Spitfire and Wasp

by The FraudulentBrit

Meet the Wonderbolts

Spitfire awoke from a long night’s sleep with the odd feeling of something being off. “Ugh.” She groaned as she struggled to remove the effects of the sand-mare from her eyes.

It had been two days since she met Wasp’s new social worker, the sophisticated yet somewhat arrogant Black Adder. He had suggested that Spitfire introduce a schedule to Wasp, giving him everything from a time to be up by to a designated bedtime. Though he found these restrictions somewhat odd at first, the young Halfling had adapted in stride. By this point Spitfire could expect that he would be up by 8:30.

It was at this moment that Spitfire realized something. Today was the day that the Wonderbolts would resume practice following the attack on the Derby. “Oh no.” Spitfire began to internally panic. She needed to report to the Wonderbolts’ academy before the rest of the team arrived so that she could begin going over the team’s routines and inspect the base, but she knew that this was the kind of work that only some-pony like her could find interesting. Wasp would almost certainly find these sorts of tasks incredibly boring, and Spitfire knew that it wouldn’t be fair to put him through so much boredom.

As she continued to panic, Spitfire remembered something else. “Of course! Black Adder!” She remembered that, for the last few days, Black Adder would show up early and check up on her and Wasp. Taking a deep breath, Spitfire sighed as she made her way to her desk. Pulling out a piece of paper and pen, she began to write a letter to for Wasp so that he could know where she was if he woke up early or wondered where she had gone.

After finishing her letter, Spitfire noticed the time. It was almost 7:15, and she had to be at the Wonderbolts’ Academy in fifteen minutes. “Oh crap!” Spitfire said as she began to panic. Knowing she couldn’t be late, Spitfire began to put on her instructor’s uniform. Once she had finished her tie and slipped on her jacket. Once she was all dressed up, she darted to the kitchen, pulled a muffin out of the pantry, wholfed it down, set the letter for Wasp on the kitchen table, and started to make her way to the door. Before she could open it, however, she was surprised to see Black Adder, clad in his olive-khaki suit and cap, open the door.

“Ah, Captain.” Black Adder greeted Spitfire as he entered the house. As he stepped forward, he jovially asked, “Sleep well?”

“Not now Black Adder!” Spitfire angrily demanded. “I need to get to the base now!” She tried to get passed Black Adder, but he extended his wing to block her. The somewhat friendly expression on his face quickly hardened as he asked, “Where is Wasp?”

Spitfire groaned and, irritation seeping from her voice, replied, “I gotta get to the base. I left a letter on the kitchen table.” She didn’t have time for Black Adder prodding her, and she didn’t have time for his seemingly endless criticism.

As she tried to move past him, Black Adder held his bat wing out, blocking her again as he asked, “Alright, so you’re telling me that you’re leaving Wasp here all alone, and the only clue as to your whereabouts that you’re leaving him is a NOTE?”

Spitfire was about to reply when she realized that Black Adder was right. It didn’t help that he then asked, “Tell me captain, do you know if he can read?” “Huh?” The Wonderbolt captain asked. Black Adder sighed and, rubbing his face with his bat wings, sighed and said, “This is incredibly irresponsible behavior captain, and to say you are miraculously lucky that I decided to stop by early is as much as an understatement as saying Cozy Glow had a few emotional problems.”

Spitfire found herself growing increasingly infuriated by Black Adder’s questions. However, the bat-pony simply stepped out of the way and said, “Go on to your little playground. I’ll look after Wasp and bring him over later today.” He then trotted up to Spitfire until he was muzzle to muzzle with her and very sternly continued, “I expect that this will not happen again. Am I clear?” Spitfire could only growl out, “Crystal clear.” She then shot towards the sky, hoping to put as much distance between her and Black Adder as possible.

As the sun began to shine into through the window, Wasp began to stir from his bed. He had had a rather pleasant night’s sleep, even having a dream where he remembered to say Spitfr…. Spiffy…. Fire Spitter’s name correctly. “Ugh. Why Wasp having trouble with names?” The young Halfling muttered to himself as he began to rise from his bed.

Wasp’s train of thought was interrupted by the sound of the alarm clock going off. The sudden loud buzzing began to eat away at Wasp as he held his hands over his ears as he hovered over the clock, fiddling with the device with his front hooves. “How does Wasp turn annoying machine off?” he asked himself, struggling to remember how Spitfire turned it off.

