Blown Away

Twilight Sparkle woke up to find her bedroom window open and Rainbow Dash prodding her head with a hoof. “Rainbow? What are you doing here?” She yawned and stretched her wings, climbing out of bed to shut the window. The sun had barely risen and the air was frigid.

“Just making sure we have time for a personal tour before you get any training done,” Rainbow Dash said. “My division is the advanced fliers so we get up early to practice.”

“Alright, let me brush my hair and get some breakfast. You have anything to eat yet?” Twilight asked, heading to her nightstand. Rainbow Dash looked at her uncomfortably.

“Uh, you might not want to eat too much. And your hair’s gonna get messed up really fast,” she said. “The first day can be a little rough for the newcomers.”

“I’m not going to show up hungry with messy hair on my first day,” Twilight replied. “I need to make a good impression.” She finished combing her hair and headed downstairs. “Spike”, she called over to a basketful of blankets. “I’m going out and won’t be back for a while. Make sure you feed Owlowiscious, okay?”

“Feed… Owl…,” Spike mumbled, turning over in his basket. “Wha… no… but I like my moustache, Rarity…” It seemed as if he were still asleep. Twilight turned to Owlowiscious’ perch.

“You remind him, alright?” She asked. The owl blinked and hooted. Twilight headed downstairs, preparing a flower petal sandwich in a matter of seconds. She then proceeded to eat it incredibly slowly as Rainbow Dash watched.

“Will you hurry up?” Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight chewed for a moment, then swallowed.

“I read somewhere to chew your food and eat slowly before rigorous exercise,” she explained. Rainbow Dash groaned, plopping down in a chair and pulling up a nearby Daring Do book. Two chapters later, Twilight finally finished eating her sandwich.

“Great, let’s go. There won’t actually be enough time for the full tour so I’m going to have to rush over a few things,” Rainbow dash said, flying out the window. Twilight smiled at her enthusiasm before calmly hanging a bookbag on her shoulder and leaving through the front door.

“It’s not really that far away, if I remember correctly,” Twilight said, catching up to her friend. “It only took us half an hour to reach it by balloon.”

“You have wings now, who needs a slow old balloon? The Academy’s right over there,” Rainbow Dash pointed at a spec in the distance. “I wake up late all the time and I’m never late for practice.”

Gliding proved to be much faster than balloon travel, and in just five minutes, the two ponies touched down at the entrance to the Wonderbolts Academy. Twilight stepped around the clouds for a moment, enjoying the feel. “These clouds are a little stickier than I remember,” she remarked.

“Yeah, they’re sturdier too, so we use them for building things,” Rainbow Dash said. “So, since last time you were here, you were attacked by a stray tornado and didn’t get a chance to see the academy, let’s take a quick look around.” She flew up to the main building.

“This is the main office where the Wonderbolts handle paperwork. Rumor has it that Spitfire sleeps in there too,” Rainbow said. Twilight took a moment to peek in a window, where she saw a Wonderbolt resting on a hammock.

“Over here are the obstacle courses. They range from butterfly to dragon and have everything in between. And there’s the high score chart for each course,” Rainbow Dash continued, gesturing. Twilight took some time to look at each one. The butterfly course had rings of basic white clouds whereas the dragon was filled with foreboding-looking storm clouds. The scoreboard was prominently displayed near the entrance of each one.

“You’re at the top of each list,” Twilight said, looking over the scoreboard.

“Oh really? I hadn’t noticed,” Rainbow Dash grinned, casually peering over Twilight’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, they’re a lot easier than they look. It looks like the first couple students are finally showing up.” A small crowd had begun forming at the office entrance. Rainbow and Twilight flew over to join them as Spitfire came out from her office.

“Good morning everypony. I see we have a new recruit. Let’s all welcome Princess Sparkle,” she regarded Twilight. Every head in the crowd turned.

“Just Twilight’s fine,” Twilight Sparkle said, blushing at the attention. Spitfire nodded and made a note in her clipboard.

“Well, then. Normally we start new fliers off at the songbird course, but I’d like to really see what you can do. The Wonderbolts could use an Alicorn like you. I’m putting you in the advanced fliers group with Rainbow Dash. You’ll be practicing for the dragon course. Courses are run every Thursday,” Spitfire said. “Will that be alright, Twilight?”

“That gives me… three days to practice. I’m confident in my abilities,” Twilight Sparkle said, wincing a little at the thought of all those thunderclouds. She was used to difficult requests by her mentors and always strived to please.

“Now that the formalities are over, let’s get to training,” Spitfire ordered. “Think we’re letting you go easy just because it’s early? Ten laps around the Academy! Let’s move, ponies!”

Twilight found herself caught in a flurry of pegasi. She took off clumsily, trying to pace herself with the slowest ponies for the first couple of laps. It was faster than she was used to, but still manageable.

“And done!” Rainbow Dash said, landing and striking a pose. Twilight was still on her second lap, and falling behind. As more and more ponies began finishing their laps, Twilight found herself to be the only one left in the sky. She finished alone, out of breath, and in last place.

“Ten minutes for the warm up…” Spitfire said. “That’s an academy record. In the wrong direction. This isn’t good, Twilight. Are you sure you’re up for the advanced fliers? We could bump you down a notch… to basic training.” She gestured over to a fenced off area, where a Wonderbolt could be seen helping wobbly young pegasi balance on clouds.

“I’m… okay. Just… getting warmed up,” Twilight panted. This was much harder than she thought it would be. Spitfire nodded.

“Okay ponies, break off into your divisions. We’ll be starting the week off easy today with some ins and outs around the track. If you need anything, I’ll be in my office,” Spitfire said, flying off towards the main building.

“C’mon, let’s move it, advanced fliers!” Rainbow Dash shouted, zooming off towards a nearby track made entirely out of clouds. A small group of ponies followed and began flying around as Rainbow Dash approached Twilight. “Ins and outs are where you drift slowly around the curved parts of the track and zoom forward on the straight parts. They’re pretty easy, so you shouldn’t have much trouble with them.”

Twilight nodded and joined the other ponies on the track. “It’s okay, Twilight, just hang in there,” she said to herself, and floated slowly around the curved portion. When she reached the straight part, she pushed forward with all of her strength, eyes closed with effort.”

“Hey, watch where you're flying with that horn,” a pony said, swerving to avoid collision.

“Sorry,” Twilight called back, stopping at the end of the track, slightly out of breath. “This isn’t so bad,” she thought to herself. “Excuse me, Rainbow? How many of these do we need to do?” she asked as Rainbow Dash floated by.

“We usually do about thirty or so. I’m on number ten,” Rainbow Dash casually replied, not showing any signs of fatigue. “Since it’s your first day, you could get away with doing twenty-five. And that’s full laps, so you’re on number… one half.” She reached the straight portion of the track and zoomed off.

Twilight blinked for a while, floating in place. “Keeping up with this advanced class is going to be a lot harder than I thought,” she said to herself.

“Will you move it already?” A pony asked behind her. “You’ve been drifting in the same spot for, like, five minutes!”

“Sorry!” Twilight said, rushing down the track. The storm clouds of the dragon course rumbled ominously in the distance.