//------------------------------// // Filly // Story: Spits Fire // by CommanderApplejack //------------------------------// Spitfire yawned as the first rays of sunlight seeped through the curtains. Soft snoring came from a certain blue pegasus beside her that, in her sleep, had practically attached herself to the captain. Spitfire smiled and blushed simultaneously as memories of the previous night came rushing back. I hope we didn’t wake any of the others last night... Rainbow mumbled something incoherent in her sleep as she buried her face deeper into Spitfire’s chest, sighing contently as she got comfortable there. I wonder what I did to deserve somepony like Rainbow taking me in... Spitfire brushed a hoof through Rainbow’s hair, the fellow pegasus stirring and yawning as she woke as well. “Morning beautiful.” “Good morning,” Rainbow replied with a doubly raspy morning voice, yet to fully wake as she found comfort against Spitfire’s warm body. A knock on the door did get both their attention though. “Are y’all awake yet?” they could faintly hear through the door. “Yeah, we’re up Apple Bloom,” Dash responded, untangling herself from her marefriend and stretching on the bed. “Okay! Breakfast will be ready in a couple of minutes!” the filly called out from the other side of the door, the sound of hooves going down the stairs indicating that she was gone again. “Well, I guess we should go check out what they have in store for us then,” Spitfire smiled as she too rolled out of bed and did a few stretches. “Probably something apple-related. Not complaining though, AJ, granny, and Big Mac all can cook up some wicked food with their apples,” Rainbow said, praising the apple family’s skill in making food with their namesake fruit. “I’ll take your word for it... and that of Soarin’s too, considering his praise for those pies,” Spitfire chuckled in response, pecking Rainbow on the cheek. “I can get used to waking like this,” Rainbow smirked as she followed Spitfire out of the room and down towards the kitchen. The smell of freshly baked pancakes entering their nostrils. “Morning AJ,” Dash called out to the farmpony as she loaded the last of the pancakes she was making onto a plate. “Good mornin’, ya two. Had fun last night?” Applejack responded with a cheeky smile, passing a plate of pancakes to the pegasi. Dash’s cheeks went red with a blush as she tried to hide behind her stack of pancakes while Spitfire maintained a steely poker face. “I-I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Dash stuttered, stuffing a pancake in her mouth after having drowned it in syrup. “No point lyin’ ta me ‘bout somethin’ Ah could hear pretty clearly. Ah sleep next ta the guest room, remember?” Applejack said as she sat down at the table too. “What are y’all takin’ about?” Apple Bloom questioned with a mouthful of pancake herself. “Nothin’ a little filly like herself need worry ‘bout,” Applejack chuckled, then made eye contact with both Spitfire and Rainbow. “Don’t ya two agree with me?” the farmpony added. Her voice as cold as the snow outside made even Spitfire shrink down. “Yeah, of course!” Rainbow answered, making Apple Bloom huff as she obviously wasn’t getting an answer. The four ponies quietly continued to eat the stacks pancakes on their plates until Applejack spoke up again. “So what are y’all plannin’ to do today?” the farmpony asked, Apple Bloom spoke up first. “Gonna hang out with Sweetie, maybe Scoots too... if she shows up that is.” “Anything wrong with the squirt?” Rainbow asked with concern, Apple Bloom shrugged in reply. “She was actin’ strange yesterday, said she might not be there today. Wouldn’t be the first time either. Usually pops back up after a day, maybe two... or three,” Bloom said, stuffing the final pancake into her mouth. Applejack glanced between her little sister and Rainbow in concern, the blue pegasus scowling at that bit of information. “Well, that settles what we’re going to do today,” Spitfire spoke up, pouring some more syrup over her remaining pancake. “If she isn’t with you, where would we find her?” Apple Bloom swallowed her pancake as she nervously shrugged. “Dunno...” “Bloom,” Applejack sternly said, “Ah can see ya know a smidgen more than that.” Cringing back, Apple Bloom sighed. “Sweetie and Ah followed her once... found her spot at the edge of the Everfree. Someplace between the cow barn and Fluttershy’s, other end of the river though.” “That’s... concerning. Thank you Apple Bloom, that will help to massively,” Spitfire said, nudging Rainbow in the side. “Up for a little search?” “Always!” Rainbow smirked confidently, though she wasn’t able to mask her concern completely. “Jus’... don’t tell her Ah told ya where ta look, last time she got really upset with Sweetie and mahself.” “Cross my heart hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Spitfire looked on as Rainbow made some weird motions with her hooves and said the hymn. Apple Bloom immediately accepted the gesture though so she wasn’t going to bring it up now. I’ll have to ask the significance of that while we search for that filly. “Well, Ah’ll be ‘round the farm if ya need me. Try not ta get into too much trouble you tw- three.” Applejack got up and placed her plate in the sink, leaving the kitchen through the back door