A feeling of warmth and the smell of baking bread awoke Spitfire from her deep slumber. Lazily dabbing at a trail of drool hanging from the corner of her mouth, the fiery mare stretched slowly, tenderly avoiding moving her cast-bound leg too excessively. She was surprised to notice it felt much better already, but that didn't mean she was going to push her luck. Unable to ignore the rumbling of her empty belly, the pegasus slowly lifted herself from the overstuffed bed and, groaning with lingering sleepiness, limped her way down the narrow hall towards the kitchen.
Upon entering the room, she was once again struck by a strange feeling in her chest and a goofy smile on her face; greeting her groggy eyes was Trixie. The best kind of Trixie, too – most of the time the deep blue unicorn kept up her air of aloofness, always looking neutral and unattached, never lowering herself to the level of engaging with those around her. But now, with her mane sticking out in patches, her cape and hat long forgotten on the couch, her hips swaying slightly as she prepared her breakfast... this was when Spitfire thought Trixie was the most beautif - er, great and powerful. The magician was humming softly as she stirred some kind of batter in a large mixing bowl, unaware that Spitfire was in the room. The yellow mare made sure that the smile had disappeared from her face before she coughed, alerting the busy unicorn to her presence.
“Oh!” Trixie jumped a bit, nearly dropping the bowl from her magical grasp. Turning to face the new visitor, she gave a small, almost shy smile. “You startled Trixie. Good morning, Spitfire.”
Spitfire grunted in reply, turning towards the small oven and sniffing the air.
Sauntering over to the glowing oven, Trixie's smile broadened. “Cheer up! Trixie is making you a breakfast befitting Celestia herself.” Rubbing her hoof over her chest, the unicorn gave a small smug guffaw. “Trixie is not only talented in performing magic, after all.”
“Right.” Straining to look disinterested despite her aching stomach, Spitfire glared at her guest. “Don't think I've forgotten that we need to talk.”
Though her smile faltered slightly, Trixie kept up her cheerful facade. “Why, of course Trixie didn't forget. It's right at the top of her to-do list.” She turned her attention back to the mixing bowl, stirring as she continued. “Trixie simply thought you might enjoy a nice home-cooked meal first. Nopony likes to think on an empty stomach.”
Fair enough, Spitfire agreed, plopping down at the small hotel room's table and picking up a nearby magazine. She opened it wide, but she wasn't comprehending any of the articles inside. Her mind kept returning to the night before. Am I really sure I don't want a relationship with Trixie? Truth be told, she was always more attracted to mares than stallions, not that both didn't have their charms. But she'd never been with a unicorn; it seemed all too complicated, what with her constant traveling by flight... That being said, Trixie could resume working with the Wonderbolts and then... No, she thought. I'm getting ahead of myself. A relationship could ruin our friendship! But then again, their friendship seemed non-existent already. Sure, they'd been friends when they were younger, but they had just rekindled their friendship. Maybe the next natural step would be a romantic one. But could anypony truly love and be loved by Trixie? All she seemed to care about was herself, and if Spitfire did end up loving her, she had trouble believing the feeling would be returned...
“Slow reader, huh?” Trixie's voice made Spitfire flinch, realizing she'd been staring at the same page of the magazine for the past ten minutes or so. Coughing, she turned the page, burying her face deeper into the magazine to hide the slight blush on her face. Trixie smirked, setting a plate down in front of the blushing Wonderbolt. “Guess you'll have to finish that... enthralling article later, hm?” The unicorn set her own plate down and smiled across the table. “Dig in!”
Spitfire eyed her plate – it was filled with things that made her mouth water. Scrambled eggs, toast, pancakes. A fresh glass of milk gently floated over her head and landed in front of her, Trixie winking as her magic flickered off. Determined not to be swayed by the meal, Spitfire slowly took a bite of the pancakes.
Oh Luna, these are delicious. Spitfire's face melted into a silly grin, but immediately shot back into a stern frown when she noticed Trixie giggling. But I'm still angry! she reminded herself, begrudgingly taking another bite.
