The New Recruit

Soarin came in third place. Ace was privy now to the techniques involved, and knowing that this was a show for public approval and not a real event, He could see that he'd tilted his wings slightly to add a tiny amount of drag. The body of a Wonderbolt was a finely-tuned machine, and even small adjustments could have big effects. This time, the effect was an almost unnoticeable reduction in power that pulled Soarin from second place back to third so that Freefall, freshly promoted, could pass him and take second. Doing so would generate some hype for her and draw in the crowds to see a relative newcomer rising through the ranks, mostly for the story being portrayed.

As Skylight started announcing the results of the race, Ace was yanked back into a prep room, given a final once-over of his uniform, and was ordered to talk his way through his routine. It was a simple one, as Soarin had less than a day to put it together, and Ace had less than a day to practise. If the routine was too complicated, they'd never pull it off.

"Now, I know you've all been reading the news," came Skylight's voice echoing down the hall as Ace was shoved into position. "We've all seen the stories of the earth pony that's been accepted into the Wonderbolts Academy. Today, we have a real treat for you, because he's... here!"

Ace looked up at Skylight's face, and while she seemed to be smiling, her eyebrows betrayed her confusion. Even the falter in her voice denoted that she didn't know about this.

"For our next display, I am proud to introduce to you the first earth pony Wonderbolt, the Ace of Clubs!"

There was a small bit of fanfare that was slightly off-kilter, as if some of the trumpeters weren't sure whether or not this was a joke. There was some applause, a fair bit more laughter, and a few murmurs as Ace stepped out onto the field, but most of the crowd seemed silent. Ace waved, as if introducing himself, and he put on his best fake smile, but the laughter and bad introduction had him very worried.

Soarin and Skylight flew over to walk with him. "Keep a level head," instructed Soarin. "We may have botched the introduction, but your act is still solid. Focus on the act. Do well, and they'll cheer for you. They'll change their minds, I swear it."

"Why didn't you tell me we were pulling a stunt like this?" growled Skylight through gritted teeth masquerading as a smile. "You made me look like a fool out there!"

"I thought you knew, ma'am," whimpered Ace, just barely managing to keep his face locked.

"Leave him be, commander," shot Soarin back. "He needs to focus."

They took to the center of the field, where a modified dizzitron was waiting. This one was not only repainted to look nicer than the standard model, but it was slightly faster. Ace was no longer being tested on his speed of recovery. In fact, speed was only a factor for his launch and landing. He had to launch at great speed to carry his momentum, and he had to land slowly to land safely. It would also spin him less to give him better control.

He was launched into the air, as he'd practised with Soarin, and he exceeded the height of the roof. Had the dome been closed, he'd have hit the ceiling, but it was retracted for the show.

As soon as he began to fall back toward the ground, he activated his cloud generator. It was a small device attached to his hoof. The Wonderbolts had been using these for years to mark their trails for flight paths, and even earlier in the show, Soarin had used one set to smoke for the opening ceremony. Ace just had one that was put on backwards, meaning the clouds generated in front of him, rather than behind, and they were slightly more dense, meaning they could be used to create his sail more easily and with less incident.

Halfway to the ground, his cloud wing was ready, and he deployed it, coasting around in a wide loop to land on the dizzitron again. As soon as he did, Soarin would activate it and launch him once more. The second time, the cloud generated wasn't a wing, but a parachute, and the third time he went up, it was a ribbon attached to an aerial screw.

The fourth and final time Ace went up, he made his glider and used it to buzz the crowd, just once. He didn't have enough lift to buzz them twice as Soarin had originally planned, but he was close enough to show them that he didn't have wings, or at the very least, wasn't using them.

As he finished his loop, he returned to the center of the field, where his various cloud creations had been discarded. As he dropped from the glider, he used his cloudbusting knowledge to simply disperse them back into water vapor, causing them to dissipate into thin air. First the wings, then the parachute, then the screw, and as he landed on the ground once more, he turned and busted the glider before it landed on top of him.

That was his whole act. It had taken just over ten minutes. Ace had been focusing so strongly on his motions that he'd not been listening to the crowd, even slightly. Soarin was right, though. As soon as he opened his ears, he could hear them cheering. They liked the show. They liked his act. If he could pull in a better introduction and fanfare, as Skylight and the trumpeters were unlikely to be shocked by his race twice, maybe he could learn to like being a Wonderbolt.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, that was the Eight of Spades!" clapped Skylight, encouraging the crowd to keep cheering.

"Ace of Clubs," corrected Soarin.

"Ace of Clubs; excuse me. We're glad to hear that you liked what you saw, because Ace is going to be touring with us for the rest of the season!"

The crowd erupted into another round of applause, and even though Skylight held Ace's hoof up in victory and smiled broadly, he could tell that she was upset. She just wasn't showing it.