Wonderbolts in Appleloosa

by Sarah1993

Chapter 2

When they finally made it to the house, Braeburn was putting the pieces together on who this mysterious stallion was. He had a pretty good idea but he wanted to be sure before he confronted him. “Alrighty, here we are,” he announced. “Guest rooms are upstairs to the left, bathrooms right across the hall. Go ahead and get settled, dinner will be ready at six.”

While the girls went upstairs, Braeburn pulled his oldest cousin aside. “I was thinkin’, did that stallion, what was his name… Oh yeah Money Bags look familiar?” he asked.

“Eeyup.” Big Mac answered.

“You don’t think?” He paused for a second to gather his thoughts. “Apple Strudles’ ex?”

Big Mac sighed and hung his head. “Eeyup.”

A look of disgust emerged on Braeburn’s face. “We can’t let that good for nothing snake in the grass ruin another pony’s life!” He stomped his hoof. “Especially not somepony as important as Spitfire.”

“Eenope,” Mac answered simply.

“So tonight, we confront him in front of everypony!” Braeburn smiled wickedly.

“Eenope. We can’t go meddlin’ with the heart. We need to tread carefully or we’ll end up breakin’ more than bones,” Mac explained hoping to calm his cousin down.

Braeburn sighed, “Yeah I guess you’re right. I still won’t let him get away with this.”

“Neither will I cuz,” Big Mac put a comforting hoof on Braeburn’s shoulder before heading upstairs to check on his sisters.
Hoping to get his mind off the current situation, Braeburn went to the kitchen to start making dinner. His mind was racing with all of the things he would like to say to Money Bags.

Half an hour had passed and everyone had settled in. “Hey Applebloom, would you mind setting the table?” Braeburn asked.
“No problemo cousin!” The filly nodded.

Just then there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it!” Braeburn shouted. He opened the door and greeted the three ponies, Spitfire, Money Bags and Soarin. “Please come in and make yourselves at home.” He said as he led them to the newly set table. “Dinner will be out in a few minutes.” He then left to go finish up.

Shortly after, the rest of the family and Rainbow Dash came to the table to join them.

“Hey guys, glad you could make it,” Rainbow exclaimed as she gave a hoof bump to Soarin.

“Glad to be here,” He replied.

Just then Braeburn came back with the food, “Here we are, apple fritters, mash taters, and green bean casserole for everypony.”
After everyone had their plates full of goodies, Soarin addressed the elephant in the room. “So, how did you two meet?”

“You wanna tell it Spitfire?” Braeburn asked.

“Sure, well it all started in kindergarten. We lived in Fillydelphia, as I’m sure most of you know it’s mostly an earth pony city, and some ponies weren’t to kind to Pegasi.” Spitfire explained.

“Oh no, were there bullies?” Applebloom asked.

“Yeah there were. I begged my parents for me not to go to school but they wouldn’t have any of it.”
*Flashback*

“Please! I don’t want to go to school Daddy!” The young Spitfire cried.

“Please sweetheart it will be fine,” the older pony explained for what felt like the thousand time.

“No it won’t. They will make fun of my wings,” Spitfire ruffled her feathers nervously.

“You are going to school and that is final!” Her mother stomped her hoof.

“FINE!” Spitfire screamed, slamming her bedroom door. She quickly ransacked her closet trying to find something to cover up her wings with. “No, no, no, no!” She exclaimed, exasperated.

She finally found at the bottom of her drawer, an old sweater her grandmother knitted for her. “There, I guess it will do. It’s kinda itchy though.” But without another thought, she grabbed her backpack and marched out of her house, only briefly pausing to glare at her parents. She slammed the door and marched off to school.

Her angry march quickly turned into a slow shuffle as she considered this might be the last walk she would ever take. As the schoolhouse came into sight, her anxiety doubled and she glanced around every so often as if someone was going to expose her wings at any moment. Her hooves started to sweat and she could hear her heart pounding as if it crawled up to her ears. Keeping her head down, she quietly went into the line with the chatting foals bubbling with excitement.

“Howdy!” A young colt with a cowboy hat and vest said. Spitfire didn’t say a word, hoping this young colt would just go away. “Oh no!” He exclaimed. “I said somethin’ wrong! My momma is always tellin’ me I open my mouth way too much.” He sighed.

“You didn’t say anything wrong,” Spitfire said. She quickly realized her mistake; she talked to him. Slightly panicked, she decides on a different approach, “I just don’t wanna talk to anyone.” she lifts her nose up in the air, hoping to let this colt know she is not interested in making friends and have him go away.

