow should need it. With a quick twist of a forehoof, she had it unlocked.

Twelve… thirty-six… nineteen…

Pop! 

The combination lock opened for her and Sunglow dug through the possessions of a carry bag, quickly finding what she desired. It wasn’t as large as the last one, but she could still make effective use of it.

“I’ll mess them up good with this today! No pony lays a hoof on me without regretting it!”
> Ch.16 Wonderbolt Trials Pt.12 (raw&unedited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”  Spitfire angrily slammed a forehoof against her desk repeatedly, just missing her sunglasses when hearing of Misty Fly’s intervening in a fight between two recruits in the barracks. “Why in Tartarus didn’t you bring them to me at once?! This is a disaster!” 

All three of them; Soarin, Rainbow Dash and Misty Fly reared back slightly from their C.O.’s outburst, aware of her short temper and low tolerance for bad news. Misty Fly added more.

“None of them spoke up to protest, ma’am! Every last one of them was tight lipped and wouldn’t say what the fight between the two recruits in question was about. One of the mare recruits spoke up to say it was nothing and no pony else countered her statement.”

Spitfire planted a hoof to her forehead, clenching her teeth with frustration.  “The spy they’ve sent to watch Dash’s students here at the trials witnessed this altercation and is going to report back! Do you three have any idea of how much hot water we’re going to be in if Central Command finds out we can’t handle a few problematic recruits?!”

“Commander,” Soarin stepped forward to address his C.O., “we aren’t even sure if the pony we suspect to be the spy actually is a spy. I’m still of the opinion that this isn’t so; that Central Command hasn’t sent any pony to observe the trials. It’s just not possible they could have known Dash,” Soarin gave a sideways nod to the pony standing to his right, “was bringing a griffon and a hippogriff to the trials. This might have been just as Misty Fly was told; just a couple of hothead flyers burning off some tension brought on by the trials. It’s not like we haven’t had difficult recruits before or had some of them that didn’t get along.”

Spitfire looked up, glaring at Soarin. “Do you really want to take that chance, Captain?! My command is probably hanging in the balance with what this spy reports back with their observations! The last thing I need is some investigation into the workings of Wonderbolt Academy!”

Rainbow Dash thought her C.O. was getting ahead of herself in imagining the worst possible outcome. There had to be a logical explanation to why a fight broke out and she was leaning towards Misty Fly’s reasoning. But still, no sense in taking a chance if it would help keep Commander Spitfire calm and not catastrophize the situation.

“Commander, I’ll go and talk with Silverstream and Gallus. They’re my students; they’ll tell me exactly what it was all about. I know there’s more to what’s been going on. ” Rainbow Dash felt the weight of responsibility weigh heavily on her right then. She read from the reporting of her fellow ‘Bolt team instructors that during the trials there was friction among some of the recruits that had flared up at moments. But to what extent, she didn’t know. She truly hoped it wasn’t stemming from the fact her students were here participating. 

Misty Fly next spoke up, showing her C.O. the clipboard with her roster ready for the recruits.

“Ma’am, I’m handling the first recruit group’s duo flight formations this morning right after our meet & greet along with captain Soarin. I’m keeping an extra-close eye on them to make sure there aren’t any more problems to deal with. Any flyer causing problems will be properly dealt with.”

Soarin hoped this would be enough.  “We’ve got the bases covered, Commander. Other than just overseeing what happens and maintaining order in the ranks, there’s not much else we can do. We just have to be the best we can and hope it’s enough.”

Spitfire took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as she pushed herself back in her high back leather chair, rubbing her temples, frustrated with the situation and trying not to get too worked up so early in the morning. There was still a meet & greet to deal with this morning and she knew she had to be in the right mindset for the fans. The stress was getting to her and once more, believing that having this year’s trials run by her team was the wrong idea; feeling she should have been in change from the start like she always had.

But she had to remind herself to let go; allow herself to delegate the running of the trials to those who insisted they could and resist falling back on old habits of acting like a control freak. She may be the head of the Wonderbolts but she didn’t have to take all the responsibility on herself; she had to trust he team members to do their jobs.She sat there for a minute or two in silence, still rubbing her temples, trying to think up the best way forward with the trials.

“Alright,” Spitfire stopped rubbing her temples to now look up at the three ponies standing in front of her desk. “You three are going to handle this situation with the recruits.  Dash,” Spitfire focused on her team co-captain, “I trust you’ll get to the bottom of what happened in the barracks and report back if it’s something that needs to be addressed. You’ve got Hyacinth Dawn and Fleetfoot working the second recruit group with you.”

“Roger that.” Rainbow Dash saluted her C.O., taking her duty very seriously and determined not to have her students removed from the trials.

“Soarin,” Spitfire then addressed her team captain, “keep a close eye on the second recruit group while doing their solo flight routines today with Dash. Make sure they don’t start acting out. The last thing we need is more recruits who cause problems. We’ve got to maintain proper discipline for the remaining three days of the trials.”

Soarin saluted his C.O. as well. “Count on it, ma’am. I’ll keep these youngsters in line.” 

“Make it so, you three. Dismissed.” Spitfire returned the salute and sent them on their way, still worrying about just what transpired in the barracks and dreading the idea of this coming back to haunt her and the team. The only thing she could do was just plow ahead with the meet & greet and hope there would be no more problems with either recruit group.  

=====*****=====

Sunglow slunk quietly out the locker-room door and headed back down the hallway, stopping to peer around the corner to see if Snowblossom or any other pony was there. Fortunately for her, Snowblossom was nowhere to be seen, undoubtedly already in the dining hall by now. 

She continued to rub the back of her head with a forehoof as she moved down the hallway towards the open doors that led in to mess hall, the impact spot still stinging in pain that cause a ringing in her ears.

The busyness and noise of the mess hall offered cover for her to slip unnoticed by the table where the griffon and hippogriff were gathering with their friends, heading right for the table where Wind Raider, Stormbringer and Crimson Sky were sitting with some cadet acquaintances.

“What happened to you?” Crimson Sky noticed the large red welt on the side of her head as she sat down next to him, seeing her tenderly nurse the back of her head with a gentle hoof as well.  Her normally impeccably quaffed blonde mane appeared somewhat messy and unkempt.

“I fell down on the way over from the barracks.” She lied, wincing from the painful bump forming on her head and wishing she had some ice on it to keep the swelling down. 

“Really? How many times?” Crimson Sky wasn’t buying it, easily telling Sunglow was lying. For what reason, he didn’t know or care. All he cared about was she being capable of being his wing pony for the trial today and not make him look bad.

“How’s the wing this morning Stormbringer? Better?” Crimson Sky took another bite from his apple, watching his bunkmate slowly unfurl and refold his right wing, testing the muscles.

“A little bit stiff and bruised, but when Wind and I go out to warm up, I’m sure it’ll loosen up more.” Stormbringer wasn’t taking any chances this morning, taking great care at flexing his wing, making sure not to overdo it. Wind Raider finished the last bite of his waffles, getting ready for the big show he and Stormbringer had planned for this morning.

“He’s tough, he’ll make it through.  I just want to be the first pair up for scoring when it’s time. That way we can show those freak-beaks and their puny little gaggle of friends just who are the top flyers here.”

The legacy pony was confident and unconcerned.  He and his wing pony had been planning this day for over a year. The routine they’d created covered both the required maneuvers the Wonderbolt instructors expected them to do as well as some combat flight moves and techniques, he and Stormbringer used when fighting off attacks from the Storm King’s Stormguards during the siege of Cantorlot. He was sure their routine would put them on the top of the scoresheet for this trial. 

=====*****=====

Cloudy Sky’s sharp eyes spotted a table that was big enough for all of them to sit at and he swiftly moved in to claim it, his friends and family were following after him. Firebolt snatched up an extra chair or two from a neighboring table for squeezing everyone in.

“Should we all get on line? It’ll probably go quickly but do we want to risk losing the table?”  Nightflight was hungry and knew he and the others needed to fill up if they were going to make it to lunch without a break today.

“I’m thinking it might be best if only half of us go at a time. That way we can hold everyone’s seat for them and then have our seats held for us so we can go.” Brightstar, too, wanted to eat a good meal this morning as she was well aware of how much energy intense flying burned up.

“Hurry, mommy! Wanna sit next to Silverstream to eat!” Breezy Sky whined some, annoyed at the delay of getting her flapjacks and whip cream as she desired. She wanted to get as much time in possible to sit next to a real seapony princess.

“I think I’d better take your sister to get her breakfast now. I want to make sure she eats enough to get her to lunchtime.” Sunny Sky was already being pulled in the direction of the chow line by her insistent daughter.

“Hope they’ve got some fresh coffee brewed, ‘cause I need a boost after getting up at five am this morning!” Sunstorm Blaze rubbed his eyes again, not used to getting up at the crack of dawn. Seeing his fellow parent in need of coffee, the seven of them headed for the chow-line to get their morning meals while the rest of them sat at the table to talk.

“I’ll join you both.” Swiftwind joined in the first dibs on a hot beverage, needing a little ‘pick up’ to keep going this morning. He chatted with Sunstorm Blaze and Sunny Sky as the mother of two was being incessantly pulled onward by her hungry daughter. Nightflight and Razzle Dazzle were right behind him, not wanting to risk missing out on the hot food and having to wait for more.

For the parents, it was a warm reunion with their offspring and a chance for some of them to talk with Silverstream and Gallus for the first time.  

“How are the trials going for you and your friend, Silverstream?” Sterling Morning queried the hippogriff sitting across the table from her, wondering if after three days she had a change of mind or opinion about the academy.

“The trials are definitely a challenge but I’m able to keep pace with the rest of my friends. I never imagined there was such a depth of study on the subject of flight. Hippogriffs never really give it much thought; it’s just something natural to us.” Silverstream was honest in her assessment of her experience so far, glad to share with them what it was like.

“How about your friend Gallus?  What does he think about taking part in the trials?” Sterling Morning was curious to know, believing more of what her daughter had told her about her circle of friends.

“Well, I can’t speak for Gallus. But I know he and Solar Flare are really clicking together as a team and made a good impression on the Wonderbolt instructors.”

“And what does the lead pony have to say about having a griffon as his wing?” Sterling Morning saw the confident and calm expression Solar Flare wore when she turned to face him. The quietest member of the BFFs kept it succinct.

“I couldn’t have asked for a more capable partner. He’s as quick and nimble as any pony flyer here.”

“He’s that good?” Stormy Sky looked down at his son seated next to him, curious for a second opinion.  Cloudy nodded vigorously.

“Absolutely, dad; he’s no joke.”

“I can attest to that, Mr. Sky. I’ve watched Solar Flare and Gallus working together. They’ve got a good rapport with each other. Solar is a natural leader and Gallus took right to his position as Solar’s wing, as if he was born for being a wing pony, so to speak.” Brightstar didn’t want to misrepresent her griffon friend but did want to emphasize his success at adapting to a more structured and disciplined format. 

“He and Silverstream have been a big help for me getting though the trials too. There were all these hard maneuvers to perform for my solo flight and they both flew along me to practice them over and over again.” Cloudy Sky eagerly added to the praise of his new friends.

“Did they help you study in class too?” Stormy Sky was a bit perplexed at discovering just how much these fellow ‘competitors’ aided his son. These ponies acted more like schoolmates to his son rather than recruits vying for an entry spot at the academy.

“That was mostly me; the egghead of the wing pony troupe.” Firebolt raised a forehoof, wearing a silly grin when pointing to herself as the ‘nerd girl’ of the group.

“Oh, you are so not an egghead!” Silverstream gave a dismissive wave of her right talons and laughed a little.

“But Firebolt did help Gallus, Razzle Dazzle and me get familiar with the words and terms used for the first flight trial during our class time together.”

“Was it a lot to take on?” Stormy Sky knew his son wasn’t a fast learner and the unrelenting pace these trials put Cloudy at a real disadvantage.  His son looked up at him, a sure look in his eyes.

“She made it feel less overwhelming; breaking the subjects down into small parts for us to understand. The textbook we have to read from is filled with a bazillion important things about flying but Firebolt was, like, ‘Here, just read and focus on this, this and these topics and you’ll do fine’. And she was right. I probably would’ve gotten bogged down with reading everything and not knowing what was or wasn’t necessary to read.”

Firebolt puffed out her chest a little, feeling self-satisfaction from Cloudy Sky’s praise of her assistance during study time. She enjoyed sharing with inexperienced flyers what she knew and how to apply it. 

“Brightstar was my partner during lecture time for lead pony class and she helped me become familiar with the complex topics involved with being a lead flyer. In fact…”

Silverstream found herself slipping into a familiar role, able to talk and interact with the practiced poise her upbringing had taught her to do in important moments of social mixing like this. She was light-hearted and relaxed as she spoke with her friend’s parents, retelling of her experiences with her pony teammates as well as answering their curious questions about her homeland and making a good impression overall. 

Intentionally or not but at that moment, she was the face of her nation and of hippogriff kind. Though she did want to be seen as just another youngster trying out for the academy, she’s still a princess.  And it was a princess’ duty to be the face of her people and nation when called on. She was making inroads where none of her kind had before and that made this sojourn to a pony academy even more important. She would make her mom and aunt proud of her efforts here.   

“That’s admirable of you to assist Silverstream. I know how hard you’ve prepared for this and were so focused.” Sterling Morning was beaming with parental pride of her daughter’s actions, so willing to help out like she did. Brightstar didn’t want to take all the credit.

“Silverstream’s totally downplaying how fast she picked up the subject and only needed my help to get started. I’m fairly certain even if I wasn’t there to assist, she would’ve successfully figured it out on her own.” She looked at the hippogriff seated next to her, grinning.  “She a lot sharper than she gives herself credit for.” 

===== *******=====

“He picked up the instructor’s lesson points quick enough. Cloudy just needed some help with the flying aspects. It’s good that Gallus and Silverstream helped him so much; it was a real boost to his confidence.” Nightflight explained to Sunny Sky, watching amusedly as Breezy Sky continued to insistently pull at her mother’s foreleg to keep up on the chow line. 

Cloudy Sky’s mom tried not to seem overly worried or desperate to know how her son was doing, asking for an ‘honest’ opinion of her son’s chances of passing the trials from his friends who were older and more experienced. The bright yellow middle-aged mare seemed to be relieved by his confiding. 

“He’s doing alright? He’s not a distraction or a bother to any of you? I know he’s trying very hard and has prepared the best he could-” Sunny Sky was about to apologize for her son lacking the flying proficiency as compared to his friends or the other recruits trying out, but Razzle Dazzle jumped in.

“Absolutely not, Mrs. Sky! It’s wonderful he’s with us and we’re so glad to help him all we can! In fact, he even learned how to do one of my ‘flipty loop’ moves all on his own after we worked with him.” 

Sunny Sky had no idea what she was talking about and turned to the dark blue stallion to her left. “A… ‘flipty loop’ move?”

Nightflight filled in the missing relevant information. “It’s a very tough loop-de-loop kind of move that was pretty demanding of his abilities. He struggled at first but did manage to get it down and perform it in his solo routine.”

Sunny now turned to face Gallus, a very appreciative smile beaming from her. “And you were so willing to work with Cloudy and make it easier for him to do?”

Gallus looked a tiny bit embarrassed, seeing the glowing look of admiration from Sunny Sky. “I mean… all I did was fly alongside him and coach a few times; he did the hard work. It took a couple of tries for him, but he got it.” Gallus half looked away, feeling as little warm in his uniform all of a sudden from being the center of this middle-aged mare’s admiration.

“It makes me happy to know he’s made such good friends while here.” Sunny Sky had wanted, more than anything, for her son to meet new ponies away from their little hamlet of a hometown. Even better to make friends with creatures he’d never met before and become part of a new group with them. She understood that, as part of a group effort, Cloudy had a better chance of completing the trials and be selected for admission to the academy. 

“It’s good to hear that you are all working together as a team; it builds trust and loyalty.” Swiftwind wholeheartedly agreed with the way her daughter’s friends were working as a group effort. “I’m sure each of you youngsters must be learning a good deal from each other this way.”

“Solar was always one to lend a hoof to a pony in need. I’m confident that-” Sunstorm Blaze was interrupted unexpectedly.

“Oh-h-h, it’s soft and fluffy, like my pet kitty-cat at home.” A curious small blue colt had walked over and began petting Gallus’ fur, momentarily starling the griffon from the unseen hoof that touched his body.

Gallus jerked his head around to spot the culprit, frowning at the unwelcome pawing. “Hey, kid, do ya’ mind?!” He swung his hindquarters away from the intruding hoof, startling the small colt whose mother was walking up behind her son just then. She took offence to his brusque tone when speaking to her son.

“Good gracious, learn to take a compliment!” She then turned to the three other parents standing close to Gallus and addressed them. “These griffons are such a rude species!” She took her son by the foreleg hoof and led him back to their table, away from Gallus and his party.

The griffon wore a suitably gruff expression, irked by the confrontation. When he looked at Swiftwind, Sunstorm Blaze and Sunny Sky again, each of the three parents wore suitably embarrassed expressions, unable to look at him just then. Having to witness another pony act with such crassness and disrespect towards Gallus created an awkward silence among them that hung in the air before Razzle Dazzle quietly spoke up.  

“I’m…I’m sorry about that, Gallus.” She looked more embarrassed than the trio of parents did right then, appearing quite pained at that moment.

“Don’t even waste the brainpower on them, Gallus. It’s not worth it!” Nightflight sneered at the departing mother and son, annoyed they would treat Gallus like some pet.

The griffon took a deep breath and let the moment go, aware that getting his feathers ruffled was just as Nightflight said, not worth the brain energy. He had more important things to concentrate on today, and one of them wasn’t thinking about some pony’s small-minded attitude towards his kind. 

“Let’s just get something to eat.” Gallus turned back towards the chow line, wanting to forget. Sunny Sky and Sunstorm Blaze still tried to make small talk with the three recruits, trying to make Gallus feel comfortable about being around them again. It was awkward at first, but Sunny Sky managed to get Gallus to smile a little, telling him a quick joke or two about ponies, doing a small bit of self-deprecation humor.

They follow after the other recruits and guests on the chow line, each of them served a plateful of hot cakes, fresh fruit and some hot oatmeal.  Satisfied with their portions, the seven of them head back to the table but not before another pony guest of the academy made a comment as he and his filly offspring cross paths with Gallus while making their way across the crowded mess hall.

“Careful, sweetheart, don’t get too close to one of those creatures now. You don’t want to catch any of their fleas. Who knows where they’ve might have been.” The father of the small filly warned as he steered his child around Gallus, making sure to keep at least a meter away from him.  Instinctively, Gallus responded to the off-putting remark in kind.

“I’ll make sure to keep my distance; Celestia knows I don’t want to catch Hoof-and-Mouth disease from a bunch of unwashed ponies!”

The smart-mouthed comment caused the parent to move his child away more quickly from Gallus and the other ponies he was with, insulted.  “Well, I never!”

“No, and I don’t think you ever will, not with an attitude like that!” Nightflight stepped forward to stand with Gallus, growing more annoyed with the insults his friend had to endure from these guests.

“That wasn’t a very nice thing to say to my friend. You should apologize.”  Razzle Dazzle followed on the hooves of Nightflight, standing right next to Gallus as well.

The parent just scoffed at the three youngsters as he led his daughter away, unconcerned about his choice of words. This was not the positive vibe the three recruits were hoping for this morning, already having dealt with the altercation in the barracks and now having to deal with some disrespectful parents.

“Let’s just sit and eat!” Gallus growled, grinding his beak together and trying to forget another unpleasant moment. The seven of them returned to the table, trying to put on more pleasant expressions but Gallus’ frown was not missed by Brightstar.

“Hey, is everything okay?” She watched how Gallus gruffly plopped his tray down and flopped into his seat, still wearing his annoyance on his face. Nightflight was first to speak up.

“Oh, we had a run in with some parents who made rude comments about Gallus while we were on the chow line getting food; the nerve of some ponies!” He sat down next to Firebolt, reaching for the pitcher of milk.  The others seated at the table were disheartened by the news; hearing some of the attending parents deriding Gallus’ presence here.

“They weren’t very nice.” Razzle Dazzle took her spot next to Cloudy Sky, disappointed by the way they spoke to her griffon friend. She’d not suspected other ponies felt much the same as Wind Raider and his friends did; not liking griffons being here.

“I’m stunned that some pony’s parents would act so horribly to another recruit, regardless of whether they were from Equestria or not.” Sunny Sky sat next to her husband, feeling a bit dispirited by the unpleasant comments made towards her son’s new friend.

“This isn’t what I expected to hear from families who have their sons or daughters attending the academy. I would have believed there would be a much more welcoming environment.” Swiftwind was not pleased to witness what he had, wondering about the makeup of student body that might be harboring such feelings about non-pony attendants.

“Yeah, well, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it, I can tell you.” Gallus would shove those off-putting comments into the back of his mind for the rest of today. He was more determined than ever to prove he and Solar Flare were going to outdo every pair of flyers this morning.

“Let’s go get something from the cafeteria. You can tell us all about what happened when we get back.” Sterling Morning was about to get up from her chair when her daughter stopped her.

“No, mom, you stay here with dad and hang out with my friends, I’ll get us our breakfasts.” She wanted her parents to get to know the rest of the BFFs.

“Please excuse us, we’ll be right back.” Silverstream politely excused herself as she got up from her chair to follow after Cloudy Sky and his dad, along with Solar Flare, Firebolt and Brightstar. They got on the chow line behind some other recruits from the second group and some of their guest family members as well. Brightstar made sure to have Silverstream standing safely in between all of them, keeping anyone not familiar to her friend from getting too close.

It kept Silverstream away from any immediate contact with anyone else on line but did not keep her from being eyed warily by some cadets who were seated at a nearby table. Having her friends around her did make it easier for Silverstream to feel more comfortable while they waited. But Silverstream noticed a young mare ahead of them on the line that, after spotting her standing just behind, kept looking back and smiling at the hippogriff.

“I didn’t suspect your new friend would get such a hard time being here, Cloudy. I believed the academy’s student body to be more open-minded.” 

Granted, Stormy Sky hadn’t done all the reading about the history and impressiveness of the academy when his son first brought the brochures home for him to read. 

“Me neither. I was really surprised by the way some recruits reacted to having Gallus and Silverstream here as volunteers. Most every pony in our group of recruits thinks it’s neat to have them here.” Cloudy Sky couldn’t understand the distain for Gallus and Silverstream shone by Wind Raider and his group. They all could fly; what was the big deal then?

“Most every pony?” Stormy Sky wondered out loud. 

Firebolt filled in her BFF’s dad. “There are a couple of recruits in our group that have made themselves clear that they don’t really shine onto the idea of having a griffon or a hippogriff here at the trials. We just ignore them; a bunch of lunk-heads if you ask me.”

“I’m sure after today’s performance, you two,” Solar Flare nodded at Firebolt and Silverstream, “will basically shut down any pony complaining about having Silverstream here participating.” 

“Even better than the routine you and Gallus are gonna do?” Cloudy Sky played a bit of draconequus’ advocate, smirking a tiny bit at having a play at Solar Flare’s confidence. The soft-spoken stallion played along, smirking back at Cloudy Sky.

“Feh! Not a chance! They couldn’t touch the routine he and I have planned.”  Solar Flare turned up his nose, playing up to the joke of elevating himself above his friends. They chuckle at his acting. 

“Oh, yeah?! Says you! Best watch your flanks today, buddy!” Firebolt playfully poked him in his chest with a forehoof, grinning and getting them all to smile and relax. 

Stormy Sky laughed along with the recruits, watching how they interact with the playful banter between them. Like his wife, Stormy Sky was concerned his son wouldn’t be able to make friends whom he could work with. But after spending only an hour or so with these new friends his son had dubbed the Best Friend Flyers, his hope and desire for his son’s success grew. Surrounded by a good support group of fellow ponies and now a griffon and hippogriff as well, the ‘longshot’ of his son completing the trials and maybe getting accepted into the academy wasn’t feeling like such a longshot anymore.

One by one, each cadet, recruit and parent took up a tray and then helped themselves to the heaping portions of flapjacks, fresh fruit and egg omelets available of every variety. Huge tureens of hot coffee and freshly squeezed juices of every kind awaited further down the line as each of them took what they wanted. At the end of the line, arranged in a towering pile, wasevery kind of breakfast pastry a pony could want just waiting to be taken. In all, a feast fit for the royal princesses. 

Both Firebolt and Solar Flare stepped in to recommend what Cloudy Sky should and should not eat this morning, helping him make smart food selections so he would have the stamina to make it to lunchtime. Stormy Sky did all he could not to smirk at the sight of his son’s friends suddenly taking on the rolls of ‘dietitians’ for Cloudy’s mealtime.

“Less with the sugary pastries and more with the rolled oats and fruits.” Solar Flare pointed to the trays the cadets were carrying to Cloudy Sky, taking note of the lack of sweets the cadets dined on.

“Oh-h-h-h!” Cloudy Sky groaned with disappointment, watching as Solar Flare slide the big bowl of rough oatmeal onto his tray and Firebolt remove of two of the three chocolate cannoli treats from off his tray and back onto the pastry pile. She left one behind, taking pity on him.

“One can’t hurt.” She conceded with a wink and a small smile, making it not a total loss for Cloudy Sky.

“They’re just looking out for your success, son.” Stormy Sky gave his a son a small pat on his back with a forehoof, aware of his son’s affinity for chocolate. Cloudy Sky sighed a little and just nodded. Solar Flare and Firebolt were the experts of their group and knew what was best for him to eat if he wanted to go the distance. 

“I guess.” He conceded.

As they passed through the exit of the cafeteria and into the dining hall, a young gold-yellow colored mare shyly approached them; her focus seemed to be on Silverstream. 

“Oh, um, excuse me,” she softly spoke up, getting the groups attention away from each other and focused on her.

“Yes?” Firebolt wondered what this young girl wanted with them. She seemed a bit intimidated to speak up.  The rest of the group stood clustered behind Firebolt and Silverstream who stood at the front.

“I… I was just wondering,” she turned to look at Silverstream, “You’re from Mount Aris; from the kingdom of hippogriffs?” 

Silverstream watched how her nervous eyes kept looking up at her and then away, as if embarrassed to be so close to ask. It reminded the hippogriff something of how Cloudy Sky reacted to learning she was actually a princess a little while ago.

“Yes, I am. My name is Silverstream. What’s yours?” Once again, Silverstream slipped into the role of ‘princess’, acting with practiced poise with the new introduction. The young girl still seemed quite nervous when answering but as still smiling.

“Sus….Sunshine.” 

“That’s a pretty name you have.  Did you want to ask me something?” Clearly there was something on this girl’s mind she wanted to know from what Silverstream could tell.

“I… I was wondering…. about your mane. I wanted to know how you manage to keep your mane up like that. Do you have to use a lot of mane styling spray or gel? Do you have it cut and styled like that?” 

“Oh,” Silverstream was momentarily caught off-guard by the rather odd question but came back quick, “well, I don’t really have a mane like all ponies. Hippogriffs have a mane-like crest.” She indicated with a free foreleg talon, pointing to the plumage atop her head with an easy smile. “It only looks like a mane because each quill is made up of a very long thin shaft with many, many long vanes coming out from them, so it looks very much like hair growing out of my scalp. With it all flowing together like it does, it appears like I have a thick pony mane like you.”

The young mare was listening attentively, learning. Stormy Sky watched how his son’s friend handled the encounter with such care and understanding, aware of her environment and applying her ‘princess skills’ to work her way through the slightly awkward but innocuous encounter with a youngster.

“That’s why when I shake it out,” Silverstream vigorously shook her head, making her blue-hued crest flutter some but still maintain its upright curvature, “it always stays in place. See?”

The young mare gave a small gasp in discovery. “Oh-h-h-h.” The light of understanding went off over Sunshine’s head, enlightened a little on hippogriff crest anatomy.  

“In fact, my younger brother, Teramor, he tries to-” Silverstream was about to capitalize on the beachhead she’d made with Sunshine when a middle-aged tan colored pegasus mare hurried over to where they stood and interrupted.

“What do you think you are doing, bothering her like that?! Do you want to cause her mane trauma?!” She yanked Sunshine away from Silverstream, a look of horrible embarrassment on her the mare’s face.

“But… but, mom, I didn’t ask-” Sunshine tried to speak up but was drowned out by her mother’s loud and overwrought apology. 

“I’m sorry! I am so, so sorry! My daughter is completely clueless and has no understanding of the hurt and pain she must have inflicted on you with her ignorant and bigoted questions! I don’t know where she gets her disgusting speciesism attitude from!” 

She clamped down hard Sunshine’s right ear with her teeth, causing the young mare to yelp with pain as she was practically dragged away by her mother.  “I can’t believe you’d embarrass me like that!” She snarled, yanking hard on the ear.

“Ow-w-w! Mo-o-om! I didn’t mean anything bad…” Sunshine tried to speak up but her mother’s response to the backtalk was a hard disciplining smack on Sunshine’s backside.

“Be quiet before I give you something really to complain about!” 

“Wait, no! I wasn’t bothered at all! I was happy to…” Silverstream called back to them, but it was too late. The mother and daughter disappeared into the crowded cafeteria of pony bodies, lost among the many guests seated here today.

“…to tell her about… myself.” Silverstream finished her sentence, more to herself in reaction to the sudden cutting off in mid conversation. She thought she was doing so well just then, only to have the young mare’s mother come in and make all the wrong assumptions about what they were speaking about.

The friends stood there for a few seconds, processing the rather odd encounter. Finally, Stormy Sky spoke up.

“Well, that was a rather…. strange moment. Any pony here want to tell me what was that all about?”

“I’m thinking that lady has had a bit too much coffee this morning.” Firebolt was left nonplussed by the mare’s sudden outpouring of emotion, finding it all a bit much to take in and understand.  

“That, or she’s one really high-strung pony.” Solar Flare had never seen a pony act like that before, almost to the point of tears for an apology that seemed so unnecessary.

Nonetheless, the group returned to their table where the others sat and had started their morning meal. Rejoining them in mid conversation, Razzle Dazzle was regaling the time they were helping Cloudy Sky do her ‘flipty loop’ trick for his solo trial.

The parents listened to how she, Gallus, Silverstream and the others all pitched in to assist Cloudy Sky when he needed the help. Breezy Sky was enthralled by Razzle Dazzle’s storytelling; how Silverstream and Gallus came to her brother’s aid at his moment of need and saving him from almost certain elimination. 

The griffon seemed a little embarrassed with Razzle Dazzle’s retelling, making Breezy Sky look at Gallus with great admiration.  It wasn’t just Breezy Sky looking on with admiration. Sterling Morning, too, after listening to the tale was admiring the griffon’s willingness to help a fellow wing pony in need. 

“…and then, Cloudy came soaring in after his big finishing move and managed to hit his landing, finishing his first routine really strong. It was Gallus and Silverstream who stayed the longest with him, the rest of us were already called up to do our routines and couldn’t stay any longer to help.”

“Aw, c’mon, Razzle. Don’t blow it all out of proportion now.” He tried to wave away the praise she was giving, as if to diminish his importance to assisting Cloudy Sky. “Cloudy was doing fine; Silver and me just helped a little in the end.”

“It sounds like you and Silverstream have done more than just ‘helping out a little’, eh?  Seems to me you and she have learned a good deal about teamwork from participating here at the trials.” Swiftwind wanted to know about how the two volunteers were getting along, listening attentively, admiring the looks of Gallus and Silverstream similarly dressed in their Wonderbolt jerseys like all the other recruits.

“It just felt like the right thing friends do for each other, that’s all.” Silverstream knew just what to say to impress the parents seated with them, using the lessons she and Gallus had taken to heart from Princess Twilight’s school and applying them here.

“Well, my first instinct about this place was that the instructors here were, you know, too strict and end up getting under my feathers with all their rules and discipline.”  Leave it to Gallus to assume the mantle of ‘outsider’ no matter what the scenario.  

“Pbth! Meadow muffins, dude!”  Firebolt wasn’t fooled by his posturing and deflated his balloon a little.  “When I had to spend more of the class time with Razzle Dazzle at getting her up to speed, you stayed with Cloudy the rest of the class time, helping him study and reading together.”

Gallus actually felt himself blushing from Firebolt’s comment and the approving looks from the other parents were giving him, especially Cloudy Sky’s mom and dad.

“Hey, don’t get like Razzle Dazzle and start over exaggerating, Firebolt. You helped out a lot too. It wasn’t all me.”

Sterling Morning gave him a small nod of approval.  “I’ll be your friends Smolder, Sandbar and the others back at Princess Twilight’s school will be most impressed to hear about your willingness to help out your fellow flyers while here.”

Through a doorway at the other end of the mess hall in strode Rainbow Dash, dressed in her Wonderbolt uniform and heading for the table where the BFFs and their families sat for the morning’s meal. She was beset by a small throng of young pony fans, clamoring for an autograph from her.

“Easy there, kids. I’ll see all of you out at the meet & greet in a little while.” She demurred from signing anything just yet, in spite of having several Wonderbolt coloring books and autograph albums thrust towards her with the incessant begging from the youngsters for ‘just one signature’ from the famous co-captain.

“Professor Dash!” Silverstream called out and waved to her, eager to have their teacher from the School of Friendship join them. 

Rainbow Dash tried to put on a more relaxed smile, trying to think of the best way to broach this subject with the family members seated with them. This wasn’t going to be easy.

“Hey Gang! How are you doing this morning? You ready for your big show this morning for Commander Spitfire?”  She looked about at the young pony recruits, glad to see them sitting with her students and getting along well. Even better that she would see some family members were joining them, apparently not averse to having Gallus and Silverstream here.

“No doubt! We are ready for it, right guys?! Who’s gonna rock those Wonderbolt instructors today?!” Firebolt was always good at cheerleading, getting her partner and teammates pumped up and ready for action.

“We are!” Almost on cue Cloudy Sky, Gallus and Razzle Dazzle shouted out their replies, feeling the positive energy Firebolt was generating. 

Rainbow Dash liked to hear her Gallus was feeling part of the group, reading up in the reports about how he and Silverstream had taken to the trials so quickly and excelled at it.  

“That’s awesome to hear and I’m sure all of you will do just fine.  I came by to check in to see if everything was going okay between you and the other recruits; any… any difficulty you… might have experienced you’d want to mention?” 

She didn’t want to push yet, not wanting to alarm the family members of some problems unbeknownst to them. But Rainbow Dash could already tell just by the looks on the recruit’s faces that she’d hit a nerve; something had happened but none of them were speaking up.

“It got awfully quiet all of a sudden around here.”  She again scanned the faces of the recruits, looking for an opening but seeing none of them budging. 

“What kind of problems would they be having with the other recruits? Every pony here seems just fine.” Sterling Morning looked down at her daughter seated next to her, watching how Brightstar bit her lower lip and held her jaw tight, as if to prevent herself from speaking up.  She got Brightstar’s attention with a small shake on her daughter’s withers. “Sweetheart, do you want to tell me something?” 

Brightstar’s eye went a little wider when she looked up at her mom, aware of being put on the spot to answer.

“Um-m-m-m…” Brightstar took a lightning-quick look around the table at her friends, not wanting to say anything that might get them in trouble. The seconds ticked by, then some pony else broke the silence and spoke up.
“Solar Flare got into a fight with one of the recruits this morning in the barracks.”

“Cloudy!” Firebolt yelped his name out, frowning as she looked right at him. “Don’t be a snitch!”  There was supposed to be a bond of trust between the BFFs and that meant keeping quiet on such things. This was something between them; between recruits and did not need to have the instructors involved. 

“I’m not snitching!” He stood his ground with Firebolt, a look of annoyance on his face for being called that. “We’re supposed to trust our Wonderbolt instructors and be honest with them; like one of the teachers at the School of Friendship Silverstream and Gallus talked about.” 

“What were they fighting about, son?” Stormy Sky knew his son was an honest pony and would tell them. He put a foreleg around his son’s withers, getting Cloudy to look up at him.  “Tell us what happened.”

This was hard for Cloudy Sky to tell. He really liked Silverstream and Gallus; he’d never had friends like them before. They didn’t look down their beaks at him because he wasn’t nearly as good a flyer as they were and both of them had stood up for him. He didn’t want to see them leave because a few recruit ponies were acting like jerks.

Finally, Cloudy Sky told the truth of what had been happening between the BFFs and the foursome of pony recruits who’d been harassing Silverstream and Gallus. Cloudy Sky only revealed as much as he had to, still not giving the names of which ones it was that were giving Silverstream and Gallus a hard time. The parents were troubled by what they heard, all of them having seen for themselves some rather distasteful behavior displayed towards the two volunteers this morning by some of the guests here.

“….and that’s how the fight broke out. I know Solar was just standing up for Gallus like he did but,” Cloudy Sky paused, his expression suddenly growing angry before turning to look up at the Wonderbolt instructor again, “I’m sorry Professor Dash, that jerk deserved the thumping he got! Why can’t he just leave my friends alone?”

“You stood up to that bully, Solar?” Sunstorm Blaze got his son to look at him instead of looking glumly down at his food. Solar Flare was clearly feeling ashamed for having acted very un-recruit like he had and now thinking he was going to get ejected. 

“I didn’t want to, but I felt I had to, dad. Gallus is my wing, and I couldn’t stand to have some pony insult him or attack him for being here at the trials. If you ask me,” Solar Flare now looked up at the Wonderbolt co-captain, “I think they’re just scared of the competition and just want to drive Silverstream and Gallus away.”

“Well, they’re not going to do that. Not if we have anything to say about it, right?” Firebolt gently elbow jabbed her lead pony who was seated next to her, winking. 

“Right!” Silverstream caught on, winking back, sure and confident for today’s trial. She and Firebolt were going to be electrifying today. 

“Professor Dash,” Nightflight asked the obvious question, “you’re… not going to pull Silverstream and Gallus out of the trials, are you?”

“Oh no!” Razzle Dazzle gasped sharply, throwing both forehooves over her mouth, believing it was going to happen. This was terrible, she wanted to try mind-reading them again, sure if she just concentrated harder next time it would happen.

That idea had crossed Rainbow Dash’s mind on the way over to the mess hall after her meeting with Spitfire. Aware, too, that one of these pony friends of her students might actually be a spy sent here to watch the trials so she would try to be as tactful as possible.

“I have to keep my students safe from trouble; that was part of the agreement I made with Headmare Twilight in order to have them accompany me and-”

“No, please, Professor Dash,” Silverstream interrupted, “I don’t want to go.” She looked about her friends seated at the table with her. “We’re half-way through the trials as of today and Firebolt and myself have ideas for this awesome routine we’re planning out and want to fly.” The hippogriff turned to the mare seated next to her. “I can’t leave my partner now; not because some jerk-headed pony tries to push us around.  What would Headmare Twilight say if I abandoned my friends?”

“Me too, Professor Dash. I don’t want to leave either. I want to fly with Solar Flare and show all the Wonderbolt instructors how well we can work together; if only to shut the mouths of those obnoxious ponies once and for all!”

Gallus wasn’t going to bail on Solar Flare, not now. After witnessing his friend and flight partner stand up for him and take on Wind Raider like he had, Gallus knew he had a pony who would watch his back.

“You of both are sure of this? You don’t want to step away? Trust me when I say that Commander Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts won’t be upset if you decided to. You’ve demonstrated you’re both more than capable of competing in the trials and have made an impression on the student body here at the academy.” Rainbow Dash wanted to be sure of their intentions, hearing how determined they were not to abandon their friends, even dealing with the harassment at the same time. 

In the back of her mind, she knew one of these recruits was potentially the spy sent from Central Command and thought giving her students the option to step away, might mitigate any bad image of the situation between the recruits. Instead, they chose the tougher path. 

“We’re sure, ma’am. We’ll stay to the end.” Silverstream assured all of them, unafraid of some pony’s bad attitude.

“You’ll have to tie us up and drag us away kicking and screeching to stop us from continuing. I’m not letting anyone prevent me from flying.” Gallus made his intentions clear. He wasn’t going anywhere.

“These are quite the students you’ve brought from Princess Twilight’s school, I must say. I don’t suppose there are other great flyers at her school just waiting to be discovered, are there?” Swiftwind was impressed by the two young flyers for their determination to see the trials through.

Rainbow Dash could not have been prouder of Silverstream and Gallus. In spite of the aggravation, they got from a few recruits and some rather unpleasant encounters with a few guests here today, they would stick it out.  Fortunately, she had a small surprise for them that arrived unexpectedly this morning, care take of Headmare Twilight. Maybe it might make up for some of the difficulty they’ve had to deal with.

