Loyalty Mission 3: Loyalty Earned - Pt. 4
Sparkle's No. 1 Assistant
Loyalty Mission 3: Loyalty Earned
Pt. 4
By Wanderer D
"So she didn't just jump in and sign?" Fleetfoot asked, reclining against the door. "Smart girl."
"Idiot girl, you mean," Spitfire muttered. "I preempted everything Sparkle could have told her. Why didn't she jump at it? Didn't you ever see her fan mail?"
Fleetfoot chuckled. "I don't think there's a single living Wonderbolt that hasn't received fan mail from her."
"That's why I don't get it!" Spitfire groaned. "Being a Wonderbolt is her dream! She's known Sparkle for what, a month? And now she's seriously thinking about joining her mercenary team?"
Fleetfoot shrugged. "Commander Sparkle's team does seem more... close to Rainbow Dash's idea of what we are."
Spitfire's eyes narrowed. "You're treading very fine mist, Fleetfoot."
Fleetfoot rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. Look at her mail! She's not a bully, and we foster bullies. She's not going to risk her team for an intangible victory like dismantling a type four for practice! She cares, and you can't care when you're a Wonderbolt. Not in this incarnation of the team, at least."
"Get out, Fleetfoot," Spitfire hissed. "And I'd better not run into you at all the rest of the day."
Saluting, Fleetfoot turned around and left Spitfire in her office, closing the door behind her.
When Rainbow Dash arrived at her hotel, she immediately noticed Octavia, sitting by herself at the bar.
With no intention of overthinking things, she decided that perhaps a drink might help her make up her mind.
She sat silently next to the musician, and pointed with her hoof at one of the draft beers. The bar tender nodded, filling up a pint for her and setting it just in front before going to tend other customers.
"How was it?" Octavia asked, hoof gently caressing her glass.
"It was... not what I expected."
Octavia nodded, but didn't say anything.
After the silence stretched, Rainbow Dash sighed and took a gulp of her drink. "It was awful. And awesome. But not good. And yet... so cool!" she finally blurted out. "I can't even explain it! I met most of my heroes today, but at the same time, I just found out how miserable they are!"
Octavia raised an eyebrow.
"It's like... they're all terrified of Spitfire! And she's been my hero for a long time! Turns out she's some sort of tyrant!" Rainbow Dash shook her head. "She thought risking the lives of her trainees was something that could be solved with a talking to! Or that it's okay to let bullies verbally abuse a pony!"
Octavia nodded, taking a sip of her drink.
"And now, I have to decide, but..." She shook her head, shouldering off her saddlebags and letting them fall next to her. They made a soft, crunchy noise when they hit the floor, and Rainbow Dash looked down at them with some confusion. "I don't think I put in anything that might make that sound."
She pulled out a vanilla bag, which she placed on the counter of the bar. Exchanging a confused look with Octavia, she opened up the bag, pulling out a diary of some sort, tied with a rubber band to several envelopes, another single envelope and something that made both mares pause.
It was a picture of a younger Twilight, no more than a teenager, standing at attention, in uniform next to Spitfire. They were in perfect position, except for their eyes and mouths. They were looking at each other, not at the officers in front of them, and both had smiles on their faces.
Octavia took the picture and stared at it, before turning it around. In the back there was only one word: Algol.
"What do you think that means?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I don't know," Octavia muttered. "But we should look into it. It seems Twilight and Spitfire weren't always enemies."
Rainbow Dash nodded, looking down at the notebook. She undid the rubber band and opened it. Her eyes went wide. "This is a log book! It has personal notes from Spitfire on the exercises she puts the rookies through and... and notes. On the rookies..."
She trailed off, reading the first few pages, before flipping the book to the last few written ones. "Wait a second, she's the one that created that cumulus?!" she asked, eyes scanning the page. "She almost killed the rookies!" she said, turning to Octavia.
She scanned the pages and slowly became more and more angry. "I can't believe! Argh!" She glared at the papers before a stray thought crossed her mind. "How did all of this get in my saddlebag? Did Twilight do this?"
