The Dawn of a Future

It was the end of the first day of school and Rainbow was relieved that it was finally the end. While she was thrilled about the new Wonderbolt tryouts she was still glad the actual school portion of the day was done. Rainbow got her bag and hopped on her scooter.

Rainbow Dash was the only one of her friends to live in a house instead of an apartment and that is simply because her parents bought it for her. While her friends worked to get there apartments her parents got her one. She finally made it home, hopped off her scooter, and unlocked the door. The first thing she did was take off her shoes and jump onto the couch, she pulled out her phone and dialed a familiar phone number.

“Hey, Dash, what’s up?” A voice said from the other end.

“Hey, Thunder,” Rainbow smiled as she spoke, “excited for the tryouts?”

“Yes, but I’m also kinda nervous.” Rainbow could almost feel her nerves creeping up on her as he spoke. “At least I have a good reason to be.”

“And, what’s that suppose to mean?” Rainbow asked, curious to how his brain worked.

“You, Last Legacy, and that other one scored so high on the course,” He sighed, “but I got decent between terrible and zero.”

“C’mon Thunder,” Rainbow rolled her eyes at him, “you have lots of talent where it counts, in your own little Thundery way.”

“Gee, thanks Dash, now I feel so much more confident in myself.” Rainbow could hear the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“Dude, I’m serious,” Rainbow snapped, suddenly, “you try hard and do your best in every situation. You’ll do fine.”

“If you say so,” Thunderlane said, “Well I have to go, see you at tryouts.”

“See ya!” Rainbow ended her call and looked at the time, 3:15, Rainbow thought, not bad.

(5:00 pm)

Rainbow Dash had already arrived to the compound around 4:30 pm. Fleetfoot had walked over already and told her that being one of the first ones here made her look desperate, but quite obviously, Rainbow didn’t care enough to acknowledge her complaint. By now everybody was there, Rainbow was standing near the front with Last Legacy and Thunderlane. They were near where squad 2 was standing and Rainbow could even make out what they were saying, but honestly it sounded more like they didn’t really give a fuck.

“So, tell me Silver, how does it feel going to all of your old friends funerals knowing you’ll be next?” Blaze, the third commander of squad 2, said to Silver Lining the captain of her squad.

“Say something like that again and you’ll find me in black for yours,” He snapped back, “You know what, I have an even better idea.” Silver looked at Wave Chill, the first commander, and glared, “Wave Chill get down on your hands and knees like Spitfire does in your midnight fantasies or something sexual like that ,” Wave Chill looked absolutely mortified since he had absolutely no idea that he had midnight fantasies with Captain Spitfire. While, from the side, squad 3 consisting of Captain Fire Streak, who was keeping his composure, first commander Misty Fly, who was standing there confused, second commander Lightning Streak, who unlike his twin brother was laughing his head off, and third commander Surprise, who was also busy laughing.

“I’m kidding,” Silver smirked at Wave Chill as he halted getting himself on the ground, “about the late night Spitfire thing, not getting on your hands and knees, dammit!” Wave quickly got onto the ground as he assumed the correct position, “Blaze sit down on his back,” Blaze didn't comply at first, but Silver pushed her down onto his back anyway, “And High Winds sit on Blaze.” He raised an eyebrow at a sleeping High Winds and flicked her on the head lightly as she woke up and crankily walked over and sat on Blaze’s lap.

Fleetfoot was on the ground laughing and Soarin was lightly chuckling above her, and Silver raised an eyebrow at them both and said

“What the hell are you looking at?”

“A class A, squad 2, circus act.” Fleetfoot giggled at Blaze’s face as she stuck her tongue out at her.

“Silver what are you doing?” Spitfire questioned him as she watched Wave Chill struggle, Blaze shift uncomfortably, High Winds sleep, and squad 3 watch.

“My own damn job, Captain.” Silver glared at her and walked back over to where his squad was.