After a few minutes of fruitless struggle, Wasp couldn’t take it any longer. “Grrrraaaaaagggghhh! Wasp has had it with tiny box!” He then grabbed the alarm clock, pulling its power cord out of the wall, and slammed it into the floor before stomping on it. Once the clock was reduced to several pieces of broken plastic and cables, he stared down the mess and gloated, “Wasp one, tiny box zero.”

It was then that, to Wasp’s surprise, Black Adder entered, wearing an olive khaki coat with a shirt, tie, and a khaki cap. The older bat-pony noticed the ruined alarm clock and quipped, “Good morning Wasp. I see you couldn’t find the snooze button?” Wasp held his head low in shame as he replied, “Wasp is sorry. Fire Spitter usually turns tiny box off.”

Wasp then noticed that Spitfire wasn’t with Black Adder. “Where is Fire Spitter?” He asked, starting to panic. Black Adder placed one of his wings on Wasp’s shoulder and answered, “Spitfire needed to go the Wonderbolt’s base. You and I are going to visit her later today.”

Wasp, tilting his head in confusion, asked, “Where is Wonderbolt’s base?” Black Adder, a smile forming on his face, answered, “It’s here in Cloudsdale. We can go later today.” “Ok.” Wasp answered dejectedly. “Wasp just wish Fire Spitter could show Wasp base.”

“Don’t worry.” Black Adder reassured the young Halfling. “You know, maybe she can give you the guided tour when we get there?” Wasp’s eyes began to shine as he enthusiastically asked, “Really?” Black Adder happily replied, “You bet. Now, how about I go make you some breakfast?” Before Wasp could reply, his stomach began to roar, nodded yes. “Very well then.” Black Adder replied.

As Black Adder and Wasp entered the kitchen, Black Adder began to go through the pantry, hoping to find something Wasp would find appetizing. After a few moments, he found some waffle mix. “Ah, this will put a spring in his step.” The older bat-pony said to himself. He turned to see Wasp staring at him and ask, “What bat-pony doing?” Black Adder answered, “I’m going to make us some waffles.” “What are waffles?” Wasp asked. Black Adder replied, “Just you wait.”

After a few minutes working a pan (Which Black Adder figured had not been properly washed), the older bat-pony was able to whip up a decent plate of waffles for Wasp and himself. As he brought the plate to the table, Wasp began to drool. “Waffles smell good.” The young Halfling said in an almost trance like tone. As Black Adder began to place a few waffles on a smaller plate for Wasp, he replied, “Oh they are. Made with army elbow grease.”

To say that Wasp found the waffles tasty would be a great understatement. The moment even one morsel touched his long yellow tongue, he began to tear them apart, gobbling them up like a broken vacuum cleaner. As much as the sight of what Black Adder would consider the antithesis of good table manners, seeing Wasp so content made his heart feel warm. After finishing the waffles, Wasp noticed the mess and asked, “Bat-pony want Wasp to help clean up mess?” Black Adder replied, “I would like that very much.”

As the two began to clean the mess, Wasp noticed that Black Adder’s seat had a large paper with several black markings on it with pictures. He remembered that symbols like these were on massive collections of papers and on the jars and tubes back in Megaton’s lair. This didn’t help the fact that they still puzzled him, and Wasp now found himself enthralled, and he began to buzz around the paper.

“Wasp, what are you doing?” Black Adder asked as he noticed Wasp had been distracted. Wasp turned to face the older bat-pony and asked, “What are markings on paper?” Black Adder looked at the newspaper and replied, “It’s a newspaper, and those are letters.” “What are letters?” Wasp asked innocently, unaware of the growing look of concern on his face.

Black Adder’s worst fear was coming true. He took the news paper and, trying to remain as calm as possible, asked, “So, you don’t know what these symbols do you?” Wasp, as innocent as ever, replied, “Wasp thinks he knows, but doesn’t know what they are. Megaton used pictures with us.”

So Wasp really was illiterate. Black Adder sighed and said, “After we finish cleaning up, I think I know a few games we can play before we go see Spitfire.” “Wasp never played a game before.” The Halfling replied. Black Adder simply rested his wing on Wasp’s head and replied, “I think you’ll like this one.

“Look out Spitfire!” Soarin called out to Spitfire as she drifted too close to one of the others, nearly crashing. Realizing her situation, Spitfire was forced to bail and break off from the rest of the team.

So far this had been an absolutely horrible day for Spitfire. Not only had she nearly overslept, but she received a verbal lashing and thinly veiled insult from Black Adder, arrived at the Wonderbolts’ Base late, and now could barely focus on the tasks ahead of her. No matter how much she tried to focus on the routine, her mind kept returning to Wasp. The thought of the young child was constantly distracting her, and she found herself performing incredibly poorly, almost as bad as the worst recruits on their first days.

