Nightmare Mom

Your tiny hoofsteps crunched down the cloudy hallway of the Shadowbolts race track, a scroll from your mother held tightly in your mouth. You try to look calm, in defiance of the butterflies in your stomach, but you didn't think you were doing a good job. The hallway seemed like an endless, though oddly familiar, cavern, passing torch after torch with only an ever-retreating point of light at the end. But you couldn't look nervous. The Shadowbolts were the best fliers in Equestria, and known for being tough to boot. They wouldn't train you if you didn't look tough.

You step out into the moonlight and see them. Two are racing around the track, one of them trailing a yellow zig-zag pattern behind her, the other three watching and chatting idly. You drop the scroll on the ground and take a breath. Mommy wants me to be tough, like them. I gotta look it. You grab the scroll with your magic and manage to fumble it before getting a better hold on it. You take another breath, try to adopt one of your mother's cold expressions, and walk up to the three sitting down. You clear your throat, your heart racing. You manage to fight off the trembling.

A mare with a purple mane with brighter purple highlights, violet coat and amethyst eyes turns to look at you. “Who's this kid?”

A red-orange mare with a fiery red mane with orange tips looks at you with ruby eyes. Her eyes widen after a second. “It's the prince!” She stands to face you, as do the others.

“What are you doing here? This isn't a place for foals,” a dark gray stallion says. He had bright yellow eyes and a matching mane, with a lighter highlight.

You straighten and try not to tremble. “You're supposed to teach me how to fly. My mo- the Queen says so.” You pass the scroll to the purple one, who you remember is supposed to be the leader. You try to stop it from wobbling, but fail.

The purple pony takes the scroll from you and reads over it, and the gray one waves down the two that were racing. She sighs. “It's true. Nightmare Moon wants us to show him how to fly.”

A light blue stallion with a red and black mane you think was dyed and a cyan mare with a slicked back yellow mane walk up. They fix you with sapphire and amber eyes, respectively. The light blue one speaks. “This kid? What are we, foalsitters?”

“He looks like he's about to wet himself,” the cyan one says.

They snicker, the others smile, and you feel yourself flush. The gray one speaks up. “She's right. You look terrified, kid.”

“I am not!” you shout.

“Yeah you are.” He laughs, and several of the others follow suit.

“A lot of ponies are too frightened to even walk up to us, like that one little filly that hides in the stands,” the orange one says. She walks up to you and looks you square in the eyes. You stare at her back, fighting down your fear. She smiles. “I can see his fire. It's small, but it's there. I think we should give him a chance.”

The purple one shakes her head and sits. “You and your fires.” She motions for the others to sit too. “All right, kid. Show us what you've got.”

You nod determinedly, jump, and flap your little wings as hard and fast as you can. You manage to hover for a few seconds before falling. You hear the chuckles from the group and, annoyed, you try again. You attempt to fly in a circle but crash as soon as you try to move forward. You try once more and make it a few more inches before crashing again. You stand to try again when you feel a hoof block your way.

You look up and see the purple one standing over you. “You're definitely tenacious, I'll give you that, kid. But we work hard to be this good. You think you can keep up?”

You nod, wiping some dirt from your face.

“And you've got to be tough. Are you tough?”

You nod again, a smile forming on your face.

“All right, then. You ready to get started?”

That little bit of flying left you exhausted, but you nod. You hear the blue stallion snort, but pay it no mind.

“Good. I'm Nightshade, by the way.”

“I'm Nebulus.”

She nods. “Let's go, then. We've got a lot to do.”

Your training passes in a blur, but it was hard, like Nightshade said it would be. She oversaw your training personally, while the others went back to their own practice, and you kept imagining yourself flying with them. It's what kept you going more than Nightshade shouting at you, the promise of being one of them, screaming through a stadium to the roar of the crowd, pulling into seemingly impossible and lethal stunts, making it look like it's second nature the whole time. And after the show, as your teammates were chatting and congratulating each other on another good show, your mother would come in and finally give you a big hug, and tell you how proud she is of you.

It's this thought that you walk home with, absolutely exhausted. Your wings were sorer than you thought they could be. Even your legs feel like noodles, but you force them to carry you home. You can sleep when you get back, as Nightshade had told you to be back early tomorrow. You knew it was going to be a long time before you'd fly like them, and it would be tough, but you were tough, too. You smile at the thought.

“You're so lucky!” A lavender filly trots up to you, wearing goggles on top of her head that looked like the ones the Shadowbolts wore. “You got to fly with the Shadowbolts! What was it like? Are they as cool as they look? Is it true Jetstream and Lightning Dust are going out?” She was practically bouncing in place as she spoke to you.

“I, uh, never asked.” You back away from the filly, as she was incredibly close to you. “Are they?”

“That's what I read in this one magazine! It said that they were going out, and that they fight sometimes, but I don't think that's true, 'cause real couples don't.” She finally seemed to take notice of your expression. “Oh! My name's Twilight Sands, but everypony just calls me Sandy. And one day, I'm gonna join the Shadowbolts!”

“I'm, uh, Nebulus.”

“Like, Prince Nebulus?” Somehow, her eyes got even wider when she took notice of your horn and wings. She started bouncing in place as she spoke. “Oh my gosh, you're the real one! I'm meeting a prince! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” All my friends are going to be so jealous!”

You scan your surroundings for a guard. “So, what are you doing here?”

“Sometimes, I come here and watch them train. But don't tell them, 'kay?”

“Why not?”

“'Cause if you do, they'll never let me join the team or go to their shows or anything! I've never been to one!”

“Why not?”

Twilight looked sad. “'Cause my mommy and daddy don't ever have enough bits. They spend it all on food and light and stuff. They don't get much extra from their jobs.” Her expression brightened a bit. “But sometimes, they get me stuff of theirs, like once, they got me these goggles!” She put her head down to show off her goggles, sitting atop her tousled violet mane.

You looked closely at the goggles. They looked to you like they might have come straight out of one of the Shadowbolts' lockers, and could not have been cheap. “Wow. Those are cool!”

“Aren't they? I never take them off, except for when I hafta sleep.”

“You think they'll give me a pair?”

“Sure! You're flying with them, so you're, like, part of the team already!”

Your thoughts return to your fantasy before, and you smile.

“Hey! Maybe if we both get in, we could fly together!”

“Are you a good flier? They made me do a test before they trained me, so I think you gotta be a good flier to join. And tough.”

“I can be tough! I practice flying all the time, and I run into things a lot, but I always get back up and try again! Daddy says 'Quitters never get anywhere in life.'”

“And who is this?” You both jump at the guard's voice. He looks expectantly at you, a half smile on his face.

“My friend, Sandy.”

“Sandy, eh?” The guard looks at her. “Do you know you're in the presence of royalty?”

She nods. “Yup! We were talking about the Shadowbolts, and how cool it would be to be one of them!”

The guard nods. “Well then, young miss, you had best be getting home. The prince has homework to do.”

Twilight nodded sadly. “Okay.” She looked at you. “I hope I see you again!” With that, she bounded off.

“Me too!” you call after her.

“Energetic, isn't she?”

“Yeah, but she seems nice. Maybe I'll see her tomorrow.” You and the guard start walking back to the castle.