Auditions…
“Calm down, Nighty!” Spitfire was nervous enough as it was but to see her best friend act this way was scary. Nightshade gulped and shook her head.
“No! How can I calm down?!” Nightshade paced. “We didn’t get in last year! So we train for a whole year- I train for a whole year just to audition again this year! What if we get rejected again?!” Nightshade said while shaking her head. Spitfire stepped forward.
“We won’t!”
“You don’t know that! I dropped school for this! Just so I can train for this one moment! I can’t afford to loose this again!” Nightshade said. Spitfire stepped forward and stopped the pony from going on.
“Listen to me, Nightshade!” She said firmly. Nightshade stopped and was now attentive to her friend. Spitfire softened her expression and smiled warmly. “We’re gonna be fine. You’ll do fine. The only reason we didn’t get in last year was because we were too young. We’re passed the age limit now and will have a fair shot at this. Stop worrying,” Spitfire ran her hoof through Nightshade’s mane and managed to calm her down. She gulped then nodded. “Alright. Now come on. We’re up next,” Spitfire said.
Nightshade followed as she flew over to the line. She watched as Spitfire flew over to the judges, all who were members of the Wonderbolts. She waved sheepishly at Soarin who quickly smiled and waved back. Nightshade rolled her eyes then focused back on Spitfire who began her performance. Perfect spins, amazing speed demonstrations, flips and landings that truly impressed everyone. Even Nightshade herself was amazed. She had dropped out of school to train for this opportunity, and even though Spitfire stayed in school and graduated, she still seemed to have better skills than her. It wasn’t jealousy she felt, she was happy to see her friend impress the judges. It was just making her loose confidence in herself now. Her thoughts distracted her from her surroundings and she soon forgot her purpose for being there. It was a matter of seconds until it was Nightshades turn to audition. Spitfire glided passed her and winked, nodding that she’d be okay.
With a deep breath, Nightshade flew off towards the judges and hovered in front of them.
“Alright, Nightshade. What do you have in store for us today?” Smiled the mare in the blue suit. Her costume revealing her face as she and the rest of the Wonderbolts weren’t wearing their goggles and mask. Nightshade gulped and took in a deeper breath before performing what she had practiced. Everything became a blur as she entered that state of mind that was more than just focused, but in synch with the wind. Her wings became more than apart of her body, but became part of the sky as she continued to freely fly at amazing speed and composure. She was oblivious to her own amazing tricks, but she felt deep in her soul that she was leaving an impression on every pony around. Her eye fell shut without her even realizing it and when she opened them, everypony was grinning.
“Wow! Very impressive! Thank you for auditioning, Miss Nightshade. We’ll have the results of who makes the team in a week,” the mare said. Nightshade grinned and nodded.
“Thank you for having me!” She said before dashing off towards Spitfire. She flew right into a hug before spinning around with each other and grinning.
“You were great! You’re a shoe in for this! We’re both already in at this rate!” Spitfire said.
“You really think so?” Nightshade smiled.
“Of course! It’s in the bag!” Spitfire grinned before hugging her best friend again. They looked at each other for a moment before smiling and breaking out of the hug.
“Well I think this calls for a celebration, filly,” Nightshade said.
“Yeah. It truly does. It’s not everyday somepony joins the Wonderbolts.” Nightshade’s ear twitched before she turned around to see the familiar colt.
“Oh joy,” Nightshade murmured. Spitfire shot her a small grin before looking over to Soarin.
“It certainly is something worth celebrating. Seeing that we both are going to be apart of the team,” Spitfire said to the grinning colt. Nightshade noticed how he paid most of his attention to Spitfire, almost ignoring Nightshade’s presence.
“Right. You’ll be a great addition to the team,” he said. He glanced at Nightshade and nodded. “Both of you.” Nightshade gave him a bore stare that he quickly picked up on. He cleared his throat and turned back to Spitfire. “So I know a place we could all go to celebrate. I mean, I don’t know for sure that you’re in yet but I’m sure you two have nothing to worry about. It’s worth celebrating early, right?” He smiled. Spitfire wanted to accept the offer immediately but she quickly held back and turned to the mare next to her. Nightshade’s expression changed as she turned to Spitfire.
“Do you wanna go? We don’t have to, we could go somewhere else on our own, if you want,” Spitfire said.
Of course I don’t want to go! Not with that flirt bag!
“Oh no! It’s totally cool. I don’t mind, let’s go,” Nightshade smiled. Spitfire grinned a cheery smile and looked back over to Soarin.
“Ok! Where are we going?” Spitfire asked.
“There’s a place the team likes to go after a show and practice, it’s a nice place to hang out,” Soarin said as all three of them began to walk.
“What is it? A bar?” Nightshade asked.
“Yeah,” Soarin answered.
“Of course. I could use drink right about now,” Nightshade muttered after glancing back at Soarin. The thought of her and her best friend joining the Wonderbolts came into mind, it made all of it worth it. Dealing with Soarin, not graduating, training every hour every day, suffering from having no job which led to low on cash, getting kicked out of her parents house, living alone in a rundown apartment, sometimes missing a meal. Nightshade knew that receiving those goggles and suit would make all of it worth it. It just led to that faithful day. The day they would learn who made the cut.
“Sorry but you didn’t make the team.”