Maretime Bay was always crowded in the early afternoon as the ponies were going about their daily lives. There was always a sense of utopian peace in the air around that time that could not be explained by anypony. It was always a phenomenon that just happened.
Earth ponies walked briskly across the crosswalks, talking with friends. The pegasi practiced their flight, spinning merrily in the huge blue canvas they were born to dominate. Unicorns carried their groceries with their magic, a feat that seemed easy for them even though they had just gotten it back. Huge delivery trucks rolled down the streets, threatening to crush the little fillies who always played nearby.
The town was filled with chatter and lighthearted banter between all three pony races. Gone were the days of paranoia, mistrust, and segregation. In its place were friendship and harmony, two sacred virtues safeguarded by the three Unity Crystals that protected the land. Stored in the Crystal Brighthouse, the Crystals were responsible for containing all of the realm’s magic and maintaining the coexistence between the tribes.
It had been two days since the ponies had almost lost their magic forever once more on Maretime Bay Day and the experience had brought them all closer together in ways that they could not describe.
As the cheerful atmosphere permeated the town like a nice morning perfume, an orange earth pony with a pink mane and tail zoomed by on roller skates, waving hi to everypony she passed. Her name was Sunny Starscout, self-proclaimed history fanatic, savior of Equestria, and best friends to everyone in Maretime Bay.
She was humming to herself merrily as she skated by, the soft wind blew through her mane. Everyone she passed waved back to her. Sunny was a respected figure within the town now, having saved the magic not once, but twice. But it didn’t start out that way. Before the unicorn incident that kickstarted the quest to retrieve the Crystals, Sunny used to be an outcast and looked down upon by everyone. She used to be the town’s radical activist whose ideas no one listened to.
It seemed like only yesterday that she was the most wanted pony in all of Maretime Bay for her reckless antics.
But after bringing the magic back and proving that all ponies could be friends, Sunny was not only a friend to everyone in the town, she was their hero. She and her friends had accomplished feats that the townsponies could only dream of accomplishing and for that, they were eternally grateful.
As she sped by the townsponies, she saw her good friend Windy way high in the sky, practicing her flight with great effort.
“How’s it goin,’ Windy?” Sunny called up to the pink pegasus mare.
Managing to stabilize herself before she could fall, Windy saw Sunny and waved back, “Doing good! Unfortunately, it looks like I still have a lot to learn about flying!”
“You’ll get there, Windy! I promise!” Sunny called back. With that, she continued her trek all the way down town, back to the Crystal Brighthouse where she saw Zipp and Pipp talking with one another.
“…And I promise to always listen to you from now on if you think there’s a problem,” Pipp promised her, “You’re the investigator in this town.”
Zipp reached out with her right hoof. “We’ll do our part…”
Pipp reached out with her right hoof and touched it to Zipp’s in an act of forging a unbreakable promise. “Hoof to heart…”
“Hey, everypony!” Sunny waved to them.
Upon seeing Sunny, Zipp did a double take and blushed in embarrassment. “Oh, Sunny! How…much…did you hear?”
“Not much,” Sunny admitted, “Just the ending part. I promise I won’t tell any of our other friends if it’s personal.”
Pipp nodded. “It is personal. The others don’t need to know.”
Sunny made a lips sealing motion. “Then you have my word that nopony else will know.”
Zipp smiled, but that smile quickly faded when all of a sudden, there came the sound of fillies screaming in the distance. She faced Sunny. “We’ll talk later, Sunny. Gotta fly!”
Wings unfolding, she rocketed off towards the sound of the screams, leaving a trail of smoke behind her.
Sunny sighed. She was hoping to help Zipp get over some of her insecurities about her place in Maretime Bay today. Who knew how many life-saving errands the white pegasus would be on the whole day?
“Don’t worry about Zipp,” Pipp assured her. “She’s basically the town lifeguard. It’s practically her job to save fillies falling out of the sky, magic glitch-induced or no.”
“Yeah, but I was hoping to find Zipp something to do,” Sunny said, “She told me before that she didn’t think she belonged here, but that’s not true! I’m trying to talk Phyllis into hiring her.”
Pipp rolled her eyes. “You really think Zipp’s going to be cool with making anti-pegasus tech?”
“I-“ Sunny had to admit that Pipp had a point. Even though Maretime Bay was a pony melting pot by this point, old habits died hard and Phyllis was still trying to profit off of her inventions which no one except the old grandpas bought anymore.
“Come on, Sunny,” Pipp told her, “We can figure it out together inside.”
———————————————————————————————————————————————
The Crystal Brighthouse was as beautiful as it ever was. Serving as the symbol of harmony and equality, it stood as the replacement to Sunny’s old lighthouse, which Sprout had destroyed long ago.
Each one of Sunny’s friends had customized it with their own flair as the five of them had practically built it from the ground up. Izzy Moonbow wanted lots of glitter in her room, Pipp decorated hers all stylish and fancy, and Zipp and Hitch preferred theirs more down to earth and plain.
Sunny’s room had the picture of her father Argyle Starshine back when she was a little filly. The picture had been completely destroyed during Sprout’s rampage, but each one of the pony leaders had come together and pieced together a frame. She still missed her father. Every night, she would dream of him holding her and telling her stories about the past.
As for her friends, Izzy was jumping on her bed to the annoyance of Hitch when they both heard the doors open from downstairs. They headed down to see Sunny and Pipp enter.
“We have a new mission!” Sunny announced proudly.
“Ooh! Let me guess! Another Crystal finding mission?” Izzy asked excitedly.
