I felt inspired to write a fanfiction. This will have more than one part, but I'm not telling you how many because I don't know lol. Depends on how motivated I am to write. BUT It's based on my interpretation of the Sky Herders and inspired by cop shows such as the Rookie :) enjoy!

We stood in line, all six of us. Three young mares and three young stallions. I was by the divide, next to a pale palomino colt with ice blue feathers. I couldn’t help noticing his slim but athletic build. He was made for this. On my left, a charcoal grey filly bounced on her hooves slightly. Nerves, I’d wager. Her feathers were an electric blue, and her hazel eyes were punctuated from the white stripes that crossed her eyes down to her muzzle.

I leaned forward slightly, trying to see the rest of the group, when a sharp voice barked, “trying to check out the competition, are we?” I snapped back to attention as the dark bay mare folded her mottled navy wings.

“N-no ma’am.”

“Good. Stay in line.” She strode forward, her brown eyes snapping. “You all are here for one reason, and one reason only. Can anyone tell me what that reason is?”

No one dared raise a wing. Except for the lass on the end. I used that as an opportunity to give her a good look over as she replied hesitantly, “to become sky herders?”

“Wrong! You are here because you, or rather your overstallions, decided this was the best use of your collective talents. You should be honored. This is going to be challenging. Prepare yourself for anything and everything and do your best or else.”

One of the colts cleared his throat, a bit nervously. “Or else what?”

“You will be forcibly removed from the program. With all of your varying herd backgrounds, it’s more important than ever to make sure we preform well. I won’t have lazy cadets. Now. Get to know each other, eat some food, drink water, and ready yourselves. We’re starting at noon.”

She nodded and lifted back into the sky, speeding to the top of a hill a few winglengths away. It was after I realized she never told us her name. The six yearlings shuffled around to stand in a circle, facing each other.

“Well, might as well get this over with,” an almost black colt brayed. “I’m Nightshade. This is my brother, Shadowstar. We’re from Mountain.” He put a dark gold wing over his brother and I noticed the edges were green. His yellow eyes were sharp. He was nearly identical to his brother, except the white spots on their chests were different sizes, along with the bleached splatter on their undersides.

His brother bobbed his head and squeaked, “hi!”

We all nodded back. The palomino colt flicked his forelock out of his face, revealing his half bald face marking. “I’m Starstone. From Snow.”

“Ooh I’m from Snow too!” The nervous filly from earlier whinnied excitedly. “Moonfrost.” She smiled.

“Well,” a buckskin stepped forward lightly, nickering. “I’m Windscout. From Desert Herd. I’m excited for this. How about you?” She looked at me, her light blue wings rattled.

“My name is Lunarsun, from Lake Herd.” I said it as confidently as I could muster.

“Oh then you must know the captain,” Windscout chimed in curiously.

I shook my head. “I’ve never seen her before.”

Nightshade looked at me hard. “Weird that everyone else would know about her.”

I blinked, uncertain and scrambling for an answer. Thankfully Moonfrost came to my aide. “I don’t know who she is.”

Windscout smiled. “That’s because the honorable captain Lakefire rarely leaves her duties as a Sky Herder, and would rather stay in the sky than fraternize with other pegasi.”

Moonfrost laughed. “Some people take their jobs too seriously. I vow never to become work obsessed. Let’s eat for now though. I’m starving!” She flapped her wings and stepped to find a good patch of moss by the river. The others followed but I stayed back.

They knew where they came from. They had loving families and herds who wanted them. No one knew about me, so they dumped me here. It’s not like I wouldn’t be good; I make it my purpose to be the best at almost everything. But I couldn’t help feeling a tad left out, watching them play. I shook my head. I’m not going to let on about my past. And as long as I don’t get Lakefire as a commanding officer, I’m good.

We were lined up again, this time I was at the end. Before us stood 8 adults. A white mare with iridescent feathers was speaking now. “I’m Soulfeather,” she said. “I and my partner Duststorm will be looking over your training, evaluating, and are also trained in the basics of medicine.” The grullo nodded in agreement.

"For today, I'm also doing the pair ups. Meet your captains and get to know them. If danger pops up, you'll have to be able to put your life in their wings. Understand?"

We all muttered our consent and he looked us over before continuing.

