WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Wonder Girl #4, on sale now from DC Comics.
The previous issue of Wonder Girl saw the new Amazon and future Wonder Woman Yara Flor gain a powerful benefactor in the form of the goddess Hera. Now, training among the Greek Pantheon on Mount Olympus, Yara is beginning to come into her Future State destiny. While a lot of that takes time and patience as she slowly builds up her skills, there is one way she's boosted her powers in record time -- and it's all thanks to her new ride.
The grueling ordeals of Yara's training are the main focus of Wonder Girl #4, by Joelle Jones, Adriana Melo, Jordie Bellaire and Pat Brosseau. One consistent failure is her inability to tame a winged steed, who readers might recognize from Future State: Wonder Woman. Unlike Diana, who would have handled such failure with grace, Yara is much more frustrated by the whole process and shows how hot-headed she can be. While her tutor, the legendary Chiron, tries to instill a respect for nature in the young hero that will help her achieve her goal of taming the pegasus, she is unable to move past her rebellious nature. This is something that plagues much of her training and not just the taming of her steed.
With her lack of control becoming more and more evident, Yara finds herself falling into despair. That's when her luck changes. When she least expects it, the pegasus comes to comfort her in the pouring rain. Though at first her only thought is to embrace this sympathy and compassion, she soon realizes from whom it's coming and what it means for her. With a newfound empathy for the animal that has been the object of so much frustration for her, she sees things in a whole new light. This is evidenced by her kindly asking if she can call her new friend Jerry.
In Future State, Jerry was the trusted companion of Yara Flor's Wonder Woman. The winged steed accompanied the hero on many adventures and their relationship was a caring one, much more akin to what it ends up as here rather than how it started. Therefore, Yara is already growing into the hero she's destined to become. The way she shows Chiron her accomplishment, by riding in on Jerry with confidence and a little bit of ego, is already indicative of the woman she will become, as well as the strong bond she will develop with her legendary steed.
Despite how far she's come, it's unlikely that Yara will develop the same affinity with animals as the original Wonder Woman possesses. One of Diana's lesser-known powers is her ability to talk to animals. Though she can't command the denizens of the deep, or any other creature for that matter, like her fellow Justice League member Aquaman, she can communicate with any form of animal life and show them the same compassion and understanding she shows humanity.
If Yara's first attempts at taming her steed are anything to go by, she's nowhere near Diana when it comes to being one with nature. And though her initial claim that animals love her is definitely in question, the fact that she's already developed a bond with Jerry shows that she's well on her way to becoming a true and capable Wonder Woman. Even if she can't talk to animals, the bond she shares with Jerry is unique to her and sure to take her adventures in new and interesting directions.