"Yes! I am pissed!” Marble Falls yelled. “I don't care that you broke up my team, that was expected and natural. I don't care who they are. They are all Newbies with no experience. I won't have an experienced wingmate to help train them!"

"Trust me Captain, you are the best trainer…"

"Fuck off Colonel! You left me without an experienced wingmate and that means I have to put some newbie as my wingmate, and no matter how good I am at training or how how good they are, it's a bad call and you know it!"

Marble Falls opened the door to Wing 12, Room 2 and slammed it shut. She knew they all had heard the ‘conversation’. She was pissed and didn’t care.

She looked all of them to size them up. An all mare team. It was rare not to be mixed. Typical black flight suits with rank and name embroidered on.

"Damn it Filly Fooler!,” She cried out to the ceiling.

Marble Falls gave a half chuckle and smiled. “Hello Cardinal Spitfire. I should have seen this coming. I fucking wish Filly Fooler had not pushed to be in recon. You two would make a hell of a team. Yeah, I really think he would have made it and they would not have split you two up."

Marble Falls looked at Cardinal Spitfire. She couldn't see her blushing due to her coat, but her eyes gave it away.

"What are you hiding?"

"Full confidentiality?" Cardinal Spitfire hesitated.

"From everypegasus here,” Marble Falls assured her. “First lesson will be keeping secrets, unless it interferes with your duty. Mission related or not. Open and share everything. We have to be able to trust each other on all levels. Open like you two made sure your Unit and Barracks Cardinal Spitfire. Now spill."

Cardinal Spitfire rolled her eyes. "So much for open. We never saw Arrow and Dipper coming.”

“Minus that twist,” Marble Falls admitted.

“Well,” She hesitated. “I don't think it causes any problems with my duty…"

"Losing patience. Stop stalling!"

Cardinal Spitfire took a deep breath, closed her eyes and launched into everything as fast as she could explain.

"Shadow and I were pitted against each other from day one in Basic which meant I hated him. Week six Autumn Leaf tried to destroy us permanently by making us battle buddies, obviously that failed as we are smart enough to go after the real problem and stubborn enough to not let it interfere."

"You know how much we did as a team and we grew very close. Neither of us wanted to ruin what we had and we knew in a few weeks we were going to be split to other sides of the Enclave. You also told us the first nights in our tent you didn’t need us to do any of that, which would mess things up.”

“Graduation came, I kissed Shadow on the cheek and we never got to talk privately after, which was my plan. Neither of us expect him to be put into ACS, let alone be thrown together into a team again. So we got to tear up the skies together even more and get closer. We never traded feelings because we were going to be split again in a matter of weeks and more importantly we never wanted to implode and have to work together so close. It was too important to us to take any risks.”

"Weather day came, Shadow fed me to the vortex, and then he escape it easily. After I got out, we both had time off while the others were being blown apart so we finally talked about Las Pegasus, but again, we were parting. I kissed him on the cheek again.”

“Crowd Control fiasco happened and you gave us leave. Day one was clothes, day two we almost got thrown in jail. The evening of two we had to plan for visiting my family the next day, Shadow finally kissed me on the cheek then and we officially settled on dating. It felt so right. Then Shadow saved my family's farm and his dad was getting a team together to make sure it was saved for years. You know what happened later."

"Day after was uneventful, but the last day before we had to fly back I woke up to him with a mischievous grin on his face and he asked me if I wanted to do something risky."

Cardinal Spitfire took a few deep breaths before continuing. She was keeping it as fast and painless as she could. Her eyes were still shut tight. She couldn’t bear the gaze of Marble Falls.

"I said yes and next thing I know we are in front of a judge. He was concerned it was only 26 weeks we had known each other and under great stress. With that avenue closed. Shadow pulls out a travel version of his family's Homestead book, the Judge called his brother who had done research into everything homestead because they were strongly connected to one. Which Homestead was stricken from the record on both sides."

"Duh, it was Shadow's family. I shouldn’t have been surprised. But because of Shadow being from a Homestead, the Judge granted our request. The Judge’s brother helped back the status, but Homesteads are fucking powerful. Before lunch it was all over and we had all the paperwork and certificate sealing our union. We also spoke with the Judge about Shadow's parents coming down so he was going to get involved and shield them if something happened. Good call."