Rainbow shifted and fidgeted nervously, slightly disturbed by the scene she had just witnessed and as she looked around at the rest of the cadets were also slightly disturbed. Spitfire walked over to the front of the compound and held up a megaphone.

“Hello cadets,” Spitfire announced adjusting the dial the be a bit louder, “it is very nice to see so many individuals here, dedicated to the Wonderbolts work. Please ignore the exchange that you just saw and move on. As I was saying, welcome to your first day of tryouts and on the schedule for today you will get to free roam for an hour, nowhere is off limits, and a strength test for the remainder of the time. As far as training goes tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday will be normal training days, but on Friday night you get to spend the night here and on Saturday and Sunday you’ll be here all day and night. Unless you get sent home and aren't one of the lucky fifteen to make it or the lucky one who’s able to skip the ranks. Now we usually do not do the elite spot, but I am sure, as you are aware that the lead squad needs a new member, so we are going to pull someone from squad four or five to fill in our space. The lucky cadet will skip to either squad four or five. So come on in and go explore, but please be respectful, the rest of the Wonderbolts are either eating dinner or training.”

Spitfire let them in and Rainbow Dash was glad that she was closer in the front with 3 of her friends because they had all decided that they would ‘explore’ together. If this compound was in about the same format as the Canterlot one then Rainbow would mostly be able to navigate.

“Wait, so the squad 1 gym should be that way,” Rainbow pointed right “then this way is the staircase.” She began walking left direction and the other two were following close behind.

“How do you know your way around the compound?” Legacy asked Dash before she opened the door revealing a staircase.

“I’ve had more than one encounter with them,” she carefully stepped onto the first stair, “well these stairs sure are steep.” She looked at it up and down a she continued walking.

“Don’t worry Dash,” Thunderlane started, winking at her, “I’m right behind you, if you fall… I will quickly move out of the way.”

“Thank’s a lot Thunder nice to know I have something to fall back on,” she raised an eyebrow before continuing up the staircase, “solid ground.”

Just then a blur ran directly into Rainbow Dash knocking her off balance. Without any warning Rainbow was swept up and began her downcast to the floor down the steps, Thunderlane moved out of the the, not out of spite, but out of fear. Good thing Last Legacy wasn’t fazed by the incident and quickly jumped, up span around, bent his legs, and tapped the surface of the wall. Conjuring up his wings just in time and steadying himself as he shot after her, catching her before she could hit the floor. She had a few bruises from the figure knocking her into the sky, but the best part was the only impact that she felt was landing softly into Legacy’s arms. He looked her over and carefully let her back to the ground, so that he could go find the figure. He ran down the stairs and left Thunderlane to look after Rainbow. He finally made it to the door which the three had entered and found the person just walking out.

“Hey, wait up!” Legacy called out still running after the figure who had stopped upon hearing his voice.

“What is it kid?” The guy said, smiling slightly.

“Back there, sir.” He pointed towards the staircase, “You were going so fast you hurt one of my friends and knocked her into the air.”

“And what are you expecting for me to do about it?” His eyes narrowed at Legacy.

“I expect you to apologize to her, sir.” Legacy said in his calm voice of reason.

“Like I would ever apologize to a young cadet for something I did wrong.” He snarled.

“Very well, sir.” Legacy said in an understanding voice walking away and then stopping and turning around, “Then it’s too bad that’s what I’m asking from you, sir.”

“How dare you, little shit!” He swung his fist and angled it to hit right in the center of his face. Legacy say this coming and his eyes widened, but before his quick reflexes kicked in, a hand caught his fist before it connected with Legacy’s head.

“That is enough, Ace.” A strong female voice of authority said, glaring at him, as two more people stepped out behind her, “I apologize for my commanders behavior.”

“No, that’s ok, ma’am.” Legacy said, quickly.

“How rude of me,” She said, “My name is Radiant Shield, captain of squad 4 and these are my comrades. Mythic Harmony, my second commander, the wonderful meeting you just had with Ace, my first commander, and last, but not least Fivestar, my third commander. So, what did you need?”

