Chapter 1: Prologue
I was Captain of the Wonderbolts. I was part of the Scarlet Wings. I have been offered a place in almost every elite flight group in Equestria for my ability to perform a single stunt. I could perform countless others, but that was not the reason for my recognition. It was the legendary Spinferno that brought me fame and fortune. I had been the first to perform one and am one of the few who have lived to do it again.
It had been a dream of my foalhood, ever since I was told the Spinferno legend by my parents. My father was a flame-red pegasus named Blaze, my mother a dark blue pegasus named Midnight. Their cutie marks, a fireball and a black lightning bolt respectively, combined to create mine - a flaming black lightning bolt.
Some call it destiny, and perhaps it was, but a Spinferno takes a pegasus with the dual talents of speed and fire. I was that pegasus. I am called FireFlash, a fitting name. My feat took much agility, strength, speed, and control of fire. All the elements for a successful Spinferno, I possessed. It took all of my ability to complete one, yet I succeeded and lived to tell the tale, changing my life forever. Here's how it happened...
Chapter 2: The Spinferno
It seemed like any other normal day, not one where you make history. I had been flying around with nothing to do, and finally decided on a solo aerobatics session. The pegasi weather team had to practice tornado control duty today, and my mom was going to be there. I wanted to create my own tornado, to see if I could make one big enough to at least pick up some stuff and throw it around. I knew a lot about wind speed, aerodynamics, and all the other factors that had to be taken into account when creating a tornado, but unfortunately I still had no knowledge on how to actually create the tornado itself. I had contracted a nasty case of the feather flu on the day they had been demonstrated at flight school, and couldn’t attend. I was going to be on my own for this one. It couldn't be too hard though, could it? It's only a spinning mass of air, after all.
I flew to a nearby park dotted with plenty of trees. I started with what I figured were the basics, trotting in a circle. As I expected, nothing happened. Not even the leaves that carpeted the ground moved. It was obvious to me that I would need a lot of speed to pull off a solo tornado. I increased my run to a sprint, going flat-out while keeping to a tight circle. I glanced down at my hooves for a moment to see what was happening, and noticed a glowing red ring forming beneath me. Shocked, I took off to avoid it but continued to fly in a circle. A haze of dust and dirt had begun forming inside my path, but it was not enough to keep me from noticing a second, orange ring glowing inside the red one. The shades of the colors were chromatically identical to my mane and tail, which really freaked me out. I wanted to get this over with so that I could get away from the rings, which were really starting to worry me.
I sped up and continued flying. A third ring formed in the center, all three glowing brighter the faster I flew. The most unnerving part was that the glow seemed to flicker, not unlike flames. My tornado had now built up a mass of leaves and branches, but I wasn't satisfied. A ten foot cone of tree debris wasn't good enough. I pulled higher and increased my speed, the cone widening and rising to fifteen feet. The wind speed was growing, as was the wingpower required to control it. I glanced down to look at the rings of light again, and noticed that they were now on fire. I yelped in fear. I was now actually afraid and starting to get tired, so I decided to push myself to my wing power limit of 12.8. I sped up as much as I could, and flew even higher, pulling in even more leaves, twigs, and even a lot of large branches. Suddenly, the base of the tornado ignited, sending flames flickering up alongside it. I cried out in fear, expecting to be burnt to a crisp, but instead, the flames rippled around me, not burning, but covering me with a warm watery feeling accompanied by a tickling sensation.
The flames reached the top of the tornado and began to spin along with the debris, which was being eaten up as fuel. Then it struck me; I was in the middle of a flaming tornado. I couldn't wait to show my parents this amazing trick. I was about to fly to the weather station to show my mom, when I heard a voice I knew well from air shows. It was the voice of Jet Stream, captain of the Scarlet Wings! "Hey! Young colt! Can you stop?" he called out over the rushing wind and crackling flames. I slowly undid my Spinferno step by step, and landed on the ground next to him.
"What could you want from a simple pegasus like me?" I asked.
"That was the only Spinferno I have ever seen. You have ability. I was on my way to the Scarlet Wings tryouts for new members. Invitation only, so we don't have thousands of entrants. I am offering you an entry slot, uh..."
"FireFlash."
"I would like to see you there, FireFlash. Cloudsdale Stadium, twenty minutes," he finished before flying away. I hesitated. This is the most important decision I will ever make. It will change my life forever, and I definitely can't let this extraordinary chance pass by. After a moment of thought, I flew after him towards my destiny.