Spitfire flew over the landscape from Twilight’s library and blinding speed, carrying herself towards Rainbow Dash with all her might- she was in deep, deep trouble.
As she arrived at the palace of the two sisters- the hiding place of the residual evil that was Nightmare Moon- she saw what appeared to be a hydra fighting 6 ponies- or, what was left of 6 ponies.
All but one was struck down. That one in particular had a rainbow colored mane and a cyan body- Dashie.
Spitfire swooped down low as the hydra charged at Dashie, taking one swipe at her as she made one mistake- a mistake that almost proved fatal.
Flying as fast as she could, she rammed the hydra, sending it skidding across the ground as it swiped at her, knocking her into the ground.
Bruised and battered, she once again flew up and rammed the beast- still, it seemed to have no effect.
The hydra yelled something- probably a taunt- but Spitfire was too hyped on adrenaline to note what was said exactly.
For the third time, Spitfire attacked the beast with all her might only to be struck down into the mud. As she slowly felt consciousness slip away, she crawled towards Dash while the hydra, fully under the control of Nightmare Moon, threw up obstacles to slow her. She powered through it, desperate to meet her lover in a kiss at least one last time- one final act of defiance from the great Spitfire. More was said by Nightmare, but again Spitfire paid it no heed. She was determined to see her lover’s face at least once more.
After she finally reached Dashie- in what seemed to be an agonizingly long amount of time- she kissed her.
Suddenly, a beam of rainbow colored light surrounded the two, and an amazing thing happened- all 6 of the ponies were revived, yawning as if they had just been in a deep sleep.
All expressions turned first to that of awe, and then to that of determination as they saw the two surrounded by light, locked in a loose embrace. Dash herself, having been knocked out by her earlier altercation with the hydra, woke up to find herself in the warmth of Spitfire’s forelegs and pressed up against her, returning the kiss passionately.
As a beam of light fired at Nightmare, finally eradicating that which was evil with the world, Spitfire slowly lost consciousness.
This was the last she would remember from before the coma.
***
Spitfire was confused.
She had just passed out, and now she was in a dark, cold reality- floating in her own subconscious.
Faces of friends, family, past lovers, fans, royalty... all passed in front of her eyes. But after a while, only two remained.
Those two were Rainbow Dash... and Soarin.
Even more confused now, Spitfire looked from one to the other, weighing her choices. She had known Soarin since before any of this business with Rainbow Dash- hell, she had known him since the Wonderbolts were simply a thing of her imagination.
But then there was Dashie, the mare who had stolen her heart... The mare to turn her from 100% straight to a... what would you call it? Bi-sexual? … Whatever. She had so many good memories with Rainbow, even though all that had happened occurred during the past couple weeks.
Even though it had to mix her up with what happened between her and Soarin... She didn’t regret it. None of the personal hardships, none of the emotional issues, none of the nights when she cried herself to sleep could make her regret what had happened between her and Rainbow.
As quickly as she could think this, her lovers were whisked away and replaced by a familiar scene- one that had played in Spitfire’s mind over and over again for the past few weeks.
It was the day Soarin decided to air out his feelings for her.
***
It was a bright day, hovering near Stalliongrad in the Wonderbolts' track- the warm sun lit the tired faces of the five elite pegasi as they cooled off from the practice that they just completed. All were content and happy at another job well done- all but Soarin.
Noticing that her second-in-command was noticeably vexed, she pulled him aside and asked him what was wrong, his eyes darting from side to side like he wanted no one in the universe to see this conversation.
His response, at first, was unsatisfying- “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Don’t tell me that. I’m your captain, and your best friend. Whatever it is, you can trust me with it,” Spitfire replied.
“...”
“What? Spit it out, man.”
“Have... Have you ever thought we could be more than just teammates? More than just friends?”
She had never seen him this... defenseless looking... before. She was caught off guard by everything that had just happened- somewhere in between being hit by the moon, and a train.
“...”
“Spitfire?”
“...”
“... Oh Celestia, please don’t be mad. If it would help...”
“Stop,” she said, simply. Spitfire stared into the eyes of her friend and teammate Soarin,
her ever constant companion and one of the best fliers she knew.
