Hearts of Harmony

by Obigity

Chapter 3

A red brick building outside the edge of Canterlot came into view as Spitfire was flying. She landed on the pavement gracefully, folding her wings she proceeded to walk up the front doors with a small smile. Her legs went into the motion as she moved across the clean white floors up to the front desk with the golden words [Celestia's Hospital] embedded in the wooden furniture.

The mare known as Sunny Honey shuffled away documents by lighting up her horn watching as wisps of energy organized the papers, before she could actually file away the mare saw a familiar yellow coat and greeted the Wonderbolt with a knowing cheery smile and a voice to match her name, "Hello Ms.Spitfire are you here to see the little one?"

Nodding her head Spitfire looked down to see the guest check-in sheet picking up one of the pencils with her mouth she quickly wrote down the needed information. Seeing as everything was in order, Sunny smiled.

"Stairs are on your right, the second floor, you know which room deary."

Thanking her, Spitfire walked towards her destination all the while still thinking about her talk with the Captain.

‘Don’t think about it.'

She thought to herself when she got to the second floor, steadily moving her hooves down the hallways she passed a few familiar ponies wearing white coats who gave her a nod of recognition.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw two ponies of the opposite gender wearing black, and white dress clothes walk out of the room she was about to go in. They didn't seem to notice her as they walked away, the suited business mare shook her head in pity as she spoke to her coworker, "That's just sad, out of all those that are leaving here he's the one that goes home without a single pony who remembers him or even himself for the matter."

The stallion kept his voice smooth although they hear some sympathy from him as well but Spitfire didn't listen. Instead, she felt something burn in the back of her throat and choose to swallow it back down as she slowly walked into the room.

Inside the room was immaculate with one bed and a window that beheld a beautiful view of the city with a clear sight of the royal castle built into the mountainside. The sound of flushing made Spitfire turn her head to the right to see the door leading into the private bathroom open wide and out walked the little thing that's been in her thoughts for days.

A small thinly scarlet furred Earth pony walked out the bathroom looking conflicted, but he quickly covered it up when he saw her, "Good evening Spitfire, how are you doing today?"

The politeness and honesty poured through his voice like sugar made Spitfire want to roll her eyes. Instead, she choose to greet him by rubbing his silky silver mane.

"Hiya kid, have you been lonely without me? Did you miss me, my little Handy Dandy?"

He gently pushed away from her hoof with an annoyed look, "I miss you when I want to leave the room."

She faked a shocked face, "Is that all I am to you? A hall pass?"

Spitfire dramatically put a hoof to her head as she spoke tearfully, "I thought we had something special! What happened to time we shared? Those good old days?"

"We know each other for a few months."

"All those precious memories!"

He closed his eyes breathing out a little before asking, "Aren't you supposed to be busy today?"

She quickly got over her drama, shaking her head, "Naw, just got done with our preliminary practice for the show tomorrow which I want you to go to if you're still interested?"

Spitfire already talked to the doctors about letting him out for a day, and they agreed to it surprisingly, most likely by seeing him stuck inside the hospital and him wanting to leave every chance he got.

He bowed his head, "I would appreciate it if it's not too much trouble for you."

Spitfire nearly groaned with disgust at his overbearing courteousness, "Alright already! Geeze, it's just time outside the hospital. You're going to see more of it in a few weeks."

He shrugged his shoulders awkwardly as he walked to his desk grabbing his Patient Information Card that was attached to a metal bead necklace. She watched him amusingly as he struggled to put the thing around his neck without success. Spitfire got enough from watching and wordlessly turned him around and helped put it on.

It's a little fun that she had to help with small things, he learned the basic of how to hold things, but he still struggled with putting on his clothes or other material that included his teeth which required lots of patience. It was honestly rather cute, not that Spitfire would ever admit to anypony.

"There you go, remember it's all about aiming. Don't be afraid to get a little dirty, put your teeth into it; it's all one fluid motion like so."

He listened obediently to her as she instructed him, he watched as Spitfire slightly smiled as she talked about catching items at the right moments which involved complex movement, but she seemed happy to explain it to him as simple as possible.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself, has practice been good?"

She thought back to practice and withheld a wince. She nervously chuckled, "Kind of? Not exactly my best today, but tomorrow will be perfect. After all…" She grinned proudly, "My number one fan will be there, and I can't disappoint."

