//------------------------------// // Heart to Heart // Story: Spitfire and Old Silver // by The FraudulentBrit //------------------------------// Spitfire and Old Silver Part 15; Heart to Heart Somewhere in time and space… Spitfire emerged from the tent, a few bandages gently placed throughout her bodies. The moment she was out in the open, she could feel the piercing sting of all the Wonderbolts staring down at her. In front of her, Rainbow Dash, in full flight suit, stepped forward, disappointment evident on her face. “Do you wanna explain to me what just happened?” Spitfire just looked down at the ground, shuffling her hoof, and replied, “I am so sorry.” “You should be.” Rainbow Dash angrily replied. “You changed a routine without my permission and put the rest of the team in danger. I’ve drilled out others for less.” Spitfire suddenly realized something was off. She didn’t remember crashing anywhere, and the last time she checked, she was captain of the Wonderbolts, not Rainbow Dash. And now that she thought about it, this entire conversation was very familiar. Spitfire then said, “Hold on, I think we’ve got this backwards.” “What?” Rainbow Dash asked, very clearly annoyed. “Yeah.” Spitfire continued. “You were the one who couldn’t stand your nickname and pulled that stupid stunt. It’s your fault, not mine.” Rainbow Dash’s response was swift. “Then how come you didn’t explain how EVERY Wonderbolt gets an embarrassing nickname?” Soarin then made his way to Spitfire and angrily asked, “Wait, you didn’t tell her?” Spitfire, suddenly feeling as if she were being ganged up on, tried to defend herself. “Well, you were the ones who thought her crash was funny.” Soarin then replied, “Yeah, but you told me it’s the captain’s job to explain the call-sign contingency?” Surprise was the next to speak up. “Yeah, besides, you’ve kept her so busy with cleaning the base I haven’t been able to apologize to her!” Spitfire finally lost her cool. “Oh, come on, It’s just a dumb nickname!” Rainbow Dash angrily replied, “It’s a name I’ve had to deal with all my life, and to be called it by my idol is just…” She was now shaking with rage. Rainbow Dash pulled out a pair of goggles from behind her, a pair that Spitfire was certain were hers. “…But now…” Rainbow Dash continued, before she took the goggles and crushed them in her wings. Spitfire was surprised by this decision. “Why would you do that?” she asked. Rainbow Dash, her voice now morphing into a powerful, mysterious, yet somehow familiar one, replied, “Well, it’s not like our wings are made of metal, right?” Spitfire felt some-pony’s hoof poke her shoulder. “WHAT?” She angrily said as she turned around, so consumed in annoyance that she failed to notice the gray fog that swiftly transformed the space around her from the field near Ponyville to a ship’s cabin. Now standing before her was a pony resembling a male version of Angel Wings in a blue double-breasted tunic. “Sir we have a problem.” Spitfire rolled her eyes and groaned before asking, “What is it?” it was only now that she realized that she was now in an entirely new location. “It’s Slip Shod sir.” The pony replied. He may have resembled a male Angel Wings, but he sounded noticeably older and more refined. Spitfire asked, “Ok, well what’s happened?” “What’s happened?” the mystery pony replied, starting to lose his temper but still trying to remain calm. “He’s dead.” “What?” Spitfire asked. “Well, what happened?” the mystery pony replied, “He strapped a cannonball to himself and threw himself off the ship.” He then took a deep breath before continuing, “I warned you this would happen.” “Well…” Spitfire began, trying to comprehend what she had just heard. “That’s a shame.” “A shame?!” the pony before her angrily asked. “A midship-pony commits suicide under OUR watch, because WE wouldn’t do anything about the rampant hazing that happened on YOUR ship, and you just dismiss it as a SHAME?!?” the pony then struggled to regain his composure, raising his wings to try and get calm again. “When we get to port, I am reporting what has happened, and if possible, request a transfer to any other ship possible, as long as it isn’t yours.” Spitfire didn’t take the last part too well. She could only say, “You wouldn’t dare.” The mystery pony snapped. He glared rusty daggers into Spitfire’s eyes as he roared, “DAMNIT NELSON! YOU JUST CAN’T ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY CAN YOU!?!” he then reached into his tunic and pulled