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Saving the ponies

Chapter 7: The training center

Rainbow woke early the next morning, her wings feeling like they had broken overnight. The poor Pegasus ached all over, a reminder of her poor physical condition. She used to pass training sessions that were twice as intense with better results.

Rainbow felt around the bed, searching for her companion. When she couldn't find him, she searched the room with her eyes, finding him on a separate bed a few feet away. The bed was far too small for Rainbow to crawl in with him, so she stretched in her own. Remembering what she'd learnt yesterday, she spread her wings, giving them a thorough examination. Her primaries were all crooked and dirty, leaving a few unappealing gaps and tufts here and there. Her secondaries were so thick and disorganised that they were probably slowing her down while she flew. Her coverts were just... unspeakable.

Aghast, Rainbow fled from their room. She made a beeline for the bathroom, quietly shutting the door behind her and not even noticing the flare of discomfort in her chest because of the distance between her and Maverick. Once inside, she began the long and complicated procedure of fixing her wings.

At first Rainbow had thought she might have been overthinking it all, but as she plucked out her old feathers and straitened the newer ones, she was hit, once again, by how far she'd fallen. Even when she'd failed that trick and ended up in the hospital, an actual event that had had an episode made out of it, Rainbow hadn't felt so helpless. She'd managed to keep in shape even then and, once she was free, she'd worked twice as hard to catch up on all the training she'd missed out on.

After a half hour she'd finally straightened out her right wing. It didn't look as good as it used to, but Rainbow had done her best; only time could help it now. She turned her attention to her left wing.

'It's not fair.' She thought as she ripped out a few broken feathers. 'I worked so hard to get where I was and now, because of this stupid race, I need to start all over again.' She paid special attention to her alula, seeing as she used them to guide her landings. Of course Rainbow couldn't stay mad for long; without the human race, she would never have met Maverick. 'Then again' she thought. 'Without them, I wouldn't be hated throughout Equestria.'

Her left wing finished, she flared the pair, examining them again. Her wings looked much better; prim and proper, with no gaps between feathers and no large tufts where multiple coverts overlapped. She flipped them upside down and examined the backs, which looked just as good as the undersides.

As she scanned them over one last time in the bathroom mirror, Rainbow couldn't help but admire her body a bit. Even with the recent... backtracking, she still looked great. Her figure was slim; not quite small enough to be considered thin, but Rainbow didn't like the idea of looking too skinny either. Her muscles flowed sleekly beneath her baby blue coat, softer than they used to be, but still hard enough to show off. Her flanks were shapely, round, but not exuberantly large; a nice combination of form and fitness. Her legs were strong and they showed it, muscles creating slight knots as they wound down to her hooves, unmarked but not too feminine. Her chest formed a perfect 'V' shape with her front legs, allowing her easy movement, and it was nice to look at too. Her neck was thick with muscle.

She turned her attention to her rainbow mane and tail. They were messy and knotted, with locks flowing everywhere, yet somehow still perfectly sorted into their respective colours. Rainbow loved her mane, which she took good care of despite its appearance. She liked it the way it was. Her tail was the same.

Finally, she turned around and let her rump face the mirror. Her butt was a little slimmer than that of most ponies, but it made up for that with the nice curves it had on both sides and down the middle. She flicked her tail around, admiring the quick flashes she got of her jewel hidden beneath.

Satisfied that she still looked good despite her depression, Rainbow relaxed a bit. The pain that she had been ignoring up until now washed over her, and her knees buckled. She fell on her stomach as the pain threatened to knock her unconscious and rode out the waves of agony, which were slowly dimming back to what she was used to. After another few minutes, the pain had subsided, leaving Rainbow gasping on the floor.

'What was that...' She thought. She'd never experienced pain of that magnitude before, not even when she'd flown headfirst through a window and ended up with multiple lacerations and a concussion. Rainbow struggled to her hooves, dizzy and disoriented, and made her way back to the spare room.