“Another dissatisfied fellow earth pony who turns out to be the villain and almost destroys Maretime Bay?” Hitch chimed in.
“Nope,” Sunny shook her head. “I think we’ve had enough of those after Sprout and Posey, wouldn’t you say? This time, it’s for Zipp! You see, she once confided in me that she didn’t know if she belonged here. It’s time we changed that!”
“Well, count me in,” Hitch affirmed, “It’s about time we had a down-to-earth adventure for once. Izzy, has Zipp told you anything about what she likes?”
Izzy thought about it. Then her eyes went wide. “Well, recently she has been obsessing with this group from the past called the Wonderbolts. I often hear her fantasizing about bringing them back and-“
Before she could finish, a very disoriented Zipp tumbled down the stairs and landed flat on her face, moaning.
Pipp chuckled. “That’s what you get for being the town lifeguard. Now get up, sis. We’re talking about you.”
Zipp dusted herself off as she stood up. “What’d I do this time, Sunny?”
“You told me the day before Maretime Bay Day began that you felt like you didn’t belong here,” Sunny told her, “Is that true?”
Zipp nodded slowly. “While I’m pretty happy being the town investigator, I still…feel like I get in everypony else’s way sometimes. What about when there’s no phenomenon to keep track of? The Crystals haven’t glitched since Maretime Bay Day ended.”
“Izzy overheard you talking about the Wonderbolts in your sleep,” Hitch mentioned.
At this, Zipp blushed again. “Well…they are pretty awesome. I mean, they were the biggest stunt team in all of Equestria! After they got lost in a storm, however…they never came back. There is a school club in the local Elementary School though called the Junior Wonderbolts. Its leader is a filly named Sunshine Wings. She’s very passionate.”
“You’ve met her?” Pipp inquired.
Zipp nodded. “At several points. In fact, that’s who I was saving earlier. She and her sister Rainbow Tails were trying out a dangerous aerial stunt. Long story short, their tails got caught in between each other and…well, you know the rest.”
“What if…I was able to get you a job at the school?” Sunny inquired, “Think about it. The old athletics coach recently retired. They’re looking for a replacement. What better way to bring the Wonderbolts back than to train the next generation yourself? As you said, there’s a club.”
“You’d get them to hire me?” Zipp asked her, “I don’t know. Would they trust you after how many times you broke in to give your friendship speeches? And besides, I don’t know the first thing about how to train a class, or that extensively about the Wonderbolts. I just stumbled upon some history books in the library and became obsessed. I don’t want to teach them the wrong things.”
“Then we’ll research together,” said Sunny with a hint of pride. “I think we can turn that little school club into the next best flight team in all of Equestria!“
Zipp was touched by Sunny’s willingness to help. “Thanks. Are you sure though? I mean, I don’t want my fantasies getting in the way of whatever you want to do.”
“Trust me, Zipp,” Hitch nudged her playfully, “When it comes to researching about the past, you don’t say no to Sunny.”
Zipp smiled back. “Alright, if you’re sure.”
“I’m sure,” Sunny promised her, “We’ll bring the Wonderbolts back from the ashes, I’m sure of it! This is your purpose. We definitely got this.”
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Later that day, Sunny and Zipp were in the library, pouring through every single book that they could find. So far, nothing could be found on the Wonderbolts and Sunny was surprised by this. The Wonderbolts were known as the most famous aerial flight team in all of ancient Equestria.
“We definitely…don’t got this.” Sunny deadpanned, putting her face in her hooves in disappointment. Never had doing research in the library come out to nothing, even in her old lighthouse. She could see that Zipp was having a similar look of discouragement.
“It’s okay, Sunny,” Zipp assured her, “It’s kind of you to do this, but it’s…kind of a lost cause. I mean, how are you going to get me hired to that elementary school? I have no prior experience teaching. Not to mention, being a Wonderbolt probably meant years of training. It’s unlikely we can train these foals to be professionals, even if we tried.”
Sunny felt terrible. She didn’t want to let Zipp down. There had to be a way to learn about the ancient history of the Wonderbolts. There was no way that she would even consider letting her pegasus friend down like that. Not after all the faith she placed in her.
“Zipp,” Sunny promised her, “I promise that we will find a way to do this. I’m going to help you fulfill your dream whatever it takes. You put your faith in me, I won’t let you down.” She fought back a sudden rush of tears.
“Sunny-“ Zipp was about to comfort her when all of a sudden, both of them heard a loud thump come from the top shelf. They looked up to see Izzy on a ladder.
“Surprise!!” Izzy exclaimed. “This old blue book fell from the top shelf. I was trying to get a book on the proper use of glitter for an art project I’m working on, but there’s none here!”
“It’s…unlikely there’s an encyclopedia on glitter.” Zipp told her bluntly.
“Were you here this entire time?” Sunny asked her.
“Nope! Just showed up about 40 seconds and two milliseconds after you finished your sentence,” Izzy replied with a note of precision.
“I’m not going to question that,” Zipp said, shaking her head. “Look!”
Sunny walked carefully towards the latter to pick up the fallen book. It had a symbol of a flying pegasus on it. The book was titled:
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE WONDERBOLTS by Argyle Starshine
“My Dad wrote a book on the Wonderbolts?!” exclaimed Sunny in shock, “How did I not know? He read me all of his books before…well, you know…”
“Yeah, we get it,” Zipp replied, “Honestly, I haven’t seen this one around here before either. Maybe it was part of Hitch’s new shipment. He spends online like crazy on Ponyzon every Wednesday.”
Sunny growled. “That better may not be my money he’s taking out.”
