Bullets of Fire

by BlackWater

39 - Reset

Soarin' knew that he had to step up and be something he had never been before. He had been a leader in the past but never quite like the way he needed to be now. Spitfire had obviously been affected by Surprise's incident and might even consider permanently cancelling the stunt. He couldn't let their hard work go to waste. They would perform even if it was only once.

Spitfire had just come back from wherever it was she had gone off to and, in spite of her apparent depression, he had to take the opportunity to talk to her. Alone. And thus he beckoned to her from his hotel suite's doorway as she started towards her own room. Thankfully she wasn't so distracted that she didn't notice and Soarin' clicked the door behind her as she walked slowly into his room.

"We have to perform, Spitfire. You know the rules. The show must go on."

Instead of nodding, her face turned sour and she made her way over to his sofa. Laying upon it, she gave a mumble that might have been a "yeah." Soarin' wasn't so certain.

"I know you're feeling bad about Surprise. We all are. I want to punch a wall in to be honest. But that won't help her and it won't help us," he explained as his own way of encouraging the captain.

"I know," Spitfire sniffed. "And we won't be cancelling it."

"Huh?" Soarin' raised his brows, not expecting the mare to have said that. It was what he wanted to hear but by no means what he expected to hear.

"The Bullet may be dangerous but I'm confident we can handle it. Surprise didn't have an accident," the orange pegasus began to reveal.

"Wait. You mean-?"

"Keep this a secret between us, Shiner. I trust you and I want to keep trusting you. Surprise went down intentionally because she was afraid of the future. Of what she could stand to lose."

That surprised Soarin' and he opened his mouth only to find that he didn't know what to say. Should he say that the mare had been stupid? Arrogant? Crazy? Nothing quite seemed to fit the ticket. Spitfire seemed to get stronger and more convicted with every word she spoke, as if she was making up her mind and moving on with life. The stallion supposed it was a good thing and let it continue.

"What she did was wrong even if I can understand her fear. I'm not going to let it happen again. If I suspect that anypony may be in a state of mind that is harmful to themselves or anypony else then I will remove them from high-profile stunts. But I don't expect I'll have to do that. Surprise is the only one of her kind on our team."

"So what are you going to do with her?" Soarin' finally voiced.

The mare tilted her head in thought as the stallion walked up to her and sat before the sofa.

"She'll be my assistant," the captain finally answered. "But no more performances. I won't throw her out - I could never do that - but I can't have her on the team either."

Soarin' nodded calmly.

"She'll be safe with me, anyhow. On the ground."

Something seemed to cross the stallion's mind, as he stopped nodding along and widened his eyes until a smirk crept onto his face.

"What?" Spitfire asked simply.

"Oh, nothing...just wondering if you'd accept a second 'assistant.' I'm quite qualified you know," Soarin' grinned.

Spitfire groaned and didn't feel it was worth it to bother with a facehoof. "Soarin'..."

"Oh, I'm sure you could use help with the planners and ledgers. I've seen those things. That's got to be like a job out of Tartarus."

The mare had to tilt her head in silent consent. It indeed wasn't that fun of a chore.

"And the food too. I've seen you skip meals while you run and fly all over the place to get things done," he continued.

It would be nice to have a hot meal on the go, Spitfire thought.

"I could even bake you some chocolate chip cookies to enjoy after brunch."

The mare finally flattened her eyebrows. He was messing around with her.

"Soarin'...." she breathed. This time in a dark tone.

"Oh!" he dangerously decided to ignore the captain. "Perhaps I could make your bed in the morning and do your laundry. An assistant is basically a maid, right? I think the two job descriptions are awfully close. But then, I wouldn't be a maid, you know. Because I'm a guy and all. Maybe a butler then. But I don't really like butlers. So uptight-"

"Soarin'!" Spitfire shouted to stop the stallion from his meaningless dribble.

He gave a "heh" of faux embarrassment and finally fell silent.

"I'm not looking for a second assistant. And I'm certainly not looking for a maid or butler. Okay?" she almost grunted with a huff.

"Just trying to cheer you up, Firefly," Soarin' remarked with a more serious but gentle tone. "I don't want to see you in the dumps. Not after what we've gone through."

It was true. They had gone through a lot.

The stallion saw the opportunity and took it. He leaned over to the sofa and hugged her, to which she slowly hugged back. Soarin' really had been her friend through thick and thin and he always proved it too - even now.

"Is it just us or does everypony have this much drama in their life?" she joked as her face rested against the stallion's shoulder.

He didn't pull away as he joked in return, "Nope. Just us. It's because we're just so awesome."

"You're the only awesome one, Shiner. You keep picking me up when I'm down," the mare remarked more seriously.

"Well, I won't deny that," the stallion giggled. "In fact, I don't think I'm going to let you out of this totally platonic hug."

That got the mare giggling too.

"Oh, yes you will," she argued playfully as she tried to push him away.

She failed.

