“And with Fleetfoot rounding out the final group, that concludes our line up for the Wonderbolts Derby season. Any questions?” said Spitefire, looking out over the room of assembled Wonderbolts. Rainbow Dash’s hoof was hovering in the air, and Spitfire ignored it.
“Right, dismissed. Have a good weekend, we start prep on Monday. Rainbow Dash, walk with me.” As the pegasi filed out, Rainbow followed after Spitfire as they walked down the corridors of the Wonderbolt headquarters.
“You want to know why you aren’t assigned to any of the derby teams, right Dash?” asked Spitfire.
“Yeah. I mean, I’m awesome at short distance sprints,” said Rainbow.
“And medium distance sprints, and with a little practice, long distance sprints and probably marathons with time. That’s exactly the problem, Rainbow. You’re too good,” said Spitfire.
“Too good?” asked Rainbow, her face scrunching up as she processed the statement.
“Look, Rainbow, flying the derby is a little different than our normal performances. The Derbies aren’t choreographed. They’re straight races, and we have to make them exciting for the ponies watching. And as amazing as your flight skills are,” explained Spitfire, “they’re much more suited to either solo performances or fully planned ones. If it makes you feel any better, it’s the same reason I don’t compete in the Derby. My special talent is sprint racing, so any short race I enter, I’m guaranteed podium finish at the least.”
Rainbow preened for a minute at Spitfire’s praise of her skills, but then she settled down and thought about what the captain had said.
“Yeah, okay,” said Rainbow, “I guess I can kinda see your point.”
“Don’t look so down, Dash. It’s not like you’re going to completely sit it out,” said Spitfire, a smile spreading over her face, “as a matter of fact, I have a very important job for you on Derby Day, so you’ll still get to wear the suit.”
“Seriously?” asked Dash, “I’m just a new recruit, and I get an important job?”
“Yeah. Wouldn’t be fair for you to be left out of all the action and have nothing to show for it,” grinned Spitfire, “when I joined, I got the same thing from the captain at the time.”
“Sweet!” grinned Rainbow Dash. She couldn’t wait.
******
“Please, for the love of Celestia, can this be over already?” grumbled Rainbow Dash to Spitfire as the announcer called out the competitors for the next race. “I’m pretty sure my hooves are going to fall off from so many hoofshakes.”
“Everypony does this at least once, Dash. I have to do it basically every time,” said Spitfire, snacking on the selection of food she’d swiped from the VIP area. Meanwhile, Rainbow tossed a few bits to a nearby vendor and picked up a bag of horseshoe fries and some chilli sauce.
“It still bites,” muttered Rainbow, tossing some fries into her mouth.
“Well, unless you can figure out a way to get the entire Canterlot Nobility to fund us every year without question, we’re stuck gladhoofing.”
“I thought you guys were funded by the treasury?” asked Rainbow
“Yes, but the real money comes from donations from the wealthy. You know, pay us to perform at stuff,” said Spitfire, “it’s that money that lets us run the Wonderbolt Academy more than once a year, among other things.”
****time****
“This still bites,” said Rainbow, scarfing down the rest of her horseshoe fries before crossing the rope that lead to the VIP area.
“It does, but every Wonderbolt does it at some point. Just happens that you’re probably going to get saddled with it during Derbies because you’re so awesome,” said Spitfire, flicking the last of the snacks into her mouth. “Now come on, I want to see if I can get Prince Blueblood to cry.”
“Is that why you’ve been eating everything onion and garlic based for the last ten minutes?”
“It’s the little things in this game, Dash. Take what you can get with regards to enjoyment,” said Spitfire.