Magic
Spitfire read through the article of her interview she'd given two days prior in the Baltimare Sun. Soarin had been kind enough to send someone with the paper over as the didn't have it in Ponyville. Along with it, the Lieutenant also sent a letter that remained unopened on the table as she read the newspaper first.
The headline that stated 'Captain Spitfire, a hero?' had worried her greatly but after reading the article itself she found the answer it gave to be a resounding yes. The tale of the storm and the house fire she'd ran into being regaled by the journalist in almost the same way as she'd been told days prior.
I'll have to look into getting her a Wonderbolt press pass, that should raise her profile and help out her career.
Spitfire folded up the paper as the door to the dining hall opened and both Spike and Scootaloo entered. “Good morning you two,” she greeted. She and Rainbow had decided to take up Twilight on her offer to house them, since Scootaloo couldn't fly Rainbow's house was out of the question. Another bonus of staying at the castle had been that she stayed in the loop with Twilight.
“Morning,” Scootaloo groggily replied sitting down at the table while Spike continued to the kitchen.
“Did you sleep well?” Spitfire continued, ruffling the filly's hair with a wing.
“Good enough I guess,” she giggled, squirming from under the wing. The two fell silent for a bit as Scootaloo shuffled closer to the captain and leaned against her.
“H-hey Spitfire, can I ask you something?” Scootaloo eventually sputtered.
“Always,” Spitfire replied.
“Well, Twilight explained a bit how half-dragons like you make hoards and stuff and with how you're doing all that boring paperwork... What are we?”
Spitfire looked down at Scootaloo who was looking straight up into her eyes, letting the question sink in.
That's a very good question...
“I... don't know,” she admitted. “Rainbow is my marefriend, the other 'Bolts are like family, and you...” Spitfire didn't know just where exactly she'd place Scootaloo.
The filly nervously ruffled her wings. “Do you really want me as your filly?” Scootaloo bluntly asked, trembling slightly. Spitfire opened her mouth to reply but the words got stuck in her throat for a bit, only one answer coming to mind.
“Yes.”
Scootaloo wrapped her legs around Spitfire's barrel as far as she could, hugging her tightly as she cried into older mare's coat.
My filly... Wow...
Spitfire opened her wing and used it to rub over Scootaloo's back, holding her close.
“Thank you.” Scootaloo smiled brightly as she wiped away her final tears, Spike coming back with sandwiches for them.
“Whoa, did I miss something?” he asked as he noticed the wet streaks on Scootaloo's cheeks.
“Just something personal with Spitfire here,” Scootaloo replied, picking out one of the sandwiches.
“Alright, I see. Is Rainbow coming down soon?” Spike asked as he got his own sandwich and chomped down on it.
“She was sleeping like a brick when I got out of bed, she is probably still there,” Spitfire smirked. "I'll go get her after finishing this delightful sandwich."
“Actually, I'll go get her. Twilight wanted to see you downstairs and talk about some draconic spell.”
Spitfire raised an eyebrow at that comment from Spike. A spell, really? How would I, a half pegasus half-dragon, be able to cast a spell?!
Spike with but a single glance was able to guess the exact train of thought Spitfire was having. “I'm not the expert but I'm going to gamble on her trying to teach you how to send dragon mail.”
“Awesome...” Scootaloo silently said.
“Then I shouldn't keep her waiting,” Spitfire said with a smile, swiftly cramming the rest of her sandwich into her mouth. After ruffling Scootaloo's hair she made her way into the Princess' underground lab. It was fairly well cleaned up this morning as she noticed Twilight studying a chalkboard with equations.
“Princ- Twilight? Spike said you had something to teach me?” The raspy voice pulled Twilight from her thoughts towards Spitfire, a smile immediately forming on her lips as she walked around with a small stack of parchments.
“Good morning! I got up a bit earlier to set up some stuff, it's not that often that I indulge in this kind of magic.”
“I assume you're talking about dragon mail?” Spitfire asked, taking a seat across from Twilight at the desk the Princess had taken a seat.
“That is correct, how did- Oh, of course, Spike probably figured out what I was doing.” Twilight sheepishly smiled, making Spitfire chuckle. "But yes, he's right. You have at least some draconic magic in there and I want to test if it's enough for something more complicated than breathing fire."
"Well, it sounds immensely useful. So what do I have to do?"
Levitating over the chalkboard Twilight set it down next to them, wiping away at least half the equations on there. "Let's not jump too far ahead, first you need to find out how exactly you breathe your flames."
Giving Twilight a confused stare Spitfire blew out a small plume of fire. "You know... by just doing it?"
