Love in the Wind

"Today's a big day. Are you ready, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked as she was on her castle balcony looking up to see Rainbow doing air flips.

"Heck, yeah! I was born ready!"

"You're not nervous?"

"I was more nervous when I had to take the test to get in!"

"True… So if you're ready, we'll get going then." She opened her alicorn wings and flew down to the ground. Rainbow followed her and saw their friends coming over to say goodbye.

"Good luck, Rainbow Dash!" said Rarity.

"Darn tootin'! You'll be the best flyer they ever saw!" pointed Apple Jack.

"I know you'll do great…" said Fluttershy.

Pinkie jumped up and down and then tackled Rainbow, giving her a huge hug, "Don't forget about us!"

Rainbow was nearly choking, "Like… I will…"

Twilight giggled while she acted like the crowbar to get Rainbow loose, "All right, Pinkie, let go. We'll be back before you know it."

With final goodbyes, the pegasus and alicorn went to the train station.

"I still don't understand why you need a personal guard just for inspecting the Wonderbolt Reserves." Rainbow pointed.

"It's protocol, so Princess Cadence was kind enough to lend me Flash."

"Oh…" grinning slyly, "Not Sir Sentry?"

"I mean…" blushing beet red.

"Ha! You have it so bad!"

"Just… please don't say anything…"

"Relax, your secret is safe with me. Hey, it's the least I can do since you helped me into the Reserves in the first place."

"Thanks…" they stopped at the station where the train from the Crystal Empire was fast approaching.

The train screeched to a halt and the car doors opened to reveal a guard wearing golden armor. He went to the mares and bowed to Twilight.

"Your Highness."

"Rise, Sir Sentry, and hence known, you shall call me Twilight. Or if necessary, Princess."

"As you wish…" giving off a smile, she slightly blushed.

Rainbow had to clear her throat to break their gaze, "Um, Twi? Should we go?"

"Of course! Flash, could you…"

"My pleasure." he opened his wings and took off with Twilight and Rainbow.

The Wonderbolt Academy was straight ahead. The runway already had pegsi lining up to face the three main Wonderbolts: Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin'. Rainbow quickly flew in to join the line. Spitfire noticed this and eyed Dash.

"You're late." she said in her authoritarian tone.

"Yes, Ma'am! Sorry, Ma'am." Rainbow replied, "Twenty laps to make up tardiness, Ma'am!"

"At ease. We'll let it slide on the first day. But be on time for the rest!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" she saluted.

By then, Flash and Twilight flew in.

"Her Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle!" Flash announced.

The rest of the pegsi, including the Wonderbolts, bowed in respect.

"Now," Spitfire turned back to the group, "the princess is here to make sure we didn't make the mistake of letting you be Wonderbolt Reserves. You are graduates of the Wonderbolt Academy and you have passed the History of the Wonderbolts test with flying colors. However, that was only the first step of becoming Wonderbolts; foal steps, really! The next part of training will be long and hard. Are you up to the challenge?!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" the group shouted with pride.

"Wrong! You'll only be up to it if you can actually do it! Do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" they shouted again.

"Good. Hit the mess hall for dinner, then I want you to hit the sack, cause tomorrow, we start at dawn! Dismiss!"

The group saluted as the Wonderbolts made their way to their office building. Twilight quickly went over to Rainbow Dash.

"I'll see you in the morning."

"See ya. Oh, and Twi? You're not going to try and give me special treatment, are you?"

"Me? No way! You can handle this all on your own."

"Good. I don't want the Wonderbolts thinking I needed your help or anything."

"Want me to stay away from you until the inspection is over?"

"That'd be great."

"I'll do that, then. I better go now; I need to meet with the Wonderbolts on progress reports of the recruits." She and Flash went into the office building as Rainbow went to the mess hall. Unaware some pony was watching from afar…

Twilight sat across from Spitfire's desk magically looking at files of the Wonderbolt Reserves recruits. She could see that Rainbow had the best resume around with winning the Best Flyer contest, graduating with honors from the academy, and passing the History of the Wonderbolts test with a hundred percent! It surprised her that the Wonderbolts hadn't taken Rainbow Dash in sooner.

Flash was offered a cup of hot chocolate by Soarin' and took it. "Thanks." he said while sipping it.

"Yeah, Soarin' loves his hot coca." said Fleetfoot.

"We can't get him away from it." Spitfire jokily said.

