The Bonds of Love and Fire

by Whooves235

Chapter 3: Across The Clouds

The Hay and Stay Hotel: Cloudsdale

The door opened and Orion entered the semi-decorated hotel room. He closed the door of the room and proceeded to flip the light switch allowing some illumination. The room was still darkened however as some of the lights were broken, but in a way, it was the right amount of light to create a calming atmosphere which Orion did not mind at all. It was a two-bedroom room on the middle floor of the Hotel. From the comfort of his 'living room' Orion could at the very least watch the sunrise every morning. He even had a small patio that he could stand in if need be.

The interior walls were painted a warm blue color with burgundy white accent walls in the kitchen, however the walls were definitely aging as the yellowing in the white was clear as day event he floors were the usual cheap carpet found in most hotels. Even so Orion had been a custom to this hotel for the past week, so he was not that put off by it. Orion would then go and take a relaxed seat on his couch as he thought about the offer Spitfire had made to him. He smiled softly at it.

"Orion!" A voice shouted out, plus loud knocking coming from the door.

Orion sighed "There goes my relaxation time.." He mumbled as he approached the door. He opened it to reveal a dark red pegasus with a brownish mane. He was relatively short in size however what he lacked in height he more than made up for with muscle. The red stallion walked into the room and looked around a bit before looking to Orion.

"Orion, where the hell have you been? you were supposed to meet up with me" The stallion said.

"Rust I was busy today" Orion said as he walked back into his living room, sitting down on the couch. Rust would then walk into the room completely and stand next to the couch, looking at Orion "I even told you yesterday there was a chance I was not going to be able to make it."

"Orion you're a royal guard, not just that you're the captain of it. Like me you have a reputation and a duty to uphold, and that means showing up when you're asked to" Rust said, stomping his hoof a bit "That guard meeting was important you know."

"Hence why I asked you to be there," Orion said "I knew there was a chance I would miss it, so I sent someone to take my place who also happened to be my partner."

Rust rolled his eyes as he walked over to the other end of the couch "So I assume you were at the bank then?"

"Unfortunately yes..." Orion said giving a frustrated exhale "I had to head there right after lunch, and let me tell you it was not enjoyable."

"Well was there any good news? surely almost two weeks in you are getting some type of it" Rust asked.

"The best news I can say is that nopony has tried to buy the house yet, however that's obviously subjected to change" Orion said "The bank said that if I can deliver them the right amount of bits within the time they gave me, and as long as the house is not under the possibility of foreclosure, then I should be able to take it back."

"Soo...what do you do if you can't buy it back then?" Rust asked, he then gestured to the boxes around the hotel room "Because I doubt the Hay and Stay will let you live here..."

"I'm...not sure...but I got some news that possibly could fix that situation" Orion said "An old friend of mine offered to let me live with them until I get this bank situation settled. They live in Cloudsdale too so it's not going to affect any of my duties as a guard."

"Well that's good news! who's the friend?" Rust asked.

"Uh...Spitfire..." Orion said cringing a bit as he looked away from rust, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

"Spitfire?! As in the Wonderbolt Captian??" Rust shouted a bit "How did you-...your friends with her??"

"She's an old friend from the academy..." Orion said "I told her about my situation and she was kind enough to let me stay with her."

"You're not worried this will cause issues? I have seen the gossip papers surrounding the Wonderbolts, and let me tell you they're not pretty."

"They can't be that bad right?" Orion said looking to Rust.

"They're pretty bad dude, apparently the one last month made Rainbow Dash go on a two-week leave from the bolts altogether."

"Wait seriously? what happened?" Orion asked, from what he knew about Rainbow Dash if whatever was written about her was serious enough to make her leave the bolts for even a day, then it was serious.

"A photographer got lucky" Rust said sounding slightly annoyed "They snagged a photo of Rainbow and her marefriend, after that happened both of them were harassed by media, made it impossible for Rainbow to even go to a show."

"Well shit...I had no idea it was that bad..." Orion said, he looked down to the ground a bit in thought about how rough it probably has been for Spitfire to deal with that "I'm...sure nothing bad will happen if I just play it casually, after all it's not like we are dating. She is just letting me live with her until I get myself situated."

"Orion...just try to be careful, we don't need a scandal involving both the guard and the bolts" Rust said.

"Rust, I have been in the guard for eighteen years now. I can take care of myself as well as deal with stuff like that" Orion said "Now, can you just tell me about the meeting so we can move on?"

"Right...well it's mainly the same as before, the guard is still on the lookout for the pony who has been leaking information about our schedule to the media, the nobels are starting to get impatient with the amount of paparazzi that have been following them around."