He raised an eyebrow, "Who may that be?"

"Your so mean!"

His lips curled up into a small smile as they both walked out of the room to the lobby area which they greeted most of the staff along with some patients. They got out to the building and walking to the wooded area where most the hospital's residents came to relax on a beautiful day.

As they enjoyed the scenery, Spitfire thought back to this morning with her Captain; she decided not to think about it, so Spitfire chose to focus on something else.

"So I uh, saw those two other ponies coming out the room, what did they want?"

She most likely knew what they were there for but she still asked anyway, the young pony glanced at her from the corner of his eye before looking back, "They just wanted to check up with the medical team before I go. Mostly asking how well I've been and that I'll be living at Acres Homes Orphanage in Manehatten."

She tried not to look too saddened by the news; she instead wrapped a hoof around his neck as they walked.

"How about you? How do you feel about all of this?"

He tilted his head in deep thought before answering, "It's all I've been thinking about for the last month, and now that I'm here there's not much to think about. I don't know what I'm supposed to think."

They walked in silence, and before they knew it, they saw the edge of the forest. The older of the two looked down at, the younger one trying to think about anything to say to him, but nothing would come out, as always his maturity showed when he spoke dismissively.

"It's fine; I'll just have to adjust. From what I heard the city would be a great opportunity for me to meet potential family."

Her mood dipped even lower from the casual way he said that she wouldn't be able to look at him at this rate then she had to say something fast.

"The Equestria Games are being held in Fillydelphia this year!" She blurted out the first thing that came to mind, wasn't the worst thing she said, it gave her ground to drive the talk away from the unpleasant conversation.

The young stallion gave her a quizzical look before she hoof-faced herself when she remembered that she hadn't fully educated him on the sport's foundation history only of what her job entitled.

"It's a competition of flyers all over Equestria that represent a city to participate in games ranging from timed obstacle courses to precision making skills and the team with the most golden ribbons gets the honor of winning the Equestrian World Cup."

He hummed in interest, "Are you going to partake in these Games?"

She ruffled her wings in excitement, "Well of course I am! I got this cool new trick I going to use to blow away the competition and would surely get me in Celestia's good grace, maybe even bear the Guest of Honor at the next Sunset Celebration!" She went off ranting her fantasy leaving the younger one to stare at her flatly.

‘She sure likes attention, hope she won't try to be too competitive, knowing her I think she'll be fine.'

As she withdrew from her crowd of imaginary fans, she took upbeat steps, "Only a few more months away from all that excitement! I'll show everypony who is the top dog around here!" He smiled at her childish exuberance, and his curiosity was peaked about this Equestria Games.

"Speaking of these Games will anypony else in the Wonderbolts be participating?"

She rolled her eyes as if to say ‘well duh.'

"Of course there'll be other ponies coming with me like Fire Streak and that newbie Soarin. There has to be a team; otherwise, you can't enter, silly."

With a tiny smile came to him as he said in a innocent voice, "It sounds like your the only one pulling your weight. Are you sure your teammates will be able to keep up with you?"

Spitfire felt heat creep around her cheeks as she slightly flustered, "Yeah!! Well!!!…O-Of Course my teammates win!! They're good at what they do too, ya know!!-It's not all about me!"

‘Could have fooled me'

He thought as he watched Spitfire's cheeks burn with embarrassment as she tried to salvage herself by not coming off as one of those drama garnering, glory-hogging, aristocrats she sees at every Sunset Celebration.

She calmed down from his teasing and getting some small, petty revenge she messed with his mane once more getting the hair thrown back into his face.

As they walked back to the hospital, Spitfire continued where she left off, "Our team can only partake in one event, so I'm going to make sure everypony pushes themselves for these next few months."

He nodded agreeably as he once more fixed his mane while throwing in a word of caution, "Not too hard I assume? You don't want your teammates to overexert themselves."

He tried to think carefully of his next words; otherwise, she might take it the wrong way, "You like to take things a little too extreme."

