//------------------------------// // Ch20 - Camping Trip // Story: Celestia's Tiny Student // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Celestia’s Tiny Student - Chapter 20 Camping Trip Soarin' and Twilight looked proudly at the miniature saddle that they had finished, well-made and tightly constructed though it had only taken a morning to complete. Twilight was hesitant at first, remembering her grievous injury at the point of a needle during her fillyhood, but time and experience had dulled the sharp memory, and she had eagerly taken up sewing the majority of the stitches necessary. A small enchantment spell topped off the project, ensuring that the ropes would be harder than steel while still maintaining their flexibility. The two had taken it on a test flight that very afternoon, watching from above as the various Wonderbolts paid their respects to their captain before departing for their vacation, whether in Las Pegasus or simply with their families. Twilight had glanced over at Spitfire as she addressed a few of her teammates, but in the end had opted to continue the flight rather than stop to go talk with her that day. Over the following days, while she wasn’t engrossed in her books, Twilight had spent a majority of her time with Soarin’, whether reading, chatting about various topics, or testing the saddle in the training area. However, whenever Twilight was near Spitfire, her enthusiasm was noticeably subdued. She asked only a few questions about pegasus magic, sometimes taking a feather or two to study, all the while speaking as little as possible, refusing to use her magic or levitate herself, and turning down Spitfire’s offers to spend time with her. Twilight had quickly excused herself every time, insisting that she needed some time alone to work on her spell and that she did not want to be a bother to the captain. Spitfire, however, was getting very bothered. “Is everything packed?” Spitfire asked as Soarin' put a saddlebag on her back. The stallion simply gave her a nervous nod before turning back to tightening the straps on the pack. “Good. Now double-check the saddle you and Twilight made. I want no accidents here,” Spitfire commanded before she turned back to the little mare sitting in front of her on the floor. “I appreciate the gesture,” Twilight said hesitantly, giving her an awkward smile, “but you really don’t have to—” “Oh no, little missy, no excuses. All you’ve done is study and avoid me like the plague, but not today. I am taking you on this camping trip whether you want to or not,” Spitfire said, giving Twilight a determined stare as she punctuated her last word with a stomp of her hoof, causing the little mare to flinch. Twilight continued to maintain her false smile, even as she vividly remembered the confrontation on her first day. “I-if you insist, I will be glad to accompany you.” Spitfire frowned, annoyed by Twilight’s odd attitude. She’s acted nothing like when I first met her. It’s like all of her enthusiasm just up and left for some reason. No matter. I will get to the bottom of this. “Hop up,” Spitfire said commandingly, turning her side to Twilight and spreading one of her wings like a ramp in front of the tiny mare. Twilight nodded and had barely walked onto her wing before Spitfire flicked it, throwing Twilight precisely onto the tiny saddle. “Another lesson about pegasus anatomy: with practice, we can use our wings just as well as our hooves.” Twilight nodded, still feeling rather uneasy. “Y-yes... R-really neat.” After adjusting herself comfortably into her saddle and making sure that all the ropes were tight, Twilight turned her attention towards Soarin’. “Are you sure you don’t want to join us? It won’t be the same without you.” Soarin' scratched the back of his neck with a hoof. “Sorry Twilight. I have... umm... stuff to do. Yeah... and they won’t get themselves done,” he said nervously. Spitfire listened to the talk between Twilight and Soarin' as they both bid friendly goodbyes to one another. She has no trouble talking with Soarin', but she gets all nervous around me. Not only that, whenever I try to ask Soarin’ about the cause of this, he always changes the topic... what are they hiding? “Have you two lovebirds finished your farewells already?” Spitfire asked with a smirk, causing both Twilight and Soarin' to blush. “It’s not like that! We’re just friends!” Soarin' sputtered as Twilight hid her head under her hooves. Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Whatever... Okay, little miss unicorn, hold on tight because whatever speed Soarin' or Princess Celestia flew at, it’s nothing compared to mine,” she said, launching into the air without giving Twilight a chance to reply. Despite being held safely in her saddle, Twilight grabbed Spitfire’s fur tightly as the powerful force of the wind howled around her. The giant buildings of the academy passed by in the blink of an eye. With some effort, Twilight managed to slowly turn her head, but could no longer see Soarin', the Wonderbolts headquarters now a tiny spot on the horizon. In half a minute more, they had left the outskirts of Canterlot, which became smaller and smaller as they passed over the landscape, trees and roads blurring together as the princess’s castle finally disappeared over the horizon. Twilight felt both terrified and excited as the pegasus she rode on blazed towards their campsite. *** Twilight sat in awkward silence as Spitfire slowed down, the snow-capped ridges of the Crystal Mountains coming into view. With Spitfire cruising at an average speed, there was now nothing to distract the tiny unicorn from thinking about who she was riding on. Come on, Twilight, you have to ask her sooner or later. Twilight frowned, trying to find the best way to frame the question to a pony who may very likely turn out to hate her. “What’s on your mind?” Spitfire asked purposefully, catching her off-guard. “N-nothing...” Twilight replied hesitantly. Spitfire sighed. “Time’s up, Twilight. I don’t buy it. For the past few days, you’ve been acting very odd, and I’m tired of it. I’m not going to ignore it any longer, so spill the beans.” Beads of sweat began to form on Twilight’s forehead. “I... ummm... I’m not acting odd,” she said innocently. “Whatever gave you that idea?” Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Oh, I dunno. Maybe because a very excited and energetic unicorn who levitated herself over the entire training area on her first day has suddenly turned into Little Miss Emo for the rest of the week?” Twilight sighed. No turning back now. She wants answers and so do I. It’s now or never. “Fine, you win, but before I answer your question, can you answer mine?” “Sure, go ahead.” “And you promise that you won’t be angry?” Twilight asked hesitantly, taking a nervous look at the dangerously distant snow-covered ground, far enough that the tiny mare might as well have been sitting on the moon. There is no way I would survive a fall like that, even with my protection spell, and trying to use a self-levitation spell to slow me down would be suicide if Spitfire decided to act on any discontent she might have with me, Twilight thought, subconsciously checking for a safe exit as the wind thundered in her ears. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I won’t get angry. Now ask your question already,” Spitfire replied impatiently. Twilight gulped, still fighting to remain calm. “D-do you... hate me?” Spitfire’s annoyance quickly turned into confusion, Twilight’s question striking her like a hammer. For a minute, Spitfire tried to sputter out an answer, only to reconsider her wording before she could say anything. Her silence made Twilight more and more nervous each passing second, already expecting to be forcefully thrown to the ground. “H-hate you? Why would you even think that? Who gave you that crazy idea in the first place?” Spitfire asked, still trying to get over her shock. “W-well... My roommates explained to me…” Rather forcefully, Twilight thought, gulping. “That the Wonderbolts don’t like nobles and unicorns like me, and that you h-h-hate me,” Twilight answered. her voice becoming quieter as she continued. Spitfire brought her hoof to her face, groaning. Foolish, foolish, foolish. Those featherbrains. Well, that explains her cold attitude towards me. She turned back, looking out the corner of her eye at Twilight’s terrified expression. “I bet they weren’t subtle explaining it, were they?” Twilight nodded hesitantly, averting her eyes from Spitfire’s gaze. The pegasus turned back around before taking a deep breath. “I think it’d be best if I were honest here. I bet they already told you that we try to act nicely while talking to the nobles, even though we despise them.” She looked back to catch Twilight’s nod before she continued, “They praise us in the open, but talk trash behind our backs, not to mention that Blueblood’s gotten on of our nerves more than once. You being his friend probably got you on the bad sides of many Wonderbolts.” Twilight looked down in silence as Spitfire continued, “The majority of nobles are unicorns, especially in Canterlot, so while my experience with unicorns has been bad...” Spitfire paused, turning to look intently at the unicorn mare, “I can’t say that I hate you.” Twilight lifted her head to frown at Spitfire. “Oh really? You told me that you enjoyed my impromptu show at the party Prince Blueblood organized for me, yet from what those three Wonderbolts said, you were the first to call me the princess’s pet and toy!” She crossed her forelegs, looking back sharply. “Tell me the truth.” Spitfire blinked, before sighing in defeat. “Fine. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t. After Blueblood made his speech and all the nobles started kissing your hooves, I just assumed you planned it all. I assumed you were just an attention seeker and show-off. A spoiled brat. But I didn’t lie when I said that you levitating those nobles in the air was entertaining.” Twilight stomped her hoof into Spitfire’s neck in anger. “I am not a brat! And I didn’t plan anything! I just got in the middle of it and played along! Don’t think you’re the only one with bad experiences with nobles.” Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “How so?” “Well, it actually started when I ended up teleporting under the princess’s balcony and fell straight down to Canterlot...” *** Spitfire listened to the tale with interest. “Wow, for such a tiny unicorn, that sounds like quite the adventure. So how did you get back to the castle after you lost those nobles?” Twilight frowned, still glaring at Spitfire. “Maybe I’ll tell you later, but not today. You know that party where Blueblood decided to make me a celebrity? I had no idea it even existed until I accidentally ran into him. I don’t even think lumping Blueblood in with the rest of the nobles is entirely accurate either, since he very specifically defended me from being called a ‘pet’ against the nobility at that party. He may act condescending, and he may have orchestrated my entire ‘rise to fame’ among the nobility without my consent, but I assure you that he’s thinking about more than being a pompous, show-off noble,” she said before taking a quick, deep breath. “Don’t ever start saying things about me or him before you’ve even met either of us.” Spitfire’s mouth hung open. “I... all this time I thought… I’m sorry, Twilight. I had no idea. I just…” she paused, lowering her head in shame. “I guess I was wrong thinking you and Blueblood were like all those other nobles. It was wrong of me to be so narrow-minded and it’s made me no better than they are for judging you so poorly. Can you forgive me?” Twilight looked away with a sigh. “It’s fine... I’m just glad that you understand. But please, don’t call me a toy or a pet. I’ve gotten enough of that already,” Twilight said wearily. “I swear that, as the best Wonderbolt and the fastest flyer in Equestria, not to judge a book by its cover,” Spitfire said, and to her relief, Twilight’s lips curled up in a small smile. “So, is there anything else that’s bothering you?” Spitfire asked. Twilight rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. “Well, there is one more thing,” she said, her face once again serious. “That day we met. Did you act nice to me because I was Princess Celestia’s personal student? Was that just an act?” Spitfire remained silent for a long moment before she finally looked at Twilight guiltily. “I’m afraid that was just an act.” Twilight once again looked away from the pegasus with a sigh. Spitfire took a deep, determined breath, before she began once more. “I’ll be honest with you. When Princess Celestia asked me to teach and take care of you, I fully expected you to be a self-centered, attention-seeking unicorn. I thought that for the next month you would be nothing but a pain in my flank. I acted friendly even though I wanted nothing more than to get away from you as quickly as possible. When you said you were working on a spell to turn a unicorn or earth pony into a pegasus, even if just temporarily, I thought you were insane.” Twilight continued to keep her head down, grimacing as she considered simply tuning Spitfire out. “But,” Spitfire said, causing Twilight to look up at her hopefully. “You showed a lot of guts when you used the Dizzitron. At your small size, that thing could have thrown