//------------------------------// // An Unlikely Trio // Story: Spitfire: WonderBolt-Hood // by Rattus and The Victor //------------------------------// "Hey! Wait up!" Spitfire whined as Fleetfoot and Soarin walked ahead of her. It had been a couple of days now since they had embarked together as a trio. Spitfire couldn't help but feel a little warm inside to have this company, though she would never admit it to them. "If we want to get to the next town to find some more food besides what we can find out here than we shouldn pick up our hooves!!" Fleetfoot rebutted. Spitfire angrily flapped her wings on her back but knew Fleetfoot was right, normally she was the one barking at the group to keep going. "But anyway," she could hear Soarin saying. "My wing should be all healed up now, and I was wondering if you foals wanted to see if you could win a race against me once we finally get somewhere comfortable." Fleetfoot excitedly jumping in the air. "Oh you're on, mister, My-Dad-Is-A-Wonderbolt!" "Reserve actually." Soarin corrected her. The twosome looked back at Spitfire for her response. "Oh, um..." she said, feebely flapping the wings on her back. "I-I don't know." Soarin looked to her with concern. "Is something wrong? I mean, I know me and Fleetfoot have been bragging a little about how talented we are, but I am sure the daughter of the Stormy Flare-!" "I-I can't fly." Spitfire said, looking at the ground with shame. "Can't fly?" Fleetfoot and Soarin said in unison. "But how did you get around CloudsDale then?" Fleetfoot asked. "Look, I didn't because I don't even live in CloudsDale and I only get to see my oh so important and evidently well known mother once a year!" "Well I don't think it matters if you can fly or not." Soarin piped up. "You're still an okay pony in my book." "You don't even know me..." she mumbled under her breath. "But thanks. You're okay too. Both of you. And what is a Wonderbolt by the way?" Both of her companions dropped their jaws and looking back and forth at eachother. "Whh-what's a Wonderbolt?!" Fleetfoot repeated. "Only the coolest, most awesome, daring and elite flying team in all of Equesrtia!" "Yeah!" Soarin added, "Their performances are so enchanting that they actually can produce magic lightning and dust from the wonder and enigmatic harmony of the crowd!" Spitfire giggled. "I will suspend my disbelief a little at that Soarin." "What? But it is true!" "I'll wait until I see it with my own eyes." "Soarin!" his mother called. "Coming mom!" he replied, running down the stairs. The aroma of freshly baked pie danced around the kitchen, causing his mouth to water and for him to dreamily fly over to his seat. His mothers cutie mark wan't an apple pie with a slice taken out of it for no reason after all! He always wondered why she hadn't changed her name to more fit her cutiemark as was customary of most when they got it. "Now who is going to ace that math test tomorrow?" Whirlbreeze asked. Through a mouthful of pie he mouthed "Me! Me!" as he raise his hoof. "And I know you're nervous about it, but you are going to do how you are going to do, so don't stress out too much over it, okay?" Soarin nodded as he dove into his pie. Suddenly a knock at the door sounded. "Who could that be at this time?" Whirlbreeze asked herself as she went to answer it. Slightly irritated and even down trodden, she came back with a wing full of Wonderbolt trinkets. "From your dad. He wanted to see you but I told him you were busy studying." Soarin marveled over the trinkets for a moment, before beginning to head back up into his room once he had finished his pie. "Soarin?" his mother called. "You- you will always be my little baby, you know that?" Soarin rolled his eyes. Moms were always saying stuff like this. "Yeah, just like you will always be my mom!" he cheerfully called back. He attempted to make his way up the staircase one more time to study for his test only to be called again by her. "Soarin?" "Yes mom?" he asked, slightly annoyed now. "If-if anything ever happens to you, promise me you'll be okay and do the wise thing, alright?" "What?" Soarin responded, extremely confused. "What makes yous say that mom?" Whirlbreeze looked out the window and sighed. "You never know where life is going to take you, and I can't always be in control of what happens to you. Unexpected adventures and journeys are always just a hoof step away, you never know when you are going to start or get sucked into one." Soarin awkwardly giggled and rolled is eyes. "Okay mom. I promise I will be safe and do the wise thing. Besides, I can handle myself if anything ever happened!" Whirlbreeze raised an eyebrow. "W-well, I will at least try my best. I am sorry mom, I know you worry, I am just trying to tell you what you want to hear." "Well don't," Whirlbreeze scolded. "Only tell me what needs to be said, not what I want to hear, even if you think it will hurt me." Soarin uncomfortably shuffled on his hooves. "Alright mom, I am sorry." His mother smiled, "It's