Spitfire looked at him oddly like she's never heard those words before, perhaps it was her job requires them to be competitive and pushing one's self to the limit daily is normal. They were first unit responders to major crisis so anything could happen from then to now that's why training was so vigorous for them to adapt to any situation at any time. The concept of taking it easy was never an option; aerial acrobatics are to be trained until their bones snap from the pressure, hair falls from stress, mind breaks until all that's left is your conditioning of only to push past the pain to get the mission done. There are few in between who make it into the academy much less a Wonderbolt and it was up to the top, of the top, chain of command to decide who was to train these undeveloped which was none other than her.

And by Celestia did she love her job.

"What are you trying to say? I'm a great instructor. Just look at my current record."

She raised a hoof as if counting, "I'm the second current team leader of the best flyers of all Equestria, I know every trick there is in the book and can not just do my work blindfolded but while backwards. I'm also the best part of the show, everypony adores me, I do amazing feats with nothing but my senses to guide me…"

She kept adding in one point after another that didn't have much or at all to do with her coaching but more of herself like she always talks about. The young colt could only think he would never meet another being in his life that likes to talk a lot about themselves as much as she did.

Wanting to stop her before she goes off on another imaginary trip, he purposely bumped into her on autopilot she flapped her wings to prevent herself from falling. She steadied herself gracefully and glared at the not so guilty earth pony that tripped her; he only gave her that look which made her feel a little sheepish.

Spitfire is aware she likes to talk about herself without even realizing it, and the only way to make her stop is by physical force, by now he has no problem shoving her if it means to keep her quiet.

"Before you decided to talk about how great you are, what I meant was others are not like you when it comes to physical activities." He pointed out.

"You need to be patient with them before lifting off so to speak."

Spitfire didn't know why he was bringing this up, but a memory came to her that caused her to slightly shrink on herself when she thought about it, now realizing where he was coming from.

Spitfire is a bit of an enthusiast of meeting standards and winning which is one of her major flaws as it gets the best of her most the time leaving her short-sighted. A couple of weeks ago when they were exercising, she took things too far when she wanted him to do what was impossible for him at the time and screamed at him furiously when he didn't meet her goals.

After she realized what she's done utter horror and shame overcame her, he didn't let it get to him like everything else which wasn't much in comparison; it still made her feel bad, so she took him for a treat later on.

By reminding her, he hoped to get her to understand. Not because of how hard she pushed him that part was fine, but because of how guilty she looked. When he saw the teary look on her face as she realized what she's done, he immediately didn't like it; he didn't want her to be sad.

Sad…

She tried not to think about her problems and instead focus on him, he's got plenty of hardships ahead that he needs to fix and it won't be as easy as him repairing broken things.

Speaking of things needing to be fixed.

"Is anything coming back to you? I'm not complaining, but calling you kid all the time is starting to get old for me."

‘But that means you are complaining.'

He wanted to say but wisely kept his mouth shut unless he wanted another messy mane.

"I haven't yet, but I can remember it being there. I need some more time, and when I go, I'll let them change it."

One quality she admires about the pony is his conviction. His firmness as he told the doctors that he didn't want to be renamed caused some controversy when they had to write him down as The Patient, but it didn't bother him or the little nickname the nurses call him ‘Scarlet,' not very original but it stuck not with her though.

He just knew it, deep down he knew his name, and it would come to him one day. It was special to him, and the medical staff has honored his wishes not to label him as a Pony Joe.

"Well when you do, be sure to write it on a name tag so you won't forget." He gave her a dry look as she snickered at her senseless humor.

"It's better than any of the ones you picked." He shot right back.

Spitfire laughter died and instead exclaimed in a dramatic tone, "Are you kidding?! I pick great names you don't know anything about! Actually! You don't know anything at all! You shouldn't even talk!"

He thinly lifted an eyebrow, "I may not have my memory, but I don't need to know you have a terrible taste in naming." This time he raised a hoof in the air but in a more mocking fashion, "Cloud Dust, SkyBurn, Cheesecake, Silvertail, Storm Breaker, Star-"

"Ok! Ok! I see your point." She nervously said as she quickly cut him off, looking around to see if anypony overheard him. It seemed to embarrass her to call out what she thought was ‘cute' baby names.

"Still think Cloud Dust is a good one." She muttered under her breath.

He gave her another flat look, "I don't have wings."

She waved it off, "It doesn't have to be literal."

He mentally disagreed with her as he thought of nearly ninety percent of the populace that lives up to their names. Quite literally.

