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(Perspective shift to 3rd for this chapter)

It was the fourth evening of the Royal Summit. The days were long and pretty dull, even though it was all really important stuff. Then Captain Spitfire had wanted to talk with Rainbow Dash after the big dinner they all had after the meeting ended for the day.

Rainbow stepped out on the large balcony and stood next to Spitfire, wondering what she had wanted to talk about as ideas raced through her mind. It wasn't every day the Captain of the Wonderbolts herself asked to flap to a small cloud. Rainbow's mind swirled with the hopes and fears of what that phrase could mean for her right now, though she was pretty sure it wasn't anything to do with last night's teasing. As much of a risk taker she knew Spitfire was in all levels of her life that Rainbow was aware of, that side of things just wasn't anything she could hope for.

The things they'd been hearing in the Royal Summit were kinda scary, when she really thought about what was coming. It hadn't been said outright, but it was pretty obvious there were going to be a lot of ponies losing their lives no matter what anypony did, and that was just them winning. Rainbow Dash would never admit to it out loud, but the thought of seeing her fellow ponies getting killed in battle was scary. The idea it might be someone she knew, or even one of her closest friends, left her feeling a whole stormfront of worry.

As she stood there with a silent Captain Spitfire, an aura of presence around her not so different from when she was on duty at the academy, one of the ponies she'd looked up her whole life, Rainbow Dash knew to hold her tongue. She hated the wait, patience just wasn't her deal, but she'd come to learn the value of it and when she shouldn't interrupt. Even when nothing was being said.

It was a long several minutes of total silence, but Rainbow Dash waited.

After what felt like an eternity to a pegasus that lived for speed, Rainbow saw Spitfire look down and flex her wings before she lifted her head and looked at Rainbow, a wry smirk on her muzzle, "Dash, when do you think the Wonderbolts first knew of you?"

Rainbow blinked, not sure what that was leading to, "Uh...a couple years ago at the Best Young Flyers Competition? When my friend Rarity fell and I had to save the day? Maybe even the Grand Galloping Gala that my friends and I, uh...kinda wrecked?"

Spitfire chuckled and shook her head, "Not even close, no. Those events weren't the first time we became aware of you," Spitfire turned to look back out into the world around the balcony, eyeing the few clouds in the distance in the fading light, "We've been watching you for a lot longer than that. To be honest, we'd have been surprised if you hadn't won the competition and worried your obvious nerves were going to be too much for ya."

Rainbow swallowed, feeling her cheeks heat as she remembered just how nervous she'd been that day, until Rarity's sudden fall made everything else fade away. She'd gotten much better at keeping her nerves under control since then. Now she was growing curious, wondering where Spitfire was going with this.

"After that, we watched you making gradual changes. Watched as your new friends brought out the parts of you we were always hoping for and needed you to have. We know about the whole Mare Do Well incident, ya know. In fact, that day at the Best Young Flyers event was an improvised ploy on our part. Granted, it was a little risky, and you better believe Princess Celestia gave us a rather serious private talking to, but we felt you needed the extra push. Do you really think Miss Rarity would have knocked us all out so fast with as much rescue training as we've had? We were testing you, even as we kept tight to her in case you weren't going to make it. And you did not disappoint us that day.

"I was relieved when you passed the written test to join the Wonderbolts Reserves. We knew how you'd been about school and happy you found a way to do better, with the help of your friends again. The moment I knew it was just a matter of time before we could call you up was when you came to me in my office after Lightning Dust made a mess of herself and put your friends and her fellow recruits in jeopardy. When you were ready to give up on us because you thought we might not be worthy of your time sure as buck made me and the rest of us proud.

"Even that time I offered to give you Soarin's spot on our Cloudsdale relay team while he pretended to play a sap, you came through the right way. He's got a Masters in Ancient Pegasi History, by the way. So yeah, the Wonderbolts have been watching you, and we've been pleased by what we've seen. Even started planning when your reserve status was going to end. Less than a year was the intention, so you know."

Rainbow Dash was struggling to process what she just heard, what it was leading up to. She struggled to swallow past the lump in her throat and unable to make a sound as her heart raced, eyes wide at what she was starting to suspect.

Then Spitfire frowned, her face darkening, "For all that though, now we're in the middle of planning for the big crazy mess we're gonna find ourselves mixed up in all too soon. After watching you grow up, several of us older vets feel a bit protective of you after all this time... I gotta admit, part of me wishes you hadn't proven to be so capable. That I had some excuse for keeping you on the sidelines and not do what I have to do. I know you're fully aware of what the Wonderbolts Initiative actually is, just like any Reserve Flight Team Leader. Including a few things the civvies don't know."

