The frigid winter skies of the region in which Soarin was currently stationed made the task of flying without clothes far too uncomfortable for him, and wearing his flight suit in civilian territory was only asking for trouble. He knew from experience that it would only take one observant enthusiast to notice him before he'd be mobbed by fans - no matter how stealthy he tried to be. Instead, he adorned a pair of dark-tented aviator shades and his old Air Corps jacket: a brown leather bomber's coat with a fleece lining around the collar that he was issued in the military. His dog tags, which he rarely removed, jingled and clanked in a chiming metallic cadence around his neck as he lingered in in the air above the vast farmland of Sweet Apple Acres, searching for that golden blonde country lass who's gift for baking the holy grail of apple pies made her the only pony he looked forward to seeing whenever Spitfire would drag him to that horrid, mind-numbing gala every year; having to mingle with those sycophantic, pretentious snobs who - Soarin swore - could get high from the fumes of their own flatulence - was a small price to pay so long as he could end those nights with the after-flavor of one of those pies dancing on his taste buds.

It was true enough that the pastry-loving stallion could obtain an apple pie from many of the fine bakeries or stands within Ponyville or the town of Cloudsdale above, but there was just something about THESE particular pies that this southern belle bakes that made them stand out. He could not say what it was that made them so special: It could be the vanilla she adds in the crust to give it that extra kick of flavor, or the spicy cinnamon she adds to the filling that tantalized the stallion's senses, or perhaps she's been illegally dosing them with every addictive substance under Celestia's sun to drum up repeat business. He didn't know what it was, nor did he care. All he knew at that time was that he couldn't start the first day of his new assignment in Cloudsdale without one.

Soarin eventually found himself hovering above the quaint-looking two story homestead of the farm. The thought of ringing the doorbell did cross his mind, but it was early in the morning, and he didn't wish to be a nuisance to the farmgirl or anyone she resided with.

Maybe it was a mistake to come here so early, he thought to himself. Maybe she has a stand or a shop in town that I may have overlooked.

His ears suddenly twitched and adjusted like little satellites when they picked up a dull thud resonating in the distance. With a few powerful flaps he increased his elevation and scanned the direction from which the noise resounded. After several moments of silent observation, Soarin noticed a section of leaves amid the sprawling canopy rustling with another thud. Could that be her?

Soarin soared above the canopy toward the location of the clamorous thumps until he was directly over the rustling tree that had captured his attention. He then slowly descended hoofs-first and sank through the foliage, evading the thick boughs with relative ease, and brushing passed the switches and twigs until he breached the thick green vegetation of the treetops. He landed soundlessly on the orchard's floor where he was greeted with the tired gaze of a large, muscular earth pony standing near a wagon full of barrels, some of which were filled with freshly bucked apples.

A few awkward moments went by as they silently traded fixed stares. "Hello," Soarin finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Good ta meet ya," The large stallion politely nodded before turning around and lumbering his way to the base of tree. "What brings ya to our farm, flyboy?" he asked before striking the tree with a powerful one-legged kick that rattled the hanging fruit from their branches. Soarin was impressed by the stallion's power and precision as he watched all but one apple land in the barrels surrounding the tree.  

"This is Sweet Apple Acres, isn't it?" Soarin asked.

"Eeyup," the red earth pony replied tersely before picking the lone apple from the ground by it's stem and tossing it in one of the wooden containers with the others.

Soarin approached him and politely extended his hoof, which the large pony took while the pegasus continued. "I'm looking for a mare: golden coat, long yellow mane, You know her?" Soarin could suddenly feel the earth pony's grip becoming tighter as the edges of his eyes sharpened into a suspicious glare.

"May Ah inquire as to why ya might be lookin' for mah baby sister, sir?"

"Oh, so she's your sister?" Soarin responded cheerfully, oblivious and unwary to the hulking stallion's agitation. "In that case you must know where she is. The faster you can tell me where her stand is, the faster I can get my mouth around that sweet pie of hers!"

