//------------------------------//
// 27 - Sparks 
// Story: Bullets of Fire 
// by BlackWater 
//------------------------------//









It was high noon and the sun was shining with a particular sparkle. Thankfully, the heat was not intense and the cool mist that drifted over from the grass sprinklers made in almost enjoyable. High Winds sighed with relief when, during the morning hours, she had caught some assurance that her plan was going well. The previous night, she had almost panicked when she realized that her little "hint" that she dropped for Silver Lining could backfire. What if he took the wrong implication and thought she was suggesting something might happen between him and...herself? But everything turned out okay because the stallion apparently had a secret order of interest in each of his female teammates. 
Early that morning, Wonderbolts had come and gone on the Canterlot track in preparation for the big event that was being held the next day. Silver Lining had stayed the longest because a certain mare had failed to show until it was nearly lunch time. Nevertheless, High Winds had been watching discreetly from the stands and she caught his every look. Maybe she was just being paranoid because of last night's worries but she no longer had any reason to harbor them.
High Winds caught an expression that Silver Lining flashed when Misty showed up on the track - particularly when she was doing her warmup stretches. If the stallion had ranked his female Wonderbolts then Misty was quite luckily at the top of his list. High Winds was hoping that would be the case since the chemistry seemed to work well between the two. Now all the fashionista had to do was get one of them to make a suggestion to the other. The rest would be history.
However, that was for later. Right now she needed to get in some of her own practice. She was a Wonderbolt with an upcoming performance after all! So she got down to the track and started warming up. One, two, three...
"Yo!" a pony smacked her on the back. High Winds hadn't seen the mare approach her.
"Fleetfoot," she responded surprised. "I thought you had gone on with Blaze to get lunch."
The looks-average pegasus stuck her tongue out and made a rude sound. "I get tired of that girl sometimes."
High Winds knew the story without having to ask. Doubtless some dumb quarrel had broken out between the two. Blaze was a pony easy to disagree with. "Well you've already gone through your moves right? What are you doing back here?"
"Because," Fleetfoot rolled her eyes. "I knew you were still here and I also know that something's going down. I want to know about it."
Either the mare was perceptive or had some seriously dumb luck but either way she had figured something was off about the team's atmosphere. High Winds would have to be careful in what she said. "You should be worried about what's going on with yourself before you meddle in somepony else's affairs - if that were even permissible in the first place."
The white-maned pegasus cringed. "Hey, you don't have to remind me. It's not like I've forgotten."
She was referring to an earlier discussion she had initiated with High Winds. Just like Misty, Fleetfoot had come to her about some personal issues. Unlike Misty, however, they were not getting resolved in any fashion. Fleetfoot had indeed, in a sense, forgotten the advice her confidant had given her. The curly-maned mare made just such a point. "You have, Fleet. If you have such an issue with being left out then just find somepony you can hang out with. You're on the team for goodness sakes. Just designate one of us as your go-to pal."
"Like you and Misty?" Fleetfoot countered light-heartedly.
So it was back to that. The topic wasn't really for public consumption. "Everypony has their reasons for being with one friend or another. But I'm guessing that the reason you're keeping that chip on your shoulder is because you're looking for something more than mere friendship."
The light blue mare opened her mouth in shock before quickly regaining her even composure. "And what if I am? There's nothing wrong with that. It's perfectly natural."
"I didn't say otherwise, Fleet," High Winds replied suggestively. She had to hold her tongue from saying the most obvious thing on her mind, which was something to the effect of "everypony but me is starting to have relational issues." She couldn't open her mouth on the matter for the sake of keeping Misty's affair confidential.
Perhaps High Winds had been too open to her friend because the blue mare launched herself into a laying position in the grass in front of her, eyes aglow. Stretching her hooves to feel the plush green, she started the next thread of conversation with enthusiasm. "So is there anypony that you'd suggest? For me, that is."
Fleetfoot had always been somewhat plain but there were still some things that she'd go at without abandon. One such thing was her interest in...
"And remember: no John Does," she declared firmly.
...unique romance. Not regular old harlequin romance. It had to be a relationship with something that gave it "spice" as the white-maned pegasus liked to put it.
The fashionista sighed as she tried to continue her warm-up exercises. "I don't know if I should reprimand you or not..."
"Oh c'mon, Winds. I've never actually had a special somepony before...except that one time in Junior. But that was totally different. A little spice never hurt nopony. Certainly not me."
"I'm not so sure. But it hardly matters since I don't have any suggestions for you," the mare responded as she shifted her gaze to the side. A nearby ladybug was suddenly the most interesting thing in Equestria for her to fix her gaze upon.
Fleetfoot caught the dodge, however. "I know better, Winds. You're like the most perceptive pony I've ever known. You totally have somepony in mind - a special stallion who'd be perfect for me."
High Winds tried to put all her energy into a vigorous stretching routine. A bead of sweat rolled down from her forehead and it was not due to her physical activity. "You think too highly of me."
"Oh, you have no idea what I think of you," she kidded in return.
Groaning, the whitish mare finished a stretch and trotted over to the track. Two Wonderbolts getting paired up was as much as she could handle - or as much as the team could handle for that matter.
"You're not getting away from this, Windy!"
Placing her first hoof on the lined oval of the course, she relented into one more comment. A comment that she realized, all too late, was all her teammate needed. "I can't be too sure with that stallion."