“Well, I know this has been tough for you two being away from the school and here at the trials during your spring break, so Headmare Twilight thought it might help out by sending you a care package to make up for it.” 

From the doorway Rainbow Dash spotted High Winds waving at her, telling her that the rest of the team was waiting for her outside and they had to get moving if they to get the meet & greet started on time.  She turned back to the table of friends and family.  

“I gotta go now, you guys. Good luck with the trials this morning.”  The co-captain of the Wonderbolts headed off, rejoining her team member to get ready for the meet & greet. 

After only a few minutes sitting, eating and talking together, a peculiar smell filled the air of the mess hall, causing many of the cadets, recruits and their family members turn away from the offending odor and cover their noses in repulsion. The parents sitting at the BFFs table, too, inhaled the first traces of the nauseating smell that seemed to grow stronger.

“What in Princess Celestia’s name is that awful smell?  It smells like some pony is burning alive!”  Whirlwind, seated just a little further down the table from the BFFs with his parents and some other recruits, covered his nostrils with a napkin, trying to block the odor as his gut began to clench up in revulsion to the smell.  Both Silverstream and Gallus instantly knew what it was.

“Wait, I know that smell!  It’s…” Gallus excitedly looked around, seeing one of the kitchen staff ponies heading their way and carrying a tray. The cook tried to cover his nose with a wet dishrag to keep from gagging from the offending odor.

“Oh, geez!  What freakin’ died in here?!  Will some pony open the windows?!”  A stallion from somewhere among the throng of recruits and visitors cried out in revulsion. Still more recruits voiced complaints about the foul smell and moved away from where they believed the smell was coming from.

A mare from somewhere close by cried out loudly in distress, “Sweet Celestia’s cutie mark, it’s grossing me out!  Some pony get me a bucket because I’m going to be sick!”  

The pony staff cook couldn’t get rid of his burden fast enough, scanning the room and finding the two non-pony flyers for which this ‘offering’ was meant for from among the crowd of pony bodies. Hurriedly, he came to stand right behind Silverstream and Gallus, practically dropping the tray right in front them both.  

“Here! This came from the School of Friendship with instructions on how to cook it and then serve it to you!”  He couldn’t get away fast enough, practically retching from the smell as he galloped back to the cafeteria.  The ponies sitting around the table looked at the metal serving tray placed on the table, all of them suitably but privately repulsed by what was in front of them. It was a stark reminder that the two volunteers were not ponies.

“Uh… Gallus? Is… is that…?” Cloudy Sky almost didn’t want to ask, pretty sure what it was already without them confirming it. He took a hard swallow of the lump in his throat, staring at what was sitting on the table. Both of Cloudy Sky’s parents looked on in shock and a bit of discomfort at the sight of animal flesh lying on the table like a severed body part, cooked over a fire and ready for consumption. 

Breezy Sky watched with wide-eyed curious fascination, never before in her life being so close to a real carnivore about to eat.  “Are… are you going to… eat that?” Both Silverstream and Gallus nodded happily. 

“I-i-i-i-it’s bacon!”  Gallus crowed so loud that other griffons all the way in Griffonstone probably heard him. With his head hovering over the piping hot strips of sizzling fried pork, he inhaled deeply the savory aroma that made his beak water. He liked his rolled oats and fruit for breakfast like his pony pals, but this was something special, a delicacy only for creatures like himself and Silverstream.

“Not just any bacon; hickory-smoked bacon!  Oh, Princess Twilight knew just what we would want to eat!”  Silverstream was delighted by the surprise breakfast addition. 

While she and Gallus were omnivorous and tried to keep in step with their pony friends when it came to mealtimes while at the School of Friendship, they did miss some traditional foods of their home countries after being away for as long as they have.  The cooks at the School of Friendship understood their dietary needs and would accommodate them on occasion with some kind of meat product.  But they never suspected they would get the same kind of treatment here at the trials; having them be accommodated to this level.

They didn’t see the cringing looks or restrained disgust for what was sitting on the table. Wanting to be polite, Gallus offered up the plate to his friend’s parents seated across the table from Silverstream and himself first.

“Mr. and Mrs. Sky, would you like to try some?  It’s really quite good.”  The griffon was earnest in his desire to be polite and make a good impression on these ponies, momentarily forgetting their dietary preferences.  Sunny Sky tried valiantly to be polite when turning down the offer and not look at the seared flesh strips less than a foot away from her muzzle.  The smell was almost overpowering her.

“Oh, no, thank you Gallus… that’s…very polite of you to offer.”  She held her breath, not wanting to inhale the stomach-turning smell of cooked animal flesh.  Gallus looked around to the others seated at the table, making sure.  “Anyone else?”  There were no takers.  

Firebolt did all she could to try and discreetly block her view of her friends about to do the unspeakable act of eating the flesh of another animal with her left forehoof.  She had a great deal of admiration for the non-pony flyers being here and felt a sort of kinship with Silverstream especially. But this was something she’d happily forgotten about them during the business of the trials; Silverstream and Gallus were raptors and they needed to eat meat to survive.  It was natural to them. Silverstream was a hippogriff, not a pegasus pony.

Breezy Sky continued to watch as Silverstream and Gallus divvied up the strips of meat between them, savoring the opportunity to devour the tasty cuts.  Silverstream fell back on her etiquette, making sure to help her fellow diners feel more comfortable while eating together. The looks of shock and politely restrained repulsion did not escape her as they did her griffon friend. 

She had her mess kit; utensils she brought with her on outings like this, where she knew it would be impolite to eat her meats with her talons.  She was a stark contrast that couldn’t be more different then to Gallus, who hungrily chomped away on the bacon, dangling the strips above his beak to feed himself, all the while making happy, chomping yummy sounds.

“You know,” the griffon thought out loud, showing everyone seated close by just how disgusting the inside of his mouth was when full of shredded bacon as he talked, “the whole world would be such a better place if every creature could just enjoy bacon!”  Large bits of bacon flew from the edge of his beak to land in the food of the ponies seated near him. One particularly large, fatty piece landed right in the oatmeal Nightflight was eating, its burnt red color and fatty juice contrasting against the bland colored hot cereal.  The dark blue pony pushed the bowl away from him.

“I’m done with this.”  He reached instead for a corn muffin, trying to block out the sound of Gallus munching away across from him.  

“Well, there’s something you don’t see every day.”  Brightstar stated rather matter-of-factually, believing Princess Twilight must know what she is doing if she sent these two a care package. Brightstar, like the rest of the BFFs, had only known Silverstream and Gallus since the beginning of the trials and had not seen them acting on their more avian persona, forgetting their diet included meat.

Sterling Morning watched how Silverstream made sure to keep eye contact with the others around her while talking so as to keep them from looking down at her plate, trying to make them comfortable.  She was succeeding to a certain point. The griffon seated next to her was making it difficult with his talons gripping fistfuls of the meat strips and chomping away at his breakfast with his mouth open. 

Gallus looked about the table to find the syrup server sitting close to Brightstar and Firebolt.

“Hey, Firebolt,” Gallus pointed to the glass bottle near her, “can you pass me the maple syrup?”

Firebolt had only once looked up from her bowl of rolled oats to see Gallus eating, finding the view of a griffon dining on animal flesh too disturbing.  She could only guess at what he was going to do with the syrup. 

“Are you done with syrup?  He wants it next.”  Brightstar pointed to the jug on the table with her right forehoof, making sure. 

“He’s going to dunk those strips of flesh into it, isn’t he?”  Firebolt still couldn’t look up at the meal Gallus was eating, giving her the willies thinking about it.

Brightstar turned back to face Gallus, seeing the mélange on his plate he had already concocted for his meal. She didn’t have to ask.

“Oh, absolutely!  What griffon doesn’t enjoy eating sweet meats?”  He was glad to see they understood what he was about to do and didn’t seem repulsed by it. Firebolt reluctantly passed him the syrup and the griffon proceeded to coat his meal with the warm syrup before devouring it with great relish.

Silverstream carried on the conversation as best she could with Cloudy Sky’s family and the other parents, trying not to appear upset by Gallus’ rather crude behavior.

It tightened Firebolt’s gut more, hearing him nosily chomping away like that. Finally, she couldn’t take the sound anymore.

“Dude, you’re totally grossing me out right now! Can you please eat with some kind of restraint?!”  She didn’t mean to snap at him, but she desperately wanted him to show some kind of decorum right then.  

Silverstream had to finally give her griffon friend a not-so-subdue hard elbow jab in his ribcage to get his attention from the bacon and pancake bits he was devouring. A chunk of pork was stuck to the side of his beak as he addressed Silverstream, annoyed at the interruption to his meal.

“Ow! What the-?”  He twisted his head to the right, the same direction he felt the offending blow originate from, seeing Silverstream’s rather annoyed glare at him, as if he was doing something wrong.  Just by the intense look in her eyes and the slight furrow of her brow, she silently conveyed her message.

 You’re insulting out hosts and embarrassing me!  Show some respect and manners! 

It took a few seconds for it to dawn on him but from the corners of his eyes he could see Cloudy Sky and his family as well as most of their friends were looking right at him.  

“Oh, geez…” Gallus actually turned a bright shade of embarrassed red. Missing a staple food like this just brought out his more ‘primitive’ side and he forgot where he was.  Silverstream reached over with her napkin to wipe the piece of stuck food from off the side of his beak, like a parent tending their child’s messy mealtime.

After that, Gallus did all he could do to be invisible, having acted so coarsely in front of them all. He made sure to use his mess kit and napkin like Silverstream instead using the back of the sleeve of his jersey to wipe his beak. Fearing he’d made a bad impression on the families of his flying partners; he thought it best to just keep quiet and let Silverstream make a better representation of the School of Friendship’s student body.

The consummate child of royal upbringing kept the conversation light and bright, conversing with all the parents and sidestepping the moment of awkward misspeaking she and Gallus had tripped up on the previous night in the student lounge. The moms and dads seated at the table were given recounts of hard studying, trial and error flights and a demonstration of unwavering and simple faith in success by her and the other BFFs.

The BFFs, now fed and focusing on the task this morning, slowly filed out of the mess hall and out of the building and into the morning’s light, chatting softly with their families who joined them. 

“C’mon, c’mon… let’s get everyone together for some nice group pictures.” Sunny Sky happily pulled the eight of them together just outside the doors to the mess hall, wanting to take some photographs of the youngsters.

“Aw-w-w, mom!” Cloudy Sky groaned a little, embarrassed as he watched his mom began organizing him and his friends into two rows for them to be photographed. 

“Photo time is fun time!” Razzle Dazzle cheered.  “It’s just like the Wonderbolts are having, except this one is ours!” She loved the idea of immortalizing their time here together.  “Memories, like the smiles we left behind…” She began to sing out loud.

“Razzle, we’re here to try out for a flight school, not for some off-Broadway musical production in Manehatten.” Nightflight interrupted her song, getting a few laughs from their friends.  

 Click! Click! Click! All the family members got to have their picture taken with the young flyers, Breezy Sky getting a double thrill by getting some solo pictures with Silverstream, embarrassing her brother somewhat with her overstimulated chatter. They hammed it up for the pictures, making silly expressions or poses that had the moms and dads laughing. It was good light-hearted fun for them.



“Good morning, Cloudy.” Harmony Blues brightly called to him as she trotted by on her way to the activities field.

Cloudy Sky knew this was it; he had to make his move and ask her. “Harmony, wait!” He called to her, hurrying over to speak with the silvery-maned mare. She turned around to face him.

“Yes?” Her sweet, melodic voice and deep blue eyes made his knees go weak, momentarily incapacitated when gazing up at her.  He quickly cleared his throat, making sure everyone close by heard him speak.

“Are you ready for working together on our routine today?” Cloudy Sky did just as Nightflight told him to, come right out and ask her. He made sure all his friends, and his family too, saw him step up to ask her.

Harmony Blues took a quick look around at the gathered ponies that he had been spending the morning mealtime with. She recognized his friends standing a little way behind him as well as, what she could only assume was, Cloudy Sky’s family. She had to be tactful with her answer.

“Come find me out on the activities filed when you’re ready.” She gave him a quick wink and smile before heading off to join Snowblossom, who was waiting for her already down at the field.

“Okay, great!” Cloudy Sky was thrilled, secure in the knowledge that he had an awesome lead pony for the trial and was sure to pass with flying colors. He watched her head off towards the field, seeing her meet up with that same, white-coated mare with gray dapples she’d spent most of last night at the air hockey tournament with and eating breakfast with this morning as well. 

“Who was that, son?” Stormy Sky was grinning from ear to ear, seeing his son confidently approach a much older girl like he just had.

“That’s Harmony Blues; she’s going to be my partner for this morning’s duo flight trial.” Cloudy Sky felt a small flush of red come to his face, seeing how his dad seemed so proud of him.

 Look at my boy! Gonna be ‘stud of the year’ for snagging a lovely girl like that!  He gave a small chuckle while giving his son a sure pat on the back with his wing, as if to infer how his son was destined to be her beau. Cloudy Sky blushed a little more.

“I got to meet a real seapony princess!”  Breezy Sky was breathless with enthusiasm about her new pictures. She was so sure that with a princess among her brother’s friends that it practically assured Cloudy of getting in the academy just by sheer association.

“Now remember what we talked about, sweetheart,” Sunny Sky got her daughter’s attention away from the group of young flyers, “about not mentioning Silverstream’s ‘big secret’ while we’re here, remember?”  

Silverstream watched how the young filly’s expression grew tense, biting her lower lip and shuffling her hooves; having to keep such a big secret about getting to meet and befriend seapony princess on her trip to the trials. Breezy knew she would be the envy of every other kid in school to say ‘I’m best friends with a sesapony princess’ and then have the pictures to back up such a bold claim. But she couldn’t do that; she had to keep this ‘under wraps’ for her brother. 

“Oh-h-h-h-h!” Breezy Sky looked up at the hippogriff again, seeing Silverstream smiling back down at her and giving a wink.

“I know my new best friend wouldn’t mention the ‘big secret’ I’m entrusting her with to anyone else, right?”  

“I promise not to tell any pony. I can keep a secret.” Breezy Sky crossed her forelegs and deeply bowed her head before Silverstream to do as she was commanded by her chosen princess.

“Even with a ‘Pinkie Promise’?” Silverstream figured a little filly like Breezy Sky was most likely a fan of Princess Twilight and the teachers of the School of Friendship, so she probably knew what that meant.

Sure enough, Breezy Sky went through the motions of said promise making.  “Cross my heart, hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye!”  

The little filly made a crossing motion across her upper chest and then covered her right eye with her right forehoof, sealing the promise.  Silverstream reached out to give her a small hug of thanks.

“I’m very happy to have you as a friend too. Thank you.”  

Breezy Sky was practically trembling with the thrill she of actually embracing a real seapony princess. It was beyond her wildest dreams possible.  Silverstream let go of her and stepped back.

“Good luck to all of you.”  Sunny Sky was so hopeful for her son, now that he had such a wonderful group of supportive and helpful friends with him.  She’d been initially concerned that he wouldn’t make a new friend that could help him out. Much to her relief and genuine delight, he had seven new friends who were helping him get through the trials. Sunny Sky let some of the doubt go with the realization that with so many friends helping her son, his dream of getting in to the Wonderbolt Academy might actually come true.  

“Go get’em, you two!  Show these instructors what you’ve got!” Sunstorm Blaze threw a foreleg around both his son’s neck and around Gallus’ neck in a rough but caring ‘bromance’ hug of support. Gallus liked the fact how Solar Flare’s dad was behind them all and didn’t think it strange or odd to find a griffon here at the trials, partnered with his son.

“You’ve got this, Twinkles!” Swiftwind gave his blushing daughter a last tight hug before letting her go.

“Da-a-a-d!” Brightstar moaned while rolling her eyes, frustrated he kept using that pet name he made up. From out of the corner of one eye she could see her BFF girlfriends had heard and were grinning with Firebolt trying to stifle her snickering with a forehoof over her mouth.  

Breezy Sky and her parents joined the other recruit families who headed off to the waiting line for a photo with the Wonderbolt team that included Rainbow Dash. The little filly kept looking back towards her brother and his friends, waving at them.

“You know,” Cloudy Sky got Silverstream’s attention away from waving at his sister, “my folks aren’t going to be able to settle her down after being overstimulated like that. She’s going to be wound up all day long. There’s no way those Wonderbolts are going to be able to top you after that ‘Pinkie Promise’ bit.”

Silverstream pulled a wry smile.  “Sorry, just comes with the power of being a princess.” Cloudy Sky only laughed some at her comment, very happy she’d spent some extra time with Breezy and indulged her.

The recruits all head for the bulletin board on the edge of the main activities field.  One of the Wonderbolt team members was already waiting.
> Ch.17 Wonderbolt Trials pt.13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hustle it up, newbies!  We don’t have all morning!  Move it! Move it!” The captain of the Wonderbolt team ordered, tapping a forehoof impatiently for them to join him. The entire group of some forty or so recruits ran or took to the air, hustling over so as to not keep their instructor waiting. They cluster together in front of the Wonderbolt captain who stood in front of the bulletin board.

Soarin snorted with annoyance at the stragglers who were holding up the proceedings.  “Quiet down and listen up ‘cause I’m only going to tell you newbies once!”  His voice carried over the group but some were not listening as they were still chattering amongst themselves.  “Quiet down back there!”  

The six or seven of the newest recruits realized he was aiming the comment right in their direction.  A yellow stallion nearby shoved the other two stallions that were still talking and got them to quiet down.  Half of the recruits were now glaring right at them, annoyed at the delay.

“Sorry.” A pale green stallion with a white mane apologized, aware they were the problem. 

“Now then,” Soarin could finally start.  He pointed to the three lists posted on the board in front of them all with a forehoof.  “Here is the schedule of events for this morning; both recruits groups will have free flight practice time for working on first solo and first lead & wing pony duo flight routines. Every pony should be ready to fly when they’re called. Be sure to have your routines written out and ready for submission; solo flyers first up and then the duo flyer routines. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”  The crowd of recruits barked back.

His eyes passed over the faces of the recruits, all of them wearing looks of determination.  “As some of you may be aware, today marks the halfway point of the trials. You should be proud to have made it as far as you have. In the past, many have been eliminated by this juncture. That is why,” Soarin looked over the heads of the front line of recruits to look at those standing further back, “I want to see every recruit here putting the maximum effort into their routines. If you were waiting for the moment to show us what you have, this is it.”

A small wave of excitement passed over the recruits, each of them eager to show their stuff. “Your routines should coverthe essentials of precision flight you have learned from your solo flight trial while incorporating more advanced flight exercises. Scoring will be based on execution of your routines as well as difficulty of maneuvers performed. Are there any questions to what you need to do?”

No flyer raised a hoof or talon in response.  This seemed to please the Wonderbolt team captain, giving them a quick nod of approval.

“Good!  You newbies get going with your practicing; I or one of the other instructors will be over shortly to monitor your progress.Dismissed.”

The flock of flyers all headed out for the open field, wanting to get the maximum flight time in to make each of their routines the best possible. Soarin watched as they did, noting both of Rainbow Dash’s students hadn’t pulled out of the trials, as he had thought she would have done after learning about the altercation this morning. He turned away to rejoin the meet & greet that was still underway.

 That’s pretty impressive of those two; sticking it out in spite of having to deal with some butthead recruits giving them flack.I think I underestimated those two’s determination to see this through. Dash certainly picked out some amazing flyers for this year’s trials. 

TheWonderbolt captain had a thought just then, the pace of his step slowing as he pondered more.

Hmmm…I wonder what Commander Spitfire has in mind if both of Dash’s students should go the distance? 

He’d reviewed the scores as well as the personal notes from his fellow teammates who have instructed both the griffon and the hippogriff over the past two days and it was an intriguing litany of observations. The notes covered their flight skills as well as cognitive skills to understand the complex mechanics of precision flight, clearly demonstrating they could keep up with the curriculums of their respected designations of lead or wing pony classes.

But Soarin would think more about that later.  He had a whole morning of posing and smiling and autographing pictures to do for the guests. Not that he minded the duty; it was all part of the distinguished position as a Wonderbolt.  But to face the fans so early in the morning was tough, to say the least. Unlike some of his fellow Wonderbolts who could so easily put on that ‘show time’ face and plow through a meet & greet, Soarin found it a little tougher at moments like this. He would try his best to be cordial and accommodating, even if his mind was really on Dash’s students.

=====*****=====

“After our trials this morning, all of us have to go on the Dizzatron for more endurance training and after lunch today there’s listed some kind of ‘special training session’ we’re taking part in.  It doesn’t say what exactly the training session is about, though.”  Firebolt told them as her friendswho stood right behind, listening to her reading of instructions.

“Any idea what it might be?”  Gallus looked to the other BFFs, they being more familiar with the workings of the trials.

“Maybe it’s another flight test?  Or maybe more classroom time?”  Nightflight knew the academy wanted the best and suggested it would be something to help differentiate the great flyers from the average ones who’ve lasted this long. Things were getting tougher for them to do and he anticipated some of the recruits to get cut from the trials. Not every ponywas going to make it.

“They’ll tell us when we need to know so for now, I’d say let’s get practicing.C’mon, Silverstream.”  Firebolt didn’t give it another thought, turning away from the bulletin board and headed out onto the field with the other recruits.  Silverstream and the othersfollowed, moving past the other recruits who were milling about, all getting sorted as to what to do next. Some were busy with flexing their wings and stretching out muscles in preparation of flying, all the while discussing their routines. Others took to the air; swooping, soaring and diving in and out of the airspace above the field, limbering up and getting the blood flowing in preparation of today’s workout.  

The two volunteers listened to the banter between some of the pony flyers with each bragging about how good their routine was going to be at impressing the instructors and how they were sure to score at the top.

Several stallions were challenging one another to quick sprint flight races from one end of the field to the other and back, each claiming they were the fastest. It was something of a revelation to Silverstream just how driven these ponies were at getting into the academy.

“Hey, I wanna see just how fast that griffon is!”  One of the stallions from the newer group of recruits was looking for a challenge and, seeing Gallus standing there, believed he had an opponent he could beat. Gallus turned around to see who it was calling out to him.  He didn’t recognize the pony standing there with a cocky look on his muzzle, quickly deducing he must be from the second recruit group. Gallus wasn’t one to shrink away from a challenge anddecided to have some fun with this pony.

“Oh, I could show you but I don’t want to embarrass you so badly in front of everyone here.” Gallus felt on top of his game; confident and a little cocky, casually looking up from admiring the sharpness of his talons and barely acknowledging the challenger’s presence, an amused smirk on his beak.

“Oh, ho! So the griffon’s got some hot wings, does he?! Let’s find out if knows how to use them!” Another stallion hooted from close by, listening to the boasting between his friend and the griffon.

“Let’s see what you got!”  A third stallion, a pale yellow one, rather insistently tugged at Gallus’ foreleg to go with them, wanting to see if the griffon’s boasting was real or just hot air. 

“Alright,alright! You don’t have to rush me. I can take on three at one time without-”

“Why don’t we make that four!” Nightflight announced, up for a challenge as well. Having watched Gallus fly plenty of times, he was eager to try himself against the griffon, believing he had the speed to keep up with Gallus.

“Sweetie, are you sure want to do this? I mean, what if you pull a muscle or something.” Amber Haze had caught up with her partner and his friends, overhearing her beau and fretted over his rather rash decision. She knew he was fast; there wasn’t anything to prove by racing. 

“Meh, it’s just for fun. Besides, I like a good race to wake me up in the morning; gets the blood flowing and the mind focused.” Nightflight gave her an assuring embrace with his left wing, planting a small kiss on the side of her muzzle and putting her at ease.

Nightflight hadn’t had a real chance to challenge his friend since first meeting him. Gallus being partnered with Solar Flare meant they spent the vast majority of the study time together and practicing. They’d talked at mealtimes about their flying but never having the chance to try, up till now. This was a friendly challenge for him to fly along with Gallus and get some feel for just how fast his griffon friend really was.

“Hey, the more the merrier, right?” Gallus was cool and in control, repeating the same line he’d heard Nightflight use.  “Hey, Solar, you-?”

“No thanks, I’ll just watch.” Solar Flare only smiled and politely demurred from the offer, choosing to reserve his energy for the trial. He followed after Gallus, Nightflight, Amber Haze and those three stallions from the other recruit group out onto the field to watch the action.

“Oh, um, ex… excuse me,” a gentle female voice got Firebolt and Silverstream’s attention away from watching the fellas heading out onto the field.  Stepping into their view from the collection of pony bodies nearby was a mare with a light green coat with black mane and tail, her gray eyes looking about them, as if anxiously searching for someone.

“Are you looking for one of our friends?”  Silverstream recognized her as one of her recruit group members and from the tournament last night but couldn’t recall her name. 

“Hey, weren’t you with-” Firebolt started to recall something from yesterday as well.

“My name is Rainsong; I was working with Brightstar yesterday.  I spotted her in the mess hall with you and the rest of your friends.”

Firebolt and Silverstream looked about them, suddenly realizing their friend was notstanding there.  “Hey, wasn’t… wasn’t she right here just a second ago?” Firebolt scanned the field, bringing a forehoof up to her eyes to block the sunlight. She could have sworn Brightstar was with them the whole time. Silverstream had to think back for a moment.

“She was with us when the instructor came over. I could have sworn she was standing next to Solar Flare when walked over to read the bulletin board.  You think she went to the meet & greet?”

“No way; and miss practice time or a trial?  Maybe she just had to go to the little filly’s room before getting started.” Firebolt knew the most logical answer was probably the right one.

“I hope she comes back soon. I do want to get started on our routine. I’m still shaky on some of the transition points between some of the moves.”  Rainsong hoped this was so, that Brightstar was only using the latrine and would be rejoining the rest of them.



=====*****======

Cloudy Sky and Razzle Dazzle scoured the field more, moving among the flyers on a quest to find one pony in particular.  Time was of the essence as practice time was finite and every pony had to be ready.  Cloudy Sky kept looking in every direction, desperate to find her. 

“Hold on, Cloudy.  I want to look at this.”  Razzle Dazzle paused to talk with her partner, Whirlwind, seeing him gingerly displaying a colorful butterfly that had landed on his wingtip to another mare that was standing nearby, watching him.

Cloudy Sky didn’t realize Razzle Dazzle was no longer behind him, too engrossed in finding the pony he was in search of.  When he did turn around, he found himself standing alone, losing his partner along the way somehow. He then caught sight of her; Harmony Blues, standing with that same white mare with the gray dapples on her flanks talking with her. It was that same girl he’d seen Harmony Blues spend almost all of last night at the tournament with and spotted them eating breakfast together. He trotted over to them both, smiling.

“Hello, Harmony. Are you ready to start practicing together?” Cloudy Sky was as bright and upbeat as any pony could be, getting partnered with such a talented flyer like Harmony Blues. But his heart sank when he heard Harmony Blues introduce her friend to him.

“Cloudy Sky, this is Snowblossom, my wing pony.  She was in the infirmary with a bad stomach for the past couple of days but she’s feeling better now.”  Harmony Blues could tell he was heartbroken by the wounded look in his eyes.  Not just because she knew he had a little crush on her but also that he no longer had a partner for the trial.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Cloudy. I really hope you do well on today’s flight regiment.” Snowblossom was genuine with her hopes for his success as she stuck out a wing to shake with him.  Mechanically, he responded, not sure if he’d heard Harmony Blues correctly.

“But… I thought we were working so well together yesterday. We made a good pairing.” He was desperate not to lose her as his partner. He needed a good lead pony to work with so that had a chance to pass the trial.  Harmony Blues tried to smile but she felt like she was betraying him by what she had to say. She had to be honest with him, it was only fair.

“Well… yes, we did make a good pair for a quick and fun flight.  But, I need to have a partner to make a great pairing with for this trial.  It’s really important for me to be selected to attend the fall semester and I need to score well.  You can understand, Cloudy, can’t you?” 

Cloudy Sky swallowed down that hard lump of disappointment from the back of his throat, trying to not let on how upset he was at that moment.  He’d heard her loud and clear; he wasn’t a very good flyer and why would a great flyer like her want to partner with him?  He’d known she was way out of his league from the start. It was pure chance he got to be partnered with her. His chances of getting into the academy suddenly felt much slimmer.

“Oh, sure, I understand.  I’m sure I can find a new partner for today’s trial.”  He tried to put on a brave face and pretend not to be concerned when in fact he was actually frightened he wasn’t going to find any lead pony to partner with.  “I’d better go and check with some of the others and see if they’re free.  I’ll see you later.”  

He hurried away, almost too quickly, telling Harmony Blues she’d hurt him by not being his partner.  She didn’t mean to wound him like she had but what choice did she have? This is a competition to get accepted, after all, and she had her plan to follow. Failure was not in those plans. 

She reasoned this out to herself, justifying why she did what she did. But that still didn’t mean she didn’t feel any less of a heel for doing it.

“Well, it’s done with.  Let’s go practice; we need to be ready for our turn and before I have to go get caught up with the second recruit group.”  Snowblossom got Harmony Blues’ attention away from the departing Cloudy Sky, pulling at her foreleg and getting her lead pony to move.

“Sure.” The word limped out of Harmony Blues’ mouth, following after Snowblossom. The blue mare privately made it her mission to sit and talk with Cloudy Sky at lunchtime, somehow try to make amends for her actions. For now, she had a routine to plan out with her wing pony.

Cloudy Sky wandered among the other flyers of the group, asking if any of the any lead ponies were without a wing pony. Very quickly, he discovered that every lead pony already had their wing pony selected as he watched more of the recruits head off into the sky to practice. He spotted Gallus, Nightflight, Amber Haze and Solar Flare, heading back from the sprint race Gallus was challenged to. It must have gone well for the griffon as he and Nightflight were smiling. He headed over to talk with them.

“He clipped you when going around the pole like that.  You should’ve called him out for it.”  Solar Flare pointed out as a witness of the race and the questionable move used.

“Nightflight was right on my tail and I wasn’t going to let that punk get by me on the inside turn because ‘blue-boy’ over here,” Gallus gave Nightflight a playful shove, “wouldn’t back off.”

The navy blue stallion laughed some.  “That guy was so desperate to get by; all speed and no finesse in the turns! You had him covered, Gallus.”

This had been great fun for both Gallus and Nightflight; never having the chance to compete against one another. Nightflight proved to be more than capable of staying right up with Gallus’ flying, no matter what the griffon had tried to do to shake him off during the race. 

“Beating the three of them was enough; just pointing out what one of them tried to do would only have angered them more.”  Gallus proved to be the quickest among the four of them, darting and weaving in and round them and getting across the starting line first. Solar Flare had seen the disgruntled looks from the ponies that got beat, guessing his griffon friend probably did the right thing and not spoken up. Brightstar was hustling over to where they stood together

“Hey, guys. What’d I miss?” Brightstar saw how the guys were all smiles at the moment, making her curious.

“Gallus just shut down a couple of recruits from the second group who challenged him to a race. He blew their feathers off, none of them stood a chance to beat him for sheer speed.” Nightflight was exaggerating a little, getting to brag a bit about Gallus and cheer on his friend. Nightflight was impressed with Gallus’ speed, finding him much quicker than first imagined. 

“And I missed it?!” Brightstar seemed annoyed at herself. “I should’ve waited a few minutes more before running off to the bathroom! I would’ve wanted to see him fly.”

The BFFs watched Cloudy Sky shuffling over to join them, seeing the downcast look he wore.

“Cloudy, what’s wrong?  Where’s Harmony Blues?”  Solar Flare thought his friend would have been long into his practicing by now with his lead pony.  Cloudy Sky’s ears drooped some when having to explain why he was without a partner.

“She’s over there.” He pointed her out to them. She was standing with Snowblossom and some of the other recruits from the second group, talking together and limbering up. “Harmony’s reunited with her original wing pony partner; she said I wasn’t a good enough flyer to partner with.”

“Oh, Cloudy, I’m sorry. That’s so unfair of her.” Amber Haze genuinely felt bad for the youngest BFF member, aware how important it was to have an effective partner for the trials.

“Not cool in my book.” Nightflight grumbled while looking over at the blue mare in question that was doing warming up exercises.

“I ought to give her a piece of my mind for doing that.” Brightstar had believed Harmony Blues to be a friendly and capable pony for Cloudy Sky to be partnered with. This was her friend getting unduly blind-sided.  

“I’m sure some other lead pony is without a partner, right?”  Gallus expected Solar Flare and the others to back him up, but instead watched how his partner suddenly became distracted with something on his mind. 

Solar Flare, tapped his bottom jaw with a forehoof, recalling something he’d read earlier in the week. “Hey, Cloudy, was this pony’s name Snowblossom by chance?” 

“What the-?  How’d you know?” Cloudy Sky’s head jerked up, looking up at Solar Flare when hearing the name come from his friend’s mouth.  He thought Razzle Dazzle was the amateur mind-reader among them.  

“It was one of the names I recall reading on a roster the other day of which recruits were out of the trials.  Silverstream, Firebolt and I went to see one of them off from the infirmary.”  Solar Flare hadn’t met the other two recruits that had dropped out for one reason or another at the beginning of the trials. “I guess Snowblossom wasn’t in as bad condition as the medics first believed.”

“Wait, so, now there are too many wing ponies?”  Gallus thought he had counted twenty flyers as of yesterday since everyone had been paired up.

“I don’t have a lead pony for this trial.  What do I do?” Cloudy Sky looked to Solar Flare and Brightstar for an answer, unsure of what was the right thing to do just then.

“I’m not sure but your best bet for now is to just keep practicing what you’ve learned so far and wait for one of the instructors to get here.”  Solar Flare really didn’t know what advice other to give, all of them were here to practice until called on.  Brightstar did give some insight about the trials to Cloudy Sky. 

“It’s not an uncommon occurrence at the trials, Cloudy. Sometimes the recruits get shuffled around between partners in order to keep every pony paired up.” Brightstar wanted him to feel sure and not worry too much about this snafu. Things like this often get sorted out quickly enough by the instructors.

“It not a big deal, Cloudy. Commander Spitfire and the other instructors will get you partnered up with some pony so don’t let it worry you.” Nightflight sounded sure of his reasoning and gave Cloudy Sky a reassuring smile.

That makes sense.  They’ve been doing this a long time so they must have had this happen before.  The instructors will know what to do. Cloudy Sky reasoned it out in his head. 

“I think we’d best get going ourselves. Time is not on our side.” Amber Haze reminded them and they all nodded. 

Rainsong finally caught up with Brightstar who was standing with her fellow BFFs, relieved to find her lead pony.“Oh, thank Heavens you’re still here!” She was a little breathless with her relief, fearing she’d lost her partner.

They were about to break off into their flight pairs and get started when from out of the cluster of recruits  standing apart from them flew Wind Raider and Stormbringer, launching into the air above the activities field, warming up for their trial with some expert flight moves. The background chatter stopped as most of the recruits watched the two most experienced flyers in the group put on a small demonstration.

For the recruits of both groups, it was like watching real Wonderbolts flying overhead.  The speed and precision in which Wind Raider and Stormbringer did each flight move,as well as slipping in one or two aerial combat moves they’d learned while fighting as volunteers in the defense force of Canterlot left the recruits speechless.  If Wind Raider and Stormbringer wanted to squash any doubts about just how good they were, they did. After completing the quick show of moves and making a near-perfect textbook landing right in front of them all, the two veterans saw it had the desired effect. Both of them could see the disheartened looks and the dumbfounded expressions of the other recruits for having to go up against a routine like that. 

“Oh, wow.” Some pony muttered out loud.

“Geez! How are we going to top that?!” Another recruit bemoaned. Others were suitably impressed and somewhat intimidated by the brief performance of Wind Raider and Stormbringer, seeing these two had clearly brought their ‘A Game’ to the trials and weren’t fooling around.

“C’mon, Cloudy, you can practice with us.” Gallus got Cloudy Sky to stop looking back at Wind Raider and Stormbringer as the three of them headed out onto the field, not wanting his friend to feel intimidated or discouraged by those two older guys who had drawn some other recruits around them in admiration.

Cloudy Sky tagged along with Gallus and Solar Flare, taking to the air and practicing the small number of moves he understood how to do by himself. Solar Flare, wanting to give Cloudy Sky every chance to practice, landed and instead instructed Cloudy to fly together with Gallus who would act as Cloudy Sky’s lead.

Grateful for the guidance by the seasoned racer was offering, Cloudy Sky made sure to pay close attention and do as instructed. Gallus, for his part, took it easy leading Cloudy Sky with a few quick moves he took him through, making wide sweeping turns, large loop-de-loops and slow twisting turns of his body for Cloudy Sky to follow along.

Even as he was concentrating on following Gallus’ lead, from his peripheral vision he saw the other recruits were airborne and working hard at perfecting their routines. They all seemed to be doing much harder tricks, tapping into their flight experience from the time spent at flight competitions or from steady work experience from employment with the Weather Bureau.  

It was time well spent. Getting the opportunity to fly together with Gallus and have a seasoned racer like Solar Flare point out anything he needed to work on was priceless. Solar Flare watched them come in for a landing with Gallus making sure not to come in too fast or steep of angle, making for an easier landing for his wing pony. They landed nice and easy, Solar Flare making sure to give praise for the effort. 

“You’re on top of it, Cloudy. You were nice and steady flying alongside Gallus.” He gave a reassuring pat on Cloudy Sky’s withers.

“You were following right along the whole time. You’re a better flyer now then when you were doing your solo routine just the other day. Trust me, I can tell. I was going faster this time and you didn’t lag behind at all.” Gallus wanted Cloudy Sky to feel confident. He could not help but remember what Professor Dash had said in class back at the School of Friendship.

“Flying is thirty percent ability and seventy percent confidence.”

Razzle Dazzle and her lead pony came in for a landing not too far away from him, both of them pantingfrom the workout. They trotted over to see them.

“Oh, hi guys! How’s it going?”  Razzle Dazzle was bright and cheery sounding, a smile on her face like always.

“Cloudy is really impressing us with his quick pick up of some new flight techniques I’ve introduced him to. I think he’s going to do alright this morning.” Solar Flare made sure to praise the youngest BFF member for his diligent effort and clear advancement of flight skill. Like Gallus, he’d seen the marked improvement in Cloudy Sky’s capabilities.  

“I’m trying my best to follow Solar’s instructions and Gallus has been a great lead flyer to work with too.”  He looked behind his colorful friend to see a familiar stallion from their recruit group standing slightly back from her.  “How’s it going with you two?”

“Actually, it’s pretty good, Cloudy. I was a little unsure if Razzle Dazzle was going to handle the routine I had come up with at first. But she actually fixed a few mistakes in mine I didn’t see and now it’s going to be great. Tough break there at losing your partner so unexpectedly. My heart goes out to ya’.”  Whirlwind offered his earnest condolence to the hard luck youngster.

“Thanks, Whirlwind. I guess the instructors will know what to do, so I’m trying not to worry. It’s cool that Razzle Dazzle is a good match for you. I know she’s really talented.” He mustered a brave smile, pleased to see his friend was having a good go with a lead pony that was a close match in flight skills.

Brightstar, Nightflight and their wing ponies came over to check in with the youngest BFF member and his trainers.

“Hi, Cloudy. How are you doing with Solar and Gallus? Keeping up okay?” Brightstar wanted to be sure he was not being overwhelmed by the regiment Solar Flare and Gallus had him flying.

“It’s not too much for you, is it?” Nightflight, too, wanted to make sure Cloudy Sky was able to keep up.  

“Like I was just telling Razzle Dazzle and Whirlwind, I’m keeping up alright.  This is all still very new to me and I have to get comfortable with it, that’s all.” Cloudy Sky assured them he was on track and not faltering.

“You want to try flying with us? It might help with you getting comfortable with a different flyer. Never know what the instructors might have in mind.” Whirlwind was willing to try and help out a little. He liked Razzle Dazzle and thought her cadre of fellow recruits were okay, especially with how well Gallus seemed to be performing with Solar Flare. And other than that foursome of troublemakers who had it out for Gallus and Silverstream, every pony else in the group got along fine with them.  

“Maybe for a little while; just to try. I know every pony has lots of work to do for their routines and can’t spend too much time with me.” Cloudy Sky felt a little guilty for taking away from his friends’ practice time. They were way more talented flyers then he was and he felt like a drag on their schedule. But his friends would not hear of it.

