I guess our story begins at the very start. I clearly had so many other paths to take in the game of life, but I took the opportunity when I could. After all, it's better to take the risk instead of pondering years later what you could've turned out to be had you taken that risk. So in the prime time of my vigorous life, I challenged myself to go higher, to live the life I had always wanted: the adventurous life of a daredevil. There was a survey that was handed out to people that had enrolled. It was a simple piece of paper, decorated with the bright colourful livery of the Wonderbolts; the borders were highlighted in blue and the yellow material the survey itself was produced out of was somewhat stiff and creaseable, like it was some sort of low-dense cardboard or a hoard of papers stuck together for a sense of depth. It was a high-class of presentation, to say at the least. I don't really know how to compliment such detail in small sizes, but it's worth the mention! It was imprinted with a few questions we needed to answer to make sure we weren't unfit couch-dwellers that were quite literally dreaming! Because, let's be honest, the last thing a trainer at the Academy wants to see is someone who can't even survive the first courses!
A quick fill-in and send-off gave me the confidence I needed for that week. It also gave me a levelled balance of anxiety to compliment my excitement as well, knowing that only the best of the best could be given the opportunity to attend the Academy. To be fairly honest, I never saw myself as that: the best of the best. That was what worried me. Who exactly were the Wonderbolts, the high-flying act of the millennium, were going to take under their wing? It was and interesting question I hadn't imposed onto myself until then. In fact, I hadn't had any doubt about being a Wonderbolt
Nevertheless, the acceptance letter came in anyway on a rainy morning. The mail pony had a huge load to unpack into the mailboxes of everypony on the street, so his arrival was a bit delayed at the time. Unlike most of the other ponies who attended the Academy, I didn't fly up the instant I received the letter. It was depressingly drenching outside! When I did manage to make the trip the day after, however, it was a sparkling, bashful day indeed. I'm not talking about the weather though. It was the atmosphere of the Academy that engulfed me upon my arrival on the big rock in the sky.
It was truly a mesmerizing sight; ponies gathered together on different cloud patches talking and singing with each other with continuous lanes of traffic streaking across the skies around me as ponies make their own ways to their own points of destination. I looked in my forward direction and spotted the Academy building. As I flew towards it, my eyes zeroed into the scenario and its surroundings. What architectural beauty I saw was the stone carved ridges and walls of the façade; the marvellous and wonderful hoof-carved bronze statues of famous former Wonderbolts on the flat-paved grounds of the front yard, which were colourfully decorated with flowers and ordainments from across the land. Here there were a handful of ponies walking up and down the coveted steps in front of the entrance doors as the day went by; every one of them taking the initiative to say hello to everyone they knew, all in their unique friendly gestures, whether it be a simple fist bump, discrete name-calling or even the casual exchange of kisses between mares and stallions. It was a remarkable cultural scene to put it bluntly.
It was when I touched down on my bare hooves onto the pavement of the top step that I took my first glance at her. I had just arrived at the Academy, but I sure as hell did not know what to do now that I was there. I spotted that blue-coated rainbow mane Pegasus from across the flight. She was definitely the most noticeable pony there, that's for sure! I initially told myself, considering she was in the same position I was, staring into space on the top step of the front flight, that the mare over there was probably a rookie like I was and didn't have a clue what to do either! Then I made a decision that I had not realised until now had a profound effect on what was going to happen in my life; do I ask the mare for directions, or do I just carry on hoping to figure it out myself? I took a stab at her seeming that nothing could go wrong and I had no chance of embarrassing myself, since I was a rookie. I flew over to the mare and gave a slight tap on her shoulder.
"Yes?"
She replied as she turned her head towards me. I simply asked in simple assumption-
"Are you new here?"
Unfortunately, it was an incorrect assumption, but she took it lightly and laughed it off with a cheerful attitude.
"Nah, I'm not, I've been here for a year or two now! I know these halls, corridors and courses like the back of my hoof!"
I have to admit, I did feel a little bit embarrassed asking an experienced student whether or not she was new. It was probably the moment where my inner rookie showed the most. I tried not to look at her, but I think she saw the self-influenced shame in my eyes. She was having none of that though. She told me,
"Hey, pal, it's okay! I get it all the time! Say, you're new here yourself, aren't you?"
I turned by head back to her and gave a simple nod and, as if on command, she immediately poured out all her sympathy for me. She gave me a pat on the back and asked if I needed some help. She insisted that she showed me around, and I accepted her generous offer. We began to talk to each other as we walked through the frames of the front doors into the large and very crowded entrance hall.
"You seem like a very passive person, whatcha' do when you get some time to yourself?" she asked.
I simply told her that I was a writer.
"A writer?" she exclaimed. "That's funny, I know somepony who loves reading books, but she's, well… doing her duties."