"We had decided to not say anything while in ACS because we were afraid it would stop us and ground us being in, not just the same squad, but as teammates. It was just one week left. I held back after because I didn’t want them to pull Shadow from the mission and all. I am sorry we held it back. We thought it was the best. We don’t want to hurt you.”

Cardinal Spitfire sneaked a peak. Marble Falls was sitting down on the floor from the shock. It was hard to process the entire story as fast as it was told.

“I’m shocked, not hurt,” She stammered. “You guys are good friends. I get it. I trained you.”

Marble Falls snatched Cardinal Spitfire up and pulled her into a tight hug. “Congratulations!”

She released her and then Marble Falls had to shake her own head to clear it.

“But you two went from dating to marriage in two days?” Marble Falls asked confused.

Cardinal Spitfire hesitated. “Yes?”

Marble Falls was looking at the floor. “Damn it Filly Fooler. I am your friend. How you pulled that off under my nose… I know both of you well.”

Marble Falls looked warmly at Cardinal Spitfire. “How are you handling the split?”

“It isn’t easy,” Cardinal Spitfire said ashamed. She sat down as her eyes got watery. “We knew what we were doing. Still do. We committed and will not break it.”

“Damn it you two! I could have gotten you a week off before he left. You two have done it. Right?”

Cardinal Spitfire chuckled sadly. “Two nights sharing a bed and three times total. All on leave. I melt too easily.”

Marble Falls looked at Cardinal Spitfire. “Fuck. That is what happened. Damn fools. Your heads were in the right place, so were your hearts. You kept to duty like you should have. Team first. Dry your eyes. All is not lost. First off, we know. And only we know. It is safe and we all have your back. We don’t need to worry about paperwork, yet.”

“What do you mean ‘that is what happened’?” Cardinal asked as she wiped the tears away.

Marble Falls sighed before explaining. “Shadow could barely sleep the first week he was at his new post. They called me trying to figure it out. I could have put you on the phone if I had know, and I should have known just to toss you on. That would have eased his mind. Meds were not working, which also shouldn’t of surprised us.”

Marble Falls stood up, ready for the mission she had just chosen. “I need to first go find the Major and call up Filly Fooler and give him an ear full for not telling his friend! They should be stationed here since their Major is around and this is the center of all clandestine operations.”

Marble Falls walked out without waiting for a response, slamming the door closed. It didn’t take much for her to find the Major at his desk. She entered without asking and kicked the door closed.

“I need to talk to Filly Fooler,” She hissed. “Non negotiable.”

“I can’t help you,” Major Winters Breath shrugged. “They have no field phone and limited communication through an encrypted cloud terminal that has to be set up to receive or send anything. And the only one capable is in our Room 2.”

“When will they be back?” She growled.

“Unknown. Their mission is decently mapped out, but it is not on a time scale. First goal is a primary fortified camp as hidden as possible.”

“You had to go and do things right,” She panted frustrated. “No way I can send a message? It is important.”

The Major shook his head. “The team made that choice.”

She took an deep breath to control her anger. “Family death?”

“Unanimously voted to hold anything outside of reports and direct orders until they arrived back. Shadow is good at his job.”

“Shadow is leading? That is why you vaulted him to that ridiculous rank?”

“Well…” The Major said trying to find the right words. “He is the first and only soldier trained for a reconnaissance role. And the Lieutenant is a medic. A very good one. But tactically…”

“Operation and team name?” It was clear she was not going to let up yet.

“Operation Vindication. Inquisitors.”

“Damn good names,” She cursed. “I will get a message to Filly Fooler.”

Marble Falls slammed the door shut on her way out to finalize her words. She was finally more careful with her own door.

She did her best to be warm and cheery for Cardinal Spitfire’s sake. “Situation is that Operation Vindication has no time schedule. It is loose. The Inquisitors have some things they want done, but they are not on a direct time frame. Shadow is stationed here. And they will return here.”

Marble Falls stepped over to a terminal and did a quick search. “His room is 31, in Saber Bolt Barracks. Don’t get caught.”

