Hello, again! Updating this chapter today, made MAJOR changes in how Leon was portrayed in this chapter, and combined Chapters 3 and 4, as they were related to each other and should have never been split. Here it is folks, remastered! Enjoy!

Leon awoke to a banging on his door, and the voice of his mother came through his door.

"Leon! Wake up, or you'll be late to flight camp," her voice rang. With that, he immediately got up, bounded out of his room, down the stairs, and sat his rump down at the table set with food. Rather than enjoy the food, he skillfully slammed his hoof down on the edge of his plate, throwing his food into the air. He then caught every bit of food in his mouth with the same skill used to fling it into the air. He then said goodbye, bounded out the door, and headed to the flight camp.

...

This camp was on the outskirts of the city and, like the one at Cloudsdale, was filled with tracks, obstacles, and training equipment, all of which were filled with ponies using them. He proceeded to head to the schedule table, when out of nowhere a Pegasus, preoccupied with her training so as she did not notice Leon, crashed into him. They tangled their wings together, and struggled to get loose. Finally, after some tugging, they were let loose. She immediately turned on Leon.

"I'm sorry! It was an accident!" Leon pleaded, cowering all the while.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You don't have to apologize. I'm sorry to crash into you. You must be new, because I've never seen you here before. What's your name?" she asked curiously.

"I... I'm Leon... and I am new here. I came from Cloudsdale." Leon answered, a bit shaken from the encounter.

"Well, hi Leon! My name is Cloud Runner." She was a Pegasus filly, about the same age as Leon, with a white coat, a straightened, smooth mane with long side-swept bangs, a long tail hanging just above the ground, and sky-blue eyes that reflected brightly with anticipation. Like Leon, she did not have her cutie mark yet. Her voice was filled with spunk, as if ready to take on anything. "Do you need help with anything?" she continued.

"Well, I'm not a great flier, so I may need some pony's help with training. I mean... if that's all right with you..." Leon replied shyly.

"Not at all! Let's get going!" She led him to the schedule table, where a stallion requested his name. Leon responded with his name quietly, and the stallion assigned him to the training equipment station, then run and fly the track, and finally go through the obstacle course. Leon and Cloud Runner both headed to the gymnasium area. Cloud Runner explained what Leon would have to do here.

"You have to lift a minimum of 200 pounds with your wings. Think you can do that?" she challenged.

"Of course... I think..." He gripped and lifted the weight up with one wing. "I'm best with lifting weights with my wings... All it takes is control." Cloud Runner, not to be outshined by this new colt, lifted two of the same weights with both wings. It was a challenge. Leon then lifted two 300 pound weights, a feat amazing for a young colt. Cloud Runner then smiled and accepted his skill with weightlifting.

"Nice, though I have only lifted those 300 pound weights twice. I think you've got this exercise down," she stated.

They next headed to the track, where they had to both run a total of 2 miles and fly a total of 3 miles. This is where Leon failed at the most, as time was measured. Cloud Runner could somehow tell from his discomfort that he needed help here the most. Though he had no problem going the distance, he would always be under the time for passing. His ears dropped, and he sat down on his rump, as if he were already accepting defeat.

"Cloud Runner... I... I don't think that I can make this. I always ended up falling behind everyone. I... I don't want that to happen again." Leon said shamefully.

"I'll slow down enough so that you can both make it on time and keep up with me. You just got to be fast. I know you can do this," she assured him. With her encouragement and offer of help, Leon felt much better, and stretched his wings and legs to get ready. They walked to the starting line, ready to begin the race that would prove Leon could fly steadily and fast. All the other ponies joined them at the start, and prepared for the race. The timer ran for twenty minutes, and any Pegasus who did not beat the time would retake the test, which brought some shame to them, something Leon had felt all the time after every race. But he would not fail now, not when someone actually believed in him. He was going to do this, and he would beat that clock, no matter what it takes. He bent his knees and gritted his teeth, showing both anticipation and a bit of anger. I won't fail again, he thought to himself. Not this time! I will finish this race! Five… four… three… two… one…

BAAAAAAAAAAAARIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

The bell rang loudly as ponies shot out the starting line. All of them ran at a frantic pace, and the first leg of the race seemed the most difficult for any Pegasus. Almost any Pegasus. Leon and Cloud Runner both galloped as fast as possible. Leon was leading the pack of ponies, with Cloud Runner following close behind. Leon would never have any problem with the running part of the race, but when he trained at Cloudsdale, flying was always the first leg of the race. Now he had the advantage, and by the end of the first five minutes finished the first mile. Leon never felt so alive, so free, and so successful. Cloud Runner, just behind, kept pace with him. Leon looked behind him, and saw Cloud Runner behind him.

"Hey, I know I may not make it, but I want you to go full speed, see if I can try to catch up," he panted out.

"Are you sure? We're making pretty good time already, why go faster?" she responded.

"Yeah, I want to push myself. Push myself towards bettering myself. I would always give up when I flew. I don't want it to come to that again." Leon explained.

