Spitfire's House - Cloudsdale
The sunshine from the morning day would shine through the window of the bedroom. Spitfire's eyes would slowly crack open as she rose from it, her mane was messy and unkempt as well as her wings too. She would slowly walk into the bathroom as she turned the water to the shower on. Letting the hot water pour onto her mane as she stood there, letting it soak in. She would then apply some of the mane conditioner and shampoo into her mane. As soon as that was done she turned the water off and dried herself off, walking to the mirror she would then preen herself, making sure all of her wing feathers were all nice and neat. After all of that was done she would walk out of the bathroom and towards the kitchen, where she would see Rapidfire sitting at the table.
“Good morning, Spits!” Rapid greeted cheerfully "Sleep well?"
“Ugh, not until I’ve had some bucking coffee” Spitfire groaned as she walked to the coffee machine, the remark earning an amused chuckle from Rapid.
"So I'm guessing that's a no then?" He would say chuckling a bit.
Spitfire took a sip from her coffee mug, she sighed a bit "I slept fine Rapid."
"Good, you need to be at your best today, command is sending someone to oversee preparations today."
Spitfire groaned a bit, throwing her head back "Please tell me this is just a dream and I'm still asleep" she would say, then Rapid would walk over, and poke Spitfire in the face.
"Nope...your really awake" He said grinning.
"Poke me again and you will end up in a body cast" She said, which only got him to smirk again and poke her in the cheek.
"Someone's a grumpy pony" Rapid said in a baby voice.
"I swear to Celestia Rapid one of these days I'm going to drop-kick you."
“You are totally proof that evil twins are real” he groused. Spitfire stuck her tongue out at him before chuckling softly.
"So...do you know who command is sending over then?" Spitfire asked.
"Yeah...they're sending Yellowjacket" Rapid said, with a very unamused grunt.
Spitfire’s eyes went wide. It was rare that she found herself completely lacking words to describe the emotions she felt. Usually a string of creative curses would do, however even that solution seemed incapable of covering it. "Of bucking course they are...can this day get any worse?" Spitfire groaned in irritation "did you at least bring my saddlebag like I asked you to?” She asked, Rapid nodded and retrieved the bags from the corner he’d set them in.
"Why did you need me to bring them here again? You could have just grabbed it as soon as you got off from work" Rapid asked.
"If command is sending over Yellowjackass then he is going to give me some more damn paperwork to fill out" Spitfire said, as she grabbed the bag from Rapid "Since I'm going somewhere this afternoon I might as well bring the paperwork with me just in case I have time to kill."
"Where are you going?" Rapid asked, his eyebrow raised.
"I'm going to lunch with an old friend downtown" Spitfire said, putting her bag on.
"Sence when do you go on Lunches by yourself with another pony?" Rapid asked, soon a small grin forming on his face "Unless this is a date~" He teased.
"It's not a date!" Spitfire said aggressively, a small flush forming on her cheeks "It's just two friends catching up that's all! No alternative motives or feelings are in play Rapid."
"Riiight, so when are you and him gonna be living together then?" He joked, however Spitfire's flush would grow slightly and she would look down to the floor "Oh my god... you're going to ask him to live with you?!" He said, laughing.
"No it's not like that!!" She said, walking over to Rapid and then putting her hoof on his mouth to stop him from laughing "Listen Rapid. He just lost his house and he is staying in a hotel alone, he is an old friend from the academy and I feel bad about his situation, so I am letting him come to stay with me for a month, which is the amount of time it should take for him to get a place to live on his own got it?" She said, looking into her brother's eyes with focus and seriousness.
Rapid grabbed Spitfire's hoof and moved it away from his mouth with a stern look, he sighed and looked at her "Alright...I get it" He said, calming down his stern look fading into concern. “Spits, don’t...” He paused and sighed. “Don’t you think you might be taking this a bit, I don’t know, fast?”
Spitfire fidgeted uncomfortably, she looked her brother in the eye. “What do you mean?” She asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.
“Spits...” as he frowned. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt again.” Spitfire would start avoiding her brother’s gaze. Rapidfire felt his heart sink slightly. “Come on sis,” he pleaded softly, “talk to me, please?”
