//------------------------------// // Why'd It Have To Be Dragons? // Story: Fleetfire // by Melody Song //------------------------------// "SPITFIRE!" Rainbow's yell caused Spitfire and Fleetfoot to break apart from their kiss. Spitfire sighed in disappointment as she sat up. "I'm in the rec room!" she called back, and Rainbow came in, panting. "What happened to you?" "Twi...help...fast...here...big fire...Wonderbolts...need..." Rainbow fell down onto the floor and gasped for air "Soarin, get in here!" Spitfire yelled, and Soarin flew into the room "Spit? What's wrong-Dashie!" Soarin lifted Rainbow into his hooves and set her down on one of the couches in the room. Soarin leaned in and kissed her gently, putting a hoof in her mane. Rainbow shook her head and continued breathing heavily. "Here." Spitfire got up off the couch and trotted over to the two. Spitfire held out a hoof and touched it to Rainbow's chest. Her fire seeped from her hoof into Rainbow's body, making her chest glow for a minute. Rainbow gasped once, then her breathing slowed, returning to normal. "Thanks Spit." she sighed in relief, as Soarin looked at her in concern "I'm fine Soar." she assured him, then gave Soarin a kiss on the cheek "So, what were you trying to say?" Spitfire asked "Right. Twilight asked me to come get you guys, she got an urgent message from Princess Celestia, and she needs the Wonderbolts' help." Rainbow explained, sitting up. "Alright, what's the problem?" Spitfire asked "There's a flock of rouge dragons attacking Canterlot." Rainbow replied, and Spitfire froze. "Did you just say...d-dragons?" Spitfire asked "Yeah, why?" Rainbow replied "No. There's no way we can do this." Spitfire said, taking off and leaving the room. "Huh?" Rainbow asked, then shook her head "Nevermind, let's go find her." Spitfire flew out of the building and landed on a cliff that was part of the mountain. She sighed and sat down. "Why'd it have to be dragons?" Spitfire muttered "Sis?" Sparkfire landed beside her "I saw you come up here, what's wrong?" "Rainbow said there's dragons attacking Canterlot, and that Princess Twilight told her to come get us to help." Spitfire replied "Oh, right, your...you know. You ran off, didn't you?" Spark asked "Yeah." Spitfire sighed "Spit, there you are." Soarin landed with Rainbow and Fleetfoot behind him. "Why'd you take off?" Rainbow asked "Because Spitfire's a-" Spitfire covered her sister's mouth with a wing "Look, don't get me wrong Rainbow, I want to help, but...I can't." Spitfire looked away from them, eyes watering. "Why not? You know it's the right thing to do and you know we could take those dragons on. I don't understand why you wouldn't agree to help." Rainbow said "Because," Sparkfire had pulled Spitfire's wing out of the way "Spitfire's afraid of dragons." "Spark! I told you not to say anything!" Spitfire cried "It's not like ignoring it makes it go away." Sparkfire retorted "You're scared of dragons?" Soarin asked, and Spitfire sighed, nodding. Her cheeks heated up in embarrassment. "You guys weren't supposed to know. It makes me sound so weak. I've always been afraid of them, because my dad reminded me of a dragon. Spark was the only one who knew, she didn't know why though." Spitfire explained "Thpitty, we know you're not weak. You're the bravetht pony I know. Jutht becauthe you're thcared of one thing, it doesthn't mean you aren't thtill brave." Fleetfoot kissed Spitfire's cheek lightly and nuzzled her. "Yeah. I mean, Fluttershy's scared of dragons, and she once stared down a Cockatrice." Rainbow commented "It doesn't matter if you're scared, we get it." "You're our friend Spitfire, you shouldn't be shy about telling us what you're afraid of. We'll always understand." Soarin agreed "Thanks guys. Rainbow, I really want to lead the Wonderbolts to fight the dragons, but...but I just...the thought of flying up to dragons makes me so scared, I..." Spitfire trailed off and leaned against Fleetfoot, shutting her eyes and folding her ears down on her head in terror. Fleetfoot wrapped a hoof around her gently. "Don't worry about it Spits. Soar and I can lead the Wonderbolts, so you don't have to." Rainbow said "No, I have to do it. Spark's right, just ignoring it won't make it go away. I'll lead us." Spitfire said "That's the Spitfire we know and love." Soarin said, smiling at his friend. "Alright, let's go." Spitfire said "Can me, Scoot, and Rumble come?" Sparkfire asked "Absolutely not." Rainbow and Spitfire replied "Worth a shot." Spark shrugged and took off "I'll tell them what's going on anyway." "Come on guys, let's get the