Rainbow then watched her biggest idol look...scared, for a moment...then she schooled her expression again.

Spitfire turned to face Rainbow Dash, her jaw set, "The Princesses gave me the order in private earlier today, Dash. We're going fully active for the first time in history. The Wonderbolts are being called to arms, and we'll be contacting the first round of Team Leaders for their training. As more trainers come up, we can call up more reservists. Instead of staying around forty to fifty, there will be over five thousand of us if we got the time to spare for training before everything goes to Tartarus when this looming war begins. We'll be reducing how many shows we perform a little at a time until we can't hide it from the public, at which point we'll cut most or all of them entirely. Now to business...

"Reserve Flight Team Leader Rainbow Dash, you are hereby officially called to active duty with the Wonderbolts Initiative. In light of your experience, training, leadership, and demonstrated capability, we are promoting you straight to Lieutenant ahead of completion of training. Provided you are ready upon completion of said training, you will receive the rank of Captain. Due to your unique status and circumstances as the Bearer of Loyalty, you are not being made to report to the academy. You will be assigned and sent a trainer to provide you with the necessary skills for the coming fight. Serve our Princesses with honor, Lieutenant. Ponies will be depending on you with their lives."

When Spitfire threw up her hoof in salute, Rainbow froze for only half a second before she went rigid and threw up her own salute in return, her training taking over as her eyes unfocused and she gave a sharp answer, "It's an honor, Ma'am! I will not let you down, Ma'am!"

Lowering her hoof, Spitfire gave a smirk, voice quiet, "I know you won't, Dash. I wish I could say you're an official Wonderbolt under better circumstances though, and I'm sorry you won't be able to join us for any performances. I know you have a hard time stopping yourself from doing it, but don't ever try to stand alone with what's coming. I've been in battle a few times over the course of my career and I've seen ponies taken down right next to me. It's like nothing you've ever experienced. If you try to hold it in, it will drain you or even break you. Your friends helped you become better. I'm certain they'll pull you back up to your cloud if your feathers drop, so long as you ask and let them. And now with you joining our flock in full, so will we."

Rainbow Dash's heart was still racing as she tried to work through the knowledge of being a full Wonderbolt. Unable to think of anything else to do with herself, she looked down and closed her eyes as she sank to her rump, taking a long slow breath, holding it for several seconds and letting out a long exhale before giving a faint smirk of her own, "Wow..."

Spitfire chuckled as she waited, having seen hundreds of pegasi over the many years she'd been their Captain that dreamed of making it just as much as the one she watched now, seen the moment they got the news they achieved what they dreamed of. She just kept up her smirk as she waited, glad to see how much Rainbow Dash had matured in just the past couple years.

Rainbow looked up, gave a weak chuckle as it all settled in her mind, "I finally made it... I made it and I'm not even gonna be doing any shows. Not really sure how I feel about that yet."

Resting a hoof on her shoulder, Spitfire looked at Rainbow Dash a bit longer before turning her eyes out across the sprawl of Canterlot below them under the darkening starlit sky, then dropping her hoof and walking up to the edge of the balcony, "Dash, look out there at the city."

Walking up next to Spitfire after a moment to shake herself off, Rainbow stood and looked at the capitol. She saw the different buildings hundreds of years old alongside various others of varying age built in the time since the city's platform was made. The countless trails of faintly visible smoke from countless homes and businesses drifted into the air among countless windows lit up from activity within. She saw a great many ponies going about their evening, unaware of anyone watching.

"Equestria's had a few wars, though most were in the first 800 years after the Unification and none ever even lasted a year at any time. Been a long time since the last real storm when we gave a bloodied beak to our gryphon neighbors over 1200 years ago, when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna personally commanded the army to stand aside while they took the gryphons on by themselves and single-hoofedly sent them all packing without even using much magic. I know it's basic school stuff, but did you ever think about why we've had so few wars compared to most nations on Equus? Why the Princesses told their own forces not to engage that gryphon army after four months of fighting on the border all sudden like that? Why we have such a strong military even though we've pretty much been at peace for over a thousand years with only the occasional skirmish? And almost all of those not even within our own lands?"

