Seven Days with Spitfire

by TN-Scotsman


Day 5 – Sunshine, Balloons and Flour

"Come on, leave me alone. It's too early. Just let me sleep a little longer, please?" the flame-maned pegasus complained.

"I know; I'm really tired too. This lack of sleep is really getting to me, but we've got to get over to Sugar Cube Corner soon, before she comes looking for us," Dash said, still trying to get Spitfire to just open her eyes. "Look, I'm going to go downstairs and start some coffee. We're going to need it. Meet me in the kitchen in five minutes or I'm coming back with a bucket of ice water," Dash gave Spitfire a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Fine, I guess I did bring this on myself," Spitfire sleepily replied.

"And me too. Don't forget me," Rainbow said as she left the room.

"As if I ever could; you'd never let me forget," Spitfire thought as she rolled out of bed.

"Ah, I thought I smelled coffee," Twilight said as she entered into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I made a quick pot, Twi. Hope we didn't wake you. We've just got to get over to Sugarcube Corner soon and you know we'll need this before we take that on," Rainbow said sipping from her cup.

"You're going to need more than one cup from the way you two look. You both look simply exhausted."

"It's been a pretty rough past few days. I'm just really grateful to Rainbow here and all of you. I don't think I'll ever be able to really thank you enough for all you've done," Spitfire said, her eyes still a little droopy from fatigue.

"You just keep going, get out of this, come back to visit - a lot – and we'll call it even," Twilight said, placing an encouraging hoof on Spitfire's shoulder.

"Deal," she said placing her hoof on top of Twilight's.

"Come on, Spitfire, we've got to get going," Rainbow announced.

Spitfire finished her coffee and headed toward the front of the library to put on her new cloak. As they left, Rainbow and Spitfire both noticed there weren't a lot of ponies out and about yet. It was a very short and quick walk to Sugarcube Corner, and the smell of fresh-baked pastries was already filling the air. Even as early in the morning as it was, the front door to the shop was open for customers.

"Spitfire, head around to the back, by the kitchen door and wait there. I need to 'prep' Pinkie for this or else it's all over," Rainbow said as she pointed toward the kitchen door.

"Gotcha!"

"Pinkie, you here?" Rainbow announced.

"DASHIE! I thought you had forgotten. I was just getting ready to come over to the library looking for you."

Rainbow and Spitfire were both startled by the sudden appearance of the pink curly mane popping up from behind the counter.

"Heh, Pinkie, you should know better than that. I'd never forget a promise," Rainbow replied. "Now, is there someplace a little more private we can go to for your surprise?"

"Sure! We can use the kitchen. The Cakes are still upstairs packing for their trip. I'm the only pony down here," Pinkie answered.

"Okay Pinkie, now, before I show you your surprise, you have to make me a Pinkie Promise. You have to Pinkie Promise that you won't tell anypony about it," Rainbow instructed.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye."

Once she had finished her promise, Rainbow went to the door and led Spitfire into the kitchen.
"Pinkie, this is Spitfire from the Wonderbolts. She's in trouble, needs our help, and we have to keep all this secret," Rainbow said, as Spitfire took her hood off, revealing her signature mane. "This is my surprise?" Pinkie looked rather confused at her surprise. "What am I going to do with a Wonderbolt?"

"I'm not giving her to you, Pinkie! Ugh," Rainbow replied. "Listen, Spitfire is in some trouble and she and I need to hide here for the day. Nopony can know she is here. That's why she is a surprise and why you Pinkie Promised. Get it?"

"Ohhhh…no. Why is she my surprise again?"

"Here, let me try," Spitfire said, moving past Rainbow approaching the still confused pink earth pony. "Pinkie Pie, I think Rainbow was expecting me to be a surprise because I'm a Wonderbolt, and some ponies consider us famous. I know Rainbow was surprised when I showed up on her doorstep a few days ago."

"Well, that makes some sense. I guess it would have been more surprising if I knew more about the Wonderbolts," Pinkie replied.

"Yeah, most likely it would have. The main thing is, I really need your help. The rest of the Wonderbolts are looking for me because I'm trying to leave the group, and they don't want me to leave," Spitfire explained.