other 'bolts." Spitfire said, taking off "That'th my girl." Fleetfoot said as she followed Spitfire. She kissed her cheek, and Spitfire blushed. Soarin and Rainbow followed them, heading down to Headquarters. "Attention! Form a line team!" Spitfire cried, blowing her whistle, and the Bolts lined up before her. "What is it Spitfire?" High Winds asked "There's dragons attacking Canterlot. Princess Twilight has asked us to help stop them." Spitfire said "But I thought the dragons were at peace with us!" Blaze exclaimed, and Spitfire looked to Rainbow. "Most of them are, Twilight and I are friends with their leader, Dragon Lorddess Ember. She reported to Twilight that ten or so dragons have turned rouge. They're mostly comprised of dragons that remember what it was like to attack ponies." Rainbow explained "And that's what we're dealing with. Are you all ready to fight for Canterlot's safety?" Spitfire asked "Yes ma'am!" they saluted her "Then let's go!" Spitfire led them out of the building "For Equestria!" they shouted, heading for Canterlot in the distance. They made it to Canterlot in record time, to find ponies below them running away from the huge dragons looming above them. Spitfire motioned for them to surround her. "Rapid, Misty, Wave, Blaze, go protect the ponies. Lightning, Fire, Surprise, High, dodge the dragon's fire and attack. Silver Zoom, Sun Chaser, go with Thunderlane and find the Princesses, make sure they're okay." Spitfire ordered, and they took off "If the Princesses are still in the city, we'll find them." Silver Zoom promised, zooming off "What about us?" Rainbow asked "We'll be finding the leader. If we drive him off, we drive the others off." Spitfire replied, and they flew into the city, swerving around dragons left and right. There was one dragon at the center of the battle, he was bearing down on a group of unicorn mares. One of them was lighting up her horn with light pink magic and trying to blast him, but the dragon didn't seem to feel it. Spitfire beckoned for the other three to follow her, then flew across to the back of the dragon and began hitting it. The dragon turned and roared at the four, causing them to be pushed away from him, but it distracted him long enough for Misty Fly to zoom in and herd the mares away. "Why don't you just blast it, you have fire!" Rainbow called, and Spitfire shook her head. "No, my control over it isn't good enough, I might hit the wrong creature!" she called back "Then permission to Sonic Rainboom this thing?" Rainbow asked "In these close quarters? You could hurt somepony Dashie." Soarin said, and Rainbow sighed, nodding agreement. "Thpitty, what now?" Fleetfoot asked "Thith ith obviouthly the leader, what do we do if you won't uthe your magic and Clipper won't let Rainbow do her move?" "We attack, together." Spitfire turned and yelled into the fray "All available Wonderbolts to me, NOW!" The others heard her, and they all flew to their leader. They circled around her and waited. "What do you need Spit?" Wave Chill asked "Surround the leader on all sides. On my signal, I want you all to come at him with everything you've got. Am I understood?" Spitfire asked "Yes ma'am!" they cried, going to circle the dragon. Rainbow and Soarin nuzzled each other before going off in different directions. Fleetfoot smiled at Spitfire before going to another area. "What's the signal going to be?" Lightning asked, just as a blast of fire came from out of nowhere, and formed the shape of Spitfire's cutie mark. "There's your answer." Blaze replied, then flew forwards to hit the dragon. The Wonderbolts all came at the dragon at once, hitting him on all sides. Spitfire started hitting, but refused to use her fire. "I know I said 'everything you've got' but there is no way I'm using my fire on any creature, unless they deserve it. Otherwise I'd be as good as dad. This dragon is just following his instincts, I can't blame him for that." Spitfire told herself, as she hit the dragon. The dragon roared and spread his gigantic wings, taking off and flying over the city, the air from his wings pushing the 'bolts back to the ground. A few, like Rainbow, were good at recovering from spinouts, and managed to remain in the air. However, others were knocked to the ground, but their teammates flew down to assist them. The dragon roared again and all the dragons flew over to him, then they all flew away from Canterlot. "And stay out!" Rainbow yelled after them "This is pony territory!" "I think they get the idea." Sun Chaser commented, standing slowly, Silver Zoom beside her. "Is anypony hurt?" Spitfire asked, scanning