“Trixie dabbled in the culinary arts a few years back,” the azure mare commented, pausing to gulp down a bite of eggs. “When one is constantly on the road, sometimes between towns, she must learn to cook for herself.” Chuckling, the unicorn reclined in her seat a bit, staring up at the ceiling. “Trixie's mother often joked that her cutie mark should be a fried egg.” Her face fell a bit as she sighed. “Trixie- I suppose everypony doubted I was actually talented at magic.”
Groaning, Spitfire set her fork down, her eyes narrowing as she stared down the mare across from her. “I wish you'd stop doing that.”
“Hm? Doing what?” Trixie looked honestly confused, tilting her head ever so slightly as she met Spitfire's gaze.
Looking away from her brilliant violet eyes, Spitfire shrugged, busying herself with pushing the food around her plate. “I don't know exactly. Doubting yourself. Assuming everyone around you is doubtful of you too.” She found the courage to meet Trixie's gaze again. “That's not the Trixie I knew.” Allowing herself a small smile, she set her fork down once more and continued. “My Trixie... er, the Trixie I knew, she was talented and smart and she never doubted it. She was proud and incredible. She loved herself and everypony knew it.” Spitfire sighed. “Perhaps it was a little annoying at times, but at least you were happy. Not this... angsty angry shell of a pony you are now.”
Trixie winced, flicking her ears back as she shook her head. “You don't understand, Spitfire. I do love myself. It's everypony else that doesn't.”
“I love you.” Spitfire spoke without thinking, and quickly corrected herself. “I-I mean, er... You're my friend, and I care about you.” Flicking her tail nervously and blushing bright red, she added awkwardly, “I know the other 'Bolts share the sentiment.”
“May I ask you something, Spitfire?”
Snorting, Spitfire waved her hoof. “You just did.”
“Second question.” Trixie scooted her chair closer to the pegasus, scratching against the tile below, the sound screeching in Spitfire's still tender ears. Leaning in close, she practically whispered, “Why am I just your friend?”
The pegasus reacted violently, yanking away and lifting up into the air. “Ugh! You know, I have better things to do.” Today, she didn't actually have anything to do, but even listening to Soarin talk about his pie tin collection was better than being subjected to this. Landing a few feet away and stomping as well as she could with her injured leg, she grabbed her captain's suit from the loveseat and opened the door to the hotel. “Thanks for the breakfast. Hopefully you'll decide to stick around for dinner,” she grumbled, storming outside and slamming the door. The instant she was in the hall, the mare slumped down to the floor, resting her head in her hooves and groaning. She felt like crying, but she told herself she was stronger than that. Things could be so much worse, she reminded herself, slowly picking herself up after a few moments and trotting over to the elevator. Her hoof hesitated, hovering over the down button. She considered going back to her hotel, spending the rest of the day with Trixie... maybe even sharing a real kiss... “Y'know what? No.” Shaking her head, she vowed that she wouldn't let something as insignificant as an uncomfortable friendship ruin her day; with a determined smile, the Wonderbolt pressed the button and whistled cheerfully as she waited for the lift to arrive.
***
Left without a schedule due to her medical leave, Spitfire decided to return to Applejack's home. She knew her departure had been extremely rude, especially after all the orange mare had done for her in her time of need. Though there was a haze that the past few days had left on her memories, the pegasus still remembered what the large farm where she had spent the night looked like, so she set off straight for Ponyville, favoring her wings over the train. She had always enjoyed a long flight, anyway. Usually, her mind drifted off as her practiced body when into autopilot. There was nothing else in the wide wide world of Equestria that Spitfire loved more than flying.
In fact, she enjoyed the flight so much that the bright maroon of the Apple family's barn was visible before she even got fatigued. Touching down lightly outside the gate of the fence, the bright yellow mare trotted the length of the path up to the door, enjoying the beautiful apple trees (though the smell of apples made her a bit queasy, she had to admit). Before she could raise her hoof to knock on the door, it swung open into her face, bouncing off her muzzle painfully. “Ouch!” she exclaimed, more surprised than hurt.