Soarin's ambiguous comment was answered with the large and heavy hoof of fraternal fury, sending his glasses flying as the force from the large hoof sent him reeling back. "Okay..." The battered pegasus said after he ran his tongue along his rows of teeth to confirm that they were all accounted for. "I admit that I could have worded that better..."

"Big Mac, what have ya done!?" came a southern-accented voice from off in the distance. The voice sounded familiar to the battered stallion, but he couldn't confirm that it was actually who he thought it was until he had his senses in check. The ringing in his ears gradually went away as he focused in on their heated conversation.

"You obviously didn't hear what he said before Ah had to smack him," the large earth pony insisted.

"Ah don't care what he said; you should know better than to just take a swing at someone just cuz they offended you!"

"Sis, let yer big brother talk! Once you hear what he just said, you'll probably wanna smack him, too!"

"Ah don't care what he said; there's no excuse for hitting someone unless it's out'a self-defense, and Ah saw YOU raise yer hoof first!"  

"He just referred to himself as her big brother - that must be her," Soarin concluded before he wiped the blood from his throbbing lip. He shook his head a few times and focused his eyes to get a better look at her as she continued to chide her older sibling. Upon his inspection, the first thing he noticed was how fetching she was without that gala dress hindering the view to her lithe figure.  Soarin surreptitiously scanned her from head to hoof: Everything from her flaxen hair that shimmered in the morning light with the intensity of a platinum fire, to the dip in her back, to her golden tail, to her lean, yet curvaceous hind legs. No wonder her brother feels like he needs to be so protective of her - she's a stone-cold fox. It wasn't until the farmgirl looked back at him that he realized he had let his mind wander. His eyes that had been fixed on her ass instantly darted away. He quickly looked to the sky and tried to play himself off as if he was scrutinizing the weather; his facade, he imagined, must not have been very convincing as his view of the sky was blocked by the dense vegetation that made up the roof of the surrounding orchards.

"Sugarcube?" the farmgirl called out to him in her smooth southern drawl. "Is there somethin' wrong with yer wings?"

"Oh, shit." Soarin looked back, and sure enough, his wings which protruded from his jacket stood erect from his back, stiff as stone, and nearly hard enough to bludgeon an ursa to death with. "Just airing em out," he lied with a sheepish chuckle. "You know how it is."

"We ain't got wings, so - no - we don't know how it is," the farmgirl's brother spat before his younger sister gave him a hard elbow to the chest.

"Big Mac, Ah done told ya to be nice!" The golden mare then approached the wounded stallion and gently placed a hoof on his face. He felt a slight burn in his cheeks when she leaned in to inspect his swollen lip.

"Wow, Ah'm impressed," the farmgirl said with a relieved smile.

"I know, right?" Soarin chuckled. "Even with a split lip, I'm fucking gorgeous!"

A corner of the farmgirl's mouth stretched into a half smile as she rolled her eyes. "Sugarcube, yer some kinda corny, ya know that?"

"Yeah, I'm a real jackass," Soarin laughed as he shyly rubbed the back of his head.

The other corner of the farmgirl's mouth stretched until her restrained smile finally gave way to an adorable giggle that warmed the winged stallion's heart; even those little hyuks of hers had a southern drawl laced into them.

"What Ah was tryin' ta say," the mirthful cowgirl forced through her chuckles, "was that Ah'm impressed with how quick ya'll recovered from takin' a lickin' from mah big brother. Ah was almost afraid to look at ya - Ah could hear the impact his hoof made on yer face from where Ah was standin'."

Soarin laughed. "I'm fine; his punch had nothing on it. Actually, his hoof felt kind of soft." He then turned to give the hulking brute a smirk. "He must moisturize."

The farmgirl snorted before breaking out into another fit of that cute laughter of hers.