She took a deep breath and looked at them all before she addressed them. “Lesson two. Significant others. Colonel Nova’s wingmate was more than just his wingmate, so do not feel bad at all Cardinal Spitfire. You would have to do some digging, but many of the Wonderbolts are married to each other. Don’t though.”

“The same for ACUs. Its common in our type of job and both ACU and Wonderbolts crisscross so much, marriages happen. While I am away here, I am not with Lieutenant Razzleberry. That is always tough on us.”

“Lets just bring my name down to Cardinal. For everypegasus in my squad. And Razzleberry? I thought he was your arch nemesis in Basic Training for the aerial combat section.”

Marble Falls laughed. “Call me Falls outside direct business. And that is what makes it so much worse being away. It is a fun, harmless quarrel that requires us both to be teaching. He was in an ACU before he switched to teaching. That is how we met. We love that fight. The night after Black won...”

Marble Falls sighed in bliss. She snapped out of it and continued to everypegasus. “Eventually you all will have your secondary posts and your married partner can move in there. We keep this place silent. Sucks, but life doing our duty. Razzleberry has no idea where I am right now. He trusts me completely.”

Marble Falls switched back to teaching mode. “We are going for a flight. I need to test and feel you all fly. Cardinal, you are my wingmate. That was obvious when I walked in and saw you. We have flown together more than enough in ACS. I know your flying personally and you can read me almost as good as Filly Fooler.”

Cardinal Spitfire perked up. “Yes Ma’am. Soon you will never be able to shake me!”

Marble Falls shook her head. “I still am confused a bit Cardinal. Not even after the explosive incident over the phones? Nothing?”

Cardinal Spitfire chuckled as she shied away. It was foreign and weird talking about her sex life, or being married.

“No. We didn’t even think about it. We were calming him down after it all. Nice and peaceful. Beside, if one of you had tried to check up on us, that would be more explaining that either of us wanted to do. It was our duty to be the bad guys for that test. It was all so fast and still is foreign.”

“I could have gotten you two a private tent,” Marble Falls replied.

Marble Falls shrugged. “Well, he won’t be that long. And even though they have only highest priority contact, I have a few solutions to teach you. All of you. You all still do not know what you are exactly getting into. I will form up the other two teams soon.”

“For now, we fly!”

They followed Marble Falls out into the base’s ‘parade field’. It was swarming. They had taken on a staggering twenty-five recruits. The Colonel wanted some more squads with the situation above and below shifting. Everypegasus in command wanted their units in with the recon team.

All Wonderbolt teams were brought back for training together and some reshuffling. A retirement here and there meant that they had plenty of movements between squads. Some switched up to pair married couples together or split apart problematic squadmates for one reason or another. Some married couples couldn’t stand being in the same squad, but were put in units that would be stationed together. It meant Fort Griffin's Gate was currently more like a city than a Fort.

“Our launch pad is 2,” Marble Falls stated as she halted. “Shit! None of you know how to launch. To the flight deck it is then!”

Marble Falls led them out of the gate and had them form up. Besides Cardinal Spitfire, there was Second Lieutenant Raspberry Lemonade, First Sergeant Cinnamon Swirl, Staff Sergeant Lemon Lime, and Staff Sergeant Fountain.

Raspberry Lemonade was perfectly named. Lemonade yellow coat with Raspberry red mane that was neatly styled, daring enough to have bangs that swept to the side of her head. Cinnamon Swirl had a cinnamon coat, dark red mane with gray swirls through it and her mane swirled a bit too. Lemon Lime was just that; Lemon mane, lime coat. He short mane was on the poofy side. Fountain had a soft pink coat, dark purple and white mane that was gelled forward and a shot cropped tale.

“When I lose you, meet back at Room 2,” She ordered. “Keep up!”

“And she doesn’t give commands,” Cardinal Spitfire warned. “All nonverbal.”

She didn’t start easy as she rushed off down the flight deck to take off. Cardinal Spitfire was ready and right by her side. The others had to play a bit of catch up. She led them through a tough routine and then slowed down.