"They sound like meanies then, if they're not letting you do something you want to do," Pinkie said.

"They are really good ponies, and they used to be my friends, but right now, yes, they are being meanies," Spitfire smiled to herself, amused at the idea of using the word "meanies".

"Well, I made a Pinkie Promise not to talk about my surprise, and since you're my surprise, I won't say anything to anypony about you hiding here. Oops, my muffins!" Pinkie ran past Spitfire and Rainbow to get to the over and pull the muffins out just before they burnt. At that same moment, Mr. and Mrs. Cake entered the kitchen.

"Well hello, Rainbow Dash. What brings you here so early in the morning and who is your friend?" Mrs. Cake asked in her typical cheerful voice.

"Hi, Mrs. Cake, Mr. Cake. This is my friend Spi…sp…ssst…Starfire. She's visiting from Phillydelphia. We went to flight school together," Rainbow managed to quickly get out.

Spitfire was looking at Rainbow with a slight bit of surprise, "Wow, way to think quick on your hooves," she thought.

"Well hello, Starfire. Its nice to meet another one of Rainbow's friends," Mrs. Cake said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cake. You have a lovely shop," Spitfire answered.

"Where in Phillydelphia are you from?" Mrs. Cake asked, trying to make conversation.

"I'm from north Philly," Spitfire answered.

"Oh, really, I'm originally from north Phillydelphia. I was raised there most of my life. My father was an important lawyer there. Then he got a job that moved us to Canterlot, and I moved here shortly after that," Mrs. Cake said.

"Your father is a lawyer in Canterlot? He must have some very important clients," Spitfire inquired. "Maybe he can help me," she thought.

"Well, I don't like to brag, but his biggest client is actually the Wonderbolts organization."

Spitfire's mouth dropped open, her ears laid back, and her eyes widened in panic. If not for Rainbow Dash stepping up and placing her foreleg around her and pulling her in close, Spitfire would have bolted for the door.

"You'll have to excuse Starfire here. She's a bigger fan of the Wonderbolts than I am," Rainbow tried to explain. "Pinkie said you all were going on a trip?" Rainbow asked, trying to redirect the conversation and hopefully keep Spitfire from visibly trembling.

"Yes, we're heading up to Canterlot to visit Cup Cake's father actually," Mr. Cake replied. "Horseapples!" Rainbow thought as she felt Spitfire's shaking intensify.

"Yes, Mother and Father wanted to spend some time with the twins. He's sent a carriage for us. It should be arriving soon," Mrs. Cake said as she walked from the kitchen to the front of the store, looking for the carriage.

"Actually, Rainbow, Starfire, I need to ask a favor of you two. We're leaving Pinkie in charge while we're gone, and I know she can handle the job, but could you two stick around and maybe help her out, either with the front desk or here in the kitchen?" Mr. Cake politely asked.

"Well I can't cook at all, so I could work up front. Starfire though, she's a wiz in a kitchen. She could help out back here, couldn't you?" Rainbow gave Spitfire a little shake to try and snap her back to reality.

"Wha...help out? Yeah, sure, I can help in the kitchen. I can cook," Spitfire answered still very distracted.

"Girls, thank you so much. It means a lot to me," Mr. Cake replied.

"Sweetheart, the carriage is here! I'll grab the twins. You get our luggage," Mrs. Cake yelled from the front of the store.

"Oh, sure, I'll grab the piano. You get the bench," Mr. Cake grumbled as he left the kitchen. "Bye, girls, and thanks again!"

As Mr. Cake disappeared from view, Spitfire quickly looked around spotting what looked like a closet. Looking Rainbow straight in the eyes, she spit out just two words from between clinched teeth, "Closet. Now!"

Closing the door behind her, Rainbow turned and was greeted with a hoof across her face.

"OUCH!" she cried grabbing her cheek.

"What the BUCK, Rainbow? First you hide me with Princess Celestia's personal student, and then top that by hiding me in the shop whose owner's father is the Wonderbolt's lawyer?!" The venom in Spitfire's voice was unlike anything Rainbow had heard before and the fire in her eyes caused the normally confident mare to back away.