The large red stallion barred his teeth in anger at Soarin's statement. "Ah think it's time fer ya to fly off'a mah land the same way ya came 'for ya get hurt, ya little wise-ass," he growled.

"As soon as I get what I came here for," Soarin retorted before turning his attention back to the gold-toned country girl. "Miss, I don't suppose you have a pie you can sell me?"

"Sorry, surgarcube," the farmgirl shrugged, "mah stand ain't open yet. Ah usually sell mah apples and baked goods at mah stand on stirrup street in the afternoon, though. Are you new in town? Ah don't believe Ah ever seen ya around. How do you know about mah pies?"

"Yeah, I'm new..." Soarin quickly fabricated a fib, not wanting to disclose his identity. "I have a, uhm, a friend - who told me you bake the best pies in Equestria. I'm some what of a connoisseur of pie, so I was looking forward to trying one of yours."

"Oh, well, who's yer friend? Maybe Ah could give ya a discount."

"I don't think he would appreciate me discussing him while he's not around," Soarin lied. "You see, he's one of those paranoid types. Thinks everything is a conspiracy against him. Poor guy."

"Ah'm not sure if Ah know anyone like that," the farmgirl replied with an inquisitive expression.

"Yeah, he kinda keeps to himself. I don't mind paying the full price, though." Soarin became fearful that this girl was beginning to smell his bull shit. He decided to change the subject before he could dig his hole any deeper. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have the time on you by any chance, would you?"

The cowgirl squinted as she looked up at the sky through a ray of light in the canopy. "Judgin' from the sun's position, Ah'd say it's around ten... It's definitely after nine, but that's all Ah can really tell without a clock."

"You can extrapolate the time from looking at the sun's position?" Soarin asked in amazement. "That's a neat trick."

"Yeah, well, when ya spend a lotta time outside ya pick up on things like that. Ah don't normally wear a watch, cuz it'd just get all scuffed up in mah line of work."

"Sounds sensible," Soarin nodded before before a startling realization set in. "Wait, did you say it was past nine?"

"Yeah, ya got somewhere ya need to be?"

"Oh crap, I'm going to be late on my first day!" Soarin urgently unfolded his wings and crouched into takeoff. "I'll be back this afternoon for that pie. Stirrup street, right?"

"That's right, sugarcube. I'll be sure to have a fresh one just for you."

"Sounds nice," Soarin smiled. "It was nice meeting you, miss..."

"Applejack. And Ah'm sorry if yer first experience here at Sweet Apple Acres wasn't a pleasant one." Applejack then turned to her big brother who stood with a glare fixed on the winged stallion. "You say yer sorry, Big Mac."

The large earth pony turned away and huffed a steaming puff of air from his nostrils.

"It's alright," Soarin replied with a roguish grin. "Getting to make the acquaintance of a sultry southern beauty such as yourself more than made up for it." Soarin lingered before taking off, wanting to see how the farmgirl would react. There was a slight fear in the back of his mind that he may have just offended her with his capricious come on.

"Well, look at you tryin' ta be all smooth-like," she giggled as she coyly swirled the tip of her hair around with a hoof, the faint blush lines on her cheeks and muzzle gradually intensifying, further accenting the white freckles between her eyes that dotted her face like an adorable little constellation.

...Damn, that's cute...

"Ah guess ya should probably get to where yer goin', huh?"  

That line snapped Soarin out of his stupor. "Yeah, I should probably be heading out now. I gotta get to work."

"Too bad, cuz I'd like ta hear some more of them corny pick up lines of yers," She chuckled.

"Corny? Who are you calling corny? I'm a poet!"

"Sure ya are," she responded. "Sultry southern beauty... Sounds like a Luck Brian song."

"Yeah, well if you'd like to hear some more of my corny quips, I'll think of some real zingers while I'm on duty."

The farmgirl seductively turned her head in a confident-looking, sideways smirk. "Can't wait to hear em - Ah don't believe Ah got yer name, though."