Gone was the smug confidence in his abilities, gone was the macho stallion persona she had seen so often since they hit it big, replaced by a boyish terror that he had just driven away one of the best friends he had.
Sighing heavily, she opened her mouth, trying to form the right words for her to tell Soarin; “I... I’m not sure what to think about what you just asked. I...”
“Don’t say anything, I can tell you don’t want to be anything more. Just friends, right? I’m ok with tha-”
She cut him off, pulling him close and giving him a kiss. More than just a ‘friends’ kiss.
“Just shut up, ok? I was going to say, I don’t know how well this will go, and I don’t know what could happen, but I know I’ll give it a shot. It seems like it means a lot to you.”
Soarin’s expression immediately brightened, changing from one of self doubt and preoccupation to one she had seen so many times before- the Soarin she knew and... Well, did she love him? Of course, she knew she loved him like a brother, but was that the only way...?
Time, she supposed, would tell.
***
That faded all too quickly, replaced by the first time she met Rainbow Dash- crying on a cloud, weeping about what she had done to Derpy’s late husband.
Still mulling over all that she had seen in the first flashback, she felt this next one replaced it all too quickly...
Strangely, though, as she drifted into it, she heard the faint voice of Dashie in the background... through all the haze and smoke.
If she were in control of her body, it would have put a smile on her face.
***
Spitfire was flying.
That pretty much described her life, though- fly fast, fly slow, eat, sleep, fly fast, fly slow...
This time, she was flying slow and easy.
Well, slow in terms of her. Most anyone else would be in awe of how effortlessly she pushes herself through the air.
Most anyone, she thought, because of Soarin. Her lover. Her coltfriend. Perhaps, eventually, her fiance- if he has the guts. He was one of the best flyers she knew- not including that one pony, Rainbow Dash, that she met at the young flyers competition a few months back.
Coincidentally, she saw the trademarked multi-colored mane on a cloud below. Seems like she’s napping...
Or not. As she drew closer, she heard the faint but obvious sounds of sobbing coming from the cloud.
Deciding to fly down to comfort her, she landed on the cloud softly.
***
Sleep. That’s what this reminded her of. A troubled sleep.
And it was only getting more confusing.
This was only the beginning, she felt....
***
Spitfire finished practice with the Wonderbolts quite early. She was trying to step up the program, even instating a “Two weeks in hell” program before they could start training.
Really, it was just to stop people from pestering her about joining so she could spend more time with Soarin, and in the process the team would get better.
Soarin met her inside her office, smiling brightly.
He walked up to her and kissed her on the cheek, hugging her from behind.
Spitfire giggled, saying “What’s up, babe?”
“Oh, nothing special. Ten more of the recruits were out on medical reasons. Too much for their bodies to handle.”
“That’s nice. Hell weeks are fun, aren’t they?”
“For us, maybe.”
“So? I can bet you not a single one of those recruits will ever regret what they’re going through, and we can’t just let every decent flier on this team.”
“Fair. But still, don’t you think you should let that... what was it... Rainbow Dash on the team? She IS the only pony to perform a sonic rainboom.”
“There are a lot of ponies who are the first to perform a lot of things. Doesn’t mean we can let them all on the team.”
Soarin kissed Spitfire’s neck lovingly, garnering a shudder from the orange pony. “I love it when you get all ‘team captain’ like this... it’s really sexy...” he said, rather quietly as a smile grew across Spitfire’s face.
Getting up from her seat, Spitfire turned around, a lustful look in her eyes. “So, you think I’m sexy, do ya? Or is this all just a ploy?”
“Both.”
Laughing softly, Spitfire kissed Soarin passionately, pushing him back onto a desk.
Surprised, Soarin jokingly said “isn’t it the other way around?”
“Only if you’re with someone else other than me, yeah.”
Soarin was startled, before a cocky look came across his face. (A/N: I swear to god, this innuendo was not intended.) “You are seriously going to do this in your office? Not the most romantic environment.”
“As if I could ever get any privacy in my own home. This place is at least guarded. And since when did you give a shit about romanticism?”
“Since when did we have a two week selection process?”