"OK. You seem pretty determined, so I'll go my top speed. Don't stay in the dust!" she teased.

They both finished the first part of the race in ten minutes, and prepared their wings for the remaining three miles. Cloud Runner shot off away from Leon faster than a shooting star fell across the sky. She was faster than any pony Leon had ever seen, even at Cloudsdale. Leon stuck his wings out and soared towards Cloud Runner. He wasn't nearly as fast as Cloud Runner, but he still pursued Cloud Runner with a constant speed. He flew a bit faster to catch up to Cloud Runner, who had already finished the first mile at the two minute mark. Leon, now determined to go even faster, flew at a frightening pace, and finished the first mile thirty seconds after Cloud Runner. He could now see the other ponies finishing their running, and starting to fly.

Not good enough. Need to go even faster! He gritted his teeth, flapped his wings, and stuck his forelegs out in front of him, gaining even more speed. He was lessening the distance between him and Cloud Runner. He soon saw that she was only a few yards in front of him, and eventually he caught up to her. Just as he caught up to her, they finished their second mile in three minutes. Only a good three-and-a-half minutes to go. Yes! Only one more mile to go! I just might finish this after all. Suddenly, Leon felt a strong pain in his left wing.

"WHA-! Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no!" he exclaimed. With the amount of weight he carried on his wings before the derby, he strained his wings. He knew now that he could not go any faster or his wing could break at any moment. He slowed his pace to where it was only slightly less than thrashing. He continued to fly, and noticed many of the other ponies catching up to him. He knew that if he wanted to win, he would need control. Just remember what Derpy taught you; control is everything, no matter what speed offers. Remembering his friend and what she had taught him, he knew exactly how much faster to go without putting any more strain on his wing. He went faster, and saw the timer on the clock countdown from one minute.

Keep calm, and flutter on. He repeated this thought in his head over and over again. He kept at his pace, and noticed the other ponies finishing just ahead. He felt as though he burned all his energy, but he would not stop flying. The clock was at ten seconds now, and counting. He was almost there, and the finish line was just 100 meters away. Nine… eight… a quarter of the way there. Seven… six… halfway there! Five… four… just a few feet away! Three… two… he was so close. Two… he literally flung himself over! One! The derby was over. Leon, panting heavily, lay with his stomach on the ground and his legs spread out. Cloud Runner came up to him. I failed again. After all of that, I lost. I'm sorry Cloud Runner. I'm sorry Derpy. He closed his golden eyes so that he saw no pony laughing at him.

Cloud Runner, wearing a large grin on her face, came up to Leon and said something that was sure to make him feel better. "Guess what? You just made the cut!" she yelled.

"Oh…!" he rasped in surprised, "Really!? That's… amazing!" He panted heavily, but was still excited to hear he succeeded. "I would be cheering… if I wasn't so… exhausted." He continued panting, while Cloud Runner flew up, directed a small piece of loose cloud just over Leon, and jumped repeatedly on the cloud. Water fell from the cloud over Leon, who lifted his muzzle and drank in as much water as he could. He felt refreshed, relaxed. He stood up and noticed Cloud Runner, who had now flown down from the cloud, went up to Leon and pointed to his flank.

"What do we have here? A cutie mark?" she told him.

"What? Where?" He looked at his flank and had found what she was talking about; his cutie mark. He saw that it was in the shape of some strange, red, winged creature, glowing brightly against Leon's grey hide. He then looked at Cloud Runner, and noticed something on her flank as well. He pointed it out, and she turned to look at her flank. Her cutie mark depicted a blue lightning bolt with streaks of yellow coming out of a storm cloud. They each congratulated one another, and finally headed to the obstacle course.

This exercise was mostly measured by points, and was focused more on agility than speed, yet time was an extra bonus. Both Leon and Cloud Runner knew they would have no problem with this last test. Cloud Runner went first, and when she went through the course, she focused on speed. She went through the cloud hoops without a hitch, swerved around the columns with ease, and finally landed with grace. There was no doubt from any pony that she passed. Leon went up next. Using a combined method of Derpy's strategy and Cloud Runner's technique, he lifted off the ground, and headed to the hoops. He swooped through each of them with no trouble whatsoever. He then glided through the air to the columns. He swerved perfectly around each of them, showing style and control. He then landed on the runway, where Cloud Runner congratulated him.

They were both called to the headmaster of the camp. The headmaster had looked at each of them.

"That was some of the finest flying I've seen since this camp was opened. You two have definitely earned your right to fly." With that, the headmaster gave each of them their flying license, and they cheered at receiving their ticket to flying. They both walked of the headmaster's office, and Cloud Runner turned to Leon.

"Leon, I think we're going to be very good friends," she stated.

"Really!?" he said excitedly. "That's... that's amazing!" responded Leon. They both left the flight camp, and made their ways back home.

Had to change a LOT of Leon's original dialogue to make him better fit that timidness he was claimed to have in the beginning of the story. What did you guys think? Will be updating again on Sunday, with many updates from the original. Thanks for reading this week, everyone!