“I’m withdrawing my application, ma’am.”
Spitfire had heard a number of phrases uttered in her offices at the Wonderbolts Academy, but this was one phrase that rarely reached her ears. She was fresh from having qualified Cloudsdale for the Aerial Relay in the upcoming Equestria Games, and had expected to return to her offices to praise and cheers, not to a young officer holding an application in her office and declaring that she was withdrawing it. “You care to explain yourself…?” she briefly glanced at the rank insignias on the mare’s uniform before continuing, “…Lieutenant…?”
“Sunrunner, ma’am. And I don’t think I need to explain myself. I’m withdrawing my application to join the Wonderbolts.”
Spitfire looked over the mare before her. She was well-built for a pegasus racer, with a light amber coat and cyan eyes, her crimson and yellow mane cut short in a practical, sporty way that still managed to look feminine. Somepony who wasn’t paying attention might end up confusing the two of them, but she doubted they were related. “I suppose you don’t, but…”
“But with all due respect, ma’am, we don’t have anything more to talk about.” She then ripped the application to shreds, deposited the destroyed document in the nearest wastebasket and gave a polite salute. “Good day, ma’am.”
The mare departed, Spitfire watching her leave with some surprise. This hadn’t been the first time somepony had come into her office and declared that they’d quit, vivid memories of when Rainbow Dash had attended the academy’s boot camp flashing through her mind, but this was the first time it had happened with an applicant out of the blue, especially with when they were part of the regular forces rather than a raw recruit.
This wasn’t something that she was going to let stand. “Lieutenant Sunrunner!” She stepped outside her office to find that the mare hadn’t gone far. “You may not need to explain yourself, but I want an explanation. You aren’t under my direct command, but I am still your superior officer, and when I ask for an explanation of your actions, I expect one.”
The mare turned to face her, her expression still neutral, and asked, “Permission to speak freely?”
“Granted. Now what’s made you change your mind about joining the Wonderbolts? Don’t you want to be an elite flyer? Just what is your problem?”
“My problem?” Sunrunner looked her in the eye and her tone remained firm. “My problem is you!” Before Spitfire could respond, she continued, anger starting to show in her voice. “I heard about what happened at Rainbow Falls, and I’m disgusted! You tossed aside a wingpony, and then you go and try to swipe a flier from another team, for what, a chance to win?”
“Soarin was injured…”
“Bull!” Spitfire almost jumped back at the outburst while the mare continued, “You could’ve picked any random pegasus to fly with you in the qualifiers! Nopony would’ve cared, as long as they were a Cloudsdale native, and besides, you had it in the bag anyway! But instead, you tried to swipe the best flyer from another team! That’s dirty pool and you know it!”
The elder pegasus found herself getting angry. “I did what I needed to do to win!”
“And there are lines you don’t cross, the first one being to abandon your comrades! You pulled a Blue Falcon, ma’am! And before you say a damn thing about me being out of line, you let me speak freely, and I call ‘em as I see ‘em!” She sighed, calmed herself down, and continued. “I have every intention of being an elite flyer, ma’am. I’ve spent years wanting to be a Wonderbolt. But I refuse to join the Wonderbolts as they are now. Yes, you have a team of the best fliers in Equestria, but from what I’ve heard, the Wonderbolts as a unit have fallen. Badly. Some members are good, decent ponies, but they’re outstripped and outshone by the jerks and show-boaters and the self-important who’d leave their teammates behind in a second if it meant getting ahead. And if that’s part of the job, then I don’t want it.” She turned silent for a moment before asking, “Will there be anything else, ma’am?”
Spitfire regarded her for a moment. “No. Dismissed.”
She gave a curt nod, turned on the spot, and went on her way, leaving the Wonderbolts’ captain to watch her go.
-
“You’re thinking about this way too much, Spitfire.” Fleetfoot’s usual relaxed tone did little to ease her nerves as they ate together in the officers’ mess. “Seriously, there’s plenty of recruits who’re eager to join the Wonderbolts. For every hundred mares like this one you’re talking about, there’s a Rainbow Dash waiting.”
