Author's Note

Hi, William here. A quick update on my life and the story:

I've had a bit of writer's block, so that's great. But I haven't really written anything truly for three reasons. One, I've been super busy lately. My schedule decided to go and become stupidly crowded. Yay! Two, I've gotten sick with an ear infection. Double yay! Three, my PC is acting up. Tr-tr-triple Yay!

So anyway that's how stuff has been and that's the reason(s) for me not really posting much to the story as of late. Anyway, I'll let you read in peace.

William Sable

Chapter 20: The Beginning

"Captain."

Shadow shook himself out of entrancement and nodded, staring at the blue Pegasus in front of him.

"How does this whole callsign thing work?" Berry asked, glancing out the window, "Do we get to choose?"

Storm thought for a moment, ignoring the bumping and shifting of the train. It had been two days since the final training session, and already the squadron was booked full. On specific request from Princess Celestia, Bravo Squadron was now heading to Canterlot Castle, for an unknown purpose.

"Well," Shadow finally answered, "You have to kind of... earn it. Your callsign is whatever catches on. Example: I wanted to be known as Storm or Thundershock, but I came out of training as Hotshot."

Walker giggled slightly and asked, "How did you get the name?"

Storm sighed and slapped his hoof to his face, making sure not to damage his aviators.

"Well, back when I was selected," Shadow began, cringing, "Spitfire made me perform a demo-ish audition... thing. Turns out, she was going to get me in the Squadron no matter what, but I tried my best. Of course, I was younger, more inexperienced and an idiot. I overconfidently attempted to break the assault course record, stating to Captain Spitfire that I could complete it in thirty seconds. I fell flat on my face several times, and came out with a time of two minutes and forty-five seconds; not my best performance. Anyway, the majority of the squadron was there, and as I finished, Spitfire said, 'Good going Hotshot.' And the name stuck."

Storm leaned backwards against the wall of the train car. The six ponies in front of him had various emotions glued on their faces, though they all shared some form of amusement. Silence gathered around the car, making the roof feel heavy. Shadow slowly slipped out, and made his way to the diner car. He took a seat at the bar, sitting on a stool.

"Give me something strong," Shadow said to the bartender as he passed by.

Within seconds, Storm found himself staring at a glass. A quick sip spread a disapproving look across Shadow's face.

"Club soda. Sure is strong," Shadow remarked sarcastically aloud, grabbing the glass with his teeth.

The black Pegasus flopped into a booth nearby and placed his glass down, staring out through the window. Time seemed to move slowly as he watched the passing terrain.

"You okay?"

Shadow turned to see Walker standing beside him. He nodded and motioned for her to sit down.

"I'm just tired, stressed and pissed off," Shadow noted in a failed attempt to be funny, "But otherwise, I'm fine."

"What's stressing you sir?" Walker questioned.

"RAF is on my plot about something every damn day, Armor wants me to testify constantly, and the stress of dealing with the idiots that make up this squadron is getting to me. Present company excluded," Shadow responded, quickly adding the last sentence before taking a sip.

Walker nodded slowly, left for a moment and ordered a drink. Within seconds she returned, a small glass filled with some orange coloured drink in her mouth. Sitting down, she stared awkwardly at the table as Storm stared back out the window.

"You, Dash, and Stravor are the few airponies I enjoy being around," Shadow said quietly, still staring out the window.

"Thank you sir," Walker responded, grinning.

Storm nodded and returned Walker's smile for a fleeting moment, before returning his face to his cold, hard, serious look. Walker left after a few seconds of silence, leaving Shadow to slowly nod off to sleep.

The hours passed quickly, and Storm found himself disembarked and marching up the steps to Canterlot Castle.

"Last couple of times I was here," Shadow noted, laughing and shouting loudly to the trainees as they lagged slightly behind, "I was attacked, almost arrested, smashed through a window, and had to convince somepony that I loved them. Fun times to be had in this castle."