“We’ll make time for you, Cloudy. It’s important to us to see you pass today’s trial.” Gallus assured him with a pat on the back and an easy smile. 

“Absolutely! We’re in this together, right guys?” Razzle Dazzle rallied them to get behind helping Cloudy Sky once more.

“Just say the word, Cloudy, and we’ll help out all we can.” Brightstar would not let her friend down, offering any help he might need.

Cloudy Sky looked about his fellow BFFs and their partners, seeing how willing they were to help him. He reached out to give Gallus, who was standing right next to him, a huge hug of thanks and squeezing a bit of breath out of the griffon.

“You guys are the best!” He blurted out, getting a bit emotional. Gallus looked predictably embarrassed by the display of genuine affection as Razzle Dazzle piled on.

“Yea, group hug of support!” She crooned as she then proceeded to squeeze both Gallus and Cloudy Sky tightly, loving the moment of comradery.  

“Aw-w-w-w!” Amber Haze teased a little, heartened by the moment of true friendship between the three of them.

“Can’t you feel the love?” Rainsong made a little fun of the sweet moment.

“You know what? I think Gallus has a new best pony friend. I’ll bet any pony here they can’t guess who it might be!” Brightstar got to take a good-natured poke at Gallus, a little payback for his calling her Twinkles this morning. Whirlwind and Solar Flare stifled their laughter as best they could.

“Oh…. whatever!” Gallus rolled his eyes a little, enduring the awkwardness.  


 
=====*****=====

Misty Fly, giving a last smile and hoof-shake to the guests before parting company, made her way over to the activities field to resume the duty of running the trials. Tucked under her right wing was the latest score sheet of the recruits due to perform their first duo flights.  She and the other team members were pleased to read how most of the recruits they’d selected were performing so well, proving to Commander Spitfire that she and the other instructors at the academy could help her; act as recruiters and free their C.O. from the duty.

From off to her left hurried over Angel Wings, carrying a clipboard in her hooves as she flew to land right in front of Misty Fly.  She saluted her superior.

“Ma’am, here is the medical release from the on-duty physician for one of the recruits that was previously listed as out. They are rejoining the trials.” 

Quickly Misty Fly read the form, clearing the recruit of any problem for returning the trials. She saluted Angel Wings back and added the form to her clipboard’s sizable bulk of paperwork.  “Very good. Carry on.”  

“Yes, ma’am.” Angel Wings returned the salute and headed back to her post as Misty Fly readied the paperwork for getting the recruits paired up and routine submissions done. Several recruits saluted her as she approached, already anticipating of getting into formation for inspection. Misty Fly let loose a terrible screech from her whistle, alerting the rest to return to the ground and get lined up for instructions. She was pleased to see how fast the score of recruits moved and stood at attention for her, ready.

“At ease, newbies.”  Misty Fly pulled out the clipboard and flipped to her recruits’ roster, walking past them and not looking up from her paperwork.  “Recruit Snowblossom?”

“Yes, ma’am!” The silvery-white mare with the gray dapples standing next to Nightflight spoke up, still a few recruits down further from where Misty Fly stood.  The Wonderbolt instructor stepped closer.

“This medical release says you’re fit to return to the trials.”

“Yes, ma’am.  Apparently, I was struck with just a severe case of gastritis and not something more serious as first diagnosed by the medical staff.” Snowblossom’s eyes kept flicking over to look at that pink mare with the bright blonde mane and tail that was looking off in another direction, not caring to listen. 

“You’re going to have to make up a lot; wind resistance training, endurance testing and your solo flight as well. You believe you able to complete all that in the time we have today?”  Misty Fly didn’t think it was possible. There were just too many recruits to get through and a limited amount of time and airspace to get it done.

Snowblossom was resolute.  “Ma’am, I will join the second recruit group for the two missed training sessions and would request to have my first turn on the Dizzatron and my Paired Flight routine today to count for both attempts, in order to catch up with the rest of my recruit group.  When called, Harmony Blues and I,” she stole a quick glance to her left to her partner, “will be the first pair up to fly, ready to go.” 

This certainly raised the hackles on the Wonderbolt instructor who rechecked this recruit’s file, hearing gumption clearly in the way she spoke. Satisfied with what she’d read, she flipped the file back closed and addressed Snowblossom again.

“You realize you’re putting all your flight scoring on just one routine and your cumulative Dizzatron score up to now on one attempt.  If you crash out of either, it could prevent you from advancing. Do you understand this, recruit?”Misty Fly thought it foolish to attempt so much in so little time, but it wasn’t against any specific rule. 

“Yes ma’am, I am.”  There was no uncertainty in Snowblossom’s voice.  She meant every word she said, standing there stoically and determined to do what her fellow recruits thought too risky. 

Yes, it was very chancy, but daring and certainly challenging at the same time. It was stuff like that which separated the exceptional flyers from the average ones.

“I will submit your request to Commander Spitfire.  For the rest of you,” Misty Fly addressed all the recruits, “I hope all of you are warmed up and ready for today’s trials. I want all lead and wing pony teams lined up in front of me so I can record the pairings for your scoring.” Misty Fly held up over her head the clipboard for all of them to see. The score of recruits quickly moved to line up as requested while the newer arrivals doing their solo flights stayed in their place. Misty Fly addressed them next.

“Solo flights must be submitted to your instructors no later than oh-nine-hundred thirty hours this morning.  Any questions?”  She looked over the two dozen recruits who were due up first for the morning’s trial, none of them speaking up with a question.

“Your recruits return to your practice for now. Another instructor will be along soon to collect your submissions. Dismissed.”

The recruits saluted her and were heading off into the air or back on the field to wait their turn, now having more room to fly without the first group occupying the same airspace.

The pairs lined up, ready to get started, all but Cloudy Sky.  He waited at the end of the line, embarrassed that he didn’t have a partner and hoped this Wonderbolt instructor knew what to do.  Finally, it was his turn.  

“Where’s your partner, recruit?”  Misty Fly saw the gray stallion standing alone, believing his partner to be off somewhere.

“I don’t have a lead pony, ma’am.  There aren’t enough.”  Cloudy Sky watched as the instructor took a quick headcount.  

“…Eighteen… nineteen… twenty… twenty one.”  She pointed to Cloudy Sky last, coming up with the same answer. She rechecked her clipboard, going through the roster. 

“We need a lead pony to volunteer to fly two trials today; we’re short one lead flyer for this wing pony.  Who can help us out?”  She looked over the group, waiting.

The lead ponies of the recruit group looked among themselves to see who would act first to help out. Silverstream heard the call and was about to step forward when she felt someone holding her back by her foreleg.

“Wait, where are you going?”  Firebolt gave her a rather strange look, confused by what her partner was doing.  

“Cloudy needs our help; he’s our friend and I’m going to help him.”  It was so obvious to the hippogriff.  It’s what friends do for each other.  She didn’t understand why Firebolt was stopping her.

“That’s nice you want to help, but we have to concentrate on our routine today, remember?  We’re going to be the best duo in this trial, remember?”  Firebolt emphasized her tone, making sure to get her point across. It made Silverstream pause, remembering their talks at mealtimes about being the best pair at this trial.

“I will, ma’am.”

Gallus was the first to step forward, without hesitation, seeing his friend standing without a partner. When the griffon glanced over at Cloudy Sky, his pony friend was grinning, excited to potentially have him as his official partner.

Misty Fly rechecked her clipboard, running down the list of names.  “It’s Gallus, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.” The griffon stood proud and tall, ready to help.

“Says hear you’re classified as wing pony.  Sorry, but fellow wings can’t act as leads for a trial flight.” 

Gallus pressed his insistence, trying to appeal to his instructor’s logic.  “Begging you pardon, ma’am, but all Cloudy Sky has to do is demonstrate he can follow another flyer in formation.  It therefore shouldn’t matter who is leading him.  If the flight is for his score, then who the lead flyer is really doesn’t-”

“I’ll volunteer ma’am!” Solar Flare quickly stepped forward, adverting a possible bad scene with Gallus openly contradicting the instructor in front of the other recruits. That was a serious no-no to do at the trials, even for a ‘volunteer’. Good recruits listen and follow instructions.

Not to be outdone, Nightflight was the next one to step forward. “I’ll volunteer too.” He gave Cloudy Sky a quick wink and nod, assuring the youngest member that he was willing to help. Amber Haze took a few steps forward as well to stand next to Nightflight, silently supportive of her beau and his circle of friends. 

Once again, Silverstream took a step forward, intending to volunteer.  Once more, she felt someone pull her back by her foreleg, more strongly this time.  She turned to see it was Firebolt still restraining her.

“Stop, Silver, what are you doing?” There was an intense look of displeasure her eyes, upset by Silverstream’s intention to help. She held firmly onto Silverstream’s foreleg this time, insisting she not move. This was most confusing to the hippogriff.  Why was Firebolt preventing her from helping Cloudy Sky? Solar Flare and Nightflight were so why shouldn’t she?

“Cloudy needs help. He’s our-”

“Look, Silver,” Firebolt gave a small exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes a little at her naivety, “Cloudy’s sweet and he’s got a heart the size of all Equestria with the desire to get in to the academy but let’s face the truth here, he’s not good enough to get in.”

This was shocking to hear her friend talk like that.  Cloudy Sky was their friend!  Silverstream’s beak fell open, reacting to what she’d just heard, making it quite clear she didn’t like what her wing pony said.  Firebolt laid it out for her, smiling flatly.

“C’mon, Silverstream, let’s be honest about it.  If it wasn’t for all of us working and training like mad to get Cloudy even somewhat ready for that solo fight of his, he would never have gotten through it.  It’s a miracle he’s even gotten this far. Think about it for a second.”

Silverstream found the flying regiments challenging and could keep pace with the top flyers in the group like Firebolt, Solar Flare or even Wind Raider. But Cloudy Sky could barely keep pace with the regiment. He was struggling with every aspect of the trials. There hadn’t been a single topic of study or flight exercise he hadn’t been able to do on his own.  

Firebolt watched how Silverstream’s expression change, seeing there was truth to what she said; about the past three days worth of workouts they’ve endured and how challenging it’s been for all of them. 

“But… but… Cloude-e-e-e!”  Silverstream whined softly and still pulled at Firebolt’s restraining hold, feeling like she was abandoning her friend at the very moment when he needed his friends the most.  Yes, she and Firebolt made a great team; an exceptional team.  But did that mean they had to act so cold and not even offer to help?  This, to Silverstream, seemed very selfish.

Firebolt gave a small shake of her head, a touch of sadness now tainting her green eyes, as if to say ‘Even with Solar Flare or Nightflight’s help, it’s not going to make a difference. Cloudy’s not going to pass the trial. We need to focus on us.’

Firebolt liked Cloudy Sky as a friend. He was sweet and polite and a great ear to bend when getting to tell him of her flight competition exploits. But her hippogriff friend was forgetting something important about these trials; it was a competition to get in to the academy and that meant only the best flyers were going to move on. Firebolt was her partner, not Cloudy Sky.  

The weight on Silverstream’s heart was too much.  She was betraying one of the tenants she’d held tightly to since attending the School of Friendship, taught to her by Professor Dash.

 Loyalty. She recalled what she told Cloudy Sky in front of his family just before they ate breakfast this morning.

“You’re my good friend, Cloudy.  I wouldn’t trade your friendship for all the gold bits in world for it.”

She forcefully pulled free from Firebolt’s hold.  Silverstream took two more steps before she felt, a stronger restraining foreleg holding her back once more.

“Silver! Stop!”  Firebolt hissed angrily at the hippogriff, her lips pursed tightly together and now a flash of anger burned in those same green eyes.  “Why are you jeopardizing my chance to-”

Silverstream cocked her head, catching what Firebolt said and who then suddenly caught herself, forgetting to whom she was speaking with and quickly reframed her words.

“-our chance to get a great score.  Why are you risking it for us both?”  

Brightstar looked from the corner or her right eye to see Rainsong clearly edging forward, as if suggesting they should step up as well. Both of them overheard the tense exchange between Firebolt and Silverstream over whether or not to volunteer. Brightstar got the hint.

“I will volunteer as well, ma’am.”  

Misty Fly was a bit surprised to see three leads stepping forward.  “Uh, I only need one lead pony to volunteer.”

“Can I choose my lead pony, ma’am?” Cloudy Sky was so relieved to have a choice between three fellow BFFs.

“Please do. We need to keep things moving along.” Misty Fly anxiously awaited his selection so she could submit the forms to the C.O.

Cloudy Sky turned to face his friends, now having to choose one of them as his lead. In his heart, Cloudy Sky wanted to fly with Solar Flare and Gallus but knew they had big plans for their routine and didn’t want to be a distraction for them. It was much the same feeling about Nightflight and Amber Haze. He’d caught glimpses of their workout this morning, seeing them fly some very challenging maneuvers that were sure to impress every pony. Not to mention it was something of an open secret among the recruits that they were an ‘item’ and that would make working with them feel a bit awkward for him, as if he were interrupting their private time together. Cloudy Sky came to what he thought was the most logical choice of the three.

“Brightstar, will you be my lead pony?” 

The yellow mare with the aqua-marine mane and tail seemed humbled by the soft spoken request. “I’d be honored to be your lead, Cloudy.”

The instructor was just glad that a choice was made and she could get the forms submitted. Misty Fly scanned down the roster of pairs and found the recruit’s name and her wing pony partner.  

“I’m going to submit you as his new lead pony. Your partner doesn’t mind?”  She turned to look next at Rainsong concerned there would be competition for the lead pony’s attention and flying time.

“No, ma’am.”  Rainsong understood the situation and was happy to accommodate her lead pony’s friend.  “I’m sure Brightstar is more than capable.  She’s a really strong flyer and I’m confident she can handle taking another flyer under her wing.”

That corny joke elicited scattered chuckles and moans from the other recruits. Even Misty Fly smirked at the pun. Cloudy Sky was looking forward working with Brightstar more closely like he’d done with Gallus and Solar Flare this morning. She was schooled about flying, a ‘by-the-book’ pony and a military brat to boot. If there was one flyer in his group who knew exactly what the Wonderbolt instructors were looking for in a recruit, she would know. Maybe she could even help him tackle one or two harder flight moves he wanted to do too.

“Your name?”  Misty Fly scribbled down some additional notes on her roster before looking up again.

“Cloudy Sky, ma’am.” Misty Fly added the name along with Brightstar as his lead pony. Angel Wings arrived just as she was finishing the entry to the roster. The Wonderbolt reservist saluted her superior officer.

“Ma’am, Commander Spitfire requesting the roster of recruits for their flights this morning.”  

“They’re signed in as pairs. There is a medical release form Commander Spitfire has to sign off for one of the recruits who is returning to the trials.”  She passed Angel Wings the additional forms, who then snapped a quick salute to Misty Fly and took off back to the main office building to deliver the paperwork to their C.O.

Once more, Misty Fly addressed the group of flyers. “I want each lead pony to get their notes and textbooks from the barracks and report back here; you will begin planning out your flight routines for submission. Captain Soarin or I will be supervising this morning’s trial so any pony with lingering questions, come speak with us. I want the rest of the wing flyers to continue practicing. Dismissed.”

The recruits saluted her, and then all the lead flyers hurried back to the barracks to gather up the learning essentials while their partners took to the air to keep warmed up and ready.

Nightflight, Brightstar, Silverstream and Solar Flare were swift with their retrieval, gone for perhaps two minutes and then waiving in their partners once they were back on the field.  The BFFs huddled together for a last pow-wow before pairing off to get started. Rainsong, Whirlwind and Amber Haze joined them, partnered with Brightstar, Razzle Dazzle and Nightflight respectfully.  

“You sure you want to switch partners, Cloudy? It’s not a big deal if you wanted to stick with Gallus and myself.” Solar Flare wanted to be sure his young friend was comfortable with his selection of lead pony.

“I’m sure. Working with Rainsong and Brightstar as a team will be different for me; that way I’ll be able to get comfortable with any partner I might get paired with.” Cloudy Sky felt sure about his choice, believing was playing it smart.  

“How are you going handle all that work? I mean, are you going to create two routines?” Silverstream wondered how a flyer even as good as Brightstar was going to tackle this job. 

“I just might have them perform the same routine with me. It’ll limit the moves I can plan out but let me concentrate more on Rainsong and Cloudy’s flight skills and making sure they pass the trial.” Brightstar was already thinking ahead of how to maximize her training time between her two wings and what she should limit the flight moves to.

Silverstream had to admit to herself that even though she would have liked to have been Cloudy Sky’s lead, she didn’t have the forethought like Brightstar did in figuring out how to handle two wing pony flyers in so short amount of time. 

“I suggest we not dilly-dally any longer; time is slipping and I don’t want to be unprepared when they call us.” Rainsong urged them all and they got down to business, all of them splitting up into their pairs andbegan planning out what to do.



=====*****=====

Eyes were buried in text books and notes as the conversations focused on the duty of creating a great routine to fly. In spite of the great aspirations lead ponies might have had at authoring an attention grabbing flight routine for the instructors to score, study-time and limited flight-time to work though the ideas was forcing hard choices for all of them. The dropping of flashy or needlessly complicated moves for simpler routines with two or perhaps three more challenging flight moves were quickly adopted. 

Brightstar put her plan into action for her two wing ponies.  She started with a few quick flights with each one, trying a smattering of various flight maneuvers of various skill levels in order for them to build up familiarity of flying with her as well as test what their limitations were.  

Much like Solar Flare had with Gallus, Brightstar instructed Rainsong to fly as Cloudy Sky’s lead, so as to work him up with several specific flight moves she and Rainsong could do but he could not. This would increase the pool of flight moves she could choose from that would fulfill the trials requirements and push her wing pony’s abilities a little more.  

Brightstar watched from below, pleased by the quick progress of the two. Rainsong made sure to keep the speed manageable for Cloudy Sky to follow along, watching his familiarity and confidence increase with each flight.  He still needed help but, selecting from the moves he could successfully do, Cloudy Sky was on his way to performing sufficiently for the coming trial.  

“C’mon, Cloudy, follow me!” Rainsong shouted to the gray stallion behind her, leading him up though a series of slow turning vertical corkscrews. 

“I’m right behind ‘ya!” Cloudy Sky yelled back, staying just off to Rainsong’s right wingtip, spinning around just like she was.  Even though he knew this was serious work and he was going to be scored on a routine, it felt more like fun flying then a workout to him.  

“Big ending, Cloudy! Here we go!” Rainsong went for one of the harder moves Brightstar had wanted him to learn; a double-twist loop. She picked up the speed a little making sure he had enough momentum to complete the loop.

Up and up into the sky he followed after Rainsong, completing the second body twist as he reached the apex of the loop and then back down in an easy sweeping arc to land on the ground next to Rainsong, only stumbling a little bit as he did.  Cloudy Sky was hopping up and down on his hooves, ecstatic.

“I did it! I really did it; a double-twist loop!”

“See? You can do it! You just needed a little practice.” Rainsong knew what he was feeling right then; that rush of first success when trying a new maneuver. It took a bit of effort on her and Brightstar’s part to help him along but he got it.  This was one of her favorite moves to fly too, and managing to impart the nuance of it to Cloudy Sky successfully made her excited for him.

“Can we put this move in the routine, Brightstar, please?  I got it right this time and I know I can again! It’ll make the routine better.” He insisted, almost pleading with her to agree. If there was a chance to do something new and push his flying skills more, he wanted to try.

“If there’s time, we’ll see whether or not we can incorporate it into the routine I have thought out for you.” Brightstar was cautious but willing to entertain the idea of adding this flight move. Cloudy Sky’s excitement was bubbling over.

“Ye-e-e-s-s-s!” He thrust a forehoof up over his head triumphantly. It made Rainsong smile to see him so psyched up for his trial. She had a good feeling about today for all three of them. 



=====*****=====

“That wasn’t necessary, you know. It wouldn’t have been that much of an issue for me to help Cloudy.” Silverstream complained to the pony walking next to her, annoyed by how the situation unfolded with Cloudy Sky and ultimately resolved itself. Firebolt gave an exhausted sigh with her going on with this.

“Look, it’s over with, okay? Cloudy’s got a lead pony, it’s one of us so everything’s cool. Can we please move on the task at hoof?” Firebolt couldn’t understand why her lead was continuing with this. There were more important things to focus on today. “Oh and, by the way,” she stopped, turning to her left to address Silverstream, who also stopped to listen, “did you have a routine planned out for us yet?” 

Was it her imagination, or was there just the slightest edge of sarcasm tainting Firebolt’s words? Silverstream ignored it, but had to make a confession instead.

“Well, Brightstar helped me get started but I don’t have-”

Firebolt held up a forehoof to stop her from saying more, momentarily startling the hippogriff.

“No routine planned out? I got us covered.” Firebolt gave her a wink and quickly looked about the area, making sure no pony was looking their way, especially the instructor. Silverstream watched as her wing pony carefully slip out from under her recruit jersey several sheets of notebook paper, all riddled with diagrams and notes of some kind.  

Firebolt quickly took from Silverstream her notebook and textbook, slipping the papers into the front pages of the notebook, as if to suggest these came from Silverstream and not her.

“Check these out.” She flipped open the notebook, displaying a completed solo and duo flight routines, carefully plotted out in sequence and timed. Silverstream recognized the solo routine; it was the one Firebolt had talked about and then flown for her trial. Silverstream picked the sheets of paper up, noting the look and feel of them. It didn’t look like something recently written. 

“Are these-?” Silverstream stopped when looking up at her wing pony, seeing Firebolt wearing a rather mischievous smile on her moth. It was as if for a moment, she did not recognize her friend.

“I’ve been keeping these safe for quite some time. What do you say we get started?”

Silverstream read over the flight plan that had been so meticulously and expertly created, trying to understand it as best she could. The selected tricks, the time plotted out between each move, detailed right down to how many body rolls they were to do for the big finish then land together on the ground in perfect synchrony.

“But, I thought I was supposed to create the routine.” 

“There’s no need to; I’ve one ready. You can just copy it fresh and put our names on it and then submit it to the instructor. Trust me on this.” Firebolt made it sound so simple and straightforward, completely disregarding the lesson of the trial.

“But… this is cheating.” Silverstream logically objected. This exercise was supposed to show she understood the lectures and reading material in order to write a successful routine. This was undermining the whole point of this assignment and trial. She believed they were going to sit down and work together on this, as a team.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Firebolt played innocent, as if Silverstream was suggesting some foreign concept to her.  “It’s about being prepared and passing the trial with a great score, Silverstream. And with this routine,” she pointed to the papers her lead was holding in her talons with the prepared flight routine, “we’ll do just that. That is unless you want to spend most of the morning time trying to figure out just what to fly and in what order, or we can get started right now before every pony else and get twice the practice time. It’s your call. I mean, you are the lead flyer after all.”

Silverstream took some offence.  “Are you saying I can’t plan a routine to fly?” But Firebolt was deadpan serious, understanding the implication she was making on her friend.

“Never. We’re friends and you know I trust you. But given the time constraints, I’m just being sensible. Let me ask you,” Firebolt took the handful of papers back and laid them on the ground once more, “do you know what velocity or what angle we need to be moving at in order to set up the first moves of our flight routine? How many seconds should the stall-turns take for us to fall over backwards in synchrony? How many revolutions should we do when descending from the stall turns?”

The questions caught Silverstream off-guard, trying to recall what she’d written down. Her mind suddenly raced to try and recall.

“Uh, well, I think… when we start out it was supposed… to be…” She trailed off, unable to recall what she’d come up with her first attempt from the night before when working briefly with Brightstar. The numbers and figures swirled before her mind’s eye, a jumble of mathematical equations and pictures of pony bodies in various positions of flight that she remembered from the textbook examples. Silverstream rubbed the side of her head, drawing a blank.  When she looked over at Firebolt, her wing pony was smiling flatly at her, making her point. Silverstream knew she was fast and agile, but she had to admit to herself that she didn’t have one important piece to being an effective lead; the training for and experience from flight competitions. Competitors like Firebolt spend their lives learning and studying how to go fast along with the math and science that entails winning. It’s why so many recruits have that as some part of their profile.

This wasn’t how Silverstream wanted to do this. Here was her wing acting like the lead pony instead of her designation. When she looked about the activity field around her, there were only two pairs of flyers aloft and working on their routines while everyone else had their faces buried in their textbooks and notes, trying to come up with some idea of what to do while keeping an eye on the clock. 

Silverstream kept looking between Firebolt’s eyes, the pile of learning materials on the ground and the completed flight routine papers her wing was holding onto. She did want to score well today and she did want to make a good impression on the instructors too, wanting to show her skills and make professor Dash proud of her accomplishments. Not to mention really stick it to Wind Raider and his crew and show them up.  What better way to get back at them then to score higher then all four of those miserable ponies?

“I… I’m not sure about this.” Silverstream began to waffle, conflicted about doing as instructed versus ‘bending the rules’ by using Firebolt’s flight routine and possibly finishing on top of every other flyer by doing so. Her weakening of resolve must have been written on her face because Firebolt went in for a cheap and easy shot to get her on board.

“Uh, correct me if I’m wrong,” Firebolt looked up and away, tapping her lower jaw with a forehoof while recalling, “but didn’t you tell us during yesterday’s lunch conversation that Gallus once cheated at some kind of scavenger hunt one of your teachers was having you participate in? You weren’t upset with him for doing that and never gave it a second thought. He trusted you.”

It was that spellvenger hunt student counselor Starlight Glimmer had arranged for them; Gallus had spied on where one of the items they were looking for had been hidden by Headmare Twilight’s assistant, Spike. 

That was true, she hadn’t called out Gallus for his duplicity when he confided in her and she’d never revealed it to anyone else at the school. Having her recall that little fact had the effect Firebolt desired.

“Al… alright. Let me just copy it over.” Silverstream pulled out a pen and began to copy over everything on the pages including the calculations for each move. It took only ten minutes to get it done and they put both their names at the top of the page, ready to submit it. Silverstream looked down at her handiwork, worried that she didn’t understand even half of what she copied down and hoped she wouldn’t be questioned about it.

“Cool, now you’re thinking like a winner. We can spend all our time getting it right. Let me show and explain what to do,” Firebolt took the lead, getting here friend up to speed on the terms and computations of what they were to do. Much like Brightstar, she knew the subject deeply, but because of the time restriction and the breath of subject that was part of this lesson, Firebolt skipped much of the whys of their routine and solely focused on the how to fly portion.



====****====

“…and then we’ll go into a figure-eight move, crossing over at the midpoint three times by fourty-five seconds and then come in for our landing at just about one minute’s time.” Solar Flare finished the last sketch and calculation for their routine in his notebook, showing as well as explaining to Gallus what he had in mind for them to fly as a duo. 

The griffon looked over the notebook handed to him, not really sure what he was looking at or understanding what all the notations of their body movements meant, but trusted Solar Flare to know what to do.

“You think I can do these moves?  I’ve never seen them before.” Gallus was a little unsure, reading over the notably more intricate flight moves and how closely they were linked together. He once again flipped through the textbook, reading up on what moves Solar Flare had selected from the later chapters, especially when it came to the timing of each move.

“I wouldn’t have selected them if I didn’t think you could handle them.” Solar Flare laid a forehoof on Gallus’ shoulder, a confident smile on his mouth as he assured his griffon friend he had the skills.

Gallus looked up into the sky above them, watching Crimson Sky and Sunglow working out together, making it look so easy by the precise way the two of them turned and twisted in a display of aerial finesse that had him feeling a little intimidated. Solar Flare knew what to say, seeing the tiny glimmer of self-doubt appear in Gallus’ eyes.

“Tell you what, while you get some flight time getting familiar with these moves, I’m going to work out the timing sequence for each one and watch you from down here and guide you through the routine. Cool for you?”

Gallus nodded. “That’ll work. Just don’t get too upset with me if I mess up a lot getting these new moves down.” Solar Flare only laughed a little, his smile growing.

“That’s what practice time is for, Gallus. So we mess up bad here and not during the actual trial.” Solar Flare quickly made another copy of his routine, rewriting out just the flight moves and leaving out any calculations or unnecessary notes, giving Gallus what he needed to get started.

“This will get you familiar with the routine. Just break down the eight moves into two groups of four; the first four are from the requirement list of moves; certain moves that incorporate flight fundamentals we need to demonstrate capability of and the second group of four moves are ‘free choice’ to do, trick moves that we can impress the instructors with and nail a great score.” 

Solar Flare was very careful and complete with his directions. “I’ll bore you with the mathematics part of it in a bit if you want, but right now I just want to get you familiar with flying the ones you haven’t tried before. We’ll work on linking them move together once you’ve got a handle on each.”

“Right!” Gallus took off into the air, clutching the sheet of notes in his talons tightly and enthusiastic to get started. It was at this moment when he realized it; the reason why he’d chosen to stick it out, rather than step away as Professor Dash had offered.

Well, I wanted to show all these ponies that a griffon could fly just as good as they could, so I guess I’m gonna have to put my wings were my beak is and get this done for Solar.

There was no backing out now as Solar Flare was counting on him to ‘step up’ and be the wing pony he believed him to be. The griffon knew he had to give it his best;better than his best effort to stake his claim as a top flyer here.



 ====****====  

The recruit pairs continued to work away, planning and plotting out flight plans while taking quick buzz flights for solving how to string together the moves into a cohesive presentation. It was not easy for them. Some of the flight pairings were scaling back their extravagant and awe-inspiring plans, finding the time constraint to practice the tougher moves or reworking drafts of overly complex move were simply eating up too much of their time.

Tensions starting to run high between several pairs as the voices and tempers began to rise with the critiques becoming sharper and more forceful. Working under such pressure was bound to cause friction. While they were all, for the most part, friendly with one another, the intensity of the exercise was straining those relationships to the point of some snapping back in rebuke of a cutting remark.

Misty Fly first came to the aid of Windflower and Blue Streak, calming their fraying nerves as she helped settle the heated disagreement.

“Every time we fly, she doesn’t stick to the timing for each move; she keeps changing it on the fly and doesn’t know what she’s doing!” Bluestreak pointed a wing accusingly at his lead pony, who was also pointing right back at him, accusing him of his problem.

“I do not! It’s your fault; you keep speeding up and slowing down and can’t fly the routine at a steady pace!” 

Misty Fly spent a good ten minutes getting the two to settle down and refocus on what the problem was. She had these two demonstrate the problem by ‘walking’ through the routine on the ground in front of her, Misty Fly got them to stop at the critical point and see the issue they had.

“Do you see his body position relative to yours in the lead up to this move? What do you think is the causing problem?”  She would not say, wanting the recruits to see what she saw.

Windflower suddenly saw it; why Blue Streak was out of position, realizing the problem was not him.  “I… I didn’t take into account I was doing this move as a duo and not as a solo flyer.”

Misty Fly was pleased to see the young mare spotted the mistake.  “So what does that mean you have to do?” 

“I need to give him more time to get into position before going into the double back loop.” She felt a flush of heat come to her cheeks, embarrassed for having missed an obvious mistake like this.

“See?! I was right! I said so from-” 

“Quiet!” Misty Fly cut Blue Streak off, not allowing him to ridicule her. “Both of you; listen up.”

The instructor addressed the wing pony first, speaking with calm authority. “This isn’t about who’s right and who’s wrong. This exercise is about teamwork and problem solving together. Don’t forget that.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Blue Streak could not help look away in reaction to heradmonishment, feeling bad for disparaging Windflower like he had in the heat of the moment.

“Lead pony,” Misty Fly’s attention turned to the sunny yellow mare next to the stallion, “it’s your duty to listen to your wing if they are bringing up a valid issue with the routine. Investigate all possible reasons for the problem before you start making accusations. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Windflower couldn’t look at her partner just then, embarrassed for acting so thin-skinned and get defensive with Blue Streak. She had to be the better pony. He was counting on her.

Windflower looked up at Blue Streak, trying to save some face.  “Sorry for not listening like that. Still friends?” She had a suitable shade of scarlet on her cheeks for having acted so childish. That easygoing smile came back to Blue Streak’s mouth, unable to hold a grudge against her.

“Apology accepted, still friends.” He gave her a nod with his accepting and the tension between the pair was gone.

“Good. You two get back to work. You’ve still got a couple of hours left.” Misty Fly was glad to get them back on track and working together. She stayed to watch them take off again and retry their routine.

No sooner had she settled that hot spot, another flared up. This time it was Sunstrike and Morning Glow; more voices being raised in frustration of some pony not getting maneuvers down correctly or quickly enough.

“Oai vie, here we going again!” She grumbled, hearing the voices carrying over from the other side of the field.



 ======*****======

She ventured over to one end of the field to observe more closely how the lead pony and wing griffon were getting along. Approaching, she overheard the way the ‘lead’ was speaking with his ‘wing’. The lead pony made clear examples to follow and when given an ‘I don’t get how…?’ or ‘Wait, I thought that…’ kind of response from his wing, the lead would demonstrate the point of contention, flying and explaining what to do and making sure his partner understood fully. 

She stayed long enough to watch the two make a brief flight of the three moves they were working on as part of their routine’s sequence. Misty Fly made notes to her observations:

 Recruit pair number Four, Lead Pony & Wing Griffon; excellent communication between partners, Lead showing exceptional patience when explaining proper flight techniques, Wing demonstrating eagerness to listen, learn and then apply in flight training together.  

Misty Fly slipped away from the pair and sought out Rainbow Dash’s second student volunteer, believing it would be much the same with their partner. They were easy enough to find, the red-yellow mane and tail of the hippogriff’s wing pony made them easy to pick out of the four pairs of flyers currently in flight. She watched the pair in question execute a series of rolling loops, each keeping their proper body positions while flying at great speed. The duo of pony and hippogriff returned to the ground and was greeted with hoof-bumps and congratulations from the other recruits who’d watched them while resting up, impressed by the speed and precision in which they flew at.

This is what she and her fellow Wonderbolt instructors had been hoping for; seeing the pony recruits getting along well with the volunteers. The fact that most of the recruits had warmed up to them and seemed welcoming was encouraging. She wondered just which one of those ponies who were standing there talking with the hippogriff might be the spy sent from Central Command. If one of them was, at least it was a good impression they were getting by the positive responses. After only the briefest of rests, the two she was interested in observing were right back in the air, working on their routine again.

Misty Fly made more notes in her records as she watched:

Recruit pair number seven; Lead Hippogriff & Wing Pony; demonstrating great compatibility of working together and interacting well with other recruits. Both showing impressive capabilities for each respected position; Lead’s selected moves demonstrate clear understanding of performance flight principles and practices, Wing able to easily keep time and push Lead on towards greater performance.  

As she went about watching the other recruit pairs fly, she could not help but feel more sure and confident about whatever pony from Central Command that was here to watch the trials would undoubtedly be reporting back more good news about Rainbow Dash’s volunteers then any bad news about some scuffle this morning in the barracks. The worry faded more into the background as she kept watch on this group.



=====*****=====

“Good effort! Good effort!” Rainbow Dash gave kudos to the exhausted pink and white mare who managed to get through fourteen of the twenty-one hoops during her first endurance trial, passing by in front of her on the way back to her group of recruits.

“Thank… you!” She wheezed, completely out of breath and her wings drooping and dragging alongside her.

Rainbow Dash bit down on her lower lip, trying not to smirk at the young mare’s condition, finding it a little amusing. She jotted down the score and some quick notes on herscore sheet, keeping track of how many recruits to go.  Hyacinth Dawn, one of the spotters during this trial, came over to speak with her.  

“They still have to do their second attempts and I think it must be getting close to time for the second group flight pairs to turn in their assignments.” Rainbow Dash had lost track of the time, so busy this morning with the meet & greet and then getting the second recruit group through their paces of the testing as well. Soarin came over to join them. He flipped his pocket watch out from his chest pocket to check the time.

“They’ve got another fifteen minutes; I’m sure Commander Spitfire will be out here to take a look herself at the flight pairs and maybe check on some of the submissions.” 

Soarin knew it wasn’t enough time to get through all the second recruit group’s second attempts at the endurance test before their C.O. came out to gather the work from the recruit group in question.  He, like Rainbow Dash, was eager to see how they’d done with the written portion of the day’s assignment.

Fleetfoot, Rainbow Dash’s second spotter for this workout, came over to talk with her teammates too. “Hyacinth Dawn and I can handle this recruit group if you captains want to check in on the first recruit group.”

“We know you’re concerned for them, Dash. I’m sure Commander Spitfire won’t-” 

“No,” Rainbow Dash quickly cut her team captain off with a shake of her head, aware of what they were offering her.  It was in the best of intentions they would want her to supervise the recruit group with her students participating.  “I don’t want to check-in on them, like some overprotective guardian. If I start poking my nose into their progress, they’ll think I don’t trust them to handle themselves if trouble arises, like as if they weren’t going to use any of the friendship lessons I or any of my friends taught at Twilight’s school.” 

Soarin placed an understand hoof on her withers, giving her a gentle smile. “We understand, Dash. We just want you to feel free to supervise your students as much or as little you want. You know all of us are behind you and your two students.”

Rainbow Dash looked up at her team partners, all smiling and nodding at what their captain said. They were on board with her and pulling for her students just as much as they were for their own recruits. It warmed her heart to know her Wonderbolt teammates were so willing to accommodate her and she gave a smile of genuine gratitude.

“Thanks, you guys. That means a lot to me.”  



=====*****=====

The morning hours waned as the recruit group continued to labor over their routines, working and reworking what they thought would make for a competent showing of flight skill. Some, like Firebolt and Silverstream, were well on their way to completing their assignment and having it ready for submission. But there were a few pair who were still struggling with the written portion of the work, spending too much time arguing and reworking the assignment rather than compromising and getting on with the flying. 

Nightflight, Amber Haze, Solar Flare and Gallus were resting on the ground after their practice flights, watching Silverstream and Firebolt finshing their routine. The duo of pony and hippogriff flew in at a steep angle, slowing up their speed together with practiced synchrony and landed at the same time close to where their friends stood watching. With such a perfect landing like that, Firebolt let loose a cheer in celebration.

“Waho-o-o-o! Now that’s the way to fly!” 

Ca-clack! Ca-clack! The two girls struck their hind hooves together with Silverstream letting loose a screech of joy at having performed so well with her partner. It startled her friends, causing one or two of them to jump.

“Oops, sorry about that.” She giggled a little at herself, forgetting where she was for a second and getting her friends laugh a little too.

Firebolt was burning up inside with excited anticipation of the coming trial.  “We are so going to get the highest score today!”  

“That was impressive; you two know your stuff.” Amber Haze appreciated the performance the two of them just finished; having watched them move between each move like it was as natural as breathing.

“That was great!” Solar Flare was very impressed with his fellow BFF’s routine. “That variation of a double inverted loop was really something to come up with, Silverstream. I didn’t know you’d read on ahead in the text book to come up that move for your routine.” She and Firebolt were doing flight maneuvers that hadn’t been covered in lecture time yet.  

“You must have been sneaking off somewhere to read when we weren’t looking, right? I know I didn’t show you any of those moves you just did.” Brightstar was very impressed by how much more advanced Silverstream’s understanding of performance flight principles had grown in so short a time. 

It was exactly the thing Silverstream dreaded confronting; being asked about what she was flying. Her wild enthusiasm was dampened slightly by the query.  Before she could answer, Firebolt jumped in.

“Oh, I got her up to speed with the later chapters. She caught onto the topics super fast and only needed some help with the math from me to come up with the routine like she did.”

Silverstream’s enthusiasm was dampened a little more, well aware that what Firebolt said was a half-truth as best. She had only received the most cursory introduction to the material in question with Firebolt. But when asking about one detail or another of what was being told to her, she was rebuffed with ‘It’s not important right now’ or ‘Just focus on how to do the moves, the math stuff will just slow us down’ by her partner who skipped most of it and only explained what was necessary to perform each move. She had no idea how any of those moves they just did were conceived or formulated.  

She was spared any further questioning when she spotted Commander Spitfire and another Wonderbolt instructor approaching; making the rest of her friends look in the same direction to see what she was looking off at.

“You think practice time is up?”  Gallus looked to Firebolt and Solar Flare for an answer, uncertain.  To him it still felt pretty early to start flights for scoring.

“Probably, we’ve been working for a while now.” Solar Flare checked the sun’s position, approximating to the best of his skill.  

The other recruits soon landed when spotting their C.O. approaching with one other Wonderbolt instructor.  The shriek of Misty Fly’s whistle cracked the air, alerting any remaining airborne recruits to their duty to get on the ground and into formation quickly. Before either the C.O. or the team captain got to the recruit group, they were all standing in formation.

