//------------------------------//
// 18 - Trust 
// Story: Bullets of Fire 
// by BlackWater 
//------------------------------//









There were many kinds of magical spells available to the average unicorn. The more dangerous ones were reserved only for certain things (i.e. medical use). Forced hibernation was one such example since it could prove extremely harmful if misused. Even if it was properly used, the target tended to reawaken with the common cold. Light Scribe, one of Celestia's court messengers, had no clue why that was the case since he never learned the spell or studied it in any fashion. His captor didn't know either - but that was probably because she simply didn't care.
Light Scribe awoke with a pounding headache and he felt sore all over his body. His nose was runny and his eyes felt like tree bark. He couldn't help questioning whether he was really awake or simply suffering some nightmare that had a grudge against his physical health. 
"Up already?" came that familiar voice again. "You don't look so good."
The beige unicorn only gave a groan in response as he tried to get up. He immediately regretted both actions as the pain in his head throbbed harder. He collapsed again and the familiar voice laughed. "You should see yourself!"
Time ticked by slowly even without the sound of a clock in...whatever room it was that he was in. In reality, he didn't even see the pony that had been talking. The world continued to spin around him and his only thought was that the pain must stop. He didn't hear when the voice said that it had better things to do. The pony that had been in the room had left and it hardly made a difference to him. It would be quite some time before he could try to move again.









Trust was easy to come by. Not true.
If somepony gave you safety then you could trust them. Not necessarily.
The captain was always up front about everything that was going on. Not always.
The dust was damaging his mane. Fact.
"As much fun as this snooze-fest has been, when are we getting back? It's been two days already," Silver Lining complained.
Surprise was sitting there with the stallion in one of the worker's lunch rooms. "I agree that it's not all that exciting. I don't even know why-"
"Huh?" Silver Lining didn't know why the mare suddenly cut herself short.
"Oh...um...I don't know why Spitfire took on a supervisory role," she decided to reply instead.
The stallion looked miserable as he sat squarely on his flank. His mane had indeed drooped since they had arrived and he had a persistent cover of dirt on him that was impossible for anypony on the work site to avoid. Both the stallion and mare were taking a break from their "watch." Nothing unusual was going on as far as they could tell. Being underground was just making the whole experience worse. They were pegasus and they were supposed to be above the ground. Flight seemed like gold to them now.	
"She's the captain. Her role is already supervisory...but I get your point," the miserable male remarked. He felt odd when he was alone with somepony else and there was no conversation so he often talked to his two teammates throughout the course of their stay. Sometimes he would even talk to the workers if the other 'Bolts weren't around. Not having another male 'Bolt to talk to was also a tad odd since he wasn't used to them being away. Rapidfire was somepony he took for granted, apparently.
So the grey pegasus said the the white one, "Want to hear a joke?"
Luckily for Surprise, Spitfire walked into the break room at that very moment. There was an exchange of greetings and updates before the white mare left to make her rounds. Silver Lining saw his chance to ask about something he had been wondering about for a while. "Want to tell me what those moves were all about, cap?"
Spitfire responded with a blank look for a moment. Finally guessing that the stallion happened to catch her exercising with her wingmare, she thought up a lie...and she thought it up quick. "Just some fitness routines we're trying out. I want to keep in shape for the camera too you know. Read about them in a mare mag."
Silver Lining tried to hold in the laughter and only partially succeeded. "You're horrible at lying, you know that?"
Spitfire's ears drooped. She didn't want to start letting the other 'Bolts in on her training yet. She had only recently passed the half-way point and it would be chaos if it got leaked. It was what Silver Lining said next that made up her mind.
"You can trust me, Spitfire. If you don't want anypony else to know then I won't say a word. And I won't judge you for it either."
The stallion was sincere and the orange mare knew it. She hadn't a clue as to what he thought was going on but it was irrelevant. He was about to find out. She made sure nopony was listening in and then approached the male 'Bolt. As captain of the Wonderbolts, she didn't put ponies on her team if she couldn't trust them. She couldn't afford to be hesitant in making her decisions as a leader - even if she didn't always live up to that requirement. Silver Lining wasn't going to let the whole thing slide and, deep past the part of her that kept it a secret, Spitfire wanted somepony else to know what was going on.
Thus she carefully told the short tale of her secret training. Unexpectedly, it was the mare and not the stallion who wound up surprised. Silver Lining had a cool head and took almost anything with ease. On the other hoof, Spitfire was surprised that he didn't freak out. She had apparently underestimated the stallion's iron nerves. He had an amazingly solid mind for somepony so concerned with fashion. The mare was certain that High Winds wouldn't take the news with such calmness.
"Very well," Silver Lining responded. "I won't tell the others. But, I don't think everypony in our team can pull off this maneuver."
His words stung a bit. As captain of the team, Spitfire was very proud of her 'Bolts. They were capable of dishing out the most amazing stunts but, in reality, Spitfire knew that Silver was right. There were some members that lacked the resolve and microsecond timing that was a mandatory requirement. Wave Chill was the first such member to come to mind. High Winds was the next and the captain slowly - reluctantly - crossed out some of the others. 
Spitfire sighed almost depressingly, "You're right."
"I don't want to make you feel like a bad leader, Fire. You're the best captain we could ask for," he encouraged her with an earnest smile. "But I'd say, at best, only half of us could actually go through the training and do it."
"I guess I was being too enthusiastic," the mare moaned.
Silver Lining laughed softly in return to lighten the mood. "It's because you love your job so much. Flying is the world to you."
"What about you?"
"Me?" the stallion asked in mock surprise. "I wouldn't give it up for all the fashion in Canterlot. I may agree with High Winds on some things but at the end of the day I'm still a Wonderbolt. If I cared more about looks then I'd be a fashion designer instead of a stunt flier."
Spitfire's lop-sided grin returned. "You don't think we look good up there?" she motioned to the sky, which was somewhere above the cramped underground tunnels they were confined to.
Silver snorted, "Of course we look good. We look more than good. We look  magnificent."
There was a pause as the stallion struck an exaggerated pose and the two ponies finally laughed together. 
"Thanks," the orange mare giggled.
"What for?"
"For the laugh. I didn't even realize that I needed it so much..."
Silver Lining beamed as he wrapped a hoof over his captain's shoulder. "What are teammates for?"
Suddenly, Spitfire remembered that something very similar had happened recently with another pony. It brought a new smile to her face - one with new meaning. 
She really did have an awesome team...