to do her business. Apple Bloom got her stuff and waited for the two older pegasi to finish up too, they were going to check at Rarity’s place first to see if Scootaloo had actually gone there to avoid needless searching. On the road into town Rainbow tried prying some more information out of the earthpony filly but it quickly became apparent that she really didn’t know anything else about what Scootaloo had been doing at the edge of the Everfree. After exchanging pleasantries with Rarity at her boutique and confirming that the little pegasus hadn’t arrived there, Spitfire and Rainbow set off to search. The two of them flew in very close formation, something that took a well-trained discipline to do for a pegasus as it required them to override their crash avert instincts, to make talking at higher flight speed easier. “So, what was that riddle with that cupcake all about?” Spitfire asked as she scanned the ground for any signs or orange. “Hmm? Oh, the Pinkie Promise? It’s something Pinkie Pie does, it’s a promise you can’t break or you’ll lose your friends-” ”Forever!” Spitfire missed a wingbeat, forcing Dash to quickly adjust her own flight. “Wait, what? What the hay?! How-” “It’s Pinkie,” Rainbow flatly stated. “Don’t bother with trying to understand.” “Right...” Spitfire muttered as she returned to scanning the ground, noticing a spot of orange in the white blanket of snow that covered the ground. “Dash, near that large patch of trees.” “I see her,” Dash confirmed as the two lowered their altitude and went in for a landing a bit away from the patch of trees. “You know, we could watch her for a bit to see what she’s doing?” “Would you appreciate somepony studying you from a distance?” Spitfire asked bluntly, Rainbow shaking her head. “Guess we know what we’re going to do then.” With that said, Spitfire took the lead Rainbow quickly coming up beside her as they stepped into the patch of trees. “Squirt, you in here?” Rainbow called out, the only reply from a few birds that startled and flew away. “We saw you from above!” That got more of a response as leaves rustled, Scootaloo’s head poking out of a brush. Snow and ice clung to her hair and coat as she revealed more of herself. “H-Hey Rainbow... Captain Spitfire?” “Just hanging out with my marefriend,” Spitfire said as she closed the gap with the filly, sitting down in the snow with her. Rainbow took a seat on the other side of the filly. “So what were you doing here, Scoots?” Rainbow asked as she looked out towards the edge of the Everfree The thickly packed trees looking more haunted now they were without leaves and covered in a thick layer of snow. This time of year the rogue weather would turn the normally dangerous place into a completely untraversable snowy mess. How Zecora was able to tolerate the place, knowing she came from a place that had no snow, was beyond Dash. “Well... You know, It’s a good place to think. Quiet and usually nopony gets on this side of the river with it being this close to the Everfree.” The tone Scootaloo’s voice made it clear that she wasn’t happy about being disturbed but she’d play ball for the moment. “You mind us staying here for a while?” Spitfire asked, Scootaloo shrugged noncommittally. Silence fell over the three ponies as they just sat in the snow, Rainbow doing her very best not to fidget as she quickly got bored of the silence. “Who told you where to find me? It was Apple Bloom, wasn’t it?” Scootaloo asked out of nowhere. “Sweetie can at least lie, Bloom not so much.” “They’re concerned, and to be honest, when we heard you disappear so every now and then we were too,” Spitfire spoke up before Rainbow could say anything, reaching out with a wing to nudge Scootaloo’s side. She immediately scowled as she felt how cold the filly was. “You’re really cold.” Spitfire stood up and cleared some of the snow, got a few branches laying about, and blasted them with a fireball. The fire wasn’t that large but it didn’t have to be as the dragonfire burned way hotter than any regular fire. Scootaloo immediately went a little closer to the fire to heat herself up. “Scoots, how long have you been out here?” Rainbow asked, wrapping a wing around the filly to help her warm. Scootaloo’s body feeling so cold that it might as well have been a block of ice. “Well, I...” The filly muttered something after that but neither Rainbow nor Spitfire picked up what. “Look, you’re going to get sick like this. We need to get you inside somewhere to heat up properly,” Spitfire assessed. “Where do you live? I’m sure your parents-” “I DON’T HAVE A HOUSE ANYMORE!” Scootaloo snapped, tears springing into her eyes and her voice cracking. “A-And I don’t have parents either.” Tears rolled over her cheeks as she trembled, floodgates now opened. “I-I can’t e-even fly yet... I-I’m just a f-failure of a pegasus... T-that scooter is a-all I have left...” That house I pulled her from... why didn’t I make that connection sooner? Spitfire swallowed a lump in her throat as the filly completely broke down crying against Rainbow who desperately looked at the captain for support. Sliding in closer Spitfire wrapped both Dash and Scootaloo in a hug, letting the filly cry into their coats while also getting warmed by them. “I’m sorry,” Spitfire apologized as the crying