Hello! So I've kinda hit a case of writer's block with a story I've been working on that deals with Spitfire's past as well as the past of the Wonderbolts as a whole, not to mention some events related to the show in her point of view. While I understandably want to keep it as close to canon as possible, I'm a bit stuck in how to approach her and the team. More specifically, given canon interpretations, what positive qualities could Spitfire reasonably have outside of her flight skills and speed? I understand her flaws and I've watched her episodes, yet I'm still kind of lost on where to take her character and have it believable at the same time given what we know of her. The same could be said for the team as well, as there's admittedly little to go off of for them.

Any ideas on how one writes her character effectively are appreciated. Best wishes!

5149374 She is tough to write. She's stern, but also nice at times. We see her portrayed in a lot of different ways.

5149387 Yeah, that's kind of the problem I have at the moment. With Spitfire, while it's entirely possible to get away with portraying her character in a certain manner for stories that aren't dependent on canon, it's much trickier this time since the show itself influences the outlined story's events and she's been portrayed in so many different manners. But yeah, I can see where your idea comes in at times. Thanks for the suggestion!

5149404 She' kind of a character who is what you need at the time. Since she's not on the show often, and is different everytime, she has lots of room to work with.

It's hard to give advice on how to write Spitfire because she doesn't have many significant appearances in the show, which can make it hard to nail down her personality. She acts differently in later episodes than in earlier ones, but I honestly think it's pretty easy to explain once you look at the context, instead of just an inconsistency. My personal take on it:

I think that she tends to be far more open, friendly, and just generally pleasant when she's off duty or only working in a limited capacity. In the few occasions where we see her outside of actual work, like the Grand Galloping Gala, she speaks very warmly and jokes around with her teammates. She's very polite and open when Rainbow shows up, and just seemed to suffer from the same problem as Celestia - whenever Rainbow got their attention (or tried to), they ended up getting pulled away by other guests. The cost of being celebrities, I suppose. When she's just there to observe, like in Hurricane Fluttershy, she's friendly and encourages Rainbow for the guts it took to pull off what she did.

In later episodes, however, we're seeing her when she's either on the job or involved in an event or competition. You can't expect "Spitfire the Drill Sergeant" to act the same as "Spitfire the nice mare hanging out at the party." Her behavior at Wonderbolts Academy and in the Equestria Games is actually pretty consistent - she encourages doing what's needed to win, even if it's a bit underhanded or dangerous. Of course, we also see that she seems to be changing that view. In both episodes, Rainbow seems to give her something to think about, first by refusing to continue at the academy if they're going to encourage results over the good of their fellow ponies and later by refusing to fly with the Wonderbolts over her friends. Lo and behold, later in the series when Wind Rider shows the exact kind of behavior that Spitfire was displaying before Dash came around (getting results over doing what's right), she admonishes him for it and offers his position to Rainbow instead, even though it's an official event where an experienced Wonderbolt (who gets results the same way she did before) might have been a logically better choice.

So...yeah. TL;DR Version: Spitfire acts differently in her private life than at her job (not that unusual, really). She's more open and friendly outside of work, harsh and stern when at work, and can be manipulative and underhanded when she needs results. But she seems to be changing her way of looking at things to reflect what she's learned from Dash's behavior, given her reaction to Wind Rider doing the things she used to do before admitting that Dash had the right idea on what it really meant to be a Wonderbolt. At least that's how I see it.

5149473 Yeah, all of those explanations regarding her character in the series sound reasonable. It may give me some room to work with regarding the writing project I'm working on as well, especially regarding her two different attitudes in certain episodes. Anyway, thank you for helping explain her portrayal in the series and some of her strengths and weaknesses.

5149535 Eh, no problem. Hope something in my ridiculously long-winded rambling helps.

oh i think i can help cause i write spitfire alot. shes very persuasive (just not to dashie) and i think deep down inside shes really lonely and shes atually a very kind pony . but for even more help read wonders falling down and hey brother

^^^ there was meant to be a comma between wonders and falling down btw

5149374
While I can't quite give any suggestions myself, I can recommend a pair of authors that write a very good Spitfire and know her character rather well. Ruirik and Calm Wind are a good couple people (both of which are at Whinny City pony convention this weekend) to PM about this. I wish you the best of luck!

~SolidFire

5149950 I've read works by both authors, some of them ones which include Spitfire and are quite enjoyable in their own ways. I'll be sure to ask them for tips on writing Spitfire should anything specific come up. Thank you for the suggestion!