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Sparkle's No. 1 Assistant

by Wanderer D

Chapter 11: Loyalty Mission 3: Loyalty Earned - Pt. 3

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Sparkle's No. 1 Assistant

Loyalty Mission 3: Loyalty Earned

Pt. 3

By Wanderer D

Spitfire was waiting for Rainbow Dash at the entrance to the Academy when she arrived. Half a squadron of trainees flew over the academy, following after Soarin as he shouted orders back at them. Another Wonderbolt in uniform flew around them, shouting corrections and encouraging the recruits to push themselves harder.

"Welcome to Wonderbolt Academy, Rainbow Dash!" Spitfire said brightly, allowing her visitor to gaze in awe at everything around them before extending a hoof. "I must say, it's nice to finally meet you in person!"

Rainbow Dash's smile could have split her face. "Wow! I mean, yeah. Nice to meet you too! It's amazing to finally shake hooves with you! I've been wanting to come here for a while! I thought that you were never going to give me a chance."

"Well, of course!" Spitfire grinned. "I read your letters! We only take the best flyers, as you can imagine, so the process can be long and arduous and we need to look at your record before even discussing something like an invitation for anypony."

Rainbow Dash nodded and followed Spitfire as she led her into the large cloud-made complex that served as the Wonderbolt's headquarters. "I always thought that ponies had to go first through the Wonderbolt Academy to even come here," Rainbow Dash remarked.

Spitfire shrugged, opening a door to a small, corner office and stepping inside. "They do, generally speaking, but on special instances we skip the Academy. Not all ponies are ready to become Wonderbolts, you understand," she said, motioning with her hoof to the chair across from the desk, as she calmly sat behind it.

"So what made you change your mind?" Rainbow Dash asked, taking off her saddle-bags and setting them next to her.

"Your performance in Sparkle's team against the Royal Guard," Spitfire replied, leaning back in her chair and tapping her hooves together. "This is not an easy job, Rainbow Dash, we suffer injuries all the time. I have a wing full of injured ponies just from the Academy alone. A few of them will not be able to fly again to their full capacity."

At Rainbow's surprised look she grinned. "If you join us, you can expect some nights to be spent with your wings in buckets of ice. But I guarantee that it will be your most rewarding experience so far."

"But..." Rainbow Dash stammered. "Twilight—"

"Twilight Sparkle, Celestia bless her twisted little heart, is playing at being a commander. She's not. She has none of the military training we do. She'll tell you that I lie, that I play favorites, that I will try to get you to spite her. This is not about Twilight Sparkle. This is about you and the Wonderbolts." Spitfire took her sunglasses off and stared at Rainbow Dash. "Sparkle has her head in the clouds. Half of the stuff she does is a media stunt. She wants us to believe that Nightmare Moon was real, and that she can beat a real Captain of the Guard. Isn't it funny that she defeated her own brother?"

Spirfire snorted. "Really, Rainbow Dash, do you honestly think the Royal Guard is that badly trained?"

"Some of that stuff is real," Rainbow Dash countered, eyes narrowing. "I was there when Nightmare Moon appeared, and the pegasi that were at the mock battle were Wonderbolts."

"Retired." Spitfire grinned. "Due to injuries. They were not flying at full potential." She chuckled. "We wouldn't have sent our best to that fake battle, and Shining Armor knows it. As does Twilight and so does Princess Celestia."

Rainbow Dash's eyes locked with Spitfire's. "So you're saying that Twilight is a fake?"

Spitfire shrugged. "I haven't seen her do anything that I wouldn't consider a stunt to get attention."

"What's your history with her?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You two really seem to have it against each other."

Spitfire rolled her eyes. "That's really not important. We're getting off-track here, Rainbow Dash. What should interest you right now is whether or not you will become a Wonderbolt... I'm extending an invitation, but while you think about it, how about a tour of the grounds?"

Rainbow's eyes shone with excitement. "Hay yeah!"

The pair were stopped by a knock on the door, which opened to reveal Fleetfoot smiling placidly. "Spitfire, sorry to interrupt, but you did mention earlier you needed me to take a look at something?"

Spitfire nodded, looking at Rainbow Dash. "I hope you brought your resume?"

Rainbow Dash jumped up and dug through her saddlebags before pulling out an envelope with her wing. "Right here!"

"Excellent," Spitfire nodded at Fleetfoot, who took it with her own wing. "Fleet and the others need to take a look at it. We know what you did recently, but we all want to take a closer look at your qualifications."

Fleetfoot—who was by then looking at Rainbow's resume—nodded absently. "That's true, but you seem to have a very solid career in a high-danger zone. Working the Everfree currents and wild storms is a real challenge. Roughly before you started, it was common for Wonderbolts to have to go there to assist Ponyville and other towns." She looked up and smiled at Rainbow Dash. "It seems we have you to thank for the extra free time."