Honestly, it's like she got them by rolling up her favorite words in a jar and mashed it with another word hoping it would match, but he wouldn't judge her too harshly, there were other names worse than what she picked. So he did what he's been doing the last three months by letting it go and give Spitfire an eye roll.

As they drifted away from the original conversation, he wanted to give her teammates his condolences-Ahem sincerity to the upcoming event. He might not have known them long, but when they visited him, they seemed like-ah-good ponies. That word kept stopping him like it was the wrong thing to say, but he just put it in the back of his mind for now.

"Can you be sure to give them my regards and wish them luck. Tell them I'm sorry for not being there to cheer them at the Games."

Spitfire halted this time both looking intensely at each other; she decided to stop dancing around the issue. Swallowing her nerves and realizing just how dry her throat felt, she talked with false confidence, "You know, if you want to I can talk to the doctors about extending your stay and you won't hav-"

"No."

His calm voice cut through Spitfire's sentence causing her mind to blank for a second. She saw the cold look he sported before her brain caught up with what he said, then reboot with a fiery start.

"You don't have to do this! There's plenty of other options! I can pull a few strings talk to some ponies I can get you moved to the Remedial Program! You can become a permanent resident at the Recovery Wing! You don't have t-to go!"

‘Don't leave me.'

She desperately wanted to say but the words stuck in her throat. His eyes reflected sadness for the mare mentally kicking himself for not thinking about how it would affect Spitfire as he's aware of how much time she puts off to be with him.

Many times before he tried to get her to stop visiting him so frequently, but for some reason, she kept denying him and continued to barge into his life filling his black and white world with colors. He wishes desperately for an answer to her problems, but he, like her, had to move on.

He schooled his face and voice, both of which didn't waver.

"I've been putting this out long enough. I can't stay here and wait until somebody remembers me or myself for the matter."

He steeled his eyes on her, "It's time that I have to go."

The Orange Pegasi's eyes watered, but her face contradicted her emotion by how angry she looked. Her rage overthrew his rational thoughts for her selfish wants. She snorted in anger before she yelled which startling a couple of birds nearby.

"Why?! It doesn't have to be this way!! I can set you up with more appointments!!! Talk to the Providers!!! Changing locations!!! Anything I say will and can happen!!! Even if Celestia herself said no!!!"

She went on talking about what she could do, but he knew nothing would change unless he agreed. Strangely at time like this he remembers reading from some Med Law book: If patient(s) proved to be in full health consented by the medical staff and/or approved by Parent, Guardian, (or in his case) Ward of the Court as a functional citizen; Member may retain the rights to discharge themselves if proven to be in good health in both state of mind and body. After that, it goes on to different Articles, but the main point was that he had the right to choose as the hospital had given him the go-ahead to be released. He hasn't experienced any recurring blackouts or repercussions of being an amnestic like repeat memory loss. Only his identity took the fault for that.

Staying here waiting until they kick him out wasn't an option if he wanted to learn more about the world he would need proper guidance. He wouldn't get the education he needed since he still hasn't scratched the surface of Equestria History which Spitfire thinks could be picked up along the way by anypony who could read a book, but he still would need to go to school to learn more about his surroundings and not to mention: learn to write.

His word would never break, it's the only thing in this world he's got left, and she knew it. So he stood there, just like all those weeks ago taking it as she yelled at him instead this time her face looked desperate as she tried in her own way to convince him to change his mind. He knew this was the only way both could move on, better to let her vent her frustrations on him now than later. It will give her the time she needed to prepare for his departure which she should calm down by then.

Her rage withdrew after a few minutes of nonstop yelling. Her body trembled like a leaf in the wind, a few tears escaped from her eye dripping down her chin. The intense silence followed both of them didn't know what to say which was more than enough than what can be said. Spitfire threw herself forward holding onto the smaller pony. No words were needed; just action alone spoke louder than anything she'll ever say.

The hardened Wonderbolt who so many thought was impervious to anything that clung to him like a lifeline was still a living, breathing, feeling equestrian. All he could do is wait was rub a small hoof along her back for what he thought was comfort until she collected herself and offer her a sad smile that promised everything was going to be alright even though it wasn't.

After a while, she pulled away as she whipped away the few remaining tears, her voice was a little hoarse, but he could still understand her, "I'll...Get with the Foal Service and tell them that you don't need that extension anymore."