"Hmm, so it's completely intuitive to you..." Twilight muttered, writing down a note for later. "In that case, I want to put a spell on you so you can feel what I mean. Dragonfire isn't like real fire as you might have noticed at some time in your life, it is magical in nature. Spike has a very good grasp on his own but I'll admit that might be because of the particular company he's found himself in."
"A slightly mad scholar?" Spitfire immediately clamped her hooves over her muzzle in shock. You did not just say that directly to the Princess' face!
To her relief Twilight let out a laugh. "That's one way of putting it," she chuckled. "Now about that spell, it will give you an increased sense of the flow of your magic and if you're anything like spike you should notice most changes happen in your chest when breathing fire."
"A-Alright," Spitfire stuttered with a sheepish smile, glad Twilight didn't make more of that comment. The alicorn activated her horn, letting magic wrap around the half-dragon and giving her a tingly feeling.
Whoa, is this how unicorns see the world?
She could feel the ordered tendrils of magic surrounding her, the intricate patterns being so complex that they were far beyond understanding to her. The ambient magical pressure of the room was also noticeable to her but what really stood out was Princess Twilight herself, the sheer amount of magic contained in her made Spitfire feel really small.
"I can see from your reaction, the spell is working correctly?" Twilight asked as she cut off her own magic flow, and watched Spitfire look around in wonder.
"It's working alright," the captain breathed out in astonishment. "How long will this last?"
"About an hour, but that's plenty of time for us to practise," Twilight smiled, bringing about her parchment with notes. "Now remember, you need to focus on what is happening in your chest where the fire originates."
Nodding, Spitfire closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt the magic inside of her contract all to the same place, form some kind of shape, and then be expelled through her mouth as fire, all in the matter of a second. Looking up at Twilight with a smile she could almost jump from the chair she was seated on. "I saw something! A pattern of sorts!"
"Perfect! Do it a few more times and try to remember how it looks!" Twilight beamed, scribbling something on her chalkboard while Spitfire continued blowing plumes of fire from her mouth. The pattern became clearer and clearer as she repeated the move over and over, the lines were a bit crude but there was definitely something there.
What if I straighten out the lines a bit, make the pattern clearer...
trying it a final time spitfire took some extra time trying to gather the magic in her, making sure the pattern wasn't just there but immaculate as well.
It showed.
The last ball of fire wasn't just larger but hotter as well, making both herself and Twilight jump back in surprise. "I'm sorry Princess, I-"
"Whoa, calm down there Spitfire," Twilight chuckled yet looking impressed. "You got a handle on that way faster than I had imagined." Showing the chalkboard made Spitfire's eyes widen.
"That's the pattern I'm making when using my fire breath!"
"Well, that's good because this one is Spike's," Twilight smiled. "Now what I want to teach you is how to make this." Twilight took the pattern and removed a section of it, replacing it with another, more complex, section.
"That looks hard," Spitfire admitted, studying the pattern with the same vigour she'd study their flight patterns with.
Wait... just like flight patterns!
Taking another good glance at the pattern she translated every one of the lines to a flight move, from loops to barrel rolls.
"Well, I don't expect you to get it immediately. That's why we're practising after all," Twilight smiled, giving Spitfire one of the empty parchments from her stack. "Spike took a good couple of weeks before he-"
Spitfire gathered her magic and lit the paper on fire, a trail of smoke shooting up and out of the basement.
"-did it absolutely perfectly," Twilight stared at where the parchment's smoke trail had disappeared off to. "How did you..."
"Uhm... I have a talent for it maybe?" Spitfire sheepishly smiled. "My cutie mark is a plume of fire after all."
"That was amazing!" Twilight exclaimed, furiously writing down notes at lightning speed. "I wonder though, to whom did you send that message?"
"What do you mean?" Spitfire asked in confusion, Twilight lowered her parchment and stopped writing. "I just kinda sent it, just like that pattern you showed."
"I..." Twilight's eyes dilated a bit as she studied the lines some more. "Oh no. Stupid, stupid, stupid- Why didn't you take this into account?!"
"Twilight, I'm kind of in the dark here. Mind filling me in?" Spitfire asked as Twilight got off her chair and paced through the basement lab.
"You see, that's the exact same base spell Spike uses to send his messages but if you didn't specify the location which to send it to it might have gone to..." Twilight hesitated, making Spitfire roll her eyes in annoyance.
"Spit it out, Twi-" A hiccup interrupted Spitfire, a plume of fire being forced from her belly as a new, neatly rolled up, scroll appeared in the air. The Captain's eyes went as wide as the could in shock as she recognized the distinct royal seal of the Solar Court.
"...Princess Celestia," Twilight sheepishly finished. "Uhm, congratulations?"