"Look, I didn't know Mrs. Cake's dad was the Wonderbolt's lawyer, alright? She never talks to anypony about her family and if Pinkie knew, she never mentioned it either. I thought you trusted me? I know I'm no Twilight, but I'm smart enough to know better than to do this intentionally," Rainbow said trying her best to stay calm and diffuse the situation, despite the burning in her cheek.

"Rainbow, I'm trying to trust you, but…I'm sorry. She said who her dad was, and…I've never been so frightened before. We're so close to the end. All I could see is her recognizing me and it all ending right then," Spitfire collapsed to the floor as she spoke. "I'm sorry I hit you. I really am. It's just…" her words trailed off as she began to cry.

Rainbow Dash started to realize just how frightened she must have been. "How many death defying stunts has she pulled? She powered through all those, but this nearly broke her? Is there something that she hasn't told me?" Rainbow wondered to herself as she walked over and layed down next to her fallen hero.

"Hey, now how many death defying stunts have you done as a Wonderbolt?"

"I don't know. Lots, I guess."

"And what Mrs. Cake said scared you this bad? Are you not telling me something about the Wonderbolts, about something that happened or could happen?"

"No, I've told you everything. It's just that…I know if they find me, I'm off the team and on the danger squad. That is a death sentence. Not right away, but it happens eventually. It always does. I don't want to die. I don't want anypony to die like that."

"Okay, it's okay. Just remember, I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you and I am not going to intentionally put you in harm's way. If I'd known about Mrs. Cake's dad, we would have never come here. Hopefully she didn't recognize you, but still, it's a few hours' carriage ride to Canterlot. Then she'd have to recognize a picture of you and think to tell her dad. Then it's another couple hours for a carriage to get back here and try to find you. We've got more than half a day before we should even think about worrying."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Suddenly the door to the closet burst open, causing the pegasi to scream.

"Come on, you two silly fillies; time to come out of the closet. We've got customers coming in and I heard you tell Mr. Cake you'd help. So Rainbow, get up to the counter, and Star…Spit…what do I call you…hmm…" Pinkie put her hoof to her chin trying to think of what to call her new friend. "Got it…Hothead, you come with me to the kitchen."

Rainbow was trying to hold back the laughter, but failed miserably, erupting in laughter at her friend's new nickname.

"'Hothead'? Really?" Spitfire said, completely unamused.

"Well, you do lose your temper a lot. Trust me, just go with it. It's Pinkie." Rainbow said trying to catch her breath.

"Fine, whatever." Spitfire said as she got up and headed to the kitchen.

The next few hours was a whirlwind of flour, sugar, baking pans, and pink mane. Spitfire had never seen anypony ever move so fast. She did her best to keep up, but by the end of the breakfast rush, she was completely exhausted.

"Pinkie, how late does this place stay open?" Spitfire asked finally getting a chance to sit and catch her breath.

"Oh, well we open just after sunrise to get everything ready for the breakfast crowd. Then we'll close for a little while to clean and get everything ready for lunch. That's always really busy. Then we'll close again, clean again and get things ready for the dinner crowd. That's not usually too bad. Not many ponies want muffins or cupcakes for dinner. Except for one pony, now that I think about it, I don't know her name, but she comes in almost every meal for a muffin. Then we'll just stay open until about ten o'clock at night for the late night snack crew," Pinkie said, all seemingly in one breath.

"You do this from dawn until ten o'clock at night? How? I don't think I'm going to make it much past lunch," Spitfire replied.

"Oh, well, really you don't have to. The breakfast and lunch crowds are the worst and I like the extra help. Dinner and snack crowd I could handle easy myself. Oh, well, break's over. Let's get back to getting things ready for the lunch rush," and with that, Pinkie bounced to the counters and started mixing what seemed like random ingredients, almost faster than Spitfire could see.

Groaning, Spitfire got up and starting cleaning the pans, bowls, and spoons so that they would be ready with Pinkie needed them.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Spitfire found herself slowly peeking her head through the door separating the kitchen from the front room. "Is it over Rainbow? Is it finally over?" she weakly asked.

Rainbow was just closing the door and turning the sign from open to closed as she answered, "Yeah, it's over. That was the last customer."