“Well, he did tell me not to let you know about-“ Izzy began.
“WHAT?!”
“We can deal with it later,” Zipp calmed Sunny down, “Let’s see what your father has to say about the Wonderbolts. Izzy, can you tell Hitch to put in a good word for me with the school?”
“Already on it-WHOA!! Whoa!!” Izzy struggled to hold on as the ladder suddenly tipped over. Quick as a flash, Sunny and Izzy dropped the book and caught the purple unicorn in mid-air. The ladder fell down the railing to its doom, shattering into a million pieces.
“That’s gonna be a clean up job alright,” Zipp remarked.
Sunny shrugged. “Eh, I’ve cleaned up worse. Izzy, are you okay?”
“Yup!” Izzy sprang to her hooves like nothing happened. “‘Tis but a minor flesh wound, my friends.”’ With that, she teleported downstairs.
Sunny chuckled. “Izzy sure knows how to lighten any situation.” She looked at the big blue book still laying on the floor. “Alright Dad, why didn’t you read me this one…?”
The two of them sat on the floor with the book in front of them. Carefully, Sunny opened the book, turned to the first page and began to read, “‘Foreword: My continued studies on ancient Equestrian history have led me to the discovery of the remains of an elite squad of pegasi called the Wonderbolts. From what I could gather, their history goes all the way back to the first banishment of the Mare In The Moon…”
———————————————————————————————————————————————
“The banishment of Nightmare Moon had left a legacy of fear and paranoia behind. Nopony felt like they were safe. So many villains had plagued the land in that one year alone. Princess Celestia had fought the good fight, but her servants and everypony in the castle knew that it was only a matter of time before a new threat emerged to take down the throne.
And so, the Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasus Guard (E.U.P) was formed to protect and be the personal bodyguards to the Princess. Made up of all three pony tribes, this united coalition would serve as a warning to those who would dare forsake her name. The announcement of this new group was given just six years after the banishment and everyone felt safe once more.
During the first celebration of peace, a select squad of pegasi were selected to perform a special routine to commemorate the great battle. The pegasi took to the air, delivering a performance that was so filled with energy that magical lightening showered the ground below. The ponies were so in awe of the performance that General Firefly officially named this group: The Wonderbolts.
For years, the Wonderbolts helped provide entertainment and joy with their dangerous stunts, even as Nightmare Moon and the mythos surrounding her became nothing but an urban legend. Eventually, Admiral Fairweather formed an academy to train the next generations of Bolts, a decision which helped to expand the Bolts’ ranks to insurmountable proportions.
One thousand years later, a young pegasus named Rainbow Dash joined the Wonderbolts, soon rising in rank to become their leader after the retirement of Spitfire. They were instrumental in saving Equestria from a trio of terrible villains.
Upon the ascension of Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Wonderbolts became well-known throughout the known realm for their association with the Guardians of Harmony, soon becoming part of peacekeeping duties around the world under the guidance of the Council of Friendship.
However, all the peace came crashing down with the inevitable return of the Windigoes, born out of the built-up hatred that the tribes had towards each other, thanks to a mysterious unicorn who helped to divide the populace. The ponies turned against their rulers, against their own natures, and against themselves.
As Equestria became bathed in a blanket of eternal snow, the Wonderbolts were called into combat by Princess Twilight to help drive off the windy beasts. But it was all to no avail. For even with their best efforts, each pegasus froze to death while fighting off the storm. One by one, they perished and the Windigoes devoured their souls until only Rainbow Dash remained.
Dash, with her dying breaths, inspired Equestria to come together again and fight for the homes they had once held so dear. As she dove into the storm, her last words to her friends were: "See? I’d never leave my friends hangin.’"
The Wonderbolts were never seen again, their legacy told through the ponies that lived on after the creation of the Crystals. There were no new attempts to train new pegasi, for fear of losing them again. The Academy shut down, now nothing but an overgrown ruin, standing in its failure.
But one day, it was prophesied that one day, Rainbow Dash’s true successor would bring the Wonderbolts back from extinction, and back to glory…”
———————————————————————————————————————————————
“…I only hope we won’t lose them again now as we did before.” Sunny finished reading the book. She was in shock more than anything, and she could not believe it. She understood why Argyle didn’t read her this book. He most likely thought that learning about the grim fate of the Wonderbolts would be too gruesome for a filly, even though she was a young preteen when he passed.
Zipp too shared a similar look of shock. The Wonderbolts had given their lives for Equestria and brought everyone back together at least temporarily.
“So…everything that thing called Discord told us was true?” Zipp asked.
“I never doubted it,” Sunny answered her, “But he didn’t tell us everything. He left out this very important detail. At least now we know their full story.”
Just then, Hitch came running up the stairs. “Sunny! There you are! Sorry I came late. I had to drop Sparky off at the local daycare and I also found the principal of the school! She…wants to talk to you.”
As Sunny walked over to Hitch, Zipp called out: “Good luck, Sunny!”
———————————————————————————————————————————————
“It is my understanding that your friend wants a job at the school, right?” Ms. Daisy, the principal of the local school asked Sunny.
They were at Hitch’s office conducting an interview on Zipp’s behalf. In order to make sure the interview went smoothly, Hitch had to lock his animal “deputies” in cages so that they wouldn’t interrupt or interfere with it, much to their very vocal annoyance that could be heard faintly in the back.
Ms. Daisy was a white earth pony mare with a pink mane and tail, as well as a cutie mark of a magenta flower.