“That’s just it. Give this mare a bit more tact, and she’d sound exactly like Rainbow Dash.” She corrected herself in a second. “No, scratch that. Dash didn’t have nearly that much outrage.”
“Who would sound exactly like Rainbow Dash?” A familiar poofy-maned pegasus took up a place beside Fleetfoot, curiosity clear on her face. “Except with less tact and more outrage?”
“This mare that tore up her application to join the Wonderbolts right in Spitfire’s office.” Fleetfoot rolled a hoof in the air, trying to recall her name. “Sunburner, Sunstreaker…?”
“Sunrunner?” Amazement lit up Surprise’s face at Spitfire’s nod. “Really? Wow. Something must’ve cheesed her off bad.”
“Bad enough to compare me to Blue Falcon.” Noticing the air of silence, Spitfire turned to the younger Wonderbolt and noticed the nervous look on her face. “This is the part where you say that I’m nothing like Blue Falcon, Surprise.”
The poofy-maned pegasus cast her eyes downward, gulped, and admitted as she met her commander’s eyes, “She kinda had a point.”
A fuchsia eye gave the late arrival a quizzical look. “Okay, first question, you’ve heard of this mare?”
“You haven’t? Until Rainbow Dash broke them in boot camp, she was the big record holder. Passed her qualifiers with flying colors, too.”
A shrug. “So she’s sore that the kid broke her records. Big whoop.”
“No, I don’t see that. I told her about her records getting broken, and she was actually happy about it. ‘If anypony was going to do it, I’d want it to be her,’ she said.” She paused a second to elaborate, “Her being…”
“Her being Rainbow Dash, yeah, obviously. Now second question, who’s Blue Falcon? I don’t remember anypony with that name on the roster.”
“That’s because he was never part of the roster. Never will be, either.” With some bitterness in her voice, Spitfire recalled what little she remembered from her history courses from the academy. “Blue Falcon was a squadron commander in the Royal Guard back in the time of the griffon wars. Relations between us and them have been mixed for years; sometimes disputes were settled as easily as a few polite words and a gift of pastries, but occasionally, there was armed conflict.”
“Yeah, we all remember that. Lots of fighting, lots of prisoners, and things eventually got settled. Now Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom are allied powers.”
“Prisoners, Fleetfoot.” She gave her subordinate a hard glare and asked, “You remember the griffons taking part in the qualifiers? The Griffon Kingdom didn’t send over a delegation; they were Equestrian citizens, same as everypony else competing. Many of them are descendants of a griffon colony that was established prior to the founding of Equestria proper, but there’s a number who are descended from prisoners of war taken during those conflicts. It was an order on high from Princess Celestia that any prisoners taken were to be treated as if they were Equestrian citizens. After the wars ended, some ended up staying and actually becoming citizens themselves. Their prisoners weren’t as lucky.”
“And Blue Falcon was one of the prisoners the griffons took?”
“No, worse. He was a blowhard who led a squadron of pegasi into battle against what he thought was a small griffon scout party. Turns out it was a trap; they were led right into a massive force of griffons, too many to fight off. Blue Falcon and two of his junior officers escaped, but the other nine pegasi in the squad weren’t so lucky; not fast enough to escape, he claimed later. The captured prisoners were rescued alive within a few months, but…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it, but the horrorstruck look on her two comrades’ faces showed that her point had gotten across. “That squad was mostly mares. The griffon army was all-male, and their commanders didn’t give a flying feather what happened to the prisoners as long as they were alive. Blue Falcon got as much blame for what happened to them as the enemy griffons did.”
“Whoa, hold on! She’s comparing what happened with Soarin to what that Blue Falcon guy did?” Fleetfoot turned defensive as she argued, “We didn’t abandon him in the field of battle to get captured and… violated.” She looked sick at even trying to say the word she meant, but continued, “Soarin got injured. He got distracted in the air and hurt his wing. Besides, it worked out okay in the end; he got healed up enough to take part in the qualifiers and we got Cloudsdale in for the Aerial Relay. No harm done.”
“He’s barely given you the time of day since he got back.”