"Just call me whatever you want," Soarin replied in the hopes that she wouldn't press the issue.

"Okay..." The farmgirl gave him a thorough look over, taking note of his military-issued jacket, the aviator shades, the dog tags around his neck, and the military-style take off stance he was crouched in. "Soldier boy."

"I like it," Soarin responded approvingly before he took off toward the floating city of Cloudsdale. "See you this afternoon!" he yelled back to her.

"I'll have a fresh pie baked just for you. Don't be late, soldier boy!" Applejack yelled back with an enthusiastic wave.

"That girl is the absolute embodiment of adorableness," Soarin sighed before pushing her out of his mind. Right then, on to business.  He gradually accelerated and tore through a thick layer of cloud cover, leaving a large hole in the white blanket from where he had breached it. The drag wind that the speedy stallion created had pulled a section of the cloud along with him, creating a white jet stream to follow in his wake as he sped toward the floating town of Cloudsdale in the distance.

The academy below Soarin was bustling and lively with eager pegusi who longed to earn the right to be bestowed upon the sought after title of "Wonderbolt." Soarin took in the sight as a powerful and sentimental sense of nostalgia washed over him. To him, it was just like the military training camp he had grown so fond of in his past career in the Air Corps. "Another fine day in this man's Corps," was what he said every morning to his recruits when he was a drill instructor. "Sir! A fine day, indeed, Sir!" Is how they'd always reply. He couldn't say that here, though. This was not the Air Corps. This was an academy. Still though, that didn't mean his cadets would be treated with any less stringency than his recruits did. His cadets were second year Senior students, and if they wanted the title of Wonderbolt, he was going to make them earn it.

Soarin's train of thought was abruptly brought to an end when he suddenly collided in mid air with another pegusis. The two flailed momentarily as gravity pulled them down, but they both skillfully balanced themselves out with a few flaps.

"Sorry about that," the female pegusis said. "I was practicing a new trick and I guess I-- oh...my gosh....oh, my gosh...ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!"

How many bumps and bruises am I going to have to endure today? Soarin rubbed his head before looking at the clumsy pegusis that had just hit him. Her wide, round magenta eyes were locked on him with both her hooves over her mouth as if she was in a state of shock. She looked familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place the name and location where he had met her before; he felt stupid for not being able to remember her with more clarity as a rainbow colored-mane wasn't exactly a dominant genetic trait among ponies. "I hope this doesn't come off as rude, but do I know you?"

The cerulean mare's iridescent mane bobbed up and down as her head rattled in an enthusiastic nod. "You danced with me at the royal wedding. I also hung out with you after the young flyers competition. Raindbow Dash, remember? The totally wickedly-awesome incredibly cool sonic rainbooming badass?"

Now Soarin recognized her; cockiness of that level was incredibly rare. "Ah! Dashie, good to see you!"

"So, is it true, then? You're going to be the instructor for the seniors this semester? There were some rumors flying around the academy the whole morning that Rapidfire was going to be the seniors' instructor, but I had a gut feeling it would be you." Rainbow Dash asked with her eyes practically overflowing with excitement.

"That's right, Dashie. I hope you brought your A game if you're one of my students. I have already put together a few lesson plans that will prove to be harsh, but they will be effective in whipping you all into Wonderbolt material. You can argue with me over the my methods,  but you can't argue with the results they have produced."

"Yeah, I already know all about that," The rainbow-maned mare said with a dismissive wave. "You used to be a drill instructor. Whatever. I'm TOTALLY ready to take whatever you dish out at me! The only thing I'm really worried about is if anyone will be able to keep up with me."  

"How did you know I was a drill instructor? I don't believe I've told you that."

"Are you kidding? I know EVERYTHING about you! I'm, like, your BIGGEST fan! I know everything there is to know about all of you guys. I even know things about the Wonderbolts that not even YOU know yet, Like, for instance, your future captain... SPOILERS: It's totally going to be me!"