“Oh... whoops! I'm real sorry, miss!” A tiny pale yellow filly looked up at Spitfire, bouncing in place; she seemed like she was in a huge rush to get somewhere.
“Er... that's okay.” Spitfire rubbed her nose, looking around the filly and into the house. “Is Applejack home?”
“Ayep!” The small filly turned back around and shouted, “Hey Applejack, there's a Wonderbolt here to see ya and I slammed the door into her nose so y'should probably do something about that!” Grinning sheepishly, the red-headed filly scooted past Spitfire. “Sorry to be in a rush, Miss Wonderbolt, but me and the girls got big problems, y'know?” She continued down the path, her tiny legs sprinting full force. Spitfire watched as she disappeared into a tree-house before turning back to the now open wide doorway and waiting patiently. She'd never been great with kids, but she supposed they were cute enough. I wonder if the filly is Applejack's. They look alike.
Soon enough, hoofsteps approached the door and Applejack came into view, looking exactly the same as last time Spitfire saw her, save for the addition of a brown hat. Just like Braeburn's, Spitfire mused. “Oh shucks, she wasn't kidding! Howdy again, Missus Spitfire!” Once again, the orange mare extended her hoof in greeting before remembering the condition of Spitfire's leg. “Oh right.” Chuckling, the mare opened the door a bit wider and stepped to the side. “C'mon in. Make yourself at home. Ah'll be right back.” Stepping out the door, she began to yell. “Apple Bloom, if you keep slamming doors into ponies' faces all the time, you're gonna be grounded for a month! And if Ah ever-” her voice faded as she walked toward the tree-house, leaving Spitfire alone in the living room. Well, alone aside from an ancient looking green mare.
“Well hello there, youngster,” the old mare said with a smile. “What brings you around here? Friend of my dear Applejack's?”
“Something like that,” Spitfire responded with a grin, stealing a glance at the mare's cutie mark. “Whoa! I know you! You're Granny Smith, right?” A bit of a history buff, Spitfire knew the founder of Ponyville was an apple farmer with an apple pie as a cutie mark, but she didn't know she still lived in Ponyville! Or that she lived at all, really...
Granny Smith's smile widened. “Darn tootin'! I'll be honest, I didn't take you for a scholar when you first got here. At least, not something as obscure as Ponyville history.” She beamed. “I'm pleasantly surprised. Applejack's lucky to have such a well-read pal.”
Blushing, Spitfire rubbed a hoof on the back of her neck. “Well, I don't know about all that...”
"Well, I do! I've know so many ponies in my days, and let me tell ya, youngin', I can always tell when somepony's got a strong mind." Rocking gently in her chair, the pale green earth pony smiled warmly. "Ponies like that remind me so of my daughter."
Spitfire did wonder just where Applejack's mother and father were; she hadn't seen them either time she'd been on the farm. Though to be fair, she spent most of her first trip passed out in a guest room. "Erm... Granny Smith, just where is your daughter anyway? I mean-"
Interrupted by the door slamming, Spitfire turned her attention to Applejack as she stomped her way to the living room. “Welcome back, Spitfire,” she panted, clearly out of breath after chasing Apple Bloom. “Ah hope Granny kept ya entertained while Ah was chasing my sister.”
“Sister?”
“Ayep, who'd you think she was?”
“Well... I thought maybe she was your foal.” Shrugging, she added, “You look alike. Don't know why I didn't even consider you might be sisters.”
Guffawing, Applejack shook her head. “Nahpe, Ah don't have no foals. Ah doubt Ah ever will at this rate. Too much work to do!" Chuckling and wiping at a tear in her eye, Applejack shook her head. "Nah, that there's my little sister Apple Bloom.” She glanced at the door, smiling fondly. “She's a hoof-ful, but Ah wouldn't trade her for anything.”