“Since I wanted to. Now shut up.”
“Sure thing, babe.”
***
Very unromantic, just as she remembered. Just how she liked it. Then again, it had grown on her with Dashie...
Laughing softly, remembering all the times she had spent with Rainbow.
Another fade out... it really was just the beginning, wasn’t it?
***
Spitfire was perplexed. She had just met Rainbow Dash, a girl she had secretly admired from the day she met her... and in her weakened state, she had made her move and kissed her...
Just then, Soarin walked into her office, smiling his goofy smile like always. “What’s up, ‘Fire?”
“Not much, Soarin. Just doing some paperwork.”
“Nice. Always fun. I was training the rookies, and I must say, they are very good fliers. Looks like the selection worked well.”
“Good to know.”
“...”
“Soarin?”
“Yeah... Uh... Spitfire, something seems wrong. Is there, or am I just imagining things?”
Sighing, Spitfire got up from her desk, looking directly at Soarin’s eyes. “Listen, Soarin... I love you, you know that, right?”
“... Yeah, why?”
“I kissed Rainbow Dash. I think... I have a little bit of a crush on her.”
“When you say a bit of a crush, are you just trying to soften the blow?” Soarin said, obviously hurt.
Spitfire opened her mouth to speak, but stayed silent, simply nodding.
“Well, I don’t know how you thought saying it like that would do anything to help. If she makes you happy, go after her. If I make you happy, stay with me. It’s that simple.”
“... It’s really not, Soarin...”
“You only really fucking knew the mare for a few days! In fact, LESS!”
“Soarin....”
“SHUT UP! JUST SHUT THE HELL UP! I gave you all I had! I GAVE YOU MYSELF! IS THIS HOW YOU REPAY ME?!”
“...I...”
“Yeah. YOU. That’s what I thought. WHEN have we talked about how I feel, huh? HOW DOES SOARIN FEEL? WHAT DOES HE THINK ABOUT ALL THIS? Well let me fucking tell YOU something; I LOVE YOU. I thought you felt the same, but obviously you don’t...”
Spitfire cringed, hearing Soarin yell like this... It wasn’t like him. He was never this... animated, violent, whatever you want to call this... monster.
Soarin’s expression suddenly changed; seeing her like this was unbearable to him. Walking up to her and placing a hoof on her cheek lightly, he hugged her. “Oh.... Shit...”
Spitfire leaned into the hug, crying into his mane. “I-I... I love you... I really, truly do...”
“I know... I know...”
“I just... I want to test this sorta thing out, alright? I don’t know if I’m ready for a huge commitment, and I want to know if we... if we’re right.”
“Just.... do what makes you happy, Ok?”
“Y-Y-you do make me happy, Soarin! That’s the problem! I don’t know how she makes me feel, not yet, at least!”
“Well, maybe it’d be best to figure that out, ‘Fire. I don’t mind waiting. Just so long as you’re happy.”
“D-do you mean it?”
Soarin looked up, nodding wisely. “Love always has a way of finding the right person. I just know that if we’re right together, we’ll end up that way. Together. If not... there’s plenty of time for me.”
Spitfire smiled weakly, leaning in and kissing him. That familiar adrenaline rush shot through her body, and she melted into him- just one more for the road, she guessed.
Just one more.
***
Darkness again.
“Every time it’s about to get good...”
This time, she didn’t go back to her memories. Was this an intermission of some kind? An interruption? A break from her own subconscious?
Regardless, it finally gave her time to think. What was holding her back?
Did she really care about Soarin that much? That even in the darkness of her own mind, he was one of the only focal points she had? One of the only two points of light hidden behind that fiery mane?
A sudden realization hit her. Was he the last wall between her and Rainbow Dash?
Was the bond between her and the blue pegasus mare really that strong, that it had obliterated every barrier of sex, location and now, the only one left... love?
This is going to take a bit.
Suddenly, she remembered a small black box... It was in her pocket the day she fought the hydra. Was it still there?
Did she even know who she was going to give it to?
Before she faded to black, her mind was filled with images of her, in a white dress, standing next to a faceless pony. It was... horrifying, to say the least.