“You comrade injured my friend Rainbow Dash on the staircase and I asked him to apologize, ma’am.” Legacy said dutifully.

“Let’s go see her, shall we?” Radiant Shield nodded respectfully at Legacy and glared at Ace.

Legacy lead squad 4 up the staircase to where Thunderlane and Rainbow Dash were sitting. Thunderlane walked over to Legacy and told him that Rainbow was fine.

“Thank’s Legacy.” Rainbow winked at him, nudged him, and then looked behind him, “What’s squad 4 doing with you?”

“It’s a long story,” Legacy began.

Soarin was in the lead squad gym lifting weights, while Fleetfoot has standing at the other end running on a treadmill. Soarin was a well built man and he loved to work out and lift weights as a pastime when he didn't have to deal with Fleetfoot and Spitfire. Fleetfoot on the other hand was a 5 ft female athlete and weighed about 100 pounds, which was unusual for an adult, but then Fleetfoot wasn't exactly a normal female athlete. She loved to run fast, win races, and fly.

“Soarin?” A new voice called out from behind him.

“Hey Spitfire,” He smiled and put the weight back on the rack, “What do you need?”

“We have a meeting with Celestia this evening at 9:00 pm and she said it was important, but nothing to worry about, and I’m freaking out!” She explained.

Fleetfoot turned off the treadmill and got off, drinking some water and looking at Spitfire as she rolled her eyes.

“Spitty are we doing this whole worrying thing again?” Fleetfoot asked walking over to the seat by Soarin and sitting down.

“If by ‘worrying thing’, you mean being nervous about an important meeting authorized by Princess Celestia about something potentially dangerous,” Spitfire took a deep breath, “then, yes. Have fun laughing at my misery!” She snapped at Fleetfoot.

“What are you, on your period?” Fleetfoot asked and actually looked kind of confused, “Because that would mean that urban myth about girls periods being on the same day is false.” Spitfire cheeks were red and puffed out in embarrassment.

“No,” She crossed her arms.

“Ok Fleet,” Soarin chuckled, standing up and patting Spitfire on the back, “Let’s not bug Spitty about her period.”

“It could be something really important and you two are just sitting around making jokes!” Spitfire shouted in anger.

“Hey, calm down, Spitfire,” Soarin said in a calm voice, “I agree that it could be something to worry about, but the princess SPECIFICALLY told you not to worry, so I’m sure everything will be fine.”

“You’re right, but she also invited squad 2 and 3,” She sat down, “and the last thing I need is Silver breathing down my neck and saying that ‘you’re not doing it right,’ just because I’m freaking out!”

“It doesn't matter what Silver says, Spitfire.” Soarin sent her a sincere smile, “He’s done this before and you haven't. Besides I bet this is normal, I mean you haven’t been captain for a long time and he’s probably still salty about the fact that we beat him in out for the ‘Gold Squad’ spot.”

“I don’t know if you noticed Soar, but it’s called the Lead Squad now.” Fleetfoot said matter-of-factly.

“I’m aware, but my point is, the princess is wise if there is a problem she’ll have a solution.” Soarin said, looking at Spitfire.

“Wait,” Fleetfoot stopped them both, “so you are on your period or not?”

“That wasn’t a very long story.” Rainbow Dash said before pumping her strength into lifting the weight.

Last Legacy smiled slightly before lifting his weight up once and then turning his head in Rainbow’s direction.

“Well, you see,” Legacy began, “Sometimes people in this world say ‘It’s a long story,’ because they either don’t feel like explaining something or they don’t care enough. For me it was the first one, but the actual bad part of that story was that I now have an enemy in the Wonderbolts, Ace.”

“I’ve heard that he’s a bit, different,” Rainbow hesitated at the last part, “but he’s a team player when he needs to be, a great flyer, and a natural at the elements.”

“Wow,” Legacy smirked, “stalk them much?”