Rainbow Dash blushed. "Well, yeah! I'm awesome!" she preened. "But I couldn't have done it without the Ponyville Weather Team, I may have done the bulk of it, but they all helped!"

Fleetfoot stared at her for a moment, before clearing her throat. "I'm glad you seem to have a sense of loyalty to your team and some humility. We don't see that often here." She chuckled. "The best thing about being a Wonderbolt is that moment when you know everypony in your team has your back."

"We were about to go take the tour," Spitfire spoke up, giving Fleetfoot a level look.

"Of course," Fleetfoot said, stepping to the side. "I'll have one of the unicorn clerks make a copy of the resume and bring it back to your office."

Spitfire nodded a bit coldly. "You can leave your bags here, Rainbow Dash, the room remains locked all the time."

Rainbow Dash glanced at the bed-ridden ponies and winced. "This is almost a whole squadron!"

"This is the infirmary," Spitfire said, standing next to her just outside the entrance. "We recently had an accident when one of the team members was not paying attention during a maneuver around a type four cumulus." She glanced at Rainbow Dash. "Being a weather-pony, you understand how that can go wrong."

"Yeah..." Rainbow Dash grimaced. "Whoever the team leader was obviously didn't know her team well. If they knew they had a weak flyer, they should have assigned them to an overwatch position."

"Exactly." Spitfire nodded. "But they didn't and many of our students got injured."

"A type four is not the type of thing you use for practice, though," Rainbow Dash said, looking at Spitfire. "It can get unpredictable, with updrafts and downdrafts happening a few wingbeats from each other! Not to mention the lightning!" she shuddered. "Whenever we have one of those in Ponyville I have to be on my guard all the time! Anypony could get hurt!"

"The pony that organized that particular exercise was talked to appropriately, of course," Spitfire assured her. "We were not aware of their plans, or I wouldn't have allowed it to happen."

"Who organized it, anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I don't think that pony should keep their job! Or if they do they need to stay away from training recruits!"

"Well, that's something we have in common," a voice spoke up.

Rainbow Dash smiled. "Oh my gosh! You're Blast!"

Blast grinned back at her and bowed. "At your service. I'm taking care of the injured recruits, since I'm a licensed nurse. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," she added, looking at Rainbow Dash with appraising eyes. "I love being able to help beyond just showing off that I can fly..." she trailed off for a second before shaking her head. "What do you think should have been used instead of a type four?"

Rainbow Dash shuffled in place. "Well... it depends on what you want to practice but, a type four is too much for most weather teams to handle without assistance. Even on the Everfree there's very few of those. We're talking tornadoes and lightning that could potentially fry a pony in the ground. Whoever it was that planned it... probably has no clue what danger they put everypony into."

Blast nodded pensively.

Spitfire tensed a bit before shrugging and motioning for Rainbow Dash to follow her. The pair walked away from the infirmary down the hallway, leaving behind the moaning recruits and Blast, who returned to work. "Like I said, Rainbow. This is not an easy job and those that are not ready to give it their all, do not last long."

"I can see that," Rainbow Dash muttered. "What happened to the rest of the squadron?"

Spitfire smirked. "They're still training. You saw them as you flew in. Well, let me show you the racing track and the training grounds, I think you'll like them."

"Okay! Another loop!" Misty shouted, stopwatch in hoof. "And make sure you beat your previous record!"

"Come on! Come on! Don't lag behind!" Rapidfire roared, flying circles around a mare in trainee uniform. "You can do it, Search Light!"

"Come on, slowpoke!" Another cadet shouted back. "You're making us look bad in front of the boss! Do you need me to carry you?" The laughter of the other cadets was loud enough to make it back to them.

Rapidfire growled and arrested her momentum and landed, letting Search Light keep going forth, until the mare just stopped altogether and landed on the ramp, shivering and breaking into tears.

Misty shot Rapidfire a look, and the latter was about to step forth when a canary-yellow wing spread in front of her.

"Let her be," Spitfire ordered. "If she can't handle the drills, she should stop before she hurts herself."

Rapidfire seemed like she was about to speak up, but settled for gritting her teeth.

"This," Spitfire said, motioning to her left. "Is—" she stopped. "Where is she?"

"There." Rapidfire responded, pointing at Rainbow Dash who had flown over to Search Light and was talking softly to her.

Spitfire gave Rapidfire a look and both mares trotted up to the pair on the ramp.

"...they are," Rainbow Dash was saying, patting the other mare's back. "Bullies just want to intimidate you, even if you're better than them."