Nodding, the fiery-maned pegasus shifted her weight to her good leg awkwardly. “I know what you mean. I have two sisters myself. Only one of them is younger than me, though.”
Flashing Spitfire a quick smile, Applejack turned to Granny Smith. “Big Mac out working the fields? Ah wanna have a quick chat with Miss Spitfire before I head out for the noon shift.”
“Ayep.”
That was cute, the way they said yes, she had to admit. The whole family was cute. It made her ache for her own.
“Right, well c'mon, Spitfire. Mind if Ah call ya Spitty? Rolls off the tongue.” Without waiting for an answer, the orange mare tugged Spitfire down the hall. “Ah'm sure ya got some questions about Trixie? That's why you're here, right?”
Trotting alongside her, Spitfire shrugged. “Yes and no. Trixie is back at my place right now.” Applejack's eyes widened, but she waited for the Wonderbolt to continue. “I know I could ask her about what happened, but I might not get the truth. Or, at least not the unbiased truth. No, actually I came here to thank you for taking care of me. But if you have the time, I wouldn't really mind hearing about what happened with Trixie.”
“No trouble at all.” Applejack waved a hoof and turned into a room off the hall. “Have a squat on that there bed and Ah'll fill ya in.” Settling down on one end of the bed, Applejack began. “Well, Ah reckon Trixie was still sore 'bout being shown up by Twilight last time she visited Ponyville.” Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “Don't know 'bout that either, huh?” Applejack chuckled. “Ah'll give you the short version. Trixie showed up, claimed she could out-do anypony who challenged her, said something 'bout defeating some star-bear. Sounds weird, Ah know. But some foals decided to bring one o' them bears here for her to defeat, and turns out she couldn't do it. Luckily, Twilight could.”
Pausing, the blonde-maned mare shrugged, flicking her ears to the side as Granny Smith's rocking chair creaked from the living room. “Didn't see hide nor hair of her for some time, but Trixie decided she wasn't done with us yet. Came in and took over the whole dang town. Even beat Twilight in a magic battle.”
“Whoa, that's impressive. From what I've heard, Twilight is quite the powerful magician.” Spitfire couldn't understand where all that power came from if Trixie couldn't even catch a falling pony just months before. “Must have been training hard, huh?”
“Anope. Good of you to think fondly of your friend, but she cheated. Used some magical amulet thingy, uh... ain't sure about the details, but long story short it corrupted her and she turned kind... crazy. Made everypony her slave until Twilight came back an' outsmarted her. Made her take off the amulet and broke the curse Ah guess. Like Ah said, Ah ain't so knowledgeable 'bout magic.” Applejack leaned back on the bed, stretching her back. “That's 'bout when you dropped by.” Glancing at Spitfire's cast, she laughed. “No pun intended.”
Spitfire chuckled. “Gotcha. I guess that's all I needed to know.”
Applejack stood. “Well good, 'cause no offense, but Ah got a lotta work to do.” She glanced out the window. “Can't let Mac overwork himself again.”
“I understand.” Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a scrap of paper. “First though, do you have a pen?”
“Well sure... One sec.” Applejack wandered down the hall, and Spitfire took advantage of the time alone to look around the room; it must have been Applejack's. On the wall over her bed hung a picture of a mare and a stallion smiling widely while two foals – a small orange one and a bigger bright red one – raced around them. Before Spitfire had time to wonder again just where Applejack's parents were, the pony in question returned, tossing a pen at the pegasus. “Think fast!”
Spitfire reached up to catch it, and it collided with her cast, bouncing onto the floor. “Ha! Oops,” Applejack snorted with laughter as Spitfire leaned down to pick it up, giggling herself. “Whatcha need that for anywho?”
“I'm going to write my address down for you. Soarin's been raving about your apple pies since the Gala. I figured you could send about, say, two or three dozen to me once a month and I'll use 'em as a reward for my team.” She winked, nudging the paper towards Applejack. “If you're up for it, I'll be happy to pay more than enough for the pies, since they are made by the pony who helped me out in a tough spot. Maybe we could even advertise your pies at our shows.”