“Only once a week,” Rainbow answered winking at him as they both began laughing, “nah, like I said this isn’t my first time seeing the Wonderbolts.”

“Ah, right,” Legacy was lifting his weight again, “almost forgot about your past experiences.”

“How about you, ever gotten to spend quality time with the Wonderbolts or, let’s be a little bit more realistic, gone to a Wonderbolt show.”

“First question, nope,” He turned to Rainbow and his face fell as he started to lift his weight several time and looked like he was a mixture of angry and upset, “second question, never really had that experience.”

Rainbow decided not to press him on, but in her train of thought she had not noticed that Silver Lining was making his way towards them.

“You two,” He glared at them and spoke in a hard tone, “Wonderbolt rule, if you can lift the weight more ten times, dammit. Then go up one.”

Rainbow and Legacy shared a look and Legacy quickly put his bar up one and started lifting, but Rainbow Dash on the other hand was studying how Silver carried himself, it was much different but her train of thought was interrupted when Silver Lining spoke.

“Any fucking day now, sweetheart,” His glare remained, but he was also raising an eyebrow at her, “Stop looking at me like you want to bang or something, dammit,” Rainbow’s eye’s widened and she began lifting her weight, struggling a bit at first, but eventually getting it down.

She noticed Silver’s focus had shifted from her and Legacy, to Thunderlane. She noticed him bring his hand to his face as he walked over and smacked him hard on the cheek, thank Celestia that Spitfire and the rest were distracted by something over there.

“Don’t put down more than you can lift, motherfucking Celestia must’ve put this down. Believing that you can lift as much as you set your mind to, but, whoopdeefunkingdoo I ain’t no Celestia. I don’t believe in you and sure as hell don’t believe that you can lift 175 pounds.” And at that moment Silver reached down and lifted the weight up and put it on the rack, “I can lift more then a fucking 175 pound weight.”

Rainbow winced at the punishment that Silver gave Thunderlane, but she decided to glance in the direction that everyone was looking in. She spotted a lot of people surrounding, Helmer? That made no sense, but then she looked over at him and saw that he was lifting a… 300 pound weight!? With both Blaze and High Winds sitting on it, but when she actually looked at him she noticed that he bore the same expression as earlier. He fascinated her and she hopped that she would get to learn a bit more about him.

Rainbow Dash opened her front door and collapsed on her couch. The strength test went fairly well, she was now known as, ‘freakishly strong for a girl’. She could lift around 190 pounds and she even heard Fleetfoot ‘whisper’ girl power to Soarin as he chuckled.

Two hours passed and Rainbow finally finished her homework and she was about to turn in, but her doorbell rang and she got up to go answer it.

“Hey Soarin,” She opened the door a bit wider to let him in, “come on in.”

“Hey Dash,” Soarin walked in and sat down on the couch beside where Dash sat. “You did great on the strength test.”

“Thank’s,” She yawned and used Soarin’s lap as a pillow as he blushed slightly. “It’s a great honor to hear such a compliment coming from the great master, Soarin Skies.”

“I’m not that great,” Soarin was still blushing, but then Rainbow slapped him on the thigh, “Hey! What the HELL was that for?”

“Don’t you ever talk down on yourself, ever.” Rainbow closed her eyes, “You’re one of the best Wonderbolts in history, Mister Second-in-command, or does rank mean nothing now?”

“You are a master at my game,” Soarin smiled, “By the way we had a meeting an hour ago about something that I think you might know abou-” he was cut of by the soft sound of snoring.

Soarin picked up Rainbow Dash in his arms and carried her up the stairs to the second room on the left, Rainbow's bedroom. He carefully pulled back the covers and placed her softly on the bed, before tucking her in.

“Goodnight Dashie,” He smiled and kissed her on the forehead, “I love you,” He whispered, “Even if you never know.” He walked up to the light switch turned it off and settled himself on her chaise covering himself in a blanket and drifting off into a peaceful sleep.