The moment she saw Maverick lying in bed, the residual pain vanished, returning her to normal. She trotted over to his bed, pressing her muzzle into his hair and inhaling deeply. He smelled of sweat and smog, like most of the humans that had come to Equestria. An idea entered Rainbow's mind, and she climbed on top of him, lying down and covering his body with her own. The bed wasn't big enough for two, but she could definitely fit like this.

Rainbow continued to stare at him as he slept. He had such a handsome face despite its alien appearance. She nuzzled his chest, wanting to convey her love even as he slept.

Rainbow lost track of time as she lay there, careful not to put all her weight on Maverick so she didn't crush him. Eventually she heard movement outside the door. She got up off of Maverick and followed the sound to find Twilight in the kitchen, mixing something in a bowl.

"Sleep well?" Twilight asked as Rainbow entered.

"Awesomely, but the wake-up could use some work. I'm super sore after all the flying and apple bucking we did yesterday." Rainbow replied. "What'cha making?"

"Pancakes. I'll be leaving in half an hour to go help set up the Pegasus games." Twilight said as she flipped the first pancake into a plate next to the stove.

"What? Why?" Rainbow asked, confused. Why would Twilight want to help with the Pegasus games? They were pretty much only for Pegasi.

"I've doing some studying on flight mechanics recently and I wanted to do some research first hoof. The stadium could always use some more help, so I asked if I could trade my time for some tickets to the events. Having a unicorn around will make things go much faster." Twilight answered. She levitated a plate with about 5 large pancakes onto the table in the corner of her kitchen. "Want some? I made more than enough for two."

Once they were finished, Twilight said her goodbyes to Rainbow and Spike before teleporting herself up to Cloudsdale. Mere moments after her departure, a pony came into the library searching for a book. Spike went to help the customer while Rainbow went to wake Maverick. They would need to leave soon if she intended to make it to her shift on time.

She found him in the same spot she left him, a very thin line of drool leaking from the corner of his mouth. She giggled at the sight and prodded him a few times.

"Wha'?" He gasped as he sat up. "What time is it?"

"Early. You're going to have to get used to it; ponies usually wake an hour or so after the dawn, if not earlier." Rainbow said. "Come on, we need to get going soon or I'll be late for work." Of course Rainbow was usually late for work, but Maverick didn't need to know that.

Maverick got up and ate quickly, continuing on his fruit paradise. They were off with plenty of time to spare and arrived at the training center just as it opened.

Rainbow led Maverick to the registration counter. She'd been to the center many times before, more often than not to check in about a competition which usually included the Wonderbolts in one way or another. As such, upon seeing the black Pegasus pony at the counter, Rainbow gave a confused tilt of her head.

"Where's Cloudy Sky, Dark Hail? He's always working the morning counter shift." She asked Dark Hail, who gave her a sad smile.

"He's been in bed sick for days now. They think he might be watered down. Poor guy can't even fly; they have him on an anti-weight bed so he won't fall through the clouds. I'm working his shift until he gets back and Cutesly took mine." He explained.

"Oh, I hope he gets better soon. Anyway, Maverick's here to meet with Lord Icewing, and after that he wants to check in about some employment, if any is available." Rainbow said as she turned to Maverick. "I've gotta go, I'll see you as soon as my shift is done." She felt a little buzz of fear at the thought of leaving Maverick alone again, and then another at the thought of the pain she'd felt that morning, but she brushed them off. He was in good hooves.

She took off without another word to help the weather station.

Maverick turned his attention away from the receding rainbow mane and tail and turned it instead on the black pony before him.

"I'll have somepony take you to Lord Icewing." Dark Hail said as he beckoned over a teal Pegasus that was waking nearby. He gave him his directions and the pair were off.

The Pegasus led Maverick quickly and quietly through the building, clearly unhappy about his task. Once they reached the appropriate room, he left Maverick without a word.

'Prejudiced jerk.' He thought as he pulled the cloud curtain-door thing away. He was really starting to miss human doors and the privacy that they secured.

Or so he thought, until he opened the cloud/door, which prompted a flood of chatter to hit him square in the face. Clearly the cloud/doors provided more privacy then he thought.

As Maverick stepped inside, he saw what all the commotion was about. Two Pegasi were facing each other and shooting daggered glares at the other. A small circle of Pegasi had assembled around the pair, most having small debates with their neighbour about the verbal battle going on in front of them.