After breaking off, Rainbow Dash and Soarin flew up to Spitfire, worry evident on their faces. Rainbow Dash asked, “Ma’am, I know we all have off days, but you’ve been having near collisions all morning.” Soarin then added, “Yeah, there something bugging you?”

Spitfire wanted to tell them what was going on, but something kept telling her not to. She was captain of the Wonderbolts, and she needed to keep her personal life separate from her work life, and right now Wasp was not part of her work life.

Taking a deep breath, Spitfire answered, “Yeah, I just didn’t get enough sleep.” Soarin and Rainbow Dash gave each other knowing looks as the former answered, “I dunno. I’ve seen you fly when you’re tired, and you’re never this distracted. Something’s bugging you.” Rainbow Dash replied, “Yeah, even I can tell that.

Spitfire knew what she had to do. “Guys, I’m fine!” She sternly replied as she slipped into her drill instructor mode. “And we’re wasting time talking about my sleep cycle. Form up!” Rainbow Dash, Soarin, and the other Wonderbolts followed their captain’s orders and returned to their positions as Spitfire returned to her place at the front of the team. She then turned to the others and called out, “Ok team, one more time from the top.”

Once again, the Wonderbolts began the practice run of their new routine. As the team soared through the skies above their base, Spitfire couldn’t help but feel right at home. After all, this was the place where she was always most comfortable. She began to wonder what it would be like for Wasp to be this high. Would he feel as comfortable as she did up here? Would he be able to sustain flight this high or be able to walk on non-enchanted clouds? Would Wasp….

*Crash!* Spitfire was so distracted by the thought of her and Wasp flying together that she allowed her mind to drift again. This time, however, she crashed right into Fleet Foot, sending both mares plummeting towards the base’s lake. As the other Wonderbolts began to gather around the lake, Spitfire and Fleet Foot emerged, both soaking wet and the former covered in green algae.

Fleet Foot, shaking herself dry, angrily asked her captain, “Ok, what the hay is going on?” Before she could answer, Spitfire stopped herself as she thought to herself, ‘If I tell them now, it could distract the team. They can’t know right now.’

Taking a deep breath, Spitfire answered, “Not now. I’ll explain everything after we finish.” The other Wonderbolts gave each other confused looks, unsure as to what exactly their captain was admitting. When Fleet Foot gave her a look that made it clear she didn’t buy it, Spitfire slammed her hoof down as she firmly asked, “Am I clear?”

“Yes Ma’am.” Fleet Foot replied as she saluted Spitfire as she took to the air to rejoin the team. Spitfire hesitated for a moment, briefly wondering what Wasp would think of the water. She was shaken out of her thinking when Rainbow Dash called for her, and she returned to rejoin her team.

Wiping the sweat off of her brow and face with a towl, Spitfire couldn’t help but realize today had been an absolutely horrible day. No matter how hard she tried, the image of Wasp kept creeping back into her mind, and she’d either perform poorly at best, or have another collision at worst. As she began to inspect her reflection in the mirror in her locker, Spitfire realized how worn out and exhausted she looked. Her mane was drooping and she had small but noticeable bags under eyes.

Still, Spitfire knew that before she could leave, there was something she had to do. ‘Better now than never.’ She thought to herself. Though part of her wanted to keep Wasp a secret, she knew that Black Adder was right when he told her she’d have to tell them.

Taking a deep breath, Spitfire turned to face the other Wonderbolts, completely unaware that Fleet Foot, Rainbow Dash, Surprise, and Soarin had been whispering to each other. Ignorant of this, Spitfire began to speak. “Alright every-pony, great work out there today.” As the other Wonderbolts nodded in agreement, Spitfire continued, “And now the other important issue. You see, I….”

“Not quite yet Captain.” Fleet Foot interrupted as she, Rainbow Dash, and Soarin stepped forward, cheeky and mischievous grins plastered on their faces. Spitfire groaned and replied, “Not now guys. I need to explain something.” Soarin then added, “You forgot to announce the day’s worst flier.” Spitfire sighed as she answered, “I think that’s pretty obvious. That would be….”

It was then that Spitfire realized what the others had been whispered, and her fears were confirmed when Fleet Foot presented a broom and dust bin. At this moment, Spitfire remembered Black Adder’s criticism of her, and remembered that she hadn’t seen Wasp all day.