Glancing at Spitfire before looking at the city again, Rainbow tried to think it through. She never gave this kind of stuff any real thought before. A cool breeze toyed with her mane as she ran it all through her mind, trying to put her elation at becoming a Wonderbolt aside and take this talk with Spitfire seriously.

"That's a little too 'big picture' for me, I gotta admit. Fighting sucks? Every life matters? I'm not really seeing what you're getting at, Captain."

Spitfire just smirked a bit more, "If you have another option, don't fight. When you run out of options and you must fight, hit like thunder from Tartarus. And if you have the strength to spare others from a fight they might not be enough for, take your stand so they don't have to. It's nothing miraculous, I know. I just want to help you keep on the right track. Maybe it'll help give you the right perspective if I tell you what I meant when I saw somepony taken down right beside me.

"I was twenty-two when I was in my first battle. I'd been a Wonderbolt for just under two years at the time and we were on our way to do a foreign show in the Cerrios Republic when we got an emergency call from them about an invasion by a group of rogue dragons, members of a self-important dragon supremacy group called The Fires Of Glory. Problem was, Cerrios is a small country that only had a small military and nothing able to handle dragons attacking. And they struck when the nearest mid-sized fleet that could tackle em was a week out. We were getting passage with a small fleet of airships that were enroute to another mission to supply and support some groundies helping keep things calm on an invitation and help mediate a peaceful resolution between another two nations so no blood got shed. Good thing too, cause if we weren't then this would've been a very different story for that fleet.

"The dragons were as vicious as you'd expect of those arrogant scaly bastards. Nine of em, too. We were only a day out when the first messenger reached us, but they were already razing a couple villages. They weren't as big and mature as the titans we're peaceable with here, big as a two-story house I'd say, but big enough to knock smaller airships like most of ours were out of the sky if they got close.

"The big updraft was having us Wonderbolts on the trip. Usual away set of four up and four reserve. You already know as a Team Leader that once you go active you get the combat training that forms the core of our more dramatic stunts at airshows. All of us realized if the fleet tried to engage, it'd be iffy at best if they could handle things, let alone delay them long enough for any help to arrive without getting thrown out of the sky. And they'd have done it without a second thought if we hadn't been there. If we did nothing, there would've been a lot of dead Cerrios deer before a dragon-capable fleet arrived.

"Me and the rest of the team knew it was on our wings. While we had our combat flight armor, wing blades and other weapons as per standard when making a foreign trip like that, it was meaningless against dragons. It would only slow us down and the dragons could cut right through the armor. Our Captain let us choose to suit up when the time came instead. If we were forced to get involved and our armor wouldn't be of any real use, we better put on one hay of a show to let the citizens of Cerrios know they had help."

Rainbow Dash found herself wrapped up in the story. She knew a number of Wonderbolts had been in serious fights, but she'd never been able to look into it that much since the reports weren't available to the public in most cases. All she could do was listen as Spitfire continued.

"While the fleet rushed towards the area so we'd be fresh to fight, didn't want to risk slipstreaming without knowing the weather, we had more messengers come and go with worse and worse reports while our Captain ran us through plans on how to engage the bastards. We hardly slept from the things we'd been hearing and all the anticipation.

"It was just after dawn when we finally got close enough for us to see them on the horizon, looking like they were making strafing runs on the ground. We knew they were tearing up some innocent village and now that we were close enough, every minute was worth lives. Based on their direction, the dragons would hit a major city next. They had to be stopped before they got there. We'd been on the deck before the sun was up, knowing we were close.

"I still remember the exact sound of Captain Nimble Nimbus's voice as she gave the order. 'Wings up and get sky!' The plan was pretty simple really. Get their attention and stay high, then try to keep them over empty fields while we wore them down with whatever means necessary. The fleet would work to get in position for support if possible, but had to stay back so they didn't get in our way...," Spitfire paused, her eyes flashing with the memories.

"When we reached them, they'd almost finished destroying the entire village they'd been attacking. Captain Nimble and Sky Streak shot forward to get their attention while the rest of us started spinning up thunderclouds. Those two threw off the air currents around the dragons and made them stumble mid-flight. Sure pissed em off, and just like we expected, they roared in fury and gave chase.

"By the time they were coming into the target area just under two minutes later, we had several large thunderclouds charged and waiting. The first dragon was a bit faster than the others. Caught enough lightning bolts to stun him and burn a serious gap in one wing. He fell out of the sky unable to recover and hit the ground, never to rise again.