“Atten-tion!” Wonderbolt Soarin ordered and the recruits snapped to attention as Commander Spitfire stopped to turn to face them and speak.

“At ease, recruits!”  She commanded, pulling the clipboard out from under her right folded wing to reread the information she needed to clarify.  “Recruit Snowblossom, recruit Harmony Blues, recruit Brightstar, recruit Rainsong and recruit Cloudy Sky; front and center!”

The five recruits hurried forward and saluted her.  “Yes, ma’am!” They bark out and awaited her instructions.  Spitfire first stepped up to Snowblossom and Harmony Blues, still reading the information off the paperwork.

“You’ve submitted a request for your trial this morning to count twice; for your missing solo flight from yesterday and the paired flying today, correct?” Commander Spitfire only glanced up at Snowblossom briefly, making sure she was speaking to the right pony.

“Yes, ma’am. I requested to have the paired flight routine to count for the solo flight I missed yesterday as well my turn on the Dizzatron today to count for my first attempt too. I have completed my wind resistance and weighted obstacle courses earlier this morning with the second recruit group.” Snowblossom made her intentions clear to her C.O. as well as her fellow recruits, getting their attention by how sure she sounded of herself.

Commander Spitfire flipped through the stack of records to find Snowblossom’s file, flipping open the manila folder to read the highlights. This recruit had an extended internship time with the Cloudsdale Weather Bureau along with a record of several flight competition wins to her name. It was respectable, if not noteworthy of a resume.

“Solo flights for the second group are scheduled to go first this morning; you can make up for the lost time and catch a break by not putting all your scoring one just one flight.” Spitfire looked over her sunglasses at the recruit, curious at what the answer was.

Snowblossom was grateful for the offer but lagging behind was not in her plans. She would keep up, even if it meant risking it all.  “With all due respect, ma’am, I’ll take the risk to push on ahead and make it count for both. You won’t be disappointed with the routine we have planned out.”

All but the most confident and sure flyers present thought this was too risky; one flight to decide two grades?  As if the trials weren’t hard enough!

Commander Spitfire cocked an eyebrow, looking over the top of her sunglasses at the recruit in front of her, hearing the confident words and determined look in the eyes of this mare.  She looked just to Snowblossom’s right to see Harmony Blues standing at attention. Both of these two mares seemed pretty sure of themselves.

“Alright,” Spitfire returned her focus to the clipboard, clamping her pencil in her teeth to scribble down the notes, making the changes.  She flipped the pencil out of her mouth and caught it behind her right ear, amazing the young flyers with her novel trick. “I’ll allow this but honestly, newbies, your routine had better be good.”  Both Snowblossom and Harmony Blues saluted their C.O., pleased.

“Yes, ma’am!” The duo stepped back into their place in the formation, privately elated by the allowance made. Commander Spitfire moved down the line to the next group of flyers, reading the names again and looking over the trio of ponies, discovering to her horror, something terribly amiss with the situation in front of her. She had to play this cool and not let on she knew who it was in front of her, casually rechecking her paperwork. 

“Recruit Brightstar, you’ve submitted a request this morning to fly as lead pony for two trials, correct?”  

“Yes, ma’am.”  Brightstar was cool and calm; the perfect words on the tip of her tongue to perfectly explain her intentions. Out of the corner of her right eye she could see Cloudy Sky standing at attention, his chest a puffed out a little with pride and confidence, ready to impress the instructors.  She did all she could to prevent herself from grinning at the sight of him.

“Who is you current wing pony, recruit?”  Spitfire flipped back to the roster that had the pairs signed up, confirming her worst fear.

Rainsong spoke up.  “I am, ma’am.”

Spitfire felt her stomach tighten up. This smallish gray stallion that had somehow ended up without a lead pony for his trial was now affixed to another flight duo. This had to be remedied immediately; getting him paired with whom she thought would showcase the best that the academy had to offer. From reading their submitted records, she knew who this pony should be partnered with. She looked past the three recruits in front of her to the others standing in formation just behind them.

“Which pairs of flyers are ready for their trial if it was held right now?”

Two recruits eagerly pushed forward; one of them was the one she was expecting,  being that he had the most flight experience of all of the recruits here.

“We are, ma’am!”  Wind Raider announced as he and Stormbringer were primed and ready.  They’d spent nearly every second of time this morning getting ready. Here was their chance to set the bar so high than none of the other recruits, including the two half-breeds, could touch them.  Wind Raider had crafted a great routine; blending his fighting experience into the various flips and loops that made up most flight routines.  They were loose and limber, ready to go.

“Good. Lead pony,” she made a nod to Wind Raider and he took a step forward, believing he was getting called out for his exceptional flight skills and was smiling in self-congratulations.

“Here is your new wing pony partner.  Since you and your selected wing pony are ready for your trial, you can spend the rest of the morning working with another flyer for his trial.”  Commander Spitfire pointed to Cloudy Sky, shocking Wind Raider and Stormbringer as well as Cloudy Sky’s friends, with her proclamation.

“Wha-a-a-a-a-t?”  Cloudy Sky actually staggered on his hooves, as if hit by an actually body blow, hearing what the C.O. had just decided for him. 

“But… but… Commander, why me?”  Wind Raider was flabbergasted by this blindsiding, watching their C.O. scribble more notes in her ledger. Once more, she flipped the pencil out of her mouth to catch it behind her right ear.

“I’m ordering you to, and isn’t this exactly what a legacy recruit should be demonstrating; a willingness to help out a fellow flyer in need?”  She was sharp at getting her point across clearly and in front of the other recruits. 

She’d read some of the notes left by the other instructors about this particular recruit; ‘very skilled at flying; scores consistently in top rankings; difficult to direct at times’. She would make sure only the most qualified flyer was to be paired with this spy for this particular trial, not to mention give this recruit the opportunity to showcase his leadership skills he honed out in the field.

“But… but… but…?!”  Wind Raider stammered, flustered by this sudden new duty and furious at having to expend precious time and energy with a flyer he knew wasn’t worth it. Commander Spitfire snapped the files on her clipboard shut, annoyed by bellyaching.

“Dude, chill!”  Stormbringer reached out to hook his left foreleg onto Wind Raider’s right foreleg, giving him a quick shake, warning him.

Wind Raider snapped out of his sputtering, trying to get a handle on this situation thrust upon he and Stormbringer. He couldn’t jeopardize his chance now; not when he was more than half way through the trials. If he wanted to move on to the next phase of the trials, he was going to have to endure getting stuck with the worst flyer in the recruit group.  Slowly, he brought up his right wing to salute her properly, obeying his superior officer like a good soldier he learned to be out in the field.

“Yes… ma’am!” The words, taught and measured, made sure to convey an unwavering understanding of his new assigned orders.  

Cloudy Sky looked over at his friends, silently begging them for help.  It was too much for Silverstream to stand idly by and she rushed forward from the formation.  Firebolt reached out to stop her but missed hooking Silverstream’s foreleg this time. Seeing the hippogriff moving forward, both Solar Flare and Nightflight did the same, wanting to protect and help their fellow BFF.

“Commander Spitfire, I would like to volunteer to be Cloudy’s leady pony.” Silverstream spoke first, getting the C.O.’s attention.  Solar Flare followed on her hooves.

“I would like to volunteer as well, ma’am.” He stood right next to Silverstream, willing to risk the workload if it meant keeping Cloudy Sky safely away from Wind Raider.

“I would too.”  Nightflight joined with them, seeing Cloudy Sky’s look of fear at getting paired up with the brusque pony.  Even if he’d never flown with Cloudy Sky, he could still help his friend out. 

“Commander, I’ve been Cloudy Sky’s partner during practice this morning and know how to work with him.  I would ask you reconsider and assign me as his lead pony for this trial.”  Brightstar was not to be outdone by her friends, stepping forward and stating she facts as to who should act as Cloudy Sky’s lead pony.

Cloudy Sky felt very lucky right then to know his friends were there to back him up.  Surely the C.O. could see that he had his friends there to help him.  There was no need to get Wind Raider involved. There were four lead ponies volunteering now.

But Commander Spitfire was unmoved by the display. “It’s admirable all of you want to help but I’ll stick to my selection. You four step back in formation.”  She passed off the clipboard to Soarin, who would be in charge of this important trial, before addressing the recruits as a whole.

“Commander, I must insist-” Brightstar pressed her luck, not willing to accept the decision.

“Do you have a problem following orders, newbie?!”  Spitfire was getting very annoyed by this back-talking and wasn’t having any of it.  She’d made her decision, whether they liked it or not. Gallus and his friends were rather surprised by Brightstar’s uncharacteristic moment of defiance. Surely she would’ve known what the reaction to her insistence would be.  A moment of silence hung heavy in the air just before the mare recruit answered.

“No, ma’am.”  Brightstar slunk back into her position in the line, unable to help Cloudy Sky.  Spitfire quickly jotted down some more notes on her ledger, making Brightstar nervous at what might be recorded of her actions.  The C.O. addressed the recruits once more. 

“At eleven-hundred hours, all recruits will assemble to submit their final routines for evaluation for their solo flight trials and duo flight trials. Once all submissions are in, scoring will begin for solo routines first with paired routines immediately following.  Any questions you might have, directed them to your instructor; Wonderbolt team captain Soarin. Dismissed.”

The recruits saluted her and she returned the same, turning away to head back to her office, done with the morning’s duty and needing to get back to compiling the recruit’s scores for posting by lunchtime. Angel Wings was to give her briefings on the two group’s progress throughout the day while she was busy with the paperwork and her team was getting the meet & greet materials put away again.

All of Cloudy Sky’s friends congregated around him, as if to shield him from Wind Raider and Stormbringer.  They saw the angry snarl on the black maned pony’s mouth, sending a cold shiver down Cloudy Sky’s back as he could only guess what in store was for him. Stormbringer was just as irate about the whole situation, losing out on a relaxing preparation time before his performance with his lead pony. Instead, he had to assist Wind Raider waste time trying to help Cloudy Sky.

Solar Flare moved to the fore, speaking for all of the BFFs.  The bad blood between them from this morning was simmering just below the surface. “Look Wind Raider, let’s get one thing clear.  Commander Spitfire chose you to be Cloudy’s lead, so the rest of us expect you to fulfill her order; help Cloudy pass this trial.”  He scowled hard right back at Wind Raider.  Silverstream and the others all closed in rank behind Solar Flare and leaned in more, glaring hard at the two troublesome instigators. 

Slowly, there appeared a greasy smile on Wind Raider’s mouth as a delightfully malicious thought bloomed in his head about this situation.  His eyes narrowed too, a dark and mischievous gleam appearing in them.

“Oh, don’t worry about it.  I’ll make sure to,” Wind Raider then turned to face a very afraid looking Cloudy Sky before continuing, “help him!”

“Yeah, help him!”  Stormbringer caught on to his partner’s intent, seeing how upset the hippogriff and her friends were becoming about this.

Gallus growled at Wind Raider, not fooled by what the pony was inferring, or any of the other BFFs.  He was up to something rotten and all of them feared for Cloudy Sky’s safety.  

“Is there a problem over here, newbies?  Why are none of you practicing?”  The awkward moment between the flyers was broken up by the Wonderbolt captain who came trotting over, seeing them standing about.

Wind Raider answered first, loudly. “No, sir! No problems here, sir!”  He looked over at Cloudy Sky, now standing between Gallus and Solar Flare, trying to hide.  “Let’s get moving, wing pony! We don’t have all morning!”  

It sounded more like an order then a request and Cloudy Sky obliged, leaving the relative safety and security of his friends and into the black void of uncertainty at going with Wind Raider and Stormbringer.  

They watch as Cloudy Sky walked away from them with those two terrible ponies that didn’t look back at him. Cloudy Sky looked back at his friends, silently pleading them for help. After that nasty trick Wind Raider had pulled on Gallus in retaliation for his misspeaking last night, the friends worried about what kind of lead pony Wind Raider would act like. 

Silverstream was very upset by this. Cloudy Sky was still very green and needed a patient partner he could trust.She and Gallushad worked very closely with him and understood how he learned. If he was nervous or confused, Cloudy Sky would forget basic things and progressively get worse the harder he tried.  She was also not blind to the real fact that patience or understanding was something Wind Raider probably did not keep a deep stock of.

Time was finite this morning and the pairs of flyers had their jobs to do; practice flying until called.  Nightflight and Amber Haze moved off to an area with Razzle Dazzle and Whirlwind, wanting to re-fly parts of their routines specifically.

“C’mon, Sliverstream, let’s get back to practicing.  There’s nothing we can do about it so best try to put it out of your mind.”  Firebolt, too, was apprehensive about Cloudy Sky’s situation.  It was a terrible turn of luck but she was hoping her friend could stick it out and make something of a performance for himself.  She tugged at Silverstream’s jersey sleeve, getting her friend to stop watching Cloudy Sky walk away and out of earshot.  

Reluctantly, Silverstream did as she had to, despite the sinking feeling in her heart right then.  She was Firebolt’s partner and there was work to do.  Silverstream didn’t know how she was going to do it but she had to put this moment away and out of her mind for now. She had to focus on the flight routine created by Firebolt and get her part down solid. Her wing pony was counting on her.

It infuriated Gallus’ to see Wind Raider take advantage of the situation.  Helping Cloudy Sky was undoubtedly the last thing Wind Raider was thinking of doing. He dug his talons into the ground, clawing at the dirt, feeling powerless to help his friend who was going to get hurt. Solar Flare knew a distracted wing griffon was not going to be an effective partner. He needed Gallus to focus on their work. 

“C’mon, Gallus.  We’d better re-fly the routine a few more times.  We need to get the timing better for the figure-eight move as the big finish.”  He tried to corral the griffon along with a wing around Gallus’ shoulders, gently pulling him away.  

“He’s going to kill Cloudy, Solar.” Gallus’ imagination went to the grimmest outcome possible as to what Wind Raider would do, still watching Cloudy Sky follow gloomily after his assigned lead pony.

“We’ll stay close enough to keep an eye on the three of them.  If we see any funny business, we’ll get the instructors to stop it.”  Solar Flare didn’t trust those two anymore than Gallus did. 

“Or maybe I’ll stop it!”  The griffon gave a low grumble and punched his left fist into his open right talons, scowling. Solar didn’t want that; he did not want to see his partner ejected for fighting.  He’d set a poor example of keeping cool this morning with his altercation with Wind Raider and regretted his short-sighted actions. 

“Like I said, we’ll keep an eye on them. Don’t do anything rash, okay Gallus?” Solar Flare led his wing griffon away to another part of the field where they could practice and watch for now.
> Ch. 18 Wonderbolt Trials pt.14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cloudy Sky reluctantly followed after Wind Raider and his wing pony, nervous and jittery being around these edgy ponies. When he turned to look up at Sunglow walking near to him, the way she looked back with that fiendish smile of hers; as if looking right through him, made Cloudy Sky shrink back from her.

Sunglow knew what he must be thinking and gave an ever so soft snicker, as if to impart to Cloudy Sky, ‘you don’t know what you’re in for, shorty!’

Inwardly, Cloudy Sky groaned with fear of what was going to happen to him. His attention then turned to her lead pony, Crimson Sky, walking just a little ahead of her.  Of the foursome, he seemed at least indifferent to his presence and really wasn’t paying attention to him.

“Don’t lag behind, pipsqueak! I’m not going waste my time repeating myself if you don’t keep up.”  Wind Raider didn’t bother to look back to speak to Cloudy Sky, as if not worth the effort to address him.

“We’ll see if you even have a clue about some of the most basic principles of flight; especially how to land properly.”  Stormbringer gave a half-look back to see that, indeed, Cloudy Sky was walking right next to Sunglow. 

Cloudy Sky took umbrage to their insinuation; that he was clueless and knew nothing about flying. True, in the past two days he’d learned more about performance flying from his fellow BFFs then all his book reading and solo practicing could ever have. But being able to land on all fours was something any pegasus knew.

“Of course, I do. I’ve been-” 

WHAM!

“Oof!” 

Cloudy Sky never saw Sunglow’s left foreleg sticking out in front of him, his eyes focused on Stormbringer in front of him and not her. He tripped right over the mare’s extended forelimb and he’d hit the ground with a thud, knocking the wind slightly from him. His clean jersey was now soiled across the front with a big green stain from the grass. 

At that moment, he didn’t know what was worse, having fallen prey to such an obvious prank or that horrible, taunting laughter of Sunglow’s in his ears.  Stormbringer and Crimson Sky laughed as well.

“Have a nice trip? See you next Fall!” Stormbringer mocked Cloudy Sky with an old schoolyard taunt.

Sunglow continued to mock him as she laughed. “He’s pathetic! What pony would ever want to be his partner?”

“I can’t believe you fell for the oldest prank in the book! What a goof! What’s with you, dude?! Come on!” Crimson Sky teased Cloudy for his gullibility at being such an easy mark.

Cloudy Sky mustered all the courage he could, weakly smiling and trying to laugh at himself while feeling incredibly humiliated.

Cough! Cough! “Uh, yeah. Heh heh. That was a good one there, fellas.” He looked down at his formerly clean jersey, the grass and dirt stain going right over the small Wonderbolt Academy insignia that he loved to admire. He was proud to get to wear something official of the school.  

“First rule of flying; pay attention to what’s in front of you at all times.” Wind Raider finally stopped to turn around and see Cloudy Sky standing there with his now soiled jersey, looking quite the sap at the moment.  He grunted with annoyance at the sight of Cloudy Sky.

 How in Equestria am I supposed to get this twerp to fly like anything remotely decent?! He can’t even keep he eyes on where he’s walking, much less fly!

Like it or not, he was stuck with Cloudy Sky. Stormbringer, too, for that matter was just as stuck. 

=====*****=====

Silverstream saw the mean prank played on Cloudy Sky and was instantly incensed. “Miserable little bit-” She pounced suddenly when seeing her friend, the target of the bullying, wanting to confront them for doing that. She was restrained by four determined pony legs.

“Silver, stop it!”  Firebolt clapped her forelegs around Silverstream’s neck, her hind hooves planted firmly in the dirt to brace her and hold fast, preventing the hippogriff from pushing her aside in an act of rashness.

“Did you see that?! Did you see how she tripped him like that?!” She tried to pull free, but she could not, Firebolt refused to let up. For the first time since meeting her, Firebolt heard Silverstream actually emit a hippogriff growl; a kind of throaty mid-range raspy sound that trailed off into a soft hiss like an angry cat’s hiss. A most intimidating sound to be heard by any pony; Firebolt could feel how tense her friend was and wanted to take vengeance.

“We can’t do anything about it now, Silverstream! We just have to deal with it and keep going! Now c’mon, we have to keep practicing; let’s not waist the time we have worrying about Cloudy.”

Firebolt steadily pulled Silverstream away, trying to get her to stop looking back at Cloudy Sky dealing with those four meanies. She hated it too; hated to see a nice kid like Cloudy Sky have to deal with that lot. But her C.O. had made a change and they had to act like good recruits and follow directions. How they felt about it personally was of no importance.

Most reluctantly, Silverstream did as Firebolt insisted, forcing herself to try and not think about it for now.  She was all churned up inside with anger and anxiety of the trial today, making her whole body more tense. This was going to be nearly impossible for her to do. How can she not think about Cloudy Sky’s predicament? It was going to take all her concentration to get through the next few hours without losing sight of the task she had to do.


 =====*****=====


“What do you think he’s capable of doing?”  Crimson Sky and the other three older ponies stood around and looked at Cloudy Sky for a moment, assessing him.

“Hardly anything by my account.” Sunglow found it all very amusing and she continued to snicker at Cloudy Sky, seeing how he cowered somewhat in their presence.

“Well, he’d better be able to do something, ‘cause we’re not going to waste our time if he’s a total loser at this!” Stormbringer didn’t mince words, he didn’t like the situation.

Cloudy Sky had to think quickly of a way to get on the better side of these four and convince them to help him pas the trial. Rather than trying to ‘play nice’ with them, he tried a different approach, trying to appeal to Wind Raider’s ego.

“I might be a small pony, but I know I can do some harder flight moves. Like the way those Resistance flyers out maneuvered those lumbering airships of the Storm King during a raid; getting them to crash into each other near Rainbow Falls. That must have been some kind of amazing flying; only a pony with super skills could have done that!”

Wind Raider and Stormbringer’s head snapped around to look at Cloudy Sky, startled to hear him speak of something they did not suspect he knew about.  Sunglow and Crimson Sky, too, were surprised to hear Cloudy Sky mention that fight in particular.

“Hey, how’d you know about that raid?” Wind Raider could not fathom how Cloudy Sky knew about that particular battle. The only ones who know about it were those involved in the fight and the possibly the archivist of war records at Central Command. 

“Did you have family that served?” Stormbringer wondered if this small gray stallion was from some military family or had friends that had served in Canterlot Armed Forces or in the Cloudsdale Air Defense.

“Why, what’s the big deal?” Crimson Sky didn’t see why this kid knowing about that was something important.

“So, he knows some tidbit about the Three Days War. Big whoop de do.” Sunglow dismissed the guy’s sudden interest in this twerp knowing something about some random battle.

“We, meaning me and my friends, learned about the insurgent forces across the country that had mounted counterattacks against the Storm King’s forces from some of the cadets last night. They read from a new book that was being published giving first-hoof accounts from those who did the fighting. In fact-”

In less than five minutes, Cloudy Sky gave a recap of the things they’d heard about the Three Days War as well as eye-witness accounts of the horror the soldiers had gone through. He left the impression that he ‘got’ why Wind Raider and Stormbringer felt the way they did, having suffered through that terrible ordeal and to be forgotten in the wake of national victory. Guys like Wind Raider and Stormbringer were the unsung heroes who’d stood up for Equestria when the other military forces had been neutralized. 

Perhaps without realizing it, Cloudy Sky had effectively disarmed Wind Raider, getting the legacy pony’s attention like he had.  He came to stand at attention before his lead pony, snapping a proper military salute with his right wing and clicked his hooves together as well, before speaking again. “I’m deeply sorry for you and your family’s loss. I have no doubt he was an inspiration to the rest of the Flying Sixty-Ninth and many others.”

It caught Wind Raider cold to hear Cloudy Sky speak earnestly and with respectfulness, calling back to that particular dark night from his memory. He and his squad of flyers had returned to their hidden base, flush with success of having taken out the Storm King’s airship mooring docks in Rainbow Falls, only to learn of the other squad getting ambushed and two of the members being killed; one of them being Sky Chaser.

He’d seen boys much the same age as Cloudy Sky go off and not come back, fighting and dying for their homeland. They left as mere cadets of a school, but they returned home soldiers from the fighting. They’d won the war but lost their youth in exchange. Seeing Cloudy Sky standing there, at attention and showing proper respect for his lead pony, gave his heart a small ache at the remembrance. 

How many ‘other families’ sons’ didn’t come back that night? Or after any of the other battles he’d been in? It gave Wind Raider pause to think. But his numbskull flying partners were not so respectful.  

“Oh-h-h, look, he’s playing ‘soldier boy’ now! Ha ha! How cute!”  Sunglow pointed at Cloudy Sky’s attempt of appearing serious, as if playing the role of a real flight scout. Crimson Sky was smirking as his wing pony continued her taunting.

“Hey, why don’t you shut that big, flapping pie hole for yours, Sunglow?! You’re not scoring so great either, sweetheart, so I suggest you get practicing so you don’t embarrass yourself and Crimson Sky like I’m sure you will!” Wind Raider shouted at her, getting the mare to instantly fall silent.

Crimson Sky laughed and pointed at her now. “Ha ha! He sure told you!”

“Screw you, alright! Let’s get started, for Celestia’s sake!” She waved him to follow; her muzzle scrunched up in a sour expression from being insulted like she had and was not in a good mood.

“Have fun with loser-boy there!” She blew them all off with a flippant wave of her wing and a sneer at Cloudy Sky, taking off into the air. Crimson Sky was right behind her.

Good luck with the pathetic case of a flyer! She thought to herself, countering the bitterness in her mouth from taking Wind Raider’s insult was the amusing idea of watching him getting some terrible score because he was shackled as the lead pony to a hopeless contender like Cloudy Sky.

Score: one for Cloudy Sky, zero for nasty ponies! Cloudy Sky thought to himself at seeing the outcome of his little attempt to play up to Wind Raider. It got two of them to leave and if not feeling more confident, at least now he felt he had a better chance of dealing with the situation.

Wind Raider and Stormbringer’s attention returned once again to Cloudy Sky, both of them looking sternly at the younger stallion. 

“Okay, kid, you think you’ve got what it takes to be wing pony to a legacy lead like Wind Raider? Do ya’?” Stormbringer snarled at Cloudy Sky, trying to intimidate the younger pony. But Cloudy Sky wasn’t going to back down.

“Yes I do!” 

“Keh! Alright then, get up there and let’s see what you can do!” Stormbringer pointed up in the sky with his left wing, ordering him to fly. 

“Is that an order, lead?” Cloudy Sky turned to Wind Raider, making sure.





“Get to it, wing.” Wind Raider only gave a slight nod with his command, wanting to get on with the job at hoof, even if he wasn’t thrilled about having to do it.

Cloudy Sky took off, trying to get up in the air as quickly as he could. If he was going to make any kind of impression on these two, he had this one chance. Limbered up as he was from the practice he’d had already with his friends, he signaled to the two ponies below him on the ground that he was starting.

“So, like, what’s the deal with him? You saw how upset those two freak-beaks got when their little playmate got reassigned. You’re not gonna give him a pass on this trial, are you?”  Stormbringer was somewhat bummed-out that Wind Raider was going to ‘take it easy’ with Cloudy Sky, ruining their idea of fun.  

Yes, that had been Wind Raider’s initial idea; to torment this punk and get him to flunk out. But he had the feeling in the back of his mind that he’d better not. Assigned this duty by their C.O., he suspected he was under scrutiny. 

“No, I’m not got to ‘go easy’ on him. But I am going to give him a real taste of what kind of workout he’d get if he really were admitted as a student. I don’t need to make him fail; he’ll fail from his own inability to keep up with me.”

Wind Raider explained more. “It doesn’t matter if this kid can do whatever routine I come up with or not; it probably won’t count for me. The flight routine we are going to do will be the one we get scored on.”

The two of them return to watching Cloudy Sky flying above them, running through the few-but-steady flight moves he’d learned. It only took Cloudy Sky about two minutes to perform all of them, retuning back to the ground right in front of Wind Raider and Stormbringer, breathing hard but not panting. He felt proud of his new flight skills, able to nail each one of the moves perfect, or as near perfect as he’d ever done them. He was sure to have made an impression.

“Okay, you’ve warmed yourself up. Now go do some actual flight moves.” Stormbringer pointed again up into the sky, annoyed at Cloudy Sky.

“Um, I just did. Those are the moves I’ve learned.” Cloudy Sky could almost feel the two guys’ disappointment with his flying, reading the upset in their expressions.

“You’re kidding, right? That’s all you’ve got?” Stormbringer’s mouth fell open a little, stunned by the lack of Cloudy Sky’s abilities. 

Wind Raider grimaced in agony and hoof-planted, his right forehoof making a
loud slapping sound as he struck himself, dragging his hoof down the length of his muzzle, frustration with the situation growing.

“This is going to take forever!” Stormbringer openly lamented, looking up to the heavens for help.

“I… I can do harder moves! I know I can. Just give me a chance.” Cloudy Sky didn’t want to fail, but he also didn’t want to make these two short-tempered stallions more upset with him. He was willing to do anything to pass this trial. Wind Raider threw a forehoof in the air, capitulating to the request.

“Fine! Fine! You’d better listen to my directions, understand?!” Wind Raider turned to his real wing pony.

“Storm, get him up there and put him through the paces; some basic loops, double-twists and the like! See if he’s got anything to work with!”

“Got it!” Stormbringer saluted his lead. Flipping the bangs of his mane out of his eyes he turned to his right to face Cloudy Sky. “Follow me on my right wing and don’t lag behind.” 

Cloudy Sky didn’t have the chance to say anything in return as Stormbringer jetted right up into the air, leaving him momentarily behind. Cloudy Sky quickly followed after, pumping his wings hard to get in position as ordered. He made sure to be off Stormbringer’s wing when the older pony turned to his right to see him flying right in correct position.

“Forward loop, counting down… four… three… two… one…go!” Stormbringer yelled out to Cloudy Sky, making sure to make eye contact with the younger stallion and be sure he heard him. Cloudy Sky did, giving a quick nod.

Stormbringer took Cloudy Sky into the loop, the g-forces increasing against their wings as the air rushed past them. Cloudy Sky held his wing muscles taught, holding them in position as he soared through the loop. The force he had to hold against for performing a loop this fast was straining his wings, but he held firm. It still scared him to keep his eyes open as the ground coming rushing towards him, forward into the loop and then briefly flying upside down and then turning upwards toward the sky when returning to the starting point of the loop. 

He congratulated himself for actually keeping in position to Stormbringer through the entire maneuver, still flying in position. Seeing the gray stallion staying with him, Stormbringer proceeded with more loop maneuvers, adding small changes to each and successfully confusing Cloudy Sky in a matter of seconds. 

For a brief moment, Wind Raider thought his assignment might not be as bad as he thought but now, he was seeing it was going to be that much harder. Stormbringer and Cloudy Sky returned to the ground, landing close to Wind Raider. Cloudy Sky was panting a little from the strain while Stormbringer was not even breathing hard from the workout.  The pale blue pony turned to his lead, flipping aside his bangs again out of his eyes and holding out a wing with a single tip feather held up.

“One!” Stormbringer spat, “One stupid loop move was all he could do right! He couldn’t do another thing at all! He’s clueless!”

“You are barking out flight moves to do I’ve never even heard of, for Celestia’s sake!” Cloudy Sky tried to defend his lack of knowledge of harder flying tricks, but he knew ignorance was not a good defense, especially by this time into the trials.

“You should know this stuff! This shouldn’t be new to you!” Stormbringer couldn’t fathom the idea that any pegasus worth his wings at flying could be this ignorant of such rudimentary flight moves. 

“Look,” Wind Raider interjected, “there’s limited time left so I’ve got to get this sorted out and I don’t need you two bickering in my ears right now!” He picked up his notebook and textbook from off the ground nearby, flipping open the textbook to a later chapter and proceeded to dictate just what moves he and Cloudy Sky were going to fly.

“Hey, don’t I get any say in this?” Cloudy Sky, watched and listened as Wind Raider and Stormbringer talked to themselves about what the flight plan was, ignoring Cloudy Sky altogether.  

“No!” The two older stallions sounded off in unison, causing Cloudy Sky to shrink back a little by their fierce shout.

“Why not?!” He took a step forward, trying not to be intimidated by them.

“Because you don’t know anything about this. You are going to fly whatever routine I devise and like it.” Wind Raider wasn’t going to listen to any backtalk from some know-nothing wing pony like Cloudy Sky.

All Cloudy Sky could do was stand close to them and listen to what was discussed and pointed out in the textbook. The moves Wind Raider and Stormbringer were selecting were some he’d only glanced at while curiously flipping through the later pages of his textbook. After a few minutes, Wind Raider had formulated a flight program, surmising what he could get away with Cloudy Sky’s limited skills. He and Stormbringer turned now to face Cloudy Sky.

“Here's the plan,” Wind Raider turned his notebook around to show what he’d written out as a plan. He had folded over the pages in the textbook to the pages where the maneuvers came from, “these are the moves we’re doing and here’s where you need to read from.”

Cloudy Sky flipped through the pages of the textbook as indicated, his anxiety mounting by the second when faced at doing five new flight moves, he’d never attempted before along with two more he’d only practiced for fun with Silverstream and Gallus.

“I… I can’t fly these! I’ve never seen them before!” Cloudy Sky’s objections fell on deaf ears.

“What, just because you’ve never seen them means you can’t or won’t fly them?!” Stormbringer wasn’t going to let Cloudy Sky wimp-out on Wind Raider, not at this stage of the trials with so much at stake for all three of them.

“Uh, I…, uh… I mean, you’re can’t just expect me to learn all this instantaneously. I need help.” Cloudy Sky didn’t expect Stormbringer’s comeback to his objection, half-expecting the pale-blue pony to just yell at him more.

“Fine. You need help? Here’s what we’re going to do; Storm is going to be your lead and I’m going to instruct you from down here. But you’re going to follow his directions to the word while in flight and keep in position. Understand?” Wind Raider laid down the law about what to do and Cloudy Sky actually felt a pang of relief. It was the same thing his friends had done to initially help him with his flying, acting at coach and ‘test lead pony’ for him.  What relief!

“Understood.” Cloudy Sky was given the textbook and notebook.

“You got twenty minutes to read up and be ready to try. Stormbringer and I are going to warm up and run through those moves. Got it?” Wind Raider made sure his wishes were heard. Cloudy Sky snapped a salute to him, trying to impress his lead pony by standing tall before him.

“Got it!” He hustled over to the sidelines of the field and hunkered down, trying to blot out everything else around him and crammed more information into his head in twenty minutes then he thought possible. Once or twice, he looked up to watch Wind Raider and Stormbringer flying the routine he would soon have to perform. Just from observing them in flight, he gained some insight on some of the maneuvers assigned and watched Stormbringer’s position was in relation to his lead pony during the transitions between each move. Instinctively, Cloudy Sky knew this was going to be the toughest trial he’d faced so far.

Wind Raider and Stormbringer, for their part, made sure the routine was sophisticated enough that it would push Cloudy Sky’s limits and get him to perform better then he imagined he could as well as be something that would keep Wind Raider interested enough to make an effort.

Those twenty minutes seemed to fly by for Cloudy Sky as he’d only read through the book material twice and studied Wind Raider’s notes. Cloudy Sky could feel the nervousness building in his gut, but at least what he was reading did make some sense to him, having Brightstar and Firebolt previously explain some of the more complex flight terms and criteria to him. 

“Are you ready?” Wind Raider and Stormbringer were warmed up and ready, not wanting to waste another minute of precious time. Cloudy Sky got up and handed back the textbook and notebook to Wind Raider, taking a deep breath and slowing exhaling, trying to ready himself.

“I think so.” Cloudy Sky did not look up at his assigned lead pony, busy trying to recall all the diagrams and instructions he’d read only a minute or so ago. He was about to follow after Stormbringer but Wind Raider stuck out a forehoof to poke Cloudy Sky in the chest, momentarily stopping him and getting the smaller gray stallion to look up at him. Wind Raider scowled a little at Cloudy Sky, displeased with his lack of enthusiasm.  

“That doesn’t sound like a wing pony ready to give his all for Wonderbolt Academy tryouts. I said, are you ready?!” Wind Raider raised his voice a little, questioning Cloudy Sky’s commitment to trying. Cloudy Sky, for his part, wasn’t going to be easily pushed around by his lead pony.

“Yes sir!” Cloudy Sky barked back, standing at attention and snapping a salute to Wind Raider.

“Good! Now get your sorry ass up there and let’s see what you really got!” Wind Raider, satisfied to have stoked a tougher answer from Cloudy Sky, pointed up to the sky above them, watching as Cloudy Sky took off after Stormbringer, moving faster than the lead pony had ever seen him fly before.

“Maybe now I’ll get some fire burning in his belly, for Celestia’s sake!” Wind Raider watched as Cloudy Sky moved into position, seemingly able to keep pace with Stormbringer, prepared to follow his lead in the first run-through.

When Stormbringer looked to his right, Cloudy Sky was right where he was supposed to be. 

“Going into the first move…on my count, three… two… one…” Stormbringer called out to his wing pony and Cloudy Sky followed right along with Stormbringer, flying down into the first loop and into the second move, a vertical spin coming out of the loop and then jetting up into the sky higher still.

Cloudy Sky kept pace with Stormbringer as best he could, following slightly behind his lead through the moves, trying to count the seconds along in his head for each move he performed. Stormbringer kept calling out the maneuvers to Cloudy Sky, keeping him informed and on track of the routine. It was tough for Cloudy Sky, trying to remember the pattern of movements for each maneuver and then correctly transitioning in and out of each and then into the next.  The entire flight only lasted maybe three minutes, going through the seven moves at a steady pace and then coming to a conclusion with a landing right in front of Wind Raider. Stormbringer landed on his hooves while Cloudy Sky landed almost two seconds after him, stumbling a little and breathing hard. That was an intense flight for him, and he felt slightly disoriented from all the twists and spins.

“If that’s your best, there’s no way you’re passing today’s trial and you’re going to get me a low score for trying to help you to pass.” The words from Wind Raider were hard for Cloudy Sky to take, having given what he thought was a first-rate attempt at a new routine after given so little preparation. What was Wind Raider expecting on the first go-round?

“This is all new to me!” Cloudy Sky turned to face Stormbringer. “Why do you have to go so fast through the routine anyway? You could go a little slower and not fly so far ahead of me.” But Stormbringer wasn’t going to accommodate him.

“Fast?! That was already slower than the rate you need to fly at. We don’t have a lot of time to go slow, and we’ve got to get you up to some kind of ability to fly Wind Raider’s flight plan.” Stormbringer flipped his mane away from his eyes, snarling at Cloudy Sky for his complaining.

“Part of the problem is,” Wind Raider got Cloudy Sky to turn and face him, “you’re not counting when flying and you’re not paying attention to your body position between moves. That’s why you’re not keeping up.”

Cloudy Sky tried his best to look tough, glaring hard back at Wind Raider and defending himself.

“I am so counting while flying! You can’t just… dump this on me and think I’m going to understand instantly! I need help!”

“You can say that again!” Stormbringer’s sarcastic remark did not help the situation, making Wind Raider roll his eyes and angering Cloudy Sky more, making him actually growl back at him. 

“Look,” Wind Raider stopped any more snipping between his two partners by flipping open his notebook to show Cloudy Sky once more, “You’re not understanding the notes…”

Wind Raider speedily talked Cloudy Sky through the notes. He also kept the two wing ponies in their place, minimizing any sideswiping comments between them with a quick ‘shut up’ at whomever was talking. Time was against them all and Wind Raider could not spare time answering every question from Cloudy Sky. He kept his teaching short and direct, leaving it to Cloudy Sky’s slower understanding of flight moves to process what he’d explained. The lead pony had to focus on getting Cloudy Sky and Stormbringer to repeatedly fly the routine as many times possible with what time remained. Once Cloudy Sky had a grasp of the moves and could go through it without messing up too badly, He would fly the routine one or two times to make sure Cloudy Sky understood what to do before they went and did it for the instructors.

But as Stormbringer and Cloudy Sky got started with the flying once more, Wind Raider had to remind Cloudy Sky again of what he’s supposed to do, frustration mounting for him at the glacial pace of this assigned wing pony.

“You’re not pay attention; close up to him! You’re too far of his wing; that’s why you’re falling behind!” Wind Raider shouted up at Cloudy Sky, making the young stallion more nervous and anxious to do right and not make these older guys angrier at him for messing up. He pumped his wings harder, pushing himself to keep up with Stormbringer. 

Cloudy Sky put everything into trying to follow Wind Raider’s directions, ignoring Stormbringer’s annoyed looks when asking his instructor about some aspect of what he was being asked to do.  

Stormbringer couldn’t believe how little of the basics about performance flight Cloudy Sky knew. It was like trying to cram a lifetime’s worth of hard practice and training for this in the ninety minutes they had left.  He shouted to Cloudy Sky from down below, watching and critiquing the gray stallion’s progress.

“Scalloping! Scalloping!  You’re scalloping again!  Flight straight and level! Stop flapping and then gliding!”

“I am!” Cloudy Sky tried to do as told, keeping right off the end of Wind Raider’s right wingtip.  He had to flap as hard as he could just to keep pace with Wind Raider.  His muscles burned and ached from the strain.

“Inverted barrel roll move; counting down…three… two… one!”  Wind Raider shouted out over the rushing wind to his wing pony before going into the move.  For Cloudy Sky, this was disorientating; having the sky and ground rapidly rolling past his eyes like this as he flew through the movements. He slapped his eyes shut, trying to feel his way through the move like Razzle Dazzle would try to explain. 

  Fourteen… fifteen… sixteen… Cloudy Sky counted the seconds in his head, arching his back through the rolling part of the move, listening to his lead pony’s wing noise just off to his left side. Even with his eyes shut, he could feel where he was in the maneuver, able to get into position before setting up for the next.  When he opened his eyes, to his surprise and relief, he was in the correct position next to Wind Raider and feeling much less dizzy. He found himself smiling.