“Slid up,” She ordered. “Now, you were not just tested on flying, your strength and endurance, but you also had to show you had the combat skills required to make it into the Wonderbolts. It should be pretty damn obvious we don’t just do shows.”

“Cardinal is the only one of you from an ACU, so she understands the tactical philosophy. Our job is to strike hard and fast at high value targets that nopony else can hit. Damn it Filly Fooler!”

Cardinal Spitfire laughed. “I gave up. He just gets to you.”

“What do you mean?” Cinnamon Swirl asked.

“She means assassins,” Cardinal Spitfire said rolling her eyes. “Explains that order in Basic’s final test.”

“That is putting it bluntly,” Marble Falls corrected. “But yes. A lot of what we train is to get in, kill a target and leave within minutes. Among other forms of assault. Some more covert than others. A bit of torture may be taught. I prefer to avoid that, but it might be over my head.”

“However!” She continued. “It is not all dark. We do a lot of work as spies, well mostly training, and other covert things that do not have to do with killing. I will teach you how to covertly send messages by ghosting them to be sent with another message on a terminal. It doesn’t show up on the records as being sent. And don’t forget our routines and skills for demonstrations to the public. We have to keep that primary image up.”

“That isn’t what I signed up for,” Lemon Lime replied concerned.

“It sounds worse than it is,” Marble Falls assured her.

“And we have to be ready to go below,” Cardinal Spitfire added.

“Below!” Lemon Lime exclaimed. “No, no, no. Not what I signed up for.”

“As a soldier, it is a known duty,” Marble Falls reminded them all.

“Right, but this sounds more promising,” She replied back.

“Only one Wonderbolt team ever went below for a few missions,” Marble Falls explained. “And I am the head of the Aerial Combat Training at Fort Wind. That is our secondary station. I am the last to go below after all the shit I went through.”

“What do you mean?” Fountain asked.

Marble Falls disclosed her first and only scout mission.

“So, when I was reinstated as active duty, they offered me the job to rebuild it all. I told them to fuck off and joined the Wonderbolts. It bit me in the ass as bit, but thankfully I am a good teacher and have a much better reason to be put at the low end of the list.”

“Would you jump to the head of the line if it meant rescuing this Filly Fooler?” Raspberry Lemonade asked.

“Fuck,” She swore. “I would kill to go down for that. Thankfully he can save his own ass.”

Cardinal Spitfire laughed with her. It was a bit tough for the others not knowing Shadow.

“That is a quick run down of the overview of our complicated and diverse job,” Marble Falls said.

“What happened to that team?” Cardinal Spitfire asked. “I thought you were the only active duty soldier, before Nova signed back up.”

“They were down to two by the end,” Marble Falls replied. “As soon as things were cut off, they retired. But they would have proudly continued on until they were all dead.”

Marble Falls took control of the squad. “Now, like before, try to keep up!”

Marble Falls turned into a dive and pulled up to skim across the clouds. There, she put them through a lot of low, close maneuvers, rolls and turns. They handled it fine so she braked into a climb. Lemon Twist and Raspberry Lemonade were thrown, unable to brake hard enough.

They leveled off and Marble Falls put them into barrel roll after barrel roll. Cinnamon Swirl was thrown after a few, causing Marble Falls to laugh manically. They adjust out of the barrel roll and began to do them in the opposite rotation. Fountain was thrown almost immediately.

After another hour, Marble Falls fell back and told Cardinal Spitfire to shake her. Cardinal Spitfire kicked into gear and dropped straight down. She never had led with Marble Falls before. Marble Falls had seen her lead non-verbally before and stuck to her like glue.

She led them into the mountains were they danced around at perilous speeds and then back out where they were by the fort. She pulled a hard bank and came straight at it. They pulled up, thundering over the fort and making ponies dive for cover as they were deafened by the sound.

Cardinal Spitfire changed tactics after an hour or perfect pair flying. She turned to sharp, fast turns and twists. She slammed on the bakes and did a 270, followed by a 270 and then another 270. She spun out on the third and by the time she regained control, Marble Falls was out of sight.

Cardinal Spitfire touched down at the flight deck and calmly walked to their Room 2. She opened the door to find everypony inside. Marble Falls immediately burst into laughter. The others looked on confused.