Sunny snapped to attention. “Um, yes! Yes, she does. She’s recently become obsessed with the Wonderbolts and she was…wondering if she could teach a new athletics program at the school to train a new generation of them.”
Ms. Daisy nodded slowly. “You’ve changed a lot since we last met, Sunny. Last time we met, you were breaking into my class to teach ‘a lesson on the importance of equality.’ Those poor dears didn’t understand a thing you said.”
Sunny blushed in embarrassment. “Well…I understand that I wasn’t…the best pony to talk to. But at least it all turned out alright in the end, right?”
“I’d say so,” Ms. Daisy replied, “And you’re lucky it did. The only reason that none of the staff are out for your blood after the madness you caused to our classes is because you hold the key to Equestria’s future. The other teachers are scared that one wrong move and you’ll take away their magic forever by separating those Crystals.”
“Oooooooooonn a hopefully related note,” said Hitch awkwardly, “Zipp starts on Monday?”
Again, Ms. Daisy nodded. “Provisional hiring is granted. We’ll start the new Wonderbolts program, but we’ll have to see Zipp’s competence at teaching the fillies first in full swing before she can become a permanent member of our staff. She has until the end of next week.”
“Thank you, Ms. Daisy,” Sunny thanked her.
Ms. Daisy said her goodbyes and went on her way, trotting out the door of the Sheriff’s Department, the doors closing behind her.
“Sooooooo…” Sunny asked, “How’s Sprout doing recently?”
“He’s…been fired ever since he almost destroyed Maretime Bay,” Hitch explained, “I sentenced him to one thousand years of community service and 4 years in prison.” He saw Sunny’s jaw drop open and continued, “But don’t worry! He has a chance of parole after 50. I had to…”
“I know you did,” Sunny said, “I just wished that…we could’ve given him a second chance. I mean, we had no problem forgiving Posey, right?”
“Sunny,” Hitch sighed deeply, “That was different. Posey wasn’t evil. She just felt left out like I’m pretty sure almost every other earth pony here did in regards to magic. Sprout almost started a war between races that could’ve destroyed Equestria as we know it. He had clear intentions to harm the unicorns and pegasi.”
“But…he was our friend…” Sunny looked down in sadness. She remembered Sprout and despite everything he had done, they were still childhood friends.
“I know,” Hitch nodded slowly. He put his hoof around Sunny, causing both of them to blush momentarily. “But the difference is that Posey was simply a traditionalist. Sprout had become an out-of-control terrorist. If I was to let him go now, I would have to forsake my duties as Sheriff and leader of Maretime Bay. Maybe I could have you visit him sometime though. He does yard work for Gusty on Sundays.”
Sunny nodded back. “I’d love that, Hitch.”
“I love y-I mean, um, let’s go tell Zipp the news, okay?” Hitch stood up quickly, silently cursing himself for almost saying the three words he had been internalizing.
Sunny didn’t seem to notice. “Great!! She’s going to be so excited!!”
“Yeah!!” Hitch exclaimed.
With that, they both left the Sheriff’s Office and went back to the Crystal Brighthouse where they told Zipp the news. Sunny didn’t know how they were going to turn a bunch of schoolponies into an elite aerial stunt team in a week, but she was determined to fulfill Zipp’s dream no matter what it took to do it. She would fulfill her promise.
And she would finally feel that she was a good friend to her.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
The Moon was a comforting presence for the ponies of Maretime Bay. Every time it cast its soft light upon the town streets, it was a reminder that they weren’t alone and that anything was possible. There were still those who loved the night and those who hated it. But they couldn’t deny that the Moon was the most beautiful sight to look at through a window.
That night, Sunny Starscout couldn’t sleep. She was pacing back and forth in her room like an imprisoned tiger waiting for its release. The wind was blowing softly through the open window, but she couldn’t enjoy it. She was worried about her idea, whether it would backfire.
She knew that she was doing the right thing and Zipp was ecstatic when she found out that she would get the chance to teach the Junior Wonderbolts club at the elementary school. Yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something would go wrong. She valued Zipp’s friendship and all of the trust that her friends placed on her.
She was the key to an Equestria that would someday be made great again and reunify. But she felt insecure about her position. She knew that no matter if the plan failed or not, Zipp wouldn’t blame her. But she would never be able to forgive herself if the idea didn’t work. She wanted to feel worthy of the faith that her friends had in her, and she didn’t feel it yet. For all she was concerned, they only stuck around with her because she had saved the world and now they were no longer feared.
Sunny sighed deeply. Turning around, she slowly walked towards the picture of her father on the nightstand. She picked it up, holding it in her hooves. The picture was the last memory that she had of him.
She closed her eyes, imagining Argyle there. What would he say to her to cheer her up? He always knew what to say to make her feel better. Whenever she was feeling down, Argyle would always be there, the best father that anypony would dream to have.
“Dad…” she whispered through tears, “If you’re up there…I need your help. I made a promise to my friend, and…I really want to make her dream come true. Can…you help me…?” She let the tears fall down, feeling the raw pain of his death consume her once more.
As the last tear fell on the floor, she felt a soft breeze come through the window and blow through her mane. Startled, she turned around to see a trail of leaves blowing in a circle through the left side window. The frequency of the wind blows morphed into comforting words in her head, filling her mind with happy thoughts of bedtime stories and making lanterns.
“You can do it, my little pony. Stay strong.”
Sunny wiped her tears, staring at the window in surprise. “Dad…?”
The trail of leaves flew away, carried away in the soft breeze that blew all throughout Maretime Bay like a heavenly angel reassuring a dying pony that everything was going to be okay. The leaves glided up to the moon, dispersing into opposite directions and falling back to the ground softly as the breeze carried on north.