"I told you, it's unheard of! The competition is exclusively for Pegasi; we cannot have other species participating in the events or it would no longer be the great Pegasus tournament. Let the others wait for the Ponylympic games if they want to compete against our kind." The one on the right shouted. He was a pure white Pegasus.

"And I've told YOU that the pony in question was born a Pegasus. The only reason he has no wings is because they were dysfunctional; he couldn't use them so he had them removed. Even his birth certificate verifies him as a Pegasus." The other, a deep blue Pegasus mare, replied. "I want to speak with Lord Icewing about this."

Before the white Pegasus could deny her, Scorched trotted in from a door across the hall. He looked exactly as he has 3 days ago; big and red. The only noticeable difference was the slight grin that he carried on his face, which faltered as he saw the argument and then resurged as his eyes fell upon Maverick.

"What seems to be the problem here?" He asked the argumentative pair of Pegasi. The blue unicorn presented her problem and the white one presented his objections, after which Scorched told them to bring their quarrel to Lord Icewing, who had just finished his meeting with the mayor of Cloudsdale.

The squabble dealt with, Scorched approached Maverick, his grin evolving into a full-blown smile. "Maverick, you don't know how glad I am to see you. Lord Icewing has been eagerly awaiting your arrival, and I wanted to thank you again for helping me see the light. Thanks to my recent turn around, I've already almost regained by previous position, but things are going so much more smoothly now; the reputation of the Lightning wings has diminished as a commanding dictatorship and returned to that of peacemakers and bandit hunters." He looked down, his features now showing his shame. "I can't believe how much wrong I was doing." He perked back up almost instantly. "But never mind about that; you may have to wait a few minutes now that I just sent those Pegasi to talk to him, but I'm sure Lord Icewing will want to talk with you as soon as he's done."

And so he did. The pair of squabbling Pegasi came out moments later, the blue mare sporting a winning smile while the white one glared at the ground in front of him. Their departure was quickly followed by an over exited Scorched dragging Maverick in to the room they had just left.

"My lord, Maverick is here." He announced, pushing Maverick in and shutting the curtain behind the two of them. Maverick's eyes open wide at the sight he beheld upon seeing the Lightning wing's leader.

Lord Icewing looked exhausted. His eyes had huge, noticeable purple circles all around them. His coat was filthy, covered with dirt and sweat, and he was slouching in his seat, barely able to keep himself awake.

However, when he saw who Scorched had dragged in, Icewing began to grin. "I've been waiting for you, Maverick. I-" He broke off into a yawn. "I'm sorry; preparing the games had taken much more time and energy then I'm used to spending in one sitting. It seems like everything that could go wrong IS going wrong. Arguments, weather schedules, event participation, materials... Until that young Twilight Sparkle offered to help me sort out all the different issues and organise a list of priorities, I thought I might have to delay the games. She's a life saver." Clearly the world number one Pegasus was not one for leading, despite being a leader.

Scorched's grin fell a bit as he saw the state his leader was in. "My lord, I think you should take a break from leading the organisation of the games. You've hardly slept during the past two days."

Icewing nodded a bit. "I know; I'll get to it soon. Go tell that Twilight girl that I'd be very grateful if she would take my place for the rest of the day." Scorched saluted and left the room. "I'm sorry I'm not really in a fit state to speak, but I just wanted to thank you for what you did with Scorched. Not many humans have shown the bravery and ingenuity that you did." He yawned again. "I think I'll take my leave now, unless you wanted something?"

After Maverick assured Lord Icewing that he was fine, the Pegasus lumbered unsteadily from his chair and off towards a door in the back of the room. Just before he passed through, he told Maverick to get Scorched to give him a tour of the training center.

Maverick, now alone, returned to the room he'd been standing in before. It was almost empty, with just a few Pegasi standing in a corner talking about the games and debating which events to enter.

As Maverick waited for Scorched to return from his assignment, he reviewed his mental checklist of things to do:

1- Take a shower. (priority) 2- Shave. 3- Get the clothes from Rarity. (do not let Rainbow pay) 4- Get a job of some sort. 5- Ask about varying diet.