“It doesn’t change everything else Sunrunner said either.” A niggling part of her brain prompted her to verbalize, “And I get the feeling this has been building for a while. Surprise, you’ve talked with her, right?”
The mare seemed more than relieved at the change in subject and eagerly reported, “Off and on when she went through the qualifiers.”
You could always count on Surprise to relate to the recruits and encourage them. “She ever talk about why she wanted to be a Wonderbolt?”
“Nope, never came up.”
“Probably the same reasons we all did, to fly with the best of the best and carry on the traditions. Guess that’s been tossed.”
Spitfire had a hard time disagreeing with Fleetfoot’s guess, but she found herself thinking about her earlier comparisons and the pony she’d found herself comparing the young officer to, especially in light of what had happened out at Rainbow Falls, and she found herself thinking out loud, “Maybe she had some reasons of her own.”
-
The sun was starting to set on the horizon, and Spitfire found herself walking rather than flying across the academy grounds. Aside from it being good to occasionally feel the ground under her hooves, it would’ve been embarrassing for her to pull a wing muscle right after qualifying for the Games.
She grimaced, thinking about what had happened. She wasn’t sure what stung worse, the fact that she’d taken so long to realize how she’d screwed up, or the fact that she’d repeated herself. It was also, however, the second time she’d seen quality out of Rainbow Dash, and it probably wouldn’t be the last, the way things were going. The day that mare made it into the Wonderbolts, they’d all be better for it, especially considering how they’d been stretched thin.
Not a day went by that Spitfire didn’t think about the times the Wonderbolts had been forced to be on the sidelines for one reason or another. Nightmare Moon shows up in Ponyville? Princess Celestia delays their arrival, and they miss out on everything. Discord? Off doing a charity event in Vanhoover. The Changeling invasion? A goodwill tour of the Griffon Kingdom. And that ignored the times they actually were present and available; she could still feel the sting from when Rarity had knocked her unconscious in a panic during her descent, and while Surprise wasn’t afraid to joke, she’d never cracked one about dragons after that mess in Ponyville. Normally she wasn’t one to focus on her failings, but she supposed that the right trigger could manage anything. Thank the powers at be that she wasn’t dealing with young foals; she was never comfortable around kids.
A fiery contrail caught her attention, and she turned her gaze to the sky to track the flying projectile. Her eyes quickly caught up, and she caught sight of the very mare that had gotten her going on her current train of thought as Sunrunner went into a steep dive. Even from the distance she was at, Spitfire could see her accelerate faster and faster, the telltale Mach cone forming and tightening around her as her dive continued. Her eyes widened as she watched, only for Sunrunner to veer off and tumble through the air, catching herself within seconds and regaining her bearings. The mare shook her head with frustration, something that Spitfire could understand the reasons for; there were plenty of times she’d done the same after not being able to pull off a stunt.
“Nice moves, Lieutenant!”
Despite the distance, the mare caught her call with a surprised look on her face. Sunrunner flew back to the mountaintop and landed, shaking her wings and trying to keep a civil look on her face. “Thanks, ma’am, but…” She sighed. “Nevermind. Is this some attempt at getting me to reconsider my application?”
“No, just thought it’d be a good idea to talk, flyer to flyer.” Spitfire managed a reassuring smile as she added, “And we’re off-duty, Sunrunner. Don’t need to give me any of that ‘ma’am’ stuff right now. I meant what I said, by the way. Looked to me like you were trying to do a Sonic Rainboom.”
The younger mare relaxed, if only a little, and nodded. “I saw the first one when I was younger. Even after the papers said it wasn’t real, I believed it, and I’ve spent plenty of time trying to replicate it. If it can happen once, the odds go up that it can happen again. Then Rainbow Dash pulled it off again at the last Best Young Flyers’ competition, and I was proven right. If anything, it’s gotten me more encouraged; after all, she can’t be the only pegasus who can pull something like that off.”
“Came awful close that time, too; your form was perfect, good speed, everything in your favor.”
“Maybe, but I feel like there’s something I’m doing wrong.”