alright Soarin, but you should really be upstairs studying for your test." * * * "So what town do you think we are in now?" Soarin asked excitedly Spitfire, who was looking at the map on the ground. "It's hard to say." she said, "But there is a good chance we are in Ponyville." Fleetfoot sighed, "What a bland name for a bland town." "Hey! It's not bland!" Soarin defended, "It's...it's..." "Rustic?" Fleetfoot offered. "Quiet both of you!" Spitfire yelled. "We can agree to disagree. Now we really need to stop here and see if we can stock up on supplies." "How exactly are we getting some of the supplies anyway...?" Fleetfoot asked, narrowing her eyes. "None of us really have bits, but I notice you sneaking off to shops when it gets really tough." "I brought an emergency stash with me." Spitfire said after a moment. "Kinda thought it was best I didn't say anything about it." Fleetfoot seemed offended at first, "What? Did you not trust me?" Spitfire stepped a few paces back. "No, no, its not that. I just didn't want us to argue over it, we have enough on our hooves already." Soarin suddenly butted in. "Hey guys, do you know what I just realized?" "What?" both fillies said in unison. "None of us have our cutie marks!" "What a keen observation." Fleetfoot said blandly. "No, don't you get it, maybe this had to happen for us to get it!" Spitfire eyes Soarin up. "I think you might be getting sick or delirious, as that is ridiculous. No two ponies share the same destiny and they do not need anypony else to help them figure it out." Fleetfoot nodded in agreement. "While it is a nice thought, it is just kinda silly the more you think about it." Soarin lowered his head to the ground and sighed. "Yeah, I guess not everything is possible." The three stood in silence for a moment before something unexpected happened. As they were beginning to tun their backs and head into town they all felt an intense shock wave that blew back their manes and they closed their eyes and ducked in shock for a moment-before looking up to the sky. "Wha-a- what?!" Soarin stuttered, the words carelessly falling out of his mouth could not begin to describe what they saw before them. Lighting up the sky with the majesty of every bright color on the spectrum, a sonic rainboom leaked across the sky. The colors screamed and bled beauty and passion, its shriek could be faintly heard still in the distance. The threesome were stunned as they watched the colors finally wash away from the sky. They were not sure what words could follow up such radiance. They looked back and forth at each other a few times, as if to confirm what they had just seen. None of them had ever seen something so captivating and awe-inspiring. After what felt like an eternity passed, Soarin breathed, "W-woah, a-a..." "SONIC RAINBOOM!!!" Fleetfoot lost herself. "I thought it was just an Old Mares tale, I mean can you believe it?! What we just witnessed?! It was- it was....!" she stomped around in the dirt, holding her head with her hooves. "Magic..." Spitfire said, still looking up at the sky. "Told ya'!" Soarin bragged, confidently jumping up the air and flapping his wings with pride. "Well, you got me there Soarin." Spitfire admitted. "I guess there really is some magic to pegasus flight after all." "Actually..." Fleetfoot said, "There is a little, well, a lot of science behind it, but well, there is magic too." Spitfire gained a determined look. She flapped her wings on her back, before attempting to jump in the air and take flight, but all she was able to do was lift herself off the ground. Embarrassed, she swiftly landed. "You know..." Soarin said, a coy smile spreading across his face, "Even though there is magic to it, you still need a lot of practice to actually take off and go. And well, me and Fleetfoot here are both gifted fliers..." "I wouldn't say that but, what are you getting at?" Fleetfoot asked before it dawned on her. "Oh! I am so in!" Spitfire looked at both of them with a confused look. "We can help teach you how to fly!" Soarin finally got out, he was already excitedly rising in the air thinking about it. Spitfire looked shyly at the two of them, titling her head as if to ask if this was a joke. "While I appreciate that, I don't think it is going to happen." she finally said sternly. "We already have-" "So much on our hooves already," Fleetfoot said, bending her hooves imitating quotation marks. "We could do with some more fun on this trip, you know." "Well, constantly embarrassing yourself isn't fun for me." Spitfire said, her nose turned up in the air. "Hey, look," Soarin said, a seriousness filling him, "The first step to being good at something is to first be awful at it-or that's what my mom always says. Please, just try, you never know what might become of it." She raised an eyebrow. "Like your cutie mark delusion?" "Exactly!" he said, confidently crossing one leg over the other. She sighed, "You two are impossible, you know?" "But we are also all you've got!" Fleetfoot reminded her.