Locked Away
Admittedly, it was neither the most comfortable position nor time to be doing any sort of physical training. Her mind broken down again and again by what seemed to be countless interrogations and debriefs, and Spitfire still found herself knocking out chin-up after chin-up using the iron bars serving as a makeshift window to her cramped cell. Her head repeatedly smacked the ceiling as a result, given that it could go through walls, but it was a work-out enough. All she'd be getting for a while, anyways.
The last few days had been repetitive, to say the least. Breakfast, interrogation, lunch, interrogation, dinner, training, rack, repeat. The majority of the time was spent in the five-by-five meter cell, where she would eat her meals (if they could be called that). It contained nothing of note, with only a single barred window in the ceiling, a lone bed with a paper thin mattress, and a small hole in the floor for... bodily functions. She would only leave under heavily armored escort, a bag over her head and Focal restraint on her wings for both sessions with her captors.
Everyone had questions for her that past week. Legion and Air Force investigators, Intelligence Service officials, some griffon diplomats. They all had some version of the same questions, and as such, some version of the same answer. Did you drop the bomb? Yes. Why? Orders. Do you know how many? Two thousand, five hundred six on last count before my detention. Probably more due to radiation exposure.
There was no hope at this point. She was the only one in the air, Soarin had vanished from the face of Equus, the mission recorder had been stolen, and no one had records of a callsign "Valkyrie", EIS Command. All evidence had been erased, and while they couldn't dismiss her guilt, the griffons were crying for blood. Much easier to lock her up and be done with it.
She only got halfway through her next rep before a voice interrupted her thoughts. "You have a visitor." She knew the voice well. Even if she hadn't known the unicorn, it would be impossible to forget the utter contempt he failed (or didn't try) to hide in his voice.
She stopped in that position for a second before lowering herself gently to the ground with her wings. It wasn't to often she got to stretch them these days, and it always felt pretty good. "I thought I didn't get visitors, Sergeant."
"You don't. This one outranks facility leadership."
It was always really funny to hear the lengths ponies here would go to to avoid using words like "prison" or "inmate". Spitfire was a "detainee" at "The Facility". Not funny enough to make it enjoyable, but humorous nevertheless. "A lot of ponies outrank facility leadership. You'll have to be more specific."
"Forward to the gate!" No such luck there. She guessed she'd just have to wait. Slowly, rebelliously, the pegasus turned and stepped towards her cell door. The Sergeant, always wearing his full ceramic riot gear, lit his horn and firmly secured the Focal around her right wing. "No bag this time. No sudden moves. No snide comments, or I take you back to your cell. This is a two-way trip: you are not to be released from custody today. Any attempts to breach your Focal restraint will be considered an act of aggression. If you run, I will taze you. If you try to fight, I will taze you. If you look too long in any direction except the one I tell you to, I will taze you. Do you understand?" The only surprise there was that they weren't going to blind her. Everything else was pretty standard procedure. Spitfire nodded slowly, and watched as her escort unlocked the door. "Follow my directions carefully. Forward."
"Enter." The final command was spoken as the Sergeant opened a stark white door with his magic, a blatant contrast to the concrete gray all around them. The trip had taken only a minute, and they'd only turned twice, but it felt like a lifetime since she'd seen anyone but guards, so the detainee she'd caught a glimpse of was a refreshing sight. Plus, a color that wasn't grey or sun! Happy day, indeed!
An even happier day when the door opened all the way, and on the other side stood a single table, two cushions, a one-way mirror, and a tall, beautiful, very pregnant alicorn. Nothing else was in the room, as her only guard was behind her, but nothing else mattered.
A much sadder day when Twilight's expression did not match her own. Her fiancée wore no glee, no pleasure on her muzzle, even while looking at Spitfire. Instead, she seemed locked in a perpetual state of indifference, as Spitfire had become accustomed to, living with a head of Equestria's civil courts. On a judge's throne, no bias could be spared. It spoke nothing but dread for the situation at had.
"Hello, Spitfire." Though the tone was cold, Twilight did let a small, barely noticeable smile onto her face. It had been far too long. "Take a seat, please?"
Spitfire obeyed, her smile never faltering as she did so. "I can't tell how happy I am to see..."
The royal raised a hoof. "I'm only here as your princess, here to gather facts as you present them. I can't come as your fiancée, not yet." The two took their seats, and Spitfire knew what this was. Those that would see her locked away for the rest of her life thought to use Twilight to draw out a more complete story from her. It wasn't going to work. On the other hoof, what if Twilight really did come here of her own volition? To hear her story? There was no way she was going to keep that from her. She couldn't.
"Let's start from the beginning," the princess said. This is it, Spitfire thought. The whole story. "What were you doing in Griffon Territory?"
The pegasus sighed, took a deep breath, and settled in. "Village Thirty-seven, as it was identified on field issue maps, was under EIS surveillance for quite some time. It was believed that a group of Griffon separatists had managed to illegally obtain a Harmony Drive, which they planned to detonate in a major city, killing thousands of innocent griffons. Soarin and I were called in as HAWCs to eliminate the threat: myself in the air and Soarin coordinating with a Legion Operations team on the ground to confirm destruction of the drive. It was being rigged with a detonator underground, so a stander anti-emplacement bomb wouldn't do. I would have to carry a fifty-pound warhead to the site to destroy it. The target flare came in on my HUD, and I lined up the bomb right at it. Ground assets confirmed that an EIS lead, callsign Valkyrie, marked the target, so we knew it was legit. One moment, I felt the bomb fall off my chestplate..." She paused for a few seconds, trying to make the words come out. "The next, it was all white. I was high enough up that I couldn't feel it, but I watched as the pressure wave forced its way through the village, burning and destroying anything in it's path. When it was done, all those houses, those griffons, were gone, replaced by a three-kilometer wide hole in the ground. Valkyrie came on my radio, told me 'Job well done, Hunter. Return to base.' I turned in my mission recorder on the carrier, where it later went missing. The team was gone, so no one could find any evidence of the operation--it was EIS's, so no Navy records. No witnesses. Just me and a lot of dead civilians."