Wind Raider glanced back behind him, expecting to see Cloudy Sky once more out of position and lagging behind.  It was something of a surprise to find the small gray stallion still hanging on, doing all he could to keep up.  Wind Raider went on through the remaining three maneuvers of the mandatory minimum of six the routine required.  

Cloudy Sky struggled to keep timing for the two huge, zooming outward loops that followed as well as that flat-scissors finishing move Wind Raider first demonstrated with Stormbringer and kept pushing him to do.  It was hard for Cloudy to get to the right places at the right times; mostly arriving too late.  It pissed Wind Raider off to no end at how many times they went over this maneuver, frustrated at Cloudy Sky’s inability to keep up. They finish the routine; the wing pony stumbling on his hooves but managing to stay upright and not crash.

Wind Raider stomped a forehoof on the ground.  “Damn it! What’s the matter with you? Why can’t you keep up?!”

“Why… (pant!)… don’t you… (pant!)… slow down some?!”  Huffing and puffing hard from the work out he was tasked to do, Cloudy managed to wheeze out his objection, his frustration giving him some courage to fight back.

“He is going the normal speed you’re supposed to fly that move at; you’re just too much of a damn slow-poke to keep up!” Stormbringer only shook his head, stunned and flustered but the sheer lack of skill Cloudy Sky had.  He finally had to ask the question that had been on the back of mind since being this farce.

“What, in sweet Celestia’s cutie mark, flight competition could you have possibly won to get selected for the trials?”

Cloudy Sky bit his lower lip and looked away slightly, not wanting to say as he knew it was hardly worth mentioning, let alone something that made up a good resume. “The Nimbusville Semi-Annual Fall Classic.”  He watched as both Wind Raider and Stormbringer first choke back and then let go of their laughs, mocking him.

“Yo… you’ve got to be kidding me? That puny little event?”  Stormbringer laughed on, thinking Cloudy Sky must be joking, almost falling over. 

“I didn’t know the Flight Competition Association still sponsored or even recognized that event anymore.” Wind Raider couldn’t recall a single flyer he’d met in his time competing or during the Three-Days War coming from some obscure track that was in the far west of Equestria. 

Cloudy Sky should’ve expected such a reaction from two experienced flyers hailing from Cloudsdale and the Crystal Empire. So few ponies who came to this school knew or even cared about his town’s history.

Many moons ago, a mare named Sundancer had successfully become a Wonderbolt who had hailed from the same little town of Nimbusville that Cloudy Sky was from. The town board members had erected a small statue to their home-town heroine in the town’s square. A local event had been instituted by the F.C.A. in her memory when she passed away some time ago.

The statue erected gave inspiration to many young towns-ponies to seek out their dreams as one who had done successfully from humble roots.  It had inspired Cloudy Sky too. The words on the small plaque at the base of the statue was forever ingrained in his mind; ‘from this little town came the Little Pony that could; and she did!’

What did he expect to hear from the likes of these two anyway?  The way they flew together in synchrony and the moves they could do; it was like they’d spent their whole lives doing this. All he could do was give it his best and hope it was enough.  By their standards, it wasn’t.

He waited a minute or so for the two of them to finally stop laughing, his confidence already shaken by the unpleasant situation.  They were just making it worse for him.  Wind Raider managed to get his mocking somewhat under control.

“It might not be much, but you don’t have to rub it in like that!” Cloudy Sky tried to stand up for himself to these two, but he just seemed to amuse them more then be taken seriously by them.

“You’d better keep up with me for this routine. If I get a low score it’s going to be your fault.”  Wind Raider wiped back the tears form his eyes from laughing so hard. 

“If you get a low score it won’t be my fault, it’ll be because you’re a lousy lead pony and all you and Stormbringer do is yell at me what to do!”  Cloudy Sky was not got to take getting blamed lying down. He was trying, they weren’t.

“If you don’t want to get yelled at, then you’d better get to practicing on those moves again! You’ve only got a little time left before being called to fly for a score!”  Stormbringer got in Cloudy Sky’s face, the two of them touching muzzle-tip to muzzle-tip, staring each other down.  Cloudy Sky didn’t flinch or blink.

“Fine! I’ll do it again!” Cloudy shouted, louder than he had ever before at them, almost trembling from his anger.

“Good! Get going!”  Stormbringer yelled right back, watching Cloudy Sky take off and retry the same moves again in the air above them both.  

“Do you think it worked?” Wind Raider didn’t take his eyes off Cloudy Sky’s flying, silently counting the seconds in his head as he watched the gray stallion push himself hard. 

“Well, at least he doesn’t cower from you like he did earlier.  Maybe he’ll get through this, but I doubt it.” Stormbringer knew if they got any tougher with this pony, one of two things would happen. Cloudy would have either give up or get with the program and start pushing himself like he had to. Apparently, Cloudy Sky had chosen the latter, by their estimates. 

They pushed him like any drill instructor of this school would.  And, like any recruit worth his wings, Cloudy Sky responded like a recruit should; pushing himself beyond what he thought was safe and comfortable. Getting Cloudy Sky madder at he and Stormbringer got him to listen and learn more from them; in spite of hating the way he was being treated.  

“Steady wing flapping!  You’re not steady!” Wind Raider yelled up at him, seeing Cloudy slipping with his tempo. As soon as he yelled, Cloudy pushed harder to get back in time with the move.

From his vantage point up high, Cloudy Sky caught sight Amber Haze and Nightflight working on their routine, flying loop-de-loops in perfect synchrony and melding into a pair of flat spins that faced one another.

At another spot on the ground was Gallus and Solar Flare, discussing something about tier work while off in another spot in the air flew Firebolt and Silverstream, also flying in measured synchrony together, honing their moves. His moment of distraction did not go unnoticed.

“Focus! You’re drifting again!”  Wind Raider snapped Cloudy Sky out of his moment and got back to finishing his routine.  Into the Lazy-Eight move with the quick quarter-loop into the move and then the quick half loop out of the move, leveling off and into that tricky zigzag flying of the Flying-Scissors move. The end couldn’t come quickly enough for Cloudy Sky, landing not far off from where Wind Raider and Stormbringer had stood to watch.  That was three times in a row he hadn’t stumbled or tripped up for his landing and he had thought to have gotten the timing right on the scissors move.  

“Well, how was that?”  He hauled himself over to them, exhausted but hopeful that he had impressed upon them some improvement.

“That was barely even passable.  You keep speeding up and slowing down when you fly. Why can’t you keep steady pace?” Stormbringer snapped at him, seeing the obvious flaws in Cloudy Sky’s skills.

“This is hard to do!  Three of these moves I’ve never seen or flown before and trying to learn all this so fast is hard for me!”  Cloudy Sky thumped a forehoof on the ground, flustered by the constant criticism and fault finding by them.  Why couldn’t they teach the way Brightstar or Silverstream did?  Why do they have to yell at him all the time?  The two older ponies groaned in exhaustion, dealing with this situation.

“Just… just go sit down and rest, alright?  I don’t want to hear your complaining.”  Wind Raider waved him away with a dismissive hoof, rubbing his temples in exhaustion and not wanting to deal with him right then.

Cloudy Sky was disgusted by Wind Raider’s flippantness.  “Oh-h-h-h, I’m going to the bathroom!”  He stomped off, heading for the lavatory in the locker room and a few minutes of peace and quiet while he sat and relieved himself. At least in there, no pony was going to yell at him for doing something wrong.  

“Now what?”  Stormbringer turned to his partner, seeing Wind Raider first looking over at Gallus and Solar Flare flying parts of their routine and then out to the other pairs of flyers on the field, then looked up at where the sun was in the sky.

They’d spent maybe ninety minutes or so this morning trying to get Cloudy Sky‘s flying up to par. Both believing there was still time to do a quick run through of their routine before they would be scored on their routines and by the looks of the ten pairs of flyers around them, Wind Raider felt the small growing gnaw in his gut about how good he and Stormbringer were going to have to be.  

“Let’s just stay loose and fly our routine once more for good measure while I think of some way to get through this.”  

Stormbringer got right into the air after his partner, getting into position off Wind Raider’s left wing, getting the hoof signal to start as soon as he was in place. Like a precision watch, the two ponies glide seamlessly through the routine of eight maneuvers, causing a few on the ground to stop what they were doing and watch.  It was like watching real Wonderbolts flying about, the way the two of them moved through the routine and made a textbook perfect landing aside one another.

“Oh-h-h-h, impressive you guys!  You’re going to do great, of course not as good as I and Crimson Sky are going to!” The two ponies came over to talk with them, watching them put on a preview of what they had planned for real.

“Oh, give it a rest, Sunglow.”  Stormbringer rolled his eyes at the mare, not in the mood for her attitude.  That needling tone of hers grated the nerves.

Crimson Sky gave a small chuckle at her antics. “Don’t pay her any attention. If that inflated head of hers got any bigger, she wouldn’t be able to get off the ground!” The bright red stallion smirked with smugness, having dealt with egos like hers many times before.  

Flight competitions were full of flyers like her; ponies with lots of ego but only a few with the stuff to back it up.  Somehow, her so-so skills had managed to nab some wins and a few top finishes in the races she completed, according to her bragging when they weren’t flying.  

“Bite me, Crimson!”  She spat back.

“Sure, just tell me where and I’ll oblige!” He gave it right back, venturing into a bit of ‘blue’ territory.  Now it was Sunglow who rolled her eyes at Crimson Sky.

“So, where’s the pipsqueak?”  Crimson Sky scanned the field but did see the smallish gray stallion nearby.

“Went to the lavatory.  That’s about the sum of his flying skills; crappy!”  Wind Raider’s joke got them to laugh at little and he grinned to himself.

“Sorry you got stuck with him but, hey, it’s no big deal, right?  One trial and you’re done with him.”  Crimson Sky thought it amusing but not a problem for the lead pony.

“He won’t get past today; after the trials, we have to get on the Dizzatron again. He’ll be way too exhausted to score anything respectable.”  Stormbringer was sure of it.

“It’s driving those two crazy thinking that one of their little playmates is in harm’s way. I thought that hippogriff was going to have a major conniption fit trying to get to us when Sunglow tripped him.” Wind Raider seemed quite sure of himself. “They’ll be so pissed off and distracted by worry for this kid that they’ll goof up for sure when it’s crunch time. I’m just wondering how much Firebolt and Solar flare are going to like have a couple of freak-beaks as partners; getting a crummy score by having partners unable to focus on good flying.”

“Hey, that hippogriff set a record on the Dizzatron last time. She’s no slouch, beak or no beak. She’s a quick flyer.” Crimson Sky was honest; Silverstream was an exceptionally good flyer and shouldn’t be underestimated, in spite of what Wind Raider, Stormbringer and Sunglow felt personally. 

“Oh, she just got lucky on the first go-round.  Wait ‘till they crank up the speed for real. Then we’ll see if Miss Hotsey-Totsey flyer is all she’s cracked up to be.”  Sunglow was irate that she’d been beaten by Silverstream in the endurance trial, surpassed in the number hoops cleared by the hippogriff. She was top mare recruit, not some interloper.

“No good… mean spirited… lousy, big mouthed…!”  Cloudy Sky grumbled bitterly to himself as he headed back to the activity field to rejoin Wind Raider and Stormbringer.  The few minutes of peace alone in the lavatory was a much-needed break to clear his head and rest a little from the beating his body had endured so far this morning.  Today’s trial was going to be the toughest thing he had to attempt since starting the tryouts and his nerves were on edge as it was about being eliminated. But being stuck with those two older guys was making this so much harder for him. He hoped he could get through this trial and never have to deal with either one of those two for the rest of the time here.

“Hey, Cloudy, how’s it going so far?” A voice caught his ear, causing him to look around, wondering where it came from. It was Brightstar; she and her partner, Rainsong came swooping down to the ground and land right next to him. He was so relieved to see them again. His bent expression could not be missed.

“What’s wrong?” Rainsong was first to ask.

“Oh, it’s those two jerks! I’m trying my best to follow both of their instructions about flying but any time I mess up, they start yelling at me!” Cloudy Sky tried not to fume about his predicament, but he was pretty fed up with the whole thing.  He understood why Commander Spitfire made the decision she did; Wind Raider and Stormbringer were the top scoring duo and veterans.  She was doing what she thought best for her recruits. But how he wished she would’ve taken Brightstar or any of his other friends offer to fly with him.

“Brightstar, I know those guys served in the Resistance and fought against the Storm King and all, but do they have to be loud like that? It’s like they think I’m not even trying to follow them.” He didn’t mean to sound like complaining, but they made this just so much tougher for him to endure.

“Are they not showing you what the routine is?  Because if they’re not doing the duty assigned to them you can go protest-” Brightstar wanted him to be aware he didn’t have to take their abuse lying down. He had rights as a recruit to fair and equitable treatment.

“No, it’s just I have to do these super-hard moves I’ve never seen before and the whole routine is so much harder than the routine you, Rainsong and I worked on together.” He kicked at the ground with a forehoof, frowning.

“Do you want me to go get one of the instructors to come over and deal with them? You do have the right to make a complaint to the instructors if they’re being uncooperative.” Brightstar wouldn’t let that mare make this harder for him, having to deal with Wind Raider and Stormbringer already.

“No, I don’t want to do that. I just want to get through this and not be around them anymore.”  Cloudy Sky was hoping to keep it between them and not escalate this.

“Alright, if you’re sure.”  She gave him a pat on his back with her wing, an assuring touch to boost his spirits as he endeavored to continue his practicing. He gave a big sigh and plodded on by, seeing both Wind Raider and Stormbringer watching impatiently for him. 

“He’s one plucky kid; putting up with those two tough guys.” Rainsong admired Cloudy Sky’s determination to soldier on with his trial, wishing he had her partner and herself to help him along.

“He deserves better than being stuck with those two. I should’ve pushed harder to get partnered with him.”  Brightstar’s ears drooped some, feeling bad at failing to keep Cloudy Sky under her guidance. Wind Raider and Stormbringer are great flyers but not the easiest to work with. She could imagine how rough they must be on him.

“You did what you could.  Besides, I’m sure some of us are going to get cut after today’s workout.  This is still a competition, remember?”  Rainsong hoped her lead pony wasn’t forgetting that fact.  She needed to do well on this trial with Brightstar’s help. She was scoring in the lower third of the recruits on the list and was in danger of getting eliminated. Her lead pony sighed with resignation.

“I do. I just know I could have flown routines for you both.”  Once more the yellow mare had to focus on her routine, she was doing with Rainsong. She could not abandon her partner.  She had to give Rainsong just as much attention and focus as if it were Cloudy Sky next to her.

“Hurry it up, pipsqueak! We don’t have a lot of time!”  Wind Raider commanded, seeing his assigned wing pony barely moseying along. Cloudy Sky was dreading at once again dealing with these two and their attitudes.

“Stop yelling and don’t call me pipsqueak!”  Cloudy Sky shouted back, snarling at Wind Raider and Stormbringer. This was awful for Cloudy Sky to endure, being yelled at and ordered around like some flunky. How he wished he was with his friends right now; they would know how to work with him and help him pass this trial. But he was stuck with two of the meanest ponies he’d ever had the misfortune to meet and had to deal if he wished to pass.  

“Oh ho! The little runt actually has some spine!  That’s more than I can say for those two loser freak flyers you hang around with.”  Stormbringer knew just how to push Cloudy Sky’s buttons, seeing him get more flustered by their trash talk.

“You know,” Cloudy Sky huffed, “I don’t get you two!  Why do you guys hate my friends so much?  What, because they look different? Because they’re not ponies like us?”  Cloudy Sky looked back and forth between the two of them, finally fed up.

“Because they’re cowards!”  Stormbringer flipped aside his gold-striped bangs, his brown eyes boring into Cloudy Sky’s armor of disgust for them.

“When the call went out from the pony nation to its ‘allies’, no creature from any neighboring country showed up to help! They left us standing alone against the Storm King and his legions.”  Wind Raider watched how Cloudy Sky’s head snapped around to face him.

“We got the warning out about the attack, but no other creature Equestria came to help! The griffons didn’t show up to help, the dragons didn’t show up to help, those horrible yaks with that…that…ignoramus Prince Rustyfork or whatever his name is in charge, they didn’t show up to help! No creature showed up!” The veteran flyer gave him the unvarnished truth.  

“The princesses never had the chance to call for help! It was a surprise attack! It was Princess Twilight and her friends who saved us by bringing back the hippogriff queen and their army to help in the fight!”  Cloudy Sky distinctly remembered reading that in the newspapers in the aftermath, sure of his facts.  Stormbringer filled on more about that day’s sneak attack.

“That was because of us!  If it weren’t for all those cadets and reserve guard ponies that fought on when the regular defense forces were overrun in Canterlot, Princess Twilight and the other Protectors of Equestria would never have gotten away! It was our efforts that kept the Storm King’s forces occupied long enough so they could escape! Try to find that in any one of those damn newspapers!”

That took some of the wind out of Cloudy Sky’s sails, never hearing that small piece of historical significance.  The paper had only mentioned in brief passing of a ‘running street fight’ as the invasion took place between the Storm King’s soldiers and some ‘irregular forces’ as it was described in one article. Cloudy Sky started to wonder more about what he had learned from the news reports verses what he’d been told by those ponies where were there.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I have to help your sorry flanks get past this test so let’s quit the chatter and get moving.”  Wind Raider got them back on duty, the remaining time slipping away quickly.

The work continued among the flyers, getting the finer points worked out and doing final fly through runs and final tweaking of movements.  On a brief break from his workout with Amber Haze, something caught the two pony’s attention.

“Hey,” he scanned the length of bleachers that lined one side of the field, spotting a small number of pony observers scattered about the seating, “since when did the trials become a spectator sport?”  Amber Haze followed his line of sight to where he was looking and pointing to with a forehoof.

“I don’t know.  But I can see some of them are dressed in the school’s uniforms.  I thought cadets weren’t allowed to watch recruits try out.” She could spot some in the stand who weren’t cadets, the family members who’d been at the morning’s meal and were done with the meet & greet now were watching along from their vantage points.

Over to join them flew Razzle Dazzle and Whirlwind, the brightly colored mare wanting to see what her friends were so occupied looking at.

“What’s going on? You think there’s going to be a Wonderbolt performance today or something?”  Razzle Dazzle thought it a treat for the recruits to get to see a show before having to fly themselves.

“I don’t think so, Razzle.  But why are there ponies in the stands?”  Whirlwind asked the same question Nightflight had, finding this a bit odd and intrusive. As if there wasn’t enough pressure to do well, but to have an unwanted audience didn’t help.

“I didn’t read anything on the bulletin board outside the barracks this morning about there being watchers for today’s trials.” Amber Haze was nervous enough, even with Nightflight as her lead pony, about her performance.  She was scoring only so-so in the middle third of the recruits and needed to shine in this performance to stand out.  She agreed with Whirlwind.  Having an audience watching today only increased the pressure to do well.

Whirlwind checked among his fellow recruits.  “Any pony here know how much time we have left? How soon do you think it is until the instructors call us in for our trials?”

They all shook their heads. “Sorry, I haven’t got a timepiece.” Nighflight looked up at the sun, guestimating what time it might be.  “We’ve been out here since six-thirty. Maybe it’s, like, around nine by now? I’m not sure.” 

“Was there something about having families watching us because I recognize some of the ponies in the stands as some who came to this morning’s breakfast.” Razzle Dazzle looked among her friends for an answer, believing they would know.

“I’d say let’s try to forget about it get back to practicing for now; the instructors will let us know what’s up.”  Nightflight led Amber Haze away, wanting to get the last bit of time in on their work. The others went their separate ways, getting back to work. 

Some pairs of fliers worked on final details of their flights while some sat dawn to write out their final submissions together.  Achieving a good score encompassed all they had learned so far; planning, rehearsing and then executing a routine of at least six flight maneuvers.  This was the first real test of a recruit’s flight capability.

Wind Raider, watching from the ground as Stormbringer and Cloudy Sky were flying above him, would catch sight of Gallus and Silverstream constantly looking over at them, both of the non-pony fliers getting riled up and distracted from flying by the way their little friend was being instructed; instructed like a real Wonderbolt Academy cadet would and not handled with kid gloves. He got a kick at seeing the two ‘freak-beaks’ getting angry and unable to focus on their flying. Their pony partners repeatedly trying to get them to stop looking. With those two freak-beaks so distracted, his prediction of those two put on a mediocre showing when it came time to fly their routines with their pony partners might come true. Wind Raider found himself smirking to himself with satisfaction at getting back at them in this way.  

Wind Raider had Cloudy Sky fly and re-fly the same difficult moves as Stormbringer’s wing pony, driving him harder than any of the instructors or Cloudy Sky’s friends had ever done. While this routine was nothing for Stormbringer to do, it was proving harder and harder for Cloudy Sky to keep up.

Cloudy Sky tried desperately to follow their directions, but it was all he could do just to keep going, trying to recall what he’d read from Wind Raider’s notes and what his friends had told him about this fact or that point of flying during their time together.  But now under all this pressure and having the two older guys ordering him around, it was all just a jumbled mess of words and voices in his head right then and nothing made any sense. His wings were starting to ache from the workout he was subjected to, worried if was going to make it to the actual flight trial.

This was very upsetting for Silverstream to see and hear, even being this far away from Cloudy Sky and those two mean ponies he was assigned to. Firebolt had picked out a spot on the activity field far away enough so as to, hopefully, not let Silverstream become distracted. It didn’t work.

“Silver, on the next run I want you…” She caught her lead hippogriff once again looking away and not listening to her.  “Silverstream-m-m-m!” Firebolt whined loudly, growing more annoyed with her partner. Silverstream’s head whipped around to face her.

“Wait, what? What were you saying?” Silverstream faced an irritated wing pony partner who was losing patience with her continued wandering attention. Firebolt’s bent expression was a sure indicator of that.

“What’s with you? You’re goofing up on stuff we’ve worked on all day yesterday to perfection and now it’s like you’ve never flown the routine before!” Firebolt didn’t need to hear Silverstream’s answer. All she had to do was follow where her partner kept insistently looking over to; it was just over Firebolt’s left shoulder. Firebolt turned around to see what it was.

The two of them watched as Cloudy Sky was subjected to tough training from Wind Raider and Stormbringer, the two older guys losing patience with Cloudy Sky’s lack of flight skills, barking at him repeatedly. They couldn’t hear all of what was being said, but a few remarks of ‘you’re not listening to us’ and ‘that’s not what you’re supposed to do’ made it to their ears. It made Silverstream angry to hear those two guys acting so mean to her friend. 

“They don’t have to yell at him like that! When Gallus and me were working with-” 

“Look, Silver,” Firebolt cut her off mid-sentence, determined to get her lead hippogriff back in focus, “you need to stop worrying about Cloudy. He’s a big boy and can handle himself. I don’t like to see Cloudy subjected to those two bastards anymore then you do. But we’ve got a job to do, and time is running out. So, please, focus on what we have to do.” Firebolt didn’t want to sound mean or heartless to the plight of their friend, but this was ‘crunch time’ and she was desperate to have Silverstream focus on their flight plan. This seemed to go against everything Silverstream had learned at Princess Twilight’s school. It felt like she was abandoning her friend when he needed help. 

Firebolt could see in Silverstream’s eyes how she was wrestling with this vexing situation, trying to find some way to deal with this. The wing pony watched how Silverstream clamped her beak together in a frustrated scowl, having to tamp down her instincts to protect Cloudy Sky and somehow ignore what she’d seen. Silverstream took a few deep breaths and shut her eyes, attempting to let go of the anger and to try to not lose her cool. 

“Okay,” Silverstream gave a last big exhale and opened her eyes once more, “I’ll try to focus more. I’m sorry for being so distracted.” Firebolt looked back with understanding in her eyes, aware of how close a friendship had developed between Silverstream and Cloudy Sky.

“I know you will. Now, c’mon. There’s not much time left and we can still get those rough spots ironed out in time.” Firebolt finally got Silverstream to stop looking over at Cloudy Sky dealing with Wind Raider and Stormbringer, seeing her friend making the effort to not be distracted. Silverstream only nodded back to her wing pony’s insistent urging, feeling torn at the moment; fearing for Cloudy Sky’s safety and betraying Firebolt’s trust by jeopardizing her friend’s chance pass this very important trial. 

Still the work and practice continued for all the recruits. Pressure coming to head as several pairs were feeling the strain about who was flying what correctly and what need improving. Tempers began to flare up, unkind and cutting words exchanged between lead and wing ponies, requiring High Winds’ attention to smooth things over between some flyers. 

At a loose end, Windflower and her wing pony, Bluestreak, paused to rest with Morning Glow and Sunstrike from their routine work, watching right overhead Silverstream and Firebolt going through their flight routine again, executing some excellent twists and turns, peaking with a double stall-turn move at the apex of a swooping dive and then pulling up to soar high into the sky. The duo of hippogriff and pony end with a graceful sweeping arc and landed at nearly the same time on the ground. The foursome of ponies walked over to talk with them, impressed with the aerial display of flying skill by Silverstream. The all stomped their forehooves in applause of great flying.

“Wow, that’s really something to watch!  You two have got that double stall-turn move down cold.” Windflower loved doing a stall turn; that crazy sensation of hanging motionless in the air for a second or so before gravity took over. It was a tough maneuver to get right but even tougher to get two flyers simultaneously doing the same move and getting the timing right so that they mirror one another in flight. Silverstream was graceful with her acceptance, smiling. She was glad to take a break and talk more with some of her fellow recruits.

“Thank you, that’s very kind of you to say. I must admit, I’ve been feeling rather nervous about flying competitively, but now-”

“C’mon, Silver. Let’s fly it again. I want us to really nail the timing for that falling corkscrew move. I think you missed count of the turns that last time.” Firebolt interrupted the conversation, unwilling to spend precious time with idle chit-chat.

“Let’s just take a little pause for a minute, okay? I want to,” the hippogriff’s eyes again turned away to the trio of ponies working some distance from where they stood, “just keep an eye on things.” Windflower and her fellow recruits followed Silverstream’s line of sight, seeing what she was looking at. They instantly understood.

They watched Cloudy Sky working with Wind Raider and Stormbringer, too far to hear but all of them witnessing the contemptable way the two older guys were directing the younger stallion around, a meanness to their directions. 

“Oh, your friend, right? Sorry that he got shuffled around like that.” Windflower and her fellow recruits were witness to this morning’s rather unfortunate twist of fate for their young stallion friend. Bluestreak and the others saw the look of great concern on Silverstream’s face, clearly thinking about her friend’s wellbeing.

“Tough luck for the kid, I guess. I’d thought Commander Spitfire would’ve been more flexible with who was his lead and picked one of you. I wonder why she chose Wind Raider anyway.” Sunstrike thought the switch unnecessary as he’d seen Silverstream and her friends helping out the young stallion earlier on in the trials.

“Kinda unfair, if you ask me. He seemed to be hanging in there. Must be making this tough to stay focused for you, I’ll bet.” Morning Glow only stated the obvious to both Silverstream and Firebolt, noting the wing pony’s slightly annoyed expression directed at the hippogriff.

“And this is why we have to re-fly our routine again, Silverstream.” Firebolt’s under-breath comment caught the hippogriff’s ear, unhappy with her lack of concentration as lead in this flight duo, despite saying she would try harder. 

“Just give me a few minutes to rest and we’ll get right back to it, alright?” Silverstream felt the sting of Firebolt’s words, fairly called out for being distracted again and not focusing. It was hard to not think about Cloudy Sky’s predicament, but she was glad to have a short break.

“So, how does it feel to be part of the trials? Is it anything like you imagined it would be?”  Bluestreak hadn’t had a chance to chat with Silverstream as all of them had been quite busy with the trials but in this chance one-on-one, he got his wish. He’d never met a hippogriff before, and he was curious if she liked being here.

“Oh, well, I was not aware how serious these trials were taken. I was under the impression that-”

For a couple of minutes, Silverstream got to indulge in some light conversation with a fellow recruit, making acquaintances and inroads with those she’d not had the opportunity to. Silverstream also got to smooth things over with them too, talking the opportunity to apologize for the unintentional insult she and Gallus had said the other night.  To her relief, she discovered that these recruits did not hold a grudge against her or Gallus; they understood she and Gallus were volunteers here and probably were unaware of the academy’s legacy and history. They could cut them some slack, hearing the sincere apology come from Silverstream.

Firebolt paced about in a circle behind Silverstream, waiting for her lead to finish socializing with the other recruits. She finally stood still for a moment, tapping a forehoof with impatience as more time slipped away. Indulging her lead flyer for another minute or so of waiting, she interrupted the casual conversation going on.

“Sorry, folks, but we need to get moving now.” Firebolt pulled insistently at one of Silverstream’s forelegs, 

“We can catch up at lunchtime, if you‘re free.” Sunstrike wanted to hear more about Seaquestria and what life underwater was like. 

“You can tell us more about your time at Princess Twilight’s school.”  Morning Glow was a fan of the princess and wanted to ask Silverstream more about the School of Friendship and what the student body was like.

“Okay, we’ll talk later.” Silverstream waved to them as the four ponies headed back to their practicing. She then turned to face her wing pony, annoyed by Firebolt’s curt manor.  “You didn’t have to act like that to them. I was just trying to be polite.”

“We don’t have time to waste with jibber-jabber, Silverstream. I know why you’re still struggling with our routine; you’re too busy worrying about Cloudy, am I right?”

Firebolt didn’t need to hear the answer, the hippogriff’s souring expression was enough of an admission. “Look, Silver,” Firebolt was doing her best to not get uptight with her lead’s lack of focus, so she tried a different approach, “I think it admirable you care so much, but you’re totally playing into Wind Raider’s hooves. You’re letting him get inside your head and throw you off. He wants you to mess up. Don’t let him. You’ve got to trust me on this because I need you to be my lead and help us get the top score for this trial.” 

She could not be clearer, imploring her friend to get her mind right and focus on the work. For the past couple of hours, Silverstream had be consistently inconsistent with her flying. Messing up on one part, then re-flying the routine again only to goof on a different part, and unable to achieve a solid run through all morning.  

Silverstream knew her friend was right, she had been sneaking peaks over at Cloudy Sky slaving away with Wind Raider and Stormbringer during her flying and not paying attention to her flying like she should’ve, even after promising she would.

“I don’t mean to be such an airhead, Firebolt, but…it’s hard not to think about Cloudy. I can’t help it!” Silverstream, once more, turned to look across the field to see their friend was now reading from a book something Wind Raider pointed out to him on a particular page.

“Try looking at it this way, Silver, the faster we get ready and get through this trial, the sooner we can get Cloudy away from those two jerks. Believe me, I wish Brightstar had been made his lead and not Wind Bag over there.”  The insult got the response she wanted, getting Silverstream to laugh a little at the insult and maybe stop worrying so much. Silverstream took a cleansing breath, trying to clear her head.

“Okay, no more distractions; I’m one-hundred present focused. Let’s do this!” Silverstream gave her wing pony a look of fierce determination, resolute to be the best lead flyer for her friend. Firebolt saw the reinvigorated fire in her friend’s eyes. She hoped it would burn long enough and strong enough to get them through this trial.   

At another area of the activity field, Solar Flare was having problems with his wing griffon’s persistent wavering attention. Gallus, too, witnessed from afar the treatment Cloudy Sky was getting from Wind Raider and Stormbringer.  The griffon was trying desperately to focus but his repeated stolen looks over at Cloudy Sky caused him to miss crucial timing points in the routine with his lead pony, throwing them out of time yet again and nearly causing another mid-air collision.

Solar Flare growled a little to himself, patience ebbing with his distractible partner at flying and then re-flying the same parts of their routine they needed to go over, trying get the rough points ironed out but not succeeding. Solar Flare knew they were almost ready, if only Gallus would just pay more attention.  He landed smoothly on the ground, but Gallus was almost a full second landing after him.  The pony turned to face his partner who was yet again looking away, focused on what was going on across the field with Cloudy Sky. Gallus watched as Cloudy Sky continued to struggle with the regiment Wind Raider and Stormbringer were putting him through. Hearing those two recruits yelling at Cloudy Sky only made Gallus’ temper rise more.

“Gallus, come o-n-n-n-n!”  Solar Flare thumped a forehoof against the ground in frustration, causing Gallus to quickly turn back around and see the exasperated look on Solar Flare’s muzzle. “You keep messing up on the timing!  Why do you keep speeding up and slowing down when we’re flying?”

Vexed by situation Cloudy Sky had to endure and unable to help, he lashed out at his lead pony.  “Yeah, well, maybe if you flew that fat pony ass of yours faster and tried to keep up, I wouldn’t have to keep slowing down! Then we wouldn’t have to keep re-flying this dumb routine!”

Even as the last angry syllable escaped his mouth, Gallus knew he’d made a mistake. His eyes went wide as he slapped the talons of both forelegs over his beak, clamping his mouth shut, horrified of what he just blurted out. He felt a small chill hit him and cool his hot temper. “Dude, I’m sorry! I didn’t-” 

“He-e-e-y!” Solar Flare glared at the griffon, cocking an eyebrow at him. “You want to rephrase that, fella?!”

Gallus stepped closer to his friend, extending an open clutch of talons with the hope of acceptance. “I’m sorry, Solar; honest. I was wrong and I apologize.”

Solar Flare did not react immediately but could tell his wing griffon was speaking honestly and forthright. He was aware of Gallus’ quick temper and rash tendencies and how it could unintentionally undermine him. But the lead pony could forgive him because he understood what it was that has his friend so preoccupied.  It bothered him too, but he could put it out of his mind and focus. 

Solar Flare’s snarly glower finally dissolved into a lopsided smirk, extending his forehoof to shake with Gallus.  A wave of relief washed over Gallus.

“Stupid featherbrain!” Solar Flare made a crude joke, tweaking Gallus’ beak ever-so-slightly in return for the insult. Gallus could only laugh with relief as he shook Solar’s hoof.

“Still cool?” Gallus still asked, needing to hear it for real as he was so regretful for his insult.

Solar Flare’s expression softened some more.  “Yeah, we’re still cool.” 

Gallus gave a big sigh of relief, his body slumping slightly as the tension left his body. He was thanking his lucky stars for having such a cool and understanding partner with Solar Flare.  

“I’m just reacting to how rotten those two are treating Cloudy, Solar. It’s just not fair!” Gallus once more turned to face the direction on the field where their young friend was compelled to work with those two veteran flyers. 

Even at this distance away from them, the two friends could faintly hear Wind Raider barking directions at Cloudy Sky, reprimanding him for not following their instructions. “They’re not even trying to help him; they’re just yelling at him the whole time! That’s not the way any of us worked with him.” Gallus couldn’t help but be incensed by the way their friend was being treated.  Why wasn’t Solar Flare as mad as he was about it?

“I know it’s hard to accept, Gallus, but Commander Spitfire made her decision so there’s nothing we can do about it. They haven’t done anything wrong or out of line with Cloudy yet; they’re trying to get him to fly better.”  Solar Flare sounded so cold and logical to the griffon, unmoved by Cloudy Sky’s dilemma.

“C’mon, Solar! You can’t be serious? There’s no reason for the way they’re treating-”

Solar Flare cut him off.  “They haven’t done anything wrong yet; you might not like their methods of pushing Cloudy along but they haven’t broken any rules of conduct. If they strike him or something like that, then we can intervene. Otherwise, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Solar Flare’s by-the-book answer didn’t quell Gallus’ resentment of this situation. The fact that those two senior recruits could treat Cloudy Sky like that and get away with it was, in Gallus’ mind, criminal. Even if Wind Raider and Stormbringer were veterans of the fighting against the Storm King, he knew that no creature should have to put up with such terrible treatment.

Gallus could only look on and growl. “Nothing we can do about it; what total meadow-muffins!” He thumped a fistful of talons against the ground, hating the sense of helplessness. 

“I’m no fan of it either and we’ve still got to get through this trial. A few more hours is all we have to go and then Cloudy won’t be stuck with those two anymore. But this is also what it means to be a good recruit and potential cadet at this school, Gallus; following orders from a higher rank flyer without question, even if you disagree with the order given.”

“Right, following orders.” Gallus’ shoulders slumped a little, admitting to himself that Solar Flare was one hundred percent right, they had to get through this trial. If he wanted to prove that a griffon could be a good candidate for this school, he had to resist his instincts of rushing to Cloudy Sky’s aid and demonstrate a willingness to follow directions.  

Solar Flare was sympathetic with Gallus’ concern for their friend. “Try to put it out of your mind as best you can, Gallus. The more we work out the routine, the quicker the time will seem to pass and then this will be over. Trust me on this.” 

A bitter pill to swallow, but his lead pony was right again. This was just temporary and would pass. “Okay, I’ll try my best to focus and not let you down.” Gallus’ head dipped some, as if admitting defeat and looking down at the ground but Solar Flare reached out to put a hoof on his left shoulder, getting him to look up and face his lead pony.

“I know you will because I believe in you.” The husky pony assured his friend with a small smile and nod, his confidence unwavering about his chosen wing flyer. It made Gallus feel rather humble to have a pony friend so committed to working with him, even after acting like a jerk to them.

“We’d better get back to it; we’ve still got to get the ‘big finale’ move timed right and I want to show off in front of two those two piles of stall muck just who’s the best flight pair!” 

Solar Flare saw it reappear; that gleam of competitiveness shining in Gallus’ eyes about being the best flyers.  He noticed it during Gallus’ first day of introduction, how Gallus’ interest was captured by the trials and a genuine desire to prove that griffons could fly as well as any pony here.  

“Then let’s jet!” Solar Flare was grinning as he took off into the air, leaving Gallus momentarily behind. But Gallus didn’t need prompting, taking off right after his lead pony and getting into position right off Solar Flare’s right wing. He was determined not to mess up anymore and come through for his lead pony; absolute concentration on the routine and nothing else. 

“One more time, lead!” Gallus shouted to Solar Flare, letting him know he was ready for this.

“First move in three… two… one… go!” Solar Flare didn’t have to look back to see whether or not Gallus had his game-face on or not; just in the sound of his voice did he know his wing griffon was ready. He was still grinning to himself as he led Gallus into the rolling turn of the flight routine, feeling surer that the remaining time they had to practice was going to pay off.  


=====*****=====


The morning hours waned, every one of the flight pairs putting all their energies and efforts into writing and then rewriting their routines. Some flight pairs trimmed back on exotic tricks and complex sequences of moves, finding that dream routines written in the head were best to be kept there when under a time crunch.

“C’mon, Razzle, let’s just rest for a second, okay? I need a breather.” Whirlwind confessed after the steady pace of work they’ve put in this morning, finding his wing pony to seem to have a boundless reserve of energy. He had no idea where she got it from. Razzle Dazzle came zooming in, executing a quick back summersault before landing on her hooves next to him, seemingly unexhausted by the rigors they’ve been through.

“Oh, okay. We can take a break. I feel fine, though. Wha-he-e-e-e!”  Razzle Dazzle did a quick backflip, her wings fluttering briefly to help her do the fun move. She was giggling like a school-filly, seemingly unaffected by the morning’s workout they’ve had so far.  

Where does she get the energy from?! She isn’t the least bit tired!  Whirlwind could not figure this out. She wasn’t even breathing hard. It was as if this kind of intense flying was perfectly normal to her.

“I need to rewrite out the routine again with those changes. You think this is going to work out okay; I mean with the timing of both of us being at the right transition points. It sounds a little out of the ordinary.” Whirlwind retrieved the sheet of loose-leaf paper from the pocket of his jersey, unfolding it and getting his pencil ready to change it again for the umpteenth time.  Razzle Dazzle stepped over to watch him erase most of the preplanned flight moves for her and rewrite out the much looser interpolating moves that she wanted. She would fly three of the seven of her own choice on the second, fourth and sixth of the seven trick moves they would perform. The first, third, fifth and seventh moves they would fly as a pair, in traditionally lead and wing positions.

“Oh, definitely! Commandeer Spitfire is sure to like it; it’s all about creative interpretation in flight. No pony is going to expect. We’re sure to stand out from the others.”  Razzle Dazzle sure sounded confident with her thinking, able to convince Whirlwind of the changes they made with the flight routine.  

As they started going through the routine together, they could not help but overhear Wind Raider barking out orders to Cloudy sky, who was flying probably thirty yards way and not very high up.   

“Scalloping! You’re scalloping! Don’t flap and glide! Steady flapping!”

Razzle Dazzle turned around, looking on rather glumly as she watched her stallion friend struggle to keep up with Stormbringer. Her gaze then lowered to the pony doing the shouting, Wind Raider.