She said with a defeated tone; she couldn't convince this young colt to change his mind then the least she could do is respect it. It was disheartening to see him leave without knowing she could at least do something. But all she could feel was useless when she saw him nod his head somberly in appreciation, her throat closed again, and her wings dipped almost touching the ground.

How it must feel for him she couldn't imagine most likely he would feel bad but not for himself but for her, these last few months she picked up how to track his mood which was easy since he was an open book when he tried expressing himself and she could see the amount of frustration adorn his face like an impossible puzzle he was trying to solve. But she could tell this was the only way he knew best to help both of them move on except the roles were supposed to be opposite.

She was supposed to be the one consoling the younger one.

She was supposed to be the shoulder to lean on.

She was supposed to tell him everything was going to be okay.

Yet here she was afraid, beyond terrified of what will happen when he leaves. Too much afraid of when the time comes...he'll be gone forever. She'll go back to leading her team, finding potential candidates to join the Wonderbolts, perhaps someday wonder what could have been if she didn't have the fear to do what her heart wanted her to follow. Because she was nothing but a fraud hiding behind behind a mask from everypony that got too close to see how truly soft she was and she hated to been seen soft.

‘Why do you do this to me?'

Drained from everything she led him back to his room not noticing or acknowledging the worried looks he kept sending her. He didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything that could fix the situation, he hoped over time she would get better and find her passion again.

Her happiness was more important than his own; he never could explain why he did it other than it was the right thing to do for the one who saved him. Saving her the heartache by leaving her was the only option he could come up with that would let her live her life without him interfering any further.

Mirthless was how he could come close to feeling about this predicament, nothing would be fixed, and he would remain the broken pony when she found him.

It was the kindest thing to do for her.

As they entered the room a light blue unicorn wearing a white coat signifying him as a doctor nearly crashed into them coming out when he was too busy looking at his floating clipboard in front of his obscuring his view. He quickly stopped by years of reflex from looking too intently at something and not paying attention to his surroundings. He yelped in surprise,

"Sorry! I almost didn't see you there."

Amber eyes locked onto Spitfire, "Ms.Fire? I thought you were supposed to return until after the Wonderbolts show?"

Spitfire managed forcefully grinned to cover her sadness, "Nah, I came in early to see the little guy before I head out."

She pulled said ‘little guy' into a hug which he didn't or couldn't return since she was squeezing him very tightly he was barely able to breathe. His annoyance came back, but he let her have it for putting her through that emotional roller coaster. For her sake, he would suffer in silence.

The unicorn chuckled at his predicament, "Well that's good to hear. You came back at the right time. We're about to take young Scarlet here for the procedure." He stepped to the right hoof out inviting him inside the room, "The nurses will come for you in a couple of minutes, I'll be in the ITU Room shortly after."

Spitfire let the colt go. Both went inside as his Primary Care Doctor Night Light left to get ready for the operation with his colleague Doctor Cold, who practiced as a Neuro-Magician. His associate was the one going to be the one performing the spell while Nightlight assisted.

As he left them be, the amnestic walked to his small desk to dropped off his PIC Card as he did Spitfire thought many things to say to break the ice forming between them after her little spat but nothing came to mind.

She opted to stay quiet and waited for the right moment. Staying quiet didn't take long when she saw what he was doing, she raised a hoof to her mouth to hold in laughter when he had some trouble with the chain that got caught in his mane. He was trying to swat at it with his hooves which amounted to nothing. Spitfire took great amusement at his struggles as he uselessly swatted before trying to throw it off by whipping his mane back and forth like somepony headbanging to music.

She saw the perfect opportunity, and she wouldn't let it pass.

"Ok Punk Rock, let me help."

She tangled with his silver locks and after pulling out a twine of hair as the chain finally came off.

"You realllly need more practice with your chompers if you want to grab things." She said while setting the Information Card down on the table, showing off her skills of multitasking.

"Or are you still too scared to get your mouth dirty?"

He was going to fix his mane once more but gave up when he knew it was going to be messy no matter what he did.

"I just don't like to touch things that have been passed around somepony else's mouth."

She gave him a hard look, "Look, it's a bad time to be a germaphobe for a pony of your status, you're going to have to get over it. If it were up to me, I would just let you pick up the dirties things off the street and not let you wash your mouth until the end of the week."