you into the floor or a wall and flattened you like a pancake. You really impressed me with your courage,” Spitfire explained, her tone warm and pleasant. “Do you remember what I said to you? ‘I never expected to be impressed by an unicorn’...” “’But you’re not half bad...’” Twilight continued quietly. “It wasn’t a lie?” “That was the honest truth. So far I’d only hung out with pegasi, and nobles don’t tend to leave good impressions, so congratulations, you may be the first unicorn I ever liked,” Spitfire said confidently, smiling. “Sooo... is there a chance that we may become friends?” Twilight asked hesitantly. Spitfire let out a laugh. “If you stop acting like such an emo filly all the time and start showing me the same resolve you showed in the training area when we first met, I may consider it.” With the tension between the Wonderbolts Captain and the tiny unicorn resolved, they spent the rest of the time chatting amiably. When they had finally arrived at their destination, snow was just beginning to fall from the sky, blanketing the trees below with another layer of white. Twilight swept her gaze up across the huge, snow covered mountain dominating the horizon. “Wooooooooow,” she said, her eyes wide as small, white puffs escaped her mouth with every breath. “Breathtaking, isn't it?” Spitfire said, her flapping wings keeping her aloft as she pointed her hoof towards the mountain. This mountain is so much bigger than the one Canterlot was built on. I can’t even imagine how it must look to her. “It’s...it’s... huuuugeeee,” Twilight said, her attention focused solely on the precipitous peak. “Can I climb it?” Spitfire was caught completely off-guard, immediately bursting into laughter. “Hahaha! That’s gold! You... a mare barely larger than a mouse climbing on what’s probably the tallest mountain on the continent in the middle of the frozen north without any equipment—wait, you were kidding, right?” she suddenly asked, remembering the events with the Dizzitron. Twilight smiled awkwardly. “If you put it that way, it sounds a bit difficult. So far, the highest object I’ve tried to climb was the princess’s tower, and I did it in the middle of the night when nopony was looking. It took me several minutes to reach the balcony.” “Well, from the way you told me about how you begged the princess to let you stay tiny, you’re sure attracted to adventures and challenges, and I think that’s what I like about you. It separates you from those useless, lazy, flank-kissing nobles,” Spitfire said cheerfully, though Twilight grimaced at her vocabulary. “If you want, I can let you climb this mountain for hour or two under my supervision, but for now, I’d rather show you why I brought you here in the first place.” “And what might that be?” Twilight asked, her eyes still admiring the size of the mountain in front of her. “To make a long story short, this is my secret training ground. I come here whenever I want to relax or practice some kick-flank moves.” Twilight blushed, the warmth blooming rapidly across her cold face. “I... I’m honored that you brought me here.” “No need for formalities. I brought you here to give you the ride of a lifetime and test that saddle of yours. If it can handle me, it can handle any pegasus in Equestria. Ready?” Spitfire asked confidently, as her wings flapped faster and faster. Twilight, eager to endear herself to Spitfire, spoke the most daring words she could think of. “Bring it on!" She grabbed Spitfire’s fur with her hooves and held on with all strength she could muster, lowering herself closer to the pegasus and hoping that her saddle could withstand what was about to come. In mere seconds, Spitfire rapidly increased her speed, steadily approaching the speed of sound as she dove downwards. Twilight felt fear rising up inside her as Spitfire flew on a collision course with the earth, and her horn lit in panic to project a barrier around herself and the pegasus, but Spitfire turned up before she could finish casting it. Twilight watched in awe as their steep fall was converted into a sharp climb. If Spitfire started from the bottom part of the mountain and flew at what I assume is speed of sound, it mean that we’ll pass one kilometer every 3.6 seconds. I may not be able to estimate the height of the mountain, but I can calculate the distance I would need to climb up to the top... If I could walk in a straight line that is. Spitfire gained more and more altitude as Twilight counted the passing seconds, steeling herself against the howling snow that assaulted her on their way up. “Twenty… Twenty-one… Twenty-two...” Twilight counted. Though she could hardly keep her eyes open through the freezing wind, she resisted the urge to close them, eagerly taking in the sights around her. Spitfire finally arrived at the top, and with a few more flaps of her wings, she slowed down and landed on the mountain. She looked back at her passenger who, as expected, was decidedly not cowering in fear. “Enjoyed the ride? I hope I wasn’t too harsh for a newbie like you.” “T-t-thirty... o-one,” Twilight said, breathing rapidly as her head spun. “Thirty one? What do you mean?” Spitfire asked curiously as she watched her passenger slowly recover. “Oh right…” she murmured. “I forgot that unicorns and earth ponies aren’t used to hostile atmosphere at this height.” Twilight did her best to fight against the biting cold and the sparse amount of air. “You f-flew for t-t-thirty o-one s-seconds... at n-nearly th-the s-speed of sound. That means... That y-you c-climbed a-almost eight t-thousand meters from t-the g-ground,” she said, shivering from the cold. “T-the t-t-temperature lowers b-by 0.6 d-degrees every one h-hundred m-m-meters... C-consider-r-ring we are in the f-far n-n-north where the av-average temp-p-perature is under z-z-zero, it m-m-means...” Spitfire gave a curt nod. “You got it, kiddo. The temperature at the top of this mountain is around minus seventy, and even with a pegasus’s natural resistance to cold, it’s a little nippy up here, even for a veteran like me.” She paused and looked at the shivering unicorn in pity. “I guess you’ve never been anywhere this cold. Pity, and here I was hoping we could enjoy the wonderful view, but it’d be best if—” Spitfire was stopped by a magenta aura closing her mouth.