Bullets of Fire

by BlackWater

23 - Finding the Flame

Take as much time as you need," the white alicorn replied. It was the least she could do in way of apology to the poor messenger. He looked like the life had been sucked out of him. No small wonder considering that she had assigned him one of the harsher tasks. The mare beside him was more or less what she expected when she had received the messenger's letter through Spitfire. A great battle warred within her - made obvious by the unicorn mare's half-baked magical training. Whatever she had been taught had been more concerned with power than finesse. Only Celestia's own judgement deemed the mare fit for what Light Scribe had in mind. The stallion had some very difficult choices left to make and he needed the time off to sort out his thoughts and feelings. She wished him the best as she dismissed him.

All matters are coming to a close, Celestia thought as she watched the two unicorns depart. She hadn't needed Light Scribe's physical report to act, since she had already been informed through the letter. She already had an update from Direway that reported that Tyrant Blood was in custody. Klacky Hooves was already in confinement and the Mare of the Sun had received a summary from the pony in charge of the interrogation. It was just the sort of pathetic plot she had had dealt with countless times before. Ruling a nation could sometimes be the worst combination of boring and annoying.

Direway was getting a lead from the captured mare in Manehatten. It would be difficult but not impossible to round up the others. They were, after all, rather shallow ponies who were obsessed with power and money even though they understood neither. That's how the ship sails, the alicorn thought tiredly as she stepped down from the throne and made her way to her personal quarters. She removed her crown with a sigh.

With any luck, there would be a new letter in her room. There was at least one pony in all of Equestria that truly knew what the most valuable thing was...

"..." Spitfire was silent for a while as she collected her thoughts. Eventually she spoke, but it was not as slow as Surprise expected it to be. The captain instead spoke quickly - revealing her frustration. "No matter how hard I push myself, I just can't seem to get where I want to go! I met Celestia by a bizarre happenstance and found out about a trick I wanted to learn. I wanted my team to do it too. It was just a cool move, that's all. I thought it would make a great addition to our routines. But instead, I've gone through one distraction after another. It feels like I've been going uphill this whole time without any wings to make the trip short. I feel like we'll never be able to reach the point where we can improve ourselves without falling to pieces in the process!"

Surprise kept her mouth shut at first, not able to make a snap response. Instead, she had to think about what her friend was really saying. Finally she spoke, "That's just how life is, right?"

Spitfire winced. She had really hoped her friend wouldn't say that because deep down she knew that was the reality of it. The harsh reality. Surprise saw her captain cringe but let the mare speak on her own time. If it weren't for the seriousness of the mood, the two pegasi might have been enjoying the walk. The route back to Canterlot from the training field was quite beautiful. In fact, the green mountainside and flowing waterfalls might even be called breath-taking by the more nature-loving ponies. But only the chirps of the local birds were noticed by the two Wonderbolts as they trotted onwards.

"I didn't want that...but thanks," Spitfire finally replied. "Sometimes I just don't want to get my head out of the clouds."

That made Surprise giggle but she agreed all the same. "I know what you mean. I get really frustrated when my life takes a detour or when I just can't seem to go where I want to. That's why they say that the journey is more important than the destination. Even if we never get to actually do this crazy Bullet trick, the journey's changed us...that's what I think anyways."

"You think we've changed?" the captain asked with a raised brow.

The white mare smiled brightly in return, "Of course! We're closer friends now than we would have ever been if it weren't for the training we've gone through."

It was a rare occasion for Spitfire to feel emotionally moved but something in her friend's words made her heart ache. She couldn't deny that she knew Surprise so much more since they had become wingmares but the same was true for some of her other 'Bolts as well. Silver Lining and Misty were already warming up to her differently than their teammates. Maybe there was something in working with a smaller team...or maybe it was because she herself thought of them differently than before.

Surprise broke her thoughts, "Something's different with Silver Lining too. He kept complaining about being stuck in that dirty tunnel but I think he enjoyed it in his own way."

"You've sure got an interesting way of looking at things," Spitfire remarked.

"Well I've had plenty of time to think about it. I realized it's better to think that way than to always be upset or depressed about the things I don't or can't have."

"I guess I should take a page then. But I'm not giving up this training," the orange mare ended flatly.

"I wouldn't either," Surprise added. A sudden grumbling sound broke the conversation. "I guess I'm really hungry..." the wingmare commented embarrassingly.

"Alright then. I guess it's lunch for two."

"Fire..."

The captain swung her head around to meet her friends eyes as they walked. "What?"