“What’s there to say?” She asked him "I'm just helping an old friend out, making sure he is not alone"
“Is it really that way the way to go?" Rapid said "Spitfire, you only just saw him again after almost twenty years, and now you want to ask him to stay here with you?"
"Well what am I supposed to do then?" Spitfire said firmly "Just let him stay by himself? Look” Spitfire started with a sigh, “I’m just seeing where things go, and whatever happens, happens.”
“Spits—” Rapid started, his words cut off by his sister’s hoof. Rapid’s posture sagged slightly.
“Rapid, I know you’re worried, but I need you to trust me.” She said.
Rapidfire sighed heavily "Alright, I trust you" he said, pressing his right hoof to his forehead as he squeezed his eyes shut. “You’re an idiot.” He stated flatly.
“Love you too, Rapid,” Spitfire replied, giving him a sidelong hug, which he returned after a moment’s hesitation.
“Come on,” Spitfire said as she turned to the door "We should get to practice, or else Yellowjackass is gonna be on our tail."
"Don't have to tell me twice" Rapid said taking off into the air, followed by Spitfire.
Wonderbolt's Base
The Wonderbolts flew around the obstacle course, Fleetfoot was leading with Rainbow Dash close on her tail. Somewhere far behind Tunderlane followed in third place. As they came on to their final lap, the two mares were now neck and neck. Fleetfoot glanced over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of the distance between her and Rainbow Dash. It wasn't as large as she'd hoped it would be. They finally came out at the last straight, at the end of the track, the two mares had completely exhausted themselves on the corners and so, were slowing down.
As they approached, both mares at the same speed, The two mares crossed the line at the same time. As they landed on the cloud surface they both collapsed, trying to regain the lost oxygen. A smug-looking blue stallion trotted over to them. He grinned at the mares laying on the ground. "Great job you two!" Soarin said. "It's a shame you both tired yourselves out on the last lap. You could have gone faster"
"Up...yours." Rainbow Dash panted, earning a chuckle from Soarin.
"Oh relax Crash, I'm just playing with you" Soarin said, flipping through his notebook "According to the timing, you got the third-best timing in the course."
"Nice job Crash" Fleetfoot said "Not bad for your first day back"
"Eh it was nothing, but next time I'm gonna beat your record Flatfoot" Rainbow said with a smug face, which got a chuckle out of the mare.
"Then I'll just have to work on getting faster" Fleetfoot said sticking his tongue out.
"If you two are done" Soarin said walking over "We should clean up, Yellowjacket is going to be coming soon."
"Ugh don't remind me" Rainbow said groaning "Yellowjacket is awful."
"As much as we don't like him Dash, he is the reason we did so well last season" Fleetfoot said.
"Yeah I know...but still, he is literally the worst" Rainbow said "You all know what he did..."
"I know Dash...but worst or not, he is still our superior" Soarin said "And because of this we need to show him the utmost respect. This means we need to make sure this base is cleaned and neet."
Rainbow would groan "Alright fine..." Rainbow said, The rest of the bolts would soon follow. Rainbow and Thunderlane slowly working on the inside of the building while Fleetfoot and Soarin would work on the cloud rings on the course around the HQ. After a couple of hours Spitfire and Rapidfire would quietly land at the Wonderbolt HQ, she noticed that many of the bolts were hard at work mainly cleaning the base.
“Morning, Spitfire!” greeted a happy, and yet understandably tired-looking Soarin as he walked over to the two ponies "You too Rapid"
"Morning Clipper" Spitfire said, she then turned to her brother "Hay Rapid why don't you get in uniform and help out Clipper and Flatfoot"
"Alright got it" Rapid said, walking towards the main HQ building.
"Glad to see you have everything situated Soarin. I was worried I was going to come back to a disorganized mess."
"Hay I'm not Second in Command of the Bolts for nothing Spits" Soarin grinned a bit, however that grin quickly faded into a serious face "You by any chance know why exactly command is sending over Yellowjacket?"
"Celestia if I should know. I only heard about it this morning. Probably something to do with our new touring schedule" Spitfire said "And if that's not it then I have no idea...we will just have to wait and see."