out something small and silver. “May Celestia show you mercy, cause that boy’s family won’t be the only ones who won’t.” he coldly said as he slammed the item on the desk before Spitfire and stormed out of the cabin. Had that pony just called her “Nelson?” Sure they were pegasi, and they were captains, or rather “were” in Nelson’s case, but other than that they were almost polar opposites, right? Spitfire then noticed that the silver item the mystery pony had slammed on the desk was very familiar. It was a wing pony’s badge from the academy. And now that she remembered it, Angel Wings had also been a wing pony. At that moment something else caught Spitfire’s attention. Near the edge of the desk was a small mirror. The mirror itself was very unremarkable, just a plain small mirror that you would find at a store or vendor just about anywhere. What was really odd was the fact that it seemed that the pony in the reflection wasn’t the yellow mare that Spitfire was, but seemed to be a white stallion. When Spitfire took the mirror to get a closer look, she was surprised to see not her reflection but… “Nelson?” Spitfire found herself asking the reflection. “Sorry. Guess I didn’t explain every detail did I?” The reflection answered. Spitfire was so shocked to hear the reflection speak back that she dropped the mirror. The moment it hit the ground and shattered, the fog returned; it spread consumed the cabin, leaving Spitfire alone and confused once again. “What’s going on?” Spitfire asked out loud. As she realized where she was, she called out loud, “Princess Luna, what’s going on? Why is this happening?” In front of her, part of the fog cleared, revealing another table. Not exactly sure what she should be doing, Spitfire made her way to the table. The only thing on the table was a very familiar knife. “Is that…” Spitfire began to ask out loud. She reached forward and picked the knife up. Other than it’s familiar shape, something else about the knife made Spitfire feel very unsettled. On the handle of the knife was the inscription “Altius volantis” and the base of the handle had a print of the Wonderbolts emblem. As she inspected the blade further, Spitfire could swear she heard an echo of her own voice say, "Welcome to the Wonderbolts Crash. Heh heh heh." Regardless, Spitfire was so horrified to see that the blade that had caused so much pain was adorned with Wonderbolt branding that she was barely able to register the sounds of hoof steps from behind her. Considering how things had been going, she decided that she wasn’t going to risk any chances. Remembering her combat training, She swiftly spun around and made a slashing motion with the blade, hoping that it was just one of the Raiders or even Wind Rider. She was swiftly horrified as the blade made contact with a dark blue, red maned earth pony. The moment the knife made contact with him, he poofed into a cloud of dust, leaving only his hat. Spitfire screamed in shock as she realized what had just happened. “Was that…” She asked herself as she began to realize that the stallion was somewhat familiar. Reaching down, She picked up the hat to inspect it. It was a dark blue hat with a small red fluff sphere on the top while the rim had a red and white checkered pattern. If she didn’t know better she would have sworn it was a… “A Glengarry.” Once again, Spitfire heard more hoof steps from behind her. She quickly turned around, blade at the ready. Spitfire quickly realized what was in her wing and quickly dropped the weapon. However, there wasn’t any pony there. Instead, the hoof steps continued from behind her, growing louder. ‘Oh, I see.’ Spitfire thought to herself. She waited for a few moments, until whoever it was was now behind her, she rotated herself and smacked whoever it was. Spitfire was shocked to see her brother falling to the ground before he too puffed into a cloud of dust. She was once again horrified at what she had seen, or rather, what she had done. From all around her, she began to hear voices calling her out. One was Rainbow Dash, saying, “Did you hire those guys so we wouldn’t need Silver? I can’t believe you!” then Soarin’s voice angrily asked, “You have any other sibling you haven’t told us about?” Soon enough, other voices continued to insult her. “You’re just a great big tool, you know that?” “You can’t call me that.” Each one was from one of her friends or Silver’s friends calling her out on her horrible behavior. As Spitfire tried to block out the insults