She nodded her head while smiling, "That'll cured you right up."

‘Or have me traumatized!'

He thought in bewilderment of Spitfire's treatment. Hoping she doesn't get the idea of doing worse than that he quickly said, "I-I'll find my preferred method of overcoming this. The chain always getting knotted in my hair every time I take it off, so it's not really a bother for me at this point." Spitfire gave the young stallion a sly smirk, seeing through his attempt for not going through with her plan.

"Sure, if you think you're doing so well then how about we talk about your results from our training sessions."

At the word ‘results' he dropped his nervousness, instantly straightened up looking at her with a firm face that could give those stone-faced Royal Guards a run for their bits. Taken back by his seriousness, she could only think that she would never see another somepony his age pay so attentively at their grades before. Not even her. When she was his age, all she wanted to do was hang out with friends or show off her Cutie Mark, which sadly didn't apply to him since he's still stuck inside a confined area for most of the day with limited individuals coming to see him and as for the other...well. Spitfire looked at his blank flank...He had more important things to worry about than finding what he's meant to do at the moment.

Seeing him wait patiently she quickly cleared her throat, "Ok kid, here's my conclusion for our little segments: You got the agile function to bend your body fluently which is good for stretching that I see you practice time to time to help out your muscles. Being able to do the basic maneuvering for long periods of time, you exceptional well with your hooves to do tasks and able to move around like how you're able to stand on your hind legs while multitasking."

Strange kink, but she still made small notes seeing how it's his first instinct when trying anything and when he tried walking on his own for the first time. It's strange to look at like somepony break dancing which wasn't all that uncommon...

"Buttt." She said lengthy, "you rely on them too much, while using your hooves is a great it's not helping you get any better with your mouth which you should be focusing on more. I hate to break it to you, but Earth ponies such as yourself don't have the luxury of having magic or wings to pick things up when you're having trouble. Your only gift is to mouth things and people off when you need to."

He frowned at the end but knew she was right. He's been trying to avoid using his mouth for a while, he would've preferred to use another method or some tool instead, but the undeniable truth was that his mouth was his other sets of hooves and he had to use it at one point.

"I'll..practice more when I get the time." He said defeated and slightly embarrassed tone, most likely that Spitfire had to be the one to point it out.

She nodded her head approving, "See to it that you do, I don't have to point out that one of the many things you'll learn is writing and you can't learn to do that with your hooves."

Slowly learning like a newborn foal, but he'll get there. His progression was extremely taxing for his body after the injuries he sustained during the Incident which resulted in him being bed rested for two months and she suspected his mind was also struggling to keep up with the loss of muscle memory. His body was rebuilding itself while his mind was trying to play catch up, the condition his body was in at the moment wasn't in good shape. Not to say he was in good health but it was spending all that time in bandages caused muscle wasting to appear all over his body nothing but a little magic and natural growth couldn't fix, he was still under advisement to take it slow, so far after all the things he's done with helping the other residents it was safe to say he was steadily getting healthier. He was strong for somepony who stayed in bed for so long, but she chalked it up to his Earth Pony inheritance that all seem to possess in the muscle department.

"Thank you." He said out of the blue, Spitfire caught off guard by the compliment after telling his flaws caused her to tilted her head in puzzlement.

"For what? I'm just doing my job."

He shook his head slowly, "No, thank you for spending time with me when you didn't have to."

He explained and he very carefully thought of his next words, "I'm also sorry for upsetting you earlier, I never intended for you to be hurt."

She felt out of her depth, with a tired moan she rubbed her wild fiery mane, "Listen, I know I said all those things and...I'm sorry." It was awkward saying these things, but she said what needed, "I'll try not to get too, but here it is."

Spitfire sucked in a deep breath and hardened her face like she was preparing herself to go to war, "I like you kid, like a lot. You know that? I want to let you know even if you're not here I'll still be. So I wanted to say how much the time I spent with you meant without me having to scream it. So…" With timid steps, she embarrassingly embraced the scarlet colt but this time with less pressure and more care, she went as far as to rub his mane soothingly.

"If your ever in need of anything no matter the distance don't hesitate to write me."

His only response was placing one hoof on her back, not to comfort her but to acknowledge the hug even when she was pouring out her heart to him.

