The Wonderbolt Academy

Spitfire adjusted her hat in the mirror briefly before focusing on straightening her tie. After a tiring few months, she personally was glad that the academy was closed for a while. A few cadets did drop out here and there but that’s to be expected. Most don’t make it in the training.

“You look worried ma’am,” Dizzy commented as she stretched her newly healed wing experimentally. The orange mare had swapped her training uniform for a dark blue dress uniform that Spitfire had a matching one of on.

“Public speaking isn’t my strong suit. I leave the talking to Soarin usually. Nopony in the Wonderbolts can bullshit the media as well as he does. Not a single pony in my family is good at talking to them or making speeches in general.”

“I’m certain you’ll do fine.”

“Hmph. We will see,” Spitfire focused on Dizzy. “Go to Raindrops. You all are meant to be on the tarmac in five minutes and Dizzy?”

“Yes ma’am?”

“Fix your tie. It’s lopsided,” Spitfire reminded her as the blushing mare looked down at her tie.

“Oh.”

Spitfire stood in front of a podium flanked by Fleetfoot and Soarin as she idly examined her speech she had been up all night writing. If she hadn’t misplaced the one she’s been using for years, she’d have used that one.

Fleetfoot flicked her eyes to watch the crowd of ponies in chairs to her left before focusing on the group of ponies in matching blue dress uniforms standing at attention in front of her. Her eyes lingered on Raindrops and Dizzy standing next to each other. The two resembled statues more then they did actual living, breathing ponies.

The two were surrounded by the classmates standing in similar positions as Fleetfoot watched High Winds sitting next to Sunset and the other elements. The mare wore a dark blue uniform with two triangles on each sleeve, proudly displaying her sergeant rank with a matching dark blue hat all Wonderbolts received.

“I’ve never been to a ceremony like this. This is so cool,” Wallflower looked around at the ponies milling around her. She felt a hoof on her shoulder and turned around to stare at a grey pegasus with golden eyes smiling at her. “Derpy?”

“Hey Wallflower,” Derpy gestured to the seats next to Wallflower. “These seats taken?”

“It’s so good to see you!” Wallflower exclaimed and shot up so fast High Winds was impressed as Wallflower hugged Derpy. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to see Raindrops graduate the Wonderbolt Academy. And you of course,” Derpy commented as she hugged Wallflower back with a grin as Dinky popped out of her mane.

“Hi!”

High Winds and the others almost melted at the bright smile the filly was giving them as Wallflower grinned happily at her.

“Hey Dinky!” Wallflower rubbed the filly on her head and nuzzled her. “It’s been a while now. It’s been what, five months?”

“Yep!” Dinky chirped and Wallflower patted the metal chairs.

“Sit and I’ll introduce you to the others,” Wallflower grinned widely. Wider than Sunset or Twilight had ever seen on her muzzle. “That’s Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, High Winds and Watermelody. You already know Silverspeed and Silver Spoon.”

“Mhm. I remember Sunset as well, but I don’t think she remembers me. I was a few classes ahead of Spitfire in Flight school,” Derpy nodded briefly at Sunset. Sunset sat next to Silverspeed and idly held her hoof.

“I remember Spitfire mentioned once or twice. She had nothing but good things to say. It’s nice to finally meet you,” Sunset nodded back and quickly shook hooves with Derpy. Wallflower nuzzled Derpy and gave a content sigh as Derpy wrapped a wing around her.

“We should totally get dinner and catch up after. I’ve missed you guys so much. Where’s Amethyst and Time Turner?” Wallflower asked and looked around.

“We only had the bits to get me and Dinky here. And back for course. They sent their best wishes, of course. I’d love dinner but uh we gotta save money,” Derpy blushed and rubbed the back of her head.

“I’ll cover you,” Watermelody waved a hoof dismissively. “A friend of Wallflowers is a friend of mine.”

Derpy opened her mouth to argue and Wallflower gently pressed a hoof over her lips as Dinky jumped over to Spike and stared at him curiously with wide eyes. It was her first time meeting a dragon evidently.

“Are you really a dragon?” Dinky asked and lifted his claw with a hoof.

“Mhm!” Spike nodded and Derpy smiled at the two. “Spitfire is about to talk. We can talk all about it later.”