and criticism, holding her hooves to her ears, she was surprised to see large mirrors rising from the ground. Unlike the previous mirror, however, these ones were too foggy to make out the reflection. It hadn’t helped that once they appeared, the other voices were being drowned out by a very familiar voice repeating the same line over and over again. “You and I are exactly the same.” Wind Rider’s voice repeated on loop, complete with the scratching hiccup from a record on loop. “No, I am nothing like Wind Rider!” Spitfire angrily called out. However, the voice continued, even multiplying. “No, I’m not like him!” Spitfire continued. Perhaps the worst part was that the mirrors were starting to clear themselves. However, it wasn’t Spitfire’s reflection that she saw in them. It was Wind Rider’s reflection, and each one was continuing with chanting, “You and I are exactly the same.” They continued, growing louder and louder, so much that Spitfire couldn’t take it any longer. “No no no no NO NO NO NO!!” she shouted, desperately trying to drown out the multiple Wind Riders. She was so focused on this futile task that she didn’t see one of the mirrors was now dominated by a reflection of Nightmare Moon, who cast a spell blinding Spitfire and forcing her back into the waking world. The Pit Hospital Tent Spitfire awoke with a cold sweat and screaming, “I AM NOTHING LIKE HIM!” she found herself breathing heavily in her bed in the Hospital Tent. “So, it was a dream?” Spitfire asked herself, catching her breath from the nightmare. Looking around, Spitfire didn’t see any other ponies there and sighed in relief, thankful no one heard that. “You ok Spitfire?” Scootaloo asked from the other end of the room. So much for no pony noticing. “I think so.” Spitfire replied, not exactly lying, but hardly telling the truth. Scootaloo didn’t buy it. “You sure? Because you didn’t sound like it.” She replied. Spitfire sighed and answered, “This is all my fault.” Scootaloo was shocked to hear Spitfire say this. “I mean, it’s because of me Wind Rider has done all this, and it’s because of me that you’re here.” Scootaloo was now surprised to see that Spitfire was… crying? True enough, Spitfire’s eyes were starting to tear up and her speech was starting to break. “Can I ask you a question kid?” she meekly asked. Scootaloo nodded. Spitfire asked, “Have you and Rainbow Dash ever gotten into any, say, arguments?” Scootaloo let out a little laugh and replied, “All the time. If it’s not her getting upset at me for getting in trouble with my friends, it’s me calling her out for her not keeping her pride in check.” Spitfire didn’t expect this answer. “But, how come you two always seem to get along?” She asked. Scootaloo shrugged and replied, “Well, it’s not always easy, but we make it work because we care about each other.” Scootaloo asked, “Why are you asking me about this?” Spitfire sighed and answered, “Because I just realized I’ve been a horrible sister.” The resignation in her voice made it clear that this was genuine. “And I’ve been so focused on chasing him away that I’ve driven off my friends and my team. I bet even my mom wouldn’t want me around.” Spitfire now started sniffling as she tried to maintain her composures. “But I just couldn’t stand being stuck in his shadow.” Her voice cracked as Spitfire finally gave into her fitful sobbing. Scootaloo had never seen Spitfire this vulnerable. Sure she had met Spitfire more than a few times, and she even remembered her trying to convince her to not idolize the Washouts (if constant shouting the same thing over and over again could be considered helping). Spitfire was always considered the toughest and sternest of all the Wonderbolts, and possibly of all ponies and Equestria. But now here she was, struggling to hold in her tears as if she would lose everything if she showed her true colors. It was as if some pony else had body snatched her, or rather, if the Spitfire that every pony knew was a lie, and she was now looking at the real Spitfire. Scootaloo made her way over to Spitfire and said, “Look, I don’t hold anything against you.” Spitfire was able to halt her sniffling and replied, “Thanks.” Scootaloo then added, “However, we both know that I’m not the one you need to apologize to.” Spitfire sighed and nodded in resignation. She then got out of the bed and started to make her way to the exit. Scootaloo asked, “You do know where he is, right?” “Of course.” Spitfire replied. “He’s…” she stopped when