The New Recruit

The Wonderbolts Academy had a different version of Capture the Flag than what Ace was used to. This was acknowledged by Fleetfoot, who was in charge of this particular activity, before they even began.

"Your objective ith to collect ath many flagth ath you can. Thith ith not a thcuffle with your clathmateth, but clother to a thcavenger hunt. The team that collectth the motht flagth at the end winth. Only the five highetht teamth will path, tho take thith theriouthly."

There were other rules, of course. Teams had to stay together, once you captured a flag, you had to bring it back to the start before you could collect another, so if you spotted one on your way back, you had to rush to claim it before another team spotted it, you could not steal another team's previously collected flag, you could not interfere with another team's flag collection with the exception of collecting the flag before they did, et cetera. A lot of ponies had caused issues in the past that had been thought to be common sense, but when somepony causes a problem and claims that "there's no rule against it," new rules have to be drafted.

Ace was pretty nervous. Having the teams stay together would result in either Peregrine being unable to fly or having to carry him through this. Granted, he was usually nervous, as he couldn't fly and almost always needed assistance, but having to stay together was a new requirement. Cloudbusting, for example, could see them separate from each other, as long as they were working together. Peregrine just had to move the clouds, and Ace would bust them. Ace could not cover the obstacles below while Peregrine scanned the field from above if they had to stick to each other.

The whistle sounded, and Peregrine picked Ace up and started carrying him. Ace immediately started scanning for any crevices where a flag may be hiding, thinking that, while he could not fly, he could still see, and that meant he needed to spot something to pull his weight.

Peregrine, however, had different plans, dropping Ace onto a cloud and pushing that around. "Hold tight to that," he said. It'll be easier to move you around if I'm not carrying your full weight myself, and the tighter you hold it will lessen the wind resistance."

Ace nodded, pulling the cloud in as close as he could. Now, moving Ace around was as easy as moving the cloud, and that was something even Ace could do, albeit not as fast as Peregrine.

The flags were pretty easy to spot at first, and they managed to find and capture four in the first ten minutes. But in the next fifteen minutes, they only managed two more. Blitz and Lash were in the lead with eleven flags, and immediately following were Golden Pomade and Dervish Whirl, behind them at nine. Then Poinsettia and Dusk at eight, and Strawberry Wine and Spiral Flare at seven. Three teams were tied for fifth, and none of them wanted to find out what happened if they stayed tied. Peregrine had, after all, suggested that, knowing Fleetfoot, she'd consider them all a loss and make them train.

"You're going to fail, earth pony," taunted Blitz, flying up next to them. "You're going to fail, and you're going to deserve it. Spitfire's not going to bail you out today."

"That's very upsetting," commented Ace, not taking his eyes off the field.

"It's true," Blitz laughed. "You don't belong here."

"Not that part. The fact that you've been living with me for almost two weeks and you still haven't learned my name. I really hope that's because your mind has been focused on studying for that history exam you failed."

"You son of a--!"

As Blitz started to take a swing at Ace, he spotted a flag and rolled his cloud to the side, letting go as the cloud burst apart. The flag was right below him, in a narrow tunnel. Peregrine followed right behind him, and as they fell, Ace urged him, "Hold onto me and close your wings!"

Peregrine hadn't seen the flag yet, but he could see the entrance that Ace had aimed himself at. With a minor adjustment, the two entered the hole and Ace began running faster than his hooves could possibly carry him, eventually providing enough friction to slow for the curve. They were on clouds, so the impact wouldn't be deadly, but if he ripped through, he'd be sent to the ground at terminal velocity.

Nevertheless, he made the turn, and managed to carry Peregrine through the tunnel, running upside down, sideways, back, forth, however the tunnel led them. Near the other end, a flag was sitting, which he grabbed in his teeth.

A moment later, he burst from the other end, still carrying enough momentum to launch himself and Peregrine into the air. As soon as they were airborne again, Peregrine opened up his wings, and they were on their way back to the platform, landing with only a few seconds to spare.

Time was up, and Fleetfoot's whistle called everypony back. Fleetfoot counted up all of the flags, and jotted that down in her gradebook. "Thith hath been one of the better thethionth of Capthure the Flag that I've ever theen. Collectively, you've all grabbed more flagth than motht clatheth. However, there can be only five pathing gradeth.

"In fifth plathe, we have a three-way tie, with a thcore of thicth. In fourth, Peregrine and Athe at theven. Blitth, Lath, Thpin, Fairy, Danther and Loop, you're in fifth. You will all be counted ath pathing with a C."

"Fifth!?" Shouted Blitz. "We had the most!"

"True," Fleetfoot nodded. "However, you altho retheived a five-point penalty for taking a thwing at one of your clathmateth. And if you want to collect that pathing grade, you owe thirty lapth. Both you and your partner."

Looking very pissed at this turn of events, Blitz and Lash flew off toward the track to fly their laps.

"Pointhettia, Duthk, Thrawberry and Thpiral, you thcored thecond and third. You path with a B. Pomade and Dervith, you thcored the highetht without violating the ruleth. You path with an A."

She took a few steps back and turned to face them. "If you thcored an A or B, you're dithmithed. If you thcored a C, you owe me five lapth. If you failed, you owe me ten. Off you go..."