“Come on Spits, why are you acting like this? It’s just your mom!” Rainbow asked as she hurried after Spitfire who was checking every corner in a bout of paranoia as she moved through the headquarters.
“Come on Spits, why are you acting like this? It’s just your mom!” Rainbow asked as she hurried after Spitfire who was checking every corner in a bout of paranoia as she moved through the headquarters.
“Just my mother?!” Spitfire exclaimed, immediately putting her hooves over her muzzle and looking around to check if she was heard. “You’ve got no idea how she’s like when agitated.”
“Spits, we’re going to see your mom,” Rainbow deadpanned. “It was bound to happen at some point, and we might as well get it out of the way now.” Not waiting for a reply, Dash barged past Spitfire to go look for the pony the captain was trying to avoid. Not really seeing another option the fiery maned pegasus followed Rainbow down the hallways towards Spitfire’s office where her mom was supposedly waiting.
“So anything I should know about her?” Dash asked as they came within sight of the office.
“She’s viciously territorial with everything concerning me and probably really pissed off at all the tabloids?” Spitfire offered with a raised eyebrow, bringing a hoof to her chin. “Oh, and she has a strange taste for partners, you know, like a fling with a dragon,” she sarcastically added.
“Sounds like my kind of mare,” Rainbow smirked back. “With similar dating preferences and such.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
Rainbow choked back a laugh as she pushed the door into the office open, immediately being pushed over by a pony rushing past her.
“My little baby! Did the mean reporters hurt you?! Do I need to go out there and give their flanks a tanning?” the older mare, that just looked like Spitfire only older, had her daughter in a protective hug as she ranted off at her. Rainbow shook her head to shake off a bit of disorientation and turned to look at the two, Spitfire silently mouthing ‘help me’ at Dash.
Rainbow shook her head some more and smirked, coughing to get the attention of the elder pegasus. “Uhm, hello ma’am?”
Spitfire’s mom looked up from her child at Dash, “Oh, hello there. Your name is Rainbow Dash, wasn’t it? One of the rookies around here?”
“Yeah, fastest flier in Equestria!” Rainbow boasted proudly, shrinking down at the look that was shot her way by the elder.
“Oh really?” she said questioningly with a raised eyebrow. “Well, I’m Stormy Flare, mother to the captain of Equestria’s most accomplished flight team.”
“Cut her some slack, mom. She’s had my back since before this mess started,” Spitfire defended Dash, pulling the attention of her mother back to herself.
“You told her that much about yourself?!” Stormy asked in shock, looking over Spitfire who couldn’t help but allow a goofy smile sneak onto her face while blushing slightly. Her mom followed suit as she turned back to Rainbow with a grin. “Oh I see what’s going on here, my little flame has found a special somepony.” Rainbow scratched the back of her head as Stormy walked up and circled her, pulling on her wings and inspecting them.
“Uhm, miss? What are you-”
“She looks strong, good stock,” Stormy suddenly said, looking satisfied.
“Hey!-”
“Seriously, mom?” Spitfire groaned as she got up and placed a wing over Dash who stood lost for words.
“What? I can at least make sure you’ve picked a good mare, can’t I? I mean, she’s a nice piece of flank if I do say so myself,” Stormy smirked before taking a seat back at Spitfire’s desk, her face turning more serious as she pulled a newspaper out. “Now tell me, why did I wake up this morning with reporters at my door holding this in my face?”
Spitfire sighed as she walked over to her chair, “My fault, I got sloppy… and I’m tired of this.” Stormy gave her a look that practically begged for her to continue, Spitfire rolling her eyes. “The hiding mom.”
“And you’d throw away everything you’ve worked for? And what if it’s worse than that?” Stormy suddenly looked very afraid. “What if they send the guard after you? Or maybe even worse!”
“Mom, stop. They’re not going to do that,” Spitfire tried calming her mother, looking at Rainbow in hope for support. Dash walked up next to Stormy and placed a wing on the back of the mother.
“They’re not. We’ve talked to Princess Celestia, and she’s on our side. Princess Twilight as well,” Rainbow tried comforting the mare.
“B-but what if s-she just said that to keep you calm while she gathers the guard or something like the Elements of Harmony?!” Stormy breathed heavily as her voice wavered.
“She won’t. The princess made clear that she’s seen ponies like Spitfire before and Twilight found proof of others like her in her books,” Rainbow informed Stormy, Spitfire coming beside her mother from the other side. “And the Elements won’t be used, I can assure you of that.”
“It’s going to be okay mom. Both the Princesses have cleared up some things, and I’m completely positive they want to help,” Spitfire added onto the point as she hugged her mother.
