Ahhh! How good it felt to be flying again! To feel the light breeze beneath your wings! To feel free, and not stuck in one place.  To take the sky, and to be with the clouds and birds. To Daring Do, it was her own little heaven. The young mare's black mane flew freely among the sky, sometimes whipping Daring's face, but mostly in the wind. Daring licked her lips, hungry for more. The sweet smell of the summer breeze wafted into Daring Do's nose. Oh, how she wished she had a rainbow mane! And how she would make dozens of those sonic rainbooms each day. If she attempted one now, all she would get would be a sonic blackboom.

"Daring Do!" A familiar voice boomed.  But Daring didn't stop. She continued to fly, fly free. "Get down here!"

"No!" She shouted, speeding up. The voice demanded again. "No!" Daring shouted again, starting to tear a sound barrier in the sky. Once she tore it open, a large boom sounded. A giant black rainbow trailed behind Daring.

"Holy Luna! A sonic rainboom!" The voice shouted. Daring grinned, and soared across the sky, filling it with a dark rainbow. She circled and wrote Daring Do in bold letters. Daring screeched to a stop and went down to Earth. When she landed and saw who the owner of the voice was, she gulped.

"Uh oh," Daring whispered. Daring's boss, BlackJacker, sat on the summer grass, his grey mane ruffled up, and his grey sunglasses askew, revealing his lavender eyes.

"Uh oh is right!" BlackJacker exclaimed. "Our office. Now." Daring hung her head. BlackJacker stood up, pointed his nose up to the sky, and trotted to his office. During the excitement, Daring lost her hat. She quickly retrieved it, and flew toward the office.

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"We have decided that you need partners. After the little stunt you pulled when you got the Sapphire Stone, when. We. Said. Not. To. We decided that this was for the best. We have already assigned you two partners."

"That's not fair!"  Daring protested.

" Your partners are two pegasi named Spitfire and Derpy Whooves." BlackJacker continued, ignoring her.

"I work alone," Daring grumbled.

"Not anymore."

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Spitfire gaped at Derpy. She was working with her!? She looked like she could barely fly.

"Uh, hi. My name is Spitfire. You might recognize me from the Wonderbolts." Derpy turned to her.

"I'm Derpy Whooves! You might recognize me from the Ponyville Postal Service." The grey pony stuck out her hoof.  Spitfire hesitated, and the shook it. "Hey, Spitfire, do you have a muffin?" Spitfire stared at her.

"What?" Spitfire asked. Derpy was asking for a muffin? "No! Where in Equestria would I get a muffin?"

"I dunno. Hey! Did you say the Wonderbolts!?" Spitfire nodded slowly. Derpy seemed more absent minded than Spitfire originally thought. "My friend Rainbow Dash loves the Wonderbolts! She trying really hard to be a member." The name sounded familiar. Didn't she win the best flyers competition? And wasn't she at the Grand Galloping Gala?

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Derpy Whooves stared at the ground. "Could she be . . . a Wonderbolt?" Derpy asked before she could stop herself. Spitfire's eyes flashed.

"She needs an audition." She said forcefully. Derpy bit her lip. She stared at the ground again. Why did they choose me? Why? A part of her long-ago-pushed-away past swirled in Derpy's mind. The crowd leaned forward in their seats, waiting for the name to be announced. My momma clasped her hooves together in hope, and my poppa chewed his wheat stalk thoughtfully. I stood still, but part of my heart wanted to leap out of my beating chest, and grab the piece of paper that said the name. One of the judges, a old green pony with a short white bob, held the sparkling tiara. The earth filly next to me, a peachy blue-frizzy maned girl, drooled over the crown. I nudged her. She gave me a sharp look.

"What!?" She looked at it again. "Oh. Sorry. The name's Sapphire Shores. And you are . . .?"

"Derpy Whooves!" The Judge screamed into the microphone. Sapphire looked dumbfounded. When I flew over daintily, her jaw dropped almost to the ground. My parents grinned proudly. I smiled slowly. The judge with the bob slowly put the tiara on my head. I closed my eyes softly.

"Derp!" Spitfire said snootily.

"Sorry, Spit" Derpy said evenly.