“Shut up Falls!” Cardinal Spitfire ordered in her anger. Cardinal Spitfire sat down at the center table with them.

“Will one of you catch us up?” Lemon Lime asked.

Marble Falls reigned in her laughter. “I couldn't shake her, which was no surprise. So I put her in lead. She put up a tough fight, but spun out on her own triple 270. She threw herself.”

Cardinal Spitfire just shook her head.

“At least you lasted that long,” Raspberry Lemonade groaned.

“It isn’t a competition,” Cardinal Spitfire clarified. “It is how she learns the team and our subtleties while flying. I have never led Marble Falls in anything. It was the most logical choice to test me.”

“Damn good run too,” Marble Falls praised. “For all.”

She coughed and regained control as their Captain. “Now for teams. Raspberry Lemonade and Lemon Lime, which means Cinnamon Swirl and Fountain. I hope that you three will become officers soon enough. It has its perks as a Wonderbolt. It isn’t required, but has it’s perks. You have a chance at running your own squad and get better squad picks and assignments. In other words, officers have a voice, enlisted do not.”

Marble Falls looked around. “Well...” She stammered trying to decide what to say. “I have only been in one squad, well two, but under the same captain. Squad 17. For the second set up I was a his wingmate. None of them were fresh troops. Young, but not fresh. And none of them were officers, so I had to be his wingmate, to start. I have no idea what to do to train you. With 25 new recruits plus changes, the Quartermaster will be swamped for the next week. So we will avoid that. I hate waiting in lines, especially there. We have better things to do with that time.”

“If you are a teacher, will we all become teachers?” Cinnamon Swirl asked.

“Maybe,” Marble Falls replied. “I hope so Swirl. Or at least helping out around the Fort with training. Wonderbolt or not, the recruits need the best training possible and there are plenty of support roles if you are not comfortable leading anything, or there is not a slot. Many will rotate who is teaching and who isn’t. But coming from a heavy soldier unit, you will make an excellent trainer for their combat segments.”

“Calling you Swirl is okay? Right?”

“Everypon… pegasus calls me Cinnamon, but Swirl is nice to be that for the Wonderbolts.”

“He works fast, even when he is not here,” Cardinal Spitfire said cracking up. “What about names for the rest of you?”

“Lemon! I usually am cut down to Lime, so lets change it up.”

“And I am usually known as Marble,” Marble Falls offered. “It is typical to change it up a bit. Often an earned nickname.”

“My parents were boring and unoriginal naming me just Fountain,” She groaned.

“We can come up with something new,” Marble Falls assured her.

“We can’t call me Lemonade with Lemon here,” Raspberry Lemonade chuckled.

They sat around thinking for a bit.

“Twist!” Cardinal Spitfire exclaimed. “It was after that killer twist into the opposite rolls that you spun out. How does that sound Fountain?”

“The earlier we pin it down, the easier the adjustment will be,” Marble Falls advised.

“Twist sounds good,” She smiled. “Not very epic, but good.”

“We went through eighteen barrel rolls,” Marble Falls praised. “And then two in the opposite direction before you were kicked. Cinnamon only lasted to five. That is pretty epic.”

“How about Rasp?” Raspberry Lemonade asked.

“I like that,” Cinnamon Swirl answered. “I like both. But why is Cardinal Spitfire just Cardinal? Card maybe?”

“Nopony calls me Card,” Cardinal Spitfire cut. “Nopony!”

The room was silent at her unprovoked outburst.

“Except for him,” Marble Falls nodded a few seconds later. “I know nopony calls you anything but your full name. That is why you want Cardinal. Your Spitfire legacy is bad ass, but you want to make your own name. And already have.”

“Thanks,” Cardinal Spitfire smiled settling back down. “You know me very well.”

Cardinal Spitfire sighed. “Card was an accident. His yawns would cut down Cardinal to Card at times. So when it all fell into place, it was there. And only a few will dare to continue to call him Filly Fooler. Especially being a Command Sergeant Major.”

“I highly doubt the recon team calls him anything but Shadow,” Marble Falls replied. She smiled. “And that is a sweet and awesome nickname.”