“I-I just don’t want to lose you,” Stormy returned her daughter’s embrace, holding her as tight as possible.
“You’re not mom. You’re not,” Spitfire smiled, squeezing her mother tightly before letting go. “I’ll talk to you some more later mom. I have some business to take care of first.”
Stormy smiled back, “Yes, of course. I’ll be at home if you need me. I’d love to get to know Rainbow here better.”
“Thanks mom, and we will,” Spitfire said, leading her mother out of the office. The captain let out a sigh as she closed the door again, Rainbow shooting her a self-satisfied smirk. “What?”
“Say it. How bad was that again?”
Spitfire murmured something under her breath.
“Louder,” Rainbow ordered Spitfire who repeated what she said with a bit more volume but she still barely raised her voice above a whisper.
“Louder!”
“You were right!” Spitfire exclaimed. “It wasn’t that bad… Happy now?”
Rainbow put a wing over Spitfire’s back, nuzzling the captain’s neck. “Eeyup! Now what’s up next?”
“We should go find Misty, Fleets, and Blaze… maybe the rest of the core team as well. I want them to get to ask questions before the press does. They’d lose trust completely if they heard more from the press than from me.”
Rainbow nodded in understanding. “You get those three, I’ll go get Soarin and the others. Let’s say… mission briefing room in forty-five?”
“Yeah, sounds good. See you there.”
Spitfire walked up to the door of Fleetfoot’s private room on the base, having found Misty’s and Blaze’s rooms to be empty, but the sounds coming through the door made it clear the three ponies were together in the last room.
Well, I guess that at least that means I’ll only have to do this once…
Spitfire raised her hoof and gave three good firm knocks on the door, the voices inside falling silent as Spitfire waited for her knocks to be answered. Her heart rate increased slightly as she heard hooves coming up to the door before it swung open, Fleetfoot standing in the opening.
“Oh, it’s you.”
The door slammed in her face.
“Oh come on, Fleetfoot. I’m just here to talk,” Spitfire said as she knocked again, the door opening once more.
“Fine. Go ahead.” Fleetfoot remained in the door opening and glared at Spitfire.
“Can I come inside?” Spitfire asked, hoping she could explain herself with the others.
“Let her in Fleets,” Blaze called out from behind the grey mare standing in the doorway who grunted but stepped aside. Fleetfoot’s room was pretty spartan compared to some of the other rooms, though Spitfire knew that was because she practically lived in Blaze’s room. “Is it true, Captain?”
Spitfire gave Blaze a nod as she sat down between her and Misty. “By that I assume you mean if I’m a hybrid?”
Blaze nodded back in turn as Fleetfoot silently sat down as well, Misty sighing as no-one else knew what to say to break the silence. “Cap, why didn’t you tell us earlier? The current team’s been through so much with you from Saddle Arabia to the Frozen North and those definitely weren’t always just performances. We’ve faced plenty of monsters and wildlife in our duties over the years.”
“I-I lost someone who was very close to me because of it…” Spitfire quietly replied, not meeting Misty’s eyes. “The mere knowledge of my heritage chased him off.”
The room returned to silence again as that information was processed by the three other pegasi in the room. Fleetfoot was the next to ask something. “Did you know that pony for long?”
“Yes. For years he was my only friend.” Spitfire tried her best to swallow the lump in her throat as she pulled up the memories again so soon after she’d unloaded on Rainbow. “My mom’s also always been deathly afraid the condition would turn me into an outcast.”
Fleetfoot sighed as she looked over to Blaze who was shaking her head, extending her wing to give Spitfire a nudge in the side. “Fleets, I can’t be angry at her. We all have our things, some a little bigger than others, but in the end you’re all family to me.”
Spitfire looked up in surprise at the uncharacteristically mild response from her fellow bolt. Misty tapped the floor in agreement. “Indeed. You’re still the same pony, right? Just because we learned something new about you doesn’t mean things should change for some reason. I’ve got your back Captain.”
Everyone looked over to Fleetfoot who had yet to say anything, the pegasus grunting and sighing. “Ah Tartarus, you girls and the guys are the best family I ever had. I may have overreacted a bit back in the cafeteria. You can count on me too, Cap.”
Spitfire couldn’t help but smile as she pulled the three ponies into a crushing hug.
“Spitfire, air!”
“Oh, right. Sorry,” Spitfire said sheepishly, loosening up the grip.
“Guess we now know where your stupid stength comes from now,” Misty chuckled, the others soon joining in before all four burst out into laughter.