"Oh, no I won't. In fact, I think my mood radar suggests that you need more relaxation. Prepare to be coltnapped!" Soarin' declared triumphantly as he grabbed the mare around her midsection and rolled her off of the sofa.

"I'm not a colt, you lamebrain!" she countered.

"Nope. But I am!" he began laughing crazily as the both of them continued to roll onto the floor is a mess. "That's your problem, Firefly. You never did any good old rough-housing as a filly. No plain no-thinking fun."

"How am I supposed to when it takes all of my strength just to keep you in line?" Spitfire laughed as the stallion launched himself against her. He tried to secure her wings in an effort at "capture."

"But a princess is supposed to keep her soldiers in line," he flashed a grin, ever intent on countering her every word and action.

"I'm not a princess!" the mare began laughing uncontrollably as Soarin', failing to hold her wings, began tickling her.

"You sure throw yourself around like one, though. Do this. Do that. Get me a cup of tea."

"I-" Spitfire failed to respond through her near-painful laughing. "I never ask for- for tea!"

Seeing the poor girl heaving for air, he decided to give her a break and ceased the tickling. But he did take the opportunity to grab her around the midsection so that she couldn't use her wings.

"Well even if you aren't a princess, I can probably get a hefty ransom for ya!" he played a badly voiced accent that was supposed to sound like a foalnapper.

She took a moment to catch her breath but Soarin' was surprised when she didn't squirm to break free.

"You okay?" he decided to inquire.

To that, Spitfire replied with a smile, "Why wouldn't I be? It's not like I'm in any danger here."

Soarin' beamed inside. It seemed his plan worked quite well. Spitfire was no longer focusing on all of the problems that she couldn't do anything about.

She was just enjoying life.

Spitfire came to after a few hours to realize that she had fallen asleep. Soarin' must have carried her back to her bed because she didn't remember going there herself. All she remembered was getting drowsy while watching a movie with him. The stallion had one of Equestria's latest projection televisions, but Spitfire was having a hard time remembering anything in particular about the movie. The warm blanket and the popcorn on the other hoof....

"Oh Celestia!" Spitfire mouthed as she shot up from her bed.

She had forgotten the things that she still had to do for the day. Fix the planner some more, schedule that stage show, and inform Blaze about a position with the Wonderbolt Elite. That last item was not something she looked forward to but her job as captain often led her to do such things. They needed that sixth position.

So the mare got up and got busy. While Soarin' may have wasted a good portion of her time, she wasn't really sorry for it. Rather, she was grateful that he was thinking of her enough to force her to relax a bit. She would need to do something for him later. Exactly what that would be, she would decide when the time came.

With the speed that was often associated with her, she started and completed her chores. The plans were made and the events were finalized with the stage director. A few showings were moved around and, before it was time for sleep, the captain found herself before Blaze's suite door. This wasn't going to be pleasant.

KNOCK!

Something clicked behind the door and it was a good ten seconds before it opened. When it finally did, there stood a frowning Blaze. It was not something that Spitfire was used to seeing, as the mare usually expressed unhappiness with good old complaining or even snide remarks.

"Yes," Blaze stated rather than asked.

The captain almost hesitated and then spoke up. "Can I come in?"

Stepping inside as the other orange mare made way, Spitfire felt something in the air. A certain mood. But then there had been many unusual moods of late. She made her way to the nearby counter, much as she had with Fire Streak. Blaze shut the door and followed suit.

"I need-"

"-to talk to you," Blaze finished the captain's statement, which made the mare raise a brow. "I don't want to give off the wrong impression or anything."

Spitfire decided it was best to just listen to the other mare's serious tone.

"I want to...apologize."

Now that made the captain tilt her head in curiosity.

"I'm really, really sorry about what happened to Surprise and...I'd like to decline your offer to join the special team," she said, still frowning.

"Now why would you need to apologize? And why don't you want to join?" Spitfire inquired.

"I know Surprise got hurt really bad and," the mare hesitated as she was speaking slowly. "And I admit I haven't been thinking very well of her. Of any of you. I just don't want to be that mare. Always thinking badly of others and being happy when bad stuff happens," she lowered her head.

"Hey now," the captain interjected. "I haven't always thought well of you either, so how about we just leave that behind. I'm glad I have you on the team and I don't want you turning down my offer just to look one way or the other. Nopony is going to think badly of you for taking Surprise's spot. And, if they do, they'll have to answer to me."

The frown started to loosen in the opposite direction and Spitfire was happy to find her impression of Blaze was improving. The mare really wasn't that bad after all.

"So don't be concerned with something that you can't help. Will you reconsider my offer?"

Blaze sighed to let something out of herself. She must have been thinking hard about this ever since Surprise had the accident. "Yeah. If you want me on the team, I'd be happy," she finally righted her expression. It wasn't quite a smile but it was close enough.

"Awesome," Spitfire breathed in response. "Now that it's decided, how about we go get dessert somewhere? I think we could both relax a bit."

"That..." Blaze looked straight to meet the other orange mare's eyes, "would be great."