“Nonono, i-it’s f-fine,” Twilight said, gathering up her determination as she shook off the snow that had piled on her body. “I’ve b-b-been hit by an ice spell more than once d-during my magical c-c-combat simulations, s-so I think I can endure... J-just give me a moment.” Trying to act tough in front of the Wonderbolts Captain, Twilight cast off the magic ropes that held her tightly to her saddle and jumped from Spitfire’s back, landing in the cold snow that covered the top of the mountain. To Twilight’s displeasure, the snow was far deeper than expected, and she gave a sharp yelp as she fell into its crunchy embrace. With a small heat spell, she melted her way out before using a levitation spell to pat down a path towards the edge of the mountain, fighting the extreme conditions in order to admire the wonderful view with Spitfire as she sat next to her giant foreleg. *** After a few minutes of silence, Spitfire convinced the half-frozen Twilight that this was enough and placed her delicately onto her back, Twilight reluctantly tightening the ropes of her saddle once again. Without wasting any time, Spitfire dove down the mountain until the temperature became a bit more bearable as Twilight sought heat from her own spells and in Spitfire’s fur. “I think I know what will heat you up,” Spitfire said as she circled around the mountain, showing off her tricks as Twilight excitedly held on for the ride. A sudden, soft boom echoed from the side of the mountain, and Spitfire’s right wing was suddenly through lanced by several sharp rocks. The captain shrieked in pain as Twilight stared shocked at the ragged mess of feathers, a few rapidly flying off into the wind behind them. Spitfire swiftly lost control of her flying, careening down at the mountain uncontrollably. Twilight desperately set up a barrier around Spitfire as the pegasus smashed into the cliff face, but the hastily erected shield quickly began to falter with every hit until it finally shattered like glass against the rocky slope. Twilight tried to set up another barrier, but her spell was disrupted by another impact of Spitfire against the stone surface, crushing her between the rock and the pegasus as they bounced across the rough surface. Spitfire threw out a quick hoof, grabbing onto a small outcropping and abruptly stopping their fall. Twilight grimaced from the hard impacts earlier, fighting down the pain from the scratches on her head and the bleeding scrape along her back. “Owowow… S-Spitfire, are you alright?” Spitfire groaned, quickly taking inventory of her injuries. “I should be asking you the same question, but yeah, besides my wing, everything seems fine,” she said laboriously. The pegasus attempted to shut out the pain from her limp, bleeding wing, only for the pain to strike in full force as an enchanted arrow nailed her in the wounded wing, making her lose her grip on the steep slope and begin falling once more. Not wasting any time, Twilight used her magic to free herself from the saddle before jumping off of Spitfire’s back, landing on the stone surface on a piece of barrier, and skidding down the slope after her friend. As she slid down the slope, Twilight saw the Wonderbolt grab another stone, only to be hit in the same wing by yet another arrow. She looked around frantically for their assailant before she noticed a flying half-lion, half-eagle hybrid—a griffon—aiming for Spitfire’s unharmed wing with a long, curved bow. “Oh no you don’t!” Twilight screamed, her horn charged with magic. Before another arrow could strike the falling pegasus, a magenta aura shifted Spitfire away from the arrow’s course. Her relief from helping her new friend was cut unfortunately short as she felt a growing strain on her hooves. Oh no, this is bad. She’s too heavy. I can barely hold her. Twilight felt the barrier under her hooves weaken as she slid down the hillside at an even greater speed, kicking up a long dust trail behind them. My hooves are going to kill me when this all is over. Twilight did her best to ignore the increased pressure pressing her down on the steep slope as she focused on levitating her friend out of the harm’s way as more arrows followed, clattering and breaking on the hard rock face. Spitfire, after a long fight with her foggy mind, finally recovered from the pain in her wing and was able to analyze the situation, quickly noticing the hostile griffin aiming another shot and the magenta aura keeping her barely out of reach of the steep slope. She briefly scanned the terrain in front of her, taking note of the various hoofholds and outcroppings before bucking out with all four hooves at the rock face, propelling herself towards the closest one as an arrow shattered behind her. Keeping her wings held stiffly out, she skipped along the jutting rock, dodging the hail of projectiles while slowing herself down. She soon approached the base of the mountain and, noticing that Twilight was no longer in contact with the rock face, jumped to catch the unicorn in midair as she glided the rest of the way down, landing heavily in the snowdrifts. Spitfire hurriedly shook off the snow that had landed on her, just as a slow, solitary applause echoed through the air. She turned towards the source of the sound, finding two ponies seated calmly before her. They wore identical black overcoats, their faces hidden behind happy and sad theatre masks with the only visible part of their bodies being their white horns. Two griffons landed next to them, both armed with bows and glowing arrows, though one landed slightly more clumsily than the other. “Quite impressive, but I expected nothing less from the famous Captain of the Wonderbolts and Princess Celestia’s protege,” the happy one said, the sad one still clapping his hooves against the ground. Spitfire narrowed her eyes at their assailants as she placed Twilight carefully on the ground, stepping protectively in front of her as the tiny unicorn hid behind one of the captain’s forelegs, puffing on her still-hot hooves and the areas where parts of her fur were scraped off. She immediately started to heal her sore hooves as Spitfire began to speak. “What is the meaning of this? If you know who we are, you should know that the only thing you’ll get for attacking us is a lifetime in the dungeon. What do you want from us?” “You really want to know? You really expect me to just tell you our plan like some novice villain? Well, too bad, because I think I forgot. Silly me...” the sad unicorn said, chuckling. “But boss, how could you forget?” one of the griffins butt in. “You were spying on the mouse pony, trying to capture her for a ransom, but you kept complaining that her guards would never leave her side!” “Shut up, feather brain,” the unicorn growled in reply. “And we were annoyed by that yellow pegasus crossing our hunting grounds.” “I said shut up!” the masked unicorn shouted, much to Spitfire’s amusement. “And then we met by accident and you told us we could get tons of bits if we capture them both, so we teamed up and prepared a trap to—” The griffon was swiftly interrupted by his