“Well why not?” He asked, shaking his head in disbelieve.

“I just don’t like nopony.” She said matter-of-factly.

“Oh… I’m real sorry ta hear that.” the colt sighed, kicking his hooves on the ground looking dejected. “I thought we could be friends. But if you don’t wanna, I guess I understand.”

Feeling sort of bad for the colt she replied, “Well I guess I can at least talk to you.”

“Well great!” He perked up, “I’m Braeburn. That’s B-r-a-e-b-u-r-n. I’m gonna be an Apple farmer just like my daddy. But first I got ta get an edu…edu…education. But I’m really smart. I know how to count to 30 and my ABC’s. I’m also really strong, cuz I’ve been applebuckin’ all summer. And I love baking! I love to make pies, fritters, turnov…” His mouth was suddenly covered up with a hoof. “…hmmmhmmrmmph!”

“Stop… just stop. I said I was gonna talk to you. Not the other way around.” Spitfire uncovered his mouth.

“Oh sorry.” Braeburn apologized.

Spitfire rolled her eyes. “It’s ok. Anyway I’m Spitfire!” She said.

“Well nice to meet you Spitfire!” Braeburn exclaimed. “So are you excited?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Braeburn asked, as if that was the most ridiculous answer in the world.

“Cause everyone is gonna make fun of me.” she explained.

“Why would they do that?” Braeburn asked concerned for his new friend. Spitfire shrugged, not wanting to talk about it. “Well if they do then I’ll tell them to stop. Okay?” He smiled.

Spitfire looked up “Really?”

“Sure! You’re my best friend.”

“Thanks,” Spitfire smiled, feeling slightly better.

The bell rang and the teacher came out to lead them to class.
*Flashback ended*

“And that’s how we met,” Spitfire finished.

“I can’t believe you never told me that.” Soarin commented.

Spitfire cheeks turned pink, “Well it wasn’t the best day ever. Let’s just say things went downhill from there.”

“What happened?” Applejack asked, intrigued.

“Well we all sat down for circle time,” Spitfire began.
*Flashback*

“Now children I want you to sit in a circle and we will go around and tell each other what we want to be when we grow up.” The teacher explained.

The foals chattered with excitement as some blurted out what they wanted to be, all except for Spitfire. She knew exactly what she wanted to be, a Wonderbolt. But she could never tell if it meant exposing her wings.

“I’m only going to call on quiet friends,” her teacher said strictly, the class suddenly became quiet. “Hmmm… how about Spitfire? What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Panicked, she looked around the classroom hoping for some kind of answer, “A doctor!” She cried.

“That’s great,” the teacher said.

“Uh... yeah.” Spitfire said nervously picking at her sweater. As the teacher went around the circle, Spitfire’s attention was towards the sky. She knew she lied and she felt bad about it. She didn’t want to be a doctor. She wanted to fly with the Wonderbolts, the freedom of the air. The wind whistling in her ears as she flew. That was the life she was destined for. While thinking about this she was unconsciously ripping her sweater, making a hole in it.

After all the foals got their turn, they read a book about different jobs. Then the teacher sent them back to their desks and asked them to draw their future jobs.

“Spitfire?” The teacher asked.

“Huh?” She said coming out of her daydream. She quickly realized she was the only one sitting on the carpet and made her way back to her desk. “Oh no!” She exclaimed as she saw the hole in her sweater.

“What’s wrong?” the teacher asked concerned.

Not wanting other foals to notice, she said “Oh, uh. I gotta go potty.”

“Ok, go ahead. Just take a buddy with you so you don’t get lost.”

“Uh… uh… Braeburn” She said picking the first classmate to come to her mind.

Spitfire walked quickly out of the room, Braeburn hot on her heels. As soon as she got to the bathroom, she slammed the door behind her and ran towards the mirror. “It’s ok. I can do this,” She told herself. She tried to fix her sweater, but the more she pulled the more it fell apart. Soon it was not much more than a few poorly strung together pieces of yarn. “No. No. No!” She fell onto the floor and started to cry.

On the other side of the door Braeburn waited patiently for his friend. Soon he heard her shouting. Then he heard her crying. Not knowing what to do, he paced back and forth. He didn’t want to go into the fillies’ bathroom; everyone knew that there were cooties in there. But then he heard sobbing from the other side. As his pacing increased in speed so did his wild imagination. “What if she’s in trouble?” He asked himself. “What if there’s a monster in there? What if the monsters gonna eat her? But I don’t want cooties. Then the monster could eat me too! What if he’s the Cootie Monster?” Another heart wrenching sob reverberated through the door. Right then and there Braeburn made his decision, “Charge!” He yelled as he burst through the door. “Back away from her, you scary cootie monster!”