"There seriously not any closer to catching him? Didn't we have a lead?" Orion asked.

"The guard is sending me to question the leed within the week" Rust said "It would probably be a good idea to accompany me."

"Right..." Orion said, rubbing his eyes in frustration "Anything else?"

"The Day Councilmen is wanting some protection for the annual Harthswarming Festival going on in Canterlot in a couple of weeks" Rust said "I don't think he will need you or me but, it's still probably worth preparing yourself for."

"Right...that all then?" Orion asked.

"That's about it yah...everything else was just patrol notes and reports from the night general."

"Right, thank you for the report" Orion said "Now...I need to pack my things so I can move in with Spitfire."

"Do you want any help? Might as well make myself useful while I'm here" Rust asked.

"I think I will be fine, I'm only bringing clothes over there so its not a lot of packing." Orion said, walking over to the bedroom area which was already being cleaned, some luggage out with folded clothes inside them.

"Alright if you say so, just remember to call me if you need anything alright?" Rust said as he made his way to the door.

"Will do Second Lieutenant" Orion smirked looking to Rust who rolled his eyes and chuckled. After Rust had left the room Orion would go back to putting some of his clothes into the luggage, mostly some shirts and a hoodie. After that he looked around seeing if he was forgetting anything else. After double-checking the entire hotel room for anything he might need he closed up his suitcase and put it on the bed for him to leave tonight. Seeing as he had nothing to do until then he decided to go and walk around town a bit. Orion would get up and grab his hotel key put it in his pockets and walk out the door to Downtown Cloudsdale.

Wonderbolt's Base

The wind would yet again rush past Spitfire's ears, her mane whipping behind her as she continued on the obstacle course. She could see Soarin below taking notes, and standing beside him where the two ponies that Yellowjacket had assigned to watch over the bolts. She mumbled to herself as she continued to fly going through loop after loop of cloud rings until she finally crossed the final one. Making a huge dive down to the runway she landed smoke following behind her.

"How'd I do?" Spitfire asked, panting after the workout.

Soarin would take out his stopwatch, showing it to her "Better than last time, you made it by three seconds" He said, grabbing water from the cooler next to him and handing it to Spitfire, who promptly took it and began to drink.

"Did I make the goal though?" Spitfire would ask as she sipped of her water.

"In regards to the time trial then yes, you made it" Soarin said "However I wouldn't get too comfortable, I timed Rainbow and Fleetfoot yesterday and both of them were close to your time as well."

"You saying that my third in command and my most promising bolt are getting faster than me?"

"Well no, I said they were close. Fleetfoot only made the final trial by six seconds" Soarin said flipping through his papers "While Rainbow on the other hand, made the final trial by four seconds."

"Well ill be damned, she's getting faster and faster each year isn't she" Spitfire said taking another sip of her water.

"Well there's a reason she's your most promising bolt now isn't there?" Soarin smirked a bit.

"Oh shut up you dork" Spitfire chuckled as she nudged Soarin in the chest. She looked to the two ponies in suits who were walking off "You think they heard the results?"

"I imagine they had to have, or else Yellowjacket would fire them" Soarin said "Then again it's Yellowjacket so I have no idea what he has told them to do."

"Well how many other tests do we need to do?" Spitfire asked, taking the paper Soarin was holding.

"We finished yours, Rainbow's, Fleetfoot's, Mine, and Thunderlanes, meaning we still need to get your brothers and Surprise" Soarin said.

"I'll make sure to get Rapid out here as soon as I can, as for Surprise you can handle that" She said.

"Alright sounds good" Soarin said looking at the clock "looks like it's lunch, you doing anything?"

"Nope, I have the day free."

"Awesome, I want you to tell me everything about yesterday" Soarin asked.

"Oh uh...It was good, we got to properly catch up a bit, apparently he is the captain in the Royal Guard" Spitfire said.

"Woh really? I hear you have to have gone through a lot of training to be that good" Soarin said "He must be one hell of a guy to be a captain."

"I would imagine so, I'll have to ask about it when he comes over tomorrow" Spitfire said.

"I take it the idea of him living with you went good then?" Soarin asked smirking a bit, which caused Spitfire to flush a bit.

"Uh...yeah he's gonna be staying with me until the bank thing is situated" Spitfire said.

"Well that's good" Soarin said "Glad you two had a good time on your date then" He teased, which got a slight flush out of Spitfire.

"How many times do I have to tell you that it was not a date" She said "We are not even a thing, and we never will be. I don't date."

"You know you act like having a Coltfriend is the end of the world Spit..." Soarin said looking at her "I don't see why we can't just joke around a bit."

