Post-show Wind Down [ENDED]

[Windwright]

Soarin' trotted into the VIP section after the show. The show had been spectacular, even in spite of the rock hitting his goggles. Okay, so that stunt didn't go QUITE as planned, there was a small chip on the rim, but nothing that would qualify as excessively damaged. Still, when he finally cleared the ropes, he slipped them off and looked around to see who else was still in the lounge.

Usually the manager would give them a few minutes to wind down before anyone would be allowed in, but they usually still found a way to get past the bouncers. He chuckled a little and trotted over to the autograph table to grab a pen, he had a promise to keep at any rate.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Spitfire sighed, half with relief and half with happiness. Another successful show down. Sure, there had been a couple of tiny kinksâ€â€Âthere usually were, and the team made the best of it. It was the bigger mistakes they had to watch out for.

Taking another deep breath outside the V.I.P. section, Spitfire let it out slowly, mentally preparing herself for the mass of fans she could already see lined up. Big crowd this year. After pulling her goggles onto her forehead, she ducked under the rope sectioning off the V.I.P. area, glancing around for where Soarin' had gone. He was already heading toward the line, pen in mouth. Spitfire followed suit, quickly grabbing up a pen and smiling as best she could with it in her mouth.

[holypony20]

Tobias made sure to be a couple ponies from the front of the line. On his poster of Spitfire, Star Chaser, and Soarin he still had to get Soarin's signature. He also wanted to still chat with Spitfire compliment her on the show and everything. He also of course had to compliment Soarin too. Unfortunately his goggles got hit by a rock but it looked like he was fine. He would still ask Soarin if he was doing ok after seeing that hit. besides that they did a great show again. It was always good shows with them they where great.

[brianblackberry]

The show was impressive as usual; the big difference for Carrot Fields was that he had never seen one so close up before, which only added to the awe and excitement. He had last seen a live show when he was a young colt, barely more than a foal, and it had been an amazing experience. He remembered his dad telling him not to be a dumbtail when he told his dad that he wanted to be a Wonderbolt when he grew up! It had been a while before he'd understood that he couldn't grow up to be a pegasus. Despite all of the growing up he'd done in the meanwhile, just now he felt just like that excited little foal, full of exhilaration and imagining soaring through the clouds. The nostalgic feeling left him grinning happily.

Still despite all the wonder and excitement of show, Carrot felt a little apprehension. He had failed to get the Woinderbolts autographs on his gala ticket but Soarin had made a vague promise of something even better after the show. The gray earth pony had no idea what that would be, or even if the blue Wonderbolt stallion would remember, but it was an opportunity he had pinned all his hopes on. And in the lingering excitement after the show, he found it actually easy to push those apprehensions aside. The Wonderbolts could do *anything*, he was firmly certain - even remember a silly fan like himself!

As we watched the Wonderbolts file back into the V.I.P. area, he decided it would be best to wait at first, imagining they'd want a little breather before being mobbed by fans. If he waited too long, he'd end up at the end of the line, and who knew if they'd get to everyone? But to go up to them too soon would be rude. When should he step up to them? What if he came on too strong, like some goofy fancolt? What if Soarin had forgotten? The exhilaration, and Bolt's face in his memory, reassured him. One way or another, it had to work out. Ye can do this, an' jes' think of th' lass' reaction if you manage to get their autographs!

Noticing Soarin grabbing a pen from the table, right next to where his carrot pie - well, Purple Haze's carrot pie - Carrot felt the exhilaration thrill through him again. This was going to be the best gift ever!

[Windwright]

Soarin', not paying attention, carefully signs the rim of one of the goggles, then picks them up and starts looking for Spitfire.

Given that she was right beside him, though, he just sat them back down again and said, excitedly "Oh, hey! D'you mind signing these? I'm gonna do something really cool with them!" He asked her, beaming proudly while he scanned the crowd for the pony he'd met before. Where WAS he..? In either case, he also started waving the other Wonderbolts over to the table, intending to get the whole team to sign the goggles and the band.

[RCTwilightSparkle]

The show was great, they always are. This was the first one in over 2 years that Star didn't have to stress over and could just sit back and watch. It was a pretty odd feeling, standing with fans who were in total awe watching her friends perform. As much as she felt that these feelings deserved thinking about she didn't really like them so she tried her best to push the whole thing out of her mind. 'Alright, just take a deep breath' she thought to herself as she inhaled.

Now back in the VIP section she quickly noticed the rest of the Wonderbolts over at the autograph table. Star trotted over and grabbed a pen. Although she was no longer active, a lot of ponies tried to fill out their autograph collections with retired Wonderbolts here at the gala. This was one of the few places that all of the retired Wonderbolts always showed up to.

[Dio]

'One hay of a show,' Diomedes said as he strolled back into the VIP lounge with his father. 'I should bug my boss to let me come to these more often!'

'All the best shows happened while you were still a colt, Dio,' Aristotle smirked. 'Back in my day it was about virtuosity, elegance, and technique; skill over spectacle.'

'Stop kidding yourself, you old warhorse!' Dio laughed. 'You enjoyed it just as much as I did! Now let's grab some hors d'oueuvres before the rest of the crowd cleans them out!'