Spitfire meanwhile simply grimaced as she picked up the scroll and saw it was addressed to her.
"Don't worry, I've been sending scrolls to the Princess for the longest of times. She'll understand."
With that re-assurance Spitfire broke the seal and rolled open the parchment, reading the contents. As she read through the letter the grimace slowly turned into a smile. "The princess congratulates me on performing dragonfire magic and invites us both up to Canterlot to learn more about how spell matrixes for this particular kind of magic work exactly."
"Well, I can hardly decline an invitation like that now, can I?" Twilight beamed, levitation all sorts of tomes towards a set of saddlebags while simultaneously writing a letter and sealing it with her own seal. "Now I'll just have Spike- actually, why don't you sent this letter of acceptance to the princess."
"Don't blame me if it turns into a pile of ash," Spitfire warned before repeating the fire breathing technique and sending the letter off successfully.
"Just like you said: a natural," Twilight smirked. "Now, if you could get your stuff and Rainbow then we should be off to Canterlot. We have an appointment with the Princess this afternoon."
With Scootaloo on her back Spitfire, Rainbow, and Twilight made their way over to Canterlot castle. Rainbow still looked groggy in some miraculous way even after having slept on the train ride to the capital. Scootaloo on the other hoof was looking around in wonder at all the buildings while drinking through a straw from a cup of soda Spitfire had gotten her. Twilight had buried herself in a book as she lead the way.
Spitfire though wasn't exactly comfortable with being in the city, being this close to the nobles would normally be enough for her to want to get out but now she was front and centre in their sights she felt like looking over her shoulder at nearly every corner. It didn't help either that a lot of ponies recognized her and the Princess, whispering to each other as they passed.
Dangit Spitfire, you should be used to some gossip by now.
The Royal Guards at one of the side gates of the castle stepped aside after confirming their identities, letting them walk through the gardens towards the main palace. "So, you're going to learn some actual magic now?" Scootaloo asked Spitfire.
"I guess so, but let's not get our hopes up. First I should find a way how to not send letters directly to Princess Celestia," Spitfire smirked, glancing over to Twilight who blushed in response. Scootloo snickered as Twilight tried hiding in her book.
"It's going to be awesome! Maybe we can even incorporate some of the things we learn here in our flight routines!" Rainbow smirked, rubbing up against her marefriend.
"That sounds like a good idea but again, let's start with the basics." Spitfire placed a kiss on Rainbow's cheek as they entered the palace itself. Scootaloo's wonder only went up as they walked through the hallways of the castle, Twilight eventually pushing through a grandiose door guarded by two members of the Solar Guard into a study with all sorts of books lined up in bookcases. "Just asking, but what is this place?"
"Oh, it's just Princess Celestia's private study," Twilight casually said, unloading her books on the central table. Spitfire stopped dead in her tracks, paling as she looked around at all the display cases that had artefacts stored in them.
"Spits, you really need to relax more when the Princesses are mentioned," Rainbow chuckled, nudging her side. "Princess Celestia isn't going to send you to magic kindergarten or something... well now I say that..."
Twilight groaned and tried hiding a blush again as Rainbow shot her a knowing look. "That was only a few times..." she muttered in response.
"I know, old habits," Spitfire sighed, taking a seat at the large central table.
"If you want you can explore around here, Scootaloo. Just don't try to touch the objects in the display cases, most of those are magical," Twilight told the filly who squealed happily and ran off between one of the rows of bookcases.
"So when do you think the Princess is arriving," Rainbow asked Twilight.
"Right about now, Rainbow Dash." The attention of the table turned to the Princess who came walking into the room without the company of her personal guard, Spitfire immediately jumped up and saluted her. "Relax Captain, this is not a professional visit. It's been a while since I got to teach this magic to one who can actually use it, I had thought the next person I would do it for to be Spike."
Scootaloo poked out her head from the bookshelves as well, looking at the Princess in awe.
"Hello there, I see Spitfire and Rainbow decided to take you along," Celestia smiled, glancing over to Rainbow as well. " Say, Rainbow Dash, if my memory doesn't betray me then I think I have Commander Hurricane's personal spear and armour somewhere in this room. Maybe you and Scootaloo would like to try and find it while I talk to Twilight and Spitfire here?"
Rainbow's pupils grew ever so slightly before getting off her pillow and scooping up Scootaloo. "Eeyup, don't mind us!"
Celestia chuckled as the two pegasi were off to find the particular artefact, turning back to the other two ponies at the table. "I have to admit I was quite surprised when a blank parchment arrived that was not sent by Spike."
"My mistake, I'm guessing the delivery target is an inherent part of the matrix itself as opposed to having to feed a target from outside of it?" Twilight speculated.