"Nightshade. You are with Dawnfire." The dark colt looked at his partner. The chestnut stepped forward and examined his apprentice, flicking his green and tan wings lightly. "Dawnfire. Jungle."

"Nightshade. Mountain." The colt had a gaze that might make the toughest stallion look away. Still, the captain tossed his brown mane and stood beside him.

Duststorm cleared his throat. "Starstone, your captain is Jetfire."

"Hey Rookie!" Another dark chestnut trotted up and exchanged a breath with the palomino. "I'm from Mountain Herd. Don't let my joking manner fool you…I'm gonna work you hard!" He winked.

"I would expect nothing less." Starstone grinned and they settled beside each other. I tried not to stare at Starstone but…he was pretty cute.

The rest of the ceremony went by quickly. Shadowstar was paired with a golden-winged seal bay named Ashfire, Moonfrost and the grey appaloosa known as Lightfire with purple and blue feathers. I realized then it was only Windscout and myself left, with a dark brown blanket Appaloosa mare named Darkfire, and the harsh Lakefire. She eyed me carefully so I looked away.

Please don't let me get paired with Lakefire…please? I hoped I didn't have any chance, since no one they had coupled were from the same herd. But my last shred of hope was shattered when Duststorm finished with, "and Lunarsun, you are with Lakefire. That leaves Darkfire your mentor, Windscout."

"Thank you!" The buckskin trotted up and began to talk with her superior. I shied away from the captain but she came closer. "Don't expect it easy because of your background," she warned.

"N-no ma'am. Never." I looked down and had to consciously still my quaking wings. I focused on their blurred colors of teal, red, and blue.

"Good. We're going to start trust exercises in the morning. Think about how you're going to do this. We're migrating to a different training area." She cocked her head and I could see my own bowed head reflected in her misty eyes.

"Yes ma'am." This was gonna suck.

Sun Herd

Overstallion -

Brightwing. Flaxen chestnut stallion with stripe, hind socks, and yellow feathers.

Lead Mare -

Stormcloud; Leopard appaloosa mare with gold feathers tipped in dark grey.

Captains -

Lightfire; Light grey blanket appaloosa mare with light blue feathers edged in periwinkle.

Snow Herd

Overstallion -

Icewing; White stallion with ice blue feathers

Lead Mare -

Frostcloud; Grey sabino mare with 4 socks and pastel pink feathers.

Cadets -

Starstone; Light palomino with half bald face and pale teal feathers.

Moonfrost; Charcoal grey with white mane and tail. Badger face. Purple and blue ombre feathers.

Mountain Herd

Overstallion -

Stonewing; Dappled grey stallion with dark green wings.

Lead Mare -

Redcloud; Seal bay with interrupted stripe. Red feathers edged in magenta.

Captains -

Jetfire; Chestnut with deep grey wings that fade to white.

Cadets -

Nightshade; Dark, black looking colt flecked faintly in white. Small white star on his chest and Splashed marking on his belly. Dark gold wings edged in green.

Shadowstar; Dark, black looking colt flecked faintly in white. Big white star on his chest and large splashed overo marking on his belly. Dark gold wings edged in green.

Jungle Herd

Overstallion -

Firewing; Bay stallion with left front stocking and wide blaze. Burnt orange wings.

Lead Mare -

Ashcloud; Grey tobiano mare with rusty red feathers.

Captains -

Darkfire; Dark brown blanket appaloosa mare with silver feathers.

Dawnfire - Light bay stallion with snip and green feathers streaked with beige.

Desert Herd

Overstallion -

Sunwing; Buckskin pinto stallion with star and short stripe. 4 stockings and bright yellow feathers.

Lead Mare -

Dreamcloud; Chestnut snowflake appaloosa mare with light purple feathers dotted in pink.

Captains -

Duststorm; Grullo with blaze and hind stockings. Dusty brown feathers.

Ashfire; Seal bay with dark gold feathers.

Cadets -

Windscout; Buckskin filly with light blue wings.

Lake Herd

Overstallion -

Riverwing; Dapple grey with seafoam green feathers.

Lead Mare -

Berrycloud; Chestnut tobiano mare with bright green feathers.

Captains -

Lakefire; Bay with star and hind anklets. Dark blue feathers streaked in lighter grey.

Cadets -

Lunarsun; Blue roan with dark teal wings streaked in red and dark blue/purple.

Put thoughts below I'd love to hear your feedback!