“Well, take a break from it. No sense working your wings off over it.” She sat down and invited the younger mare to do the same. “Been thinking about what you said earlier in my office. Wish I could say you were less on the mark, but you had a point. Second mare to point it out to me, too.”
“After Rainbow Dash?” A nervous smile as she admitted, “I know I shouldn’t, but I tend to pay attention to scuttlebutt just a little too much. Old survival mechanism from school.”
“Well don’t stop. It’s right more times than it’s wrong.” A curious look crossed her face as Spitfire asked, “Where did you go to school, by the way? I haven’t heard anything about a flier like you out of Cloudsdale.”
“That’s because I’m not from Cloudsdale. I was born and raised in Indianapoloosa, spent most of my schooling there. The rest was in Canterlot before I entered the academy to join the Guard.”
“That explains it. Nice town; we’ve had a few races out there, charity things and such. That how the racing bug bit you?”
Sunrunner took on a nervous smile. “Tell you the truth? I love racing, and athletics, but I didn’t want to be a Wonderbolt because of that. I had other reasons.” She shifted a bit to reveal her cutie mark, a four-pointed golden star on a red discus shield. “I knew a colt when I was a little filly. He was a nice guy, sweet, quiet and shy and sensitive, but very creative, and he had a unique way of looking at the world. First colt in my class to earn his cutie mark too, just by telling a story for a class assignment. It made a big impression on me, especially considering it was my first day.”
“Sounds like you liked him.”
A sad smile crossed her face. “I did.” The smile faded as she continued, “Trouble is that I was the only one. The other foals treated him like garbage; seconds after he got his cutie mark, one of them mocked him over his story, and he exploded. He got suspended for it, but the filly who mocked him didn’t get any punishment whatsoever. I ended up looking up the research he did for his story? Turns out it had a basis in fact, one you’d have to be an idiot to ignore now.”
“Really? What was the story about?”
“Nightmare Moon.” She laughed. “Years before it happened, he called it. Her coming back, the prophecy being true, the Elements of Harmony being the only thing to defeat her, all of it. He didn’t pick out everything, mind, no mention of the Castle of the Two Sisters or anything, but he had so much right. And they mocked him about it, because to the average foal, Nightmare Moon was a boogeymare, no different from the Olden Pony or the Headless Horse. I tried to protest to our teacher, Ms. Persimmon, but she brushed it off. Didn’t matter where his research had come from, didn’t matter that he’d gotten poked one too many times with a stick, he’d disrupted class.”
“That’s kind of the rule, though.”
“Yeah, but not punishing the one who’d been doing the poking? Life might be unfair, but seriously, it happened right in front of her, and she didn’t do a thing. If two cadets got into a fight right in front of you, you’d punish both of them, wouldn’t you?”
“Well, yes.”
“And you see my point. One pony got attacked by another, it spiraled out of control, and the one who caused it in the first place got away scot-free. And she kept on getting away with it too.” She ran a hoof through her mane and nervously admitted, “When I was younger, I had a longer mane. A lot longer than this. I had a cousin, a unicorn, but put us together and even with the wings and horn, you’d think we were twins. Part of that was my fault; I styled my mane to look like hers. Me trying for solidarity. Didn’t work, but I liked the look. Kept it too, until the same filly who mocked my friend decided to shear my mane off.”
Spitfire’s eyes went wide. “What? You’re not…” And then she realized, yes, Sunrunner was serious. Foals could be cruel for the pettiest of reasons, and some had an easier time remembering than others.
“She heard me trying to defend the colt, and with a little help from her magic and her cronies, she held me down in the bathroom and hacked away at it. The teacher never punished her for it; my word against the other students’, she said, and when my parents went to the principal, well, that had even less success. My manecut was so trashed that I had to get it trimmed down to a buzzcut. It was weeks before it grew out enough that I stopped looking like a jarhead.” She sighed and noted, “In the end, the only thing I could do was give the colt a sympathetic shoulder to lean on every once in a while. But standing up for him? That’s what earned me my cutie mark.” She smiled proudly and explained, “To inspire and protect.”
A smile formed on the older mare’s face. “That colt you knew has a great friend.”