“Are we in a squad, unit, or team?” Raspberry Lemonade asked.

“Technically a Squadron,” Marble Falls replied. “Or Squad. Only the Scouts stuck hard to Squadrons. The Wonderbolts are apart of the aerial combat groups, but we are back to Squads, not units. Squad 12, hence our wing number. Squad 4 is the Reconnaissance Team. That is an odd play, probably out of unplanned necessity. Squad 4 was open, but the single and double digit wings are usually reserved for Wonderbolts.”

“Do we name our squads outside the number?” Raspberry Lemonade followed up.

“Absolutely,” Marble Falls nodded smiling. “Gale was my first and Hurricane the second.”

“That is why you used those squad name in basic,” Cardinal Spitfire laughed. We thought it was from your love of weather patterns.”

“Happy coincidences,” Marble Falls chuckled.

“It is early, but I think Pony Squad is a good candidate,” Raspberry Lemonade chuckled.

Cardinal Spitfire and Marble Falls grinned mischievously at each other.

“They will hate that,” Marble Falls said.

“We are fucking Wonderbolts!” Cardinal Spitfire declared.

They all laughed heartily.

“Does anypony object to the squad name?” Cinnamon Swirl asked.

“With both leads using it, it won’t take a month before we are fluently speaking pony,” Lemon Lime chuckled.

“Why not drop the squad and go with Pony Platoon? Or Pony Patrol?” Fountain asked. “We will always be Squad 12, but do we have to have squad in the name?”

“No we do not,” Marble Falls replied. “It is an unofficial official name. It was actually Gale Whisper and Hurricane Puff. I prefer Pony Patrol, unless there is an objection. Our voices in this squad are equal, but I will wait to submit it for use. If we play it too early, they will shuffle things up. Cardinal Spitfire at least will be pulled.

“Yeah, lets not let that happen,” Cardinal Spitfire sighed. “Having you here as my lead helps a lot. I prefer Pony Patrol. We are not big enough to be a platoon.”

“Patrol it is!” Fountain declared. “But are we going to do any other real work today?”

“If we fail to learn, it means she did something wrong,” Cardinal Spitfire quoted. “It may be a slow day, and She may never have had to train new blood into a Wonderbolt Squad, but she is amazing teacher. We will learn quickly and it will work out. Besides, this is team building.”

“I just do it naturally,” Marble Falls added. “Apparently this is a team building segment. It just flows.”

Marble Falls made her body flow.

A knock came at the door.

“Enter,” Marble Falls called.

The Colonel entered. “Have you picked a squad name?”

“Fuck,” Marble Falls said rolling her eyes. “You wanted to keep the immortalized Filly Fooler going since you paired me and Cardinal Spitfire together. No. We all like stallions and even if Filly Fooler was here, that name would stay at Fort Wind. Even though we will go back there, it is a one time use at Basic.”

“Fine, you got me,” The Colonel replied. “But it was an afterthought once Squad 12 was assembled. Still, you work fast at organizing. I know you have a name to submit.”

He looked at them all.

“It’s written in your faces, even trying to hide it,” He said after a bit.

“Fine,” Marble Falls groaned. “Pony Patrol.”

The Colonel thought for a second. “Aptly named. I know you have been hanging up on the term. And Cardinal Spitfire obviously gave up by the time Wonderbolt Testing came around.”

“We are all starting to hang up on it,” Raspberry Lemonade admitted.

“It might come in use,” The Colonel stated. “Don’t shy away from it, unless in public and official business. You just moved up the list for heading below Captain. Being able to easily make the switch could be very crucial.”

“Fuck,” Marble Falls groaned.

“Don’t worry,” The Colonel said assuring her. “Its a small move. Focused move. We need you training the recruits. If Filly Fooler gets in trouble, you can go rescue him if you desire. You have dibs on that. Nopegasus else would want to jump on that assignment like you. None of them want you to stab them in the back to get to him.”

“Thank you,” Marble Falls said snapping to attention.

“Go get em Pony Patrol,” The Colonel said. “I have high hopes for you being different. Just be yourselves and rock what you got. We will see what the die cast, comes out with.”

