The New Recruit

It took a bit longer for Spitfire to set up the demonstration than she had originally expected. Luckily, she had Soarin to help her through the last of it, so while it wasn't done when she went to collect Ace from his class, it would be done by the time they returned to the field.

"--ember to bring your homework back tomorrow. Class dismissed."

Just as she arrived, the whole class stood up to leave.

"Sit," commanded Spitfire, walking into the room. The students were confused, but did as they were told.

Their professor flew over and stood next to Spitfire. "What's going on?" he asked in a whisper. "Do we need to arm ourselves?"

Spitfire shook her head. "No. They're fine, I just need a few of them." She turned to the rest of the class, pointing to Ace, and two others. "You, you, and you, step forward."

The three of them came down to the front of the class. Ace saluted, but the other two just looked confused.

"Do any of your classmates from this class attend your next class?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," answered Ace, pointing to two students. One had come up with him, and the other was still seated.

Spitfire pointed to the one that was still seated and called her forward, giving her a slip of paper. "Give this notice of exemption to the professor in charge." She turned to the student Ace had not indicated. "What about you?"

"This is my last class of the day, ma'am. I'm to spend the rest of the day with a broom in my hooves."

"Good. You three, come with me. The rest of you are dismissed."

Ace and the other two followed Spitfire, as did a few others that were headed in that direction. Ace was pretty sure things would work out for him, or rather, he was ready to face whatever challenge was before him. Or, at the very least, he was ready to give it everything he had. He'd have to see what was being asked of him, first.

The other two weren't quite sure what was going on, and were trailing a bit behind. It'd been just over a week and a half since their wild party, and because of that, they had thought they were in the clear for sneaking drinks despite their age. To garner the specific attention of the captain, they knew something was up.

They made it out to the field, where she turned to them. "You three have been selected to take part in a dizzitron demonstration," she instructed, indicating the dizzitron that Soarin was moving out in front of them. "The school has excused you from your next class period to subject you to a more intensive testing environment. This is not optional, but if you pass this test, you will be granted a passing grade on your upcoming dizzitron test, and you can feel free to skip that class, perhaps even going so far as to make up the class you're missing right now."

Ace nodded and saluted. "We'll do our best, ma'am."

"Good. Follow Soarin's instructions, please."

As Soarin started to explain how the testing parameters were different from the normal tests, Spitfire flew behind a cloud wall that allowed Luna and Steelwing to see the field, and to not be seen by the students.

"What's with the other two?" asked Steelwing. "I see the earth pony, but I don't need to see the pegasi. Are they his friends?"

"Hardly," sighed Spitfire. "According to the reports, a lot of students don't like him. Some believe he's just a stunt, others believe he's unlucky, and a few think he's just going to hold them back. In fact, his most recent partner left him because, and I quote, "I'm not taking flight instructions from a flightless earth pony.""

"I wouldn't, either," snorted Steelwing. "I've been flying since I was a colt. He can't fly. I should know more than he does about how to fly."

"Certainly," nodded Spitfire. "I'd be dismissive, too. But what if he happened to be right? What if this earth pony can see things that slipped past you?"

"Enough," commanded Luna. "Let us see what he is capable of."

Steelwing looked out the viewport. "You still haven't told us why the other two are here."

"Context," answered Spitfire. "Compare him to his classmates. Watch his form."

First up was one of the pegasi. Spitfire had not selected them at random. They were in the same year as Ace, their first, and they were similarly ranked. Ace was still number forty-two, and this one was number thirty-nine. The other was forty-three.

As the first pegasus was launched, Steelwing counted the spins she'd done before even trying to recover, then how long it took her to slow down, then the amount of wobble she had on reentry. He was used to watching only the top of the class perform, and he was severely disappointed with the performance. "That was pitiful. Is this what it takes to pass your courses, now?"

Spitfire nodded. "For her level, yes. Now watch closely; Ace is next. Watch what he does."

Ace waved his hoof and moved his lips as he climbed in, and Soarin nodded. They couldn't hear what was said from this far back, but they weren't meant to hear it. It didn't really matter, anyway, as they'd see Soarin reset the machine to its maximum value, setting Ace on par with the challenges of a graduating student.

He was flung into the air, and Steelwing watched his technique. He was able to slow his spin right away, recover, and coast down to land with little effort. He still needed to nab some clouds, but his need to build had been reduced, as his build quality and speed were quite improved from when he'd first gone up. He was now using a smaller, faster, less dense glider. His time was improved to just over twenty seconds. While that was still not good enough to make the Wonderbolts, it was faster than the lowest scores of Steelwing's graduating class, and it was done without wings.

More than that, his form was spot-on. It wasn't just that he could do this without wings, it was the fact that he'd managed to do so without swinging wildly off course. He had the form and dexterity of an expert. Clearly, he knew a thing or two about flight, even though he wasn't a pegasus.

"Well, I'm convinced," chortled Luna. "Glad to know that my trust in you was well-founded. I was afraid I was going to have to rescind my statement."