"So... that's how it happened?" Spitfire's face registered confusion for a few moments... then she leaned back in her seat, exasperated. "I thought you were finally taking up my offer..." Her face switched and then she glowered at him. "I'll have a few things to say to your father if I ever meet him."
"Uh... really, it's nothing to be angry about--"
"Did I say I was angry? I'm not angry!"
"Yeah, but--"
"Agh, why did he have to go and pull this stupid stunt! I was so--" She cut herself off, her eyes furrowing in frustration. "Okay, that's enough!" She leaned forward, staring Shift down. "I want you to audition."
"Spitfire, we've been over this already, I don't want to--"
"Just. Audition. Please."
Shift sighed, taking another sip from his cup and looking out the patio. The sun was rising more steadily now, and ponies were now out and about, tending to their tasks. He saw Dinky run past the cafe, her saddlebags clumsily shaking as the bits of stationery could be seen juggling within. He continued contemplating when he felt the feeling of hooves on his cheeks and was abruptly dragged back to reality as his head turned back towards Spitfire's face.
"Conversation's over here, Shift," she said, unamused. "Listen, I'm not asking you to... actually audition, okay? Just fly around, do your thing. My co-judges... well, my friends have wanted to see you--"
Shift, unwilling to entertain the thought of being scrutinized by Spitfire's squad, interrupted. "Why are you so adamant on having me join, Spitfire? Does it have anything to do with that conversation we had back at Weststratus?"
"I... well, uh... maybe?"
"Want to talk about it?"
Her eyes meandered around for a few moments, half-lidded in thought. Over the course of the next few minutes, she opened her mouth to say something several times, but caught herself, returning to her contemplative state. Shift made no attempt to rush her, merely taking his time with his drink and enjoying the morning. Eventually, Spitfire managed to break the silence with an answer.
"Yes, I've been having problems, and I'm constantly second-guessing everything I do, and even Soarin's starting to notice, and my whole squad thinks I'm out of it, and the doctors keep saying that I'm pushing myself to crazy limits during our training sessions and... Shift, have you ever had a moment where there's something that bothers you so much that it just starts messing with how you think and work?"
"Well, no, but I think I can understand why it might mess with anypony's routine. What's troubling you?"
Spitfire shrugged with frustration. "I don't know! That's the problem! I keep thinking things, so many things, and then I start freaking out and then pushing myself in an attempt to clear my head... but it doesn't work! It always works, I don't know how it couldn't!"
"You don't know what's causing it?"
"I'm not sure, maybe it's the Wonderbolts, or the auditions, or maybe even just being me, or maybe I'm just going through a really crazy time right now, and I think I want to take some time off, but I can't since we have so many shows lined up and--"
"Spitfire. Calm. Down. You're speaking way too quickly. Isn't that what you said to me last time? About having second thoughts of being in the Wonderbolts?"
"Yes! No! I mean - agh, I don't know! There's just something really annoying me, and I don't know if it's me, you, the Wonderbolts, or everypony in Equestria! It's just this gnawing feeling that just pops up out of nowhere and makes me feel as nervous as a little filly with... a... crush..." She calmed down and stared off into space for a moment.
"Uh... you okay, Spitfire?"
She suddenly smiled at him. "Yep! Fine! Just fine!"
"Ooooookay..."
"So, what were we talking about before all that? Oh, yes, Rainbow Dash! Not going to lie to you, Shift, I think she's got what it takes to get into the Wonderbolts. With you coaching her, I'm sure she'll be up to par in no time flat!"
"I try my best," he said, smiling. "But it's not just me, it's her, too. She definitely cares about getting into the Wonderbolts, and... hmm, a couple of weeks is a pretty short timespan to work with. Might have to cut some stuff out. But don't worry, she'll be top-notch Wonderbolts material when she shows up at the audition... maybe even as good as you were, or even better!"
Shift immediately regretted the last part as he gauged Spitfire for a reaction; if she did have one, she didn't show it. He mentally facehoofed for inadvertently insulting her. Much like Rainbow Dash, Spitfire was a very competitive pegasus... and she might view Dash's potential induction as a threat to her position, both within her team and in vying for Shift's friendship.
"I'll look forward to it then," she said, giving him a devilish grin. "Better, you say...? Well, I guess I'll be the judge of that. And then maybe you can fly around, strut your stuff, and rub shoulders with my friends?"
He rolled his eyes. "Fine. I guess I'll do something pretty and mingle."