The old stallion smiled. They grew up so fast, didn't they? It seemed just yesterday he was dropping a young colt off at Cloudsdale academy, but here standing before him was a stallion. Dio had a lot to learn, to be sure. But tonight Aristotle was quite happy with his progress. Maybe someday he'd even take Aristotle's advice about signing on with the Royal Equestrian Army seriously. The old stallion shook his salt and pepper mane and chuckled under his breath. Aristotle was getting ahead of himself.

'You should talk to that Star Chaser girl,' Aristotle said, a little too cheerfully. 'You seem to have a good bit in common; athletics, a love of flying, a propensity for getting yourselves into dangerous situations…'

Dio's ears pinned back against his head for a moment at the mention of both Star Chaser and the incident near Appleloosa not that long ago. The little adventure certainly did make for a great story at the bar or break room, but it was quite the opposite explaining to the postmaster exactly why one of his priority carriers had disappeared without a trace for three days. Dio shook his head, regaining his composure.

'She'd have to be pretty needy to come after a mail pony!' Dio laughed, brushing off his father's remark. But still, he wasn't going to lie; saying the silver-maned filly was easy on the eyes would have been an understatement.

'You're not going to get another chance for a while…'

The red Pegasus sighed. He didn't need any more distractions, but he wasn't about to turn down a challenge from his old man.

'Since you insist…' Dio pulled his gala ticket out of his tuxedo jacket pocket, striding up to the Wonderbolts' signing table before the line had a chance to form. Bypassing Soarin and Spitfire, he stopped right at Star Chaser's seat.

'So I heard they were signing autographs here…' he said, gently setting down his ticket in front of the former Wonderbolt.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

'Hm?' Spitfire noticed that Soarin' had paused at one of the tables. She came over as he was motioning for the others, and noticed the goggles lying on the table.

'What's that for Soarin'?' she asked. It must have been for somepony pretty important. Giving away gear wasn't something they did every show. Spitfire would have loved too, sure. But if they spent all their bits replacing gear, they wouldn't be able to eat. But every once in awhile it was a nice surprise for one of the bigger fans, or a piece of memorabilia to leave behind after a school visit.

[Windwright]

Soarin' grinned and pointed to the chip, admittedly small, in the rim "They're damaged, see? So I was thinking they'd make an awesome souvenir for that pony I was talking to before to give to his fillyfriend! You know the boss doesn't like us to use damaged gear, and it would make her night!" He said, rambling excitedly about the idea.

He adds in a quick "Plus, it'll be a way to pay for the pie he brought. We can even share it if you want!" with a childish grin. Clearly he was proud of himself for coming up with the idea, something usually not his area of expertise.

[brianblackberry]

Carrot Fields watched as a line began to form around the various Wonderbolts who stood behind the table.  It was now or never - if he waited any longer, he might never manage any sort of autograph from them, making all of this for nothing.  As he stood in the line, waiting his turn, Carrot's mind did wander back to Soarin telling him to wait after the show for something even better.  He wondered - was that just idle chat, or did the blue Wonderbolt actually meant it? The anticipation was palpable, even overwhelming, so much so that he almost forgot how shy he felt in this situations.

Almost ...

Briefly, he entertained an old daydream.  One day, after an airshow, walking back to the farm with a blue wonderbolt pennant emblazoned with a yellow lightning bolt in his mouth, next to his da.  He'd declared, cheerfully, "When Oi grow up, Oi'm tae be a Wonderbolt!"  His dad had disabused him of the notion quickly, but that hadn't stopped the daydreams ... He wondered, how awesome would it be, flying ilke that?  Signing autographs with the others?  To be aloft on grey wings... Ah, but he was an earth pony. Just plodding along for him...

Getting closer, he quickly noticed the stunning black pegasus with the light blue mane, along side her was the beautiful young mare with her firey yellow and orange mane.  They were two of the several Wonderbolt beauties he'd had pinup posters of over the years, ever since he was a young colt.  They still hung, older and newer ones, in his workshop back in the barn, much to his sisters' chagrin and amusement.  Seeing them face to face like this, though ... he blushed as he mused to himself about the idea of bringing those posters for them to sign.  Ye'd ne'er work up th' bravado t'do that!  Oi, kin ye imagine what they'd think?, he mused to himself.  Tearing his gaze away from the lovely fillies, so it wouldn't look like he was staring, he glanced instead at Soarin.  Was the colt signing a pair of goggles?  Could that mean ... could he ... oh ... Bolt would be giddy!

[RCTwilightSparkle]

Before Star Chaser had time to get lost in any more of her thoughts a gala ticket was placed on the table in front of her. It belonged to Diomedes, she looked up at the pegasus and flashed him a bit of a playful smirk. He didn't exactly seem like the type to get somepony's autograph. She looked down at the ticket as she signed it "So, you said you were looking forward to the bar... maybe we could grab a drink when I'm done out here?" She looked up at Diomedes while still smirking a little after she finished signing his ticket, not even realizing she drew a heart next to her name until she was already handing it back to him. She'd been signing her name like that a lot lately and it was just starting to get automatic for her, but she tried not to blush. Usually she wasn't so blunt when talking to a stallion but she had a lot on her mind and not much time to chat with the line forming behind him.