//------------------------------// // Teammates // Story: Fire & Rain // by Ruirik //------------------------------// The first thing that Misty became aware of as she came to was just how sore her head was, even with the cold presence of what she assumed was an ice bag. The second thing she noticed was a pair of two distinct voices in conversation. The last thing was that they seemed to be talking about her. “So, does this normally happen?” “Only when she get’s really worked up about something or other, and after forgetting to eat breakfast.” “Really?” “Yeah, she’s not allowed to do morning events anymore.” The first voice let out an amused snort. “I can do morning stuff just fine,” Misty groaned. “Oh good, you’re awake,” Spitfire said, her attention shifting from Rainbow to Misty. “Have a good nap?” “Oh, hey boss. I had the weirdest dream that I walked into your hotel and Rainbow Dash was chilling on your couch.” Misty said, bringing a hoof up to touch the ice pack that covered her eyes. “Was that you being funny, or was that serious?” Spitfire asked, staring blankly at her teammate. There was a particularly pregnant pause as Misty thought about it. “Apparently it was neither.” Rainbow and Spitfire scoffed in amusement from the lighthearted joke. Misty propped herself up into a sitting position, pulling the ice pack off her face and depositing it onto the coffee table. She blinked several times to clear the haze from her eyes. Sitting opposite of her was Spitfire and Rainbow Dash, both relaxed in separate chairs. Rainbow had a cup of coffee held carefully in her hooves. Spitfire’s cup was sitting on the coffee table, emptied of its contents for the moment. Spitfire sat up straighter, ready to lend assistance if Misty needed it. “Feeling okay?” Spitfire asked. “I’ll live, I think,” Misty mumbled, “what’d I miss?” “You walked in, Rainbow said ‘hi’, then you keeled over like a goat and knocked yourself silly,” Spitfire explained with the casualness of describing the weather. Misty shot Spitfire an irritated glare as a frown pulled at her lips. “Gee, thanks for your concern. I feel so appreciated.” "Well, in fairness—" "And that reminds me," Misty interrupted, her voice edging ever closer to shouting, "what the hay is she doing in here?!" Misty demanded as she pointed an accusatory hoof at Rainbow. "Well, I—" "I thought the plan was 'leave Rainbow alone so we don't accidentally alienate her', did something change when I wasn't bucking looking?" Rainbow quirked an eyebrow at the revelation, her eyes shifting from Misty to Spitfire. Spitfire, on the other hoof, rubbed her temple with a hoof as she reminded herself she wasn’t allowed to kill her subordinates. The act tended to be poor PR. “I met up with Rainbow the day I got out of the hospital, Misty. We’ve been hanging out a lot since then.” “Soarin’ and Rapid said...” Misty’s eyes widened as the pieces began to snap into place for her. “Oh those lying motherf—” “Misty Fly!” Spitfire snapped in her command voice. The mild reprimand seemed enough to snap Misty somewhat out of her anger. Misty bowed her head slightly, her wings slackening so they were pointed to the ground in a traditional pegasus apology. Silence settled between the two Wonderbolts as they gave themselves a moment to calm down. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get upset.” Misty apologized, her voice having returned to a more conversational level. She looked up, her gaze meeting Rainbow’s. “Rainbow Dash, I’m sorry you had to see that. It was rude and unprofessional.” “N-no problem,” Rainbow sputtered. She shot Spitfire a nervous glance, knowing the precarious position her marefriend suddenly found herself in. The tiny glance didn’t go unnoticed by Misty. The canary-coated mare’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. Her attention shifted back to Spitfire, who was giving Misty her undivided attention. “Spitfire,” Misty began carefully, “we’re friends, right?” “I like to think so,” Spitfire answered. “Good. Then, as your friend, would you please tell me if this,” She waved a hoof between Spitfire and Rainbow, “is what it looks like?” Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off as Spitfire’s wing reached out and brushed her. Spitfire gave Rainbow a warm smile and a look that begged for trust, a trust that Rainbow was perfectly happy to offer. “Well, Misty, Rainbow and I have been seeing each other since I got out of the hospital.” Misty’s eyebrows shot up at the revelation as she recoiled very slightly in her seat. Rainbow’s eyes shifted from Misty to Spitfire and back again. The seconds between the three mares seemed to stretch into hours as Spitfire and Rainbow waited for Misty to process the information. “...When you say ‘seeing each other’, you don’t mean, like... “ Misty tapped her front hooves together as she struggled for the correct words. Spitfire answered by wrapping a protective wing around Rainbow’s shoulders and pulling the younger mare closer. Misty groaned and placed her head in her hooves. She shook her head in disdain as she mumbled