This was a better outcome then he expected, she could finally move on along. This is all he wanted, his only wish was for her to be happy and without him, she could excel at her job without his presence to distract her. She always talked about taking over as Captain of the Wonderbolts how much it meant to her, and he noticed after some time he wasn't helping her reach it if she kept on putting a halt to it by staying here helping him and from what he heard her Captain was going to retire soon. Her new position as Captain of the Wonderbolts will be demanding, making this relationship between them more difficult to maintain if that meant she had to choose to skip her job. It didn't sit well that he was the cause of her problems, so it was better to put a stop to all this by leaving.

It didn't bother him. Almost nothing bothered him most likely the fire burned out his emotions along with his ability to understand how wrong it was not to feel any sort of sentiment from others. Although there had been times when something within him tugs his heart when he sees others in trouble, and he wants to give everything to help out which is fine by him, it gives him things to do and makes him ponder more on the subject of why he did it in the first place.

The mystery that is himself continues.

Spitfire pulled away looking down smiling warmly at him taking in the moment to appreciate how far the both of them have come. It made that little voice in the back of her head become louder than any of her thoughts, and it solidified the conviction of her next course of action.

"Seriously, if you need me for anything you can always yell and I'll come flying in." She tapped her forehead, "Headfirst if I have if I have too."

Just thinking about it made him wince, "Let's just stick with letters for now."

She laughed, "Sure thing kid."

The tension between them lessened, Spitfire wasn't happy at the outcome, but it was enough to know it would all be fine. There was still doubt, but she still took into consideration that she can have it settling by the end of the week.

The kid looked at her with a kindly smile, "I hope you do well in the Games. I wish your team the best of luck."

It was the third time since the beginning she saw anything other than a blank or annoyed face. It was then she realized how tired she felt, her legs were ready to give up from his heartbreaking smile. She already let out her tears on the walk over here; all she could do is pull out the same smile he was wearing.

"Yeah." She said sadly before shaking off her bad mood, "But let's not think about that. Let's think about ordering a plate of delicious cinnamon twists and jelly sprinkled donuts that are divine treats from beyond the clouds, after the flight."

She extended her wing out again and wrapped it around the young colt's body, "I probably didn't mention this before but there's this great place that I go every time we finish a mission called Moe's Donuts, and they serve the best treats in all of Equestria."

Top notch services all year round and not to mention her close friendship with the owner he lets her choose a variety of flavors to pick from his personal stash that could make the mouths of even Celestia herself, water with hunger.

Perhaps she daresay, it's even better than Apple Cider Season.

She's the only one he serves them to! That instantly made him her go-to pony for any food emergency.

He hummed, "That's interesting."

Then he remembered, "Ah, speaking of food. Did you get to eat after practice? I can go to the main cafeteria and grab something soft for you so that you don't get stomach cramps."

She smiled sweetly at the thoughtful gentlecolt, "It's alright; I already had something before I came here."

She felt something twitch when she also added, "And also." She looked down at him with narrowed eyes, "Never ever, ever, everrr!! Get me anything here."

The young colt rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Ah sorry, I forgot you don't like the hospital's food."

She snorted with anger, "Food?! It's so disgusting that even pigs won't eat it! Canterlot's dungeons serve better food than that hot garbage!"

She really shouldn't insult the hospital chiefs. They make...comestible food quality. You have to focus on the taste.

Really focus.

She stopped her ranting to look him over, "Your worried about me when it should be me asking about your eating habits. Just look how skinny you are."

To prove her point she felt her way around his small frame like a doctor inspecting her patient feeling his rib cages before settling her hoof on his chest, "I'm thinking one of these days of taking you out to a buffet and let you eat to your heart's content, but that would go against my advisory as your Physical Trainer. Perhaps more proteins. Hmm….Maybe doubling up your oatmeal's?"

She tilted her head as tapping his chest continued, "You gotta eat more solids," She decided with a self-assured nod, "I think it's about the right time to double up your meals, so your fine to eat to your heart's content."

She did it again, "I swear twigs have more weight than you do."

He felt something tremble on his face from the persistent jabbing, "Tall, lanky, and a bookworm. You make the perfect picture of a nerd."

Poke poke poke, "You know; I can keep going all day."