Octavia snorted. "Twilight hasn't been around, she was visiting an old friend at the Royal Guard barracks here in Cloudsdale I would have gone but..." she waved her hoof. "I don't feel comfortable stepping on clouds, even if she says it's safe."
Rainbow Dash frowned. "But if it wasn't Twilight, then who?"
"Maybe you should read the envelope directed at you?" Octavia pointed out, her hoof pushing the lone item towards Rainbow Dash. "However, I would suggest you do it away from the public." She motioned with her head to other pegasi in the bar, who were shooting her dubious looks. "This is not only distressing to you, but also to pegasi in general."
"I-I guess you're right," Rainbow Dash said, downing her beer and quickly gathering everything together. "I'll sort this stuff up in my room..."
"Except for this," Octavia said, hoof firmly on Twilight's and Spitfire's picture. "Let me keep it for now. I want to look into it."
Eyebrow risen, Rainbow Dash slowly nodded. "Sure."
Spitfire signed the form and transferred it to the "done" pile on her desk and dragged another form to start reading. 'This is the worst part about this job. All the paperwork. If I ever find a pony I can trust I'll turn them into my secretary.' She looked up when she heard the knock on the door. "Yes?" she called, almost glad for the distraction.
Soarin peeked in. "Rainbow Dash is back."
Spitfire grinned. "Well that was fast. I'll be right down."
Soarin cringed a little. "Um, she's right behind me."
"What?" Spitfire stood up. "Don't you know this is not where I conduct the interviews?" She gritted her teeth and sat down. "Fine, send her in. She was going to see this office soon enough after accepting anyway."
Soarin nodded and pulled back. After a moment, the door opened a little bit more and Rainbow Dash stepped in, glancing around in awe at the posters, statues, ribbons and trophies. "Wow, so this is your actual office?"
Spitfire shrugged. "One of the two. The other one is the one-on-one office, it's more comfortable for first introductions to ponies and to talk with less..." she opened her hooves to encompass the room.
"I get it," Rainbow Dash said, stepping up to the desk.
"Do you want to close the door? I imagine we have a lot to talk about," Spitfire grinned. "Like when you'll move here, your training schedule, your flight partner..."
"Nah," Rainbow Dash waved her hoof at the door. "It's fine there. I'm not staying long."
Spitfire blinked in surprise when Rainbow Dash offered her an envelope. She took it and looked inside. "This is the invitation package we sent you."
Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yeah, I was going to just send it back, but I did promise to give you an answer by tomorrow." She took a deep breath. "It was a real honor meeting all of my heroes here, Captain, but... I feel my place is with Commander Sparkle's forces."
Spitfire was silent for a moment, staring at the envelope before she looked up at Rainbow Dash, furious eyes burning into the other mare. "Why would you turn this down? Do you know how often I do this?" She didn't wait for Rainbow Dash to answer. She stood up and leaned forward on the desk. "Never, that's how often. This was the only chance you had to join the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash, and you wasted it because of whatever Sparkle told you!"
"You told me yourself that this wasn't about Twilight," Rainbow Dash replied as calmly as she could, although she was a bit cowed by Spitfire, who almost looked like she was about to throttle her. "And it's true. I decided this own my own, from what I saw today."
Spitfire growled and slammed her hoof on the desk, denting it. "Don't lie to me! There is no way you would pass this opportunity without outside interference! You don't want to be part of The Wonderbolts? Fine! Get out of here and don't come back! Go waste your time with that lot!"
Rainbow Dash cringed, eyes moistening a little before she stood straighter and nodded. She didn't say a word as she walked out of the office, leaving the seething captain alone.
Spitfire growled and tore the invitation to shreds, slamming her hooves on the desk once more. "Sparkle..."
Twilight Sparkle was sipping coffee in her hotel room when the door was violently kicked down.
