Dashed Hopes and Reformed Dreams

by ChaoticHarmony

Memories and Pie

Spitfire sat in the secluded part of a café with a small coffee next to her, untouched. She just couldn’t get Rainbow Dash out of her mind. She was still thinking about how Rainbow managed her stunt. That pony doesn’t realize how much skill it took to pull from a near-ninety degree dive like that! Spitfire shook her head. With a broken wing no less!

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the munching noises coming from across the table. Her long-time friend and right-wing Thunderbolt Soarin sat there, his face buried in his pie. A smile touched her face as she watched him groan into the pie, mumbling about how good it was. He had always been a messy eater, even back in their days of Flight School. Spitfire then sank into her memories, waiting for Soarin to finish his pie.

She had just finished Flight Practice. She wiped the sweat away from her brow. The fact that she was sweating showed just how hard she had been working. A pegasus sweating was sure to freeze up in the high altitudes, so they didn’t sweat as much, and only did so after an extreme workout. As she was toweling her forehead, she heard the poof of the clouds under her as a pegasus walked up to her. Probably just some fanpony wanting another signature. Irritated, she pulled down the towel to see a colt her age standing in front of her. He looked scared as he perked up and took a breath to speak.

“Um, hi. My name is Soari-“He was cut off by a trio of loud guffaws and a wing smacked him in the face. She was faced with 3 buff sports ponies. They all laughed harder as the hesitant pegasus rubbed his face sullenly.

“Oh please Soarin, there’s no way a good-looking mare like her would want you.” The largest one barked out a laugh as he shoved the pegasus called Soarin with a wing. “Do this mare a favor and get lost chump!” The entire group chuckled as Soarin tripped in the clouds and fell through them. He flew back up to them, red in the face. Spitfire watched as he prepared to say something, but then turned to go.

“Wait!” She flew up to the pegasus and put a hoof around his shoulder. “Looks like I DO want to be with a nice colt like this. So why don’t YOU get lost punks?” She chuckled darkly at their dumbstruck expressions as she led the slightly protesting Soarin into a building.

“Just what was that all about,” demanded the red-faced Soarin.

“Look, those guys are jerks. I know them from some of my races. They always try to mess with me if I lose.” She patted Soarin’s back. “I couldn’t just let them do it to another pony.”

Looking satisfied, Soarin looked out of the window. “Looks like they left.” He moved to leave the building. “Uuuuh, thanks….”

“Spitfire.

“Well thanks for your help Spitfire!” He pushed open the door. “I might catch you later!”

“Hey Spitfire, you know when you stare at me like that, it’s pretty creepy.”

Jarred out of her recollections, she shook her head. Soarin grabbed her head and felt it with the back of his hoof. Concern was burning in his eyes as he checked her for fever. Satisfied with his inspection, he leaned back in his chair, hooves over his stomach. They both laughed at his obvious dramatics to her. “Man that was some goooooood pie!” Soarin burped loudly. “I have to come here more often!”

“Soarin, you always say that about places that have pies within 20 miles of our performance.” Spitfire said with a jabbing tone. She laughed as Soarin visibly searched for a taunt to come back with. A loud collective gasp, like a wave, was heard from the outside. Spitfire nudged Soarin with a hoof. “Hey Soarin, let’s go out and see what all the commotion is about hmm?”

She trotted out the door with Soarin following and still trying to think of a taunting remark.

Soarin still stung from that remark. Spitfire was always jabbing at him loving pies. It’s not like I can help it…, Soarin mentally pouted, It’s just like Spitfire’s love of flying, except mine is much more fun to do. He didn’t dislike flying, but he didn’t get the rush that he knew the other pegasi did, so he tended to keep his hooves on the ground when he moved around a town.

Spitfire stopped, and he bumped into her back. Looking over her shoulder, he saw a grey pegasus carrying something cyan on his back and galloping through town. Soarin’s jaw dropped as he recognized the red and cyan mess on his back as their newest member. The grey pegasus continued galloping all the way to the hospital.

With a look and a nod to Spitfire, the two Wonderbolts took off into the air, following the pegasi to the hospital to check on their rookie.

When they entered the sanitary place, it was practically abandoned. The only thing they saw was a trail of blood-spattered cyan feathers heading off down a corridor. Ignoring the front-desk nurse, they walked down the hallway. They heard a high-pitched screaming coming from the first room on the right. The curtains were drawn closed to allow privacy, but they could see the outline of the unicorn doctors as they casted the healing magic on Rainbow. Sitting on the seats across from the door, they looked at each other with worried glances.

Soarin spoke up to distract them from the sobs coming from the room. “What that one grey pegasus did was kind of like me huh?” When Spitfire didn’t respond, he shut up. After all, why force the talk. She must be worried about Rainbow Dash. After all, we wouldn’t want our newbie being out of condition too long. Soarin smiled in his mind as he recalled how beautiful Rainbow looked when she was diving. He hadn’t seen that much beauty since he first saw Spitfire. He recalled the day he carried her to the hospital much like that grey colt had taken Rainbow.

He had been flying home for the night after he left his job at the cloud factory. Little tufts of white puffs stuck in his feathers, and he groaned to himself. That would definitively need a shower to get out. He angled himself to his home, and then he saw her.

Blood was dripping onto the clouds from her wounds. She was limping along, one of her hooves held up at an angle. Both of her wings were bent at an awkward angle, and dragged on the ground as she limped. She was making slow progress down the road, and it was going slower every second.

He swept down to the street she was walking on. She barely noticed him as she limped along. Suddenly, she pitched forward into his hooves, unmoving. Alarmed, Soarin put her on his back gingerly, and flew to the Cloudsdale Hospital. After the doctors took her from him, he was forced away with magic and was told to stay out while they cared for her. After the screams died down from her room, he was practically tearing at his feathers. The second they told him he could go see her, he flew down the halls, something heavily discouraged by the staff, and into her room. He was greeted with the sight of a heavily bandaged pony who appeared to be fighting to stay conscious.

When he walked over to her bed, she flashed him a smile. “Heya there Soarin.” She patted the bed space next to her, indicating he should sit. When he sat down, she smiled again. “Thanks so much for saving me there Soarin.”

“It was nothing Spitfire.” He waved a hoof to dismiss her worries. “I wouldn’t just leave you out there with all those injuries.” He leaned in closer to her, “Who did it Spitfire?”

She looked away from him, “I…I can’t say.”

He pulled her face to him, startled at just how weak her resistance had become. “It was them wasn’t it.” Silence. Having his answer, Soarin walked slowly out of the room, looking over his shoulder as he did. “I’ll be back soon Spitfire. Keep a spot open for me would you?”

The looks that those 3 ponies had given him before he snapped their wings were forever burned in his memory. It wasn’t a sad one, but it wasn’t happy either. It was an angry one. He was angry with himself at how he couldn’t do to them what they did to Spitfire. It made him angry that he wasn’t able to inflict every pain that they had inflicted on her.

The look that Spitfire had given him was also burned in his memory. It wasn’t a look of gratitude, but of understanding. She knew that he had to do it, and she didn’t hold it against him.

He was jolted out of his recollections by the sound of an opening door.

“You can come and see her now.”