"That is correct Twilight, and I'll explain to you exactly how to change that configuration around. But first-" Celestia levitated a very heavy tome from a shelf and placed it in front of her, "-a history lesson."
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Great new chapter! Cool that Spits can send messages, can't wait for the next update!
so Spits CAN do Firemail. NICE!
I have always been somewhat curious about dragon fire magic. So I can’t wait see how you expand upon the idea.
wiping not whipping
make this not take this
10546343
Agreed
Hehe... Birbpone do burny magic.
10546478
fixed
10546500
Couldn't have said it better myself.
I have always found that the easiest way to learn something new is to compare it to something similar that you already know
Eeeee im so excited for the next chapter i cant wait to find out about this history lesson and spitfires abilities
10546657
Analogy is one of the best ways to learn things.
So, bets on how long it takes for Dash to try on Hurricane's old armor?
Loved the chapter it made me cry in laughter especially dashes reaction to hearing that she would be able to see commander hurricanes personal spear and armour and spits reaction seeing the princess is priceless keep it up you're doing excellent
10546772
Stop reading my mind
I'm just smiling right now, seems like everything's coming up roses.
10546935
Derpy: Does this mean I don't need to deliver mail to the Wonderbolts anymore?
Spitfire: Absolutely not! I am fine being a team's model, but I am definitely not a mail box.
I noticed spitfire never actually opened that letter, so is it still just sitting on the table or did you forget about it? Or did I miss it and she opened it sometime between reading the newspaper and going downstairs?
Of course, 50 bits that this history lesson will be interrupted at least once probably by Rainbow with Scoots.
10547616
Nope it's either still sitting at the table or she took it with her between scenes but never actually read it.
Unexpected, but creative. Good chapter!
Moar?
Next time on Exposition Dump Z!
Not making fun, just a silly thought that came to mind. This is one of those stories that I thought was going to be over relatively quick and now... Well, world building is fun whether you're the architect or the observer. Have fun!
10548041
To be honest, I was expecting it to run for about 2 chapters
I'm just having fun with it now.
Remove "is the" but other than that. It looks good to me. Keep up the good work.
10547616 10547635
Edit: Oh, right. That letter. Much like 10548071 , I also forgot about it.
Uhh...
I really wanted to like this story, because it has such a fun premise. But things struckme in chapter 1 that didn't get better by half-way through chapter 5. I hope you take the following as the constructive criticism I intend for it to be.
First: the pacing is WAY too fast. Rainbow and Spitfire go from Captain and Rookie to Marefriends in 10 seconds flat with basically no buildup except for Spitfire noticing dat flank. The fire scene with its big reveal also came way too early, feeling more like a mid-story or late-story scene, especially if the main conflict of the story is "Spitfire has a secret and doesn't want anypony to know."
Second: if Spitfire isn't willing to tell her secret to her close friends and teammates in the Wonderbolts, then it doesn't make much sense for her to be willing to tell it to a complete stranger like Applejack. This strikes me immediately as an excuse to get her to Ponyville and making friends with the Mane 6.
Third: Spitfire doesn't feel like Spitfire. Her personality doesn't fit at all with what we've seen of her in the show. It's fine to have an alternate character interpretation, but this contrast is so stark that it shatters believability.
Finally: if someone has a secret that they want to hide at all costs, the LAST thing they would want to do would be to put herself into the spotlight. Spitfire is one of the most well-known ponies in Equestria. This celebrity status with its constant scrutiny doesn't fit with her desire to keep her secret.
I like the dialogue. I enjoy reading this overall. But these four errors are too glaring for me to ignore. I'll toss you a like, but I won't be reading any further.
Sorry to be annoying but when do you think you’ll publish the next chapter?
Im curious as this is ma favourite story oof and i just wanna see it get updated
"It was a Tuseday, sunny it was too, a good day for drinking tea, but alas, I could not, for I had no flame with which to boil the water to my liking..."
Eep any idea about the next chapter? Its been iver a month i hope your new year has been well to. Sorry if im being annoying im just to into the story
10609492
I need to finish up the latter section of the chapter, maybe 500-700 more words.
Also, I don't mind getting poked so every now and then
10609530
Ooo alright god im exited ill be 100 percent honest i check for updates pn this story like 4 times a day amd re read it like 4 times a week
I think you got the wrong filly
I don't know why I haven't seen this idea around more. The notion that dragons have their own magic and can cast different spells with their firebreath seems utterly obvious once you hear it, which tells me it's a natural extension of this universe. Fantastic, and you do a great job on the execution too!
Nice, it's rare to see a explanation for Spike the living fax maschine and how he works