Shadow saluted several legionnaires before arriving in the main hall of Canterlot Castle. The grand white hall was a sight to see, no matter how often one graced Canterlot. The grand staircase that split off into the two wings of the castle was an iconic figure in the history of Equestria, and even though Storm had seen it many times, it was always special to be here.

"Captain Storm!"

Shadow turned to see two ponies approaching from behind. He motioned for the Bravos, whom were observing the hall, to stop and stand at attention. As the two figures approached, Shadow recognized the white figure of Shining Armor, joined by another tall, pink pony.

"Captain Storm," Armor repeated, grinning, "Meet my wife, Princess Cadance."

Shadow immediately bowed and responded, "Your highness, it is an hon-"

"Just Cadance, Captain," the Princess responded with a smile.

"Oh, apologies. It's nice to meet you Cadance. I'm Captain Shadow Storm of Wonderbolts Bravo. This is Lieutenants Dash, Feather, Twister, Berry, Chaser and Walker."

"Ah, glad to meet you all," Cadance said, smiling still, "Captain Storm, would you join us for dinner tomorrow night?"

Shadow bowed once again and answered, "I would be delighted."

With a curtsey, Cadence trotted off busily. Storm walked closer to Armor, and the two left in a hurry. As Storm exited through a door at the side of the hall, he shouted backwards at Bolts.

"Dismissed!"

With that, Storm disappeared behind a golden door, disappearing into a black shape behind the ornamental glass. The six trainees filed out in various directions, scanning all around. Dash found herself intrigued, but less so than the rest of the group. She had spent a fair amount of time in this castle, and had seen most of it.

"Dash!" Walker shouted, waving her over with a hoof.

Rainbow sighed and trotted over to Walker, visibly and audibly annoyed.

"Something is up with the Captain. He seems..."

"Ill at ease," Dash finished, leaving Walker with a surprised look.

"I think the Captain's diction is rubbing off on you Dash," Walker added giggling.

Dash laughed half heartedly, peering backwards. A few minutes passed by, and Shadow returned with a stern look on his face.

"Attention!" he shouted, his voice echoing across the hall.

The six Wonderbolts filed in and took their usual stances. It had become rather routine and easy to stand at attention.

"I have been informed of our summons," Storm began, pacing as he usually did, "We are to perform for Princess Celestia and the royalty of Equestria at a private air show. The show is in five days, at fourteen hundred hours. Again, everypony will get a turn to fly solo for ten minutes. Aside from that, you are free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day. Captain Armor has arranged for us to sleep in the luxury guest wing of the castle, so be gracious to him. Dismissed, but Dash; a word."

The five other Pegasi quickly spread out and exited the hall for various tasks, leaving Dash standing at attention, alone with Shadow, in the middle of the great hall.

"At ease Dash."

Dash loosened her muscles and took a deep breath.

"Tonight, I'm going to show you how a Wonderbolt has fun. There's this place on the lower ring, right up your alley. You game?" Storm asked, grinning proudly.

Dash nodded enthusiastically and stated, "Yeah, I'm good for anything."

"Good," Shadow said, walking towards the door leading to the guest wing, "I'll be heading out in an hour. I'll stop by your quarters then."

"I feel like an idiot."

"Well if you stopped squirming and walking weird, you wouldn't."

"Is this really necessary?"

"Well do you want to make an impression on him?"

Dash sighed and flopped on the ground, annoyed.

"Good," Walker said happily, sliding around to Dash's side, "The Captain is odd. You'll just have to gauge what he likes by what you know."

"Well he likes symphonies..." Dash muttered to herself.

"Symphonies? Really? Would not have pegged him as a classical buff," Walker commented, tugging at Rainbow's multicoloured mane with a hair brush.

"I know right?" Dash responded, laughing slightly, "He's a bit... unique?"

A knock at the door caused Dash to whip her head around. Walker quickly shuffled off into a nearby corner, hiding behind a couch. The quarters that the Wonderbolts had been allocated were all spacious and heavily furnished, giving Walker ample opportunity to stay hidden. Rainbow shuffled anxiously to the door and opened it slowly.