"The others are not thrilled about him coming you know" He said.
"Trust me, I'm not either. Whenever he comes it just means more paperwork for me, and harder things for everypony else" Spitfire said, she would sigh "I will be in my office if you need me. When Yellowjacket comes just come and tell me."
"Alright, got it." Soarin said as he took off to re-join Feetfoot with the cleanup.
Spitfire would open the door with the keys to the office, which she was holding in her mouth. She took a deep breath and took a look around her office. Compared to offices of businessponies, Spitfire’s was quite empty. There was only one locker containing four different drawers for all kinds of paperwork Spitfire had to do. Mainly consisting of Applicants, Forms, and expenses that the Bolts paid for on their tours. Her desk naturally also had a few drawers, but those were reserved for either personal things, such as sunglasses, or simple things like spare pens and sheets of paper. She used much of the free space she had in her office to decorate and give it some ‘Wonderbolt flair’ to it. Mainly with some posters and photographs.
The Wonderbolts were, in a way, all Spitfire really had. She never really showed or said it to the others besides Soarin or Rapidfire, but the bolts always felt like they were part of her family. Spitfire would put the keys she had in her mouth back in her jacket pocket, then walk towards her desk. She would then go over to every window and rolled up the blinds, finally letting in some light into her room. She also opened one of her four windows for the next couple of minutes, just to let in a breath of fresh air. Spitfire would then quickly put on her uniform and walk over to her desk. Sitting down in it and getting to work. She sighed at the sight of all the paperwork, but she knew moaning and crying about it wouldn’t get it done any sooner. She also knew the faster she got them done, the faster she could head out to her lunch with Orion.
She picked up the first sheet from the stack and took a look as the door opened once again. The mare would look up and see Soarin and Rainbow who looked rather exhausted from all the cleaning "Please tell me you have a good reason for coming in here this time" Spitfire said. The two ponies were infamous for coming into her office just to complain about small details. Or in Soarin's case the cafe did not serve enough pie after practice.
"It's Yellowjacket...he is here" Soarin said.
"Yeah...and he has company" Rainbow added on.
Spitfire would stare for a moment before sighing aggressively "Tell him and whomever he brought to come to my office. I will speak to them."
"Alright..." Soarin said "Come on Dash we should go and make sure we double-check the runway for any obstacles" He said as the two ponies left the room.
Spitfire would grab some of the paperwork she had pulled out and put it to the side of her desk in a neat little pile. She would then watch the door with her sunglasses on. Spitfire always considered herself someone who could respect anyone who proved themselves to be a hard worker. If you showed up to work, did your job correctly, and were able to prove to her and others you belong in the bolts? then she would have your respect. That could be further from the truth when talking about Yellowjacket. Ever since he arrived, he has been a bother and a nuisance to Spitfire and the rest of her team. Constantly coming in and demanding that things be done in an impossible amount of time. A lot of good bolts were let go because of that, and she truly did hate him for that.
Yellowjacket would slowly walk into the room carrying a rather large briefcase. The pony was orange-coated with a black and yellow mane. His eyes a lime green that almost made Spitfire gag every time she looked into them. Following the pony were two other stallions, dressed in sharply woven suits and ties, with dark Sunglasses that could rival Spitfire's own.
"Good morning Captain" Yellowjacket said "I take it you and your bolts got the memo about my visit?"
"Yes Yellowjacket we did. Most of my team is currently around the base making sure everything is kept up to code, just as you request we do every time you visit."
"Excellent! With all those minor things out of the way we can move onto the main topic" Yellowjacket said, as he grabbed some paperwork out of the briefcase. Placing it onto the desk "I have chosen a nice schedule for the Bolt's next season and I need you to sign your name on all of them, so they know you agree to the terms."
"I will get these done as soon as I can, then I will send someone to drop them off as soon as that happens" Spitfire said, glancing over some of the paperwork.
"Good, now next order of business pertains to the reason these two gentalstallions are with me today" Yellowjacket said taking out a sheet of paper "As you know, the Wonderbolts both present and future need to take a flight assessment test so they can make the team. You have yet to turn in the final results for some of your team members, as well as your own.."