"Wrex, what have I told you about knocking in Cloudsdal—" Twilight cut off her reproach when she noticed who was at the threshold. "Spitfire, what brings you here?" She tilted her head. "Do you want to come in?"
The obviously irate mare marched into the room, ignoring the door as it floated back into place within Twilight's magic field and attached again to the reforming clouds.
"What. Did you. Tell her." Spitfire ground out, not taking a seat after Twilight offered with her hoof.
"I have no clue what you're talking about."
"Oh, I know you do," Spitfire snapped, starting to walk back and forth in front of Twilight. "Do you think I'm stupid? I knew you were planning something when you visited yesterday! I accounted for your blasted audio devices, and possible spies. They even made a mistake and left the window in the gym open!"
"Devices?" Twilight blinked, putting her cup down. "Spies? Are you sure you're feeling okay?"
"Of course not!" Spitfire roared, making Twilight's cup shake on the table. "I don't know what you offered Rainbow Dash to turn my offer down, but don't play me for a fool! I knew you were spying on me, that's why after giving false orders I brought everything back to how it is! You would lose credibility because you would have heard the wrong information!"
The pair were quiet for a moment, one mare standing breathing hard and glaring at the other.
"I thought about it," Twilight said, shrugging. She levitated a bottle of whiskey, threw some ice into a glass and poured herself some. She didn't offer any to Spitfire. "When I was getting ready to go visit you, I considered spying on you. Maybe have Rainbow Dash listen to our conversation and what would follow." She took a sip, closing her eyes. "But then I realized... you're you. I don't have to do anything. I knew my visit alone would shake you up, after all, it wasn't easy for me either... but you know what I can do, so you would be constantly expecting Rainbow Dash to have the wrong information and act on it."
Spitfire had stopped pacing and was looking at Twilight with an inscrutable expression.
When she didn't say anything, Twilight continued, "But because I didn't tell her anything, you were caught off-guard. You showed your true colors behind all that posing. You showed how your immediate subordinates don't trust you and how you're dismissive of their time and enthusiasm. You showed your treatment of the recruits and how you allowed bullying to go on right in front of you. You showed that all that matters to you... is you."
Twilight Sparkle twirled the whiskey in her glass, making the ice cubes click against it as she contemplated the amber liquid inside. "And I didn't have to say a word to her. I think Rainbow was expecting me to say something after my visit. She asked how it went, and I think she was kind of disappointed that I didn't expand on my impressions of you. But I knew she would not join you if she had a tour with the real you."
"Oh, really?" Spitfire spoke slowly. "And why would she turn me down for you?"
"Because she knows something that you always ignored, even when you and I were a team."
"And what is that?" Spitfire asked, baring her teeth. If looks could kill, Twilight would be dead thrice over.
"You can't force real loyalty," Twilight replied in a measured tone, pausing to take a sip of whiskey. "Loyalty is earned."
""Real" Loyalty is a waste of time!" Spitfire snapped. "Loyalty is won once somepony swears their duty to you! I expect no less loyalty from my underlings than I have for them!"
"Underlings?" Twilight Sparkle snorted. "Well then, Spitfire, how can you sleep at night, if you know the knife is just waiting for the perfect moment to stick into your back?"
Spitfire spun around, slamming the door open and flying out of the room.
When she slammed her office door open, she immediately noticed the other ponies in the room. Lined to her right were her officers: Soarin, Fleetfoot, Blast, Misty and Rapidfire. To her left, were several guards in golden armor, and right in front of her...
"Lieutenant General Storm Front," she gasped, immediately snapping to attention and saluting.
"At ease, Captain," the Lieutenant General said, her eyes looking at the physically smaller mare without betraying her intent. "We need to talk."
From one of the pockets in her uniform, she extracted a small notebook and Spitfire's eyes opened wide, looking from the General to her subordinates and back. "But..."
"This was brought to me today while you were out. When I saw the contents, I immediately headed here and double checked everything with your staff and some of the recruits." She walked around the desk and sat in Spitfire's chair, motioning for the captain to step forward.