Spitfire looked horrified, “I’m not a monster!” She cried. “I’m just a pegasus. You’re the monster!”

“What? I’m not a monster!” Braeburn brought his eyebrows together.

“Yes you are. You are just going to make fun of me.”

“Why would I do that?” He asked.

“Because I’m a pegasus.” She explained.

“I’m not supposed to make fun of ladies. Daddy said it ain’t right.” Braeburn said.

“So you’re not gonna make fun of me?” She asked, hopeful.

“Of course not.” Braeburn smiled.

“But what if the others make fun of me?” She asked slightly afraid. “What if they think I’m ugly or a bad pony?”

“I don’t think you’re ugly. I think you’re really pretty.” Braeburn blushed. “And if others can’t see that then I guess I still have my promise to keep.”

“You would really tell them to stop?” Spitfire asked, “Even after knowing my secret?”

“Sure.” Braeburn thought for a moment. “But maybe this might help.” He took off his vest and handed it to her. She quickly put it on, grateful. “There now nobody but us will know.” He grinned.
*End Flashback*

“Really Braeburn?” Applejack asked flatly.

“Hey, in my defense I was only five.” He replied.

“So did the other kids find out?”Applebloom asked.

“Oh yeah, it didn’t take long. But you know what?” Applebloom shook her head curiously. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t?” She asked tilting her head.

“Nope! Because if you have good friends that stick beside you then there is nothing that you should worry about.” Spitfire said confidently.

“Wow, I guess you’re right.” Applebloom replied. “So can I ask you a question, Ms. Spitfire?” Applebloom said.

“Sure you can, fire away!” Spitfire responded.

“What’s the best part about being a Wonderbolt?” Applebloom asked curiously.

“The best part about being a Wonderbolt, huh?” She prompted, “Well it would have to be you guys, the fillies and colts.” She smiled.

“Really?” Rainbow Dash asked her eyes wide in surprise.

“Sure it is. I’m sure you have somepony who looks up to you Dash,” Spitfire explained.

Rainbow thought back on her own experiences with foals, her fan club, coaching the flag teams for the Equestria Games, and of course Scootaloo. “Yeah I can see how that would be awesome.”

“Yeah, they really look up to you. They want you to succeed. They wanna be like you,” she sighed, “for better or worse.”

“What do you mean?” Applebloom asked innocently.

“It’s kinda hard to explain,” She turned slightly red and scratched her hoof behind her head.

“I think I can explain.” Soarin’ stepped in, “You see, although Spitfire is our captain she still has to report to ponies, upper management; they aren’t the friendliest ponies.”

“Well what makes ‘em so mean?” Appleboom probed.

“Well, they mostly care about making a profit. Not everypony sees eye to eye and that can lead to a few bumps in the road. They want to be the best and if somepony turns out to be better they can “enlighten” us and remind us that they are in charge and our jobs could be on the line.”

“That’s just awful!” Applejack said, sour-faced.

“That’s showbiz,” Spitfire proclaimed.

Conversations about farm life, Wonderbolts, and everything in between were made. What felt like minutes soon became hours. When Applebloom started to yawn, Applejack glanced at the clock realizing how late it had become. “Well it was really nice having yah over but I gotta put Applebloom to bed.” Applejack said.

“Aww,” Applebloom groaned but quickly gave in. “Goodnight everypony.” She waved as she trotted off to bed.

“She’s a good kid,” Soarin said to no one in particular.

“Yeah, I know we got real lucky with her,” Applejack responded.

There was a silent moment, not awkward just a pause in the conversation. The moment eventually passed and Braeburn asked, “Now boys how about we head on to the saloon for a drink?”

“I’m in!” Soarin exclaimed.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac drawled.

Money Bags turned to Spitfire, “What do you think?”

Spitfire sighed rolling her eyes, “Yeah go ahead and have some guy time,”

“Thanks, sweetheart,” He said as he planted a quick kiss on her lips.

“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t stay out too late boys, we’ve got a busy day tomorrow,” Spitfire explained as they started out the door. She sighed and stared off dreamily at the now closed door.

“Hey, sugarcube,” Applejack said, pulling Spitfire back to reality.

“Oh, sorry,” Spitfire blushed.

“No harm no foul. Bit for your thoughts?” She asked.