partner, who grabbed the back of his head and dunked it deep into the snowy ground. Spitfire burst out laughing despite the pain she felt in her damaged wing. “Don’t stop now! It was just getting interesting! Oh, could you also tell us the names of those masked unicorns? Please?” The two masked bandits facehooved as the other griffin gave his employers an ‘I-told-you-so’ look. The sad unicorn gave a snort as he turned back to glare at Spitfire. “Enough of that. I’m sure that the princess will pay us handsomely in exchange for your lives, and with your broken wing, you’re not a threat to us at all, Captain,” he said as he lit his horn, his partner following suit. Before Spitfire could say a word, she and Twilight were wrapped in levitation auras, lifted up above their captors’ heads against their will. Spitfire struggled fruitlessly to free herself, but without the help of her wings, she could not escape its magical grasp. She smirked when Twilight, who was being levitated next to her, disappeared in a flash of teleportation spell, but her sense of hope quickly evaporated the moment her little charge reappeared in the same spot. Anti-teleportation wards, figures. These hornheads are well prepared and equipped, Spitfire thought, once again staring at the masked unicorns. “Release us or the Wonderbolts and the Royal Guards will hunt you to the ends of Equestria!” The two unicorns simply laughed in response. “I don’t fear your threats. The guards wouldn’t even know where to start! They know neither our faces, our cutie marks, nor our true fur color with a few choice enchantments,” the happy unicorn boasted, gesturing to their large concealing outfits. “As for the Wonderbolts…” He paused to give them a devilish smirk. “Too bad they’re all on vacation. But enough talk. Tie them up!” The two griffins began to fly up towards them, ropes in their talons, as a very tiny magic restraining ring was being slowly levitated towards Twilight. Spitfire looked to her charge, blinking a few times in confusion as she noticed a rather big magical aura surrounding Twilight’s tiny horn. I hope that spell’s going to get us out of this mess. Lucky those unicorns can’t see it from this distance against the sky, Spitfire thought with renewed hope as Twilight moved her head to aim, shooting a tiny, but powerful, beam of energy directly towards her target. “My horn!” the happy unicorn shrieked as lightning coursed along its length. Spitfire immediately felt the field holding her up dissipate and, without wasting any time, drop-kicked the closer of the griffons into the other, causing the two of them to careen to the ground in a heap as the Wonderbolt landed with a crisp crunch of snow. Before she could brush herself off, one of the griffins lunged to grab her, but she jumped over him and galloped towards the unicorns. Caught off guard, the sad unicorn who held Twilight shifted his focus to Spitfire, but was promptly kicked in the horn before he could immobilize her. His injured partner in crime tried to jump on Spitfire, but received a solid hoof to the face instead. Both unicorns found themselves defenseless against the Wonderbolt despite her broken wing, her agility and training more than capable of preventing them from focusing on their magic. Spitfire’s victory against the unicorns was short-lived as she felt claws slashing across her back. She turned, now facing the two griffins, both of whom were ready to attack. If my wing wasn’t broken, I would kick their sorry flanks with ease, she thought, grimacing. I need to rely on my knowledge of the area to escape them. She smoothly evaded one griffin’s talons before breaking into a sprint towards Twilight, who was charging another spell. Spitfire heard the fluff of wings opening as the two griffins took to the air, but she was focused intently on her charge. “Close your eyes!” Twilight screamed, gritting her teeth as her horn grew brighter and brighter. Spitfire did as she was told just as a bright flash of light burst from Twilight’s horn, blinding all in the vicinity and causing the two griffins to shriek as they collided into the trees. With that opportune moment, Spitfire grabbed Twilight with her working wing before dashing off as fast as she could. Though her light weight and fleet hooves kept her tracks faint in the newly fallen snow, she quickly had her tail sweep the snow behind her as she ran, hiding her trail. Confident that she had gained some distance between her and her pursuers, Spitfire gave a triumphant smirk as she made a sudden sharp turn, diving straight into a snowbank at the base of the mountain. The griffins slowly regained their vision as the two unicorns ran towards them. “Don’t stand here like a bunch of buffoons! They’re getting away! Find them!” Both griffins nodded to one another as they snatched up their bows and took flight. Spitfire pushed her way out from the pile of snow into complete darkness, lowering her charge delicately to the ground. ”Could you give us a bit of light here, Twilight?” Twilight nodded, despite knowing that Spitfire couldn’t see her, and cast an illumination spell, brightening up a large cave. She looked back at the entrance, which was totally covered as snow moved in to fill the hole left by Spitfire. "Wow, what is this place? How did you knew we could hide here?" “I often take shelter here whenever a strong blizzard makes flying back to Canterlot impossible, or when I want to take a break to eat something. The entrance is pretty much always covered in snow, so no pony or griffin should know about it,” Spitfire explained as she led the way deeper into the tunnel. “A-are you sure?” Twilight asked hesitantly, doing her best to create a strong enough light to give Spitfire sufficient visibility. “Yeah, we can settle here for a moment until things calm down—Ouch!” Spitfire suddenly dropped to her knees as she cried in pain, gritting her teeth as Twilight looked upon her wounded wing worriedly. “Your wing... It must hurt a lot!” “Yeah, it does, but what's odd is that I’ve never crashed into anything sharp while practicing on this part of the mountain. I bet those damn unicorns set up a magical trap or something—” Spitfire stopped, noticing Twilight’s despondent expression under her glowing horn. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.” Twilight ignored Spitfire as she walked closer to the damaged wing with renewed determination. “I think I may be able to help,” she stated before casting a spell that created a tiny floating orb of light, giving her a bit of visibility without having to maintain the illumination spell all the time. She took a quick survey of the damage. I need to remember to thank the princess for teaching me this spell after I tried to preen her wings in the darkness. I had no idea I would need it so soon. With her horn free and the orb lighting the area, Twilight carefully levitated each of the sharp objects out of the pegasus’s wing, one by one. Spitfire bit her lip, wincing as each of the sharp fragments was pulled out, hardly able to keep her eyes open. “I'll need to get this wing to a doctor pronto before the wound gets any worse.” Twilight gave her a wide smile. “Not with me around,” she said cheerfully as she cast a scanning spell to check the status of the bones inside the penetrated wing. “It’s not as bad as I thought. Those rocks did some damage, but the arrows only penetrated the wing in three small points. I think I can heal it.” Spitfire raised an eyebrow at the little mare. “And when did you attend medical school, Doctor Twilight Sparkle?” Twilight frowned at this remark, charging more magic into her horn as she lowered herself as close to the hole in the wing as possible. “I may not be a doctor, but I bet I have the knowledge and magic to help you better than any doctor in Equestria.” Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right, sorry if I don't believe you,” she said disbelievingly. Twilight looked up at Spitfire with a pleading look. “I want to get out of this mess as much as you do, and with your wing healed, we can escape from those bandits. I know what I’m doing, so please... Just trust me.” Spitfire gave a defeated sigh as she deflated. “Fine, fine, newbie. If you want to give it a try, go ahead. It’s not like we have anything better to do. Just try not damage it more than it already is.” Twilight nodded as she once again focused, gathering her magic on a pierced point in the wing. Lowering her horn very close to the wound, she cast her spell, weaving her magic into the injury. Slowly and carefully, part by part, Twilight regenerated the broken bone before moving on to the next puncture wound to repeat the process. Spitfire kept her teeth grit in a pained grimace, knowing that even a small yelp would alert the bandits to their location. “Whatever you’re doing, finish it quickly. It really hurts,” she said, her voice strained. Twilight ignored Spitfire, continuing to focus on the magical surgery as she moved to the multiple points of the wing cut or slashed by the dagger-like stones. The little mare carefully healed the wing bone by bone, feather by feather with exacting precision, breathing heavily as the process drained her magic. After a few more minutes, Twilight collapsed from exhaustion, her eyes closed and sweat soaking her entire body. “I... did… it...” she said, taking deep breaths between each word before promptly losing consciousness. Spitfire slowly opened her eyes, relaxing her tense muscles as she began to realize that most of the pain was gone. She looked at Twilight, who was now sleeping on her damaged wing, the orb of light still bobbing gently just above her head. “It… doesn’t hurt,” Spitfire said in astonishment as she moved her wing closer to examine it. She could no longer see any holes in her wing, and her wounds were already half healed. “Amazing. I thought only a surgeon could heal a wing so quickly and so precisely. It does lack some feathers, but it should be good enough to fly.” Spitfire smiled at the tiny unicorn, curled up like a ball of wool on her wing. “The Princess was right, you are anything but an ordinary unicorn... Sleep well. You deserve it. I’ll handle the rest.” Spitfire put Twilight on the ground before delicately flapping her wings, and in a moment she was flying to the entrance of the cave. It still hurts a bit, but at least I can fly again. Let’s see how tough they are in a fight against a pegasus without broken wings?” She gave herself a sly smile before diving headfirst into the snow. “I can’t find them anywhere,” the smaller of the two griffins said nervously. “They just vanished.” “Fools. Your target is a pegasus with a broken wing and a purple unicorn the size of a rat. How you could let them escape is beyond my comprehension!” the unicorn wearing the sad mask snarled caustically. “Oh yeah? I didn’t see you being much of help. That rat of a unicorn had your partner shrieking like a hatchling after she zapped him, and a few moments later, that pegasus with a broken wing was beating the crap out of you, so how about you find them yourself with that hocus pocus magic of yours?” the other griffin said angrily, giving him a challenging stare. The unicorn in the happy mask gave a huff. “As much as I detest being called a hatchling, I think he’s got the right idea. Those vermin are probably hiding behind a rock or under the snow or something. A long range scanning spell should show us if there are any hideouts in the area.” “I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” a voice echoed, causing both the unicorns and the griffins to start looking around for its source. “Don’t just stand there! Get her!” the unicorn wearing the happy mask ordered, prompting the two griffins forward, though the larger one shot a hostile glare back at the two ponies. Once the griffins were checking behind some nearby boulders for the source of the voice, something passed in front of the happy-masked pony, sending his partner crashing into the nearby cliff face, knocked out cold. “She’s here!” The griffins quickly flew back at his alarmed call, only for a sharp blow from above to send both of them crashing into the unicorn in question. “Had enough?” the scratchy voice taunted. “I can do this all day.” “Get off of me, you featherbrains,” grunted the annoyed unicorn as he threw the griffons away with his magic. “Show yourself, coward!” he shouted before casting a scanning spell around himself. An initial sweep immediately picked up a moving object, a ridiculously fast moving object, diving straight for him. Before he could react, Spitfire had swept him off his hooves, climbing up into the air. The terrified unicorn watched with wide eyes as the distance between him and the ground increased with each second. “H-how?” he sputtered. “Your wing was broken! There’s no way you could have recovered from my trap that quickly!” Spitfire let out a victorious laugh. “I knew it! So it was your fault! Now give me one reason why I shouldn’t just drop you and let you break some of your bones as payback. Oh, and if you think that those griffins can catch you, think again. No griffin can defeat a Wonderbolt in aerial combat.” “I... I give up! I surrender! Just please, don’t drop me! I’ll do whatever you want!” the masked criminal pled fearfully. Spitfire rolled her eyes at the display. “Oh, and you will tell me everything I want to know, but