Sunny stood by the window, looking up to the night sky as the leaves dispersed, a small smile forming on her face as she rested her head on her hooves on the windowsill.
To be continued……
The next day….
Maretime Bay Elementary School was a small white schoolhouse on the outskirts of the town, adorned with decorations and art projects on the walls. The campus was huge with a large playground and swing set to accommodate the many foals who went there to learn and have fun.
The sign that stood in front of the schoolhouse was painted in big rainbow letters that symbolized the warm and inviting atmosphere:
WELCOME TO MARETIME BAY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Where Anything Is Possible
With a ring of the school bell, fillies and colts of all races came stampeding out of the main building towards the playground, some of them accidentally trampling on others in the mad rush. It was Lunchtime and with it came a longer break than the normal Recess.
It was at this time that Sunny and Zipp arrived with an extremely tired Hitch in tow. The two of them had volunteered to help their pegasus friend train the Junior Wonderbolts Club. As they arrived, they skidded to a halt in front of Ms. Daisy, who was watching the foals with a warm smile on her face.
Hearing them, Ms. Daisy turned around to face them. “Ah, Zipp! There you are! Brought some friends, I see.”
“You know it,” Zipp replied, “So, when do I meet my class, ma’am?”
Ms. Daisy was impressed. “Mm, show of respect too. I think I’m gonna like this one as part of our staff…” she said to herself, “The kids could use that example…”
“Pardon, Ms. Daisy?” Sunny asked.
“Nothing, nothing,” Ms. Daisy cleared her throat, regaining her professionalism. “Anywho, you meet them right after Lunch, which ends in 15 minutes. It would be borderline criminal to interrupt the poor dears’ well-deserved playtime.”
“I agree with that,” Zipp replied, “I guess we could just hang out here until it’s time. Do I need to register, ma’am?”
“Already done that for you,” Ms. Daisy told her, “My class could use a well-disciplined example like you. They’re excellent students, just…not so much respectful ones.”
“Well in the meantime, I’ll just put the hay in the apple and eat the candle…” Hitch murmured before collapsing onto the ground, snoring. Sunny was trying her best to wake him up.
The three ponies somehow managed to drag Hitch into the nurse’s room in the front office and lay him down onto the small bed, letting him sleep the day away.
As they were discussing what to do, the bell rang once more. Zipp and Sunny headed down to one of the jogging fields where a bunch of pegasus foals were waiting. They seemed to be bickering with one another over something trivial.
Zipp cleared her throat. “Flyers!!”
All of the other students snapped to attention, all of them pointing at a pale yellow filly with a light blue mane and tail and green eyes in the middle of them. “She started it!!”
Ms. Daisy facehoofed.
Zipp approached the filly in the middle, who was staring at her in awe. They seemed to recognize each other. “Sunshine, it’s me.”
The filly named Sunshine Wings nodded slowly. “Are you here to teach us how to become Wonderbolts, Princess Zipp?”
“Just Zipp,” Zipp corrected her gently, “And yes, yes I am.”
Sunshine stepped forward timidly. “We’re ready to learn, Pri-I mean, Zipp. I hope we don’t let you down.”
“You won’t,” Zipp promised her.
“Well, isn’t that a tall order?” Ms. Daisy said in bewilderment, “The Wonderbolts were thought to have vanished years ago in a storm, all their knowledge lost.”
“My Dad wrote a book on them,” Sunny told her, “Zipp thinks that she can help train the next generation of ‘Bolts as we discussed yesterday. But she needs your approval.”
Ms. Daisy nodded. “That can be incorporated. But, Zipp dear, don’t get your hopes up. They’re very passionate but…” She came up and whispered in the pegasus’s ear, “Not the best at following directions…”
“I got this, Ms. Daisy,” Zipp assured her. “I know quite a few of them myself personally, including Sunshine. They’ll listen.”
Ms. Daisy still looked uncertain. “Well, if you’re sure.” She walked back to where Sunny was. “I’ll expect a full report at the end of the week.”
Zipp nodded as Ms. Daisy walked in the other direction, towards the front office and out of sight, leaving the two of them with the 20 foals eagerly waiting their instruction.
“You got this, Zipp,” Sunny reassured her. She hoped desperately that the whole plan wasn’t about to go south as soon as it started.
Zipp glanced at her briefly and then began pacing back and forth in front of them. “Listen up, cadets! The Wonderbolts were an elite group of the strongest and most agile pegasi in existence! For generations, they provided entertainment and military prowess when the time demanded it. Only the toughest are going to get out of this course alive! I’m gonna make ‘Bolts out of every single one of you.”
The foals whispered to each other in wonder and amazement. Only one colt in the back was groaning loudly.
Picking up a stray soccer ball, she flew up and placed it on the top of a tall tree. “You’ve seen me place the ball on the top of that tree. The objective is to fly to get it. Go!!”
Unfolding their wings, the foals all took off into the air towards the pine tree. They were almost there when their wings tired out and they started dropping like dead flies.
Each one of them hit the ground with a thud in front of the tree bark. Even Sunshine Wings who was the only one really putting her all into it, managed to be in one inch of grabbing the ball before dropping to the ground with her classmates, the strain too much for her.
Zipp sighed deeply. “We have a long way to go.” She picked up a coach’s whistle from a blue basket and signaled for them all to return.
This was going to be a long week.
