When Tigers Fly

"This looks great everyone, now lets see how you avoid obstacles while flying" He said

Tiger Lily stayed quiet, gliding down towards the obstacle course, but she was knocked off course by a young colt who pushed her aside roughly.

"Stay out of my way, you kiss-up!" the colt snapped, smacking Tiger Lily across the snout with his tail as he passed by.

Stripes flew down to the young colt and stopped him "What was that young man?.. you are a team and a team needs cooperation to work together, so dont be mean to your team mates"

The colt looked upset, but took a deep breath and continued flying down to the obstacle course.

Tiger Lily had not yet regained her balance, she flared out her wings and skid to a halt as she hit the ground, a little bit dazed.

Stripes quickly flew down and helped Lily getting up "Are you alright?"

Tiger Lily nodded and rubbed her head, folding her wings as she slowly walked towards the other cadets, lining up at the start of the obstacle course.

The rude colt from earlier cast a glare at Tiger Lily.

"Okay, now try to avoid every obstacle in your way as good as possible, remember keeping your eyes on the track" Stripes said, flying over the lined up cadets

The cadets took off from the starting line, a few of them failing miserably by colliding with some of the first obstacles.

Tiger Lily couldn't help but laugh as she made her way through the easier obstacles, the rude colt who had so quickly become her rival trailing close behind.

Stripes looked at them and helped the other cadets, flying on the side of the track to get a better view

Tiger Lily narrowed her eyes and tried her best to gain speed, distancing herself from the colt, she saw the final obstacle approached from ahead.

Stripes flew to the finish line and waites for them

Tiger Lily and her rival jockeyed for position, neck-in-neck as they reached the finish line, skidding to halt in unison.

Stripes looked at Lily and smiled excitedly

Tiger Lily breathed heavily and folded her wings, wiping some sweat from her forehead. "Who won..?"

"Obviously it was me." The colt said. "I was ahead of you by a hair!"

"No way! I won!" Tiger Lily retorted, glaring at the colt, gritting her teeth.

"You two won. But its not all about winning, you two showed an amazing talent, Im proud of you" Stripes said

Tiger Lily took a deep breath and gave a faint smile. "We won!"

The colt rolled his eyes, looking away. "Whatever."

Tiger Lily acted on impulse, she suddenly hugged the colt. "Come on! we won!"

"What are you doing..?" The colt asked, looking angry despite a blush creeping across his snout.

Stripes flew to the other cadets who also reached the finish line "You all did very good, Im proud of you. Alright.. I think were done for today, cadets I see you again tomorrow" he said

Tiger Lily smiled and nodded, stretching her wings.

Stripes nuzzled Lily and smiled "Should I fly you home? Or do you wanna fly?"

"I want to fly." Tiger Lily said, thinking about her rival. "What about him?"

"The cadets are all going home now, We will continue tomorrow" Stripes said, folding his large wings and taking off

Tiger Lily felt unsure, she followed after Stripes and looked back at the colt. "Ok."

They arrived at home and Stripes walked inside, seeing Aster laying on the couch and watching TV
"Hello, sweetie" He said

Aster smiled and lifted her head. "Hi honey, how was Lily's first day?"

Tiger Lily smiled faintly and looked at her mother. "It was cool!"

"Im very proud, she is one of the best flyers in my class" He said, ruffling Lily's mane