He pushed the hoof away with a frown that quivered as random twitching danced across his face. She smirked feeling accomplishment for making him show more of his emotion by bringing them out the most annoying ways possible.

Spitfire felt a little better from her very-much-needed therapeutic activity. As she swelled with happiness, she felt the familiar bounce in her legs she gets when a song was about to erupt from her. Instead of bursting out singing, she held in on the music begging to be released inside of her.

Without losing her beat, she turned that energy into a million-megawatt smile directing it at the annoyed Earth Pony, "Kid if you plan on going anywhere in life. Remember Altius volantis!"

He rubbed his chest sighing with defeat when she smiled widely looking at him expectedly, "Soaring higher." He said in an unexciting tone.

"That's the spirit!"

‘Clearly.'

Just as she was going to keep up her pestering his saviors walked in the room which were two unicorn nurses wearing white scrubs with nurses cap. They set up the medical equipment with the glow of their horns and began monitoring his vital.

As the young colt waited quietly as they finished their routine making small talk with him to check his condition and one informed him of the basics of what he'll be going through, Spitfire watched silently as he was prepared to be taken to the ITU Room.

She could not stand for silence any longer.

"Nurse, I think something's wrong with him!" She began in a dramatic voice, "I saw him foaming at the mouth earlier like a mad dog! I think he's got Rabies! Quickly! He needs immediate vaccin-!"

"Ms. Spitfire!" One of the nurses interrupted in exasperation, already tired of her personality, "I will not sterilize Mr. Scarlet, just to keep you from being bored!"

"But it's true." Spitfire snickered trying to keep the charade going, "He needs the shot, as a matter of fact, he likes shots, don't ya sport?"

The young stallion and the nurse looked at each other unconvinced.

"Can you give her something to make her stop talking?" He silently pleaded.

The nurse glanced at Spitfire with a gleam in her eye, "I got 200 milligrams General Anesthesia on standby."

"OK! I see when I'm not needed," Spitfire said nervously, getting up quickly not wanting to test how far her joke would go. Plus she really hated needles.

"I got to go anyways, gotta get up early tomorrow for the show. Tell the ponies in the Ticket Booth to let you in the VIP Section, say your Spitfire's Guest, and they'll show you the way."

He nodded his head in confirmation, "I'll be there."

She came up to him while carefully avoiding the nurse who said that would stick her just in case she changes her mind, "I know you will. Have a good night kid." Rubbing his mane one last time and surprising him with a quick peck to his forehead, she turned away leaving him with the two nurses not seeing his reaction.

His mind was left in disorder as she left. He touched his forehead where she planted the kiss on, ‘What just happened?'

Spitfire was never that affectionate before and she has never done anything ‘feely' while others were watching or else she's seen as ‘uncool.' The first time she attempted it was when both were still in that phase questioning their relationship making it awkward for the both of them when she left to go home by saying her goodbyes with a hoofshake like an exchange between two cunning businessponies.

It's a blue moon when she does try, although she goes to ridiculous lengths to keep that facade away from the public eye by blocking every view somepony can possible see them from and by acting like it never happened afterward. Today has been a challenge for both of them.

It probably was nothing.

"That's soooo cuuuute!!!"

Followed with a sound that resembled a squee, both hooves pressed against her cheeks, eyes glittered with excitement.

"Hush Sweet Tea, there's no need for that." The strict nurse chided her coworker, although she herself tried to hide the smile threatening to overcome her neutral demeanor.

"Don't be such a sourpuss, Raspberry! It was cute! Even you can admit that!"

Shaking off her colleague's banter, the unicorn Nurse Raspberry turned to the child that made her feel the unprofessional need to hug him just by seeing his adorably confused childish look.

"Are you ready to go Mr. Scarlet?"

"Ah! Yes, I just…" He said not sure what to say.

The other nurse who still was smiling like a dolt looked playfully at him,

"Are you sure about that, Sweetie Pie?"

Blushing under his coat, he embarrassingly nodded his head along, not trusting himself to speak at the moment.

Looking to each other, they nodded their heads the nurses gently guided him to the room where they would conduct one last test.

It seemed like Spitfire could invoke other feelings.

Author's Note:

Just something I thought of while in the military when I was taking a break in-between training. Send a comment and let me know your opinion on the matter and please Constructively Criticize my work to let me know what to do to improve better.