The Winds Of Change, Season 1: Friends and Enemys, New and Old.

7/5/1000 C.E.

12:00 P.M.

Hotshot hummed a little tune as he leafed through the file he had on Dash while trotting up the trail to golden meadow hill. "So she's the only known Pegasus to pull off the Sonic Rainboom." He stopped to think about that simple fact alone tingling with euphoria at the mere idea that he could end up dating a legend. "Fascinating!" He trotted over the crest of the hill and his breath caught in his throat.

"Ohhh there she is!" His mind was zooming around at a mile a minute. "Come on Hotshot you can do this. It wouldn't be the first time you've asked out a beautiful mare. And it won't be the last either." With a flick of his mane and a million bit smile he cantered over to were Rainbow was sitting. She hadn't noticed him yet so he quietly made his way over to the bench she was occupying. He was but a few feet away when a loud snap was heard piercing the calm silence. Rainbows ear's swiveled behind her and she lept into the air twisting her body around mid-flight and landing on her hooves coming face to face with the source of the noise.

Dash's eyes settled on Hotshot growing wide with confusion.

"Hey there." She said looking around for any other pony. Not finding one she refocused her attention on Hotshot. "Can I help you?" She raised an eye at his unabashed ogling of her body.

"Ohhellodashhowareyou!?" Hotshot blabbed all at once. Rainbow smirked at his flustered face. "So are you a fan or just some stalker?" She asked giving the new pegasus's body an impromptu analysis. Hotshot recomposed himself trying to get the raging fire on his cheeks to subside but it was a futile effort.

"Come on dude snap out of it! You can do this!" Hotshot took a deep breath, held it, "Ahh much better." He chuckled a little.

"I am so sorry about that Miss Dash." Hotshot ran a hoof through his hair. Dash sat there still studying the weird pony in front of her.

"Well if he turns out to be a creep I can always kick his flank into next week." Dash gave the sky a glance. "The sun is in the sky at an angle of about 80* so it's about 12:30 PM." Her brain logged the time of day in the blink of an eye and then her attention was redirected to her mystery companion. She gave a nod of acknowledgment.

"Don't worry about it. And call me Rainbow. No need for the Miss." She smiled trying to be as friendly to this new face as possible. Hotshot smirked.

"Sorry about that." He said as he looked at her bandaged wing. "So Rainbow." He asked giving her his patented smile. "What bring's a mare like you to a place like this?" He asked trying to lay his charm on softly. Rainbow had to fight the instinct to roll her eye's. "Oh boy one of these guy's."

12:58 P.M.

With a whoosh of magic and a flash of green flame-"GREEN FLAME!!" Star gave a look around his surroundings to see where the shout had come from. Not a soul was in sight. "Hmm. Odd."-Shooting Star the unicorn was now Shooting Star the pegasus. With a leap and a flap, his wings unfurled and he took flight into the big blue sky. "Need to make my way over to Sweet Apple Acres then hang a right." With his course planned out he skimmed the ground as he made his way over to the meeting spot he and dash had picked out an hour before hoof.

"I wonder what I'll be learning today?" His mind drifted to Dash's wing and a frown came over him. "I hope she's going to be ok." He steeled himself for the inevitable drill Sargent Dash would become. If his time with her in the past was any indicator he knew that no matter what she was going to push him to his limits and maybe even a little beyond them. His whole body was tingling with excitement.

"I can't wait!" He flapped his wings a little bit harder in hopes of getting there just a little bit sooner. He finally graced the hill with his site and was happy to see Dash was there and that she wasn't alone. "Those two are inseparable." He said as he slowed himself down in preparation for a soft landing. As he circled the hill the three sets of eye's currently conversing all stopped and gave him a silent inspection. Fluttershy sat under the shade of a nearby tree, a soft smile on her face.

"Oh good, he's here." She said as she got up and trotted over to Dash who to had a smile on her face. The only one not smiling at the newest arrival was Hotshot. "Who is this dude?" Fluttershy glanced in his direction shooting him a soft scowl of disapproval. "Someone is a bit too testy." She sensed a certain hostility in the air. Her eye's glowed a soft red as she scanned the auras of her present and future company. Her eyes went wide when she saw the slight undertone of jealousy in Hotshot's aura and saw that his was connected to Rainbow's with a very thin string of magic. Rainbow's aura not to Fluttershy's surprise was like a blazing sun of rainbow hue. It, however, had a strong tether not only to Fluttershy herself but also to Star who was just about to touch down. She smiled as he landed on all four hooves with a slight grin to his features.

"Yes stuck the landing!" He said fisting the air as he trotted over to the group, his wings folding to his sides. Dash laughed at his exuberance and got up to trot over to Star but she was beaten to the punch by Hotshot who regarded this new pegasus, if Fluttershy's aura sense was correct, with a small degree of hostility because he was in Hotshots mind encroaching on his territory.

"Hey there buddy!" Hotshot flashed a fake smile, his aura lighting up with confidence as he secretly wished this newcomer would just buzz off. Star waved and smiled back. "Why does he hate me so much?" He wondered to himself. He felt the eye's on him and his mind reached out. "Hey there Flutter's!" He called out as he trotted up to the group. Fluttershy smiled.

"Hello Star." The two stallions finally reached one another and just like the first time they met there hoof shake while looking like a nice natured shake of respect was a secret test of strength. "He has a strong grip." Hotshot remarked. Star just smiled as he brushed Hotshots surface thought's and felt the shift of his emotion's. "Well, he wasn't expecting that." The two finally broke out of there silent war and Hotshot stepped aside to let Star pass. Rainbow meanwhile rolled her eye's. "Stallion's." She huffed just loud enough for Fluttershy to hear which sent her into a chortle fit.