He also added settle relationship issue and learn about what being in a relationship means. He felt as if there was something he was forgetting, but it wasn't all that important at the moment since Scorched had just walked back in.

"Well, she certainly wasn't unhappy about her new job." Scorched responded to Maverick's question on how it went. "I don't think I've ever seen anypony get so happy about being assigned extra work. Must be a unicorn thing." He reasoned, a confused frown on his lips.

Maverick couldn't stop a wide smile from forming. "Must be. Lord Icewing asked me to get you to give me a tour of the facility. I hope I'm not imposing."

"Oh no, it's fine. One pony won't make a difference in the planning of the games." Scorched replied. "Come on, I'll show you the stadium where the air races will be."

And so he did. Imagine the best young fliers' competition stadium. Now imagine it 10 times bigger. Now add in a ton of colored drapes representing the different colours of the ponies attending. Add in seating that surrounds the stadium; a race track on the outside; an obstacle course on one half and a shooting range on the other. Now you got the idea.

"It's HUGE!" Maverick shouted.

"Of course. Flying is much faster than running, so we need to have a stadium that can accommodate the extra distance." Scorched replied. "Oh look, the two mile dash is about to start." He added, indicating a line of Pegasi that were fluttering in place.

"So this stadium is two miles wide?" Maverick asked as he leaned against the bleachers, intent on observing the race.

"The race track is. The stadium itself stretches to 3 miles with the seats and all that included. It was sup-" Scorched was cut off by a loud bang, and the Pegasi exploded into action. The race wasn't organised at all like a 100 meter dash. Instead, the Pegasi flew with two different styles; either they raced out ahead, or they drafted behind another to reduce the strain.

The race was only about two minutes long, but in that span, almost all the Pegasi had stopped. Scorched explained that as soon as victory became impossible, they would conserve their strength for the next run. The winner was a purple Pegasus with black and red hair.

As a second line of Pegasi flew up for the next run, Scorched led Maverick out onto the field. "Races aren't the only event of these games. We also have contests for endurance, dexterity, strength, agility, performance and so on." He pointed to the sky where a group of Pegasi were performing a synchronised aerial routine, then to the ground where there was a small group on the shooting range doing...

"Archery!" Maverick exclaimed. "I've always wanted to try that. But how do they hold the bows?"

Instead of answering, Scorched let Maverick find out for himself. One of the Pegasi reared himself onto his hind legs, flapping his wings furiously to keep himself steady. He drew an arrow from his quiver and fitted it into the bow, pulling back hard on the string. He then took a few moments to steady himself, slowing his wing beets and trying to aim at the target. Maverick could see that he was very unsteady despite all attempts at control. He let go.

The arrow flew straight, but it missed the target altogether. Maverick noticed that the wall behind the targets, in which the arrow had lodged itself, was riddled with holes.

The Pegasus dropped back down to all fours, dissatisfied by his shot. A few targets down the range, a second Pegasus was using a different technique. He held the bow in his wings, drawing the arrow with his mouth and pulling back. He seemed much steadier, but as Maverick watched, the arrow flew even further off target then the first one. Before he could ask, scorched said: "When you use your wings, they block your vision, making aiming impossible. You have to rely on memory rather than sight. Also, holding the arrow in your mouth makes it very difficult to tell how much sting you favored left or right, which causes the arrow to fly crooked."

Maverick nodded as he watched a few more shots. Only one actually hit the target, on the outer rim, which would be worth 1 point by human standards. "Why is this even an event if it's so hard?" Maverick asked.

"Don't forget that the point of these games isn't to be easy; it's to see who's the best. These Pegasi train for days just to be able to hold a bow, and weeks to be able to shoot straight. It may not look like it, but they're very dedicated to their sport."

"Can I try?" Maverick asked. Scorched hesitated a few seconds before nodding. Maverick grabbed a bow from the rack that was a little off to the side of the range, as well as a quiver. He then took up and empty target and pulled out and arrow.