"The other dragons were smarter and didn't rush straight in. They were better than we initially thought since they moved in two formations. It was the first real indication we had of any training. The reports never mentioned more than a few words about it, but without giving the dragons a reason to care about caution it wasn't such a surprise that got missed in the reports we'd gotten.

"They used their fire breath and wasted the clouds we had ready, only letting us get off a few bolts before we had to abandon them all. We realized right then we were fighting more than mere arrogant bastards. The dragons had combat training to add to their brute force and size. We weren't able to rely on thunderclouds and lightning bolts because they'd destroy them before we could put them to use. It was a bad spot for us. Really bad when fighting against dragons without a numbers advantage.

"As a fallback, knowing there was always a chance of that, we already planned our teams and paired off as we scattered. We'd operate in pairs and fours from opposite sides of the engagement zone. The two formations of theirs each chased one of ours. We had superior speed and pegasi flight magic against their size and power...and we knew we were right on the edge of whether we'd still be alive by day's end.

"At first, we focused on getting a sense of how good they were in the air, their reaction time and the like while we kept them from getting too close or any of us cornered. They weren't highly trained, thankfully. At most, they were average warriors used to fighting other dragons in the air. That was good, since they wouldn't know the right counters for our maneuvers.

"We started closing the distance like we had to and between claws and fire, we slipped around em and started throwing shockwaves where we could before trying to set up riskier stuff. When that seemed to have only marginal effect, we had to step it up and put our flight magic to real use as we pulled out our elemental strikes. Me and Cirrus Heat were fires, so we were at a big disadvantage against the dragons for most of our efforts. We'd have to pull off sonic firebooms in tandem almost in their faces if we couldn't catch them in the wings. Saved us a few times though, when we had a choice between fire and claws, since we could wrap ourselves in fire for brief periods.

"Captain Nimble and Sky Streak had managed to drop one first, being wind types. Nearly took off the whole wing for how much they tore that one up and sent it to the ground, from what I read in the report. Our group though, with two of us being elementally limited against nearly fire-immune dragons, had it much worse. We could probably have dodged most of the day if we didn't need to attack.

"The two of us tried to set up openings for Thunder Feather and Cold Breeze. Between us distracting and them making attacks, we were slowly wearing them down until they caught us in a feint. Cirrus Heat and I shot through another bath of fire and right into range of one very big set of teeth.

"He was just ahead of me and...," Spitfire hesitated, gritting her teeth as she began to weep, tears starting to slide down her cheeks, "That was the first time somepony got taken down right next to me. Bit right through him so hard his wing came loose and brushed my cheek as I shot clear. One moment he was flying with me...then he wasn't.

"The battle lasted just under an hour, with how much dancing around both sides had to do. By the end of it, not counting numerous injuries sustained like my broken hind leg and torn off tail, we'd lost four. Our team captain, Major Nimble Nimbus, Lieutenant Raincutter, Captain Thunder Feather, and my partner, Lieutenant Cirrus Heat. Their lives were paid for by nine dragons. The fleet finished off the two that managed to survive their fall to the ground.

"Cerrios was thrilled they were saved by the Wonderbolts themselves, of course. I heard later they even built a memorial at the site to honor those we lost, though I've never gone back. At the time, we were hurt and hurting, but despite how much it cost us, we had saved a lot of lives. Probably thousands. Just think what the cost might be if something like that happened to all the innocent ponies here in Canterlot.

"Between injuries and our fallen, acting captain Sky Streak was the only one to meet the public. Since he'd only ended up with a few serious burns and bruises, he handled interviews and everything to satisfy the Cerrios press clamoring to praise their new heroes. He refused to let the press swarm us in the aftermath. We simply went home as soon as a transport airship arrived to pick us up three days later, carrying what was left of our fallen," Spitfire gave a faint sniffle as tears continued to fall from her eyes, standing tall as she had a moment of silence for the ones lost.

Rainbow Dash stood with her, taking in everything she heard. She knew there was no expectation of her in the moment even if she felt like something deserved to be said, not that she had any words to give. Instead, she stood with Spitfire in silence again as they looked out across the Canterlot nightscape.

After another minute went by, Spitfire gave a weak chuckle and dried her eyes with a wing, "Been a while since I went back to that day... I wanted you to hear the story, Dash. To help you understand a little bit better just what you're being asked when you join us. We're the living legacy of Commander Hurricane's recognition of the need to both preserve and hide the power of us pegasi. When nopony else can, we can. The civvies don't know we have the knowhow to team up to spin up a category five hurricane in one day and tell it where to hit. They don't know a few of us are even strong in enough in pairs to drop a Bastion-class airship in one move if we caught them unshielded.