”I was just thinking that he could really be the one. Yah know?”

“To be completely honest, I don’t really know,” Applejack sighed, “I guess I have only read about true love in fairy tales, never experienced it firsthand.”

“Seriously?” Spitfire asked shocked, “You’ve never had a coltfriend?”

Applejack turned slightly red, “Well, no. Ever since my parents passed I don’t really have time for that kind of thing. Trying to keep the farm running and raising Applebloom. Don’t leave time for much else.” She sighed, “But enough about my problems. So you really think he could be the one?”

“Yeah he is always there for me when I need him. He is sweet and kind,” She sighed dreamily, “And he believes in me, and my dreams.”

“Pardon me, Spitfire. But ain’t you already living your dreams? Bein’ a Wonderbolt and all?” Applejack asked puzzled.

“The Wonderbolts?” Spitfire brushed off, “They were my dream, but some days it feels more like my nightmare”

“With your bosses?” Applejack confirmed.

“They are a large part of it, but just not knowing who your real friends are is also hard.”

“I guess I never really thought of that.” Applejack pondered, “So if the Wonderbolts isn’t your dream, what is?”

“I want to open up a flight camp for foals without pegasus parents.” She explained, “Did you know 30% of pegasus foals are born to earth ponies or unicorns?”

“I had no idea.” Applejack said, absorbing the information.

“Most of their parents can’t teach them to fly so they never go to flight school, since it’s in Cloudsdale.” She continued, “The majority just think flight will happen on their own, and to a certain extend it does. But in order to become skilled in it, you have to have someone to instruct you. So I want to open a camp on the ground.”

“That sounds great!” Applejack smiled.

“Thanks, I love working at the Wonderbolts training academy, it’s one the best part of my job, and I love foals. It would be perfect.”

“Does anypony else know?” AJ asked.

“Yeah a few, I’ve been looking for a place to set up this camp. I have a few places in mind, possibly Baltimare or Ponyville, since they have a high population of earth ponies and unicorns. I'm leaning more towards Ponyville though because I have a feeling parents wouldn't mind sending their foals to a small town. So both the mayors know what I am planning, and of course Princess Celestia. Money Bags and Soarin both know too, and I guess now you. I’m planning on retiring this year. I know Soarin wants in, since both of our contracts end at the same time we can work on it together.” She explained further.

“So… uh… Soarin likes working with foals too?” Applejack stammered.

Spitfire smiled knowing smile, “Yeah he loves them. Wants to have his own someday, just needs to find the right mare.” Spitfire winked making Applejack blush.

“I’m sure that won’t be difficult,” Applejack said, “I mean with him being a Wonderbolt an’ all.”

“Harder than you would think,” Spitfire shrugged.

“What do yah mean by that?” Applejack tilted her head.

“Oh, he is just looking for a pony that is down to earth, so to speak.” Spitfire said.

“Well, I guess it’s hard to find one up in the clouds.” Applejack chuckled.

“I suppose so.” Spitfire laughed, “Anyway I should get going. It’s been great getting to know you Applejack.”

“Likewise. And good luck tomorrow.” She replied.

As she left, Applejack went upstairs to check on Applebloom. She smiled when she found her asleep. Covering her up with the blankets she quietly sung,
“I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,
May you never take one single breath for granted,
Celestia forbid love ever leave you empty handed,
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.
I hope you dance... I hope you dance.”

Applejack kissed her forehead and a small smile appeared on her sister’s face. As Applejack got up, she looked back on her sleeping form and a tear formed in her eye.

Going back to her room she found Rainbow Dash was fast asleep. She quietly tiptoed into her bed and fell into a restless sleep.

Author's Note:

Hope you like it. It was a fun chapter to write. :)

A thanks to my editor Dawned Passion for helping me out.

Comments

[FelixTheBrony]

Well this is a pleasent fic so far. I'm not gonna badger you with grammer or anything since I can read it just fine, but I'm liking what I see. Some SoarinJack and tiny bits of MacDash, and some BraeFire. Haven't seen the last one before so that's interesting to see.

So I'm guessing Money Bags dates mares to get their money before leaving them. If so, well, at least Mac and Braeburn know. If they let Soarin know too before doing anything it might help. But how do Mac and Braeburn know, but not AJ? Isn't AJ the one who knows the ins and outs of her family the most? How could she not recognise the name? And Money Bags is kinda stupid for agreeing to go to the Apple's homestead since he apparently dated a pony called APPLE Strudle.

Still liked and faved though.