“If I could have the family members kindly sit down so I can begin that will be appreciated,” Spitfire said and folded her wings at her sides as she idly watched ponies sitting down. “Thank you. My name is Captain Spitfire as you all know. I’m personally honored to be here to start the graduation ceremony for my cadets. I’ve been impressed by every single one of them. They’ve worked harder than anypony I’ve ever met in the Academy. During they’re time here, they’ve displayed the abilities we look for in Wonderbolts.”

Spitfire shifted briefly and turned another page as she felt all the ponies eyes on her. She’d be lying if she said she hated public speaking. She wasn’t necessarily good at it, but ponies tended to listen when Spitfire started speaking.

“They’ve each individually displayed compassion for each other, from helping injured teammates out to working together. In the Wonderbolts, we don’t leave anypony behind and they’ve proven they know that well. These are some of the best ponies I’ve seen come through the academy and I’m proud to have them be the first class of ponies to arrive at our new training center here. I speak for everypony here that I look forward to seeing where they go from here. Today you join the greatest fighting force Equestria has ever seen. Today in honoring you graduates, in celebrating your achievements and giving thanks for your commitment, we can see clearly your role in our world. Wonderbolts aren’t just a stunt team, we are members of the Royal Guard. I myself went through the exact same training you all did. I remember the awful food, the late nights studying for exams, getting woken up early in the morning for drills, being pushed to the point of vomiting. Only the best can make it through our trainings and you all managed that with ease. I thank the families here for raising you well. Today, you have earned the right to be saluted,” Spitfire announced and Twilight watched patiently as Spike shifted next to her. “Because you’re no longer cadets, you’re Wonderbolts and I’m proud to call you that.”

Spitfire stepped backwards and stood at attention as she saluted the ponies in front of her as Fleetfoot and Soarin each mimicked her gesture. Raindrops and the other Wonderbolts returned the gesture as Spitfire gave a nod their way.

“If your families are here, they can now approach and pin the Equestrian Dfense Service Medal on your Wonderbolt on the right side along with the Wonderbolt Training Ribbon they received this morning on the left side,” Spitfire announced and lowered her hoof. Sunset and the others stomped their hooves approvingly as Dinky jumped slightly.

Derpy took a deep breath and stood up as she started trotting to Raindrops. The jasmine mare stood quietly and ignored the other ponies and their families as Derpy opened a brown box and carefully pinned a medal above Raindrops chest pocket.

“I’m proud of you,” Derpy muttered quietly and hugged her as Raindrops relaxed and hugged her back.

“Thanks Derpy. And thanks for taking the place of my parents,” Raindrops nuzzled her and shot a quiet look at Cloudkicker and a few others standing alone. “I would have been waiting forever for somepony else to tap me out.”

“Anytime. Come on, Dinky is here.”

Raindrops grinned and trotted after her quickly. It had been annoyingly long since she had seen her favorite filly. Or well, one of them she should say.

Cloudkicker and a few others stood still as Spitfire approached the lavender mare.

“Cloudkicker?” Spitfire asked and Cloudkickers eyes flicked to her briefly, the only part of her body that moved to acknowledge Spitfire.

“Yes ma’am?”

“Is your family here?” Spitfire asked and looked around slowly. Fleetfoot, Soarin, Misty Fly and a few other Wonderbolts stood talking nearby.

“No ma’am. My family and I aren’t really on speaking terms. Most of us from Ponyville won’t have our families coming due to the distance. Special cases like Raindrops excluded. Ma’am,” Cloudkicker added as Spitfire nodded.

“Where’s your medal and ribbon?” Spitfire asked and Cloudkickers eyes flicked down to her chest pocket where Spitfire made out the brown box sticking out. Spitfire pulled it out and opened it, pinning it on her chest before pinning the ribbon on her left side. “There you go. You’re free to join your friends, Cloudkicker.”

Cloudkicker nodded and hide her eyes briefly from Spitfire before focusing back at her. Spitfire briefly raised an eyebrow as Cloudkicker resisted the urge to cry and smiled at her.

“Thank you ma’am.”

“Anytime Cloudkicker. Have fun with your friends. I believe I heard rumors of this morning of getting drunk at Soarin’s bar?” Spitfire grinned and nudged Cloudkicker. “I’ll be there. I’ll buy you a beer.”

“I’ll take you up on that,” Cloudkicker grinned back and bumped flanks with her.

“I look forward to it,” Spitfire winked and trotted over to Soarin. “Take some ponies. Whoever doesn’t have family or friends here, give them their medal and ribbon. I don’t want them to sit here waiting for ponies that will never come. You know what that’s like.”