"Thank you, Shift, it means a lot to me! You could always show them that technique you used back in Canterlot..."
"That'd be good. Got any flaming rings of fire I can pass through at high speeds?"
"Sure! For you, anything."
"Serious?"
"Yeah!" Spitfire said, stirring the spoon in her drink. "We have some left over from our old tours. You can use them if you want, we haven't had a routine that needed them for a while. It's all the more extravagant and innovative stuff with routines these days, less reliance on props."
"Well, that was a joke, so..."
"Aww. I was really hoping you'd try something flashy."
"Wait, what about your problems? I think it's important that you don't play it off as--"
"It's fine, Shifty. I'm fine. I'm a grown mare, I can handle myself."
He sighed, realizing that Spitfire wouldn't let him pursue the issue without getting defensive about it. Perhaps another time would fare better. "Fine. And, no, I'm not too keen on trying flashy stuff. What's wrong with a meet-and-greet?"
"I've sort of... been hyping you up a bit? I mean, all my teammates know that you're the one who trained the amazing and talented Spitfire, so they kind of think you're some sort of flying ace. And you are a flying ace, at least in my eyes. Some of the Wonderbolts are in it for the fame, or competition, or money, or all that other stuff you read about in the tabloids about being popular fliers. You, Shifty, you fly like it's the most amazing thing in the world. That's why I want you to show them how a real flier does it."
Shift was amazed. "You... you really think that much of me?"
Spitfire smiled at him. "Of course I do. You mean a lot to me, you know."
He blushed slightly, grateful for the compliment. "Uh... thanks," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I guess I can do something, I guess. But only after Dash's audition."
"That's fine. I want to see what she has in store..." She grinned at him. "...and what kind of signature move she'll have up her sleeve after you send her through Tartarus and back to perfect it."
"I guarantee she'll be more than ready for the audition when it comes around."
"I hope so. I also hope to see you at the show."
"You can count on it."
"And we can... talk... about my problems backstage after the show is over. I just don't want to do it right now, since the Manehattan is our last major gig, and we'll be settling down for a few weeks after that. The stress is kind of... well, you know..." she said, as if sensing Shift's questions on the subject.
"You know I'll always be here for you, Spitfire."
Her eyes lightened a bit, and she returned a bright smile.
"I know."
Shift came in too hard on his landing and ended up skidding along the front of Rainbow Dash's house, producing a long peel of cloud material behind him, which curled up to his back hooves.
"Whoa," he said, observing his hoofwork. "Hey, Dash! You ready for training?!"
"I'm always ready!" he heard her shout from inside, and the window flapped open and Dash's cyan-blurred form flew into the skies, performing several loops before landing in front of him. "So, coach, what'll it be today?"
"Your signature move, of course. The earlier we can put on down on paper, the faster we can develop a routine."
"Oh, right! See, uh... I spent all last night thinking of it, and I think it might work if I put in enough practice. It's called the Spectra Meteor."
"I like it already. Meteors are pretty flashy themselves. So, what's the plan for it?"
"So, it's going to be like this: I'm going to start out with a wide circle, weaving upwards and slowly closing the formation with my rainbow trail following behind me. When I reach the top, the whole thing will look like a giant rainbow ribbon mountain, and I'll activate my Sonic Rainboom straight downwards and break the whole thing with an explosion of pure awesomeness."
"Wow. That sounds really flashy." Shift flapped his wings with anticipation. "That's a tall order, and you're going to need a lot of practice if you want to do it."
"Yeah, I know..." she said. "Hey, what'd you and Spitfire talk about, anyway?"
"Uh..." Shift and Spitfire had parted from the cafe afterwards on good terms, with himself very much elated that Spitfire thought more of him than he had previously thought. He didn't want to reveal that part, however, nor their stonewalled discussion on her problems. "Just some stuff about your training, and her training, and the Wonderbolts. Apparently, she wants me to meet her friends and show them how I fly."
"Wow, really? You're going to meet the Wonderbolts because Spitfire recommended you? Gosh, that must be so awesome. When are you going to meet them so you can show off?"
"She wants me to do it at the audition. After yours, of course: we can't just ignore the whole point of the audition in the first place, right?"
"Yep! So, uh... I know this idea looks good on paper, I just want to see if I can actually, you know... pull it off."
"Well, you can do a Sonic Rainboom already, so adding a little touch of flair shouldn't be that much of a problem. Let's see you work on that rainbow trail first."