"Yellowjacket, my team has been working their flanks off this past month. I just have not had the time to write them down" Spitfire said, slightly aggressive in tone "You will get the results soon."
"Soon is not good enough for me Captain. I expect the results to be handed to me by the end of the week, or I will personally hold them myself" Yellowjacket said "Make no mistake Spitfire I can and will use my authority on the council to hold those tests whether you like it or not...so I suggest you do as I say before things get ugly.."
Spitfire held her tongue begrudgingly. She knew that there was no say in the matter that could change Yellowjacket's mind, so she sighed to herself "Alright fine, I will get you the results by the end of the week."
"And no later, or else..." Yellowjacket said "And to make sure you will keep your promise, I have hired these two stallions to oversee the Wonderbolt HQ until the week is over, they will be reporting to me everything that happens in this base."
"Are you serious? There's no way this is even allowed-"
"I have the necessary paperwork needed to prove it in the stack I handed to you Captain" Yellowjacket said, as he then stood up from his chair "I will collect the paperwork when I come for the Holiday Media Conference. I hope that you are on your best behavior until then."
"...Understood Sir..." Spitfire said, clenching her desk slightly as he watched him and the two other ponies leave the room.
2 Hours Later - Wonderbolt's HQ Cafe
The rest of the morning was spent mainly on paperwork and finalizing all of the bolts tour schedule details given to her. A grueling task that Spitfire personally hated, after that conversation with Yellowjacket she was less than happy. So it was a relief to the pegasus when she stepped out of her office and into the mess hall to convene with the rest of her team. She looked around and mainly saw most of the bolts eating.
"My wings feel like they're going to fall off..." Rainbow groaned as she laid her head down on the table.
"Ugh..tell me about it" Fleetfoot said walking over with her tray of food and sitting down "If I fly any more laps I think I'm going to drop out of the sky."
"You two are acting so dramatic" Soarin said "You don't see the rest of us making such a big deal."
Thunderlane would then lean into Soarin and groan "Oh Soar-... I don't think I can even sit...you're...gonna have to carry me to my place tonight~"
Soarin blushed as he just pushed Thunderlane away "You are such a tease" Soarin said, he then noticed Spitfire at the door "Oh hay Captian. Finished with the paperwork?"
"Yeah, just finished the last sheet." Spitfire said walking over to the four ponies "You guys finished with your training then?"
"Yup, did everything we needed too" Soarin said "Although it did not help that those ponies in black suits were watching us the entire time."
"Look I did what I could, but Yellowjacket backed me into a corner" Spitfire said "If I said no then things would have just gotten worse."
"It's ok Spits we know" Rapid said approaching the group "Besides as long as we stick together I doubt Yellowjacket can do anything to us right?"
"I don't know about that" Spitfire said sighing "I came to tell you all the bad news, Yellowjacket wants all of us to have our flight assessment test results turned in by the end of the week...I have a feeling if anyone is late he will cut them from the team."
"That's bullshit!" Rainbow spoke up slamming her hoof onto the table "We all made the bolts in our own way, and he expects us to basically retake our entrance exams?!"
"Rainbow there's nothing we can do, Yellowjacket has the power and authority to do all this. Whether we like it or not" Spitfire said, as she then looked to the rest of the bolts, who were also visibly upset as well "Look I know this sucks but we can do this, all we need to do is show Yellowjacket that we are still the best of the best. When he sees that all of us passed then he has absolutely nothing to give us shit on."
"Spitfires right, we can do this...we are the Wonderbolts for Celestia's sake" Soarin said, standing up next to Spitfire "Starting tomorrow we will train our flanks off, get faster than ever before, and before you know it those flight assessment tests will be a thing of the past."
Rainbow looked a bit more optimistic as she smiled "Alright, then what are we all standing around for? let's get back out there and train!" She said standing up, immediately the rest of the bolts did so as well as they all ran back out to the course and took to the skies as they began to train again, leaving Spitfire and Soarin in the room.
"You really think we can do this?" Soarin asked "I know most of the younger bolts will be able to make it but...Spitfire me and you are not as fast as we use to be..."
"Listen Soarin...whatever happens we will do it together, like we always have" Spitfire said smiling.