“Thanks girls, I needed that,” Spitfire laughed as she wiped away some tears from her eyes. “Dash and Soarin are getting the other flight team members to the mission briefing room so you all can have the opportunity to ask some questions before the press release.”
Misty nodded and stood up. “Sounds good to me, let’s go hook up with the rest.”
Twenty minutes later all of the members of the flight teams were assembled in the mission briefing room along with a small hoof full of administrative staff, all of them looking at Spitfire as she sat next to Dash. Most of her anxiety had fallen away as none of the present ponies looked angry or scared, mostly just curious as Spitfire assumed plenty of word had gotten around by now about everything that had already happened in the morning.
“Thank you for coming, everyone. I wanted to get at least the core members of our organization to get some questions in before going to the press, since I assume no one here would appreciate it if they had to find things out about me via the media,” Spitfire started off, a murmur of agreement going through the bolts. “To give a little context to the things I assume you’ve already heard, yes I am part dragon. My father was a dragon to be exact, though sadly I never met him.”
“So, what’s different about you then? We saw the newspaper so I assume the fire breathing is part of it?” Surprise asked as the first ‘Bolt to speak up.
In response Spitfire blew a little flame from her nostrils. “It’s one of the things, yes. I also have increased strength, extreme fire resistance, fangs-”
“You have fangs? I take our little running joke about you being a carnivore wasn’t that far off?” Wave Chill interrupted, leaning forward with interest.
“Not entirely, I eat vegetables like any normal pony but get cravings for things like meat and gems at points. Boring parties with the noble’s are just a good excuse to indulge.” Spitfire shrugged, baring her teeth and showing the fangs. The teeth sliding out as she did so, showing their full size instead of the barely noticeable sharpened tips.
“Huh, that’s new,” Dash said blankly, not having seen that happen before.
“You’re telling me…” Spitfire replied in surprise, playing around with her teeth’s position. “Guess I don’t know everything about myself either.”
“So how is it that the rookie here seems to know what’s been going on behind the scenes,” Misty leaned forward with a suggestive smirk on her face.
“A near miss from a jet of flame did the trick neatly,” Rainbow chuckled in response. “Remember the Cap being out with a case of feather flu a while back? That’s when I found out.”
“So that’s why you insisted on staying and making sure she was good…” Misty pondered though she wasn’t done with fishing for more information just yet, “…But was that all that happened in that time?”
Oh what do I have to lose here anyway?
“Well-” Dash was cut off as Spitfire pulled her in and placed a kiss on Rainbow’s lips, a wave of surprise and laughter going through the present ponies as the Captain flipped off Misty with a wing while smirking.
“Ah, dangit,” Wave chill grumbled as he passed a couple of bits to Misty, a few other ‘Bolts trading coins as well. Dash couldn’t help but snort at the sight.
“You’re all the worst,” Rainbow deadpanned though still smiling, getting another round of laughter from the assembled ‘Bolts.
“Hey, I didn’t place any bets!” Soarin complained, getting a glare from Spitfire.
“No, you only got me to get you two pies to buy off your silence.”
Soarin shrugged, “They were delicious though.”
The room devolved into laughter as Spitfire groaned and everypony broke out into conversation for a bit, a couple more questions being shot at both Dash and Spitfire who answered as best they could before the room quieted down again.
“Thank you all for hearing me out. You have no idea the relief that brings to me,” Spitfire told the group with a smile.
“No problem Captain, we’ve got your back,” Fleetfoot said with confidence. “Don’t we Wonderbolts?” A loud aye came from each member of the flight team.
“Thank you all. Let’s get back to our jobs then since I still have the press to deal with,”
“Yeah, good luck with those vultures,” Fleetfoot said, giving the captain a nudge against her shoulder. The ponies all filed out of the room leaving only Spitfire, Soarin, and Rainbow behind.
“That went excellently, if I must say so myself,” Soarin said, self-satisfied.
“Could have definitely gone worse,” Rainbow agreed, wrapping a wing around Spitfire and pulling her close. “So does that mean no more secrets?”
“Just don’t think I’ll go easier on you now everyone knows,” Spitfire smirked, pecking Dash on the lips. “We should probably inform your parents and friends too before it leaks further.”
“Maybe fix the current piece of gossip first you two,” Soarin cut in. “The press is still out there and trust me, that crowd outside the perimeter has only grown.”
Spitfire nodded in agreement. “Alright, can you get the visitors stand ready for a press announcement?”
“Yes ma’am,” Soarin said, saluting Spitfire and getting on his way to get the preparations made.
“I’ll leave you to it to get yourself ready for the press,” Dash said, giving a kiss on Spitfire’s cheek.
“Thanks babe, see you outside.”