"Hmm…" observed Twilight as she thought, Just like Rainbow with apple cider…

"Very funny…" grumbled Soarin', and then contently sipped his cup.

Soarin' came into view of binoculars when he was next to the window. A huge white pegasus stallion with sleek blond hair put down the binoculars and turned to a group of very familiar characters.

"So, is it there?" asks Dr. Caballeron.

"Yes; it's in the trophy case of Spitfire's office." replied the stallion.

"You better be right about this, Thunder Blast."

"Well, of course I'm right! I was a Wonderbolt until that happy cacky pegasus, Soarin', ruined it for me!"

"Right… So, tomorrow night, we'll sneak in and grab the Wings of Valor medal…"

"If it's going to be the very first medal the Wonderbolts ever received from Princess Celestia you're going to get, then you need a better way to get the medal without it being noticed as missing for days… I have an idea, but we wait until the moment is right…"

The minute dawn rose by Celestia, a bugle over a speaker play a reveille, waking the recruits. Twilight heard the call in her guest room, but she merely turned her head and groaned. Luckily as inspector of the Reserves, she could go see the training anytime she wanted. She went back to sleep.

Rainbow and the rest were lined up on the runway and then saluted when the captains arrived.

"At ease," pointed Spitfire, "so far, the princess is impressed by your past performances and will proceed with training. Now… give me fifty laps around the course!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" they yelled then took off, flying at high speed.

Twilight gave out a yawn as she headed out the room door, only to be surprised to see Flash guarding outside.

"Flash, what… uh, what are you doing up so early?"

"As your personal guard on this assignment, I have to make sure that the princess is well-protected…" saying that with sincerity in his tone.

Twilight felt her cheeks redden, "Well, um… I don't really need protection…"

"I know… you and your friends are the protectors of Equestria as it is. Why would you?"

"But it is sweet of you following protocol… But I hate seeing you having to get up so soon just so you can follow the procedure."

"Don't worry; I'm used to it. This is what I was trained for."

She looked back to the days when Celestia first sent her to Pony-Ville to learn the importance of friendship. She was being trained then to become a princess. She smiled at him, "You're right. It's our duty…"

"I am quite flattered, though, that you cared for my well-being."

She slightly blushed, "Would you care to join me for breakfast? The hall is bound to be empty with every pony else outside."

"I'd be honored…" He took off his helmet and caused Twilight's knees to buckle. Then, they slowly went to the dining hall.

Soarin' looked at the recruits passing by with finishing the laps and saw Rainbow Dash speeding across the fastest. He couldn't help but admire her… His flashbacks of her were when he first met her for real when she saved his pie at the gala a few years back. She saved him when he injured his wing at Rainbow Falls last year. She was an amazing competitor at the Equestria Games, coming in so close to beating them.

Spitfire interrupted his thoughts when she asked, "So, any decisions on which newbie you want to train firsthand? Fleetfoot, High Winds, Lightning Streak, and Rapidfire have chosen trainees. How about you?"

He looked back and saw Rainbow land at the final lap. She was looking over her wings to make sure they were still in great shape.

"Well?" Spitfire questioned.

"Have any of them chosen Rainbow Dash?"

"No, but I was considering her for myself."

"Oh… Well, if that's how it is, then I know she will be the best student for you."

"Now, hold on. I was going to take her in if no one else did, but since you do, then she's your trainee."

"Really?"

"That kid's going to be a great Wonderbolt, no matter who teaches her."

Once the last recruit finished the lap at this point, Twilight and Flash made it to the important announcement Spitfire was giving.

"Listen up! After much deliberation, you will be trained under a Wonderbolt member and from there, you will learn everything from them. You are to listen to your commanding officer at all times! Am I understood?!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" they responded.

"To start off…" she shouted a name then the Wonderbolt's name, and the trainee went to his coach. She listed a few more names until she finally got to… "Rainbow Dash! You are to be with Soarin'!"

Rainbow was slightly stunned, but went to her new coach. She saluted him, "Sir."

He saluted back, "At ease, Cadet." He moved them to an isolated place of the training area. "We're going to try some different exercises of when not to use your wings."

"But Soarin'- I mean, Sir, isn't the point of being a Wonderbolt having to fly?"

"Yes, but sometimes, when a mission gets too hard, you need to conserve your wing energy or else you'll get too tired and cannot complete the mission at hand."

"Huh, I never thought of that…"

"Shall we begin?"

"Lets! I'm ready to learn all I need to know!"