to herself for a moment. When she looked up at them, there wasn’t anger in her expression, instead there was almost a sadness to her. “Celestia’s sacred ass, Spitfire, what in the world do you think you’re doing?” Misty asked Rainbow seemed to take more offense from the question. “You know, I’m sitting here too.” Misty shifted her attention to Rainbow. “And were you the one who asked her out?” “What difference would that make?” Rainbow challenged, only the light grip of Spitfire’s wing keeping her in her seat. “That doesn’t matter,” Spitfire insisted. “It matters a buck of a lot, actually!” Misty snapped, slamming her hoof against the couch cushion. “If Rainbow asked you out, well first off props for showing some guts on that, I mean, we are kinda celebrities and that tends to freak out most ponies. Anyway, if Rainbow asked you out, then —” “Misty!” Spitfire shouted loud enough to derail the rambling mare’s thoughts. “I asked Rainbow out, okay?” Misty pressed her head into her hooves as she groaned. “Arcus is gonna lose his mind when he finds out about this.” “Arcus already knows,” Spitfire informed her. The revelation made Misty’s jaw drop as she looked up at Spitfire. “No way. No way, if Arcus thought you were doing this he’d—” “Misty, I’m gonna tell you this because we are friends, and I trust you with my life just like every pony on the team. But you need to promise me that what we say in this hotel room doesn’t get repeated to anypony, okay?” Misty was quiet for several long moments, her eyes locked to Spitfire’s as she considered her situation. With a sigh and a nod, she finally agreed. “Arcus cornered me about this back on Monday, and he was none too thrilled by it either. He told me his concerns, told me his, uh, recommendation, and he made some fair points. Rainbow and I have talked about it as well, and we decided on a different course of action.” “And were you two planning on telling anyone else about this ‘other course’, or were you just gonna wait for us to all stumble headfirst into it?” Rainbow and Spitfire exchanged a slightly sheepish grin before Spitfire answered. “We, uh, we hadn’t gotten that far yet.” “Gee, I hadn’t noticed,” Misty said with a huff as she leaned back. “Excuse the simple weather manager in the room, but why is this such a big deal? I mean, there aren’t explicit rules for who a Wonderbolt can date, right?” Rainbow asked. “Technically, no there aren’t,” Spitfire answered, her wing reinforcing its grip on Rainbow. “The problem, Rainbow,” Misty continued, “is that you are, well, you. The elements of Harmony may not be household names, but all of you do have some reputation and importance.” Rainbow couldn’t stop her eyes from rolling and the scoff that escaped her. She opened her mouth, intent to argue that they too were normal ponies. Then she remembered Twilight was Celestia’s personal protege, and Pinkie Pie who was... well, Pinkie Pie. Rainbow’s mouth snapped closed without a sound. “Rainbow and I discussed this,” Spitfire said, “you’re just gonna have to trust us on this one, Misty.” “I do trust you, Boss, but this is a whole different set of problems that’s just waiting to blow up in your face.” “Misty, just trust me. Please?” Misty sighed, her shoulders sagging. “You know you’re gonna need to tell the rest of the team, right?” “Yeah, yeah I know.” “The longer you wait, the worse it’s gonna be.” “I know, Misty.” Misty held up her hooves, surrendering the argument with an annoyed sigh. “Anyway,” Spitfire continued, “what brings you by this morning, Misty? Before you keeled over, you said we had a problem of some kind.” “Hm? Oh, right. Where’s my saddlebag?” Misty asked, looking around for the item in question. “I got it,” Rainbow said, slipping out of her chair and hooking the back strap with her fetlock. She moved closer to Misty, proffering the bags which Misty quickly accepted. “Let’s see here,” Misty mumbled as she dug through the left bag, and then the right. “Aha, there it is!” Reaching into the bag she pulled out a rolled up paper which she tossed onto the coffee table. Spitfire’s anger flared from the paper. It was Red Top’s Manehattan Enquirer. Her anger however, was momentarily forgotten as she got a good look at the cover photograph. The cover was a full page picture of Soarin’ and Rapidfire. Both stallion’s were facing away from the photographer and appeared to be in conversation. Soarin’s wing was draped lightly over Rapidfire’s back. The headline in bold white letters read ‘LOVE IN THE SKIES?’. A supplementary line under the title read: ‘After years of speculation, are the rumors about Soarin’ finally confirmed?’. Spitfire’s eyes drifted to the bottom of the page where a second photograph was set. The picture focused on Rapidfire, the familiar blue and gold Wonderbolts uniform in his hoof. Spitfire was standing opposite of him receiving the uniform as they talked. Spitfire recognized the moment quickly enough. Rapid had been returning her uniform to her after getting it cleaned. The caption for that photograph read ‘Rapidfire turns in his uniform to be with Soarin’?’