“(Sic)! Why does he have to be so mean to Cloudy? Why can’t he just be nice?” To Whirlwind, she seemed rather innocent of proper flight training, perhaps from having such a super-natural flying ability. 

“Well,” He turned around to stand next to Razzle Dazzle and watch her friend attempt to fly an inverted barrel roll, falling behind Stormbringer and out of position. “I thought your friend knew about the basics; you know? Those first rudiments of flight discipline? Not sure why he doesn’t know much about it. You know how he got selected for these trials?”

Razzle Dazzle tried to recall what said at the mealtime the other night when the discussion about flight competitions came up. “I think Cloudy mentioned winning a race somewhere or at some kind of special event. I’m not one-hundred percent sure, though. Firebolt was talking most of the time, Night Flight too. But mostly Firebolt. She had lots of stories about her time spent on the F.C.A. tour.”

They watched for a minute or so more, witnessing how Cloudy Sky was giving it his all and trying to keep up with Stormbringer. It was tough to watch, especially when Wind Raider would start hollering out instructions, clearly displeased with Cloudy Sky’s skills.

Whirlwind turned his attention back to his work, not wanting to see more. “C’mon, Razzle, let’s get this finished and try flying it once more.” He tried to pull her away with his left foreleg from watching more, trying to get her to look at his flight routine paperwork again.

“Stupid meanies!” She spat, kicking a little at the ground with a forehoof and wrinkling up her muzzle with disgust for the way they treated her friend. 


======******======


“I think we’re almost there with it, Amber. A few more tries should have us on point and ready to fly for the instructors.” Night Flight was all smiles with his girlfriend, making a great partner for him as well as being one of the loveliest girls here at the trials. 

“Those cool looping moves we came up with are going to wow both Commander Spitfire and the Wonderbolt’s captain,” she moved in much closer to her new beau, holding his gaze momentarily with her ice-blue eyes, “and it’s all because of your wonderful flight training. I couldn’t have been luckier to have such a talented lead and so darn cute as well too!” 

She gave him a not-so-discrete ‘fluff’; giving him a quick and flirty swipe across his butt with her left-wing feathers, startling Night Flight for a moment. But he responded back with a quick snap of his silvery-while tail across her butt, the distinct crack of air at the impact on her tender flesh.

Amber Haze gasped, her eyes going wide and she giggled too, delighted he was willing to be flirtatious publicly. She snuck a quick kiss with him, pushing their luck at getting in trouble. This was not acceptable behavior for recruits. It can get them ejected from the try-outs. But the quick flush of romantic desire was interrupted by a loud stallion’s voice.

“Tighten up! Tighten up to him! You’re not going to make the turn!”

The two lovebirds lift their heads up to watch Cloudy Sky trying to follow Stormbringer in a deep dive towards the ground, only to watch him pull out of the dive early and circle around, landing near Wind Raider, who then got in his face about not attempting the move. Stormbringer landed right after Cloudy Sky, upset at his wing’s reluctance.

“What’s with you?! Why can’t you follow him thought this simple diving move?” Wind Raider demanded, annoyed by Cloudy Sky’s limitations.

“It’s intimidating for me! It feels like I’m going to crash headfirst into the ground flying so fast!” Cloudy tried to defend himself, genuinely uncomfortable with the sensation of nose diving straight down at high speed.  

Stormbringer pounced on what he thought was Cloudy Sky’s flimsy excuse. “That’s because you’re not keeping track of the time; you’re not counting the seconds in your head and trusting it for your altitude as to when to pull up and out of the dive! That’s why you keep chickening out!”

Both Night Flight and Amber Haze knew what Stormbringer said was true; neither of them was intimidated by the high-speed nose dives, bodily twists, flips and turns they had to do to perform a good routine. They were comfortable and familiar with the sensations while Cloudy Sky seemed to be still at the very basic foundations to first performance level flying.

“I’m’…sorry for your friend over there, having to deal with those two, I mean. He seems like a nice kid.” Amber Haze had only spoken a few words when first meeting Cloudy Sky, spending much more time with her new boyfriend and not with his group of friends.

“C’mon, Cloudy, you can do it!” Night Flight softly urged on his friend, “Don’t let them push you around!” He’d watched his fellow BFFs tutor and work with Cloudy Sky and help him succeed at passing each of the trials so far. But that was an extraordinary amount of assistance with very patient teachers. Night Flight suspected correctly that neither of those two were either patient or probably good instructors. 

The two older stallions repeatedly point out something in the textbook to Cloudy Sky, emphasizing what he needed to read and understand before they went further. Night Flight’s heart went out to the youngest member of their group, understanding the stress Cloudy Sky must be under.  

“Do you think he’ll be alright?” Amber Haze, too, felt it was unfair and unnecessary that Cloudy Sky got reassigned. Her lead pony’s friends had stepped forward to help but to no avail. It would be disappointing to see the young gray stallion get eliminated because of a mismatch in partners.

“I hope so. I know Firebolt and the others had helped out getting him this far, but I don’t think any one of us were expecting this situation arising.“ He pursed his lips tightly together, feeling upset a bit bad for not trying to help the youngest BFF get a better understanding of flight basics. Maybe Cloudy Sky wouldn’t be struggling as much had he given a little more time to help out like his friends had. 

“Don’t beat yourself up about it. He’s had lots of help from your friends so far, and, if he’s got the will, he’ll pull though this.” She tried to put a positive spin on the situation, seeing her lead pony irked by this conundrum.

“Let’s just try not to think about it for now and get back to our practicing.” Amber Haze wanted her beau not to get distracted and lose focus. Time for practice was dwindling and she was still a little shaky on one or two points of the routine. She gently pulled at him, hooking her left foreleg around his right foreleg and urging him to stop looking and return his attention to their work.  

He relented some, turning away from the sight of Cloudy Sky trying again at the same difficult flight move. As unfair as he believed it was, he couldn’t do anything about it now. “Yeah, back to work.” 

Back up in the air again with Amber Haze and going through the loop-de-loop moves once more, he still had that little niggle in the back of his head about Cloudy Sky’s chances of making it today. He would be disheartened if it turned out Cloudy Sky couldn’t make the cut after all the work he’d put into the trials so far.


=====*****=====


“I think we’re done; we’ve got those double back flips timed right and the transition timing at the end of the two inverted barrel rolls ironed out. We’re got a little time left to rest up and stay limber.” Brightstar did not have to do much to get Rainsong up to speed on some flight principles she needed help with. Her wing pony was a fast learner, worry of getting cut from the trials proving to be an effective motivator to pay extra close attention to Brightstar’s instructions.

“Sounds good; I could use a rest before we fly for real.” Rainsong had worked very hard to keep up with her lead’s regiment of flight moves, finding some of them more challenging than first imagined. Then something caught Rainsong’s attention from out of the corner of an eye. “Hey, what’s going on over there?” She pointed to the far end of the field, getting Brightstar to look as well.

“Not sure. With those two, it could be anything.” Brightstar had been too busy with getting Rainsong ready for the trial to have paid much attention to what was going on at the other end of the field. With a bit of time to spare, she and Rainsong watched what was going on with those two guys and her friend. From the textbook Wind Raider was holding, he was instructing something to Cloudy Sky, getting him to nod along with understanding. Stormbringer and Cloudy were up in the air again, running through flight moves that she knew Cloudy Sky wasn’t familiar with. 

It was disheartening for her and Rainsong to watch Cloudy Sky struggle at keeping up with the flight routine he had to fly with Stormbringer. She and her wing pony were familiar with such intermediary flight moves Stormbringer was taking Cloudy Sky through. But Cloudy Sky kept falling behind and lose his place in the routine, causing them to abort the attempt and have to try again. 

“Why are they pushing him with those level of moves?” Rainsong turned her head to the right, seeing how intensely Brightstar was looking on with.  “I know you and your friends have helped him for the earlier trials but I’m not sure he’d be familiar with what Stormbringer’s attempting to do.” 

“I know he’s not. We hadn’t gotten that far along with showing him and now he’s got to learn, literally, ‘on the wing’. This is so unfair for him.” Brightstar wished she had been made his lead pony. She and Rainsong had worked with him this morning along with Gallus and Solar Flare, and all of them believed they had Cloudy Sky feeling surer of himself. He’d listened to their instructions, and he’d done his best to follow. Brightstar, having spent her younger years first on the E.F.C. racing circuit and then in the Cloudsdale Defense Force’s flight prep training program, knew how far and hard to push a flyer’s skill level. 

They watch Cloudy Sky try again at following Stormbringer through the flight routine. He could manage to stick close to his lead and getting through the first few moves successfully, only to miss a transition point and fall behind or get tripped up on a particularly tricky inverted looping move, causing them to abort the attempt and re-fly the routine from the beginning again.

Rainsong could see her lead pony unhappy at the sight of the youngest member of her circle of friends having to undergo such strenuous work; having to learn new flight moves so quickly and under an incredibly short about of time. Every time they would watch Cloudy Sky retry flying the routine, Rainsong listened to Brightstar ‘coaching’ Cloudy Sky, as if she were there herself to instruct him.

“C’mon, Cloudy,” Brightstar ‘walked’ him through the move as he flew overhead, “make sure to count to twenty-five before you try the turn and then by thirty-five to have your body inverted for that roll into the dive.” She was pleased to see on his next try that, as if magically somehow hearing her instructions, he performed the two moves in perfect sequence, having his body in the correct position and able to try then continuing the routine’s next sequence of moves.

“Hey, he got it this time. Looks like he was paying attention to what you said, eh? Not bad for a green flyer like him to get that, right?” Rainsong kidded a little and gave him kudos for showing them he was still in it and not giving up. She thought Cloudy Sky was plucky for putting in that extra twenty percent effort to push through like that.  

Though they were heartened by his ability to keep up but, as Brightstar correctly predicted, Cloudy Sky got tripped up on another part of the routine, requiring him to return to the ground and listen to Wind Raider forcefully explain again what Cloudy Sky got wrong and what he needed to do. 

“He’ll make it; he had us and the rest of your friends to get him this far. He’s got a lot of heart.” Rainsong sounded fairly sure of herself, remembering a time when she was at a similar level of skill and was working hard to get better.

“Yeah, but heart doesn’t necessarily equate into passing this trial.” Brightstar wondered if this was going to be too much for Cloudy Sky to handle and cause him to get cut from the trials.  


=====*****=====


Watching what was going on as well was Harmony Blues, the mare Cloudy Sky had asked to be his partner for this trial. She’d turned him down, what with her partner now recovered and out of the infirmary to rejoin the trials. Snowblossom had quickly completed some of the previous day’s requirements for the trials and, in only an hour or so time, she was back and raring to get going with the routine she and Harmony Blues had planned out. 

At a brief rest from their intense practice, the two mares watch from afar how Cloudy Sky came swooping down much too fast to pull up and execute the loop move he was attempting. They watched as he hit the ground with a thud and went sliding along on the grass and dirt, rolling over a few times and coming to a crumbled heap of a stop at last. 

Cloudy Sky tried to get to his hooves, trying to push himself up but just collapsed to the ground, his strength seemingly sapped. The two mares watch and hear Cloudy Sky’s assigned partners berate him about his flying.

“You can’t even do this simple of a flight routine? You’re hopeless.” Stormbringer harrumphed about Cloudy Sky’s lacking flight skills. Wind Raider piled on with more vitriol.

“Yeah, why don’t you just lay there on the ground like some helpless, cowardly little weakling; be just like those freak-beak friends of yours!  Be a coward and just lie there because you don’t have the skills to get in to this academy or the guts to stand up and fight to protect yourself or your homeland! Celestia and Luna help us if the likes of you or those dirty ‘griffs were to defend Equestria, much less get into this place!”

Fed up with hearing these two bigmouths put down Cloudy Sky, Harmony Blues wordlessly headed right for them, momentarily confusing Snowblossom.

“Harmony, where-?” Her lead pony made a sudden departure, heading away and right for the trio of stallions who were working over in one corner of the activity field. Concerned, Snowblossom followed after, watching Harmony Blues make a beeline for the small gray stallion who was lying on the ground. 

“Cloudy, are you okay?” Harmony Blues tried helping Cloudy Sky up to his hooves, hearing him coughing still and trying to catch his breath.  He only half-nodded to her question, being in too much pain to talk and wincing when he tried to take a deep breath. She glared angrily at the two older guys for their mistreatment of a fellow recruit.

“What’s the matter with your two?! Take it easy with him, he’s just a little guy.” Harmony Blues scolded them, but only getting sneers of contempt for her concern in return. 

“Take it easy?! Take it easy?! I’ve got to get this pathetic lump of pony crap into some kind of capable flyer in a ridiculously short amount of time and you want me to take it easy with him?!” Wind Raider snarled back at her before turning to Cloudy Sky again.

“I swear, pipsqueak, you’d better start using your head! Do you know what that is?! It’s that useless lump on top of your neck, four feet away from your ass!” Wind Raider slammed a forehoof down, momentarily glaring at the younger stallion before stalking off a short distance away, fuming and trying to regain control of his temper.

Harmony Blues suddenly felt Cloudy Sky slumping over against her body, his head flopping against her side, nearly spent from his workout. 

“Help me, please!” He wheezed, just loud enough for the two mares to hear him but not enough that Wind Raider could. 

“Why do you have to act like such a bastard to him, Wind Raider?! Can’t you see he’s trying as best he can?” Snowblossom called him out for his terrible method of teaching, unaware that Wind Raider was so short tempered.  But the war veteran was not going to take any advice from either mare. He knew what it took to motivate a flyer into getting with the program. 

“Oh, why don’t you cram a sock in it, Snowblossom?!” He came back over to stand right in front of Cloudy Sky, getting right in front of the younger stallion’s muzzle.

“Before joining the academy staff as a teacher, Wonderbolt Midnight Strike was my flight coach at flight school, and she called me the biggest flying pile of stall muck she’d ever trained right front of every pony in the crowd! And that was when my parents came down all the way from the Crystal Empire to watch me race for the first time in competition, but did I give up when I got beat by the better flyers?!” He taunted Cloudy Sky, mocking him with his condescending tone.

“No… probably not…” Cloudy Sky managed to answer between his labored breathing, his head dizzy and light-feeling, still managing to stay upright on his wobbly legs but assisted by being propped up by Harmony Blues.

“No, I didn’t give up when the going got tough. And do you know why?” Wind Raider continued his rant, stomping his forehoof.  “Because I wanted to be the best! I had the will and desire to be more then ‘just another flyer’. I wanted more, and you don’t!” 


======*****======


Unbeknownst to him as scene was unfolding on the ground below him, Gallus had been diligent at keeping his word to Solar Flare, resisting the urge to keep watch over Cloudy Sky working with Wind Raider and Stormbringer. Solar Flare knew it was tough for his wing griffon; keeping focused on their flight work and not looking over at their friend who was having a rough go of it with those two. For more than an hour, he and Gallus made real progress at getting those finer points of their routine ironed out. It was just down to getting the ‘figure-eight’ move for their ending to work on and then they would be ready.

It was on another run through of that ending move when Gallus caught sight of Cloudy Sky’s inadvertent crashing into the ground and subsequent rolling and tumbling from the momentum he’d carried. He and Solar Flare finished the move and landed back on the ground, but Gallus was instantly focused on what was transpiring on the opposite side of the activity field.

He watched how Wind Raider and Stormbringer lorded over his friend who lay prone on the ground from his impact, unable to get up. Those two did nothing to help his friend get up. This made Gallus see red, unwilling to witness his friend’s mistreatment. Solar Flare witnessed it too, distressing at it was, but did not see either one take physical action on Cloudy Sky. 

“Screw this, Solar! I’m not going to let those two get away with treating Cloudy like that!” Gallus knew he had to stop this but wasn’t dumb enough to intervene personally. He would use his head; act like a real recruit would. He’d get one of the instructors involved and avoid the physical confrontation. That would be what Wind Raider and his cadre wanted; get him so cross that he’d start a fight in reaction and then get kicked out of the trials. Gallus zoomed off in the direction of the first Wonderbolt pony he spotted on the activity field.

“Gallus, wait up….!” Solar flare watched the blur of movement that was his wing griffon zip right past him and heading for some recruits at the far end of the field who were standing with one of the Wonderbolt instructors. In seconds, Gallus was landing right next to Sunstrike, who was listening to something Wonderbolt High Winds was explaining about flying.  Gallus moved around both he and Morning Glow to get to the official overseeing this trial. He was not patient with getting the instructor’s attention.  

“Ma’am! Ma’am! We need your help!”  Gallus grasped a fistful of the instructor’s jersey sleeve and gave several insistent tugs, all while watching what was now going on across the field between Wind Raider, Stormbringer, Cloudy Sky, Harmony Blues and Snowblossom. He could not hear what was being said but was momentarily relieved to see at least two other recruits now stepping in on Cloudy Sky’s behalf.

 This time he’s gonna get it! He’s getting kicked out for sure!  Gallus was sure of it. No instructor was going to let Wind Raider get away with treating Cloudy Sky like that. Solar Flare caught up with Gallus, wondering what his friend was going to tell the instructor.

“Ma’am…” He tugged insistently again on the sleeve of the instructor’s jersey, finally getting her intention. 

“What?! What’s the problem here?” High Winds spun her head around to face the recruit, annoyed by his interrupting of her talking to another recruit.

“Ma’am,” Gallus straightened himself up, wanting to express his seriousness and concern, “I want to make a formal complaint against two of the recruits here; the ones assigned to help Cloudy Sky.” He pointed across the activity field to where Cloudy Sky and the others were standing about.

She did not see anything out of order; several recruits were talking rather loudly about something but that was it. Still, the look on this griffon’s face led her to believe him about his honest concern.  “Alright, let’s go talk with them.” Gallus and Solar Flare were right behind her, stepping swiftly towards the small cluster of recruits.

“Any idea of what’s going on over there?” Morning Glow asked her leady pony who was watching with her.

“No idea, but I think it has something to do with one of their friends.” Sunstrike had not really paid attention to what was going on over at the other end of the field. They’d been busy enough getting ready for their own flight routine.


 =====*****=====


Silverstream witnessed Cloudy Sky’s ill-timed looping move and his subsequent hitting the ground and skid across the grassy field. She was aghast seeing and hearing Wind Raider and Stormbringer’s horrible treatment of her friend. Rather than help him up, those two just stood over him and yelled more at him as Cloudy Sky lay helplessly on the ground. 

“Stop it! Stop it!” Silverstream shouted. Incensed, she bolted off in their direction with her talons balled up into tight fists, ready for a physical conflict if it came to it. Firebolt launched right after her, going so far as to tackle her right out of the air before Silverstream got too far. 

Whack! They hit the ground and skidded for a few feet on the grass before stopping.  Firebolt wrapped her forelegs around Silverstream’s body forcefully, pinning the hippogriff’s left wing and left foreleg between their bodies as they briefly rolled around on the ground.  Silverstream fought against her bindings, fury in her eyes.

“Silverstream, stop it! What are you doing?!”

“Let go of me!”  Silverstream shouted as she struggled against her restraint. “They’re doing that on purpose! They hate me and Gallus being here so they’re taking it out on Cloudy!”  But Firebolt held tightly on, shouting back at her.

“Silverstream, this is no time for heroics!  You don’t know what’s going on over there and we still need to practice! Cloudy’s a big boy and can take care of himself!  We don’t have a lot of time!”  Firebolt squeezed tighter with her forelegs, restraining the thrashing hippogriff more.  Other recruits nearby watched the scuffle briefly but quickly averted their eyes and stepped away, not wanting to witness or get caught up in the drama unfolding, should one of the other Wonderbolt instructors come over to investigate.

“I don’t care about some stupid trial! I have to help-!”

“You wha-a-at?!”  Firebolt cut her off, yelling and suddenly letting go of her partner, almost like pushing her away. When Silverstream got to her hooves and talons to spin around and face her partner, she was greeted by a very pissed-off Firebolt who glowering back at her.  

“I don’t believe what I just heard!”  Firebolt was floored.  Her partner didn’t care?! Three days into the trials and scheduled to showcase their awesome routine as the first ever pony-hippogriff flight pair in a couple of hours and now her partner says she doesn’t care?!  Silverstream glared back at Firebolt, angry at her wing pony for acting so willfully blind to Cloudy Sky’s treatment.  

“You’re not taking this trial seriously, Silverstream! We talked so much over the past two days about what we were going to fly as a routine and now you’re putting it in total jeopardy!”

Firebolt knew that this particular trial was something of a ‘cut off’ because along with their solo flights, this trial was important. It was one thing to be a ‘hot shot’ solo flyer, but to do a flight routine synchronized with a flying partner really showed talent by the participants. Many flyers who did not perform well after this trial tended to get cut, especially if they’d been scoring only so-so at the other trials so far. And this was still only a ‘flight duo’ trial. There was still the group flight trial yet to come she hadn’t informed her lead hippogriff about.

Firebolt was also keenly aware of how she and Silverstream were going to be reviewed by the instructors; being the first hippogriff-Pegasus pony team-up to fly at the trials. The instructors would be watching with extra close attention at how well they flew together. It was history in the making, and she desperately wanted the recognition, boosting her status as a new recruit as well as give her some serious cache with the academy cadets. She even wondered if Commander Spitfire herself would be the one to score her and Silverstream.

“I am too taking the trials seriously! Don’t you care what happens to Cloud-”

“Stop worrying about Cloudy and concentrate on us!” Firebolt’s voice got still louder, stomping a forehoof at her partner’s stubborn insistence at running off to their friend’s aid.

“Maybe you don’t understand the concept of friendship and-”

“Maybe you’d understand what these trials mean if you’d been dreaming of this moment all your life like I have, like a real pony and not acting like some impulsive freak-bea-!” Firebolt caught herself, biting down on her tongue to stop her from uttering another syllable before she did any more irreparable damage. She slapped her eyes closed and tried to look away, angry and horribly upset at herself.

Silverstream jerked her head back, as if she was avoiding physical punch. There was an awful silence suddenly between the friends, despite the chatter and activity going on around them from the other recruits. It was as if suddenly the whole world had turned into a silent vacuum.

“You were about to say, ‘acting like some ‘freak-beak’, weren’t you?!” Soft and lethal she asked, her eyes narrowing with anger at Firebolt.  She couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.  Something like that coming from the mouth of Wind Raider or Stormbringer? Sure. Coming from her wing pony? Never. Silverstream had been enjoying and learning so much during her time here and embracing more of her ‘equine half’ of who she was as a hippogriff.  Newly made friends had made her feel welcome at the academy tryouts, in spite some personal issues with a few other participating recruits who felt otherwise.  But this was completely unexpected.  

“I… I didn’t mean it that way.” Firebolt desperately tried to backpedal, angry at herself for letting her emotions and blinding ambition overtake her common sense. She couldn’t look Silverstream in the eyes just then, with her head hung low and ears drooping with sadness and regret.

“Well, how did you mean it then?!” Silverstream wasn’t going to let Firebolt off the hook so easy. She demanded a straight answer.

“It’s… it’s…” Firebolt stammered as she bit her lower lip, trying to come up with the right words to somehow pick up the pieces of a broken friendship she’s instigated. “You just don’t know what the academy tryouts means to me!” She blurted out, at a loss for any eloquent words to convey what she felt inside. Firebolt finally looked up to face her friend. “I’ve been waiting for this time for as long as I can remember! I’m so incredibly lucky to have you as my partner for this time in my life, and to risk it all by you getting into some stupid fight with either of those two morons and get thrown out of the trials is just… just… crazy to me!” 

Silverstream and Firebolt were locked in a death-stare, neither one looking away or blinking. The two flyers were able to read each other’s expression, Firebolt could feel the anger and betrayal coming from her hippogriff friend’s eyes as her stare bore into her pony soul. Silverstream could see the glassy look in Firebolt’s green eyes and see the pain she felt for having hurt her so. She wasn’t faking the sincerity by her looks; there was honest remorse in those pooling tears. 

Firebolt was angry at herself for letting the trials bring out her hyper-competitive nature when under pressure. She’d believed before her arrival here that with all the prep work and training, she would act with a cooler head when it came to crunch time, but old flight competition habits were hard to shake. 

The silence continued, neither one yet yielding to the urge to look away, either in antipathy or guilt depending on which.  “I’m sorry. I was a total loser for saying what I did. It was so wrong of me.” Firebolt finally broke the death-stare, her head drooping again as she looked away once more, ashamed of herself.

Silverstream held her wing pony in suspense for what seemed like a painfully long time before she spoke again. She was not sure how to take the apology. She understood that this was a very intense time for the pony recruits as all of them were deeply committed to the idea of gaining acceptance to this school. She had discovered how exciting, interesting and challenging it was and getting to be a part of this with a new friend only made it better. Silverstream had to take a couple of deep breaths in order to keep her cool and not lose it, trying to let go of the moment and get back to focusing on getting through the morning’s work. After chowtime, she would have to do some serious thinking about what to do next. Her intention of going over to intercede on Cloudy Sky’s behalf was already being addressed, spotting Gallus and Solar Flare bringing one of the instructors over to get involved. Whatever altercation was going on with Cloudy Sky and those two jerks, it would be resolved now. She didn’t need to get tangled up in it. 

“Fine. Let’s just get back to practicing.” Silverstream spoke with such coolness and distance in her voice while turning away to head back to the area on the field they’d been practicing at.  She left Firebolt standing behind her, looking on. “Coming, wing pony?” She emphasized Firebolt’s position as her subordinate while not bothering to look back.

Firebolt, feeling liked she’d been kicked in the stomach, duly following after her lead all while seriously stressing over a stupidly self-inflicted fracturing of a friendship. Fear gnawed at that hollow sensation in her gut at how she was ever going to fix this and try to concentrate enough to get her performance edge back.   


======*****======


“Why don’t you two mind your business, anyway? I’ve got work to do and I’m sure you’ve got better things to do then hang around here.” Wind Raider dismissed Snowblossom and Harmony Blues with a flippant wave of a wing.  But they spotted Gallus and Solar Flare, along with one of the Wonderbolt instructors heading right over to them.

“I think we can spare another moment or two to wait.” Harmony Blues wasn’t going to leave Cloudy Sky’s side until that instructor got here, which was only a few more seconds anyway.  

“Alright, what going on over here? What’s with the group chat?” High Winds looked about the group of young flyers, trying to assess the situation.

“It’s him!” Gallus pointed an accusing talon at Wind Raider, shouting. “He’s being such a bas-”

“Easy there, fella. Let me get to the bottom of this.” High Winds made sure to keep everyone here in check and not let things spiral out of control. She turned to look at Wind Raider, who had an exasperated look about him concerning this small situation.

“He had an accident, ma’am. He came zooming in too close to the ground and took a hard spill.” Wind Raider explained away the issue with another half-hearted wave of a wing, as if this was nothing to be concerned with. Cloudy Sky managed to find the strength to prop himself up and stop leaning against Harmony Blues for support, wanting to show their instructor he could handle the rigors.

“And what’s your story, ladies? How are you involved with this?” High Winds turned her attention to the two mares standing with Cloudy Sky, as if guarding him from Wind Raider and Stormbringer. Harmony Blues and Snowblossom looked briefly at one another, momentarily at a loss for words.

“We…. uh, well, we’re friends with Cloudy Sky and were just wanted to check to see if he was alright.” Harmony Blues came up with a quick answer as to why there were standing here. 

“I think you two ladies should get back to your practicing. There’s only a little more than an hour’s time left before being called in. I will handle the situation here.” High Winds dismissed them both.

“Yes, ma’am.” Snowblossom and Harmony Blues had to leave Cloudy Sky’s side. Being led away by her wing pony, Harmony Blues looked back over her right flank to see Cloudy Sky standing alone, feeling terrible for treating him like she had.

“I’m…I’m sorry! ” She mouthed the words silently to him, forced to leave him defenseless against those two meanies. 

Cloudy Sky could still manage to muster a small smile to her, as if to tell her ‘It’s okay, I’ll make it through’ in spite of the physical grinding down he had to endure.  Snowblossom, looking back, could see her lead pony was upset by the situation.

“I… I have to do something to help him. He doesn’t deserve to be treated like that.” Harmony Blues mumbled, more to herself than actually speaking to Snowblossom. 

“After we’re done with this morning’s trial, go and talk with him.  Even if we did partner up with him, I’m pretty sure Commander Spitfire still would have reassigned him anyway. Besides, I’m sure he’s going to get through today’s trials; he seems like a scrappy young flyer.” Snowblossom sounded so sure about it. She’d checked the scores this morning that were posted on the bulletin board’s list of recruits and saw how Cloudy Sky was hanging in there, but just barely. Snowblossom knew if Cloudy Sky really didn’t have what it took to complete the trials, he would’ve been eliminated on the first day.

“I guess…” Harmony Blues couldn’t help but feel responsible for Cloudy Sky being in this position. She could have helped him a little by working with him this morning with Snowblossom, even if what her wing pony said was true and was reassigned after all.   

“Now then,” High Winds turned to face the two flyers who brought this situation to her attention, “what was it you witnessed these two doing to your friend?”
“This jerk here,” Gallus once more pointed to Wind Raider, “and his flunky sidekick were acting like a couple of maniacal tyrants. They weren’t trying to help Cloudy Sky fly.”

Before the instructor could ask him a question, Wind Raider retrieved his textbook and notebook from off the ground nearby, making his defense by showing her. “Ma’am,” He held open the textbook to the pages he was using as well as the four pages of notes he’d written out, “I planned out the whole routine; all my information was written down with the timing schedule and sequence sheets. All he has to do is follow my instructions and-”

“Instructions?! You call yelling at my friend over and over about how bad he is at flying ‘instructions’?!  Why don’t I come over there and just rip out-” Gallus shouted back at the war veteran whom he believed to be acting vengefully, by beating down on Cloudy Sky to get back at him and Silverstream. High Winds cut him off as he’d cut off Wind Raider when talking.

“That’s quite enough!” High Winds faced the griffon now. “One more peep out of you and you’re ejected out of the trials! Got that, volunteer?”  She emphasized his position here, merely a ‘guest’ participant in the trials and not a potential student.

Gallus back down, emitting a low grumble while glaring at Wind Raider. Solar Flare put a foreleg up in front of Gallus’ torso, preventing him from surging forward.

“Easy, Gallus. Be cool.” The lead pony warned his wing griffon, keeping an eye on Wind Raider as well, listening to what was asked.

“Recruit, did either one of these flyers physically strike you in any way?” High Winds watched Cloudy Sky step closer, clearly a little shaken up and intimidated at suddenly being the center of attention. He swallowed the small lump in his throat before speaking up.

“No, ma’am, they did not. I just crashed really hard and got the wind knocked from me.” He didn’t lie, that’s what actually happened. But he added more to his explanation. “I’m just having trouble keeping up with the routine Wind Raider wrote out. But I’ll be okay, I feel better already after some resting up.” Cloudy Sky tried hard to put on a brave face and smile, not wanting to let on how much pain he was in.

“Permission to speak freely, ma’am?”  Wind Raider made sure to follow protocol before saying what he had to say.  

“Granted.”  High Winds saw no reason to object.  She’d read up the notes left behind for her and was checking up as instructed by the C.O.

“With all due respect, ma’am, this is a waste of my practice time.”  He half-turned to look at Cloudy Sky, who stood on wobbly legs to the left of him.  “He’s got nothing to offer.  I’ve seen rocks fly with more precision than him.”

The Wonderbolt instructor went through her scoresheets and records on the clipboard, re-checking on the two flyers in question and their scores and rebuking his claim.  “It says here, your assigned wing pony has passed every trial and has worked well with the other recruits. What's your problem then?”  

Wind Raider was not expecting this.  He thought it was clear as day to her.  “My problem?”

Stormbringer jumped in.  “Ma’am, this wing pony recruit,” Stormbringer didn’t even have the politeness to call Cloudy Sky by his name, “simply doesn’t have the skills or experience to pass this trial.  I don’t know how he’s got even this far.”

“I wholeheartedly agree, ma’am.  There’s no point to this exercise.”  Wind Raider thought his friend’s comment was perfect, getting right to the point and spelling it out.  But their instructor had other orders.

“There is a point for this exercise, recruit. It’s more than just showing off how hot you and your partner are at flying.” High Winds tried to get him to think more about what his assignment was. She was very aware of her C.O.’s suspicion about this small gray stallion being some kind of spy sent by Central Command to look in on the trials this year.

“Ma’am, for the past couple of hours Stormbringer and myself have tried and tried.” Wind Raider pointed to Cloudy Sky with a forehoof, “He can’t do any of the moves we have attempted to teach him. He isn’t good enough, plain and simple.”

“That’s for Commander Spitfire to decide, not you.”  High Winds began writing down more notes in her records, making him all the more nervous by what she might be writing down.

“My lead pony and I are the best flight pair of the whole group. We are ranked first and second in points. We should be practicing and getting ready for our trial.” Stormbringer could not understand why they were selected for this terrible duty.  It seemed so pointless and hopeless.  Cloudy Sky was never going to pass this trial no matter who helped him. High Winds paused her writing, rolling the pencil to the side of her mouth while still clenching it between her teeth as she spoke.

“Then I guess you two aren’t the best flyers here if you can’t help doing something as simple help another recruit pass this first level of formation flying. So, I guess this means you’re giving up and forfeiting this trial then?”  She kept scribbling down more notes, causing the two guys to panic. 

This got Gallus to smirk a little, seeing some kind of justice metered out for the mistreatment of Cloudy Sky. Seeing those two suffer the humiliation of getting failing grades for acting like a couple of jerks would be fair recourse, by his estimation. Solar Flare, too, watched silently as those two veteran flyers suddenly looked so pale from the danger of failing a trial. He kept his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, doing all he could not to let on that he was enjoying seeing these two squirm a little under the eyes of a Wonderbolt instructor.

“No!” The two veteran flyers yelled out in near unison, horrified at the idea of getting a zero grade for this trial. The idea of not being ranked as the best was unimaginable. No pony should be ranked higher than them.

Wind Raider grew more and more nervous by the amount of writing the instructor was doing. Undoubtedly documenting this instance as some kind of insubordination to the orders they were given. 

“I’ve got things covered here. You two get back to your flight practicing.” High Winds dismissed Gallus and Solar Flare, the situation here was in good hooves. Gallus, in spite of his gut feeling, allowed Solar Flare to lead him away and back to their practice spot on the field. 

“C’mon, Gallus.  Nothing here for us to see.” 

High Winds made sure that Gallus and Solar Flare were out of earshot before she returned her attention to the two flyers in front of her.  “Okay, you two are going to stay here while I speak with your new wing pony in private. Recruit,” She looked now at Cloudy Sky, “let’s take a little walk.” She began to walk away, not looking back at him.  Dutifully, Cloudy Sky followed after the instructor, leaving Wind Raider and Stormbringer standing there, non-plus about what to do. 

“Dude, he’s going to totally rat us out! He’s going to make up anything to trash us and get us both thrown out!”  There was genuine panic in Stormbringer’s voice, his mind racing with ideas of what Cloudy Sky might say to badmouth them.

“Relax. We haven’t done anything wrong.  We’ve explained our side so he can’t make anything up.” Wind raider was cool and confident. “If anything, we can take a break from helping him and focus on us for a few minutes.” That much was a welcome break for Stormbringer, having flown so much already this morning.

“Why don’t you park your butt down here and we’ll talk some, okay?” High Winds pointed to a spot on the grass for them both to take a rest on. 

“Um, okay.” He sat down and the instructor sat next to him, smiling very pleasantly at him and making Cloudy Sky feel more at ease. 

“So, how’s it going this morning with those older guys? Must be kinda hard keeping up with those two, I’ll bet.” She tried to gage his reaction to the question, wondering if it would clam-up or let lose his frustration.

Cloudy Sky didn’t feel nearly as nervous around this particular Wonderbolt instructor. She didn’t give off that same intense aura of intimidation like when he stood in front of Commander Spitfire or the Wonderbolt team captains. It felt more like being around his teacher from secondary school, or like the herd-leader from his time in the Colt Scouts when he was younger. He did confess some of what was on his mind.    

“Yeah, it’s pretty tough to keep up. They’re both so much faster and more experienced with flying. Heck, they both were part of the Resistance Force that fought against the Storm King’s Stormguards.” After what Cloudy Sky had learned about what both Wind Raider and Stormbringer had been through, he was so intimidated and nervous around them. He worried if he’d ever get good enough to fly this routine without looking like such a novice flyer.

“What’s giving you the most trouble with keeping up to your lead pony? I’ve watch you fly, and you got a handle on the essentials.” High Winds fell back on her teaching experience and knew how to engage with a struggling student. Her genuine smile of concern must have worked, because Cloudy Sky took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to let go of some inner tension.

“Well, almost all the moves I have to fly now are new to me. So, I’m struggling with…” Cloudy Sky tried to explain himself as best he could, using his forehooves to simulate himself and Stormbringer in flight, rather than trying to use the right flight linguistics, which he had trouble recalling anyway.

Wind Raider and Stormbringer were too far away to hear just what Cloudy Sky was saying to the instructor. They could see the small gray pony’s movements were, obviously, demonstrating the flight routine he and Stormbringer were working on. But what Cloudy Sky was saying, neither knew. Stormbringer paced about in a small circle, growing concerned by how long Cloudy Sky was talking with the instructor. 

“Stay calm. What’s he going to say? That he got a boo-boo from taking a bad spill while flying the routine? I’m not worried.” Wind Raider was cool as cool could be.

Across the field from where Cloudy Sky sat with the instructor, Solar Flare and Gallus were finishing another run through of their routine, trying to get back into the groove of flying again. At the end of a better attempt at their closing move and landing once more on the ground, Gallus looked over to see what was going on with his young pony friend. 

“See? Everything’s going to be fine, Gallus. The instructor is talking with Cloudy now.  I think she’ll take care of those two.” Solar Flare tried to put his wing griffon at ease a little more, pointing out what was going on from afar. They, like Wind Raider and Stormbringer, were too far away to hear what their friend was saying to Wonderbolt Instructor High Winds. But it must have been helpful to Cloudy Sky because when the instructor spoke, he was nodding at her in response, understanding what she was saying.

Solar Flare tried to get Gallus to stop looking and draw him away with an insisting tug on one of the griffon’s forelegs. “Hold up, Solar. I want to see what she’s going to do next.” The two friends watched as High Winds left Cloudy Sky waiting where he sat and walked over to Wind Raider and Stormbringer. Like when she spoke to Cloudy Sky, neither Gallus nor Solar Flare could hear what she was saying to those two. The instructor pulled out her clipboard, flipped through a couples of pages and read to them something from the records that caused a reaction to hearing whatever it was. 

There clearly was shock and alarm in the expressions of Wind Raider and Stormbringer as High Winds spoke to them, making both Gallus and Solar Flare wonder what it could be. The Wonderbolt instructor snapped her sheets flat onto the clipboard, tucked in under her right wing and gave the two veterans an audible “Is that clear, recruits?” order to Wind Raider and Stormbringer. Pointing a forehoof at the two of them to emphasize her point. The two guys snapped a salute to the instructor and stood up straight when doing so.

“Yes, ma’am!” They sounded off, also loud enough for Gallus and Solar Flare to hear, even at this distance away.  Solar Flare gave a satisfied nod at the apparent outcome, clear to him that things got ‘straightened out’ and Cloudy Sky wasn’t going to have any more trouble with them.

“Like I said, everything is going to be fine.” Solar Flare was relieved to see his wing griffon seemed to believe him and began to turn away from watching, seemingly satisfied with the outcome. Gallus didn’t look back, giving Solar Flare even more relief that he’d would be able to focus more on their routine before they had to perform for their actual scoring flight.

“I guess Cloudy’s going to be okay now.” It was the final admission Solar Flare had hoped to hear from Gallus, wanting his friend to relax. 

“Let’s try working on the inverted spiral move we do right before the big figure-eight ending like we want to.” Solar Flare took off for the sky, eager to get refocused. Gallus was right behind him, his head clearer now and ready to get back to the work at hoof.

High Winds waved Cloudy Sky over to join her and the two older guys he was to work with. As he did, Cloudy Sky could see the restrained expressions from both Wind Raider and Stormbringer, as if they were suddenly in the presence of something to be wary of. It confused Cloudy Sky to see them looking at him like that. When he came close, Stormbringer actually took a step back, as if to avoid being too close to him.

