Shock and Awe SFW

Elias frowned as he watched the scouts warm up. He had no idea what to drill them on while they waited for the coaches Celestia was supposed to send. They would never function as stand-ins in a shield wall, and while they could learn to throw pilla, they would be exposed the second they flew up to get their aim. It was the very thing he was trying to avoid, so he was at a loss as to what to do with them. He knew how useful they would be, but aside from the same physical training the rest of the legion got, they had nothing else to do.

Elias glanced at Night Flash, who watched the other pegasi with a bored expression on his face. Elias nudged the pegasus with his leg, then motioned to the scouts.

“What suggestions do you have First Centurion? Are they warming up like they should be?”

Night Flash looked over the scouts, then nodded.

“It’s how I would warm up General. Even preening is important to make sure you’re able to fly well, and I don’t see a single pony that isn’t working on their wings in some way. I think they’ll be prepared for when the princesses’ coaches show up.”

“Speaking of,” Night Flash, glancing up to Elias, “who are the coaches? I don’t know anypony outside the guard that would be too good at teaching our scouts how to fly better. I mean, we have a couple of Wonderbolts here, who’s going to know better than them?”

Elias grinned.

“Oh, you’ll see First Centurion. On the note of Wonderbolts however, I assume you haven’t been harassing them for autographs too much?”

Night Flash straightened and puffed out his chest.

“Actually General, I haven’t done a single thing in all my time as First Centurion. I need to act like an officer before I act like a fan after all.”

Elias pondered his words silently for a moment, then snorted.

“You got the autographs after curfew, didn’t you?”

Night Flash’s stern demeanor vanished, and he drooped.

“Yes,” he whispered.

Elias chuckled and shook his head.

“Don’t look so glum First Centurion, I can’t blame you for things you do on your free time, just do try to prepare yourself. I don’t need my second in command acting like a dork when Misty Fly and Fleetfoot get here.”

Elias heard a small squeak from his left, and a loud crack of thunder from the sky. He shaded his eyes from the sun as he spotted a pair of contrails spinning through the air.

“Speaking of,” Elias muttered. He looked to his scouts, who were all staring into the sky at the approaching Wonderbolts. “Snap to recruits! I will not waste valuable Wonderbolt time with you acting like a rabble. Form in a line!”

The pegasi scrambled about like chickens with their heads cut off. Only the few ponies who had been Wonderbolts before fell easily into line, looking only slightly nervous as they watched the pair of blue and yellow clad ponies spiral into the training grounds. Elias glanced to his left and grinned at Night Flash’s frozen expression. The stallion looked like he was going to have a heart attack. Elias nudged the pony, jolting him from his stupor, then motioned to the pair of Wonderbolts as they began to walk out their landing.

“Well come on First Centurion, you’re going to be working with them, you need to introduce yourself.”

Night Flash looked at him with wide, fear filled eyes.

“What?” he squeaked.

“Well I can’t do it,” Elias said. “The wings on my back are for show, not use. I need a pegasus officer to make sure the coaches keep our scouts on their toes and to ensure that proper punishments are dished out for failure. That’s you. The only other candidate is Centurion Ice Blossom, and I need her to run pilum drills.”

Night Flash sputtered, and his eyes flicked to the pair of Wonderbolts, who pulled off their flight goggles, looking around until they spotted Elias. The human gave them a short wave, then nudged Night Flash again.

“Today First Centurion, or you’re never getting those cards signed.”

Night Flash looked torn between his overwhelming nerves at meeting one of his idols, or not getting his cards signed. Elias smiled and shook his head, then walked forward, leaving the pegasus to sort out his internal dilemma. He kept an even expression on his face as he approached the pair of Wonderbolts, and he mentally cursed himself as he felt a flutter of nervousness in his own chest. He and Night Flash had spent just enough time talking about the Wonderbolts for Elias to get hooked, and while he wasn’t quite as fanatical as Night Flash, he hadn’t ever actually seen a Wonderbolt in uniform before. He had to say, the blue and yellow looked as good in real life as it had on the cards.

He offered his hand to Fleetfoot, but instead of shaking it, she forced him to curl it into a fist as she bumped it and grinned at him. The motion felt foreign, and clashed with everything Elias had styled himself after, leaving the human feeling awkward as he dropped the limb back to his side. The pegasus didn’t seem to notice as she smiled up at him.

“You must General Bright.” She motioned to herself, “Name’s Fleetfoot, this here is Misty Fly.”

The yellow pegasus beside her squinted at the row of scouts.

“I’m seein’ some familiar faces here Fleet. Is this washout school?”

Elias saw a few of his scouts bristle at the accusation, but they looked to him, keeping their mouths shut until he spoke. That was a good sign. They expected him to defend their honor, and he would not disappoint.

He squashed any traces of nerves he felt, and crossed his arms, glaring at the yellow pegasus.

“Misty Fly was it?”

She nodded and smirked at him. Elias’ bad eye twitched with irritation.

“Keep that kind of talk to yourself,” Elias said sharply. “These ponies volunteered to be here, and unlike you, they aren’t going to another show to do loops for a crowd of fans.”

He saw outrage flash in her eyes, so he crouched until he was at her eye level, then directed her eyes to the line of scouts with his finger.

“They are going into the heart of war, and they are some of the bravest ponies here, because they will be doing so with weak armor. You’re here to compensate for their armor with better training, but please, belittle them. I’ll send you scampering back to your little flight club with your tail between you legs, then hire somebody who is actually good at flying to coach them.”

Elias stared her down as Misty Fly’s eyes hardened into a furious glare. He didn’t so much as blink as she puffed out her wings. Before the pegasus could but heads with him, however, Fleetfoot intervened, putting herself between the pair of them, and laughing nervously.