“Shucks! Y'all don't have to do all that. But Ah certainly won't turn down your offer.” Applejack picked up the scrap of paper and put it in the drawer of her dresser. “Ah gotta get to work now. But one question, and pardon me if Ah'm intruding, but... Is Trixie your marefriend?”
Spitfire blushed, shuffling her good leg awkwardly. “N-No. Why do you ask?”
The orange earth pony gave Spitfire an odd look before shrugging. “No reason. Y'all would look nice together is all. Orange and blue are pretty together.” She paused. “Well, Ah'll be honest... Y'all would like nice together and all that but... Ah figured you must really love her to put up with somepony like that. No offense.”
“Trust me, Applejack,” Spitfire replied with a grin, “none taken.”
***
It was nearly 10pm when Spitfire made it back to Manehattan. She worried briefly that Trixie had left, but she reminded herself that she was supposed to be angry at the azure show pony anyway. Storming into her hotel, she froze when she noticed the blue unicorn was not in the living room or the kitchen. Her heart sank. Whatever, that saves me a lot of thinking. She shuffled sadly to her room, hoping to collapse and sleep for the next few days. As she entered the dimly lit room, she noticed a blue figure outlined faintly on her bed. She let out a soft sigh of relief, and stripping off her suit, climbed gingerly into the bed next to her unicorn friend.
Stirring, Trixie turned to face Spitfire. “Spit... fire.” Her body quivered as she stretched. “I'm sorry... I- Trixie will go to the couch.”
Before she could get up, Spitfire placed her hoof on Trixie's side.
“No. Stay.”
Though Trixie stayed on the far side of the bed that night, Spitfire was still kept awake by the butterflies in her belly. Tomorrow. she told herself again, I will have everything sorted out. This is nothing the captain of the Wonderbolts can't handle.
And as she lay awake, her mind drifted to Applejack's family, and in turn, her own. A pang of sadness replaced the butterflies in her belly as she remembered the last time she had seen her father. Oddly enough, it had also been the last time she saw Trixie face to face until recently.
*****
"Can you believe it, Spitfire?" Trixie, smoothing down her mane as she gazed into the mirror in front of her. "You're graduating high school! And leaving me all alone..." Trixie pouted, using her magic to bonk Spitfire on the head with her brush. "You had better write to me. Often."
A chuckle escaping her throat, Spitfire pretended to be wounded by the brush tap. "Oh, woe is me! You've slain me, Trixie, and now I can never graduate! I'll haunt the school for the rest of my life!" Spitfire flopped to the floor, rolling around on her back.
Fussing, Trixie nudged Spitfire to her hooves. "At least it'd give me a couple more years with you." Her eyes watering slightly, she put Spitfire's gown back in place. "Now stop being silly! You need to look your best for the ceremony." Trixie wiped at her eyes, returning to the mirror. "Horsefeathers! You've made my make-up run!"
Spitfire laughed, glancing at her own reflection in the mirror. "Why does it matter? You're not graduating yet."
Trixie flashed her a good natured glare. "Don't remind me." Giving her mane one last fuss, she set down the brush and shrugged. "Doesn't mean I can't make myself look nice." She admired her reflection in the mirror.
Trotting over to her best friend, Spitfire kissed her on the tip of her horn. "You look perfect. Now let's go!"
Spitfire turned away too soon to see Trixie blush bright red, her legs wobbling slightly.
*****
She made sure to stop the memory there. What had happened after that had changed both their lives forever, and not for the better. Glancing over at her sleeping friend, Spitfire wondered what had happened since they parted ways in high school. After the death of her father, she hadn't bothered keeping in touch with Trixie... or anypony really. But what she did know what that something had changed in Trixie. She hadn't pursued magic only because she loved it. She had always wanted to be the best, but now she was obsessed with it. Tomorrow... Yawn. Tomorrow I will make all of this right.
***
When Spitfire awoke, her room was once again empty.