“I don’t believe you should have any more problems following your lead’s routine now, wing pony. We’ve come to an…. understanding, haven’t we lead pony and assistant lead pony?” High Winds gave the two older stallions a sideways look, the inflection in her tone was not missed by Cloudy Sky and left him wondering what she meant by ‘understanding’. Whatever it was, it caused both Wind Raider and Stormbringer to stiffen up, as if hearing a threat of some kind. They silently nod, unwilling to risk worsen their situation. 

“Carry on.” She dismissed them, heading back to her observation point over on the opposite side of activity field, High Winds added to the notes about Cloudy Sky, making sure Commander Spitfire knew what was going on with the spy from Central Command and what discipline she used to get the two most senior recruits in line. She was actually pretty proud of herself for coming up with such a crafty ruse to get them in line. High Winds could not help but smile to herself.  

Cloudy Sky didn’t know what was up With Wind Raider and Stormbringer all of a sudden; the way these older guys kept looking at him, as if he was some unknown kind of horror and afraid to be nearby.

“So… how do I do that looping trick again?” He wanted to get back to work, aware that they had maybe an hour left before their flight trial.

“Forget about it, kid. We’re not doing anything from what I wrote down.” Wind Raider dropped any and all pretexts of trying any new flight move with his assigned wing pony. It caught Cloudy Sky completely off guard.

“What the-? Why? After all that work I put into trying those moves this morning?” Cloudy Sky felt blindsided by the decision, bewildered by the sudden abandonment.

“Look,” Stormbringer got Cloudy Sky’s attention, “Those six move you already know are about all you can handle, so let’s just focus on them and be done with it. You want to pass this trial don’t you?”

Stormbringer too? What was going on here? Nothing from Wind Raider’s flight plan was going to be used? Confused, he gave the obvious answer.

“Well, sure I do.” Cloudy Sky shrugged a little, not sure what was going on. True, Wind Raider’s flight plan was tough, but he thought he was getting the feel of some of the trick moves already. Why the sudden abandonment?

“Then all we need to do is rearrange two of those six moves you know with one transition move added and you’re done; routine complete and ready to be handed in.” Wind Raider made it sound so plain and obvious to get a routine out of what he knew.

“Wait, how’d you know my flight moves could…?” Cloudy Sky caught himself asking a very obvious question, seeing the looks on the muzzles of Stormbringer and Wind Raider, incredulous at being asked about such basic flight principles.

“Oh, right. Yeah.” Cloudy Sky looked away, cringing with embarrassed at having been so clueless as to ask.

“Anyway,” Wind Raider let it go, there wasn’t any time left to get annoyed, “here’s what you’re going to fly.” He picked up his notebook once again from off the ground and on a fresh piece of paper, began to plot out what it was going to be. Quickly, he rearranged the moves Cloudy Sky knew to fly and added the simple transition move in between two of them to make the routine flow together more smoothly.

“There, that’s about it.” Wind Raider concluded his work in less than five minutes and then showed Cloudy Sky the flight routine they were to fly. Cloudy Sky recognized each move and understood how each move was to follow another.  He felt confident enough he’d get it right without out too much effort.

“Hey, can’t we put in that looping move I was attempting? I’m sure I can get it if we make the loop smaller, I’ll get it for sure.” Cloudy Sky braved to offer up a suggestion of what to do with such vastly superior flyers then himself.

“Dude, please, you can’t even handle a basic high-speed loop move without freaking out at the speed of flying downward so fast; you kept pulling up out of the dives, for Celestia’s sake!”

Cloudy Sky did look away slightly from both of the when reminded of how unnerving it was to fly straight towards the ground, thinking he was going to crash headlong into it. He ‘chickened out’, slowing down to a more comfortable speed or aborting the attempt all together. He just wasn’t us to flying like that.  

“But there’s got to be something that can be added to this to make it better. I don’t want to just repeat the same things I did before for my solo flight. I want to show some kind of improvement to the instructors.” Cloudy Sky made his case as plain and simple to understand. He knew these guys probably had a million trick moves up their sleeves they could pull out and show him if they really wanted to. But he just suspected them of not wanting to help him in any way, as if to get at Gallus and Silverstream.

Wind Raider’s eyes kept focusing from his real wing pony’s look of genuine concern and disapproval about trying this, to Cloudy Sky’s imploring expression and then his looking at the textbook his notes being held in Cloudy Sky’s forelegs, trying to figure his way through this. 

He knew how little time was left at trying to get this kid up to some level of competency and not make himself look foolish flying such underwhelming flight moves as the lead. 

A low grumble audibly reverberated from Wind Raider’s chest, annoyed at this situation already and now having to handle this wing pony’s stated desire with such delicacy that this felt almost impossible to get through. “Fine.” 

He took the textbook back from Cloudy Sky, flipping open to a later point beyond what Cloudy Sky had probably looked at, stopping at the first diagrams of the first flight move.  “Here, we’ll start in chapter five; intermediate level flight moves. About the only one I think you might have the slim chance of a possibility of performing would be this,” Wind Raider pointed to the first trick flight move in the chapter for Cloudy Sky to read.

“Flitwing’s Flip.” Cloudy Sky read out loud what the move he was going to have to do.

“You’ve had enough practice trying to do some looping moves this morning so hopefully this won’t be such a stretch for you to do.” Wind Raider thought it the easiest of all the flight moves to try that were not of an elementary level. “You said wanted to do ‘something harder’, well, this is from the very next chapter of the textbook. If you really were in flight-training class here at the academy, this is what you’d be studying.”

He did say that, trying something more advanced or tougher than he’d flown previously. Now, having made the request and presented with the selection, Cloudy Sky knew he couldn’t back out or object. His lead had made the choice and he had to follow.

“Okay, so, how do I fly this move?” Cloudy Sky was not going to back out of this. He was going to prove to them he was not intimidated, sounding confident and sure of himself.

Wind Raider, in spite of himself, was a tiny bit relieved to see this kid was, at least, demonstrating seriousness about getting it right. That made the prospect of getting something of a slightly more respectable routine hashed out, written down and worked out in time for submitting to the instructors an obtainable goal.

“Alright,” Wind Raider spoke with a slightly drawn-out emphasis, hearing Cloudy Sky’s determination, “this is how it goes in the routine.” He went to a yet another fresh page of his notebook to rewrite the routine once more to include the new flight move.  

“Waste of time; just do the six moves he knows already.” Stormbringer mumbled in objection and shaking his head, unbelieving of Cloudy Sky’s skill at getting even this slightly more demanding flight move down.  Cloudy Sky scowled a little at Stormbringer’s negativity.

“I’ll know in five minutes weather he can handle it or not, trust me.” Wind Raider was sure he could tell straight away if it was too demanding of a move or not for Cloudy Sky. If his wing pony couldn’t handle it, the move would be dropped. Everything else they’ve tried to get him to fly was above Flitwing’s Flip level of difficulty so maybe Cloudy Sky actually could handle something like this.

With Stormbringer acting as lead pony again, Cloudy Sky once more took to the air. The moves he knew felt familiar and comfortable to do, even if Stormbringer was flying them at a quicker pace then he’d flown them for his solo routine.

The only real challenge for him was getting those transition points timed right; moving smoothly from one trick move to the next without pausing or awkward body twists to get into the correct position. It was tougher than he thought, even knowing the moves already and Wind Raider did not hesitate to point out to Cloudy Sky when he was not flying correctly.

But Cloudy Sky persevered, following his lead’s verbal instructions and, despite the tough going, by the fourth attempt of the flight routine, he had the flip figured out and almost timed perfect. So pleased with himself at the modicum of success, he wanted to yell out in joy. But wanting to demonstrate a serious and mature approach to his flying to the older guys, he funneled that nervous-happy energy of first flight success into flying each of the moves more precisely. His wings were strained enough from the workout already but his desire to push himself on more blotted out any ache his brain might have registered from his muscles.

“Alright, alright.” Wind Raider flagged the two of them in after the sixth run through of the flight routine; twenty minutes seemed like enough practice Cloudy Sky needed to get it.  

Cloudy Sky landed right behind Stormbringer, doing all he could to smother his smile of self-satisfaction at having gotten that new trick flight move right and added to the routine now.

“Let me try leading him. Keep an eye on him while he’s with me; he has a tendency to drift out of position.” Wind raider switched places with Stormbringer, passing him the textbook and newly minted routine to follow. 

Once in the air and with Cloudy Sky flying off to his right wing, Wind Raider went through the simple flight routine, catching sight of Cloudy Sky maintaining his position throughout the flight run from out of the corner of his right eye. Seeing Cloudy Sky giving it his all and looking more fiercely determined then he’d seen all morning, put Wind Raider a little more at ease. Perhaps seeing the proverbial ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ to this part of the day was not so far off and not as disastrous as he imagined.  


======*****======


The work continued among the flyers, getting the finer points worked out and doing final fly-through runs. Some were still rushing to finalize changes to routines, finding some the move they selected too complex to execute and compromising on others in order to get the assignment done and still have time to do some flythroughs. Achieving a good score had to encompass as much of what they had learned so far; planning, rehearsing and then executing a routine of at least six maneuvers.  This was the first real test of a recruit’s flight capability.

The time seemed to whiz by as some of the recruits who were still flying above the field spotted the C.O. and two Wonderbolt instructors heading this way.  Some were already heading for the ground when a screech of a whistle split the air.  The shrill note got all the recruit’s attentions and they all hurried into formation and stood at attention.

The second group of recruits who were doing their first solo flights took longer to get into formation, some still chattering as Commander Spitfire and her lead instructor came to stand in front of all of them.

“Aten-tion!” High Winds ordered and the recruits snapped into shape.

“At ease, recruits.”  Commander Spitfire walked up and down the length of recruits, looking them over. “It is now eleven-hundred hours; you should all have your routines written out and ready to hand in.  Once all your compositions are submitted, we will begin flight evaluations, starting with solo flyers and then paired flyers.”

Along with Captain Soarin, High Winds collected up the routines; some of the paperwork clearly written out with great effort and detail while two or three looked like something a couple of foals had scribbled out a flight routine with some crayons.

Soarin passed to his C.O. the routines after sorting them by group, making sure the solo flights were on top of the pile.  High Winds did the same, getting the solo flyers at the tip of the pile.

“All recruits doing their first solo flights line up by the starting line.”  Spitfire ordered and the second group of recruits hurried past Silverstream and her friends to stand in line.  The BFFs hung back from the two dozen unfamiliar ponies that’d arrived after them, standing with their partners to watch.
> 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.
> Ch.20 Wonderbolt Trials Pt.16
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spitfire watched how Firebolt hurried after her partner, desperate to catch up with the hippogriff. She’d seen many flight pairs pass under her watchful eye and knew how to read when a flight pair was having problems, weather obvious and outward or hidden and silently simmering just below the surface.  This was a case of the latter. Things had not gone as she’d anticipated with this last trial so to ensure things were going to go right, at least with the two students Rainbow Dash had brought, she would follow after to observe how they would work with the other recruits. She waited a few minutes before making her way over to the Dizzatron, feigning to be working on her notes and making sure the recruits were grouped together before moving.

As the last pair to arrive at the mechanical pony thrower, Firebolt and Silverstream discovered that most of the second recruit group had taken their first runs on the Dizzatron. A good number of them were laying scattered about at the far end of the runway, sprawled out on the ground while groaning and moaning in agony from crash landings and suffering from the nauseating dizziness.

Firebolt and Silverstream joined up with Gallus who was talking with Brightstar and two ponies from the first recruit group, speaking about their turns on the Dizzatron and how intimidating it was for him the first time.

“The first time wasn’t too bad so I’m more prepared for this.”  Cross Wind watched along with the other recruits as the nightmarish machine slowly wound up and then flung its lone pony occupant off into the sky. It was surreal for them to watch; well aware that in a few minutes that each of them were going to be sent helplessly flipping through the air like a rag doll. 

“Second recruit group are to set a baseline recovery time for the records, first recruit group have to surpass your previous times by at least one-tenth of a second in order to pass this trial.” Wonderbolt High Winds reminded them again, seeing a few more stragglers finally joining the group.

For Cloudy Sky, standing among his friends and watching other recruits get sent careening through the air, he was not looking forward to this experience again.

“A whole tenth of a second?” He muttered more to himself then to anyone around him as he watched. 

  It might as well be a whole minute! Cloudy Sky worried about making it back in time like required. The mare he was watching struggled terribly to stay upright as she headed back, unable to fly steady or smooth. With this trial, unlike his flying in formation which was subjective in scoring, his battle was with a stopwatch; an unrelenting mechanism for measuring time that would tell him whether he was good enough or not, regardless of how he felt about it inside.

“Here they come; wonder if they are going to make it in time.”  Nightflight pointed out to the incoming flyer who was back but was barely in control of their flying and zigzagging wildly as they approached. 

“Better step back, this may not be pretty.” Brightstar gave warning and took a few steps back, encouraging other to do likewise. The group made room along the edge of the runway and witnessed another recruit about to lose control as they overcorrected their angle of approach for a proper landing.

“On dear!” Silverstream covered her eyes with her talons, watching just long enough to witness the recruit’s hooves make contact with the ground and then see the recruit’s body go catapulting forward from the excessive forward momentum and begin to flip end-over-end.

After that, she didn’t want to see.  Silverstream’s imagination was able to fill in the blanks of what was happening with the sound of that pony body going skidding and tumbling along on the unforgiving ground, only to collide into the pile of recruits languishing about in at the end of the tarmac.

Silverstream finally looked again, seeing now that almost half of the second recruit group was crumpled up on the ground and only a few recruits managing to make it through still standing upright.

“Geez, that had to hurt.” Nightflight was cringing at the sight as the pile of fails grew from the second recruit group. 

“I’ll bet.” Brightstar looked at the pile of pony bodies and could only imagine the agony some of them must be in. But when she turned to look at Firebolt and Silverstream, something caught her attention about them. She saw this look of restrained agony and desperation on Firebolt’s muzzle and whose attention was solely focused on Silverstream. But Silverstream seemed to either oblivious as heck or outright ignoring Firebolt’s anxious want of her attention.

Something’s amiss here. Brightstar didn’t need to have a PHD in friendship to see there was a problem between the two of them. She was about to ask what was up with them but caught herself, rethinking the idea.

No, I’ll wait until were done here and then ask afterwards. No need to get some pony upset while there was a trial to take of first. 

The other BFFs were too enraptured in the spectacle before them to notice the silent tension between Silverstream and Firebolt. When Firebolt caught Brightstar looking at her, appearing like she was just this side of an emotional meltdown right there, the fiery-maned pony quickly turned her head away from Brightstar’s sight, trying to hide her guilt. Firebolt shuffled away from her friends to stand closer to the few remaining second recruit group and not so close to Silverstream, trying to avoid potential questioning by Brightstar. 

“You recruits aren’t going to make it if that was your best!  The Dizzatron’s on the lowest setting and you can’t make it one time through?”  High Winds leaned into the second group of recruits that were starting to get back on their hooves after crashing out like they had, being visibly disappointed that so many recruits of this group couldn’t handle the Dizzatron.

“Oh, I’m so going next! I’ll show’em who’s goin’ to be the best and get in to this school!”  Cross Wind marched confidently forward, determination burning in his eyes.

“So headstrong!” Flitterwisp sighed and shook her head a little, unable to get her friend to not take every remark as personal.  She and Cross Wind had been talking with these first group recruits who’d already taken a first series of tries on the Dizzatron for the past few minutes. She hoped to glean some insight or help from these more experienced flyers.

“You don’t think he’s going to do well?” Silverstream could see this mare was genuinely concerned, wondering if they were partners.

“Are you kidding?  He’d demand the Dizzatron be set to maximum speed just to make his point.” The pale red stallion standing next to Cloudy Sky explained with a small roll of his eyes. “Cross Wind isn’t exactly what I’d call the ‘shy and retiring’ type. He lives for a challenge.”

“That’s because he’s so reckless, Redwing.” Flitterwisp flicked her wings with nervousness as watched her friend jump into the Dizzatron’s seat and pull down the goggles over his eyes.

“He seems sure of himself, alright.”  Nightflight recognized that look of sheer determination in many a pony’s eyes, focused on showing every pony here how good they were.

The Dizzatron gave groan as its flywheel began to turn from a dead stop, steadily winding up until reaching correct launch speed. 

“Release!” High Winds ordered and the machine sent the recruit sailing out of the seat and into the sky.  Cross Wind forced his wings out to slow himself down, the howling and raging wind pushed back on his wings terribly, straining his wing muscles. 

Cross Wind bit down on his lower lip, taking the pain as the strain on his wings was reaching his limit of endurance.  He started to flap his wings, forcing his body to first slow more and then let his body roll his to his left, letting the fading momentum from the Dizzatron push him through the ‘turn around’ and set him up to now come storming back to the starting line at breakneck speed.

“Wow, is he’s hustling it.”  Gallus watched as High Wind came thundering back towards him and the rest of the recruit group. His eyes glanced over to the instructor, watching Cross Wind and constantly rechecking her stopwatch, prepared to stop the timepiece at the exact moment.

“Too hot… he’s way too hot on his approach. He’s not going to stick the landing.” Brightstar warned of the impending disaster and all of them quickly could see she was right. Determined to set a phonemical time and prove himself to the instructor, Cross Wind was flying at breakneck speed to get back to the finish line. 

“He’s not letting up, is he?”  Cloudy Sky wondered if Cross Wind was trying to crash himself into the ground.  

“Dude, slow up! You’re going to crash!” Redwing yelled out, trying to warn his friend of the impending disaster he was going to make of himself. A recruit not only had to get back to the line but also land properly. A fast time meant nothing if Cross Wind didn’t stay on his hooves.

“I don’t want to see it.” Firebolt actually dreaded seeing the recruit crash, shutting her eyes and turning her head away, dreading the worst. She didn’t want to imagine the pain he was going to be in when he crashed out. 

Cross Wind didn’t let up the whole time on his return flight, counting off the seconds in his head and recalling how long to fly at max speed before he had to slam on the brakes. 

 Four! …Five! …Six! 

Cross Wind threw his wings forward suddenly, breaking his speed at the last possible second. It took all of his wing’s strength to do this, his muscles now burning from the strain he exerted on them, forced to perform the feat of rapid deceleration again. Tears now began to form in the corners of Cross Wind’s eyes, the strain surpassing his limit of endurance. And yet, he did not relent. As his hooves hit the runway and skidded some distance, Cross Wind managed to stay upright, the friction of his hooves on the asphalt doing much of the breaking action and slowing his momentum down to a halt some ten or fifteen yards past the finish line.  

Still huffing and puffing hard, the ash gray stallion hurried back as quickly possible to the starting line, wanting to hear what his time was from the instructor.

“Nine point eight seconds even; best time so far of your group,” High Winds jotted down the time for this recruit as Cross Wind reared up on his hind legs and thrust a triumphant forehoof in the air. Exhausted as he was, he still had enough left to celebrate.

“Oh, yeah! Who’s the fastest pony here from Baltimare?!” He trumpeted his success, satisfied at being the best of his group.

“But,” High Winds quickly brought him back down to terra firma, “that had to be one of the sloppiest and reckless recoveries I’ve seen all day! This isn’t about racing back to the starting line at breakneck speed; it’s about having the wherewithal of what to do in an uncontrollable flight situation, regain control and land safely and quickly.”  She watched the recruit slump his shoulders somewhat, deflated from his self-glory and confidence.  High Winds added to her critique, softening his tone a little.  “Speed is not your problem; focus more on your flight technique and those landings.”

Cross Wind perked up slightly, responding with a quick salute and a ‘Yes, ma’am,” before returning to his friends, a bit humbler from the correcting by the instructor.

“C’mon, you two. Go take your turns.  Then we can go eat, and I’m starving as it is.”  Cross Wind poked gently at his friends with a forehoof, half-goading them and half complaining about the stalling.

“Don’t rush me; I’m going.”  Redwing was next up. He, Flitterwisp and two others remained from their group before the first group recruits had to take their second turns.

Reluctantly, Redwing flew up to the seat on the Dizzatron and locked the safety bar down in front of him, mentally trying to prepare for this.  In seconds, he was in motion as the machine began spinning. The centripetal forces on his body made him nauseous, the sensation of lightheadedness growing with each passing second.

Reaching the desired speed after a good ten seconds or so of winding up, High Winds gave the command.

“Release!” She shouted and the Dizzatron sent Redwing limply tumbling end over end into the sky, completely disorienting the stallion as his head swam painfully from the rushing of his blood.  Redwing slapped his eyes shut as he threw his wings open, catching the air and slowing his momentum down. The strain was unbelievable, but he flapped hard against the rushing wind and managed to slow himself down enough to roll to his right and then instinctively start flying back towards the starting line. 

He could barely open his eyes, his head throbbing painfully from the dizziness as he forced himself to concentrate and make a decent recovery flight back to the starting line.

“I think he’s going to do okay.” Cross Wind felt a bit of excitement for his friend’s quick recovery and steady return flight.

In spite of the terrible nausea and dizziness he was experiencing, Redwing kept himself steady and successfully crossed the finish line and was able to stay on his hooves when he landed, taking only a couple of extra steps to finally halt his momentum.  He walked back over to the starting line, still recovering for the dizziness, to hear what the instructor had recorded for his time.

“Ten seconds exactly.”  High Winds logged the stopwatch’s time for this recruit as well as her observations of this recruit’s performance.

Redwing saluted his instructor, wobbling slightly on his hooves back to his friends, blinking his eyes repeatedly and trying to shake his head clear of the dizziness.

“Oh, my head hurts!”  Redwing groaned as he held his head with both wings, his pulse throbbing loudly in his ears. He shut his eye again, trying to blot the sensations out.

“It’ll pass in a few minutes so don’t worry.” Brightstar gave him a small pat with her left wing on his back, familiar with that pain when training on the Dizzatron.

Flitterwisp waited for the other two recruits of her group to go before her, procrastinating as long as she could and dreading the experience more after watching said previous duo of recruits both crash out with their recoveries.

“Oh-h-h!” The whimper she made was not loud, but her anxiety was like a roar to the instructor as she passed by High Winds.  

“Let’s move it, newbie.  We don’t have all day.”  High Winds pressed the recruit on, seeing the reluctance to go. She had to keep this trial moving along in order to get everyone done and off to their meal before the C.O. got their scores posted for this afternoon.

Flitterwisp flew up to the seat on the Dizzatron and sat down, locking the retaining bar in front of her. Her friends down below gave her smiles and waves of assurance, wanting her to feel confident.  Suddenly the machine gave a shudder as it got into motion.

 This isn’t fun! I’ve had fun before, and this isn’t it!   Flitterwisp felt the machine’s speed steadily increase, the pressure in her head growing as her ears started to pop. The whore ordeal lasted for ten seconds or so, but to Flitterwisp it felt like an eternity of time.

“Release!” High Winds ordered and the recruit was flung free from the machine. Flitterwisp desperately tried to slow her body’s limp tumbling through the air.  She flapped her wings, attempting to slow down but the wind blasting by her only push her wings back against her flanks.  She knew it was taking her way too long to recover and she flapped still harder to slow her momentum. Finally, she managed to right herself and in a single fluid motion, turned herself around and headed back to the starting line, but her flying was just as shaky and unsteady as the other recruits who went before her.

“She has to move it; she’s taking too long getting back.”  Cross Wind stressed on about his friend’s slow pace, believing she wasn’t going to make the cut.

“It’s going to be close for her.”  Redwing hoped she would make it but she was the slowest of the three of them. 

Flitterwisp kept her flight just steady and stable enough to get all the way back to the starting line, managing to stay on her hooves when landing but she had unsteady legs, her hooves skidding along the asphalt for a few feet before having to run for a few steps more in order to stop. She was still reeling from the dizziness as she staggered back to the starting line to hear her time.

“Eleven point two-five seconds; the slowest time of those who managed to not crash out.” High Winds read off her stopwatch’s time as she recorded it in the recruit score ledger.  

Flitterwisp knew it was a terrible time, pretty sure she was going to get her cut from the tryouts. But to her surprise, Brightstar was first to console her when she rejoined the other recruits who had watched her performance.

“Don’t let it worry you. The first run on the Dizzatron is just to evaluate you for either lead or wing pony assignment for your first flight pairing.” She made sure to put the newer recruit at ease about her time.

“You think so?”

Brightstar nodded. “I’m sure.  All of us,” she indicated to her friends near her with a sweeping gesture of a forehoof, “had to do the same evaluations.  It’s nothing to get too worried about.”

Her efforts resulted in Flitterwisp breaking out a small smile, feeling supported by Brightstar’s words. “Thanks. That helps.” 

Cloudy Sky was glad Brightstar with them for this attempt on the Dizzatron. She was a rock of support and knew what to say to help keep a pony’s chin up when feeling unsure.  

High Winds spotted Spitfire, who’d been watching the proceedings from a little way off, heading over to where she stood.  She was a bit surprised to see her C.O., now standing in front of her, silently holding out her left forehoof in request of the paperwork. High Winds passed her the scoresheets from the completed recruit group as well as those who’d yet to go.

“Ma’am, is there something wrong with my instructing?” High Winds didn’t understand why her C.O. was taking over. She’d been assigned this duty today.

“I’ll run this trial for the first recruit group.  You head back to the classroom building and find Soarin and Rainbow Dash for me. Send them straight to my office when you do; they and I need to go through the scores and have them ready for this afternoon’s trial.” 

She saluted her back, still a little confused as to why she was being excused from her duty like this all of a sudden. “Yes, ma’am.” Like a good soldier, she did as ordered, heading for the classroom building to find the team captain and co-captain.  Spitfire turned around to now face the recruits.  The ponies that crashed out for their first run on the Dizzatron had mustered enough strength to stand up before their C.O., embarrassed by their lackluster performance.

“Second recruit group is dismissed; go hit the mess hall and be ready for this afternoon.” She ordered and the score of first timers headed away from the activity field, relieved to have a break. 

“Good luck.” Cross Wind gave them a quick grin and nod, heading off with his friends to a well-earned break.

“He’s going to be a lead pony; I just know it.”  Cloudy Sky predicted with some certainty and a touch of envy.  

Cross Wind was confident and could fly super-fast. He was everything Cloudy Sky wasn’t.  He was marginal at best; Cross Wind was on par with the speed of Silverstream or Firebolt easily. From out of nowhere, over rushed Sunstrike back to the group, back from helping his partner to the infirmary and for his second attempt on the Dizzatron.

“What did I miss?  Did she start yet?”  He looked about his fellow recruits, seeing all the second group recruits were no longer with them.

Spitfire turned her attention to the operator of the Dizzatron. “Set the machine for normal speed.” She flipped open the scoresheets to these remaining recruits, calling them out for their flights as the attendant to the machine adjusted the speed control.

“Normal speed?” Cloudy Sky swallowed the lump in his throat, fearing how much worse this was going to be for him. He didn’t like it the first time and he was sure he wasn’t going to like it the second time. 

“Recruit Amber Haze; you’re up!”  Spitfire called out for the first flyer and Amber Haze stepped forward from standing next to Nightflight. She didn’t hesitate to fly up to the launch seat on the Dizzatron and lock herself in, slipping down the goggles over her eyes and ready to go. The machine’s operator switched the speed from slow to ‘normal’, the same speed in which all academy cadets trained at. The large flywheel gave a groan when released from its brake and quite quickly wound up to speed.

Amber Haze knew this was going to be tougher than her first try but the G-forces exerted on her body were much stronger this time around, catching her momentarily off guard from the increased force intensity.

“Release!” Spitfire ordered and Amber Haze went sailing through the air, seemingly out of control.  After only a few seconds she snapped open her wings, slowing her momentum and allowing the energy to push her body through a body-roll to her right and she jetted back towards the starting line. She wavered and wobbled only slightly during her recovery but was growing steadier on the return flight as she approached.  

“Go, sweetie, go!” Nightflight softly cheered his girlfriend on, trying not to alert the C.O. by being too loud. 

Amber Haze made a good showing for herself, crossing the finish line and made a solid landing on her hooves without having to take any extra steps to slow herself down with.

Commander Spitfire jotted down the recovery time before announcing it.  “Nine point six seconds, better than two tenths faster than your previous time.” 

Amber Haze was so relieved, smiling back at her boyfriend who was very proud with her performance. She’d set a good bar for the others to have to beat and, better still, she wouldn’t have to retake another turn today.  Glancing over at Nightflight’s friends, she saw how they were all grinning back at her and making silent ‘rah-rah’ cheers for her too. It was very heartening to feel part of her beau’s circle of friends now.

“You’re dismissed. Be ready for this afternoon.”  Spitfire returned the salute Amber Haze gave as the recruit turned to leave. 

Nightflight spoke a few words to her as she passed, whispering, “We’ll catch up with you and Solar Flare in a bit.”

She blew him a kiss and winked, letting Nightflight know she heard him. He leered at her.  Amber Haze reciprocated with a naughty eyeing of him up and down, as if she was mentally ‘size him up’ like an amusing plaything for her.  A small chuckle escaped him.

All his friends saw the exchange between him and Amber Haze, each of them smirking at their behavior. When Nightflight turned around to look at them, he was momentarily confused.

“What?” He shrugged innocently, not fooling his friends in the least.  Cloudy Sky was looking off in the distance and whistling to himself, as if to suggest he hadn’t seen anything transpire between Nightflight and Amber Haze at that moment.

“Dude, come off it. Who do you think you’re fooling?” Gallus’ comment was thick with friendly sarcasm, destroying any false illusion Nightflight might have been trying to maintain of seriousness between he and his partner.  

Commander Spitfire had seen the exchange as well and sighed a little at the situation. She’d seen this too many times before and it was never a good thing to have during the trials between recruits. It complicated things.  One would inevitably get eliminated and the other would come and plead the case of why their ‘special some pony’ shouldn’t get eliminated.  First pleas of reconsideration, then angry shouting and then all too often the tears would ensue.  And in the end, ultimately was a broken heart in more ways than one, and another heart continuing on.  Sometimes it worked out, sometime not.  She still carried on with this trial.

“Recruit Nightflight; you’re up!”  

 Best not to keep the two lovebirds apart for too long.  Loverboy here looks like he’s ready.  She momentarily mused over what was going to happen should it all come crashing down for these two like she’d seen in other similar situations.

As coolly as he could, Nightflight flew up to the seat on the Dizzatron, got in and sat sown, bringing the retaining bar down in front of him and locking the bar in place. The machine once more went into motion, winding up to the correct speed.

“Release!” Spitfire ordered and watched how Nightflight went sailing off like many before him.  But he was quick to throw out his wings and catch the rushing air, flapping as hard as he could to slow himself. A quick body roll to his left and he was diving right back for the starting line.  His recovery was good, flying solidly and gaining speed as he flew. 

Nightflight crossed the finish line and touched down, his hooves screeching briefly from the friction as he came to a quick stop, his long silvery-white mane whipped free from the ‘ponytail’ twisty-tie he preferred to keep it in. He was sure of having a low recovery time and didn’t go rushing back to the C.O. to find out what it was like some first-timer.

“Nine point five-six seconds; better than one tenth faster than your previous time. You’re dismissed.”  Spitfire returned the quick salute he gave and watched as Nightflight hurried away, eager to catch up with Amber Haze.  

“Recruit Cloudy Sky, you’re next.”  Commander Spitfire watched as each of this recruits’ friends reached out to touch his flanks with a wing as he stepped forward from among them, as if to impart luck and courage for him to face the challenge alone.  

Without looking at his C.O., fearing he’d give away how nervous he really was, Cloudy Sky flew up to the launch seat and got in, locking the retaining bar down in front him.  Pulling his goggles down over his eyes, he braced himself for the inevitable.

 You can do it, Cloudy! Silverstream silently cheered him on; sure, all her friends were silently doing much the same.  This was on him now.  They couldn’t help him this time.

Cloudy Sky tried to stay calm, feeling his breathing becoming shorter and quicker with the anticipation, then suddenly…

 Rumble! 

The machine gave a shudder, and he could feel the giant flywheel suddenly free of its brake and then the engine engaging, that distinctive whine the gears made as the machine wound up to speed filled his ears.  The G-forces started pushing against his body, pinning him to one side of the launch seat as the intensity grew. His ears started to pop.

 Sweet Luna’s moon, it’s worse than before! I so hate this! Cloudy Sky snapped his eyes shut and clenched his teeth, the spinning world around him was too much to experience along with the pressure being exerted on his body. The launch out of the machine could not come soon enough for him with the retaining bar unlocking and allowing his body to be ejected. Limp and loose like boiled spaghetti noodles, his body went undulating end over end with his legs flailing about wildly from the rushing wind.

“C’mon-n-n, Cloudy! Flap! You’ve got to slow yourself!”  Gallus softly pleaded, his friends standing close to him feeling the same right then.

Brightstar shook her head a little, disappoint growing.  “He’s not reacting fast enough; he’s not going to get back under time.” She could see he was in trouble, unable to right himself and get the wind under his wings fast enough for a recovery. She really hoped he would’ve been strong enough to last through both morning trials, aware how tough these were going to be for him.

“He’s struggling so badly!”  Silverstream watched helplessly as Cloudy Sky desperately tried to right himself and fly steadily.

 Faster! Must flap faster!  Cloudy Sky flapped his wings as hard as he could, his wing muscles burning with the strain as he slowed down enough to finally gain control.  As quick as he could, he pitched his body over to the left and pointed himself near vertically down towards the ground and pumped his wings hard to pick up speed, then tucking them tightly against his sides and raising his legs up against his body, proceeded to fall out of the sky like an arrow.

Watching along with the BFFs were Sunstrike, Snowblossom and Rainsong, all still waiting for their turn on the Dizzatron.  It was Snowblossom who got their attention when calling out what Cloudy Sky was attempting.

“Oh, don’t tell me he’s doing a dive bomb to make up the time?!  Don’t try it, kid, you’re not going to make it!”  All of Cloudy Sky’s friends now looked at Snowblossom.

“What are you talking about?” Gallus kept one eye on Cloudy Sky and another on Snowblossom.

“He’s thinks he can make up some recovery time by using it, pretending like he’s attacking a target right below him.”  She looked back up at Cloudy Sky’s breakneck descend, still picking up speed as he fell.  “He has to pull up now, or he’s going to crash.”

Gallus, Brightstar, Firebolt and Silverstream went instantly into action, franticly waving their forelegs at him, trying to get his attention, trying to tell him to slow down.  Sunstrike, Snowblossom and Rainsong followed suit, wanting to help their fellow recruit from hurting himself, seeing him plummeting out of the sky like he was.

I’m gonna make it! I’m going to beat my old time on the first try! The ground came rushing up to Cloudy Sky, faster than he anticipated. He had to try this, had to push his limits if he wanted to go on.  In spite the rushing wind in his ears, he heard a voice cry out to him.

“Cloudy, slow down!”  Firebolt cried out as loud as she could, jumping into the air and hovered above the heads of her friends, franticly waving at him. There was a real moment of fear of Cloudy Sky not hearing them or seeing them.  But Firebolt’s warning had carried to Cloudy Sky’s ears.

Cloudy Sky only glanced off to the right to see every pony down below waving and hopping about excitedly. It was a split second later did he hear Firebolt’s warning and understood why. He quickly shifted his body position and flung out his wings again, tilting them back like he should so as to slow his momentum down and holding them tightly in position no matter how much strain he felt. He also extended out his legs as far as he could, adding more wind resistance to his descending rate and slowing him up more.

“Hey, your friend is doing it; he’s got his body in the right position and his wings aren’t getting pushed back.”  Sunstrike didn’t think the youngest stallion in the tryouts knew such a move. Brightstar and Firebolt recognized it too, surprising both of the more experienced flyers.

“He’s slowing! He’s slowing!”  Silverstream clapped her talons together excitedly, believing Cloudy Sky was going to slow down in time to recover.

“I think he’s going to make it!”  Snowblossom thumped a forehoof against the ground, the tension growing as they all watched Cloudy Sky’s approach.  She and the others watched as Cloudy Sky came zooming in, almost too fast.

Oh please…! Oh please…! Oh please…!  Cloudy was seconds away from touchdown, his body in position with all of his legs extended out forward and his knees slightly bent to absorb the impact of his hooves with the runway. 

Five… four… three…

“Oof!” Cloudy Sky felt some of the air knocked from his body as hooves struck the unforgiving asphalt of the runway, his knees buckling under the stress and the energy from the sudden impact caused him to actually bounce up and perform a complete end-over-end summersault, getting about three meters off the ground as he did. The other recruits gasped loudly, believing he was going to wipe out.  But Cloudy Sky was still alert. He kept his wings rigid and in position, still acting like a brake for his sudden forward motion. His hooves hit the runway again and he slid for three or four meters on, screeching loudly as they dragged across the pavement.  Finally, he came to a halt, standing there on rubbery legs, shaken up but pleased that he’d managed to stick the landing and didn’t crash.  The recruit group exploded with cheers for him.

“Yea, Cloudy!  You did it!” Silverstream rushed over to hug and congratulate him, before he even had the chance to hear his time.  He was excited and relieved to have made it through, almost laughing at how close he came to crashing out. Brightstar, Gallus and Firebolt also came to congratulate their friend, holding him. Together, they walked over to hear Cloudy Sky’s time from their C.O.

“Nine point nine-two seconds.”  Spitfire reported, seeing the various responses.

“Aw-w-w, nuts!”  Cloudy Sky thumped both his forehooves against the ground, frustrated by his time.

“But he’s faster than his last time.  He passed, right?” Snowblossom thought Cloudy Sky’s time good enough, though she was not aware of his first-time trial.

“It’s the same as his initial time.  He’ll have to try again.” Spitfire marked the first time of Cloudy Sky’s try in her records. She could see how the young stallion was vexed by how close he came and the fact he’d have to try again.  “Rest up for now, you’ll take another turn when the others are done.” She didn’t admonish the other recruits for their jubilation over Cloudy Sky’s attempt, figuring it would help him more to have his confidence bolstered by them rather than her barking out protocol and keeping them tense.

“Yes, ma’am.” Cloudy Sky would try again. His friends clustered around as they led him away from the starting line, both of Rainbow Dash’s students were at his side to give him the encouragement to do better.

Spitfire made notes in her paperwork at how Silverstream and Gallus were pulling for Cloudy Sky and embodying the spirit of teamwork to help him as much as they could.

“It’s not bad… it’s not bad… you’re still close with that time!  You’ll absolutely get it on the next try!”  Silverstream was excited for him, her excitement for him evident.

“Keh! You’re practically there already, Cloudy! It’ll be a cinch for you.”  Gallus was already sounding like it was a done deal for Cloudy Sky, as if a mere formality to get done.  His friends are eager to help him, offering advice and tips on what to do for the next try.

Firebolt and Brightstar demonstrated how he should position his wings better, getting more breaking action without as much stress to his back muscles. Cloudy Sky slowing kept fanning his wings up and down like Firebolt advised, trying to keep the muscles from cramping up and staying loose. It was working. The pain was bearable, and he believed he could get though.  He quietly listened to his flight instructors as he did so, taking in as much as he could. Spitfire kept thing moving along.

“Recruit Rainsong, you’re up.”  Spitfire checked over this recruit’s performance as she passed by in front of her, reading the notes taken by the team instructors on her strengths and weaknesses in flight.  This mare was scoring in the lower third of recruit ranking, struggling in some crucial areas.  This run was going to be important for her.  She watched the recruit fly up to the seat on the Dizzatron and got herself in, securing the retaining bar in front of her.

“Start’em up!”  Spitfire barked out to the machine’s operator and the Dizzatron went into motion, getting up to speed quickly. Around and around the flywheel spun, subjecting its lone occupant to a great deal of G-forces as it did. Spitfire knew how long to keep the recruit under duress before letting go.

“Release!” 

Rainsong was flung from the seat and into the sky, her body gyrating wildly about for several seconds.  Spitfire kept looking up from her stopwatch to observe the recruit's recovery and return flight.  Like many others, it was jaunty and uneven when recovering from the throw and wobbly and unsteady in approach and the recruit tried overcorrecting her flight path repeatedly.  

In what must feel like an eternity to Rainsong to reach the starting line, she pushed herself hard flying back and made it across to the starting line in what she hoped was a shorter time then her previous attempt. But she still made somewhat of a rough landing on the runway as her hooves made contact and she slid some distance, enough to be spun around while on all fours to now face in the direction of the C.O. and the other recruits as she slid to a stop. Dizzy and lightheaded, Rainsong stumbled her way back to hear what her time was.  Her head was still spinning from the effects of the machine and Rainsong found it hard to keep from wobbling some on her hooves while standing there waiting.