Rainbow nodded and took to the skies, breaking into a wide circle turn and kicking in her magic. She slowly arced upwards, letting the cone formation slowly appear over her cloud home for all of Ponyville to see. Her acceleration quickened, and soon she was coming to the final apex of the formation as she quickly flared her wings to brake.
In a single fluid motion, she focused all of her energy and concentration into the Sonic Rainboom, staring down to the earth beneath her through a majestic rainbow funnel. With a single powerful flap of her wings, she felt the energy take hold and envelop her form, smashing through the sound barrier and shooting straight for the ground as the explosion from the Rainboom kicked in behind her.
Shift sat staring in awe at the spectacle: a rainbow mountain glistening brightly as motes of light fell down, while the Rainboom's shockwave spread through the skies, producing one of the greatest sights Equestria would ever see. Dash appeared out of the bottom as she pulled up and redirected her trail back to her home, a ball of pure white light with a roaring rainbow trail behind it, like a meteor. The light began to fade, and she flared her wings again, landing right in front of Shift and turning to look back at her attempt. Her jaw dropped as even she was amazed by her own talent.
"Wow," Shift simply said. "That was absolutely awesome."
"You're telling me. I mean, I knew I could do it, I just didn't know if I could actually pull it off... and not really on a level this big..."
Still staring at the fading ribbons of color, Shift absentmindedly put a hoof on her shoulder. "You're going to go far, Dash. You're going to go real far..."
"You really think so?"
"Absolutely. Now do it a couple dozen more times so we know for sure."
"Aw, come on! Are you sure, I mean... I don't want to give my trump card away before we even get to the audition."
Shift thought for a moment: Dash did have a point. Even Spitfire's own signature move was nowhere near as flashy as Dash's all-encompassing Spectra Meteor, which could easily be seen for miles around. What if one of the Wonderbolts judges, or even Spitfire, was watching this unfold? At least they'd know who the lucky pegasus was when the audition came around.
"Fine," Shift said. "We'll let you slide on the signature moves. Very impressive, though, I'm actually surprised you got something like that on your first try."
"I spent a lot of time thinking that up last night," she admitted. "I would have slept in if Spitfire hadn't woken me up by paying me a visit."
"And if she hadn't visited you, that would have been me waking you up for training, which is bad, because that would mean that you haven't done any stretches. And since you were talking with Spitfire beforehand, that means that you haven't done any at all," Shift concluded.
"Not true! I sort of did some... at home... yesterday..."
"Nice try. Let's get you on warm-ups before we get to the main event."
"Cool! What's in store today?"
"Since we're not going to have you do the Rainboom a dozen times over during the course of this week, we'll do the next best thing: endurance laps. And then we'll go over proper wing technique, where we'll back-check each other's knowledge on proper wingflight, and from that, we'll go over how you can cut out of the equation to better perfect your wingspeed."
"That sounds fine, but... endurance laps again?"
Shift flapped his wings as an affirmation. "Yes, again. Remember, practice makes perfect, and I want you to be able to fly to the moon and back without breaking a sweat by the time this is over!"
Dash sighed. "Oh, alright..."
"Enough talking! Let's get started!"
"Tired yet?" Shift asked, flying alongside Dash as they completed another lap around the Ponyville town limits.
"As... if..."
"Come on. Another one can't hurt."
Dash gave Shift an angry glare at the ill-fated joke, which he responded to by looking away embarrassed... but obviously not embarrassed enough as he suppressed a laugh. She ignored him, trying to focus on her flight and the wind flying through past her face and away from the burning pain in her wings.
"How... many...?" she managed as they rounded past another corner.
"Hmm... this is interesting... I'd like to tell you, but then you'd just be tempted to give up. But if I don't tell you, you might just... well, give up. Okay, how about this?" he shouted over the wind. "Let's just say that you're doing better than you did last time."
"That's... good enough... for me..."
"Yeah, that's the way to do it! Think positive! You can totally blow your own record out of the water. Be the best! Who knows, you just might be able to beat Spitfire herself in a race if you can put your mind to it!"
"I'm the fastest... pegasus... in Equestria! Of course... I can do it!"
Whatever motivation that comment held for Rainbow Dash, it spurred her to push harder. She narrowed her eyes, trying to squeeze out every bit of possible strength from her wings. The thought of being a Wonderbolt and seeing herself wearing their uniform was a dream so close she could actually taste it. And here she was, being coached by the captain's mentor herself. She would be an idiot to let it all go to waste.