"Alright", you got it Captain" Soarin said.
"Now then, if you excuse me I need to head to Cloudsdale. I have a coffee and a friend to meet" Spitfire said walking out the door.
"Have fun on your date!~" Soarin teased.
"It's not a date!!" Spitfire yelled, her cheeks flushing red as she took off toward Cloudsdale.
Ponybucks Coffee - Cloudsdale
Orion softly hummed a song to himself as she trotted to a table outside the local Ponybuck's. A nice hot cup of cocoa was being prepared with his name on it, as well as another one for Spitfire. As he relaxed into the chair, he stared up to the skies. To the casual observer, it was a normal average day; however to Orion? It was comforting, he grew up in Cloudsdale and left it at a young age, only ever coming up for holidays and special occasions. So it was rather nice for him to be somewhere that was familiar to him.
A waitress would discreetly deliver the two cocoas. Orion would thank her politely but didn’t lift his gaze from the sky. The feeling he got from being up here was great, it was like all of his current troubles and stress was just nonexistent. Like he did not have to deal with a single thing. Soon his eyes would catch another thing in the sky, a bright yellow pegasus with a fire orange mane coming towards him. He smiled as she landed and walked up to him "Took you long enough slowpoke" Orion joked, as he smirked a bit.
Spitfire chuckled softly and sat down at the seat across from him, noticing he had already ordered her a coffee "Me? Slow? as if! I'm only 1 minute late."
Orion laughed a bit as he took a sip from his coffee "So then how was work?"
"Ehh...could have been better. Let's just say I have my work cut out for me" Spitfire said, slightly patting the saddlebag she had on her.
"Oh? What's in there? Top-secret Wonderbolt stuff?" Orion said smirking again.
"Nah, just some dumb paperwork about the next tours we have to do." Spitfire said "My boss wants me to get them done soon so I just brought some with me, figured it would be a good idea."
"Hay you know if you need to leave because your busy I won't mind, we can always reschedule."
"Orion don't worry, I have everything under control. I can multitask" Spitfire said taking out a couple of those sheets, and began the task of sifting through the dossiers. She quickly skimmed through it for any relevant or important information, but unsurprisingly there was nothing more than typical office politics and Yellowjacket's ridiculous pricing. She’d rather get the boring stuff done so she could properly have fun with Orion.
"Alright, just don't try to overwork yourself alright? I hate to see you stressed out" Orion said, taking a sip of his coffee, keeping eye contact with Spitfire.
"Don't worry, ill make sure to let you know if anything needs to be done" Spitfire would just softly smile to Orion, happy that he was considering of her feelings and was even willing to reschedule the lunch so she was not busy, but a promise is a promise after all "Anyways, enough about me. What I want to know is what have you been up to since we last saw each other."
Orion perked up a bit and smiled "Oh well, after the academy I wanted to try something a bit different. I differently wanted to stay in the atmosphere of a military setting. So I went to Canterlot and signed up to be a Royal Guard."
"Wait so you're a Royal Guardsman?" Spitfire said, slightly in awe.
Orion flushed a bit as he smiled, scratching the back of his head "Actually uh...I'm The Captian of the Royal Guards."
"Shut up! That's awesome Orion!" Spitfire said.
"Oh its nothing too big" Orion said, trying not to sound too modest "Honestly it's a well-paying job and everything, but its a lot of work."
"I could imagine, being a Royal Guard takes on a lot of responsibilities" Spitfire said "Its kinda like my job in a way, but your job is way more extreme than mine."
Orion laughed a bit "Yeah I guess you have a point, but the Wonderbolts can be extreme too! After all you have all those tours and stuff."
"Well its more than that but I guess" Spitfire said.
"Also the Wonderbolts are a part of the military too" Orion said "You are the air units and we are the ground."
"Well that's kinda right" Spitfire said "It's true that we get baseline funding from the military, but we also pull in additional revenue from commercial and private sponsorships. The reason we are thought more of as an Arial Team than the Equestrian Air Force, is because of how successful we are in our shows."
"Well yeah but, still you have to get a lot of benefits for being that successful right? It's one of the main reasons I tried to join all those years ago" Orion said.
