Glimmer paces anxiously back and forth outside the classroom where Squad 3 is in the midst of a meeting, working up the nerve to knock. “Alright Dusky… No need to panic… You’ve talked to Captain Fire Streak tons of times about Aurie… Not any different… Except that whole, telling him that he and his brother should stay away from their sister… thing… while we’re stuck together on a train for nearly a full day each way… To say nothing of the hotel stay… No different at -ACK!” Her outer monologue cuts off mid-thought as the door suddenly opens and swings into her face.
“Oops! Sorry Glimmer!” Surprise says, poking her head around the door to see the Recruit Captain sitting on the floor with a scrunched up face as she rubs her at her nose.
“Recruit Captain Glimmer,” Fire Streak greets in surprise as he joins his squadmate in the hall, quickly followed by Commander Misty Fly and Lightning Streak. “Is something wrong?”
Glimmer knows the hidden meaning of Fire’s question; he’s asking about Aurora. “No, Third Captain… Nothing wrong to report. I only wanted to speak with you about our show in Los Pegasus next week…” Her violet eyes flick to the other elite Wonderbolts nervously as she clears her throat. “I would appreciate speaking to you in private, sir…”
“Anything you gotta say to my bro, you can say to all of us, right, bro?” Lightning Streak says, draping an arm around Fire’s shoulders and shaking him slightly. Misty looks between the Streaks and Glimmer in apparent confusion, and Surprise quickly uses some signs to describe the situation. With a nod, Misty simply smiles, waves with her wing and starts trotting down the hall, quickly followed by Surprise.
“Third Commander, I mean no disrespect but this is a matter between Captains…” Glimmer attempts diplomacy, doing her best to keep a calm countenance.
“Baby, if you let me, I’d be the Captain of your ship,” Lightning replies, even as Fire rolls his eyes and Glimmer to recoil away from him slightly in disgust.
“Uhhhh -” Glimmer hesitates, uncertain of how to handle the situation without destroying the rapport she’d established with Fire Streak. Thankfully, Fire is more capable of responding.
“Brother… Go to the lockers and shower… You smell like you’ve been at sea…” Fire states, an irritable twitch forming at his right eye as he shoves Lightning off of him. “This way, Captain Glimmer?” he adds, gesturing back into the classroom.
Lightning looks like he’s about to protest, but before he can, Surprise appears out of the blue with a clothespin on her nose, putting him in a headlock. “C’mon Lightning… Captains wanna talk, you reek, and Witchy’s getting crabby at you…”
Surprise… Really? Don’t you do this enough to Calm?
“Sorry Witchy!” Surprise adds, not sounding apologetic at all.
“Who are you talking to, babe?” Lightning asks, baffled. “How’d you talk to the Chief???”
“Wrong Witchy… Doesn’t matter anyway… C’mon…” Surprise replies and starts dragging him away.
Fire simply shakes his head, holding the classroom door open and gesturing for Glimmer to precede him into the room. Uncertain of what she’d just witnessed, Glimmer shakes herself out of her thoughts and enters the room. Fire quickly follows her inside and closes the door behind him.
“I haven’t checked the latest itinerary yet… What’s this about a show in Los Pegasus?” Fire queries, heading to the front of the room and taking a seat in front the room.
Glimmer sighs and takes another seat facing him. “I just looked at it myself, sir… It’s our respective squads with Squads Twenty and Charlie…” She pauses briefly, flinching as she recalls the dressing down she’d received. “Captain Spitfire reassigned Squad Nine to Fillydelphia, citing a similarity in our routines… I assume that’s where you thought you were going next week?”
“It is… Or apparently was…” Fire sighs, rubbing his face with his hooves. “Does -”
“I haven’t told Aurie yet…” Glimmer answers, anticipating his question before he can finish it. “To be honest, I’m planning on grabbing somepony from Medical to have on hoof for a couple of reasons, this being one of them…”
“I presume you were going to suggest some course of action?” Fire prompts.
Glimmer flinches again. “I don’t think you’ll like it much…” she responds. Fire merely raises an eyebrow at her, and Glimmer heaves another sigh, knowing she wouldn’t be able to dodge the question. “Minimal contact, orders only… And no contact with-”
“My brother? That would be the safest course…” Fire grouses, no small amount of bitterness in his voice.
Glimmer offers him a slight smile meant to be encouraging, but it comes across as more of a grimace of shared annoyance. “I’m sorry, sir… I don’t like this situation any more than you do… Frankly, this go-between crap got old about six months in. It died of old age about four years ago, and been a rotting elephant corpse in the room since then. But every time the subject of you two comes up, she explodes like Commander Blaze combined with Commander Fleetfoot’s creativity.” She sighs, running a hoof down her face and sagging in her seat. “My idea’s the best we have right now… I’ll be informing my squad as soon as I get to practice and I’ll let you know if we can change it… Okay?”
Fire sighs again, his shoulders slumping slightly. “Thank you, Glimmer… You don’t know how much I appreciate you keeping me informed of my sister’s progress.”
Glimmer can’t help but chuckle as she stands. “You only tell me that you do twice each time I tell you how she’s been doing… And hey… At least now you can see for yourself?”
Fire’s responding smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes, and seems a little forced on the edges. “True enough… Thank you again. You should get to your practice though. Dismissed, Alpha Captain.”
Glimmer salutes Fire quickly and exits, leaving the Third Captain alone in the classroom. She pauses only once when she hears a loud clatter come from the room, looking over her shoulder briefly before sighing sadly, wishing that Aurora would realize that at least Fire just wanted to protect her…
As for Lightning… Well… Glimmer had given up any thought of Aurora reconciling with him shortly after meeting him.