the group of ponies quickly. Nothing stuck out to her, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure. "A few ruffled feathers, but I'm okay." Fire Streak replied. "I have a cut on my leg, but I'll be fine." Rapidfire assured her. "I clipped my wing on the rocky cliff, but I'm okay." Thunderlane added. "Miss Flare." Princess Celestia said from behind Spitfire, and she turned, bowing. The others followed her lead, except for Rainbow Dash, who remained upright and gave the princess a small wave with her wing. "Of course she knows her." Spitfire couldn't help thinking, rolling her eyes in her mind, but responded to the Princess instead of worrying about it. "Princess." she answered "Thank you for helping to protect Canterlot, I know we don't ask the areal part of our military to help all that often, but I'm glad we can count on you." Princess Celestia said. "It was our pleasure Princess. Would you like us to stay and help with the mess?" Spitfire asked "That will be a job for my royal guard, seeing as they needed you to bail them out. You are free to leave and help your teammates." Princess Celestia said, and Spitfire nodded. "Thank you Princess. You heard her team, let's go." Spitfire said, and they took off, ready to head back to HQ on her command. "Oh, Miss Flare, one more thing. I expect you to one day explain to me about that incredible magic you used to signal your team." Princess Celestia said, and Spitfire froze "Y-yes Princess." she stammered, and Princess Celestia smiled kindly at her. "I am not asking to alarm you, I only want to understand." she assured Spitfire, who nodded. "Alright. I could explain in a letter, but it might take a while to reach you." "I believe Rainbow Dash has a solution to that. Or, more specifically, knows a solution." Princess Celestia said, nodding to the rainbow maned mare behind them. "Alright..." Spitfire was a little confused, but she had a team to lead. Spitfire turned back to her friends, and took off. "Fall out." As they flew back, she turned to Rainbow. The others guessed what she was going to ask, and pricked their ears, they wanted to know too. "What did the Princess mean about you knowing a way to get a letter to her?" "Well, back when Twilight was Princess Celestia's student, they used to communicate using her assistant, Spike. He's a baby dragon-well, was, he's getting older now-but he's a good guy, since he was raised by ponies. They use his fire to send letters back and forth." "So if I wrote the letter and gave it to you, you'd make sure it got to the Princess?" "Yeah." Rainbow said "There's one thing I still don't get." Surprise said, flipping upside down in the air as they flew. "What?" Wave Chill asked "Why did the Dragon Lorddess not come?" Surprise asked "Actually, you can thank Spike. I wasn't there, but Twilight and Rarity went with Spike to the Dragonlands when the old Dragon Lord summoned all the dragons." Rainbow explained "What does that have to do with it?" Misty asked "The Dragon Lord had completed his time as leader, and needed to step down. Spike found out the only way to make sure that the new leader didn't come attack Equestria was to become the leader himself. The Lord had all the dragons of the land compete in some obstacle course type thing, with the leader's scepter as the center. On the way to the island where the course was, Spike rescued a dragon that was the Dragon Lord's daughter, Ember. He had forbid her to compete because she was small and...well, female. She disobeyed him, and she and Spike worked together to win. In the end, Spike trusted Ember enough to rule the Dragonlands and make sure Equestria wouldn't be attacked." Rainbow explained "Oh, that clears things up!" Surprise said as they landed outside HQ. "So dragons can be sexist." Blaze huffed "Well, the ones that attacked are still mean." "How'd it go?" Sparkfire asked, running out with Rumble and Scootaloo. "We crushed those dragons, they won't be back here anytime soon." Thunderlane responded "Come on, let's get those injuries treated." Spitfire said, leading them inside. "You thtill thcared of dragonth?" Fleetfoot asked, and Spitfire sighed. "Deep down, I always will be, but if ponies are in danger, I know now to put those feelings aside." Spitfire responded "Is that code for: now that the danger is gone I'm freaking out?" Soarin whispered as he and Rainbow came up to the two "Shut up." Spitfire muttered, then put her muzzle to Fleetfoot's ear "But, could you maybe..." "Thtay clothe bethide you tonight? Of courthe honey." Fleetfoot responded in a whisper, and Spitfire smiled, nuzzling her.