"You know why Soarin" She said firmly "And besides that having a relationship, especially with me being in the bolts will only lead to drama. Especially after what happened with Rainbow and her Marefriend."

Soarin frowned a bit as he looked to the distance, seeing Rainbow and Thunderlane doing some practice loops "Yah I know...but we shouldn't let that stuff bother us. Rainbow hasn't seemed affected by what happened, at least from what I can see."

"That's because she is trying to act professional Soarin...trust me she is still getting the effects of what happened" She said also looking over to Rainbow, then she noticed Soarin was starting to look to Thunderlane "You know...just because I don't date, doesn't mean you can't either."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he said giving Spitfire a look.

"You know what I mean dork, you and Thunderlane have been hanging out a lot more recently and I think it's clear to not only me but the other bolts that you like him" Spitfire said chuckling a bit. "You should ask him out."

"What? You think I have a thing for Dunderlane?" Soarin said taken aback with a small flush on his cheeks "As if!"

Spitfire chuckled "Uh-huh...so then you're not staring at Thunderlanes flanks when we are in the locker room?"

"I swear to Celestia if you tell anyone about that I will."

Spitfire chucked "I swear I have never seen two stallions in more of a state of denial than you and Thunderlane."

"Shut it" Soarin said pouting, with the flush still adorning on his face.

"Alright alright" Spitfire said "Come on let's just go to the cafeteria so we can catch up with the others."

"You had me at cafeteria" Soarin said as he began to walk to the building.

---

A couple of hours later Spitfire would be back in her office filling out more of the paperwork that Yellowjacket had left her. Most of it being approvals on meetups as well as running by some dates and times for when different bolts would be available for interviews and such. She would sigh as she continued to fill out the paperwork as the door opened. She would look up to see Rapid "Oh hay what's up?"

"Just came by to tell you that I finished up with the timing course and so did Surprise" Rapid said, walking into the room and placing down two clipboards onto Spitfires desk "So I believe that should be everything you need."

Spitfire smiled a bit and sighed in relief "Yes it is...feels like I can finally relax a bit and not worry about Yellowjackets deadline. Thank you Rapid."

"Anytime Spit" He said smiling, which then turned into a slight smirk "Soooo how was your coffee date?"

The mare flushed a bit "Oh uh it went well" She said "We just talked and got a chance to properly catch up."

"That's good" Rapid said "And...what about the...other thing..." He asked, his tone slightly changing.

Spitfire went quiet for a moment before sighing "If you're asking about my proposal to him then yes....he will be living with me for a bit."

“Spits…” He said firmly "Yellowjacket will have a field day if he finds out,” Spitfire rolled her eyes, to which Rapid continued “Would it have killed you to keep out of trouble just once? We don't need the bad publicity.”

"We won't get the bad publicity if we don't say anything" Spitfire said.

"That won't matter, you know as well as I about the other ways he could find out. What if the papers see you with him?"

"To the casual observer it would just look like two ponies having Coffee and talking, plus he is going to be with me for only one month, either way, I know what I’m doing. So can it, Rapid.” Spitfire said through gritted teeth.

Rapid locked eyes with his sister for a long moment before he let out a sigh "Fine fine...just...promise me you won't get in trouble."

"I promise..." She said looking back into her brother's eyes "I won't let this affect me or my job...this is nothing but a simple friend helping out another friend."

"Alright..." he said looking to the clock on the wall "So what time is he coming over then? I wanna meet the guy."

"He's going to be coming tonight" Spitfire said "I was going to clean up the house beforehand so you can help."

"Damn....wish I could but...I have this thing to do-" Rapid said slowly backing away from the desk.

"Uh-huh...well tell Soarin and Thunderlane that if they come back with hangovers I expect them to be able to do fifty Laps around the base" Spitfire said.

"I mean...kinda an odd thing to tell me since I'm not going to be seeing them tonight...but yah I'll pass the word" He said as he left the room.

Spitfire chuckled slightly as she returned to her paperwork, thinking about tonight and what kind of things it would bring. Her gaze somewhat going out the Window as she stared at Cloudsdale, she wondered if Orion was out there across the clouds just as happy...and perhaps even somewhat as stressed as she was.

