Chapter 1: Dreams
Scootaloo bounded off the rock and landed with a little splash in the puddle beneath her. Placing her helmet on top of her head, her mind began to race. As she looked up at the cloudless sky, she broke into a huge smile at the possibilities the day held. She lifted her hoof to shade her eyes from the sun and she watched other pegasi flying overhead to unknown destinations.
What's Rainbow Dash's up to? Today'd be so awesome for flying!" The young mare hopped on her scooter and began to furiously beat her wings. Maybe, she thought, just maybe, I can convince her to teach me to fly again. I mean, I'm not a little kid any more. I should've learned a long time ago. She sped off towards the center of Ponyville, hoping she could find the cerulean Pegasus there. As she neared the main street, her heart began to flutter. A mix of excitement and fear formed inside of her, adrenaline pumping trough her veins. She burst through the doors of Sugar Cube Corner, leaped off her scooter, and skidded to a halt, narrowly missing a collision with the counter.
"Where's Rainbow Dash!?" she spluttered, out of breath.
"Dashie was here just a second ago," Pinkie giggled. "What's the rush? Looking for an autograph?" The pink pony snorted at her own joke. "I'm not sure when she'll be back."
"I've gotta find her," she replied. "I wanna try flying again."
The party pony's face fell as she recalled the disappointment and pain that came from the last few attempts. "A-are you sure? I don't think that's a very good idea."
Scootaloo's ears drooped but perked back up almost immediately. "So?" she fired back. "Who says I can't try!?" Her voice became louder as Pinkie backed towards the kitchen. Her face burned bright red as the anger built up inside of her. "Why doesn't anyone have faith in me!? I'll show you what I can do!"
"Scootaloo, please I-"
"Whatever," Scootaloo muttered through gritted teeth. "I'm leaving." Turning towards the door, she scowled. "I'll prove you and everyone else wrong!" Frustrated, she ran out the door and jumped on her scooter, speeding towards Cloudsdale.
As she zoomed closer to the city of clouds, tears began to well up in her eyes. I'm stronger than they think. I'll show them. I'll prove everypony wrong. I will fly. I know it.
Chapter 2: Lessons
Rainbow Dash stretched her wings, making sure they wouldn't cramp up. "Hey Spitfire! What's up?" she called after the yellow pegasus.
"Nothing new, I suppose. The rookies are a bit tiring. Dash, would you mind instructing them today? I need to catch up on some paperwork. And some sleep." She rubbed her eyes and yawned, her sunglasses slipping down her nose. She fought to keep her eyes open and look as attentive as possible as ponies flew by, saluting her.
"Would I!? Oh that would be so awesome!" Rainbow Dash jumped into the air, displaying her skills as she looped around and landed gracefully on the cloud. "When do I start?" She beamed at her fellow flier, finding it hard to contain her excitement.
Spitfire was greatly startled by this display and had to shake her head a few times to reassure herself that she had not fallen asleep. "You will report to the training base at exactly o' nine-hundred. Fleetfoot is down there already making sure they fill out all their forms."
"Okay! So in, like, ten minutes. Got it! Don't worry captain! I'll have everything under control!" Rainbow Dash saluted her and flashed her a big smile.
"Good. Come to me if they cause any trouble or if there are any problems. I should be done by about dinner time." She half-heartedly saluted back and headed towards the barracks.
"Yes ma'am! I mean sir! I mean, ma'am!" Never before had Rainbow been given the responsibility of training the rookies. She couldn't help but break out into song and a little celebratory dance once she made sure no one was near by to see her.
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"Alright rookies! Fall in line! Captain Spitfire will be here shortly and I want you all on your best behavior." Fleetfoot spun around and faced two giggling mares. "That means you! No talking or you will be permanently expelled from the academy! That applies to everypony! " Regaining their attention, she continued. "Each of you will be assessed based on teamwork, strength, abilities, and creativity. There is no room for error. Should you fail to impress, pass, or comply, you will be forced to attend the flight school again if you wish to regain your status as a 'Wonderbolt-in-training' here.
"This is not like the application test. You will not be only showing us what you know, you will show us how well you work with others, how well you work under extreme conditions, and how well you follow commands." Once finished, she stood next to the Dizzitron.
The new recruits looked nervously at one-another and then back at Fleetfoot, who seemed to completely have changed as she spotted Rainbow Dash strolling over. "Hey Rainbow! Have you seen Spitfire? She's supposed to be here soon." She happily saluted the newest Wonderbolt.
Saluting back, Rainbow Dash put on the most official face possible but found it hard to hide her prideful smile. "Today I'm taking over training for her. She isn't feeling very well and has a lot of work to catch up on." Looking over at the shivering rookies, she smiled. "How's everypony doing? You seem a little startled. Don't worry. I don't bite very hard. This isn't as bad as you think." She turned to the blue mare, slightly amused. "Seems like we've got a bunch of scaredy-cats today, huh? What did you do, threaten them with more paperwork?"
Fleetfoot laughed. "Nah, they already finished that. They don't have to do more until they've been made Wonderbolts. I just gave them the lowdown. Kinda wanted to see what they already knew. I kinda caught them off guard. I think I may have traumatized them too. Oh well. They'll get over it."
Author's Note
Fleetfoot = awesome. I wanna write more about her. :3