Fire Streak grumbled a string of incomprehensible things under his breath. Lighting Streak had him again. Why did that stallion always have to go and say something that he didn't have the words to counter. There was no doubt in Fire Streak's mind that he was right, but he didn't know how to explain it. The words escaped him and maybe that's why he never got stellar grades in writing or public speaking.
The stallion had steamed off in anger and now he was trotting down the countryside alone. The other Wonderbolts were busy doing their own little events as instructed by their captain before she left with Surprise and Silver Lining. Fire Streak's own little group consisted of himself, Lightning Streak, and Fleetfoot. The mare was just as bad as that confounded stallion, though. She had sided with him in the argument.
It was like all of Equestria was against Fire Streak. Every little suggestion he made was not only shot down but rabidly attacked as if it was evil incarnate. He had been lucky way back when during the Great Dirt Fort Expedition. But then again, the only reason that had gone through was simply because nopony had anything else to do. Was it his ideas? Were they...not that good?
No! They were perfect, he reminded himself. The dirt fort wasn't supposed to be mind-bending. It was just a pointless bit of fun for the guys. A random moment to share together. His latest idea on the other hoof...
Okay...maybe lighting our tails on fire during a race wasn't a perfect idea...
"Lightning Streak?" a voice called feebly from somewhere nearby.
Fire Streak broke from his thought-filled trot and looked over to the side. There was a young pony standing there on a lawn. The nearby house was large and gave off a "rich" feel. Must be one of those countryside mansions I've heard about, he thought.
The near-teenage cream-colored pony approached him and he was able to pick up from the figure that it was a mare. She had a wavy red mane and was wearing an elaborate dress that he could only describe as "poofy." He wasn't keen on the different classifications of dresses like High Winds was. "Are you Lighting Streak?" the mare asked again excitedly.
The 'Bolt groaned. This mare must have failed to get a picture of the Wonderbolts out-of-costume. He and Lightning shared a vaguely similar color of mane but they were different in all other respects. The uniform made it harder to tell, but Lightning Streak was blue and Fire Streak was an off-white. Perhaps it was the recent argument that made the 'Bolt snap in his response.
"No! I'm Fire Streak! And that worthless pair of wings can shove dirt for all I care!"
The young mare whimpered at the outburst and began to turn back to the house with a start. What did I just do, the stallion panicked even as his mouth was still closing. What kind of Wonderbolt lashes out at a fan?
He tried quickly to stop her, "Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"
She didn't halt but only increased her pace back to the safety of the large house. Fire Streak was determined not to look like a jerk and bolted over her, landing in her path. She stopped so quickly that she almost flipped backwards. The stallion tried his best pleading expression. "Please, I'm serious. Lightning Streak's a cool guy! I'm a Wonderbolt too so I can get you his autograph if you want!"
Mentally, he wanted to kick himself or at least gag. He didn't feel honest in the slightest about what he was saying. Still, he was willing to do even a painful favor if it meant keeping the small mare from hating him. He didn't join the team to be the worst member.	
The mare was still looking scared and her ears were laying backwards as she sat helplessly in the grass. She nodded. Maybe she was agreeing about Fire's assessment of Lightning or perhaps it was the bribe. Whatever the case, she looked like she just wanted him to leave. I'm not going to blow this, the stallion thought. He quickly looked behind him to the house and noted the number. Writing the general area in his memory, he turned to the mare again with a wide smile. "Okay. I'll go get you a very special autograph! Is Lightning Streak your favorite?"
Ears still back, she nodded quickly and said nothing.
"Why'd you think I was Lightning anyways?" he asked careful with just a bit of a quizzical look.
Finally her voice returned as a small squeak, "Y-you look k-kinda the same and..."
Fire Streak didn't get why she started pointing at his face until the feeling finally clicked. Fleetfoot was going to laugh about this one. He had meticulously ditched the uniform only to leave the signature Wonderbolt goggles in place. They were resting just above his eyes. "Oh...yeah..." was all he could say as he reached up to feel them.
The mare gave a nervous and very unsure smile, which encouraged the stallion. "I'll be right back then," he continued.
With a wink and flap of his wings, he was off into the air. That autograph was going to be very special indeed. So special, in fact, that maybe she would consider changing her favorite 'Bolt...to somepony more awesome. He smirked.