She stood in front of all of them and began singing, “Let’s get down to business, to defend the throne! You think you will last here, when you’re on your own? You’re the weakest flyers I’ve ever met, but you can BET before we’re through…” She looked all of them square in the eyes, “Filly, I’ll…make a ‘Bolt out of you…”
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Every morning for the next three days, Sunny and Zipp would show up as early as possible to the schoolhouse in order to teach the students.
They had gone through as many stunts and tricks as possible in Argyle’s book and Zipp used each trick that they learned to teach the foals. She taught them all the forms of flying there was, the various aerial stunt performances ranging from spins to even fireworks stunts. Since using real fireworks was not allowed, Zipp asked the students to imagine them there.
But even as she tried to motivate them, it was clear to her that the students were not making much progress at all. Every time they would try the fireworks stunts, they would bump into each other and fall over. The spins managed to get their tails tangled. They could barely even fly the required amount during the makeshift fast flying competitions.
It was obvious that not a good amount of them were motivated to do the rigorous exercises. Sunshine Wings and her friend Rainbow Tails (a pink pegasus filly with a rainbow mane and tail) certainly were, and that was the only thing stopping Zipp from just giving up, but the others weren’t.
For the other foals, they were fine fantasizing about being the next Wonderbolts, but when it came to the actual work, they did not want to do it at all. It got so bad that Zipp had to discharge three of the 20 foals from her class because of their absolute refusal to do anything.
All throughout the training process, Sunny was extremely worried about Zipp. The poor pegasus barely slept and was obsessing day and night about how to reach her students. The stress was clearly getting to her and she couldn’t do anything to help.
Every time she would try to convince her to dial it back, Zipp would get angry and insist that she had to do this. This was her dream. As a supportive friend, Sunny never said anything afterwards. But she wished that she could convince her to let go of the stress.
She could hear Zipp and the remaining 17 students singing from where she was as they practiced the night away, towards a common goal and a common destiny.
“BE A BOLT! We must be swift as the coursing river…BE A BOLT! With all the force of a Sonic Rainboom…BE A BOLT! With all the strength of a million stallions…mysterious as the Mare Inside The Moon…!!!!!!”
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Thursday night….
Sunny walked through the schoolhouse campus aimlessly, waiting for Zipp to be finished with her talk with Ms. Daisy in the front office. She knew how important this was to her pegasus friend and she was happy to help, yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that the training was consuming her life.
Zipp had become increasingly irritated all day and was going harder on the foals. Whenever Sunny tried to get her to talk about it, Zipp would harshly brush it off. She had gone from obsessed to downright crazy in her methods. To say that Sunny was extremely worried about her was an understatement.
She hoped that her resolve to help wasn’t about to cost her friendship.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. Running back to the front office, she carefully opened the doors with her hooves as the sound of their voices could be heard more clearly.
“…You think your students are ready to be Wonderbolts?! You couldn’t even teach them to grab a dang soccer ball out of a tree!!”
“…not finished! They will excel! I know they will! Sunshine is extremely passionate-“
“Passionate, my flank! That doesn’t matter!! She’s a diligent and kind student, but she lacks the flight capabilities. You can’t teach a girl with stunted wing growth to fly!”
The discussion was becoming increasingly more heated and Sunny felt like she was intruding. She wanted to see the outcome of the argument, but she knew that eavesdropping would be wrong and she didn’t know what Zipp would think.
As she began to walk out the doors, she barely managed to dodge a frantic Zipp flying at top speed out the doors.
“Sunny!” Zipp realized her friend was there after regaining her composure, “How much did you hear?”
“Some of it,” Sunny answered, “More like the end. Where are you going now?”
“To grab the JWs for a late night training session!” Zipp said frantically, “We don’t have much time! If Sunshine and her friends don’t put on a stunning performance in front of all of Maretime Bay tomorrow afternoon, I’m going to be fired! I gotta go.”
“Whoa whoa whoa,” Sunny held out a hoof to stop her. “Let’s dial it back a bit. You want to yank them out of their homes now?! Zipp, they’re probably sleeping soundly!”
“I don’t care!” Zipp shouted. “I need to show Ms. Daisy that I’m worthy of being on the staff! To hay if the students sleep well or not!”
“They won’t perform well tomorrow if you don’t let them sleep!”
“I have no time left! You care about our friendship, don’t you, Sunny?!”
Sunny stopped cold in her tracks at that last sentence. She had never imagined that Zipp would ever say something like that. “I do care, Zipp. But you’re letting this consume your life.”
“So what?! You never gave up when it came to bringing magic back! Why should this be any different?!” Zipp demanded.
“Because it doesn’t matter if the Wonderbolts come back!” Sunny shot back, “With magic, it did! That was the key to reuniting the tribes! It doesn’t matter if you bring the Wonderbolts back because they’re too young to fly internationally anyway!”
Zipp’s brows furrowed in anger. “You gave me this idea, Sunny. You gave me the idea of actually bringing them back! At first, it was just a fantasy! But you gave me the hope of actually doing it! Which reminds me…were you on my side at all or did you just want to crush my dreams like Mom tried to?!” Tears began forming in her eyes.
“Zipp,” Sunny blinked back tears in her own eyes as she tried to comfort her, “I’d never want to crush your dreams. But this isn’t healthy for you! You can’t let this consume your life-“
“This was your idea.”
“Or get you this upset-“
“I’M ONLY DOING THIS BECAUSE YOU CONVINCED ME IT WAS POSSIBLE!!”
“Or make you lash out at your friends!!” Sunny screamed, tears pouring down from her eyes. “I value your friendship, Zipp!!!!”
Zipp glared daggers at her. “Clearly you don’t.”