Spitfire's House - Cloudsdale

After about five hours of grueling pain from filling out copious amounts of reports, Spitfire was finally home. She could feel the tension releasing in her shoulders as she opened the door to her home. She slowly turned her neck back and forth to remove the persistent hump that felt like it was developing from sitting at a desk so long. She shook out her wings and hooves removing the residual aches. She would walk to her living room and flop onto her couch feeling the large sigh of ease encompass her as she let go of all the Wonderbolt stress and uncurl her wings at home. She looked at the clock on the wall and noted the time to be around 7:00 pm. She knew Orion would be arriving soon, probably should have given him a time to actually show up. Seconds later she heard the door open and Rapid would come through with some takeout. "What happened to the guy's night out in the town?" Spitfire asked sarcastically.

"Figured I would do you a favor and grab you some food, got some for myself and that friend of yours as well" Rapid said looking to the exhausted yellow mare on the couch. "And for your information I did go, I just got bored because the two of them where arguing the entire time."

Spitfire would chuckle "Figures, but...thanks Rapid" She said as she leaned up a bit "Takes care of dinner at least-" Spitfire would then think for a moment about the other things she would need to do before Orion came. She still needed to find out where he could sleep, as well as how groceries would be working since she would be living with him for a bit.

"Do yourself a favor and get yourself comfortable at least. I'll take care of some things for you ok?"

Spitfire gave her brother a stare, one of her eyebrows arching "Alright what's going on...why are you being so nice?"

"What? Cant a brother be nice to his sister?" He said smirking slightly.

"Normally yes, but you? No" Spitfire said

Rapid sighed as he walked to the kitchen and put the fast food down "Look I just...don't want this whole thing you're trying to do with Orion to get to a point where it could affect how you work"

Spitfire was slightly taken aback at that as she looked to her brother with a nasty look "What makes you think I would let something like this affect how I work?"

"Because Spit, it happened before and I'm not going to let it happen again" Rapid said firmly "The last thing we need is Yellowjacket or any of the other bolts seeing you all funky from what's going on with Orion"

"How many times do I have to say that there's nothing happening between me and him before it gets into your thick skull?"

"Spitfire sorry to be blunt here but it's you who has the thick skull not me" Rapid said "How do you think this situation will look to the other bolts? A stallion who you have not seen in over twenty-seven years suddenly shows up and you ask him to move in with you."

"Its a friendly gesture Rapid" Spitfire shot back

"I know that Spitfire, and so does Soarin but what about the others? what about Yellowjacket?" Rapid said "Or what about Orion huh?"

"What do you mean"

"Open your god damn eyes Spit, how do you think this situation might look to him? What if he starts getting feelings for you? Are you going to be able to live with yourself if you end up breaking a stallion's heart?" Rapid said "I know you know what its like to have that happen..."

Spitfire was frozen for a moment, she would then look down to the ground not looking at her brother. She remembered what it was like to have feelings for another pony, looking forward to seeing them every day. But she also remembered what it was like to have those feelings broken, it had been such a long time but the feelings she could still remember. "Yes...I know what that's like Rapid..."

"Then for Celestia's sake Spitfire...do yourself a favor and don't get involved in this stallion's life, your already letting him live here. Let it stop at that" Rapid said walking up to Spitfire, putting a hoof onto her shoulder "I know it hurts to hear me say this stuff...but you know I'm right..."

"Yah...I know..." Spitfire said finally looking up to Rapid

"Alright...now I'm going to go and set the table, go get yourself ready" Rapid would let go of her shoulder and then walk to the kitchen. With a heavy sigh Spitfire would walk to her room and close the door behind her. She would go to strip off her work regalia and find her comfortable sweater. After that she would leave the room and walk back to the living room, she would place a thunder log in the fireplace. using her hooves to snap it in half then stepping back as the home began to fill with the smell of ozone and charred log. She would sit back down onto the couch and close her eyes a bit, trying to let herself relax.

Knock knock knock.

Spitfire jumped a bit as she looked to the door, There was some pony at the door. She would then slide off the couch and look through the window next to the door. She would make out the familiar white fur with a mane of different mixtures of Blue in it. She smiled as she unlocked her door and opened it, letting the cold winter night blow into the warm house. "Hay Orion" She said smiling, she would notice the two suitcases behind him "You need help with those?"

Orion stood there for a moment before he smiled back "Hay, uh...no I think I got it. Its not too heavy" He said as he slowly walked forward, watching as Spitfire stepped aside a bit giving him the signal it was ok to actually enter her home. As he did he got hit with the heat and smell of the freshly placed log, he would look around a bit "Wow...you have a nice place."

"Thanks" Spitfire said as she closed the door behind Orion "Just set your stuff down next to the couch, I can help you unpack after dinner. My brother bought Fastfood"

"Rapidfire is here?" Orion asked. He had heard that Spitfire had an older brother from the Wonderbolt papers, as well as from what little he could remember about what she told him in the academy. "I'm not interrupting a family dinner am I?"