"I think you mean dinner."

My life is officially over, Fire Streak thought to himself as he practiced his aerial maneuvers. Lightning is out of the picture for this event? My plan is totaled! That mare is never going to see the true victor. It's not like I can get her to come to the next full-team event. Who knows when that'll be!

In his frustration, the stallion kept unconsciously adding power to his wing thrusts. His movements began pushing the air around with deep thrums. As he came out of a full circle somersault, his hooves tapped the ground and he pushed back off of it with a fiery leap.

"I can never get anything no matter how," the enraged stallion shot through the air and approached his maximum speed.

"Hard," he gritted his teeth as the wind bit at him.

"I," his face was stretched against the torrent.

"Try!" he screamed as his wings gave one final punch.

BOOM!

The sound barrier fell behind him as he shot like an arrow towards the setting sun.

Soarin' was not usually one to push himself to the limit. After all, he had already made it pretty good as a Wonderbolt. That attitude cost him brownie points with the chief and he decided it was time to get serious. In reality, he hadn't been really serious about his work in a long time. He only got on the team in the first place because he joined in the early years. He had a wealth of natural talent and was too lazy to take on any other job since he found pretty much everything else to be boring.

He snatched the opportunity when Spitfire provided it. After all, it was a pretty hot gig and the mare that asked him was pretty hot too. Being scolded by her was not hot, though. He was going to get back in the game and blow her away. Maybe he could even score a marefriend in the process. He hated it when the other guys kidded him about it.

One month. That's all he needed to get to sixth gear. The stallion punched the wall beside him with one of his front hooves and a chip fell from the stone wall as he removed him limb. His fellow Wonderbolts would soon remember why Soarin' used to be the head wing. Three flaps from his wings and he was blazing circles around the practice track.

Blaze felt like her heart was on fire. The captain could be such a witch sometimes. Nopony had any right to shut her down like that and she was going to prove it. No more "Ms. I'm-Better-Than-You." Blaze was going to make that mare eat her words if it was the last thing she did. Even if Spitfire had more muscle than she did, there was more to stunt flying than raw power. In fact, too much muscle could even prevent one from doing certain tricks that required a slim figure and high flexibility.

It hadn't escaped Blaze's attention that Spitfire had begun to shy from certain moves in past events. It didn't take a genius to figure that the mare was trying to beef up for some power-heavy stunt. Whether or not that was worth giving up her other moves was something only she was capable of deciding. Blaze, on the other hoof, wasn't just in the business for the stunts. To her, perfection was the best combination of beauty and ability. Oh, she didn't think of beauty the way High Winds did. That mare was just gaudy in her opinion.

Blaze smiled as she rolled through a somersault, spun into a cyclone, and exited with the grace of a feather. Beauty was a mixture of hot and cool (and not in the sense of temperature). Blaze adored the looks of her fans whenever she began and finished a performance. It was like hot chocolate on a snowy day...

Spitfire had been taking that from her. Blaze's fans had begun to wane and convert over to the captain's side. They had begun to believe that raw power was better - that a toned mare was more attractive. Within Blaze's mind, it erupted coarse thoughts for Spitfire. It was no good to have a leader who was an attention hog.

Blaze knew she was better.

Wave Chill kicked a rock as he dragged his hooves along the street. Everything that had happened in recent memory was just...horrible. Maybe he just wasn't cut out for the job. That sort of mentality was not what was going to get him in better standing with Spitfire but it wasn't something he could help, all the same. He had great confidence in the past that he was as good if not better than most of his peers but that confidence had slipped through recent events. He hadn't been living up to the standard that he thought he was at.

Each time one of his hooves fell, a miniature cloud of dust would rise from the ground. He took notice of it in an attempt to prevent any further thinking - thinking that just made him feel worse. There were times in every pony's life when feeling down was like a career. Maybe he was going through that cycle. Or maybe he just didn't want to admit that he had fooled himself since the beginning. He was never cut out to be a Wonderbolt.

Cringing at his own thoughts, he tried to focus on the tiny dirt clouds again. It was amazing how even a paved and well maintained street within Canterlot could collect so much dirt. It settled within the tiny ravines that existed between the tiny rocks of the pavement. Every time it billowed upwards, it would only descend once again into obscurity.

What was he doing? He needed to get to training quickly if he was going to make it to the next performance. Maybe he could get to the fields outside of Canterlot and do some training by himself...maybe he had one last chance to get into the game before he lost it forever. Steeling his heart one last time and using the last of his dwindled confidence, he headed for the nearest city exit.