Spitfire found herself looking up a bit more than she otherwise would have, and reminded herself that it was an effect of how her desk was slightly higher, although the fact that the Lieutenant General was a bigger pony physically too didn't help.
"When I found this confirmed," Storm Front spoke up, "I asked your staff if they felt this... training regime of yours was the best curriculum for the Wonderbolts. To a pony, they said no. Imagine my surprise when I found that they had each sent more than one complaint to my desk, only to be turned down every single time, especially when this is the first time I hear about it."
Spitfire shot the others a look, but none of them were looking at her.
"I have reports of bullying being so prevalent and ignored that more than five recruits with very promising resumes were abused so badly they quit and we ended up with the disgrace that the second squadron is." Storm Front frowned.
"Ma'am, I assure you a I am more than qualified to head a squadron an—"
"Leave us," Storm Front spoke up and the pair watched as both groups of ponies walked out. When the door had closed behind them, and they were alone, Storm Front faced Spitfire. "You might be Algol. You might be overqualified for many things below this position, Spitfire, but you are not the right choice to head the Wonderbolts. There is no loyalty to you. None. I have never, in all my years found a leader who wouldn't have at least one subordinate that would stand up for them. At this rate, if you competed in the Equestrian Games like you applied, I would fully expect you to ditch your team members without hesitating. That is not a leadership quality on any level, civilian or military."
Spitfire looked down, closing her eyes and forcing herself to take deep breaths. "What will happen to me?"
The general leaned back. "You are not fit for this position," she re-stated. "But you are too good a soldier, too good a strategist to be left to rot. I'm as much to blame for ignoring the signs that you were not meant for this job. You will go back to the guard, and I will build you a team. As much as Commander Sparkle can be relied on, we cannot allow the mockery that the guard has become to continue. You are one of the very few ponies that happen to be the real deal, no less due to your training in Algol. Whether you'll be the team leader... that remains to be seen. Pack your things today."
"Yes Ma'am." Spitfire saluted.
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Aaaand Spitfire gets put in her place.
pretty sure it was soaring who put the log on dash bags, but to be honest it feels like any of the bolts could have done it
This fic is like a drug. I need more. I NEED MORE!!!
I was wondering about the difference between Spitfire's earlier orders and the actual tour. Nice!
And three guesses as to who was in close enough proximity to Spirfire to swipe the journal and pass it on to Rainbow. First two don't count.
6401698 Only mildly, she wasn't humiliated as much as she should have been. Instead of being kicked out of the Wonderbolts entirely she was just moved somewhere else.
The mission name was very apt. Spitfire got the exact amount of loyalty from the Wonderbolts that she had earned. Everything she has built up has come crashing down, all because of her. Perhaps she'll grow in her new position.
Also, it seems there was some kind of elite training program named for a "demon star." That's certainly intriguing...
6401766
True, true.
6401698 I don't like the idea of being put in one's place.
SO man things can go wrong.
I wonder what will happen to Shining Armor now that the Royal Guard is going to be "restructured ". While he is clearly unfit for his position I don't wish to see his career crashing down.
6401766
Humiliating her just for the sake of humiliating her would have served no purpose.
Spits just got torn down a peg.
Good, she's getting a chance to redeem herself. As much as I like this fic, I was a bit offput by the amount of Spitfire bashing going on.
This chapter I also saw the point all of her behavior was referenced off, her ditching of Soarin' in the Equestria Games qualifiers, but I feel that since in the episode that idea came from Fleetfoot, and Spitfire admitted the mistake in following her advice afterwards, that it is not indicative of Spitfire having a terrible character.
tl;dr How dare your interpretation clash with my headcanons! img15.deviantart.net/aa71/i/2012/042/a/9/oh_come_on__by_ohitison-d4paleq.png
6401931 I like Spitfire, she's just... not created equal in all my fics
Algol. Must be an acronym. I can't see where a star system or a programming language would fit into that dialogue.
6401989
Algol aka Demon Star. Strong association with bloody violence across a wide variety of cultures. One of the unluckiest stars in the sky, associated with death by decapitation.