“Nine point seven-five; same as your previous time. You’ll have to re-fly your attempt again.”  Spitfire duly reported to the clearly taxed recruit whose jaw now fell open slightly in shock.

“I could’ve sworn I was faster this time.” Rainsong slapped a forehoof to her head, the strain getting to her after the workout she’d gone through this morning already. She’d hoped to get through this on the first try, hating the experience of getting spun around.

“Well, you swore wrong. Best you to go rest up and wait to be called again.” Spitfire wondered if this one was going to make it past today, seeing the extent of flight exhaustion Rainsong was experiencing already.  She might have some flight talent, but Spitfire had a feeling this recruit didn’t have the stamina to endure. She jotted down her remarks in the notes section for this recruit. 

“Yes, ma’am.” She made a quick salute and rejoined the others, still holding her head with weariness. She commiserated with Cloudy Sky, finding common ground by their duty to take another turn on the Dizzatron.  She along with Cloudy Sky got some insights on how to recover more quickly.

Spitfire kept it moving along.  “Recruit Brightstar, you’re next up!”

The yellow pony was pulled away in the middle of her explanation to Cloudy Sky and Rainsong when her name was called.  She had to leave them.

“Just remember what we told you and you’ll both do fine.”  Brightstar gave her mane a quick flip out of her eyes as a breeze blew some of her hair in her face. “Cloudy,” She looked him right in the eyes, holding the younger pony steady with her gaze.

“Yeah?” He looked up at her, wide-eyed and as if looking up at one of those Wonderbolt instructors just then, receiving some great insight.  

“I want you to relax while up there and remember to count just like I and Firebolt explained. Do that and you’ll get a good time.” She reached out and put a forehoof on his withers with a smile, making sure to let him know she was rooting for him.  

“I will.  I’ll make sure to do you and every pony else proud.”  He truly meant it, as if making a promise to his leader; his squad leader.  For a moment, Cloudy Sky wondered if this was what Wind Raider had mentioned; having a good squad leader you trusted and would follow into combat with.

“I know you will.”  She slid her goggles down over her eyes and left him for the Dizzatron, sure he was ready to try again. Without any hesitation, Brightstar flew up to the seat and sat herself down, getting the retaining bar down and latched in front of her. From her vantage point, she could see Cloudy Sky looking back up at her, grinning.  He made sure she knew he was ready.

The machine gave a groan, and the flywheel began to turn freely, the brake now disengaged. The drive engine began spinning and Brightstar braced herself for what was coming. The pressure in her head built up and the machine spun her around.

“Release!”

Brightstar felt the retaining bar unlock and her body being ejected up and away. Before her body had even completed a single summersault from the force, she had her wings stretched out and her legs extended wide so as to catch as much wind possible and have maximum resistance to the force against her body.

She counted off the seconds in her head, rolling her body to the right at the correct moment to use the energy of the throw to help send her back towards the starting line.

Brightstar made it look so easy to Cloudy Sky, impressing Gallus as well with her quick moves and speed of recovery.  

“I so wish I could fly as fast as her or the others.” Cloudy Sky sighed at the sight of Brightstar making a textbook landing back at the starting line, undoubtedly making a better time than her last try.

“You can, you just have to work at it a little more. That’s all. You’ll do great this time, I’m sure.” Gallus, too, envied Brightstar’s fluid style of flight and how she and most of the others seemed to make it look so effortless. The griffon knew he had a long way to go in flying style and finesse to be as good as her.

“Nine point two-eight seconds; it’s a full two tenths of a second faster than your previous run.”  Spitfire was pleased; this group was doing well at setting respectable times.  She scribbled down her notes and the time from the stopwatch on the scoresheet.  “You’re done; go join the others for chow.”

Brightstar saluted her C.O. and headed off for the mess hall, sure Cloudy Sky and Rainsong were in good company to get through this trial. She would ask about how he did once Cloudy Sky and the others were together eating lunch.

“Recruit Snowblossom, your turn to go!” Spitfire gave her performance profile a quick review, seeing she had done quite well catching up with her partner by being a top scorer for those trials she had missed.

“Wish me luck.” Snowblossom quipped half-jokingly to the others as she headed for the seat on the Dizzatron.  No sooner had she sat down and got the retaining bar locked in front of her did the machine come to life and begin turning. She had her goggles down over her eyes in a split second before the wind could whip up and cause her eyes to start tearing.

“Release!” Spitfire hit the timer on the stopwatch as she watched Snowblossom go sailing through the air.  

Cloudy Sky and his friends all suspected Snowblossom was an exceptional flyer; she having spent the morning plowing through the earlier trials with the second recruit group and caught up with her partner, Harmony Blues, to perform their first flight routine together like they had. 

Snowblossom quickly threw out her wings to catch the rushing wind, slowing down and righting herself as quickly as possible. With a couple of hard shakes of her head to try and clear the persistent dizziness, she rolled her body to the left and started to flap her wings with ever increasing force, steadily picking up speed on her return flight.  

Cloudy Sky and his friends watched as Snowblossom streaked towards them, slowing down a split second after crossing the finish line and landing gracefully on her hooves just a few meters past. Snowblossom was panting as she trotted back to hear her time.

“…(pant!)  How did I… (pant!) do, ma’am?” Snowblossom flipped up her goggles, blinking a few times to clear her eyes from the sun’s glare.

“Nine point three-one seconds; pretty good for a flyer without a previous time to go by.” Spitfire sounded genuinely impressed by the feat, perhaps underestimating these recruits chosen by her team members for this year’s trials.  

Snowblossom breathed a sigh of relief, thankful she didn’t have to take another run on the Dizzatron. This morning had been a very long grind of trials to catch up with the rest of her recruit group. Spitfire looked up from her clipboard to address Harmony Blues.  “You’re done for now. Go join the others for chow.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She saluted her C.O. with a grin and headed for the mess hall, her stomach growling a little from its emptiness.

Spitfire called out the next flyer off the clipboard.  “Recruit Gallus, you’re next up!”  The griffon stepped forward and flew up to the seat on the Dizzatron, slipping the goggles down over his eyes as he sat down. He tried to clear his mind and focus on the job, reaching up to pull the retaining bar down in front of him and latched.

Cla-click!  The retaining bar locked the griffon firmly in its hold. Gallus took a quick deep breath and gathered his thoughts.  

 Okay, this time I’m going to- 

But he didn’t have time to complete that thought as the flywheel was freed from the brake and main hub began to rotate. Gallus felt like his head was going to explode from the building pressure of g-forces after only a few seconds of fast spinning.

 This sucks!  He felt the retaining bar unlatch in front of him and was flung from the machine. Recalling what he’d heard Brightstar and Firebolt talked about, he made sure to count the seconds from launch to when he should extend his wings and try to slow himself.  

 Three… four… five… Gallus spread out his wings and caught the air, the wind now wrenching back hard on his wing muscles, straining them to their limits. He forced his wings to stay in position, slowing him more and then, with lessening force from the initial ejection, managing to regain some control. 

 Flap! Flap! Flap harder! Flap harder! Do you want to pass this trial or not?!

His brain screamed, forcing his body to comply in spite of the pain.  He bore down to take it until he could at last roll over to his left and dive back down in a mad flight back to the starting line. His friends watched as he flew right back towards the starting line, his speed still increasing with his approach.

“Wow.” Cloudy Sky’s simple opinion pretty much spoke for all of them; witnessing how quickly Gallus recovered. 

“Your friend really knows how to fly.” Sunstrike had seen Gallus fly with Solar Flare and was duly impressed with the griffon’s finesse in trick flying. But Gallus’ raw display of all out grit and speed was something else. 

 Move! Move! Move! Gotta beat that time! 

Gallus pushed himself hard, zooming in at a pretty steep angle of flight, pulling up some to level off his flying and cross the starting line at top speed. Exhausted, he stumbled to his talons and paws, barely able to keep up and was forced to on for several meters before he was able to stop his momentum.

 I… I made it! I think I beat my old time! 

His head was still spinning a bit from the overexertion and his wings were limply hanging at his sides, but he was quite pleased with himself at just how well he’d done. He’d never driven himself hard like that before, not in any of the sport activities at the School of Friendship or back in Griffonstone.  

All of the recruits were grinning and stomping their forehooves in a silent ‘hurrah’ for him as Gallus hurried back over to where their C.O stood and awaited to hear his time. Silverstream was aglow for Gallus’ success, seeing how he represented Princess Twilight’s school so well to Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts like this. She wished all of her friends from the school could be here to see him perform like he had. 

“Nine point three-seven-five seconds; one-and-a-half tenths of second faster than your previous time.  You’re done for now, go hit the mess hall.”  Spitfire suspected this student from Princess Twilight’s school might not have been able to withstand the force of the Dizzatron at the ‘normal’ setting, believing he did not have the flight experience or discipline to produce a faster time. Most recruits manage some kind of acceptable time on the lowest setting, but the ones with real stamina and wing power always do better. And this griffon had done that, proving he was keeping up with the others.

Gallus was never so relieved to get this done, only wanting to sit down and try to recuperate some strength.  With a limp winged salute to his C.O., the griffon headed off, pleased with his success and eager to tell the others inside the mess hall.  Spitfire kept things moving along, calling out the next recruit.

“Recruit Cloudy Sky, you’re first up for a retry.”  

She caught the gray stallion momentarily off guard when calling him up before the other two recruits had taken their first flights. Cloudy Sky wondered if this was in purpose.  He thought he would go after Sunstrike and Rainsong. But there was no waiting or wondering now. 

Cloudy Sky put on his game face and flew up to the seat on the Dizzatron and sat himself down. Once the retaining bar was latched down in front of him, he scooted over in the seat, so his body was already against the right side of the cockpit, just as his friends had instructed him to do. That way he wasn’t trying to hold himself in place in the middle of the seat against the g-forces exerted against his body when spun around.

Commander spitfire gave the machine’s operator a nod and he put the Dizzatron into motion, releasing the flywheel brake and allowing the rotor to spin up to speed.

They watched as the mechanism flung Cloudy Sky once more into the air.  Cloudy Sky repeated the same regiment that he’d grilled into his brain after listening to Brightstar and Firebolt’s instructions. And, just as they said, it got a tiny bit easier this time, getting righted and then rolling over to dive down towards the ground. He could feel it, he’d made a quicker recovery this time, sensing he’d shaved off those two-tenths and was going to pass.  With a ‘go for broke’ adrenalin rush at tasting success so close, he poured everything he had into getting across that starting line faster than he’d ever gone, maybe even as fast as Gallus had flown.

“I think he’s gonna do it this time.”  Firebolt felt the pang of excitement building inside as she so wanted him to get past this trial.  

“C’mon, Cloudy! Make it this time!” Silverstream softly cheered on, seeing Cloudy Sky giving it his all.

“He’s one plucky kid for sure.” Rainsong gave Cloudy Sky his due, for one as young as he was and pushing his limits like he was doing impressed her. She watched along with Cloudy Sky’s friends, pulling for the youngest recruit to get it done.

Cloudy Sky’s wing muscles burned fiercely with the strain, making him think he might actually have his wings fall off from flapping so hard.  He at last crossed the starting line but couldn’t quite stick the landing again, this time ‘hopping’ back up off the asphalt when his hooves made contact and threw him off balance. He managed to keep his hooves down, recovering from that sudden bounce of coming in too hot and trying to land. His head was dizzy still and his body seamed to quiver from the over-exertion as he took deep gasps of breath, recovering from that shaky landing he’d somehow managed to execute. His wings now hung limply from his sides, twitching slightly from the overexertion. He turned around and made his way over to their C.O. to hear Spitfire read off his time. His friends were, once again, quietly cheering him on as they, too, waited to hear the results.

“Nine point eight-seven seconds; not quite fast enough to pass.”

Cloudy Sky couldn’t hide his frustration, gnashing his teeth and thumping a forehoof against the ground repeatedly.

“Ar-r-r-r-gh!”  He fumed some, agitated that, yes, he had recovered faster this time but still not fast enough; a lousy five one-hundredths of a second off!  His friends were right there beside him, consoling him and not to lose heart.

“You’re so close, Cloudy!  So-o close!”  Firebolt knew what Cloudy Sky was feeling right then; the burning frustration, the fiery desire to succeed and win. She was well acquainted with his torment from her experience on the flight competition racing circuits.

“You’ll have to take another flight.” Spitfire saw the look of utter dread on both Silverstream and Cloudy Sky’s faces.  

“Another?” Silverstream thought this was boarding on torture. What creature could withstand repeated runs on the Dizzatron like that? 

“He has to; all the recruits must surpass their initial evaluation time by a full tenth of a second. That’s the requirement. But whatever you’re doing to help him, keep doing it because his times are going in the right direction.” Spitfire was hard but fair, keeping to the requirements to pass but willing to offer up praise when it was due. She watched as Firebolt and Silverstream led Cloudy Sky away from the starting line, coaching him on what he might want to try for his next attempt. 

“Recruit Rainsong; you’re next up!” As the recruit mare passed by her, Spitfire checked her watch, noting there was less than twenty minutes left before the call went out for chowtime and the end of the morning session. She wanted to get these last ones done and get back to her office and call a meeting with her team and team captains.

Rainsong flapped her wings, and she fluttered up to the waiting seat on the Dizzatron, already feeling the apprehension within her grow at the thought of getting her brain scrambled once more.  If she wanted to go on, she had to do this.

Ca-click!  The latch locked the retaining bar in front of her, now just moments away from the spinning. No sooner had she flipped her goggles down over her eyes was the great machine once more was released and the rotor begin to spin yet again.  Cloudy Sky didn’t watch Rainsong’s turn on the Dizzatron; he sat next to Silverstream and leaned against her for support, his eyes closed and steadily breathed in and out, trying to recuperate some strength for another attempt.

“Release!” Spitfire ordered and Rainsong went tumbling through the air.  Of the flyers of this recruit group taking a second turn, she expected this one to beat the time listed on the scoresheet from the last attempts. He eye was on the smallish gray stallion who was resting close by.  

Rainsong knew she had to do better this time. Her going forward in the trials really depended on her performance here.  She didn’t wait nearly as long as on her first Dizzatron run before throwing open her wings to catch the air whipping past her, straining the muscle in her back like never before.

 More! Flap more! Have to slow down and get back in time!  Rainsong struggled mightily to right herself quickly, the force from the Dizzatron’s launch so much stronger on her tiring body as it was.  Digging deep, she found the strength to get righted up and then twist her body to the right so as to point her body down to the ground. Rainsong was running on pure instinct, flapping her wings with abandon to pick up speed and make it back in time.  

The five recruits watched as Rainsong came roaring in at a breakneck speed, some of them wondering silently to themselves if she was going to beat the clock this time. It was a hoof-biter; every flyer waiting and watching with anticipation, hoping and pulling for her to beat the time.

She just made it, crossing the starting line and gliding along with a final flap. Her hooves hit the ground and went sliding for several meters before stopping. She collapsed somewhat, her knees giving out from the strain, but she did not fall off her hooves from the exhaustion. Sunstrike came to her aid, helping her up. 

“Did…(pant!) …I… (pant!) …do it?”  She gasped for air, so overexerted from the effort she needed help to stand up.  Sunstrike had to almost hold her up and lead her back over to where Commander Spitfire waited to inform her.  Rainsong felt a mixture of excitement and dread all at the same time.  She prayed she’d beaten the time requirement and believed she’d recovered more quickly but still harbored some doubt and dreaded the idea of doing yet another turn.

Spitfire kept the recruit in a few seconds suspense, looking over Rainsong’s scores in her trials so far before finally writing down the time officially on the scoresheet.  She gave the pencil in her mouth a sharp crack at making a period in her scoring, as if to suggest some kind of finality in her writing.  “Recruit,” She looked over her sunglasses to the limp mare barely standing on her hooves in front of her.

“Yes… (pant!) … ma’am?”  Rainsong was desperate to keep her head up, not wanting to let on just how fatigued she really was.  A smile slowly emerged on Spitfire’s mouth, breaking the moment of tension.

“Nine point six-five seconds; one-tenth of a second faster this time. You’re done for now so go rest up and hit the mess hall.”  

Rainsong had never felt such relief. She gave an exhausted laugh and a smile of gratitude and a salute to Spitfire, still trying to stand on her wobbly legs. Sunstrike stayed close by incase she fell over.

“Yes, ma’am!” She turned to face the remaining recruits still waiting, “I’ll see you guys in the mess hall; we’ll catch up.” She headed away, a little surer footed with each step as she had recovered enough to no longer need aid from Sunstrike.  

“Recruit Snowblossom, You’re up!”  Spitfire called on the pearly white mare who she did not hesitate to fly up straight away to the seat on the Dizzatron and get right in, locking herself in with the retaining bar.  The machine rumbled to life again, beginning to spin Snowblossom around and around, the speed increasing with each revolution.

“Release!” The C.O. had counted off the ten seconds before giving the command and started her stopwatch.

Spitfire and the others watched as Snowblossom made an excellent recovery, quickly getting her wings extended out to catch the wind and slow her momentum. She made it look so easy as she righted herself, pitching her body at a steep angle down towards the ground and darting back to the starting line.

Cloudy Sky looked up just in time to see Snowblossom zooming across the starting line and execute a perfect textbook landing.  He and his friends were impressed by her flight technique and obvious skills. She turned to face the C.O, eager to hear her time.

“Nine point three seconds even; well done.”  Spitfire said it so matter-of-factually that it took a second or two for the remaining recruits to take in how good Snowblossom had done.

The steady thrum-thrum of hoof stomps against the ground sounded off in congratulations for Sonwblossom’s great performance. Again, Spitfire didn’t admonish the recruit for cheering on his fellow flyer. So close to the end of this trial it was that saying anything was moot.

Snowblossom was so relieved to have done as well as she had, not wanting to lag behind and do this trial over again. “Thank you, ma’am.” She saluted her C.O. properly, trying not to smile with self-satisfaction. 

“You’re dismissed. Go grab a bite to eat and be ready for this afternoon’s regiment.” Spitfire continued to write more down on her scoresheet about this recruit as Snowblossom made her departure.

“Come find me; let’s talk more. ” She silently mouthed the words to Silverstream and her friends as she left, doing a good job at making sure Commander Spitfire didn’t spot it. She discovered Silverstream and her friends were an interesting and eclectic group of flyers, more curious about why she and her griffon friend had come to the trials and wondered what they thought of being here. 

“Recruit Sunstrike, you’re up!” Spitfire had rearranged the running order so as to allow Cloudy Sky the most amount of time to rest up.  She figured having his two friends with him would help bolster his chances to pass.

In spite of having a wounded and most likely exiting partner with Morning Glow, Sunstrike had his mind focused on beating his previous time. He didn’t hesitate at flying up to the seat of the Dizzatron and getting in, determined to make up for that ‘Incomplete’ grade. No sooner he had the retaining bar locked down in front of him did the machine started up; the flywheel free from the brake and steadily increasing in rotor’s speed.

“Release!” Commander Spitfire ordered and Sunstrike, too, went flinging through the air. Like Snowblossom who went before him, Sunstrike didn’t wait long before throwing out his wings to catch the wind and slow himself. It put a terrible strain on his wing and back muscles, but Sunstrike powered on with his flapping, slowing his momentum enough to suddenly twist his torso over to the right and dive back down towards the ground and the starting line.

It was probably the fastest recovery Cloudy Sky and his friends had seen done by any recruit here, making Firebolt believe that Sunstrike could match Silverstream’s record-setting recovery time. 

Sunstrike swooped in, diving right towards the ground and pulling up just in the nick of time to head for the starting line like a rocket. He jetted passed the painted line on the asphalt, then jammed his hooves down and into the hard surface to slide along for only a short distance, his sturdy legs bracing his body from the forward momentum.  He spun around at the end of his slide, standing proud on his hooves as he waited to hear his time, sure to have done fantastic. 

“Eight seconds flat; that’s a whole second and two-tenths off your initial time and the best time today.”  Spitfire recorded his time and Sunstrike threw a forehoof in the air in celebrating his phenomenal performance.

“Boom! There it is: the best time today! Who’s getting into the Wonderbolt Academy? Me!” He tooted his horn some, justifiably proud of his score. He needed this; top time here would offset that ‘Incomplete’ grade.

“You’re dismissed; hit the mess hall and be ready for later.” Spitfire turned her attention to the final recruit, ignoring Sunstrike singing to himself in congratulations as he walked off the field and towards the mess hall.

“It’s your turn now, recruit.”  Spitfire’s attention turned once more to face the recruit, speaking kindly to him, well aware of his predicament and how hard this was for him. 

Cloudy Sky barely recovered from his second run and silently fearing his wings were going give out. He’d never felt so exhausted in his life.  This was so much harder than he’d ever imagined the tryouts being, feeling woefully unprepared and now at the end of his strength.  

“This is it, Cloudy. Just do like Brightstar and I told you and you’ll pass this time.” Firebolt gave him as small hug for good luck, wishing him success. Silverstream, too, wished him luck.

“I know you can do it, Cloudy.  I believe in you.”  Her words, so honest and pure of intention when she spoke them to Cloudy Sky and looked in his eyes, he knew she meant it from the bottom of her heart. Heartened, Cloudy Sky headed off for the seat on the Dizzatron and got in, pulling down the retaining bar and sliding his goggle over his eyes. Once more he slid over to the end of the seat and braced himself against one side, not trying to hold himself in place at the center against the spinning force.

The Dizzatron gave a small shudder as the brake was released and the flywheel began spinning the rotor up to speed quickly.

Aw-w-w-w-w geesh! Here we go again!  Cloudy Sky felt the machine steadily pick up speed, feeling his guts getting squished over to one side from g-forces he felt.  Both Firebolt and Silverstream watched with great anxiousness.

“Release!” 

Cloudy Sky felt the bar in front of him unlock and his body being ejected again from the seat.  The sudden air pressure slamming against his body when being launched from his seat knocked the breath from his body. Flipping through the air, trying to catch his breath, Cloudy Sky struggled trying right himself and get flying back to the starting line.

 Have to slow down more! Have to slow down more!  He knew he had to move more quickly, sensing he was taking longer than he had the two previous times. His whole body ached with pain; his wing muscles were burning from the strain he subjected them to. He managed to slow himself down enough to roll his body to the left.

 C’mon! C’mon! Move faster!  Half blinded by the pain and the sheer will to finish this trial, he was darting straight for the starting line with everything he had. It seemed to take forever to reach his goal, but Cloudy Sky made it across, his hooves touching down but his legs were unable to hold him up and he slumped into a pile onto the ground in total exhaustion.

The girls rushed to his side, ever so gingerly helping him up.  He was limp and lifeless in their forelegs, panting and gasping for breath as the thick beads of sweat rolled down the sides of his head.

“You made it, Cloudy!” Firebolt held him up by putting his right foreleg around her neck. His head rolled loosely on his neck, flopping over and resting on her withers, panting. Silverstream did likewise, helping to keep her friend upright.

“That was a great recovery!”  Silverstream looked up at their C.O., wondering what his time was and hoping it was enough. Cloudy Sky managed to lift his head to look up at their C.O. and hear his results.

“Nine point nine seconds; you’re going to have to fly it again.”  Spitfire watched as Cloudy Sky slumped down once more, groaning, while his two friends tried to keep him on his hooves. Spitfire had seen this numerous times during academy tryouts. This recruit was at his end; having given his all but wasn’t going to pass the trial.  The friends try to rally him on.

“C’mon, Cloudy, you can do it. You’re still close.”  Firebolt could feel he had nothing left in him as she tried to keep Cloudy Sky on his hooves, his body seemingly limp to her efforts at this.

“But now I’m further behind!”  There was growing despondence in his voice, as if teetering on the edge of giving in to defeat. Those eight-one-hundredths of a second might as well have been eight whole seconds to overcome. For the first time in the past three days, Cloudy Sky believed his chance to attend Wonderbolt Academy was slipping away right before his eyes. He felt powerless from stopping it from happening and it scared him.

“Firebolt’s right, you’re still really close.  I know you have it in you to beat the time.”  Silverstream was afraid of him getting cut, having sat and talked with her friends at mealtimes about why he wanted to go to the academy so much and how Cloudy Sky wanted to make his family proud, if not the whole town of Nimbusville.

Spitfire stepped towards the trio, her heart going out to the young stallion for trying as valiantly as he had.  The normally tough expression she always wore softened some when she spoke again. “You want to give up, son?”  

“No-o-o!” He cried in desperation, as if to surrender the dream now and so close to success was too painful to even contemplate. 

She knew it was going to be his answer, they always say no to her when asked; a recruit who hits the wall.  ‘They fly with too much heart and not enough wings’ as the saying went when evaluating a flyer for the academy. She had a soft spot for the underdogs like him who always gave that extra twenty percent of effort, much more than those with the flight experience resume’s a mile long and trophies galore to show as proof of their greatness.

Cloudy Sky began to break down, feeling his lower lip start to quiver and fighting back the tears.  He half-stomped a hind hoof in utter desperation of his situation, his confidence slipping.  

“C’mon, Cloudy, you can do this. You have to believe in yourself.”  Silverstream felt his body tremble slightly as she held him, thinking he was giving up on himself.  She recalled something Professor Dash once said during one of her classroom discussions when learning about the Wonderbolts.

  ‘Great flyers know it’s all about believing in yourself. Flying is thirty percent skill and seventy percent confidence.’

“But I don’t understand, Silverstream!” He blurted out. “I’m doing everything Solar Flare and Brightstar taught me to do! I’m sitting all the way over to one side in the seat; I’m counting the seconds after release to when I need to spread out my wings to slow down better and how to roll by body into the dive! I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong!”  His frustration clear to all three ladies. 

Spitfire double-checked her watch.  “Well, there’s ten minutes before the call goes out for chow time and officially ends this trial.” She got all three of them to look up at her.  “I’ll give you nine of those minutes to rest up before you have to take your last run.  After that,” she gave Cloudy Sky a warning look, “pass or fail, it goes in the logs. Understood?”

Both Silverstream and Firebolt could not believe the generosity their C.O. was offering Cloudy Sky.  She was hard on them, yes, but also being fair by giving a struggling recruit every opportunity to try their hardest.  

Cloudy Sky was thankful for the offer and could still offer a weary salute to her with his right wing. 

“Yes, ma’am.”

She stood apart from the three of them, rechecking her notes and updating some with more she learned of this particular clutch of close-nit flyers.  Both the hippogriff and the griffon were scoring well so far and making apparent successful inroads with the other recruits. Rainbow Dash’s two students were making the tryouts most auspicious with their presence. Her solitude was broken as Angel Wings came flying over, landing and saluting her as she withdrew the clipboard from under her left wing.

“Ma’am, High Wind has both Rainbow Dash and Soarin waiting in your office as per your orders and collected the scorecards from the second recruit group as well.” She passed to her C.O. the clipboard with the relative paperwork for her to sign.  “These are this season’s trial requisition forms as well as the first draft for tomorrow’s duty roster for you to view.  If you would just sign there…” Angel Wings pointed to the dotted lines for the C.O. to autograph, another duty at keeping the academy functioning day to day.

The two ladies had gotten Cloudy Sky to stand back on his hooves again, helping him to recover what strength he could and settle him down. Firebolt fell back on some training techniques from her time participating in flight competitions and shared what she knew with her teammate. 

“Follow me; take a deep breath in,” Firebolt demonstrated to Cloudy Sky, taking a deep inhale, “hold it and exhale slowly.”  She had him follow the breathing exercise, a way of calming his heartbeat and steadying his breathing. He did just as instructed. Firebolt repeated the exercise.

“Once more time; deep breathe in,” she again took a deep inhale and had him follow along, “hold it, and exhale nice and slow.”  She slowly let go of her breath, making sure Cloudy Sky did the same. She had him continue the breathing exercise, having him close his eyes and focus on this.

He could feel it working, the pounding of his heart lessened and the drum-like beating in his ears from his heartbeat quieted some.  He kept taking controlled breaths, calming himself and steadying his thoughts. 

 Firebolt wished he didn’t have to go on the Dizzatron again. He’d clearly demonstrated to all of his friends, the other recruits and the instructors too that he had the guts to take on trials. He proved to be one scrappy young flyer. She didn’t want to see him break down and lose it if he couldn’t pass this trial. It was going to be painful to witness. But she was going to show her C.O. how a good squad leader and friend could show empathy and heart for her struggling teammate.

This situation was, unfortunately, exactly what she had talked with Silverstream about earlier today. Cloudy Sky had lots of heart but just simply wasn’t good enough to pass. Now, sadly, her instincts were going to be proven right. There was nothing more they could do to help Cloudy Sky.

Silverstream gently and slowly flexed his extended wings up and down, making sure his wing muscles didn’t cramp up on him, keeping the blood circulating.  She gently flapped her wings too, making a soft breeze to cool his body down with.  Cloudy Sky stood in silence with his eyes still closed, keeping his breathing steady, trying to rest as much as he could before the end came. The nine minutes seemed to fly by for as soon as Angel Wings had her forms signed and was heading back to the main office building, Spitfire was walking back over to check on the three of them.

“Cloudy,” Silverstream got him to open his eyes and look at her, “I don’t know if this will help but try holding your breath when you’re getting spun around on the Dizzatron.

“Why?” He wondered.

Silverstream tried to explain, wondering if her personal experience having any relevance to a pegisus pony.  “Teramor, my little brother, when he first rode up waterspouts with me as a seapony, he would complain that the water rushing through his gills would cause him to choke and he’d become very dizzy; he couldn’t breathe. So, I told him to hold his breath, it helps cut down on the dizziness sensation when spun in a waterspout. Maybe it will help you on the Dizzatron.”

“I’ll try anything.”  Cloudy Sky didn’t know what else he could do to beat that mark; it was worth trying, what else was there to lose.  Firebolt’s mouth fell open a little, realizing she’d forgotten about that one simple trick. She was so used to doing that during her flight training that she never mentally thought about it. It was just instinctual for her. She never bothered to ask him if he was holding his breath while getting spun around on the Dizzatron.

Spitfire approached the trio, seeing how this young pony’s two friends faithfully stayed by his sides, doing all they could to make sure he was ready and offering those last words of encouragement. 

“You set for this, recruit?”  Spitfire was making sure before he submitted himself to another attempt.  Four times was a lot for any recruit to take in one afternoon, especially after the rough morning Cloudy Sky already had.

“Yes, ma’am.” He held his head up, some strength returning to his body and his voice sounding clear as he looked straight ahead at the Dizzatron, focused on what he had to do. 

“Well, get yourself on up there.”  She pointed to the seat on the Dizzatron with a wing, wanting to finish this at last.  

Cloudy Sky didn’t look back at Firebolt or Silverstream before going, instead flying right up to the seat and sat himself down, only giving his friends a quick look from up high. 

Ca-click!  The latch sounded with the lock engaged. As soon as the retaining bar was locked down in front of him the Dizzatron gave a shudder and went into motion. He flipped the goggles over his eyes and sucked in the deepest breath he’d ever held, filling his lungs up and holding it in as the machine sped up to the desired rate. Cloudy Sky could already feel a difference by holding his breath this time; his ears weren’t popping, and the dizziness was much less than the times he went before.

“Release!” Spitfire hit the timer on her stopwatch as she watched Cloudy Sky’s body go flipping through the air, making sure to get this recruits time as precise as possible. It was his last chance and she wanted to make sure.

Cloudy Sky threw open his wings to catch the wind that was rushing all around him and let go of his breath at last. The moment he did, the sheer force nearly ripped his wings off, but he held them out and at the correct angle to get the maximum amount of breaking effect, all while trying to catch his breath.

Silverstream’s trick of holding his breath made the difference. Cloudy Sky felt nowhere nearly as dizzy as his previous attempts and being less dizzy allowed him to right his body much more quickly this time. He pumped his wings hard, breathing deeply and forcing his body to twist to the left and then pointing back down to the ground.

 Flap faster! Flap faster!  Cloudy Sky could sense he’d recovered this time noticeably quicker this time, by how much he had no idea.  But he instinctively felt he was going faster this time and the excitement of passing this trial for real fueled his sudden burst of final energy, the flickering flame of hope within him not yet extinguished.

“Hurry, Cloudy! Hurry!” Silverstream was so swept up in the moment that she stepped out on runway, shouting and waving her forelegs over her head at him so he could see her. 

“C’mon! C’mo-o-o-on!”  Firebolt softly growled with teeth clenched tightly, thumping the ground with a forehoof as she watched him approach. The brief time of only a few seconds seemed to stretch out to an unimaginable amount as the three of them watched Cloudy Sky fly as fast as he could at getting back to the starting line.

Ow! Ow! Ow! Cramp! Cramp! Cramp!  Cloudy Sky felt the muscles in his wings tighten up, pushed beyond their limits and now revolting from the strain.  But Cloudy Sky endured the pain, gnashing his teeth hard and taking it as he demanded his body do as his brain ordered, flap faster! He could see the painted white line on the runway ahead of him, his final destination, coming into view. 

Those precious seconds tic away as Cloudy Sky finally crossed over the starting line. His wings finally gave out and he collapsed.  His hooves touched down to the ground, but his legs gave out, sending him tumbling off the runway and onto the grassy field as he came to an ignominious stop, lying motionless in a heap.

“Cloudy!” Silverstream ran to him with Firebolt right behind, both ladies feared he’d killed himself from the overexertion. Silverstream carefully tried to lift him up; his body unresponsive, only his panting indicating he was still conscious.  “Here… let me help you, Cloudy.”  She put one of his forelegs around her neck, helping him to stand. But he had no strength left to stand with. He was spent.

“I… I can’t… I can’t…” Cloudy Sky mumbled in a dizzying daze of pain, unaware of just where he was or who was trying to get him up. Firebolt, too, helped him to keep him upright, holding him up so as he could face Commander Spitfire who was walking right over to where they were.  The three friends look up at the Wonderbolt leader, watching the C.O. silently scribbling notes down on her scoresheet about something, most likely about Cloudy Sky’s performance.  It was very nerve-wracking for the youngest member of the BFFs, his imagination filling him with ideas about what she must think of his flying skills.  

Spitfire kept them in a bit more suspense, finishing her note taking with a deliberate sharp crack of the pencil tip when making a period and the flipping the writing instrument out of her mouth and catching it behind her right ear.

“Recruit Cloudy Sky,” she addressed the pony in question, and he tried to stand on his own before answering but couldn’t.

“Yes, ma’am?” His legs were wobbly and unsteady, and he still relied on his friends to keep him stable.

“I’m sorry, recruit but,” she began and watched as Cloudy Sky collapsed into Silverstream’s waiting embrace, breaking down in tears.

“Oh no! Oh no-o-o-o-o!”  Cloudy Sky was crushed, his dream gone. He wasn’t fast enough; he wasn’t good enough.

“Oh, Cloudy! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!”  Silverstream could not help shedding tears for her friend, his hopes of passing now crushed.  But Firebolt saw the way Spitfire was looking at them, as if slightly amused by the drama and waiting to say more and letting Silverstream and Cloudy Sky carry on for a bit before interjecting.

“…I’m sorry, but you only beat your last posted time by exactly one-tenth of a second; you timed nine point eight-two-zero seconds exactly.”  

When Cloudy Sky heard what Commander Spitfire said, it caused him to gasp slightly in shock and jerk his head up from Silverstream’s comforting embrace. Silverstream, too, gasped in surprise when hearing the news of his success.

“Re… really?” Cloudy Sky was almost too scared to ask his C.O., afraid that this might just be some delusion he was experiencing. But Commander Spitfire wore this funny little smile, indicating she wasn’t kidding, and Cloudy Sky wasn’t imagining it.  She took a few steps closer to the trio, showing them her clipboard and her stopwatch affixed onto the retaining clip at the top.

“Here, look for yourselves.”

The three friends looked intently at the small time-keeping device, their eyes collectively going wide with the wonderful discovery that, yes indeed, Cloudy Sky had passed his previous time by the slimmest of margins.  So excited for her friend that Silverstream let loose an ear-shattering hippogriff screech of joy and momentarily startling all three ponies in the process.  She threw her forelegs around Cloudy Sky, hugging him tightly and he did the same in return, his tears of sorrow now of sheer euphoria.

“You did it! You did it, Cloudy!  I just knew you had it in you!”  Silverstream was so proud of her friend for passing the trial after struggling so much like he did.  He trembled in her embrace, unsure whether he should laugh or cry with the relief.

Firebolt got a little choked up, having thought Cloudy Sky was not going to pass this trial no matter what he tried and then watch him pass was an inspiring moment. She had been so doubtful, as any flyer with a solid performance record like herself would be, about Cloudy Sky’s ability to persevere. The trials were designed to be harder and harder as they progressed, the veritable ‘culling of the wheat from the chaff’ so to speak. Cloudy Sky had made the cut.  

Spitfire was a little pleased with herself for maybe having let her hoof slip just a little early on the timer that maybe shaved off a few thousandths of a second that made the difference. He had pushed himself so much harder than any other recruit to pass this trial and by her ‘commander’s discretion’ of the situation, he’d passed. Better still was how Rainbow Dash’s student and Firebolt stepped up to act like squad leaders, willing to work with and help their fellow flyer who needed it. She made a few further notes on her scoresheet about this. Perhaps what was ailing the duo earlier had been something minor and this exercise seemed to have rekindled the teamwork spirit between them.

“Oh, Silverstream, if it wasn’t for your idea of holding my breath when getting spun like that, I don’t think I would’ve made it this time!  I owe everything to you!”  Cloudy Sky blurted out and professed his undying gratitude to his friend, feeling like she truly cared about him passing or not.  Hearing this instantly grabbed Spitfire attention.  

Hearing how the hippogriff had unknowingly offered up one of the oldest tricks ‘in the book’ of getting past the Dizzatron as opposed to it being Firebolt who had imparted this small but significant tidbit of help made the head of the Wonderbolts snap around to glare right at Firebolt. The fiery-maned pony only needed the most cursorily of looks from the C.O. to know what question was silently being asked by that expression Spitfire had.  Firebolt looked down at the ground, ashamed for making such a poor showing of her character.

 You knew that trick and you never bothered to share it with your team member?! What else have you been holding back on them?!

Spitfire didn’t need to speak to know Firebolt comprehended what was being asked right then, seeing the mare recruit looking down at the ground and avoiding the eye contact.  Spitfire made some quick changes to her records, correcting her first observations.

Firebolt glanced up to watch Spitfire make repeated crossing out marks on her scoresheet, changing the records and her heart sank lower. Once again, Spitfire made a sharp crack of her pencil tip at the end of her writing, as if to emphasize her final judgment with the scoring.  Firebolt winced ever so slightly in reaction, dreading how bad she’d looked right then to her C.O.

Within only a few seconds of Commander Spitfire’s finishing of correcting the scoresheets, the bugle call for mealtime blared over the public address system and brought an end to the morning’s workout for the three remaining recruits.

“Just in the nick of time; you three are dismissed.”  She looked at the still-recovering Cloudy Sky, being held up by Silverstream at the moment.  “Rest yourself as much as you can, young fella.  You’re going to need it for this afternoon’s regiment.” She gave a gentle warning, giving them a small heads-up for what was coming.

The three of them salute her as Spitfire slipped the clipboard under her right wing and returned the salute before parting.  She, Soarin and Rainbow Dash had to get the scores tallied up for both recruits' groups and posted before the recruits came back from lunch. 

Silverstream, still upset with her partner from this morning’s moment, ignored Firebolt.

“He… here, let me help-” Firebolt reached out to help hold up Cloudy Sky.

“We can manage.”  The hippogriff moved her body in-between Firebolt and Cloudy Sky, denying her wing pony physical contact with him. The coldness of Silverstream’s tone went right through Firebolt’s body, chilling her heart and causing her to take a step back. “I’ll get Cloudy back to the barracks so he can lie down rest himself.”  

Firebolt felt awful, standing there with disgrace written all over her.  Silverstream steadily helped Cloudy Sky hobble along off the field and heading back to the barracks, leaving Firebolt standing there and feeling about as small and worthless as she could ever be made to feel. 

She had made such a simple oversight by not asking Cloudy Sky weather he had held his breath or not when on the Dizzatron.  If she had acted like a good squad leader and imparted to her friends what to do in order to pass, then perhaps Cloudy Sky would have passed the trial on the first or maybe second attempt and with a better time.  

At that moment, Firebolt didn’t know what to do. She’d made a wreck of her friendship with Silverstream and now dishonored herself more for having shown such poor leadership qualities. She had to try and fix what she’d broken so carelessly and thoughtlessly.  But how she would do this was a mystery, but she knew she had to do something and fast.