Throughout it all, Twilight remained silent. They sat in silence for a minute or so before she spoke. "Does this conclude your story?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Noted. I believe you. So too, I think, does the majority of the Equestrian public. Diplomatic relations with the Griffons being what they are, I think we're all just looking for a scapegoat. I'm sorry it was you," she finished, reaching across the table to take Spitfire's hooves in her own. "I'll get you out of this."
The sentiment was short lived though, as the Sergeant took the pegasus's hooves in his magic (taking care to avoid touching Twilight's, of course) and putting them back on the ground. "Detainees are prohibited from engaging in physical contact with their visitors."
The royal gave an annoyed sigh before facing the intruding stallion. "Then leave us be. That's an order."
"I am an officer of martial law. I do not answer to your authority, Your Highness."
This didn't faze Twilight as much as Spitfire wouldn't thought. The alicorn had some pretty bad mood swings with a foal on the way, but it was lucky the Sergeant caught her on the high point. "Then I suggest you leave us be, without authority. Because I am going to kiss my fiancée, and you do not want to be caught in the middle of stopping me." The stallion made an audible swallowing noise, then took the hint, walking out of the room. "Finally, that's over with."
"I knew there was a reason I fell for you," Spitfire said in the most seductive tone she could manage, drawing out a fierce blush in her lover. "Before we get to that, though..."
"What is it?"
"Do you really still love me? After what I did, I mean. I don't know of many ponies who could still love a pony after she was responsible for the death of two thousand, five hundred six griffons."
Twilight was taken aback by this. "I can't say you're blameless here. But it's certainly not your fault. You were fed faulty intelligence by a corrupt source you had every reason to believe was legitimate. I don't blame you for what happened. I can't, knowing the facts. So of course I still love you. You're my fairy tale come true, remember?"
"Hell of a fairy tale, then. The Princess and the war criminal. You think it'd sell?"
"You plan on writing it?"
"Not much else to do here," Spitfire remarked, ending that thought. There was still another issue, but it could wait. In the midst of their talks, they had found themselves subconsciously standing up, walking to the side of the small table, and talking each other into a tight embrace, their voices reduced to a whisper. It was only after pulling away that the pegasus voiced her final concern. "I can't go back to the Air Force after this, you know. I can't go anywhere. And even if you can get me out, I'll never have anything left to give you. I don't want that life for you, or for..."
The pessimistic issue was interrupted by the long awaited kiss, with all the passion either pony could muster. It wasn't overly aggressive, nor was it just the two pressing lips together. It was the perfect feeling one that the lovers had always given each other in the darkest of times. It was their special kiss. Their "I'm always here" kiss. Their fairy tale ending.
As they pulled back, Twilight made it a point to whisper lovingly into Spitfire's ear one last motivation to put her fears to rest. "Starstreak will have two loving mothers, and I get the love of my life back. I couldn't ask for any more from you."
This one only took me like, two months. I'm getting better!
Don't forget to leave your comments and suggestions down below, like, fave, subscribe, and as always, thanks for watching. This is 0utcast9851, signing off.
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Oh my god, a happy ending.
Hopefully this becomes a trend.
6426367 Don't lie to yourself. That's not my style.
Or is it? Sunken ended well. Captured ended relatively well.
I am going to keep throwing prompts at you until you end this story or explicitly tell me to shut up.
Here's today's (this chapters don't worry I'm not gonna be that dick):
Tis the season.
Man, your chapters are always great!
Most of the time though I wish I could every bit of stuff you don't write. The stuff between chapters, the time gaps!
Also this sounds like the start to a great adventure story!
Well... I'll be waiting, let's hope for not to long! Lol
6426732 I'm okay with this.
6427042 you want to see what's in my head? I urge you to reconsider.
6430648 reconsider? Nope, as long as I have a good story though I'm good!
6431921 I'll tell you what. Leave a comment on my page anytime, and I'll tell you what happens up there. Upcoming stories, headcanon, spoilers, anything. Just remember you've been warned.
6432727 alright I'll keep that in mind. But for now I need sleep!
7337043 It is, indeed! The greatest of thanks!
7337111 so will this be continued?
7945479 I'm not sure, actually. Adult life hit me like a fighter jet, which is why none my stories have been updated since I was discharged. I'd like to get back into it, someday, but I can't create my own time—I'm rather unfortunately limited to the use of everyone else's.
This was rather interesting. I hope you get your stuff sorted soon, and not just because I like your pone words. Should you ever return to writing, I think I have a prompt for you.
Flashpoint
That first moment when Twilight and Spitfire met and/or fell in love.
Huh. I've not seen that ship played out. I'm glad this was added to a group I follow.
7945676
Hey. How has the past year been?
8917826
As a person, or as an author? Because one is finally, maybe getting better, and the other isn't doing much of anything.
8917857
I'm sorry to hear that but it's understandable. Perhaps you should give this story to someone who would be willing to continue it?
8918611
Maybe. It'll be tricky to find an author who's willing to take a fic that was never intended to be finished, with no guidelines on story direction. Then there's the issue of making sure I like the author enough to continue to read it, too.
I'll post to the TwiFire group. Maybe it'll be easier than I expect.