Soarin and Misty both winced slightly at that. Their families hadn’t shown up to their ceremony either. Fleetfoot had given them both their medals when she realized.

“You got it. Fleetfoot, Misty, Sunchaser, with me,” Soarin gestured and they all nodded.

“So Dinky,” Twilight twirled a fork in her magic and glanced down at the filly next to her. “First time meeting a dragon, I take it?” She sat outside at a table of Soarins bar. Technically, it was supposed to open next week but he made an exception for today.

“Mhm!” Dinky nodded so fast Twilight was certain her head was gonna fall off any moment. “We don’t have them in Ponyville. Miss Cheerilee talks about them occasionally.”

“Spike is nice. He’s a good friend of mine,” Twilight smiled at Spike sitting nearby with Wallflower and Derpy. Sunset and Silverspeed were sitting at a nearby table as the unicorn leaned against Silverspeeds side with a tired smile. She hadn’t entirely been okay with taking Silver Spoon into a bar so High Winds and Blaze had opted to take her home and hang out with the filly.

“I wanna know everything,” Dinky leaned forwards to Spike and grinned again.

“So Raindrops said you had something to tell me?” Wallflower asked as she looked at Derpy before glancing inside at Raindrops drinking with Dizzy and the other Ponyville pegasi.

“Ah the letter. Yes I do,” Derpy nodded and briefly focused on Dinky interrogating Spike. “So Roseluck and her sisters are related to Time Turner, remember?”

“Mhm. Kinda hard to forget. They were crazy at your wedding,” Wallflower rolled her eyes and Derpy chuckled.

“Yeah, they were,” Derpy agreed readily. “So I’ll just cut to the chase. Apparently they got curious and started looking at their family history. Apparently you’re related to Roseluck’s aunt.”

“What?”

Derpy gave a low giggle at Wallflowers stunned expression and nodded as Wallflower rested her head on a hoof.

“Y-you mean I have more family?” Wallflower asked quietly and Derpy frowned at her.

“Wallie, you’ve always had a family. Berry Punch, Cheerilee, Cherry Berry, Cherry Blossom, Fuchsia Blush. And if you didn’t have them, you’ve always been considered a part of mine and Timeys family. But now, you really are one of us. And Golden Harvest too. Noi. You have a lot of ponies who are here for you,” Derpy rested a hoof on her shoulder. “Your sister’s miss you and Fuchsia. Roseluck, Daisy and Lily really wanna talk to you.”

“Why?”

“Wallie, they’re your family,” Derpy reminded her with a raised eyebrow. “They want to get to know you. More than you let them. They’re not bad ponies but a bit dramatic, especially Lily.”

“I know,” Wallflower sighed and stared down at her hooves. “I’ll give them a chance.”

“Excellent!”

Wallflower snickered slightly at Derpy as the mare glanced at Spike.

“I might have to go save him from Dinky. You remember how curious she is. I got a letter for Sunset from her friends in Ponyville. Might as well give it to her,” Derpy shrugged and looked around. “I’ll be right back.”

Sunset sat against Silverspeed as she idly held her hoof and ran her hoof across her soft fur as the pegasus sighed contently.

“Wanna get out of here?” Sunset said casually and Silverspeed was thankful she lowered her tone this time. “High Winds and Blaze are watching Silver Spoon at Blaze’s house so we have my apartment and your house free.”

“You’re awfully cuddly tonight,” Silverspeed teased and nuzzled the top of her head.

“Blame the wine. And the hot pegasus next to me.”

Silverspeed’s cheeks turned bright red as Sunset laughed loudly, attracting a few ponies attention as Sunset kissed Silverspeed on the cheek.

“Keep talking like that and I won’t let you out of my room,” Silverspeed shot back and Sunset turned a faint red this time.

“Not a bad tradeoff in my book,” Sunset mused aloud and Silverspeed resisted the urge to smack her with a wing. “I do wanna leave though. I’m getting sleepy snd we’ve been here the thirty minutes we agreed to. Long enough to be respectful and make an appearance, but not too long we seem like we have no lives. I personally look forward to sleeping tonight.”

“Strange,” Silverspeed tapped a hoof thoughtfully against her chin as her other one continued holding Sunset’s. “And I thought you had something else in mind once we got home.”

“Okay, that too,” Sunset amended after a moment of thought.

Silverspeed burst out laughing, a beautiful sound Sunset personally never could get tired of.