for now...” she said with a sly smile as she threw the unicorn to a small ledge nearby and dove down towards the griffins, evading the multitude of arrows shot at her. “Let’s see how well griffins can handle a blizzard!” Spitfire said as she flew in a tight circle around the griffins, almost immediately kicking up a tornado that swirled with a pure, opaque white, the tempestuous winds funnelling freezing snow and brown feathers over the entire area. The unicorn wearing the sad theatre mask slowly got back on his hooves. “W-what was that?” he murmured. “Who just hit me?” He started to look around blearily, trying to clear up his nasty headache. “Boss? Griffins! Where are you?” “Right here.” The unicorn jumped up in surprise, turning around sharply to find himself confronted with a Wonderbolt—a very angry Wonderbolt—who was currently standing on the pile composed of two unconscious griffins with an unmasked unicorn draped across the top. His eyes flickered around fearfully as he desperately began to charge his horn. “Bad idea, rookie. I just took out your boss and these two slackers single-hoofedly. Do you think you stand a chance?” Spitfire challenged. “Well, do ya? Punk?” Sweat rolled down the unicorn’s face under his mask, a few moments passing before the aura around his horn disappeared. “That’s what I thought,” Spitfire stated sternly. “Now I think it’s time for you to answer some of my questions, and I assure you that being cooperative is in your best interests. Well, unless you want me to leave you alone in this frozen wasteland?” Twilight slowly opened her eyes, stretching as she tried to stand on her hooves, only for the sudden dull pain to remind her about the mountain-surfing they had endured not long ago. Trotting carefully and almost overtaken by the weakness caused by her empty magic reserves, Twilight slowly lit her horn to illuminate the surrounding area. “Spitfire! Where are you?” Twilight shouted as she walked back to the camouflaged entrance, Did... did she leave me here? No, she wouldn’t, Twilight thought, feeling abandoned and wondering if Spitfire would leave her for being a burden. Once she had finally reached the entrance, she jumped into snow without hesitation as she tried to dig herself out of the cave, the cold snow acting as a balm to her aching hooves. Unable to make much progress, Twilight tried to cast a fire spell to melt a path through the snow, but found the task far too draining in her weakened state. Still, she dug deeper and deeper until she hit something. “Well, hello there, Twilight! Awake already?” Twilight jumped at the sight of Spitfire’s head emerging from the snow, and a moment later, she was swept up in a pair of hooves before she could say a word and pulled outside of the cave. “S-S-Spitfire... You... c-came back. For me?” Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Of course I came back for you. You didn’t think I’d abandon a friend, did you?” Twilight blushed in embarrassment. “Well… It kinda crossed my mind—” She suddenly paused. “Wait a moment. Did you say ‘friend’?” “Yeah! What better way to start a friendship than by kicking the flanks of some foolish bandits side by side?” Spitfire asked, her voice cheerful and ecstatic. “Wait... what about those foalnappers? Where are they?” Twilight asked as she looked around in panic, only to notice the griffins and unicorns tied up with their own ropes and the magic restraining rings in place on the horns of the unicorns. “After you fixed my wing and took a nap, I gave them the beating of a lifetime. That’ll teach them not mess with an angry Wonderbolt. I found the ropes and magic restraining rings in their saddlebags to tie them up afterwards,” Spitfire explained, before looking thoughtfully at the two unicorns, who were futilely attempting to get their ropes off. “I’m guessing those two are specialized in capturing unicorn nobles for ransom. They’ve been carrying a huge magic arsenal in those saddlebags this whole time.” Spitfire reached into a nearby bag and pulled out a small jar of white powder. She popped off the cap and sprinkled a bit on the noses of the caught crooks, who immediately stopped struggling and slumped over. “Sleeping powder,” she said, recapping the jar and tying herself to the captured criminals before turning her attention to her little friend. “Hop up, Twilight. It’s going to be a long way home.” *** Spitfire flew at a fairly average speed, the pegasus magic that reduced her weight not much use when carrying two sleeping unicorns and a pair of griffins. Her wing was still aching slightly, but was working well enough for her to keep flying. Twilight was lying in her saddle, exhausted from the day’s events. “Hey Twilight, can I ask you a question?” Spitfire asked, getting the attention of the tired pony. “S-sure...” she replied, gathering some of her strength to take a sitting position in her saddle. “How did you heal my wing? I mean, it was cool and all, but it’d be kind of difficult even for a trained doctor.” Twilight thought for a moment before answering. “Well, you see, I used an advanced healing spell. I ended up hurt so often that I become subject to healing magic on a daily basis, so I had plenty of opportunities to learn healing spells myself. And not that long ago, I read a bunch of books on the topic and even asked the doctor who took care of me to teach me.” “It still doesn’t answer my question. There aren’t any spells that could heal such an injury in such a short amount of time, so how did you pull it off?” Twilight smiled proudly. “There are two ways you can use healing magic on other ponies. One of them is simple: you just cast the spell and send a wave of healing magic into the target and hope that the body’s natural healing abilities can fix the damage caused,” she lectured. “Let me guess. You did it the hard way?” Spitfire asked with a raised eyebrow. “Correct. The other way relies on the caster’s knowledge of his target’s anatomy. Basically, you direct the magic yourself and guide it to repair the damage yourself. You would need to know where the damage is and how to heal it, so it requires a lot of concentration and perception.” Spitfire’s expression quickly turned into fearful. “W-wait a moment, that sounds like you performed surgery on my wing with your magic. No, it was more than surgery. Isn’t that type of healing dangerous?” Twilight nodded in agreement. “Yes it is, and that’s why only the most skilled doctors attempt to use it. Luckily for you, I had two factors to my advantage, the first one being the knowledge I accumulated from books, as well as from Soarin's private lessons about pegasus anatomy. He’s smarter than he looks.” “And what about the other factor? It’s not luck, is it?” Twilight shook her head. “Of course not! Who would rely on luck in such important operation? My other advantage is my size.” Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “Your size? How can your tiny size be of any advantage to you? Doesn’t it limit your power?” “Yes, it’s true, it does limit my magic power, but it also lets me see even the smallest wound clearly and heal it with microscopic precision, something that every surgeon could only dream of. And from what Princess Celestia says, even with my size disadvantage, I have almost as much magical power as an average unicorn. Not to mention the protection spell my body absorbed doubles my innate power, so yes, I am probably the only unicorn strong enough to cast such a healing spell at such a small size,” Twilight lectured smoothly, before taking a deep breath. “So as I understand it... because you read a bunch of books about pegasus anatomy and because you’re tiny, you could perform a complicated healing operation with careful precision, which thanks to your incredible power, you were strong enough to pull off and heal a wing far bigger than you?” Twilight scratched her neck with her hoof. “Yep, that pretty much sums it up.” Spitfire burst out in a laugh. “Listen Twilight. When the month Princess Celestia gave you to study pegasus magic is over and the Wonderbolts come back from their vacation, we could really use a talented healer like you. Despite our safely measures, our hard training gets us injured a lot and it can force us out of the show, sometimes for weeks.” “You... you want to hire me? But I’m still the princess’s student, I have to finish my studies before I can search for a job!” Twilight replied hesitantly, almost in panic. “Listen Twilight, you can’t learn the wonders of pegasus magic in just one month, and working as a healer would give you a lot of opportunities to learn from us. Outside of the knowledge you’ll get, you’ll get paid... hmn... how about a hundred bits a day?” “A h-h-hundred!” Twilight asked, her mouth agape. The opportunity to earn her first bits was more than a bit overwhelming. She hadn’t needed to have any bits to pay for anything before, since everything was provided to her by her mentor and written off into the mysterious ‘study expenses’, but the chance to have bits to her name... “Not enough? How about a hundred twenty?” “One hundred twenty? T-that’s very generous, but—” “Still not enough? You sure value your talent, then how about—” “No no... It’s not about payment, it’s... the other Wonderbolts hate me, and I can’t take the job in good conscience without Princess Celestia’s permission.” Spitfire good mood vanished at the swift reminder. I’d completely forgotten about them. Damnit, I knew that the tension between the nobles and Wonderbolts had been boiling up for years, but to pick on the princess’s student? She sighed. “Don’t worry about my teammates. They may hate you because of a few circumstances—perhaps your friendship with Blueblood—but I’ll keep them in line.” Spitfire paused and looked back at her passenger with an encouraging smile. “Once they get to know you, they’ll accept you like family for sure, especially the first time they crash into something harder than their heads. As for the princess, just ask her. I am sure she won’t refuse.” Twilight thought deeply for a moment, “Well, if the princess is alright with the idea, I’ll gladly accept the offer.” She quickly returned the smile, waving her tired hoof. “To be honest, I’m glad that we’re friends now, and that we were able to deal with the ponies and griffins that tried to catch us,” she said, pointing a hoof towards the hauled prisoners. “I’m sure we’ll finally have a good time together these next few weeks.” Spitfire nodded her head before turning back, her attention focused on the snowless trees on the horizon. “Yeah, and those black sheeps of the Wonderbolts will be properly punished for what they’ve done to you.” Twilight blinked in confusion. “Punished? But why?” “Why?” Spitfire asked, looking with a disbelieving expression at her passenger. “Why? Not only because you’ve been avoiding me like the plague after whatever they did, but also because they’ve broken a bunch of protocols. Besides the psychological effects, I’m guessing that they’ve probably laid a hoof against an easy target like you, but to do it against the princess’s student? I should kick them on the sp—” “No!” Twilight shouted, cutting off Spitfire, “Please don’t. I forgive them, so please, don’t punish them.” “Don’t punish them? I didn’t exactly hear you protest when I just now accused them of assault, and yet you still want to forgive them just like that?” Spitfire asked, looking at Twilight suspiciously. When her charge nodded, she turned back around with a sigh. “If only it were that simple.” “W-what do you mean? They only hurt me because I lost my temper and pushed one of them with my magic, so please—” “You know what that sounds like? That sound like they provoked you,” Spitfire said, frowning. “Sorry Twilight. Even if you are willing to forgive them, I cannot. It is my responsibility as Captain to keep discipline, if I don’t make an example out of them, these kinds of assaults will become much more frequent, especially with their prevailing attitudes at the moment.” Twilight’s little ears fell back against her head in defeat as she pouted. “Is there… is there anything I can do to change your mind? In the end, they’re going to blame their punishment on me.” Spitfire opened her mouth to answer but instead paused as an idea struck her. “Well, as captain, it’s my responsibility to punish them, but considering their actions, I think the princess should be the one to decide it instead. After all, it was her student who was picked on.” Twilight gave her a faint smile, hopeful that she could convince her mentor to go easy on her tormentors. “I think that’ll work better, and besides, I could always preen their wings so they’ll get used to me faster.” Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “You know how to preen wings too?” “Well, it’s a funny story. I read a book about preening and was really interested in how pegasi did it, so when my mentor went to sleep, I...” Twilight started, beginning the story of how she had spent the entire night making Princess Celestia’s wings as look wonderful and presentable as possible, although she was careful to not to mention her training injuries. As Spitfire listened to Twilight’s story, she came to the conclusion that if hired, Twilight would be worth every bit she payed her, and once again, she was more confident than ever that Twilight was anything but an ordinary unicorn.