A few of the Pegasi turned, curious to see how this new participant would do. The first impression wasn't a good one, as Maverick was holding the bow upside-down. He quickly righted himself and drew an arrow from the quiver, knocking it and pulling back of the string. He was surprised by the amount of resistance it offered. As Maverick is pretty weak, he began sweating jus from trying to pull the string back. A few of the Pegasi snickered, but they were quickly shushed by their peers, most of whom had heard of Maverick feats a few days past. This wasn't someone you should underestimate.

As Maverick finally felt he wouldn't be able to pull the sting back any further, he began aiming at the target. Quickly calculating that his shot would lose some height between him and the target, Maverick tilted the bow slightly higher than he felt he should. He also moved it a smidge to the left to take into account the slight wind that was blowing. Finally, as his fingers began to scream out in pain, he loosed the arrow.

Unlike the other shots he'd seen that day, Maverick's arrow did not fly fast and straight. Instead, it arched slightly through the air, at the height of its flight passing over the top of the target before falling back down slightly...

And hitting in the nine point ring.

As one, all the Pegasi that hadn't been paying attention until that point turned to see who the shooter was. Their eyes fell upon a very surprised human, who was staring wide-eyes at his shot, a few centimetres too high to be a perfect bulls-eye. The Pegasi that had snickered earlier felt their lips part as they forgot to hold their mouths closed. One of them trotted up to Maverick, and asked the question which was now probably circulating through most of their minds.

"Have you shot before?" She asked. She was a pale shade of blue, not unlike Rainbow Dash.

Maverick shook his head, still in awe at his first ever try. A few of the Pegasi clapped their hooves together for him, followed quickly by the masses.

One pony though, unlike the rest, was staring intently at Maverick. She wasn't here to participate in the sports like the others. Her only job was to help with the preparations for the event, a job which she was doing magnificently as she ordered around a few Pegasi. However, at the moment, her indigo eyes were locked onto Maverick. As he shyly accepted the praise of the Pegasi, her eyes drifted to his hips. It was a long standing question amongst the ponies of Equestria; could humans get cutie marks? So far none of them had succeeded, but the purple unicorn, who also happened to be very knowledgeable, was perfectly aware that there was nothing disproving the possibility. Could his clothes be hiding an archery cutie mark? Probably not; after all, if ponies had to discover their own cutie mark, then this human would have to realise that archery was his. After all, no one simply picked up a bow and hit and almost perfect bulls-eye.

But now wasn't the time to confront him. Twilight turned away from the Pegasi which were now peppering Maverick with questions and returned to the job at hand. She couldn't tell him archery was his cutie mark; it was almost considered criminal to help a young colt or filly determine their cutie mark. However, she would research the subject later that night, and then maybe... prod him in the right direction.

A little ways away, Scorched was trying to rescue Maverick from the mob of Pegasi which were surrounding him, wanting to know his secret. Eventually they cleared off, asking as a group if he would show them again. Maverick happily agreed, knocking another arrow. He repeated his adjustments, keeping the same height but lowering the tension by the tiniest amount so his shot wouldn't fly quite as high. The second arrow hit the target in the ten point zone, barely, but the Pegasi around him cheered all the louder. When he told them that he really had no idea how he had managed it, explaining that it just 'felt right', they accepted it without question, instead asking him if he might have any tips for them.

"Well," he began. "It's all about the aim. If you know where you want the arrow to go, then put it there. Being blinded by your wings shouldn't matter if you already know where the arrow is going. Just stare at the target while you pull out the bow; even once it disappears from view, you should still know where it is." He had no idea if his suggestion was right or wrong, but he remembered from when he was learning how to drive at night that if you stared at where you wanted to go, you could keep your orientation even in pitch blackness.

The Pegasi eagerly returned to their individual targets, preparing themselves with the new advice they had. Scorched trotted up to Maverick, giving him a few words of praise for his actions, which were sure to buy him even more respect amongst the flying race of ponies. From there the pair moved on the watch some of the other performances.

However, one thought would linger in Maverick head long past the acrobatic displays and obstacle course runs; why had the ponies discovered bows? Was it just something they took from the human, or maybe only for sport? Or was there another, darker reason?