. It was too much, and as much as Spitfire tried to quell the oncoming outburst, she was but a feather before the might of a hurricane. She tried to hold her breath, she tried to bite her tongue, none of it helped as she fell over in hysterical laughter. Rainbow was having similar problems, as she guffawed loudly from the floor. Misty did her best to be the adult in the room, though even her concerns had difficulty seeimg relevant given the contagious laughter from Spitfire and Rainbow. “Guys,” she said as she fought off her own giggles, “come on, it’s not funny. This is—pfft—this is a s-serious problem.” “T-this is great!” Spitfire managed to exclaim, tears running down her cheeks as she laughed herself senseless. Rainbow bit down on her foreleg to mute her own laughter. “C-come on Spitfire,” Misty insisted,slowly regaining her composure. “We gotta do something about this before the story gets away from us.” “Oh wow, oh my sides!” Spitfire coughed as she gasped for breath, oblivious to Misty’s insistence. In desperation, Misty turned to Rainbow Dash for help. Unfortunately for Misty, Rainbow was too busy trying to contain her own laughter to be of any use. With an aggravated sigh, Misty sat down and shook her head, waiting for at least one of the two mares to calm down. After a few minutes, Spitfire and Rainbow managed to get back to their hooves. Wiping the tear streaks from their eyes, they both seemed to refocus on Misty, albeit with occasional bouts of chuckling. “What are we do about this?” Misty asked. “Frame it and hang it in the Clousdale office?” Spitfire asked. “No... okay, that would actually be pretty funny,” Misty admitted after a moment’s thought, “but seriously, what do we do about this?” “I think we can probably just ignore it. I mean, it’s a bunch of nonsense anyway.” Spitfire said. “Yeah, but the photographs are gonna make it a lot harder, at least on Soarin’ for a while. I don’t know how Rapid will go with something like this.” “I’ll talk to him about it,” Spitfire said with a sigh. “And then there’s one other thing, which is possibly more of an issue,” Misty added, flipping open the tabloid to a page she had dog-eared. She extended her left wing, using her feathers to point to a picture that made Spitfire’s heart skip a beat. It was a photograph of Spitfire, Soarin’, and Rapid standing outside a cafe, and Rainbow Dash, heavily obscured by Spitfire’s figure, was just barely visible in the picture. The headline next to the photo asked “Who is this mystery mare?”. “Ho boy,” Spitfire mumbled, running a hoof through her mane. “That could make life interesting.” “What should we do?” Rainbow asked. “Not a whole lot we can do, Dash. I suppose for now we just ignore it and see what happens. I’d rather not accidentally throw fuel on the fire if it’ll just get forgotten in a few days.” Misty nodded in agreement. “What about Soarin’ and Rapid? I don’t know if they’ve even seen this yet.” Spitfire hummed for a moment. “Well, how about we just fly over and break it to them ourselves. That way we can soften the blow as much as possible.” “Sounds like a plan to me,” Misty said. “Can I come?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, I’m not a Wonderbolt yet, but I’d like to help if I can.” “Of course you can come, Dash.” Spitfire answered with a happy smile. “We should probably fly, just to save time and avoid attention,” Misty said, “so, who carries you?” Spitfire gave Misty an evil smile. “Misty, honey, you know I’ve always wanted to ride you.” “Rainbow, carry your damn marefriend so I don’t ‘accidentally’ drop her from the trade winds.” “I don’t know,” Rainbow almost purred as she slipped beside Spitfire, “you might enjoy a good ponyride.” “You both suck.” “Actually—” Spitfire started. “NOT A WORD!” Misty shouted. Spitfire and Rainbow Dash burst into giggles as Misty’s face turned from yellow to red. A few short minutes later, all three mares were in the skies. Misty and Rainbow flying side by side, while Spitfire held onto Rainbow’s back. For Rainbow, the flight was almost a dream come true. She was, after all, flying with the Wonderbolts! Well, specifically she was carrying her marefriend who happened to be a wonderbolt, but Misty was a full fledged Wonderbolt! She may have been out of uniform, but she was still a healthy, flying Wonderbolt! It took considerable effort for Rainbow to keep a straight face. For Spitfire, she spent the time thinking of how to best break the topic to Soarin’ and her brother. The humor of the pictures aside, she was actually quite offended at Red Top for slandering both her brother and her best friend. Of all the things in the world that she wouldn’t tolerate, it was anypony harassing her family. For the ponies she loved, Spitfire would face down Celestia herself. Misty took the lead, mostly since Rainbow didn’t know where either Soarin’ or Rapidfire lived. Soon enough, she lead them to Soarin’s oceanside apartment. The three flew up to his porch, where they found Soarin fast asleep and snoring loudly in his patio chair. A red blanket