"Ok boy's settle down and put away your dick's!" She shouted at the top of her lungs causing the two males to jump and flush at the same time. The two thoroughly embarrassed stallions briskly trotted up the to the two female pegasi and sat down avoiding direct eye contact. Dash snorted.

"Now." She gave Star a bemused smile. "Star thank you for coming." Hotshot scrunched up his face. "What?" His head whipped around and gave the stallion next to him a look of confusion. Seconds later a flash of green flame flew up and then settled down to reveal Shooting Star the Unicorn.

"What? How? When?" Hotshot rambled. Star just smiled and shrugged like he was as normal as could be. Dash shook her head.

"Every time you cast that spell it never gets old to see another pony face when they see it for the first time." She commented. Star just nodded in agreement. Hotshot just sat there glaring daggers at the now familiar face he had come to loathe in such a short amount of time. "He can cast a spell that grants him wings?!" Hotshot was seething right now. He might have been a champ at hiding it but two out of the three pony's present could see his clear and unbridled fury.

"Oh my." Fluttershy could see Hotshots aura shift from a normal yellow hue to one of a deep blood red. He soon got a lid on his anger and the blood red died down to a soft ember of orange shrowded amongst a sea of yellows and pinks. Dash could feel the tense atmosphere and decided the now was the time to take action.

"So!" She shouted clapping her hooves together getting everyponys attention. "Do you two want to start this or are you both going to continue ogling me?" Her joke got the correct response from all three of her companions. Fluttershy hid a soft grin upon her face as the two males began to stutter and bluster. Rainbow's laughter cut through the awkward moment like a hot knife through butter.

"Relax will you guys? We're just here to get in some flight practice." She smirked at the two. "No need to make it a competition. That would entail that I am apart of this little endeavor of ours.." Star just shook his head smiling while Hotshot just looked around still feeling nervous. Rainbow suddenly stood just a little bit straiter.

"Now let's get down to business. You two are here to learn how to fly, correct?" She asked her voice ringing with authority. Hotshot was about to race a hoof but Star spoke up first.

"Yes Ma'am!" He shouted in compliance. Dash smirked. "Good. Now we'll start you both off with some wing ups." She trotted over to them with a stopwatch in hoof. "Alright, when I say go you both are going to drop down and keep on going until I get tired." They both gave off a nervous glance at this but said nothing. "Well today is going to end with me puking my guts out." Star thought. Hotshot meanwhile internally groaned. "Great. I'm on leave and this is what I get?"

Ponyville Clocktower.
5:47 P.M.

Star limped home with a satisfied smile upon his muzzle. "Dang Dash sure can dish it out." He thought back to his intense workout. "Four hours of practice." His whole body shook as he fought down the urge to collapse and vomit all at once.

Once he had collected his stomach he continued to trot home. His grin returned. "Still it was worth it." In the end, he was only able to make it 5 feet into the air but that was better than at the town hall. "Plus I got to hang out with two of my best friends and I even got to make a new acquaintance."

Then he thought about it. "Although I don't think I'll be spending much time with Hotshot. He doesn't seem to like me all that much and I can't fathom why." He knew that he could just pick up his thoughts but he vowed to never use his mental magic to invade another's privacy. Finally, Star made it home.

"Hello dear!" His mother called own from the first loft. Star smiled as he trudged up the first flight of stairs.

"Hey, mom." He made his way over to a small one pony coach and promptly fell onto it in a heap of fur and sweat.

"That good huh?" His father strode in from above. Star raised a hoof in acknowledgment. Both parents laughed.

"So does this mean you found a girl son?" His dad pressed on. Star glared at him and huffed. "No, dad. I was out training with Rainbow and Flutters." His dad's grin intensified. "Oh, so it was a girl. A couple of girls in fact." Star buried his face in a pillow but it did little to hide his flustered state as his tail lashed about. His mom came to his defense.

"Oh stop teasing the poor dear honey," Ruby said as she came over and cuddled her son who tried to get away but alas his mother's magic was too strong. "You know how he is with his friends. Fluttershy is more like the daughter we never had with how much time she's spent with us over the year's." She thought about it. "Although even I must admit that Dash is a completely different story." Star gulped. "Not you too!" He moaned as he covered his face with his hooves.

"Oh yes, dear. We might not have the best skill's in the romance department but even we can see the way you two light up when you're around one another. If you don't believe us just ask Fluttershy. She'll tell you the same thing." Star froze. "What!?" He squeaked out as he slumped to the ground. Ruby rolled her eye's.

"Oh come on now it's not that bad. In fact, it's probably better that you two started out as friends first. Can't just go out into town and find an elidable mare just like that." she said slapping her hooves together. Star gave her a sour look. "Well you could but it wouldn't be a good idea to go and fall for some random hussy off the street's." She added. Star just gave a snort.

"Oh yeah because all the mares will tremble in excitement when I come to town." He deadpanned. He shook his head. "Well as fun as this day has been I really need to get to bed." He said getting up off the floor and ascending a few more flights of stairs to the top of the clocktower. "Shoot what could Dash see in a pony like me anyway's?" He opened the door to his room, strode over to his bed and fell into it falling asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow, his mind going over the events of the day.

Ponyville Barracks Station 6.

10:00 P.M.

"Light's out!" Came the shout from the CO as she filed through the small building heading to her own bunch in the back. As Hotshot settled in for the night his mind raced with what he had seen.

"That filthy unicorn can cast a spell to give the gift of the pegasus." He snarled. "Only we can fly as fast as the wind. Only we can clear the skies. We are the master's of the air." He pummeled his pillow in rage. "And that low life no good rotten piece of shit thinks he can steal that from us with his little spell!?" He simmered down a few degrees as his brain shut off allowing his mind to slip into a deep sleep. "I'll make him pay for this."