"Dash? Dash! Pay attention!" She felt the sensation of hooves grabbing around her torso as she jerked around and towards the ground, the familiar feeling of an abrupt stop sending a jolt through her body. Grateful for the stop, her wings stopped flapping and merely laid wide-open as they descended to the ground. Shift worriedly watched her as she stumbled her way towards the shade.
"Th... thanks," she said, sitting down against a tree.
"What was up with that, Dash?" Shift asked, sitting down next to her. "You lost all your concentration there for a moment. I'm not sure if you realized, but you missed the corner a while back and flew straight for the Everfree Forest."
"I was? Oh... sorry, just got lost in my daydreams again," she laughed.
"Kind of dangerous to be fantasizing in the air. Definitely not something you'd want to be doing in the middle of a routine..." he said cautiously.
"I know, I know, I was just being a bit silly. You don't have to worry about it."
"Okay, then." They sat for a moment, letting Dash catch her breath as they felt the cool breeze as they sat at the treeline outside of Ponyville. Eventually, he continued. "Well... you beat your previous lap record."
"Really? How many did I get this time?"
He smiled at her. "I'm not sure what you did, but you way outperformed yourself this time. You made forty-eight!"
A feeling of satisfaction surged in Dash's chest. "Wow, that's..."
"...awesome?" he finished for her. "Of course it is. We're making some good progress here. I have faith that you'll be ready by the time the audition comes around."
"I'll definitely become a Wonderbolt!" she said out loud. "And, uh... thanks again. For the audition, that is."
"Think nothing of it," he replied. "Now, I'm sure your wings must be screaming, so we'll just go over wingflight and ways to cut down on flight drag." He patted her on the cheek as she nearly dozed off. "Hey, we're just getting started here! Don't go falling asleep on me already!"
"...and that is how airflow should be properly maintained when flying. The Wonderbolts don't have that much of a problem with it since their uniforms are already streamlined to give the best performance possible. I'm just letting you know right now for reference." Shift sighed, staring at the lowering sun. Dash had been listening, if only partially, but it was well-enough to know that she was paying attention at least.
"So, things like proper feather maintenance and all that extra stuff on trimming fur down to a specific length should be taken with salt, right?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I've never done it myself, it would be way too expensive in both time and money to maintain in the long run. I've just heard that some more prominent fliers in the past have done something like that. Sounds a bit stupid, but I guess at the higher levels, every little thing counts."
Dash laughed. "As if I'd ever end up like that. I mean, I like competition, but that's just taking it way too far."
"I agree. So, I think with that, we're done for today. I guess I'll see you tomorrow after my rounds, then? Oh, just letting you know that I might be a little bit late, usually the office gets backed up a little when I'm out."
"That's fine." She got to her hooves and slowly extended her wings. "Ouch... I'm going to need ice for these things..."
"Well, you've proven you're tenacious enough to beat Spitfire's endurance lap record, so we'll go on to the other important stuff tomorrow, okay? Only twenty laps," he added quickly, earning a groan from Dash and a chuckle from himself. "Relax! When you do it enough times, it becomes easier."
"For you, maybe," Dash scoffed. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. I think I might just go to sleep early since my wings are hurting bad." She looked at him with a dry look. "No thanks to you, of course."
"Need a lift?"
"Hah! No thanks, flier boy. My wings may feel like they're on fire, but that doesn't mean that I can't fly home myself. Besides, I think that rest did them some good, and they don't feel like they're about to fall off at any moment now." She turned away for but a second before returning with a question. "What was Spitfire's endurance lap record?"
"She made a flat record of forty. You've beaten her in that, at least. Maybe even mention it when we meet her backstage after the show."
Dash stood for a moment, thinking about how well she was doing compared to her idol during the training stage. There was much promise for her yet. "Yeah..." she said, leaving. "I think I might. Night, Shifty!" She took to the skies as Shift watched her form disappear in the direction of her cloud house.
Giving the area around him a final look-over, he followed suit, and made for Canterlot as the skies darkened and the stars returned to gaze upon Equestria yet again. Much later, he found himself back at home, after grabbing a quick bite to eat - stopping at Weststratus again, much to Skillet's excitement - and quickly found sleep beckoning.
His eyes trailed along the shadow of his form from the moon's light as ideas swirled around in his mind, all of the events soon to pass within a month's time, as sleep made his eyelids heavy. He had seen the signs, but he still hoped that it would turn out for the best... for both him and Spitfire. Only time would tell.