Unfolding her wings, Zipp rocketed off into the night sky, disappearing into the thick cloud bed above.
“ZIPP!!” Sunny shrieked as she helplessly watched her friend leave. The dam broke and she sobbed on the ground, letting the tears flow. She hadn’t cried this much since Argyle died. The pain of losing one of her friends because of her own mistakes was too much to bear.
An hour passed and Sunny was still crying. By now, the Moon was beginning to move lower across the sky. She didn’t care if she died outside alone. She had failed Zipp and crushed her dreams forever.
In her mind, death was more than she deserved.
Through blurry vision, she could see the image of a pale yellow filly approaching her. It was Sunshine! What was she doing here? The sound of hoofsteps sounded and Hitch came out close behind her.
“Sunshine…Hitch…” Sunny choked out through tears. “What are you two doing here…?”
“Sunshine was going to school in order to get some midnight practice done,” Hitch explained. “She saw you crying on the floor and went to get me.”
Sunny lifted her head up. “Go away. I don’t need anyone right now.”
“That’s not true,” Sunshine spoke shyly, sitting beside her. “Ms. Sunny…I’m sorry we couldn’t do it…It’s not your fault…”
“Yes it is,” Sunny answered glumly, “I was the one who told Zipp it was possible to bring back the Wonderbolts. I’m the one that caused you to bite off more than you could chew.“
Sunshine shook her head. “No…you’re not. You’re an inspiration to us all, Ms. Sunny…You allowed me to come here after the magic returned…Without you, I still would’ve been homeschooled, too afraid to go out into the world and meet other ponies…You were what allowed me to come out of my shell and say to my mommy, ‘No, mommy. I can do this. If Ms. Sunny could risk everything to fight for something she believes in…then why can’t I?’”
Hitch sighed. “Without you…I never would’ve seen the error of my thinking. For the longest time, I believed that unicorns and pegasi were evil…You showed me that I was wrong. You brought us all together! You helped save Maretime Bay twice! One from my rogue former deputy and the second time from magic’s disappearance.”
“Without you,” sounded a familiar voice, “I never would’ve met all you guys and discover my love for sharing my passions with others. I don’t regret a minute of our first adventure. Not one bit.” It was Izzy, walking over to them with Pipp in tow.
“Without you,” Pipp admitted, “I…never would’ve discovered what life outside Zephyr Heights was like. And it’s great. Meeting you was an amazing experience. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in Equestria. Not even my fans.”
“You’ve been an inspiration to Equestria just by being you,” Hitch told her. “The kind, thoughtful, passionate you. Never giving up on her friends even when they gave up on themselves. Never giving up on Equestria even when it gave up on itself!”
“I guess what we all want to say to you is,” Sunshine told her with a shy smile, “Is that none of us would be the same today without you. We’re all your friends, Ms. Sunny. And we love you.”
Sunny felt tears come to her eyes again. But this time, they weren’t tears of sadness, but of joy. Her friends really did care about her. They all loved her. She wasn’t alone anymore. All of her fears about them being there with her only just because she had saved Equestria evaporated instantly. Wasting no time, she opened her hooves out wide and all four of them came in for a big warm hug. The embrace filled her with warmth that washed away her doubts like a grand tidal wave cleaning the shore.
As everyone let go, Sunshine was the first to ask, “So…what’s the plan?”
Sunny took a deep breath. “We only have a limited time until morning. Sunshine, I need you to grab Rainbow Tails and the rest of your classmates.”
Sunshine saluted her. “Aye aye, captain!”
“And…what are we going to do?” Pipp asked.
“Pipp, go find Zipp,” Sunny instructed her, “Izzy, Hitch, you go assist Sunshine in the gathering of the students. I’m going to clean up the field completely. I intend to teach a class!”
“Oh dear.” Pipp remarked.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
It didn’t take long for them to round up the rest of the foals and call them all the way back to the schoolhouse for some late night practice.
Once they had all assembled, Sunny trained them all for the rest of the night. With the help of Hitch and Izzy, she was able to use different tactics to motivate the students for each trick they tried.
Hitch was able to retrieve the book on the Wonderbolts from the Brighthouse, allowing Sunny to go through each of the stunts in detail. With each passing hour, the fillies became better at flying, eventually able to grab the ball from the tree and all bring it back together.
Sunny nodded approvingly, knowing that they were ready.
As the Sun came up across the horizon, Pipp came to the field with a very tired Zipp. They arrived right on time for Zipp to see the students drop the ball in front of them both.
Zipp looked shocked. “Whoa. You guys were actually able to grab the ball? But how?”
“I trained them,” Sunny trotted out from behind a corner with Sunshine and Rainbow Tails, both fillies staring at Zipp expectantly.
“Sunny, what did you do?” Zipp asked her skeptically.
“Zipp, I know you’re mad at me and I don’t blame you,” Sunny told her. “But we can sort it out later. They’re ready to put on the show.”
Zipp sighed. “Well, I guess this will be the last time I show my face around this town. Alright then. Come on, ‘Bolts. To the town square!”
The students all followed her, all flying in a single file formation behind their captain in anticipation for the big event.
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Maretime Bay Town Square
All activity in Maretime Bay was halted for the Junior Wonderbolts’ performance. The trucks stopped driving. The leisure walks ceased. The pegasi in the sky stopped flying and headed back toward the ground.
Word spread around quickly that Zipp was trying to bring back the ‘mythical’ Wonderbolts team and that Sunny was helping her to do so. The fact that Sunny was trying to do something radical again was nothing new to anyone who knew her, though the performance itself was the main talking point of the town.
