Following a Lighting Heart
I am watching from the sidelines as Spitfire and two Wonderbolt MPs stand waiting on a specific pony to come in for a landing, I know what’s about to happen and I know it’s going to be a scapegoat blame game. It started about three years ago, a new Mare was accepted into the Wonderbolts Academy as a Cadet and the two quickly formed a friendship, but that’s where things went sidways.
Now I know what you all must be thinking, what’s so wrong with a new cadet being added to the Roster of the Acedemy? Well there wouldn’t be an issue, if that Cadet wasn’t the overconfidant Rainbow Dash or otherwise known as the Element of Loyalty. The moment she hit the Acedemy it was just boast after boast, her attitude was grating to the other Cadet teams at the time.
Flash forward two years and after a sudden visit from Princess Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow went from a Noobie to a full fledged member of the main Wonderbolts team practically overnight. This shocked most of the older Noobie Cadets, me included, as there were far more worthy ponies that have been training harder and longer that deserved a spot on the Main Team. When asked, Captain Spitfire would just say classified and thats it.
This lead to many of the older members of the Cadet teams resigning in protest, They reasoned that if a Princess can use her influence to get a close friend onto the team then what is the point of working hard to attain a spot? As a result of this our numbers tanked in less than a week, from nine Cadet teams of twelve ponies to four teams of five. To make matters worse, Rainbow coined the name “Washouts” as an insult to those that quit and sadly that insult caught on due to her fame and has lead to an “elitist” mentality among the more prominent Cadet teams and some of the Main team members.
Then last week happened.
It was a scheduled Water shipment to cloudsdale, we had dozens of pegasi preparing weeks in advance for this event. On the day of the event, Rainbow was boasting as usual about her abilities and wasn’t to focused on the objective at hand. It happened so quick, one moment we had a stable funnel and the water was being picked up and lofted to Cloudsdale, the Next moment I and many other Pegasi were thrown out of the Funnel as it strengthened faster and faster.
Both me and Lighting were thrown into the lake at breakneck speeds and by the time we were able to fight to the surface the Funnel had become a full blown Tornado. The only consolation is that the rotation was having it going away from Ponyville and into the Everfree, but then the worst happened as a Blue Blur shot out of the Tornado and started going in the opposite of the rotation. Slowly, the Tornado started spinning in the opposite direction and because of that it slowly started moving back towards Ponyville rather than safely out into the Everfree.
In the distance the wail of sirens starts to sound, the Ponyville evacuation warning for major disasters typically coming from the Everfree. The sound an almost warbaling, haunting sound due to the constant fluctuations from the aircurrents of the Tornado.
I looked towards Lighting and started Yelling “We need to stop her, she is reversing the Rotation of the Tornado and if she continues it will devastate Ponyville!” I turn back to glance at the Tornado becore looking back at Her.
Lightning Yells Back “I know, I will ram her out of the Tornado and you Spin it at an angle up to the sky to Disipate it” before I can acknowledge she shoots up and into the Tornado and a half a second later a Green and Blue Blur come shooting out the left side of the now Monster Funnel.
I shoot up and start circling the Tarnado at an upwards forty-five degree angle, ever so slowly the Tornado starts to raise off the ground, distablize and dissipate. I slowly started to bleed speed and after another few minutes the Tornado is gone and I start my search for Lighting.
It took me well over five minutes, but I eventually found both Lightning and Rainbow. Lightning is spread flat on the ground and out cold, but Rainbow is a whole other entire matter. Rainbow is laying in a crumpled mess, I can easily see a broken wing and left back hoof that is turned the wrong way in two different directions.
After that event, it Took Rainbow nearly a month to recover. She complained that she had it and that the Funnel was under control, but everyone there knew better. Had she succeeded there wouldn’t be a Ponyville, much less the life that would have been lost because of the belated evacuations.
I come back from my own memory lane back to the reality that is the Cloudway, I can see Lightning coming in from the distance for a landing. I take a moment to look around and to my surprise I am surrounded by at least three of the other Cadet Wings, including the two that were there for the Funnel Incident. It hit me like a brick then, this wasn’t just a scapegoating, this was a total humiliation and from the looks on the their faces they realized it too.
That revelation I think is what solidified all of our decisions, if Spitfire was willing to do this to one of her best, then who else was she willing to do it too? The fact that she is likely doing this on the orders of the newest Princess, a Princess who is favoring a friend over any rules or laws only makes it worse in our all our minds.
My eyes were fallowing Lighting in for her landing, once on the Cloudway Spitfire signaled the waiting MPs to start their paced approach. It wasn’t long before even we can hear the yelling from nearly a hoofball field away, once the yelling had died down Spitfire ripped Lightnings patch and goggles from her before gesturing the MPs to take her.
I looked back at the Cadets behind me and motioned five of them with my wing towards the MPs, they noded and shot off in the direction the MPs were moving. Landing in a circle around them and blocking their path further forward, one of the five motion for Lightning to move towards them but one of the MPs steps foward in front of Lighning and blocks her path. In reaction to this is two of the closer Cadets move to advance which makes the MP back out of the way and the other to back down, knowing the odds do not favor them.
I motion for another ten to stay right where they stood, but told them to be ready should Spitfire decide to do anything rash. They just nodded and readied themselves, stretching and checking their wings.
I motioned for the last five to follow behind me as I moved Towards the redfaced and fuming Spitfire, fully well Knowing that this will likely be the last I will see of her, I fully intended to give her a bit of my mind on this whole matter.
After a short, but very tense walk both me and my cadre stopped less than five feet in front of Spitfire. Her sneer was laughable at best and couldn’t intimidate a squirl. I looked into her eyes and opened up on her.
“You have become a toady, a follower willing to cater towards Royalty in spite of the laws baring Royal interference in the Wonderbolts as an orginazation” I say as her face goes goes red for my lack of respect and my back talk.
She goes to open her mouth, but I raise my hoof and slash it across before continuing, her face reaching a new color that highly contrasts her fur.
“you have disrespected the history of the Wonderbolts, spit on the work of passed Captains and Wing Commanders, in doing so you have lowered the prestige of this orginization and shattered the reputation that took Generations of blood, sweat and tears to build and maintain” I say with a sneer.
Her face has gone puce by this point, if it wasn’t for the fact that she was in good physical health I would be worried she would pass out. I took a moment to look around, Lighting is secured so I better wrap this up before more MPs show.
I use my wing to signal all the Cadets to prep for take off, before ripping off my Goggles and patch, the rest following in an disharting cacophony of noise and throw them to the ground. We all proceed to stomp down on them, shattering the Goggles glass and twisting the frame in what must be the first case of mass resignation in Wonderbolts history.
I look up at Spitfire, by this point Her face has gone from Puce to bone white as she knows what this action means. I look her in the Eyes one last time for what is sure to be the deathnail in her Captaincy once word gets out
“We as the first Cadet Cabal since Cloudy Joy, formally resign from the Wonderbolts effective immediately” I use my wing to signal everyone to lift into the air.
With a Rush of wind and feathers the other Cadets and Lighting slowly ascend into the sky, turning towards Canterlot to make our mass resignation official before the Princess of the Day.
I spread my wings, but before I take to the air I make one thing clear to my Former Captain to insure she knows the full reality of her situation and what she has wrought on the wonderbolts.
“I will be reporting your actions and the actions of the newest Princess to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, so don’t think that you can just sweep this under the rug” with that said I give a large beat of my wings and shot into the sky to form up with the rest of my makeshift Flight and we all fly off.
We followed the Lighting, where it should strike? Well, that is for the future to tell.