"Oh, thank Celestia and Luna," Spitfire said as she collapsed to the floor, completely exhausted. "Honestly Pinkie, how do you do this? I've never been this tired even after a hard workout with the Wonderbolts?"

"It's not that hard," giggled the pink earth pony. "It's really easy once you get into a rhythm." "I have never met a more cheerful or hardworking pony in my life," Spitfire complemented, earning another giggle from Pinkie Pie.

"Well you were a really big help and you caught on quick for your first day. You didn't burn too many cupcakes too badly. Nothing extra frosting couldn't cover up. That's pretty good," Pinkie said as she bounced around the kitchen cleaning everything, getting ready for the dinner crowd. "Now the dinner group will be super easy. We only get a few dozen and they come in late looking for dessert. I'd love it if you could stay, but if you need to go, that's okay too, as long as you promise to come back and visit."

"Now, how did it go, again? I think I remember. Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cup cake in my eye," Spitfire promised.

"Okie dokie loki. See you soon," and Pinkie hopped off into the back to get her supplies ready.

"So, are you completely beat?" Rainbow asked sticking her head through the door.

"You have no idea. Where does she find the energy?" Spitfire asked.

"We don't really know, and we've found it best not to question Pinkie too much. You learn to just go with it," Rainbow answered, knowing full well there were just no answers that could ever be applied to her friend.

"Well, if Mrs. Cake did recognize me, she's had plenty of time to tell her dad and get some ponies headed this way looking for me. What do we do now?" Spitfire asked Rainbow, hoping for a good answer.

"We're going to go to the safest place that I can think of. Even if some ponies did come looking for you there, they wouldn't get real far before they run into trouble. We're going to go see Applejack and her family at Sweet Apple Acres," Rainbow said rather proudly. She knew that all they would need to do is let the Apple family know they needed help and they'd get it and more.

"Great. It's not far away is it?"

"It's just outside town."

"Fantastic, I don't know if I could walk too far."

"Who said we were walking? I think we should fly. If they're sending a carriage after you, it will be on the road, so let's be above it."

"Now that is the best idea you've had today."

Rainbow turned and headed to the door, but noticed Spitfire wasn't following.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just that…Rainbow…I'm really sorry I've lost my temper with you so much. I've just been tired and stressed so much, I just lose it too quickly. I hope I haven't hurt our friendship, especially where I hit you," Spitfire was hanging her head low, truly regretful for her ill temper the past few days.

"Hey, don't sweat it. I totally understand. Yeah, you've said and done some things that hurt me, and I've gotten mad at you, but it happens. Me and my friends, we get into fights at least once or twice a season it seems like. I understand; I really do," Rainbow had lowered her head in order to make eye contact with Spitfire and try to get her to raise her head.

"Thanks Dash. When this is over, can I hang out with you and your friends and get to know you all under better circumstances?"

"Uh, yeah, I think everypony is counting on that. Besides, you Pinkie Promised Pinkie you'd come back and you and Fluttershy have gotten to be good friends. I'm thinking you'll be around after all this is over. Now, come on, we really need to fly, and I think you need to feel the wind as much as I do."

The pegasi trotted trough the shop's back door and leapt from the ground into the blue sky. Spitfire closed her eyes to enjoy the feel of the wind in her mane and the sound of the wind in her ears. She hadn't realized how long she had been on the ground until just then. "Oh, Celestia, I've missed this," she said to herself. Opening her eyes, she found Rainbow headed away from her, altered her course and followed Rainbow Dash toward Sweet Apple Acres. It was about then that Spitfire realized that they were heading toward a working orchard. "Hey Rainbow!" she shouted over the wind.

"Yo! Whatcha need?"

"Isn't this place like a farm or orchard or something?"

"Yeah, so plenty of cover."

"And plenty of work, too I bet."

Rainbow hadn't thought about that. Applejack isn't known for sleeping in and taking it easy. They could be flying into even more work than what they had at Sugarcube Corner. "Umm….I'm sure they'd never ask a guest to work the orchard."

"Well, you know I hate to be a freeloader. If they're working, so are we…unfortunately."

Both pegasi let out an inaudible groan as the thought of more work and early morning went through their heads.