All the ponies had gathered in a big crowd to watch the fillies perform, whispering excitedly and nervously to one another about whether the show would be any good. Ms. Daisy was also in the crowd, watching expectantly.
As the crowd gradually quieted down, there came the sound of horns and Sunny stepped on to the stage. She took a deep breath, praying to the heavens that this would work out. “Alright, ponies of Maretime Bay! Put your hooves together for our very own Junior Wonderbolts!”
The crowd held their breath as Zipp came on to the stage as well. “Alright. Let’s get this over with. One…two…three…four…”
With that, Sunshine and Rainbow Tails flew on to the stage, landing on all four hooves with a resounding boom.
Sunshine glanced at Zipp momentarily for the ok before turning to Rainbow. “Come on, Tails. Let’s show these ponies how it’s done!”
“Wonderbolts, roll out!” Rainbow Tails ordered.
Almost immediately, Sunshine and Rainbow rocketed off the stage, 18 other fillies following in side-by-side formation. The crowd gasped in awe.
The fillies took to the skies, flying with a speed unseen in a long time. Their wings beat quickly as they let the wind guide their movements, flying through clouds and busting through all of them in record time. As if on cue, they swooped down low and flew straight back up, the act culminating in two subsequent forward and reverse spins.
Once they had reached a certain high altitude, they separated into five groups of four and flew in different directions across the sky, forming the shape of Zipp’s cutie mark with their trails of smoke.
Zipp’s mouth dropped open in shock. How had they learned that move so fast? That was a move reserved for the advanced fliers.
“‘Told ya.” Sunny smirked.
“How did you do that-“ Zipp asked her before she was cut off by Sunny shouting:
“Fireworks now!!”
“On it!” Hitch confirmed from the back of the stage. Instantly, small rockets shot into the air, exploding into many different fireworks as the fillies flew through it, showering the now cheering crowd with magical lightning below.
The fillies dove down low again, regrouping in formation as they did so, and lifted off once more, diving through an exploding firework and emerging on the other side. The crowd began cheering louder as they each touched hooves with one another, flying off in different directions afterwards for one full minute before regrouping one final time for the final plunge.
They headed up high into the atmosphere until the air became extremely thin. Then, they began descending downwards towards the stage. The wind blew harshly across their faces as they reentered the atmosphere, fire encasing their entire beings as they flew right through the crowd, a trail of flames being left in their wake as they touched down with a massive thud on all four hooves.
The crowd at this point was roaring with a standard ovation, all throwing flowers at the stage, including Ms. Daisy, who seemed the most excited.
“Those are my students! Those super awesome flyers, they’re mine!” Ms. Daisy boasted to the surrounding ponies.
“Way to go, guys!” Zipp congratulated all of them.
Once all of them were backstage, Sunshine Wings was the first to ask the burning question on she and her classmates’ minds: “Were we okay, Pr-Zipp?”
“Okay? You were awesome!” Zipp praised them. “You were like ‘whoosh!’ And then, ‘boom!’ And then the fire came and-“
Pipp laughed. “Yeah. We all just lived it. It was the right call pulling out the fireworks, Sunny.”
“Apparently it was standard procedure in a Wonderbolts performance back in the day,” Sunny explained. She faced the fillies, “You all are going to grow up to be great flyers someday.”
Zipp approached Sunny. “Um, Sunny? I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for how I yelled at you last night. You didn’t deserve that. Especially after you busted your flank pulling together a last minute training session. Why? I don’t deserve your help.”
“Zipp,” Sunny explained to her, “It’s what friends do. I feared for the longest time that you all would leave me the moment I stopped being useful.”
“Why would you ever think that?” Izzy asked in shock.
Sunny sighed deeply. “I’ve had this deep-seated fear that you were all only with me because I saved Equestria and you stuck around with me because I was the one telling everyone not to fear you guys anymore.”
“That’s not true,” Pipp shook her head. “We love you because you’re you, Sunny. You never stop trying to do the right thing. When you get an idea in your head, you see it through. You care about others, Sunny. The world needs more ponies like you.”
Sunny nodded slowly. “Thanks. I realize now that you guys always cared about me. I was just so afraid of being alone after my father died that…I didn’t think there was anypony capable of loving me like that again.”
“Well you have us, Sunny,” Hitch assured her. “We may not ever be Argyle, but we can still be there for you whenever you need us.”
“Whenever you need someone to play with,” Izzy imputed.
“Or share your feelings with,” Pipp added.
“Or someone to bring out that sense of adventure in you,” Zipp finished for them. “We’ll always be there. Right, everypony?”
All the fillies clamored in agreement.
“About that,” came the voice of Ms. Daisy. She peeked through the curtain. “Excuse me, but may I come in here? I need to give something to Zipp.”
“Certainly.” Sunny allowed her in, opening the curtains wider.
“Ms. Daisy?”
“Zipp,” Ms. Daisy told her, “You have shown that you are ready to lead the next generation of Wonderbolts as you wanted. For that, I’d like to give you this,” She held out a Maretime Bay Elementary School badge, which Zipp accepted. “Welcome to our staff, Captain Zipp.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Zipp thanked her respectfully. As soon as she was gone, Zipp leapt up in the air, shouting and dancing with unbridled joy.
“You think we should calm her down?” Hitch asked.
“Let Zipp have her moment, Hitch,” Sunny advised him. “She’s more than earned this moment to be happy.”
As she watched Zipp celebrate the beginning of a new generation, Sunny knew in her mind that no matter what troubles came their way, everything would be alright. They would get through them together as friends.
After all, friendship was magic.