She seemed a bit down at this point. At that moment I just passed it off as some sort of lost affection towards a great friend of hers, but then she kept going…
"Well, actually, all my friends are a very busy in their own lives that I haven't been able to talk to anyone of them recently. It's been sorta weighing me down a bit, if you know what I mean. It… just seems hard since I've known and hung out with them for a while now, and I've never been this far apart-"
She stopped for a brief period as if she suddenly remembered something she forgot. The mare quickly turned around and glanced at me,
"Oh! I almost forgot! I haven't introduced myself, haven't I?" She asked. "Sorry! The name's Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow Dash… I could've sworn I've heard that name before…
"I'm a high-flying, death-defying extraordinaire! I can clear the skies in Ten seconds flat and I can perform a Sonic Rainboom! On. Command."
I couldn't say I've met anypony like Rainbow Dash before, honestly! You could say from that moment on, she was an inspiration to me, because I've never seen such confidence and independence in another pony. She was one piece of fine art, that mare.
"How about you?" she asked.
"My name's Airheart" I confidently stated to her, trying to imitate her. "I can fly really high and fast, and I can write novels in ten minutes flat!"
"Not bad, Airheart!" she complimented. "C'mon, I'll show you around!"
It was the beginning of a long friendship I would have with this particular pony; a fresh, young daredevil that obviously possessed more passion and raw ability that I had, which is somewhat of a gift to me. With her, I now knew who to be if I were going to graduate from this fine establishment, but in the back of my head, I sort of had a hunch about Rainbow Dash. She was a particularly bashful pony on the outside, but since I first met her, I had doubts that this was what she truly was on the inside at the time.
There's no denying she seemed a bit off when I first saw her relative to what she introduced herself as. Standing on the steps staring into space didn't seem like something a pony who was, well, bashful would do. It also lingered in my mind what she said about her friends as well: she obviously missed them to an extent that it was taking a toll on her, but was I to say that she needed serious help? Not particularly, but I was just worried about it. Realistically, however, I wouldn't have thought it would affect her THAT much. She's Rainbow Dash, after all! So I let it slip past me for the moment as I prepared for my time at the Academy.
All of us newcomers at the Academy were each allocated different rooms to sleep in as we stayed at the Academy. There were a set number of rooms in a massive living block built for purpose as living cabins, but much more larger to encompass the set number of apprentices that would sleep here every night. My room, out of pure coincidence and luck, was next door to Rainbow Dash's. It had been previously occupied by somepony by the name of Lightning Dust. Whether or not she managed to graduate or got dropped was none of my business, I was just grateful I had the room! It was nothing special though, just a bed and a few drawers and a massive window with curtains on the opposite side. It was not very roomy, but it was only ever suited for one pony, so it was good enough for me!
I didn't get to see Rainbow Dash again on the first night, but I did get to see another very friendly neighbour of mine next door on the other side of my room. As I was drawing out the keys for the door, the ominous neighbour I had to the left of me opened his door slightly and popped his head out of his room. The black-coated stallion that appeared before me looked down to find a few scattered letters at his doorstep. He swayed his door wide and reached out for the letters, leaning over and managing to lay his eyes on me as he leaned his head to his left a little. He picked up the pile of papers on the ground and retreated back to his room, closing the door shut. It was a very quick process, like one was used to picking up random letters left at their doorstep.
But then suddenly he popped out again, with a random action of the hoof he pulled the door open and popped his little head out the door again, but this time he had his eyes fixated on me.
"Hello there!" were the first words he ever said to me.
He obviously saw that I was new here and was very suspiciously interested in me since that very moment when he made first contact.
"You're looking awfully good today!" he said. "The scarf suits you!"
I was wearing my scarf that day, something my parents gave me as a present on my 7th birthday, and I've been wearing it ever since. It was always something that was essentially a part of me, that raggedy ol' scarf of mine! Funny though, nobody ever complimented me for my scarf before...
"The name's Thunderlane" he proclaimed as he raised his hoof towards me offering a hoofshake.
Upon first glance, Thunderlane was a very compelling pony indeed. His drawn-back light blue and white mane and the pure charm in his golden eyes struck me the first time I saw him. I was literally drawn in to shake his hoof and say,
"You seem like a nice guy"
"Oh. I'm not that nice..." he replied.
Such charm indeed. I then noticed his batch of letters he was holding again. It didn't seem like they were mail-posted, obviously.
"Who are the letters from?"
"Oh, some ponies..." he shrugged it off.
It was really a short exchange of words, really. We shared our names and gave each other our welcoming vows and hit the hay afterwards. But it wasn't any normal encounter I've had. I wouldn't truly say it was love at first sight, but I did have a strong liking towards him. He wasn't that bad upon the first page, but I guess the plot thickens after you dwell deeper into the story. He was a very interesting personality. Nobody had ever shown me that deal of fondness for me in the first few seconds, so i had to toss it up between either of three options- One: he was madly in love with me, two: he has a lust for pretty much all mares or three: he's just very nice to mares. Part of me wants one to be true, but I guess it's what happens when you meet that certain stallion...
Nevertheless, I had a long first day at the Academy. The orientation was long and boring as hell, the Meet-A-Wonderbolt thing was really downright cheesy and no matter what I did as I tossed and turned in my bed on the very first night, I just couldn't stop thinking about Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane.
I think it's fair to say that this was the part of my life where I first realised that these guys were going to have a profound effect on me as long as I stay in this Academy.