“Great,” Marble Falls said rolling her eyes as the Colonel left. “That explains it. My last training runs were exceptional and special. They want me to do it again, here.”

“They do not seem to understand it was Filly Fooler and I making a good half of that happening,” Cardinal Spitfire groaned.

“Then we can get a good quarter of that,” Cinnamon Swirl said slamming her hoof on the table. “With both of you leading, we can go places not even you can dream of.”

The others agreed.

“Thanks,” Marble Falls smiled. “That vote of confidence means a lot. To both of us. It is that spirit that made each success happen to the legendary degrees they did.”

Marble Falls looked at the clock.

“Dismissed for the evening,” She ordered. “We pick up here at 0730. Probably some aerial work before slipping into unarmed combat, Wonderbolt style. The bulk of the squads either won’t need it, or will focus on firearms first. We should have it all to ourselves.”

After dinner, Cardinal Spitfire walked into Saber Bolt barracks like she belonged there. She was in room 204 in River Rain barracks. She slipped inside room 31. It was definitely Shadow's. His closet was rather barren and his clothes were all from boutiques and not able to be replicated. There were a ton of flight suits over several styles.

Cardinal Spitfire found the copy of the Homestead book from his other side neatly leaning against his terminal. She picket it up with a smile and sat on the bed before flipping through it to the middle. She was so close to Shadow, yet so far away. Seeing their marriage charted would hopefully make him feel that much closer.

She found more than that. More than he planned on her seeing right now. Even though it had the unmistakable smell of a last words letter, it was good to read his heart poured out. Every word she could hear in his silly, higher pitched stallion voice.

Cardinal Spitfire laid on the bed, curled around the book. She was clutching it like her life depended on it. She fought back tears, but they won. She sobbed in pain. All she could hear was his final words. No matter what happens, I will come back to you, alive.

Cardinal Spitfire awoke in a panic. The clock said 0930. Not 0930 at night, but morning. She was well past late. She forced herself to calm down and relax. She hadn’t moved all night, curled around the book. As stiff as she was, a few minutes would be all she needed to fix that.

There was no point in rushing. If she was really needed, they knew to check room 31 and would have come. Cardinal Spitfire slid the book into her chest like she had seen Shadow do a million times. She calmly walked out and headed to their Room 2.

She opened the door to find everypony around the table. She sat down as if nothing was wrong.

“It won’t happen again,” Cardinal Spitfire said non-apologetically.

“Yes it will,” Marble Falls replied. “This isn’t Basic or another school. We will adhere to a tight schedule because this is another school and we have to learn and master certain skills at a fast pace. And I will push us all hard. But we have expanded your puzzle. We have a lot of the pieces you already learned and have to fit together, but we also have to add more to complete it an see what a real Wonderbolt looks like. There are not tests you have to pass per say either, but you can’t fail.”

“When I was new, I was taught that. Our Captain even missed starting in the morning a few times. We will get tired from the hard push. It is how it is. Make a habit out of it, and we will have a problem.”

Marble Falls smiled at Cardinal Spitfire. “You slept in 31, didn’t you?”

“By accident,” Cardinal Spitfire chuckled sadly. She pulled out the Homestead book. “Stupid Filly Fooler had to write a I’m sorry I’m dead, but I will come back to you from the dead, love letter.”

“Of course,” Marble Falls chuckled. “But I have never heard you call anypony stupid.”

“I don’t like to. I prefer Idiot,” Cardinal Spitfire replied. “Except him. I also never call anypony silly other than him. It just naturally happened.”

“Don’t put the book back in his room,” Marble Falls told her. “Things go wrong, we don’t want them finding it and not passing it on. I assume it has some sensitive information.”

Cardinal Spitfire opened the book. The left side was the chart, the right side was the symbol. Hidden on the back of the page and beyond was the letter.

“Interesting choice for a symbol,” Marble Falls said intrigued. “I guess it makes sense cause it is a scope to magnify things, and they are searching places out. The Enclave’s scope below so to say. Navy Blue with Grey symbol. Everypony become familiar with this. This is a symbol of a friend to the Pegasus Race. Green and Black are the typical power armor colors of the Enclave.”

“But, what did I miss?” Cardinal Spitfire asked slamming the book shut and putting it away.