“Had.” Shame spread across the younger mare’s face as she explained, “I haven’t seen him since I left Indianapoloosa, and that was years ago. Family emergency, nothing I could do, but I felt like I’d abandoned him.”
“Like Blue Falcon did?”
Sunrunner scoffed. “Blue Falcon’s excuse was that the mares in his squadron weren’t flying fast enough. Got shot down pretty quick when it was pointed out that his two lieutenants were mares. I’ve got no trouble admitting to my feelings of guilt, especially…” She shook her head. “Anyway, I joined the guard because it seemed like a natural fit for my talents. As for being a Wonderbolt, well, let’s face it, they’re the big-name pegasus squadron, and he always said that he thought I could do it.”
“Then it must’ve taken a lot for you to tear that application up.”
“It did. Like I said, I pay attention to scuttlebutt, but I like to get my facts straight.” She turned to Spitfire and, far more calmly than she had earlier, explained herself, “I found out about Rainbow Dash attending the academy for a week; Surprise supervised me when I attended, and she kept me in the loop about what was going on. Not to rub it in that my records were broken, mind, just because of what I’d talked about with her.”
“She mentioned that.” Spitfire was beginning to see where the conversation was going, but opted to steer into the storm rather than avoid it. “I guess you heard about what happened with Lightning Dust then.”
A nod. “It’s kind of hard to ignore reports of a tornado going out of control, especially when it’s part of a cloud-clearing exercise. It’s a miracle that nopony got hurt, but that’s where my doubts started. The more I heard, the more I didn’t like what went on.” She sighed, perhaps to collect herself, and continued, “You were there; you saw what she was doing. Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you do anything?”
The question wasn’t angry this time, Spitfire realized, but more pleading. Given the mare’s history, she could understand Sunrunner’s perspective a little better. “I paired Lighting Dust with Rainbow Dash for a reason; they were easily the two best fliers in their class, and I had a great idea of what Dash could do and who she was. What I didn’t know was how well she could follow orders.”
“So you picked a reckless mare that you knew nothing about to be a Leader? Sounds more like the roles should’ve been reversed.”
“In hindsight, yes, but let’s face it, being better than everypony else at something gives you a big head. And being put in charge can do the same.”
“Then why weren’t you in charge?” Sunrunner’s words continued to be less aggressive and more curiously polite. “It was your rotation to supervise recruits. Surprise was out there with us when I did my qualifiers, offering suggestions and advice and keeping us from doing anything stupid. I’m not saying you should’ve taken your recruits by the hoof and led them along like little schoolfillies, but would it have been a bother to be there and supervise? Rainbow Dash got her wing busted up, and Lightning Dust didn’t even notice. That was just the start of things that led to the tornado. The way things sounded, Lightning Dust was too concerned with her own glory to care about listening to anyone who wasn't singing her praises. Here I always thought that a good leader wasn’t afraid to take advice or suggestion from their subordinates, particularly if they had good ideas.”
“They aren’t. I’m not the best, but why else do you think I’m here listening to you?”
“Please don’t distract me, ma’am. I’m still dead set against applying again. When all was said and done with Lightning Dust, you just tossed her out, swept her under the rug. A few hours ago, I would’ve said that you did all that just to get rid of an embarrassment rather than to discipline a recruit.”
“And you wouldn’t have been too far of the mark. I screwed up. And I did it again at Rainbow Falls.” A thought occurred to her, and she asked, “Sunrunner, you ever heard of General Firefly?”
The mare thought for a moment. “She was the first commanding officer of the Wonderbolts, before the unit even had that name.”
“Well before she led the Wonderbolts, she was one of Equestria’s biggest heroes. She led the charge against Tirek when he attacked Equestria, inspired I don’t know how many ponies to charge in after her and hold the line until the Princesses and Star Swirl the Bearded could step in and finish him off.” A proud smile crossed her face. “I only hope I can do something that impressive someday.” She got up on her hooves and noted, “I’ve met Rainbow Dash several times, but it took a while for me to really figure out how much of her was bluster and how much was the real deal. You? You’re not nearly as brash as she is, but you’ve got the same iron in you. You’re loyal to yourself and what you believe; you wouldn’t’ve stood up to me otherwise, or stood up for your friend.”