"Commander Hurricane herself saw lasting peace wouldn't work if every pegasus knew how to put their flight magic to destructive use. It was even part of the treaties of the Unification because it scared the earth ponies and the unicorns so much. Eventually, after trying to keep it restricted in the military, the Princesses created the Wonderbolts Initiative to isolate the knowledge and still have a way to help it grow. Been that way since the Reign of Discord. You can never let yourself forget this stuff. We are the defenders of the sky, above even the airship fleets."

Spitfire turned to Rainbow Dash and gave her a long look before speaking again, "Then we have you, Lieutenant. We have watched you grow up and kept testing you because of that self-same sonic rainboom that got our attention. Dash...more than most, you need to keep light on your hooves. The kind of flight magic you got isn't like most pegasi, even among us Wonderbolts. It's nothing like the rare special sort that practitioners of Cutting Feather are born with. What you got isn't so much about the strength, but flexibility. One of the first things you'll be learning about is your capability to change your Skyborne elemental. That crazy prismatic flight magic you got means you have em all. Wind, water, ice, lightning and fire. There isn't a move we got you'll incapable of and we'll be teaching you how to do more than the simple pops you've figured out with your rainboom. The potential you've got would've probably given Commander Hurricane herself a flight for her bits, from what I know of the legends and what she could do. Celestia only knows for certain, but I wouldn't be surprised if you were a direct descendant.

"It's also going to be a potential curse if you don't keep control. By yourself, you'll be able to do a lot of things that most Wonderbolts have to run in pairs for. The more you understand how to shift the way your flight magic responds, the more destructive force you'll be capable of. This is one of those things we've kept locked down tight from the civvies. We've had centuries to pass on knowledge securely within our ranks and push the limits of what it is to be a pegasus. Why we're born warriors that fought every ancient unicorn kingdom as equals in battle. Except now, we never deal with losing knowhow like ancient times when masters got killed with secrets. Unicorns have their schools of magic and we have the Wonderbolts. Even a prodigy flier like you would never discover half of it. You'd die of old age before you made the steps necessary," Spitfire said, giving Rainbow Dash a stern look, "And if you misjudge where you put that power in battle, you'll kill without even trying. It won't matter if it's a friend you're training with, or if you had to run close to one to protect them. They will die."

At the look in Spitfire's eyes, Rainbow Dash had a moment of deep fear. She'd always had a pretty easy time keeping her shockwaves under control, but she never realized she could control what elemental force she set off. It was only a few months ago she started discovering how to utilize her rainboom's odd elemental aspect in other moves. That she was capable of lethal force entirely by accident was unnerving after all the times she'd done tricks closeby to her friends and other ponies. She started seeing that time she helped Applejack take down the old barn in a different way. Wondering if, had she done it wrong, could it have badly hurt somepony or worse?

She knew she was a powerful flier. That she had more than pride to back up her claim of being the fastest pegasus in Equestria. And how some of the wilder tricks of the Wonderbolts she tried to emulate were hints of combat techniques going back millennia. Spitfire was making her think about and question her past behavior in a light she'd never considered.

Nopony had ever told her much about how her flight magic functioned after flight camp when she was a filly. Advanced flight techniques were felt as much as taught. Pegasi in the Guard never used elemental moves. The Wonderbolts alone did. Aside from a general understanding that they had special training to maximize their flight magic, nopony knew how they did what they did.

After she had time to take in what she heard and her own thoughts, Rainbow Dash's eyes hardened. She was being asked to be the wings upon which countless pony lives depended.

To be one of the those that goes where nopony else can. To defend against what others could not. To have the precision to pull it off in all situations and conditions. To exemplify what the Wonderbolts were created for and why they were masters of the sky known across Equus.

A living example of pegasi watching over the tribes on the ground and keeping them safe.

Her hoof rose in a salute before she was even aware her foreleg had begun to move, meeting Spitfire's eyes with determination and conviction, even as her quiet words belied the strength with which they were delivered, "I stand ready to protect my fellow ponies, Captain."

Spitfire returned the solemn salute without a word before she lowered her hoof and another small smirk appeared on her face, "I know, Dash. We'll show you just how much you can really do. When the fighting starts, make your flock of fellow Wonderbolts proud."