Soarin cocked his eyebrow and tilted his head in a quizzical smirk. "You sure seem confident,  Dashie."

"Heh, what can I say?" Rainbow Dash ran her hoof through her hair with a cocky grin. "I'm kind of a big deal, in case you hadn't heard yet."

Soarin began to wonder how in the world the weight of this mare's ego didn't weigh her to the ground when another pegusis suddenly came in from out of nowhere. He rudely wedged himself in between Soarin and Rainbow Dash with his hooves on his flanks as if he hadn't even noticed him.

"Dashie, what's up? It's been a while. I hope you're ready for me to mop the clouds with you, because I've been training. Your ass will be mine this time around!"

"It's funny you should mention my ass, Thunderlane." Rainbow Dash chuckled. "There will be a lot of opportunities for you to stare at it when we race this year. In a way, I kind of envy you."

The ashen grey pegusis scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself. I'd rather be staring at Spitfire's. Man, I can't believe she's not our instructor this year; I'm going to miss that sweet little ass of hers. She's so hot when she raises her voice. I sometimes found myself messing up on purpose just to get her to yell at me, even though it took every ounce of concentration I had to keep my wings down."

"Let's refrain from talking about the captain in such a disrespectful way," Soarin put in with his eyes narrowed, realizing he was liking this Thunderlane less and less with every sentence he uttered. "She'd unscrew your head and shit down your neck if she heard you talking about her like that, and I just might do the same."

The grey pegusis turned about to face Soarin with an insufferable, condescending sneer on his face. "Well, look what we got, a white knight," he said before shoving him back. "Piss off, newbie. This part of the courtyard is for the senior members."

"Thunderlane, maybe you shouldn't put your hooves on him..." Rainbow Dash cautioned.

"What's he gonna do about it?" Thunderlane scoffed at her before turning back to Soarin, who's mood was now less than fair from a combination of missing out on breakfast and the grey stallion's utter display of insolence. "Oh, knock it off with the thousand yard stare, tough guy. I've seen it all before - you're not intimidating anyone. And do you think you're some kind of badass flying around with your little Air Corps jacket and dog tags? I'm going to bet you bought em at a surplus store." Thunderlane reached out and ripped the tags from around Soarin's neck, snapping the clasp from which they hanged. "Tell you what: I'm feeling generous today. You're new, so I just might decide not to kick your ass for speaking out of line when a senior is present, mister..." He held the tags with Soarin's name engraved across them to his face and his ashen grey mug quickly turned ghostly white.

Soarin's eyes narrowed. Never once in his career as a drill instructor had he ever allowed a recruit to disrespect him, and he would be damned if he was about to let this pissant cadet get away with it now. His drill instructor instincts clawed and clamored from within until they were ready burst forth.

Soarin ever so delicately took Thunderlane by the collar and pulled him uncomfortably close, to the point where the grey pegusis could feel his hot breath on his face. "Would you like to know another reason why you shouldn't try to kick my ass, cadet?"

Thunderlane just continued to stare back at him dumbly.

"I see you're too Celestia damned stupid for your oratory functions to operate while you're pissing on yourself, so I'll just go ahead and break it down for you, if that's okay with you, of course."

Thunderlane slowly nodded.

There was an eerie silence, like the calm before the storm. The quite before the epic war.

"Because my hoof will end up so far up your ass, your breath will smell like glue for the rest of your natural-born life!" His powerful and  resounding roar of a voice was loud enough to capture the attention of all the pegusi in the academy's yard below. Even a few civilian pegusi flying over head stopped dead in their wings to observe the situation.  "I will tear you limb-from-limb and mail your parts back to your family piece-by-piece to avoid the additional shipping charge of a bulk package! Your wings, your legs, your head, and all of your organs! The only piece of you your family will not be receiving will be your ass! I'll mount it to a plaque and hang it above my desk in my office so I can continue to give it a thorough kicking when ever the mood should suit me! And if you ever talk about my captain again I will gouge out your eyes and skull fuck you, then I'll drag your ass to Spitfire so she can have a turn!"