was draped over him as he slept. Sitting next to him was the bottle of Blue Label Spitfire had given him, now nearly half gone, and an empty glass. Rainbow and Misty landed on either side of Soarin’, with Spitfire quickly slipping off of Rainbow’s back. “Soarin’? Oooh Soarin!” Spitfire sang. “I should’ve brought my camera,” Misty mumbled as she stifled a giggle. Spitfire put her hoof on Soarin’s shoulder and shook him enough to wake him. “Eh, wha...” Soarin’ mumbled groggily as his emerald eyes fluttered open. “Boss?” “Wakey, wakey, Soarin’.” Spitfire said cheerily. “Go away, it’s too early and I’m off today.” He mumbled as he rolled onto his side. Spitfire sighed and rolled her eyes. “Okay, time for the hard way.” Without further explanation, Spitfire pulled Soarin’ out of his chair letting him land on the patio with a loud thud. Soarin’ seemed rather unimpressed with the surprise change in positions, but didn’t attempt to get back to his comfy chair. Instead, he seemed quite intent to be as big a pile of dead weight as he could possibly be, in hopes the unwanted visitors would simply leave. Spitfire hefted Soarin’ onto her back, grunting heavily from the dead weight. “Would one of you two go and scramble him an egg or something? I’m gonna toss his flank in the shower.” “Why don’t you go cook him something?” Misty asked, her face turning into a small pout. “Cause if I cook, then we’re gonna have to fly him to the hospital to get his stomach pumped. And hospitals are no fun unless you’re the one getting the drugs.” “You all suck,” Soarin’ grumbled from his position, still intent on being as useless as possible. “Yeah, yeah, that’s nice, Soarin’. Come on, let’s get this over with.” Spitfire said as she trotted inside. Misty and Rainbow watched her for a moment before Misty looked at Rainbow. “So, do you know how to cook?” “Um... kinda?” “Well, he’s screwed.” “That sounds about right, yeah.” Twenty minutes later, a very irritated Soarin’ was sitting at his kitchen table, wholeheartedly staring at a plate of scrambled eggs that seemed to contain as much shell as egg and a slice of bread better described as blackened than toasted. “Tell me again,” he asked, “how did three mares manage to buck up scrambled eggs and toast?” “It’s the thought that counts, right?” Misty said with a hopeful smile. “Not really, no.” He answered. “Anyway,” Spitfire interrupted, “we came here Soarin’, because there’s a small problem you need to know about.” “Joy. Of. My. Life.” Misty pulled out the copy of the Enquirer from her bag and set it beside the plate of so-called food. Soarin’s eyes went wide as he took in the photograph and the headlines. The three mares exchanged a nervous glance as they waited for Soarin’ to react. Just as Spitfire was about to reach out to him, his shoulders began to tremble. For an instant, the mares recoiled fearing the enquirer had taken things too far. Then Soarin’ fell out of his chair, laughing himself senseless. Spitfire, Rainbow, and Misty all let out a relieved sigh. “You okay there, buddy?” Spitfire asked. “That... that’s just too perfect!” Soarin’ said through his laughter. “Well then, wanna come with us to show Rapid? We can all get some lunch after that, Misty here is owed some explaining for the last couple weeks.” Spitfire said. “Sure, just—hehe—just give me a minute.” “Can do,” Spitfire answered with a grin. After Soarin’ had composed himself, and grabbed his own Saddlebag. The four pegasi set out for Rapid’s apartment. Spitfire again rode on Rainbow’s back the whole way there. The flight took them nearly half an hour at their easy pace. Finally, Spitfire pointed out the modest complex Rapid lived in and had them land outside. A short trot later, all four found themselves standing in the hall while Spitfire knocked impatiently on the door. Judging by the loud music coming from inside, they were fairly confident that Rapid was home. “Rapidfire!” Spitfire shouted as she pounded on the unfortunate door. “Open the damn door!” Finally the door swung open revealing a very irritated Rapidfire. Unfortunately for him, he pulled the door open just as Spitfire went for another hard knock. The end result was Spitfire’s hoof punching Rapid in the mouth, dropping him to the ground like a sack of potatoes. “AH!” Rapid shouted as he clutched his face “CELESTIA DAMNIT!” “Oh my goodness I am so sorry! Are you okay?” Spitfire quickly apologized as she helped her brother to his hooves. Rainbow, Soarin’, and Misty tried not to laugh too noticeably. “What the hay was that for?” Rapid demanded. “It was an accident!” Spitfire insisted with a stomp of her hoof, her face red as an apple. “What do you crazy ponies want, anyway? Cause if you’re here to beat me up, then I think I can find better ways to spend an afternoon.” Spitfire dug into her saddlebag and held up the paper for Rapid to see. He studied the paper for several long moments before he looked at Soarin’. “Does this mean we can’t cuddle anymore?” “Screw. You.” “Not in front of my sister, Mallow.” Soarin’ groaned as he lightly headbutted the door frame.