“Alright, I think we get the message. Nopony is going to be throwing insults at anyone, right Misty?”

The yellow pegasus growled.

“He started it!”

Fleetfoot spun on her.

“Actually, you did. This isn’t the academy, and we aren’t going to haze these guys. This is a whole different thing, and I swear if you buck it up and soil our good name, Spitfire will hear about it, got it?”

Misty Fly withered and nodded silently. Fleetfoot took a step back and took a deep breath.

“Good. Take five Misty, cool your head. We’ve got a job to do, let’s do it right, and look good while we do it, okay?”

Misty Fly nodded again, grumbling to herself and shooting glares at Elias as she trotted a few feet away. The human rose from his crouch and clasped his arms behind his back. Fleetfoot took another deep breath before she looked back to him with a smile.

“Sorry about that, it was a…. long flight. It can be stressful.”

Elias inclined his head.

“No worries at all, I just get defensive around my ponies is all. I’m sure you feel the same.”

Fleetfoot nodded and grinned, puffing out her chest in pride.

“The Wonderbolts are one big family. We’d do anything for one another,” she shot a glare at Misty Fly, “Including smacking somepony upside the head when they need it!”

The pegasus stuck her tongue out in reply, but the tension seemed to bleed from the air. Elias let a small grin onto his face.

“Fair enough. Either way, today should be one of the last interactions we have, because you two shall be working with First Centurion Flash here.”

Elias turned as he motioned to the pegasus, then stopped as he found the pony dripping with sweat and hyperventilating. Elias blinked in surprise as he saw a very familiar binder in the stallion’s hooves, and a glance toward his saddlebags found them bulging with more card binders. Elias met Night Flash’s eyes.

“First Centurion… did you fly home while we were talking?”

The pegasus gulped, then nodded as he continued gawking at Fleetfoot. Elias let out a small snort.

“First Centurion, I have no words.”

He felt a nudged on his hip, and he glanced down to Fleetfoot. The bluish pony winked.

“I think I can handle this one General. We see fans all the time, and I think you’ll crush his dreams if we don’t take care of this now.”

Elias glanced back to Night Flash, and the stallion twitched as he stared back with wide, pleading eyes. Even covered in armor and with a helmet obscuring part of his face in shadow, the stallion looked absolutely adorable, and it took a substantial amount of willpower not to give him a hug. Elias let out a long sigh and rubbed at his brow.

“Scouts, First Centurion, you have twenty minutes to get this out of your system.”

The pegasi bolted and formed two groups, swarming both Wonderbolts.

“I expect you to be flying like dragons when the times up!” Elias shouted.

He was completely ignored as the chattering excitement reached a fevered pitch. Elias sighed, walking to the shade to wait the ponies out. He watched the groups closely, making sure nobody was making an embarrassment of themselves. He was surprised when after only a minute or two, Flash trotted from the group of ponies, holding neither his binder, nor his saddlebags. He trotted over to Elias, then plopped down next to him, keeping a good half foot between them. Elias side-eyed the pegasus as he practically bounced in his seat.

“Something happen First Centurion?” Elias asked.

The pegasus squealed and leaped at Elias.

“She’s going to take my cards and get them all signed!” Night Flash exclaimed. “I thought I would only get her and Misty Fly’s signatures, but the whole Wonderbolts team!”

He squealed again and did a little dance, fluffing his wings out in joy. The pony positively exuded happiness as he bounced around, and Elias couldn’t find it within his heart to punish him for his unprofessionalism. He instead simply watched as Night Flash danced about, letting the pony exhaust himself.

It took him a few minutes to come down from his excited high, and he quickly realized how much of a fool he was making of himself. He blushed and sat back down, still smiling as he stared at the ground. Elias rolled his eyes and patted the pony on the back.

“Pace yourself there First Centurion. These two are supposed to be spending the next three months with us. If you geek out every time you speak to them, I’m going to have to find someone else to fly with them.”

Night Flash squeaked and froze again.

“F- fly with them?” he whispered.

Elias smiled and shook his head, bracing his hands on his knees.

“What did you think you’d be doing? Watching from the ground? Fuck, I could do that.” Elias shook his head. “No, you’re going to be up there, running drills, making sure they can spot me in a formation, that kind of thing. You studied the packet Scarlet gave you, right?”

Night Flash nodded quickly.

“Of course!” he squawked. His voice immediately dropped as he looked around, making sure nobody was watching. “I studied. I just… didn’t know I’d be running flight drills with the Wonderbolts.”

Elias rolled his eyes again, and wrapped an arm around Night Flash, giving him a lightning fast hug.

“I trust you to do a good job. Just stay calm, remember your discipline, and remember that you’re in charge.”

He motioned to Fleetfoot.

“She isn’t in charge, neither is Misty Fly. You are. You hold command, and the scouts follow your orders. Do your job, I know you can.”

Night Flash stared at Elias, then looked away to rub at his tear-filled eyes. He sniffled as he spoke.

“T-thank you General, that really means a lot.”

After another sniffle, Night Flash snapped to his feet and saluted.

“I won’t let you down!” he proclaimed.

Elias pulled his watch from his belt and glanced at the time.

“Good, because they have three minutes left. See that they aren’t late getting to training. I’m going to go and file paperwork before lunch.”

Night Flash’s happy expression remained for a moment more as he beamed at Elias, then he slipped into his stern guard persona, and he pulled out his own watch, glaring at the scouts.

“I expect you to be in line with wings at the ready in two minutes!” he shouted. “If you’re even a second late, I will make sure to bind your wings and throw you from Canterlot mountain myself! Move ponies!”

The scouts began to scramble back into formation as Elias got to his feet. He gave Night Flash one last grin and a wink before walking to his office.

Author's Note

Takes place after Chapter 44