“Thanks, but I’m not much of a friend to him, am I? Haven’t seen him in years, and when I left, he was alone dealing with the same mare who gave us both trouble. I hoped that if he saw me in the papers, knew that I’d accomplish something amazing, that wherever he was, he’d smile.”
“Well why give up now that you’ve gotten so far? We need mares like Rainbow Dash to remind us of what matters, and we need mares like you too. For inspiration. For protection. For somepony whose shoulder we can lean on.” A challenging grin appeared on her face. “Now you’ve got a choice; you can do what you want in the background, or you can do it front and center. You’ll probably see that friend of yours again either way, but you’ve got a better chance with us. You’ve got the skills, you’ve got the drive, and it sounds like you’ve got something us Wonderbolts need most, especially after Rainbow Falls, and that’s loyalty.”
Surprise spread across the mare’s face. “I tore up my application.”
“It’s just a bunch of paper. Fill out another one.”
Sunrunner turned away, her expression pensive and uncertain. “It’s tempting.”
“But?”
“But me joining the squad doesn’t automatically make it better, does it?” She stood up and explained, “One thing I’ve learned over the years is that actions speak louder than words. The Wonderbolts didn’t become the way they are now overnight, and me joining won’t make them any different. That change has to come from the top.” She managed an encouraging smile and turned to her superior. “It has to come from you, ma’am.”
Spitfire looked at her with surprise, only to find herself laughing. “You yell at me right outside of my office, and now you’re telling me what to do? I thought I was the superior officer here.” She got to her hooves and realized aloud, “You aren’t wrong, though. You do know that something like this doesn’t come around very often, right?”
A shrug. “I already turned down a post in the Crystal Empire. I think I’ll survive not being a Wonderbolt too. Besides, this’ll give me some time to do something else. I’ve got a class reunion coming up from my school back in Indianapoloosa; they actually want me to help organize the thing. Wasn’t planning on doing it at first, but…”
“But maybe this’ll give you a chance to reconnect with your friend.” At the younger mare’s smile, Spitfire nodded. “Good luck, Lieutenant.”
Sunrunner saluted, this time with more than simple politeness. “And to you, ma’am. Thank you.”
-
A gentle knock on the door, and the pegasus stallion within opened it, the perpetual lines under his eyes quickly overshadowed by surprise. “Spitfire?”
“Hey Soarin. Wing feeling better?”
He blinked in confusion. “Uh, yeah, lots.”
“Good. Listen, I know I should’ve done this earlier, but I’m sorry. For ditching you like I did back at Rainbow Falls, and trying to replace you with Rainbow Dash. You’re not just a teammate, you’re a friend. You deserved better from me.”
The confusion had given way to surprise again as Soarin noted aloud, “You’re doing this without a pie?”
She’d considered bringing one with her as a peace offering, but… “Would’ve felt like I was bribing you into forgiving me if I’d brought one.”
The stallion smiled. “Yeah, it would’ve.” He offered a hoof. “Apology accepted, Spitfire.”
She accepted with a thankful smile of her own. They weren’t a perfect unit. They never were, not in the days of General Firefly and not now. But a pony could stay average, or they could aspire to be better. That went for her too. She thought of those who’d come before, and those who were to come. And as the words of the Wonderbolts’ creed came to the forefront of her mind, she looked forward to seeing them, and to setting a better example.
Though I fly through the valley of doom, I shall fear no evil, for my wingponies are at my side. We are Wonderbolts, and we shall never fear the dark.
Author's Note
Whew. For those who are reading this for the first time, yay and thank you for checking it out. For those who've read this between December 14 and December 25, 2014, welcome back. I've made some edits and changes to the story from the initial version, and I'm quietly hoping that doing so isn't a problem with the powers that be.
My thanks to Reality Check for commenting upon the first version and pointing out some things overlooked by both myself and my OC, Sunrunner. Hopefully, this is a stronger story now, and my mare's put in a better showing.