The ashen grey pegusis' eyes widened as he whimpered and ducked his head in between his shoulders like a frightened turtle.

Soarin shoved him back and held his hooves out to him. "Now, my tags, if you'd be so kind?"  

With wide eyes and chattering teeth the cadet nodded and held the Master Sergeant's tags out with a shaking hoof.

Soarin snatched his tags from Thunderlane with a quick swipe and inspected the chain. Once he was satisfied that the clasp was not damaged, he turned his scowl back at the insolent pegasus in front of him. "Lucky you, they're not damaged. You got anything else to say to me, tough guy?"

Thunderlane swallowed nervously before he answered. "Words cannot express how sorry I am for— I-I didn't know. I was not able to recognize you without your flight suit, sir! P-please don't tell the captain!"

"Get out of my face. Get in formation. And wait. If I find that you've been bullying any of the new students, I will bully you right back."

Soarin watched as the humbled stallion turned and made his way toward the formation line on the court yard below with a chastened frown.

"I tried to warn him," Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Pay him no mind, sir. He's thinks he's the top dog of the academy since he made senior. I'm not sure why he tried to act like that in front of me since my scores are so much higher than his."

"Too bad for him. I'm the alpha male of this pack of dogs now," Soarin replied while glowering down at the retreating pegusis. "He just went from top dog to bitch in ten seconds flat."

"Good one," Rainbow Dash chuckled in amusement.

Soarin shrugged off Rainbow Dash's compliment. His irate outburst just put him in drill instructor mode. He decided that it was time to start earning his pay before looking to Rainbow Dash with a serious frown. "Dashie, would you mind rounding up the second years for me? I have yet to familiarize myself with my cadets. Spitfire was supposed to introduce me to them, but I showed up late, and she's got her own company to deal with.

"Yes sir!" Rainbow Dash replied with an eager salute before zipping away with a rainbow blur following in her wake.

Soarin descended toward the formation line where Thunder lane awaited him as he watched Rainbow Dash gather his cadets from all around the campus grounds. It wasn't long before she returned to him with a line of young pegusi of all shapes and colors following behind her. "Outstanding, Rainbow Dash! Quick and responsive; Very efficient!"

"Quick and efficient is what I do best, sir," The cocky mare replied proudly as she took her position next to the grey stallion in the center of the line.

"Teacher's pet," Soarin could hear Thunderlane whisper to her. "Better to be his pet than his bitch," Rainbow Dash replied, not even bothering to lower her voice.

It took every ounce of willpower in Soarin's body to keep himself from laughing out loud. Her wits are just as quick as her wings, Soarin thought with an amused grin.

Now then, how do I go about this? Spitfire was supposed to show me the ropes, but I ended up being late. I've trained thousands of soldiers, but these are cadets. What to do...? Soarin watched as his cadets all stood in formation, staring at him in awkward silence. Guess I'll just do this the only way I know how...

The students of the academy remained attentive as Soarin calmly adjusted his shades. The metallic chime of his aluminum dog tags clanking against his chest was the only sound that could be heard as he slowly paced up and down the formation line. His eyes meticulously scanned each of them from head to hoof from behind his dark lenses, scrutinizing each of them. When he made his way to the end of the line, he turned and paced toward the front while he opened with his introductory lecture he had written and recited for the recruits back at his old training camp.