she realized that she, once again, didn’t know which way to go. Scootaloo, after having a brief coughing fit, said, “He should be with Flint. You know where his tent is.” The Pit, Flint’s tent. Flint, Rainbow Dash, and Old Silver sat in front of a small campfire, cooking a small stew. Even without his metal wings, the sailor was still sad competent as ever as a cook. Silver was focusing on the stew so much that he failed to notice Rainbow Dash trying to get his attention. “Hey Silver!” “Huh?” He replied glumly, as if he hadn’t even noticed her earlier attempts. “I was asking when’s lunch gonna be ready?” Silver rolled his eyes and replied, “A few more minutes. Hope your stomach isn’t eating itself.” Flint then added, “So, I hear you took charge on the way here.” Silver began to blush lightly and replied, “Well, someone had to take charge. Besides, someone needed to keep the Wonderbolts from wearing themselves out.” Flint reassured Silver, saying, “Rainbow Dash here told me about everything last night. Seems the others think you make a fine captain.” Silver sighed and glumly replied, “Not that it matters much now.” “I wouldn’t say that.” Rainbow Dash added. “You got us down here to Botany Bay, you stood up to that Thick Hide fella, and you took charge on the plan to rescue Flint and Scootaloo. I’d say we might still have a chance.” “I don’t know.” Silver replied. “Right now we’re frogs in milk jugs. The only difference is I think the jug we’re in is filled with water instead of milk.” Rainbow Dash had to admit to herself that seeing Silver, the pony who breathed charisma and every pony looked up to, appearing to give up gave her the feeling that there was no hope. Note even being stranded on a deserted island and seeing Twilight get chased off for losing her temper didn’t make her feel like this. “Hey guys.” A meek and vaguely familiar voice said from behind Silver. All three turned to see none other than Spitfire. “What do you want?” Rainbow Dash angrily asked. Flint didn’t hold back either. “Filly, you better give me a reason not to kick your sorry flank all over this dirt-hole.” Perhaps the most haunting thing was the fact that Silver didn’t say anything. He just gave Spitfire a glare that made it absolutely clear what he would have done if he actually thought it would accomplish something. It seemed that the fact he no longer cared was the only thing that spared Spitfire from anymore bruises. Silver was expecting Spitfire to attack him and blame him for her bruises, or to insult him and say that he should have known about how the rescue plan would fail. “Silver, I…” Spitfire shamefully began, looking down to her hooves as she just moved one in circles. Now that was entirely unexpected. Had Spitfire finally called her brother by his preferred name? This certainly got every pony’s attention. Silver, flabbergasted at what he just heard, stepped forward toward his sister. Rainbow Dash moved towards Flint and whispered, “Did she just say what I think she did?” Flint simply nodded. Spitfire repeated herself. “Silver, I…” Silver sighed and shook his head. “Just because you finally learned my name doesn’t count for much anymore. So do me a favor and piss off.” He then started to turn around, purposely kicking up a cloud of dust in her face. “Silver, I’m sorry!” A good minute passed in silence as every pony tried to comprehend what just happened. Silver was the first to speak up. “Did you just…” Spitfire, who was now bleeding tears and failing to control her breathing. “I’m sorry, alright? I’m sorry about your wings, I’m sorry I hired the Raiders, I’m sorry I went behind your back, I’m sorry I never learned your name, I’m sorry about getting you guys stuck here, and I’m sorry that it’s all my fault!” Spitfire managed to blabber out, chopped breathing interrupted by her noticeably running nose. Rainbow Dash had never seen her captain like this. Sure, she had seen Spitfire take off the commanding mask on a few occasions. But now, she couldn’t recognize the pony who was a crying before her. Silver, on the other hoof, didn’t have an answer to the sight before him. All his life, Spitfire had been the proud, pompous glory hound. She was captain of the Wonderbolts, famous celebrity, and idol and role model for all fillies and colts. But that wasn’t the mare before him. This was a broken mare, some pony who had gazed into the heart of darkness and realized what they had become. “I am so, so sorry.” Spitfire managed to let out. “I know