“Morning flight,” Raspberry Lemonade replied. “After that we have been learning the ACU tactic philosophy. So nothing new for you.”

“Wonderful,” Cardinal Spitfire smiled. “I love tactical philosophy.”

Marble Falls stoop up. “Yeah, well now that you are here, we are moving on to Lefty for unarmed combat training.”

They filed out with her in the lead and quickly found themselves in an empty gym. It had a lot of cloud bags to work on.

“You do not have your armor yet so it won’t fully make sense,” Marble Falls began. “Still, this is an armor free zone, which is why we have aids. These things I am putting on are harmless wooden trainers in place of the knives we have hidden in a hoof or two.”

She walked over to a bag and began to run a five move hoof to hoof combat drill. It ended with her slicing the cloud bag upon. The bag closed up and she did it again. She moved on to show them six more per-fabricated forms. All were using the front two hooves.

“In other words,” Lemon Lime said walking over to a bag wearing aids. She moved all through the forms like they were one with high accuracy and speed.

“Exactly,” Marble Falls praised. “We have a natural among us. I am glad to see that I have somepony other than Cardinal Spitfire with instinctive, prodigal skills.”

They all laughed as they approached a bag. Marble Falls joined them in running through everything. She still had to keep her skills sharp. But they were pushed hard through lunch and getting to dinner right before closing.

This wasn’t Basic or a combat school. They were all well skilled and now perfection was what they were striving for. Perfection is unattainable. Practice makes permanent. But the Wonderbolts needed perfect instinct based in permanent skills.

“I hate this segment,” Marbles Falls admitted the next morning before she showed them the rear hoof forms. “Hoof combat is my weak spot as a Wonderbolt. Put me in the sky with a rifle and it is near impossible to stop me.”

“We need to make sure Lemon Lime has the acrobatic skills to be first in,” Cardinal Spitfire added.

“Oh, we will all be drilled though Filly Fooler’s Acrobatics,” Marble Falls smiled mischievously. “You know them better, but remember, he trained us for practicality and to pass it on. An ACS will happen soon after we head back. I am going to rely on you to terrorize them after dinner.”

Cardinal Spitfire laughed with power. She grew solemn. “How will that effect things? Living arrangements?”

“He would make a great teacher,” Marble Falls replied. “It isn’t like their unit has to be stationed together either. It will work. More than well enough. We may be alone right now, but lets not speak of it outside the privacy of our Wing.”

They all nodded silently.

“How old is the knife use?” Cinnamon Swirl asked.

“All the way back to the war,” Marble Falls replied. “Back to Rainbow Dash and her Shadowbolts.”

“Wait,” Cardinal Spitfire said slowing them down so she could get things straight. “You said Rainbow Dash and her Shadowbolts?”

“Yes,” Marble Falls grinned before explaining. “The Wonderbolts were a pre-war elite flying team. When the war broke out, they were disbanded. Rainbow Dash used the Ministry of Awesome to found the Shadowbolts and to be able to handle all types of missions. She actually did something with her ministry, but that is a secret well kept during the war, and now known only to us Wonderbolts. Their job paved the way on how pegasi were used in the war and caused the Zebras to strike Cloudsdale first. Rainbow Dash was from Cloudsdale.”

Cardinal Spitfire was beaming. “Filly Foolers tales are more truth than legends.”

“Yes, they are,” Marble Falls confirmed. “We have little records of her missions. But they were top notch fliers and combatants like we are. Their time ended when the clouds were sealed up. After she turned traitor, we reinstated the Wonderbolts and transferred a lot of the ideology that we knew to the Wonderbolts. We do not know the names of any Shadowbolts, so we have no idea if they followed her or not.”

“That explains why it is always Rainbow Dash and her Shadow in the stories,” Cardinal Spitfire nodded with a smile. “It was her team, not an actual shadow.”

“They would give all of us a run for our money,” Marble Falls stated. “From what we know. Or we will give them a run for their money once we learn how to do hoof to hoof combat like a real Wonderbolt!”

They laughed and turned back to the lesson.

Next Chapter: Chapter 34 - 68 Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 38 Minutes