lessened. “Rainbow, do you have a place where she can stay?” “We can go over to Twilight’s. She’s always wining how she’s got too much space anyway.” Rainbow wrapped Scootaloo in her forelegs and went into a hover. “Can you take the scooter, Spits?” “Got it,” Spitfire said as she picked up the one bit of property Scootaloo still had, following Rainbow as she took flight towards the castle on the other end of town. “Hey Spits, if you want to stay out of sight you should loop around the north just in case,” Rainbow spoke up as they came up on the edge of the village but Spitfire shook her head in response. “Look, this is more important than the off chance that a reporter just happens to be looking up,” the captain countered as she followed Dash over the houses, the speed at which they were flying rapidly bringing them to the large crystal castle. Without knocking Rainbow pushed through the door, Spike jumped in surprise as he happened to be in the main hall at that moment. “Hey Rainbow... Captain spitfire? Aren’t you supposed to be in Cloudsdale or Canterlot or something? Oh, hey Scoots, You okay?” Spike added as he noticed the filly standing between Rainbow’s legs. “We were in Cloudsdale, did what we could for the moment and Soarin said he could handle the rest for a while.” Rainbow stepped forward, leaving Scootaloo next to Spitfire. “Is Twilight around?” “Down in the basement. She’s going through more stuff on half-dragons like Spitfire.” “Thanks... Hey Spike, weird request but do you mind bringing Spitfire and Scoots to a bathroom for a warm bath?” “Uhhh sure?” the dragon answered, not quite sure what to make of it but it didn’t seem like too hard of a request to fulfil. “Thanks, I’ll go down to see Twilight then to talk to her about some things.” Rainbow looked over to Spitfire who gave her a nod before heading down towards the basement. “Sooo... Bathroom is this way, follow me.” Spike lead them up the stairs towards one of the hallways, pointing them into a fairly large bathroom with both a bath and a shower. “Everything should be stocked up in here, You can use a towel from the drying rack there. If you need me, I’ll be in the library.” The little dragon left the two behind, Scootaloo and Spitfire looking awkwardly at each other for a moment. “Shower or bath?” “Shower I guess...” Scootaloo answered, waiting for Spitfire to get everything set up, being surprised as the Wonderbolt stepped into the running shower with her. “Extend your wings,” Spitfire ordered as the hot water melted away all the ice out of the two feathery appendages. “Now tell me, what were you doing at that particular spot?” “Just thinking,” Scootaloo murmured, looking down at her hooves while the water warmed her back up. “There are more opportune places not so near to arguably the most dangerous location in Equestria,” Spitfire pointed out, continuing on with washing Scootaloo’s hair. “You sure that’s the entire reason?” Scootaloo tried to sink away further but Spitfire didn’t allow her to do so. “Just trying to help kid, you know that.” “I-It’s where... timberwolves...” Scootaloo’s voice was barely a croak, just loud enough to be heard, sniffing as she tightly squeezed her eyes shut. Timberwolves? but- Oh no... not having parents... Alone at home... kid not able to fly... A couple of the puzzle pieces in suddenly snapped in Spitfire mental puzzle as she pulled Scootaloo close, feeling tears well up in her eyes too. “You lost your parents there.” Scootaloo nodded as she pressed herself against the captain. “T-They moved down here f-for me so I-I could learn to fly safely...” “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t run off that day...” “What if’s... maybe... could have... Hindsight is twenty-twenty Scootaloo. You couldn’t have known what would happen,” Spitfire told her, her own gut twisting in ways she wasn’t aware it could at the misfortune Scootaloo had endured. “Just how many times have you gone back there and had nothing happen?” “Dunno. A lot?” “And that one first time the freak accident happened.” Spitfire turned Scootaloo around and raised her chin up with a hoof so she could look the filly straight in the eyes. Her entire body was screaming at her to comfort her, tell her it wasn’t her fault, it was almost... maternal? Why do I feel like this? She’s not my kid... yet still... “Spitfire?” “Sorry, it’s just... Have you been living alone all this time?” Spitfire asked the filly, who nodded in the affirmative. “M-my aunt used to live here too she just... couldn’t live being reminded of her sister every day...” Scootaloo sniffed as she wiped away her tears, “She sends a monthly allowance and goes to school to check up with miss Cheeriliee but that’s about it... and now without the house...” Spitfire had to swallow back some fire, her temper flaring. She dared to leave a filly alone in town?! “Don’t worry about the house kid, you’re not sleeping outside on my watch,” Spitfire nearly growled, turning off the shower. “Did Rainbow know?” Scootaloo shook her head. “No... I don’t think anyone really remembers, we were new and Dash didn’t even live here back then... Pinkie is the only one who does know something I think.” I think I’m going to ask her some questions then. “hmm... Hey kid?” “Y-Yeah?” “You’re sticking with me from now on.”