Soo Pony Black-ops i guess?
honestly surprised she isn't being court martialed I mean at spitfires position this problem really should be brought to celestias attention and you can't tell me celestia would consider spitfires actions worth it.
Well, now that she's being moved to where she might actually be of some good, Spitfire will possibly get a little bit of humility.
When will Twi be taken down a peg... or a hundred!?
HeShe said it!6401747 I second the motion.
This is simply fantastic! I'm absolutely loving this, can't wait for more!
Please keep writing, I'll keep reading!
6402319 By the looks of it she won't need to be. Sure she comes off as manipulative/conniving but she's doing it the right way, where people either don't notice or like the results enough to turn the other way.
Soarin or Fleet definitely smuggled that stuff into RD's saddlebag
6402319 In this story? Not until she dies tragically. After all she's Shepard in pony form. Nothing goes wrong for her until the end.
the bar tended nodded
The made a soft, crunchy noise
1. Tender.
2. They.
So you managed to actually do it. And within a near limit reached 24 hour window.
pre09.deviantart.net/c759/th/pre/f/2014/119/b/9/you_magnificent_bastard_by_qsc123951-d7gjfow.png
Keep up the awesome work.
6401771
BEGIN
FILE F (KIND=REMOTE);
EBCDIC ARRAY E [0:17];
REPLACE E BY "GOODBYE, SPITFIRE";
WHILE TRUE DO
BEGIN
WRITE (F, *, E);
END;
END.
All I can think of right now is Wrex singing the "Cloudsdale Anthem" after a few pints of Ryncol.
6402895 Thanks! Fixed 'em! Also, yeah, I managed, but I'm not going to make a habit of taking up challenges
Finally got what was coming to her. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
Algol = Pony N7
is my guess, twilight talked Celestia into creating it as frankly Equestria needed a competent military force, then left as she didn't like the protocol, with Wrex's influence of course
6405452 Et cum spiritu tuo
6504732 Gratias tibi.
6401766 Bit of a late reply, but that is the way it is sometimes in the military. People get shuffled around even when they shouldn't even be wearing the uniform anymore after a serious screw up.
who cares if she is a good soldier someone who did all this and acts lke that should not be allowed in the military but insted should be imprisoned or dead in an unfortunate accident
7887665 If ur army is full of buffoons, then u need every good soldier u can get, even if they cant do the job they want. Also, this is Equestria, the land of second chances. Spitfire may redeem herself, may not, time will tell if se is able, or even willing, to learn
6403188
im trying to translate this program...and i cant find anything to run it...help?
Love Twilight's plan. I, too, had expected something involving tech to expose Spitfire, but it was a stroke of brilliance to let the character present her own flaws like this. Well played.
Sooo "none" ?
Not for any group/team that garners public attention or awards... maybe a Black Ops team would work better
That was new... Also perfect use of the canon...
Brilliant
9766993
I think Black ops with expandable crew would be the best for Spitfire. Only problem would be the rate she burns crew up...
8544802
This story is like a chess match. Ever turn needs to be planed and executed with good reguard to the opposent. It's just funny if both sides are played by the same person. Spitfire is a badass lone wolf, but simply not a teamleader...
8093555
Good point. So maybe we give her a Phoenix as call Sign? Because the rises out the fire she burned herself to ash with earlyer?
7155160
Than again, Celestia needs anyone that can hold a Spear right side up. Can't be picky if the hole military is less worth than the Mobs usual Grunts...
6402319
Why?
6402295
Or become a Villains sidekick...
6401805
A lot of night lessons with Luna.
Tonights lesson: Teamwork, because the team needs to work.
6401698
Hopefully not as team leader. Lead advisor seems to fit better.
Lone Wolfes are bad team players...
This story reminds me of a Halo story about special Spartans that work in team of two. They are extreamly lethal but are send into suicidal mission to get high value targets eliminated before they eventually are getting themself overrun or otherwise killed.