“I know we have our little tradition.” Spitfire began, this time sporting an uncharacteristic nervous smile. “But I think that this time we should just ignore it.” Fleet Foot took the broom and dust bin and stepped forward, her mischievous smile morphing into the kind of smile one wears to hide frustration. The blue mare then countered, “Oh no, you’re not getting out of it today, especially after that stunt at the lake.” Rainbow Dash then added, “Yeah, besides, you taught me that no-pony is above the rules.”

Spitfire began to sweat nervously, especially as some of the other Wonderbolts began to slink out of the locker room. Still, she was captain of the Wonderbolts, and she was not going to let Fleet Foot or any-pony try and push her around. Stepping towards her subordinate, she began to sternly retort, “I will not be cleaning the base up tonight because…” She was interrupted when Fleet Foot angrily replied, “I don’t care what excuse you have Ma’am. You were the worst flier today, and the worst flier has to clean the base up.”

Spitfire didn’t like the challenging tone in Fleet Foot’s voice. As Spitfire began to take an intimidating pose, she asked, “Are you threatening me Fleet Foot?” As Soarin and Rainbow Dash began to back away, realizing the situation had escalated from playful teasing to something a little more serious, Fleet Foot exploded with anger.

“I’m not challenging you ma’am!” Fleet Foot shouted as she shoved the broom into her captain’s chest. She then bellowed, “I’m just asking you to do your part and clean the base like a good little filly!” She was surprised to see how much force she had used, only realizing her strength when Spitfire was sent tumbling backwards, hitting her head on her locker door with a surprisingly large amount of force.

This was a horrible mistake.

From the door, Spitfire and the remaining Wonderbolts heard a youthful yet scratchy voice angrily callout, “Red Eyes hurt Fire Spitter!” Spitfire, Fleet Foot, and the others turned to see a small green creature that resembled a changeling staring the group, specifically Fleet Foot, down with an anger none of them ever thought they’d see. As the creature’s breathing turned into animalistic growling, Spitfire could only mutter, “Oh crap.”

Wasp had seen everything. He saw the light blue pony with red eyes shove Spitfire with the fancy stick. He saw Spitfire tumble backwards and hurt her head. Wasp had seen something like this many times. His mind recalled the time Megaton had done the same to him, forcing him to clean all of the Halfling pods or face his wrath. But now Spitfire was on the receiving end of the abuse, and he would not allow the other pony to get away with this.

“Wasp…” The young Halfling began, fury dripping from his mandibles with his saliva. Fleet Foot saw the creature and annoyingly asked, “What the heck is that thing?” Spitfire gulped in fear, not sure what was going to happen. Wasp then continued, “…will…” Rainbow Dash then leaned close to Soarin and whispered, “I got a bad feeling about this.”

“TERRORIZE!” Wasp bellowed with uncontrollable fury as he charged towards Fleet Foot, who was too shocked to respond until she found herself tackled by the young Halfling. If it wasn’t the slashing from Wasp’s clawed hands that snapped Spitfire back to reality, it was the sight of Wasp widening his jaws, letting out a horrifying cry, and clamped his jaws on Fleet Foot’s throat.

As Spitfire tried to make her way up to the fighting duo, Fleet Foot managed to remove Wasp and, to Spitfire and the other’s horror, slam him into the floor, spitting out, “FREAK!” “Wasp is not freak! No one calls Wasp freak!” Wasp bellowed as he began to tear up, his voice returning to it’s normal, vulnerable tone.

Spitfire charged forward and placed herself between Fleet Foot and Wasp. She then bellowed, “You lay one FEATHER on him and I’ll tear you limb from limb!” Fleet Foot, barely able to comprehend what was happening, angrily replied, “That monster tried to kill me, and it’s one of the creatures from the attack!”

“His name is Wasp.” Spitfire calmly yet angrily defended her young ward. “And you don’t hurt him.” Fleet Foot shot Wasp an angry glare, forcing the Halfling to back up as he shrunk into himself in fear. As it seemed that Spitfire and Fleet Foot were going to tear themselves apart, Rainbow Dash stepped in between the two and asked, “Ok, what’s going on?”

It was then that a vaguely familiar (As well as over confident) stallion’s voice answered, “I believe I can explain everything.” The group turned to see a blue bat-pony in an olive-khaki suit and cap. “I see that the Wonderbolts are engaging in their favorite past time, flinging shit at each other.” The bat pony turned to Wasp and calmly said, “By the way Wasp, I don’t want to hear you repeat that phrase, am I clear?” Wasp nervously nodded yes.

Black Adder then turned to Spitfire and cheekily asked, “I take it you didn’t tell them yet?” Spitfire gave a nervous laugh as she turned to the other Wonderbolts and began, “Yeah, that thing I was trying to tell you guys about….”