Shadow awaited on the opposite side, himself shuffling to and fro anxiously. He smiled at Rainbow as she opened the door, and tugged slightly at his black leather jacket. Storm felt himself struggling for words as he stared at Dash through his aviators.

"You look... you look... awesome..." Shadow managed to stutter.

A sudden memory shot through Shadow, causing him to whip around and pick up and object, and whip around again back to his first position. Dash grinned as she took a small bouquet of roses from Storm and place it on a nearby table.

"Thanks..." she said awkwardly, picking her hoof up.

"You're welcome. Shall we?"

Dash nodded and walked out the door, glancing behind her to see if Walker was watching. Shadow lagged behind slightly. It was odd to see Dash like this; dressed to the nines, her mane styled and straightened. Rainbow found a similar feeling, not being accustomed to Shadow having a Mohawk, or at least his mane being straightened into one, messy as it may have been on this occasion.

Rainbow found herself suddenly in a whir of motion, as Shadow led her out of the castle and into the streets of Canterlot. Within a few minutes, the two were at a bright green building that seemed to be pulsating to the sound of music from inside. A quick grin at the front door's bouncer allowed Storm to enter.

"This was one of my favourite haunts," Shadow whispered to Dash as they walked into the building.

Rainbow immediately recognized it as a dance club, its walls dark grey and black, with green strobe lights flashing on and off, casting glows over everything. Shadow nudged her toward a nearby bar and quickly began shouting at the bartender.

He nudged her again and motioned toward a stage on one side of the room, surrounded by speakers. In the middle of the stage stood a single white unicorn, clad in an electric blue mane.

"That's Vinyl Scratch," Storm remarked with a grin, "She's the hottest DJ this side of Fillydelphia. Same DJ who played at the Royal Wedding."

The whole affair was confusing, rushed and loud. Rainbow forced a grin on her face as Storm watched the bartender place two small glasses on the counter in front of the pair. Dash leaned forward and glanced into the glasses uneasily.

"It's Rainbow Juice, imported from Cloudsdale. Spicy with a deadly shot of alcohol," Shadow stated with a laugh, "You think you can handle it? I mean, being a Cloudsdalean, you should be able to."

Storm eyed Rainbow sinisterly, grinning. Dash frowned and nodded. She hated backing down from a challenge, and backing down from one that came from Shadow wasn't going to happen. With a single, swift movement, Dash downed the contents of the glass and found herself quickly regretting her decision, as the wickedly spicy and bitter taste ran down her throat. Storm followed suit and smiled as she began breathing heavily, attempting to cool her mouth.

Shadow loved the obnoxiously fast paced environment and began dragging Dash again, as she still reeled from her drink. Rainbow found herself standing in the middle of the club, in what seemed to be a makeshift dance floor. Dash shirked and hunched over, feeling awkward in the middle of the crowd. Shadow took note of her countenance and walked over laughing.

"Take it easy, start small," he stated, shuffling backwards a step.

Storm began shuffling from left to right, taking small steps in time with the beat. Dash remained still, her ears slightly lowered. She felt uncomfortable in the large crowd.

Storm sighed and stated, "Come on, once you get going, just mix it up a bit."

With a couple prods with his nose, Shadow finally forced Rainbow to half-heartedly dance. Storm grinned and began 'mixing it up'; criss-crossing with his hooves and returning to his normal side step. Rainbow still shirked under the loudness of the crowd and bass of the music. The song ended and Dash still felt like she was being crushed by the crowd. Another song came on however, and her mood rapidly changed.

The song was much faster and upbeat. She finally gave up and gave in, feeling herself slipping away as she began dancing to the music. She felt like an idiot, but didn't care. Storm smiled and moved closer to Dash.

"That's the spirit!"

With that, Shadow grabbed Dash and twirled her around. The look of sheer surprise and shock on her face forced Storm to take a break out of laughter, before returning to the dance floor to rejoin Dash. As Shadow began moving to the beat again, he grinned.

'This is gonna be a night to remember.'