this doesn’t change much, and you don’t have to put up with me anymore. I’m just so sorry it took me this long to realize why.” She then straightened herself and began to walk away, her head held in shame. “Spitfire!” Silver called out. Spitfire turned around to see her brother walking up to her. The expression on his face was just as furious as before. She knew what was going to happen, but this time, she stood tall and proud, ready to take whatever he was willing to dish out. After all, she deserved it. She was duly surprised to feel her brother wrap his hooves around her tightly, him shaking from the light giggling he couldn’t contain. “I have waited so long to hear you say those two words.” Spitfire began to cry again. “But I thought you’d still be angry. After everything I’ve done…” Silver then held his sister by the hooves and gently yet firmly stated, “I am gonna be honest, I can’nae just let everything go because you apologized. And I’ll admit that it will always kind of be there. But if anything, you’ve just shown me that you can change. I can see it in your eyes.” Spitfire, however, still felt some doubt. “To be honest, right now I can’t forgive myself.” Silver immediately added, “Right now, neither can I. But, I think we have something we can work on. Maybe one day things can be pretty good between us, but for now, I just want to say…” Spitfire was now surprised to see Silver’s eyes were starting to tear up. Silver then wrapped her in another hug and managed to choke out, “Thank you little sis.” Spitfire found herself returning the embrace as well as tears of her own. Rainbow Dash was pleasantly surprised by the sight before her. Of course, Silver hadn’t forgiven Spitfire (and at this point, who would). However, he had accepted her apology and it seemed that they would at least be civil with each other as well as work on their relationship. “Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo’s voice called from behind her. Rainbow Dash turned to see Scootaloo dashing towards her, complete with a very cross Gin Tonic in tow. “Squirt, what are you doing out here?” Rainbow Dash asked, concerned for Scootaloo’s health. She noticed that Scootaloo’s flank was now flashing. Realizing what it meant, Rainbow Dash turned to see that her own flank was also glowing. “We did it Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo said excitedly, jumping up and down as her wings buzzed. “Heh. I guess we did.” Rainbow Dash said exhaustedly yet finally relieved. Silver and Spitfire made their way over to the two pseudo-sisters. “So, you two forgive each other?” Scootaloo asked excitedly. “Not exactly.” Silver replied. Spitfire added, “Instead, we decided that now we have a chance to start making things up, isn’t that right?” she playfully nudged her brother, who returned the favor. At that moment, a very familiar and very, very unpleasant voice spoke up, “Now isn’t that sweet?” Rainbow Dash began, “Hey, that sounds like…” “Thick Hide.” Silver grumbled as a very familiar gray pony in blue walked up to the small group. “Hi.” He introduced himself with a long and drawn out response. Silver tried to make his way to the Raider, but Gin Tonic blocked him. “Relax mate. He’s on our side.” “What?” Spitfire asked in surprise and confusion. Scootaloo found herself pressing herself against Rainbow Dash, who called out, “But that guy is one of the Raiders!” Thick Hide pulled something out of his shirt and, as he tossed it to Silver, replied, “Well, I had to be able to get information to you kids somehow.” Silver managed to grab the item Thick Hide had tossed. “What is it lad?” Flint asked. “Some sort of gemstone I think.” Silver replied. Sure enough, it was a red gemstone shaped like a diamond. Thick Hide added, “That there was part of the down payment.” Scootaloo made her way over to the group and commented, “That diamond looks like it’s made of frozen blood.” “Wait, Blood? Diamond?” Silver asked out loud. Suddenly, every pony realized who exactly was standing before him. Thick Hide spoke again, this time in a voice that sounded more like the residents of Botany Bay, but still a little bit off. “And now two and two make four.” He said as his body began to shimmer. A bright light consumed thick Hide as the other ponies had to shield their eyes. When the light died down, Thick Hide was replaced with a red unicorn with a light blue mane. “So, I guess it’s time for a proper introduction.” The unicorn said to the group. “I’m Blood Diamond.”