"Oh not at all, Rapid bought the food because he knew you were coming" She said as she led her new guest into the kitchen, as they both entered they saw the hamburgers and other stuff sprawled out on the table that Rapid had set up. Rapid himself was at the sink washing his hoofs as he turned his head.

"Oh hay you must be Orion" He said as he turned the sink off, turning around to get face to face with the stallion, slightly surprised about how big he looked as he reached out his hoof to shake Orion's "Jeeze...Spitfire wasn't kidding when she said you were big.."

"Rapid! shut up" Spitfire said flushing a bit in embarrassment, looking to Orion who was slightly chuckling.

"Nah it's fine Spitfire I get that a lot" He said as he returned the gesture and shook Rapids hoof "Pleasure to meet you, I must say its kinda cool to be in the presence of two Wonderbolts"

That got a chuckle from the two siblings "Eh it's nothing really, Spit is much more well known than me"

"Well, I can't help if I stand out the way I do now can I?" She said smirking at her brother "Anyways come on sit down, you must be hungry"

Orion nodded as he sat down at the table, pulling in his chair as he sat down "Thanks again for the food"

"Its nothing really" Spitfire said as she chewed on her hayburger "So, I think we are going to have you set up in the spare bedroom across from my room on the second floor" Spitfire said as she swallowed "Its big enough so I doubt you would have any issues when it comes to unpacking"

Orion would also chew a bit of his burger too before swallowing his bite "Sounds good" he said "I uh...assume that you don't live here with your brother do you?" He asked chuckling a bit

"Nah I'm just visiting, my place is more towards town. I just like to come around and push on Spits buttons"

"Yah don't worry about him" Spitfire said "It's mainly just going to be us two here most of the time, Soarin and Thunderlane may drop by once or twice as well."

"Cool" He said smiling as he finished up his burger.

Rapid would finish up his food and then stand up "Well I should get going, it was nice to meet you Orion"

"You too Rapid"

"Ill see you tomorrow at the base?" Rapid asked Spitfire.

"Probably, depends on how much paperwork I have that day" Spitfire said.

"Got it, ill just talk to ya later" He said as he walked out the room, the door could be heard opening and then closing a couple seconds later, now Spitfire and Orion were the only ponies left in the room.

"He seems nice" Orion said.

"Yeah he is a good guy" Spitfire said "All though he can be a real asshole when he wants to be."

"I'm sure he's just teasing," Orion said "It's what siblings do."

"You have any of your own?" she asked

"Yah I have a sister, she lives down in Manehatten" He said "We use to bicker a lot but we both love each other"

"That's good" Spitfire said smiling, she then stood up from her seat "Anyways let's get you unpacked. What do you have?"

"First suitcase has clothes and toiletries, second one has my guard armor and sword" Orion said.

"Sweet" Spitfire said as she went to grab one of them "Don't suppose I can see you in armor can I?" She asked chuckling.

"Sure, wouldn't mind doing that" He said smiling as he grabbed the other one. Both ponies would walk up the stairs and walk to Orion's room. Placing the bags down next to the bed, Orion would look around the room, smiling as he took in the atmosphere. The room was quite clean with the walls and ceiling being made of a nice layer of cloud brick. The furniture a nice dark blue with the bed having Wonderbolt Colored sheet covers "Thanks again for this Spitfire, it means a lot"

"Anything for a friend Orion" She said smiling,

"Anyways uh... it's a bit late so I should probably head to sleep. but uh...how early do you wake up if I could ask? Because I am an early riser due to my job."

"I wake up around 5:00 am. Gotta get my laps in before I head to the base."

"Oh perfect, I wake up around the same time."

"Well then I'll see you in the morning then Orion, hope you rest well" Spitfire said smiling as she would walk down the hall and back down the stairs.

"You to Spitfire!" He shouted so she could hear him from downstairs. He would then grab the door to the bedroom and close it. He would look around the room once more to get a good idea of where to unpack his stuff, once he got an idea of what to do he would grab his armor out of one of the suitcases and then put it on the large wooden cabinet on the left side of the room. He would then open the drawers to the dresser and begin to put his clothes from the other bag into them. Once done he would finally get to his bed and lay down on it, sighing a breath of relaxation as he felt his own exhaustion begin to overcome him. Slowly drifting to sleep.

Comments

[f0st3r21]

The use of auxiliary conjugates instead of actual verb tenses are a little distracting.

I think Rapid is crossing the line from protective brother to saboteur. You’ve got too much on your plate right now to be worried about all the what-ifs, Spitfire. You’re both experienced captains. You can deal with it.