Wonderboy (Patreon)

playing around with Stormy's backstory a bit, I noticed that I focused a lot on Stormy's relationships, rather than any conflicts or goals or what-have-you, oops 

So. For most of Stormy's life, he was content being a scrawny hippie, happily strumming his ukulele and snoozing on top of clouds. He didn't gel with his parents' emphasis on competition and athleticism....Stormy's always been a go-with-the-flow kind of guy. At least, that's how he'd describe himself.....Mama Dash would probably use words like "ridiculously lazy" and "zero ambition".

Stormy's always been kind of a D student, but his difficulty with school becomes insurmountable as he enters his teens. He has some learning issues (dyslexia, ADHD) that have gone hidden and undiagnosed, as well as a lot of academic anxiety that pushes him to the brink of flunking out. Not especially confident in his ability to prevent that, Stormy opts to drop out and join Wonderbolt Academy. Flying is easier than literary analysis, after all.

It's difficult at first. Stormy doesn't like the Wonderbolt standard-issue haircut for new recruits, he doesn't like the emphasis on conformity and deference to authority, he doesn't especially like Sergeant Spitfire and her love of barking orders in his ears. But he does like that Rainbow seems to be genuinely proud of him now. Stormy's a naturally fast flier, and as he trains under Spitfire and Rainbow, he's able to outclass his peers with ease. With a bit more effort, Stormy starts smashing speed records left and right. He wins a medal, then fifteen more to match. To his surprise, he begins amassing a fan following. "Aerostorm" becomes a well-known name among Wonderbolt enthusiasts....and Stormy, for the first time in his life, develops a bit of an ego.

And then young hotshot Zipperflash comes along to stomp it into the ground.