"B-but I'm not!" Search Light sniffled.

"Are you kidding me?!" Rainbow Dash gasped, making the other mare wince. "I saw you fly right now! You own the sky, girl!" Rainbow Dash stated. "You caught all the updrafts, accounted for airspeed and fluctuation like any professional and your control is amazing! The only thing those guys have is brute strength but if it were up to me, I'd choose you above any of them! You know what you're doing, you just need to work on your speed!"

"Y-you really think so?" Search Light asked, eyes centering on Rainbow's. "It's been my life-dream to be part of the Wonderbolts, I just never expected..." she trailed off when she saw Spitfire, and lowering her ears, gazed away.

Only for Rainbow's hoof to gently lift her chin until she was looking back at her. "I know so. Believe me, I know quality flying when I see it, and you're the real deal. If any of those losers know anything about flying, they're probably bullying you because you are a better flyer than them." She helped Search Light up. "Now, go teach them a thing or two! You have the skills, girl! Don't be afraid to accelerate!"

Search Light shot a look at Spitfire before looking back at Rainbow Dash and nodding, face hardening with determination. Without another word, she cleaned the tears away with her hoof and shot into the air, flying much faster than before and slowly catching up to her peers.

Without missing a beat, Misty shouted at the pegasi trainees. "Show me what you've got! You have two more loops!" earning an annoyed glance from the bullies, but a thankful half-smile from Search Light.

Rapidfire smiled and shook Rainbow's hoof. "That was an impressive motivational speech, miss..."

"Rainbow Dash," Spitfire spoke up. "She's considering joining the team."

Rapidfire grinned. "Well, I for one would welcome the change. Thank you for your help with Search Light. She truly is a gifted flyer. I'm impressed you saw that from what little time she was in the air when you both came over."

Rainbow Dash was grinning like mad. "I can't believe I'm meeting you all!" she said, before she self-consciously forced herself to look at the distant Search Light. "But yeah! I could tell. She flies much differently than the others. She has it down."

"I'm glad to hear you say that. I think so too!" Rapidfire grinned. "I think the best thing of being a semi-celebrity is that look you get when you encourage a pony to do better. Our words carry a lot of weight, and being able to see ponies exel is a reward onto itself."

"Yes, well," Spitfire shouldered past Rapidfire. "We should continue the tour."

"And this is the gym," Spitfire finally said, pushing past the large double doors.

"Wow!" Rainbow Dash flew into the room, from machine to machine. "This is so cool! I've never seen a gym like this! You have everything!"

"Only the best for the Wonderbolts!" Spitfire chuckled. "You'll be spending a lot of time here when you join."

"Heh, I bet!" Rainbow Dash said, studying a weight machine designed for wings. "I wish we had one of these for the weather team. I know a couple of pegasi that could use the additional muscle."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore," Spitfire said, walking up to her and resting a hoof on the machine. "Being a Wonderbolt, you'll have everything you could ever need to become the best."

Rainbow Dash pondered this answer as they walked out of the gym. "So what is your favorite thing about being a Wonderbolt?"

Spitfire stopped, glancing back at Rainbow Dash. "What?"

"Well, everypony else seems to love something about it," Rainbow Dash pointed out. "I was just wondering what the best part for you was."

"Oh." Spitfire shrugged and carried on walking. "Everything, I guess. We're the best, that's enough for me."

"Hm." Rainbow Dash frowned, but didn't say anything. She followed Spitfire in silence to her office and sat down across from the Wonderbolt captain.

"So, what did you think?" Spitfire asked with a grin. "Did you like what you saw?"

"Well there was a lot of really cool stuff!" Rainbow Dash said. "But I'll think it over before I make my final decision."

Spitfire blinked in surprise. "What's there to think over? This is your chance to join the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash! I actually extended an invitation. This doesn't happen often!"

"I know! And I'm really honored!" Rainbow Dash said, raising her hooves defensively. "You are all awesome and I would love to fly with you, but—"

"But?" Spitfire growled. "Did Sparkle tell you not to join?"

"That's not it," Rainbow Dash said, sliding her chair back. "I just need to think things over, okay? This would mean moving away, leaving the weather team, leaving Twilight's team... I want to make sure the decision is the right one."

Spitfire sighed and tapped her hoof on the desk. "I'll have you know that most ponies don't get this chance. So bear that in mind."

"I will!" Rainbow Dash replied, frowning. "I just want to decide for myself what I will do."

Spitfire took a deep breath and nodded. "When will you let me know?"

"Tomorrow!" Rainbow Dash promised.

Spitfire nodded. "Fine. Tomorrow."

Next Chapter: Loyalty Mission 3: Loyalty Earned - Pt. 4 Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 16 Minutes
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