Fleetfoot may have been Joe-average in a manner of speaking but she wasn't dull in the head. In fact, she had her own moments of genius as most ponies do. Thus she picked up the indication immediately with an "aha."
High Winds sunk her head, knowing the chaos that would ensue after the next day's event. Doubtless, Fleetfoot would stir up something then, as she was too busy in preparation (as most Wonderbolts were). "Please don't-" she whispered more to herself than the teammate just behind her.
"Looks like I've got an appointment with one Rapidfire," The blue mare waved her flank as she emphasized the 'Bolt's name. It was enough to make her fellow pegasus regret having looked back to see it.
"-make my life into a love drama," High Winds finished too late.









Spitfire let the cold sweetness of the iced lemonade run down her throat before placing the empty cup aside. It was quite refreshing, as she had recently finished her practice runs with Surprise and Misty. Although the latter mare lacked the same level of synchronization that the former had, she was a good fit all the same. Misty was a solid flyer and would do well in tomorrow's speed run. The event was not entirely a free-for-all as it required pairs to combine their efforts to get the best time.
Surprise hung a fore leg around her captain's neck as they gazed into the green pastures beyond Canterlot. They were both taking a break with Misty atop one of the city's observation towers. "Beautiful, isn't it?" the white pegasus smiled.
Misty, however, was the one to answer before Spitfire. "It's just plain old Equestria, Surprise."
The captain smirked as her wingmare let her leg drop from her neck. Surprise began her rebuttal, "I know it's easy to take it for granted but we live in a gorgeous world. We should be thankful for what we already have."
"Even the badlands?" Spitfire couldn't help but question.
"Of course! Every place has its own kind of beauty," she responded. There was a pause before she spoke again with firm conviction. "You know, captain, every year of my life, I grow more and more convinced that the wisest and best is to fix our attention on the good and the beautiful...if we just take the time to look at it."
Maybe there was some truth in it but Misty couldn't stay her thoughts. "I suppose it's easy for us to focus on the good stuff since we're kind of..."
"Rich?" Spitfire finished. "Maybe so, but not all of us have been that way all our lives. I wasn't exactly the kind of pony anyone would peg for success when I was younger."
"Oh?" Surprise tried to egg her friend on. In spite of being close teammates and friends, none of the Wonderbolts were ever required to wax on about their past - and most didn't. If the captain was going to say something about it then both Surprise and Misty  were eager to hear it.
Such was not the case, however. "What about you two?" the mare asked instead.
Surprise hesitated and so Misty was first to speak. "Meh. I didn't really grow up poor but I'm definitely not from Canterlot either. I guess I was just your average filly."
"Where did you grow up?" Surprise questioned curiously.
"Blueshore," she replied flatly.
Spitfire huffed as she rolled her eyes. "So you were rich."
"No way! I didn't even have my own TV!" the sun-colored mare argued.
Seeing the troubled look on Surprise's face, Spitfire decided to ignore the complaint. "What about you, Prize? You on my team or Misty's," she joked as she playfully stuck her tongue out at her second wingmare.
The white pegasus gave some sort of murmur at first before quietly replying, "Your team."
"Ooooh?" Spitfire grinned. "What's that?"
"I grew up in..."
Misty leaned in closer and Spitfire had to ask the mare to repeat the lost word. "Yellowtail," Surprise repeated just loud enough to be heard.
"Where the hay-?" Misty tried to ask somewhat rudely before Spitfire shoved her away. Embracing her primary wingmare, Spitfire squealed in the way that the Wonderbolt fangirls did at their performances. 
"You really are on my team!" the captain giggled.
"Am I missing something?" Misty deadpanned.
Spitfire tumbled around with the mare in her hooves so that she could face Misty, but she just wound up in a tangle on the floor of the observation tower. A blushing Surprise was trying to slip away, but the captain held on firmly. Misty sat patiently as she waited for an answer and she got it even as Spitfire was wrangling her teammate. "Yellowtail is sort of a nowhere town - the kind of place you have to pay somepony else to get you out of. I went through there once when I was still street performing."
Surprise finally managed to escape and backed away to the other side of the platform. As she was still laying on the floor, the captain turned to look at her second wingmare. "It's worlds apart from your gate-community Blueshore."
"Oh..." Misty commented, not sure of what else she should say.
Surprise let out an "eep" when the orange pegasus got to her hooves and made like she was going to pounce on her whitish friend. "I see now that we were destined to be wingmares. We're like kindred spirits!"
The scared mare spoke with a stuttering nervousness, "W-why do you say that?"
Spitfire loosened up and shrugged. "I was raised in the bad side of Las Pegasus. It was like a foalhood from Tartarus but I think you can get that."
Surprise smiled sadly and returned, "Yeah..."
Misty whinnied pitifully. "You two are making me feel bad."
Both of the pegasus looked to her worriedly and tried to speak at the same time. When they failed, Misty told them not to be so concerned. "Sorry," she apologized. "I grew up better so I shouldn't be the one feeling bad..."
"Oh, I know. You just don't want to feel left out," the captain nailed it as proved by the yellow mare's grimace. Turning, she readied herself to pounce on Misty instead. "C'mon, Prize. I think Misty needs some love."
Before the secondary wingmare could respond, she was fumbling to the platform floor with one mischievous and one slightly embarrassed mare coddling her. They wound up nothing more than a giggling ball of hooves and wings, and Misty was hard-pressed not to be thankful for the two girls. She may not technically be head wingmare but she had some great friends and that was far better than any position she might have had.