"Over a thousand years ago, Princess Celestia came to the warrior race. The pegusi. And she said unto them: 'I wish to build a nation in which the three Equine races shall be unified. Give to me your sons and daughters, and I shall make them the backbone of my military, so as to preserve our way of life and protect my people. In return, I offer you the air space over my kingdom, in which you may build your cities and join your economy with mine. I will equip your soldiers with the weapons and armor of the likes you have never seen, forged from my most skilled artisans and smiths.' And the pegusi complied. Our princess now had herself a military that was and still is keen of wit, and fleet of wing, ready to defend her and her nation at all costs. That was the day the Air Corps was born, and from the corps, the Wonderbolts. Every Pegusis is a natural born soldier, but one out every thousand of those soldiers is a true warrior - and one out of every thousand of those true warriors is a Wonderbolt, and only the very BEST of their lot will actually become one. That is who I am looking for! Do I make myself clear?"  

"Sir," Soarin's company responded.

The Master Sergeant stopped dead in his tracks, surprised that these second years had not been taught the the proper way to respond when being addressed by an instructor. "Sir? Sir what? What does that even mean? Are you making an observation that I am a sir? I'm afraid your response is confusing me. From now on when I address you you will comply with yes sir, or no sir. I happen to be a little hard of hearing, so you'd better say it loud enough for me to hear you!"

"Yes sir!"

"Bull shit, I can't hear you! You can do better than that!"

"Yes sir!" The cadets yelled powerfully.

"Outstanding!" Soarin replied with a sharp nod. "For those of you who are not aware, my name is Soarin: Vice captain of the Wonderbolts, and Master Sergeant in Celestia's Royal Air Corps. One of you has already made the mistake of confusing me for a first year, and I would hate for that to happen again, eh Thunderlane?"

Thunderlane rolled his eyes and shook his head with a chagrined frown as hushed cackles broke out in the group around him.

Soarin loudly cleared his throat, bringing the mocking laughter at the ashen grey stallion to an abrupt halt. "As I was saying," he continued, "I started my military career in the airborne infantry. When I made sergeant and my reenlistment papers were signed, my MOS was changed to drill instructor. It was not long after that when Spitfire had taken notice of me and invited me to try out for the squad of the greatest flyers in all of Equestria, neigh, the world. I took to the tryouts with a group of others just like you. They were fast, but I was faster. I had the good fortune to have spent the last few years in the infantry; it kept me in shape. The training and conditioning I had received while I was in the infantry was what made me stand out from the others. Spitfire noticed that I was the best of them. She singled me out and challenged me to a race, and after beating my ass like a looter in a riot, she welcomed me aboard - and all of that has lead me up to this point. It is now MY turn to decide who among you will be a Wonderbolt. Who among you will make the cut? Will any of you make the cut? Time will tell. You can give me all the bravado you want, but in the end, your performance will be what determines your future. Have I made my point perfectly clear?"

"Yes sir!"

Soarin smiled and turned away from them. "Good. Now that the introductions and opening statements are out of the way, what say we begin the day with some light PT? I'm thinking eight laps around the cloud course should get the blood pumping."

"You call that light PT?" An unknown cadet groused as the others groaned complainingly. "Spitfire never made us do that!"

"Who the fuck said that?!" Soarin sharply whipped around to face them. "There will be no whining! No complaining! No bitching! From

now on any complaints shall be taken as a request for additional PT! I'm going to tell you all the golden rule right now. The one commandment: Do not fuck with me! As long as that one golden rule is acknowledged, we'll all get along great. Hell, we'll be skipping in the clouds while shitting rainbows. We'll be singing "oh, what a beautiful morning" out of our asses. We'll need the mirthful smiles surgically removed from our faces. But if you fuck with me, you will know misery beyond boarders that you even knew existed! So, how 'bout it? Does anyone feel like complaining?" The Master Sergeant watched the seniors silently trade perturbed expressions with each other.

"No one, huh? Well, alright. Let's go. Let's see who can keep up with me." Soarin turned again and spread his wings. "Oh, and by the way - whoever finishes last will have the privilege of flying an additional lap, so let's try not to lag too far behind." Next Chapter: Cutie Mark Trap Setters Estimated time remaining: 19 Minutes