//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Backstage // Story: Abstracted Spectrum // by Abstract Spectrum //------------------------------// "Over here!" Twilight pointed out. Her and her friends walked through the door that led to the backstage area specifically for The Wonderbolts. Rainbow Dash slid between her friends and made it to the front of the group. Eyes wide, she looked around the room in astonishment. She was finally there, year after year, show after show, she was finally right where she'd always wanted to be. She knew she was there, but the excited numbness in her hooves said otherwise that this could just be another dream. It wasn't until Twilight placed a hoof on her back and asked if she was okay, and ready to meet the ponies she had been waiting to ever since she was a little filly. With joyous tears in her eyes, and a throat too choked to speak, she gave a simple nod, and looked forward as Spitfire caught her attention. "Welcome everypony!" She began, as Soarin' took over. "It's a pleasure to meet you all here, and I'm sure each of you think likewise. Let's introduce ourselves, shall we? I'm-" "Soarin!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "-and you're Spitfire, Blaze, Fire Streak, Fleetfoot, High Winds, Lightning Streak, Misty, Rapid Process of Elimination, Rapidfire, Surprise, and Wave Chill!" She finished. The room fell silent. Rainbow Dash grew a nervous yet cocky grin on her face as she saw Soarin' and Spitfire's mouths both slowly drop, and their eyes widen. Though they shouldn't really be so surprised that their #1 fan would know each of their names. Spitfire took a moment to process what had just happened, and shook her head out of the trance to talk again. "So um... yeah that's all of us!" She began again nervously. "Anyways, how's about we take a tour of our neat little settlement, here then?" Everypony agreed, and Soarin' announced that he'll lead the way. "Despite this seeming like just a backstage area to most ponies," He began, pressing a button next to the soda cooler. "this ain't just the Cloudasium, it's also where we live! C'mon, let's show you guys around!" Everypony followed Soarin' into the secret entrance that lead to each Wonderbolt's humble abode. What they saw was a long, bright hallway with 6 doors to the right, and 6 more to the left, with 1 at the very end of the hallway. "Let's go to my room, first!" Spitfire said, excited. (But Spitfire, aren't you afraid that she might find it?) whispered Soarin' to Spitfire. "Oh um... on second thought, my room's a mess, let's go to your's, Soarin'!" "Yeah! My room's got some crazy fun stuff in it, you guy are gonna love it!" Soarin's room was quite large, there was food all over the place, but not on the floor like Spitfire told everypony as they walked in. All of the food was pie for some reason, nopony asked why, and they probably didn't even notice. Several televisions were placed throughout the many rooms within his room, along with posters of his favorite bands and movies. Oddly enough, most if not all of the bands he liked were also Rainbow Dash's favorite. The rest of her friends didn't even seem to recognize who the bands were or what movies there were. As the group continued through the many rooms of each of The Wonderbolt's, each of them showing off a "super cool" nicknack or accessory that fit their likings. Rainbow Dash seemed to be the only one paying extra close attention. The rest of her friends either couldn't fly or were too scared to even think of trying any of the tricks and maneuvers Rainbow Dash and The Wonderbolts were talking about. In addition to their personal quarters, The Wonderbolts presented other rooms to the party of 6, like their gym room where they were to exercise and train several times a day, or the practice room where they could test out the extra-dangerous maneuvers that would otherwise kill them if they didn't have they didn't rehearse them there. The only room they hadn't had shown them yet is their extremely ginormous trophy room. A vast collection of awards and honors for their spectacular performances in several towns, cities, and villages all across Equestria. Rainbow Dash pretty much had the same reaction face that she did when she first entered the door of the backstage room. She gazed upon rows and rows of trophies, medals, ribbons, 1st place photos and several other types of awards that they had won. After a history lesson on each of them, there was practically nothing left to show them, but Spitfire objected, as it was time to unveil the special surprise that they had been keeping a secret for this very special day, and this very special pegasus. "Hold on, gang. I got one last thing to show them before they leave. C'mon, follow me, it's in my room." "But I thought we didn't want to go in there because it was too... messy?" Rainbow Dash said. Spitfire said nothing, and just kept walking towards her room with her team plus Rainbow Dash and her friends following behind her. Spitfire nudged the door of her room open with a hoof, and opened it all the way to let everypony in. "Well, it ain't that dirty in here." Applejack said. "Wait here for a second, okay?" Spitfire instructed, as she turned a corner out of sight to get the surprise. Moments later, Spitfire returned with a medium-sized grey box in her hooves. The Wonderbolts formed behind Spitfire in a triangle shape, as did Rainbow Dash's friends. Spitfire laid the box on the ground, and slid her mask/hood down to reveal her face. The other Wonderbolts behind her did the same, and Spitfire picked the box up again. "Rainbow Dash, we've been waiting for the right moment to show this to you. And after so many years, we all think now is the right time to gift you with this." She said, flipping the lid off of the box with her muzzle, to reveal a bolt-shaped medal and a blue suit. Everypony behind Rainbow suddenly was intrigued about what Rainbow's reaction might be to exactly what she thought she was seeing. "Rainbow Dash..." Spitfire began, as Rainbow's eyes began to grow. "on this very special day, Soarin', Blaze, Fire Streak, Fleetfoot, High Winds, Lightning Streak, Misty, Rapid Process of Elimination, Rapidfire, Surprise, Wave Chill, and myself, are proud to present to you... your uniform and medal of authentication and admission into The Wonderbolts." Suddenly Rainbow Dash's wings sprung up in full, blowing away several loose papers near her. "Welcome aboard!" The Wonderbolts cheered. Rainbow Dash was stunned, frozen in place. She didn't know what to say, she didn't even know if she should say anything. Her eyes began to water as Spitfire handed her the box, which she stared deeply into. "I... I made it... all those years... that... that I've been dreamin', I've been waiting... to fly with these brave ponies... The Wonderbolts... th... their..." Rainbow Dash couldn't finish her sentence. Her friends simply gathered around her to embrace her. She remained staring into the costume in the box in front of her. A tear fell off of Rainbow Dash's cheek and landed on the bronze bolt medal. And as it landed, the tear fused with the bronze center of the medal, turning it red with a single flash. Rainbow Dash walked slowly up to Spitfire, and she just stood there. She knew what was coming, and she had been waiting 20 years for it. Rainbow Dash wrapped her hooves around Spitfire, nearly suffocating her with the tight hug she gave her. "HHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNG... okay, Dashie, okay... *cough* ...please let go now..." As Rainbow Dash released her grip, the next thing she did was surprise Soarin' with an incredible kiss on his lips, shoving their faces together with sheer force. She turned around to hug the rest of her friends even tighter. Spitfire rubbed her neck, and looked back at Soarin' and her team. She gave a small smile back at Soarin', who did the same, with incredibly wide eyes, trying to realized what had just happened. "I think we made the right choice. She's gonna do great things, Spitfire. I can just feel it." Soarin' whispered to Spitfire as they watched Rainbow Dash hug the living hell out of her friends and said "I love you guys" over and over again. "I know. Somehow I could feel it too, the fact that she was always there at every show since the very beginning. That innocent look in her eyes that said "I wanna be just like you."". Spitfire flicked a tear from her eye. Rainbow released the choke on her friends and jumped high for extreme joy in the air. "YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"