"Things have kinda changed since then actually. Our success means that ticket revenues and sponsorships are the things we try to get the most. It’s great for the team, but it does make for some…problems.”
"What problems?" Orion asked "I only ever hear good things from the local newspapers in Canterlot."
"Well, it’s…how do I explain this?" Spitfire put her hoof to her chin for a moment "Right so, you know the Canterlot Nobels right?"
"Of course I do, it's my job sometimes to protect them while they travel around the city."
"Right, well the Canterlot Nobels are main influencers in the Canterlot Court" Spitfire explained "The court is divided into four sections; The Bolts, The Royal Guard, The Night Guard, and the leader of all three the Grand Judge."
"Right, and there are ponies who are selected to be in charge of all three units of Equestria's Military" Orion said "And Then Celestia herself personally picks who the Grand Judge will be until their term is over."
"Precisely" Spitfire said pointing to Orion "Now, the Canterlot Nobels can have a major influence in the voting system that happens every four years, whomever they support will usually get far more votes then others."
"Ohh I see" Orion said "So then what does this have to do with the bolt's benefits and revenues?"
"As I stated before, the success we make in the bolts means that ticket revenues and sponsorships are the things we try to get the most, and usually most of the money we get goes to the current pony who is in charge of the bolt unit in the canterlot court." Spitfire said "So depending on who is in charge of the bolts at that time, depends on if there are issues or not."
"Well, color me impressed, Spitfire" Orion smiled. "You know your job well, it's no wonder you're the Captian."
The compliment brought a flush of color to Spitfire’s cheeks. She smiled sheepishly and chuckled. "Thanks" she answered. "So then...what about you? Does the Captian of the Royal Guards have any politics and drama to deal with at his job?" Spitfire asked.
"Sadly no" Orion chuckled "Its more or less training and patrol with me, I'm not in castle detail so that means my services are only needed if I'm specifically asked for."
"Well call yourself lucky then" Spitfire said, as she looked down to the paperwork she had been filling out while they were talking. "So uh...I take it you live in Canterlot then?"
"Oh uh no actually" Orion said "Well not officially anyway, I more or less sleep and live at the guard barracks in Canterlot. When I'm not? I'm usually renting a hotel or staying with family."
"Why have you not bought a house then?" Spitfire asked "Surely the Royal Guard pays enough right?"
"Oh they absolutely do, don't get me wrong" Orion said "I just..." he slightly paused for a moment looking down for a moment, he then sighed a bit "I...don't like living on my own..."
Spitfire's ears slightly perked up "You don't?"
The stallion would shake his head "I prefer living in the guard barracks because most of my friends are there. When I'm living by myself or I'm at a hotel? I...tend to get rather lonely, sometimes I don't even sleep if I'm being frank."
Spitfire looked at Orion for a couple of seconds. She thought about her options and what to say, remembering the conversation between her and her brother as well as her and Soarin. She sighed to herself a bit and spoke "Look uh...don't what I'm about to say in a weird way or anything ok?"
"What do you mean?" Orion asked, his eyebrow arching a bit.
"If you're lonely at the hotel in Cloudsdale, and you need somewhere to stay until you have your whole bank thing situated. Then...why not come stay with me?" Spitfire asked, a hint of color returning to her cheeks.
Orion was fairly convinced that his heart had stopped at some point during the proposal. His cheeks were also slightly having color on them too as he stuttered with his words "I uh..." he cleared his throat and collected his thoughts "That's...really kind of you Spitfire" Orion smiled "Are you sure though? I...really don't want to be a burden."
"I mean it" Spitfire said "Besides it's just a friend offering another friend a place to crash until he has a proper place to stay."
"Alright, then I would love to stay with you" Orion said.
"Alright cool!" Spitfire said, she quickly went into her saddlebag and grabbed a piece of paper and wrote some stuff down, handing the paper to Orion after she was done "This is my address, as soon as you have everything packed and stuff you can head over there. I don't have work tomorrow so there should not be any issues."
"Fantastic" Orion said "I can't wait."
Despite all her concern and nerves, nothing could have stopped the smile that bloomed on Spitfire's face. “Neither can I."