“…And that about wraps it all up.” Spitfire finished her long explanation. She had spent the last forty five minutes explaining the last few days to the team. Black Adder then stepped forward and said, “So, to put it as simple as possible, Spitfire found Wasp and is going to adopt him. I am here to make sure that she proves herself capable of doing so.”

As the Wonderbolts began to take in what they had just heard, Rainbow Dash and a few others glanced over to Wasp, who was munching away on a sandwich, or rather destroying it and gobbling up the crumbs. Rainbow Dash then asked, “So, does Twilight know about him?” Black Adder replied, “Oh yes. After I first reported him, she personally requested I oversee the process.”

High Winds then raised her hoof as she began to speak, “I can vouch for him. Black Adder here helped me and Tailwind with our foals.” Black Adder then replied, “Ah, High Winds. Good to see at least some-pony hear has some common sense.” As the other Wonderbolts gave him some unpleasant and annoyed glares, Black Adder simply let out a chuckle as he said, “Fine, I’ll keep quiet.”

Spitfire then began to speak, “Guys, I know this seems kinda sudden, but I can’t let Wasp down.” Rainbow Dash was the first to speak up. “I’ve got your back ma’am. If you need anything, just let me know.” High Winds then replied, “Same her. Besides, the girls like him.” Soarin then added, “I could also show him a guy’s night out.” As the other Wonderbolts gave him suspicious looks, He replied, “What? I mean like take him to get some pie or go to the arcade.” Surprise let out a laugh as she replied, “I could maybe take him to the toy store.”

“What is toy store?” Wasp asked, his curiosity having been peeked. As Surprise made her way over to Wasp to begin explaining, Black Adder shuffled over to Spitfire and said, “And while they decide what to do with Wasp, I need to inform you of something else.”

“What is it?” Spitfire asked. Black Adder then began to explain, “Captain, I am happy to say that Wasp is now familiar with the vowels.” “Huh?” Spitfire asked, confused by his statement. Black Adder sighed and explained, “It means my fears from earlier today are true, Wasp is illiterate.”

Soarin then asked, “Does that mean he leaves trash all over the place?” Rainbow Dash answered, “It means he can’t read.” “Oh…” Soarin replied as Spitfire realized what that meant.

Black Adder then said, “This means your little stunt today could have ended worse than expecting a minotaur to have an overdose on chill pills.” As Rainbow Dash and the others gave confused looks, Black Adder nonchalantly replied, “Oh yes, Captain Spitfire was running late and tried to leave a note for Wasp, completely unaware that he can’t read.”

Spitfire held her head in shame as Black Adder continued, “Which is why it’s good that you are all so enthusiastic about babysitting Wasp. This means that while you all are out, I can give Spitfire some one-on-one time to help her improve.”

Fleet Foot, who had been silent the entire time, simply said, “I’m not doing anything with that freak.” Wasp heard the insult and growled, “Wasp not want to be with Red Eyes. Red Eyes too much like Megaton.” Fleet Foot simply groaned at the Halfling’s response and shot back, “See? Its mutual.” As Much as Spitfire wanted to give her a piece of her mind, she couldn’t help but notice the bite marks on her throat.

Black Adder then added, “I’ve also decided Wasp should take anger management classes to help him deal with his…” He paused for amoment before he continued, “….Temper Issues.” Spitfire could only nod yes in response as she replied, “Yeah.”

It was then that Black Adder added, “And anger management might not be a bad idea for you as well.” “Hey!” Spitfire replied angrily. “I don’t have an anger problem!” Black Adder sighed and replied, “Not as much for anger but to help you find an off switch for your drill instructor mode.” Spitfire simply grumbled as she thought to herself, ‘Great, someone else complaining about that.’

It was then that Wasp began to yawn. Spitfire made her way over to Wasp and said, “Come on Wasp, let’s get you home.” As she picked him up, the Halfling began to wrap his arms around her, a sight that melted the other Wonderbolts’ hearts.

As she cradled the now asleep Wasp, Spitfire said, “I gotta get this guy home.” Surprise then added, “Yeah. Hey, don’t worry about cleaning up. I’ll get it.” “Thanks.” Spitfire replied as she gave her teammate a hoof-shake.

As Spitfire began to leave, Soarin spoke up, “Oh Black Adder, I need to tell you something.” The bat pony walked up to him and asked, “What is it?” he was then sucker punched by the Wonderbolt as he said, “That’s for my neck!” Spitfire and the others couldn’t help but start laughing, especially as Black Adder, in a resigned dead pan tone, replied, “I probably deserved that.”