Spitfire and Wasp

by The FraudulentBrit

Megaton's Wrath

Spitfire and Wasp

Chapter 1; Megaton’s Wrath

The anticipation was palpable. Sweat was beading down Spitfire’s brow, her concentration was focused on the track ahead of her. Next to her, Rainbow Dash whispered, “You’re gonna eat my dust captain.” “I don’t think so.” Spitfire cockily replied. She knew that even though age was beginning to catch up to her, she was still in her prime, and she wasn’t going to let Rainbow Dash upstage her.

“On your marks….” The announcer said from his stand. Spitfire loved performing at the Wonderbolts’ Derby. True, there was the chance to interact with the biggest names in Equestrian society and improve the Wonderbolts’ standing with financiers, but what she found the most rewarding was the friendly competition with the rest of the team. “Get set….” The announcer continued. ‘Time to get serious.’ Spitfire mentally scolded herself. Focusing back on the track in front of her, she prepared to do what she did best; fly higher and faster than any-pony in Equestria.

“GO!” The announcer shouted. Almost immediately, the gates opened and the entire Wonderbolts team darted forward. Spitfire was, naturally, in first place, followed closely by Rainbow Dash and Soarin. “Heh. You still got it.” Spitfire said to herself as the crowds cheered her on. From behind her, she could hear Soarin call out, “I’ll beat you this time!” “Fat chance Soar.” Spitfire called back as she sped forward. Unfortunately for her, Soarin had unintentionally provided Rainbow Dash the opportunity for move up until she was muzzle to muzzle with Spitfire. The announcer then said, “Oh my. Looks like it’s down to the Captain versus the hero of Equestria! Who will win?” Spitfire and Rainbow Dash continued all the way to the finish line, for a few split-seconds Spitfire was leading, and for a few more Rainbow Dash was in the lead. Eventually, both mares made it to the finish line.

“Amazing!” The announcer cried out. “It seems there may have been a tie!” As the crowd fell silent, pondering the possibility of a tie, one pony, a unicorn, called out, “I can prove who won!” He took his camera and performed a spell that projected the image in the sky for every-pony to see. Amazingly, by only her nose, Spitfire won.

“Well ladies and gentle-colts…” The announcer began. “…Victory once again belongs to our one and only Captain Spitfire!” The crowd then began to applaud her, chanting, “Spit-fi-re! Spit-fi-re! Spit-fi-re!” Spitfire, out of breath, simply stepped forward and bowed to the crowd, receiving a standing ovation. As she rose, she turned to face her team and was internally relieved to see the others saluting her. Spitfire then said to her team, “Thanks for the challenge guys.” Rainbow Dash replied, “Wouldn’t have it any other way. One day I’ll beat you.” “I’ll be waiting.” Spitfire replied as she let out a gentle laugh.

At that moment, dark clouds began to form over the arena as thunder began to crash. “What’s going on?” Soarin asked as he began to panic. Spitfire nervously replied, “I don’t know.” Fleet Foot then noticed something in the clouds and asked, “What is that thing?” The team then focused their sights on the dark clouds and could barely make out the rough shape of a dragon. Before they could say anything, however, lightning began to crash around them. “Something’s wrong!” Spitfire shouted as ponies in the crowd began to panic.

“Well, whatever gave you that idea?” A loud, deep and booming voice said condescendingly. The dark clouds began to gather around the stadium and thickened, making it nearly impossible for anyone to see anything. Before Spitfire could say anything else, the voice began to speak again. “I’m afraid I can’t allow any of you to go anywhere.” Rainbow Dash called the voice out, “Why don’t you show yourself you coward!” “Keep your voice down Dash!” Soarin said, not quite a shout but still loud enough to get Rainbow Dash’s attention. “We don’t even know what’s going on.”

“What’s going on…” The ominous voice began as lightning began to crash in front of the team as the clouds began to thin themselves out. “…Is the beginning of my conquest of the world!” The voice finished. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she replied, “Oh, really? We’ve beaten a changeling queen, a centaur, a psychotic little brat, and a gang of ruthless pirates. We can take on a megalomaniacal whatever you are.” Though she normally appreciated Rainbow Dash’s can do attitude, Spitfire felt that right now this wasn’t the best moment for it. However, she wouldn’t get the opportunity to reprimand her friend and subordinate.

As the lightning intensified, the form of a dragon seemed to teleport in front of the Wonderbolts as the fog mostly disappeared. This dragon was very tall, incredibly muscular, and covered in dark purple scales. As his head rose to meet the Wonderbolts, they were terrified by his toothy smile, horns that went around his head, smoke that emanated from his snout and mouth, and worst of all, his piercing blood red eyes. All in all, this dragon was less like Spike or Dragon Lord Ember and more like the epitome of evil itself.

“I am the mighty Megaton!” The dragon pompously introduced himself. “And I declare that the city of Canterlot will be the first to fall to my might.” He then followed this with an exaggerated, “Yes.” As much as Spitfire was terrified of this Megaton dragon, she knew that she and the others couldn’t let him just stomp all over Canterlot, or Equestria for that matter. Taking a deep breath, she defiantly shouted back to him, “I don’t know who you think you are Mega-bum, but you’re crazy if you think we’ll let you stomp all over the place.”

Then, as the ground began to shake under them, Megaton let out a horrifyingly delighted laugh. “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Megaton belted out. “Look out!” Surprise shouted as she pointed to the ground in front of Spitfire. Spitfire looked down to her hooves to see that something was digging up, clouds and even some earth starting to be displaced. “Egh!” She screamed as she shot upward and began to hover in the air. As the cloud opened, She and the other Wonderbolts were absolutely horrified at what emerged.

A red being emerged from the hole. For the most part, it resembled a changeling, but the front of its body was more erect, it had a set of arms coming out of what seemed to be its shoulders, compact eyes, and a mouth of two mandibles. “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” the creature chuckled maliciously, it’s lower jaw splitting in two as he spoke, similar to a snake’s mouth. The creature then, in a low and somewhat raspy voice, cackled, “You will obey the master, or you shall be DESTROYED!” Elsewhere in the stadium, more holes were forming and more of the creatures emerged, each bearing different colors.

“Behold my brilliant creations, the HALFLINGS!” Megaton shouted as he struck a dramatic pose. “Now, my children, destroy them, yes!” The insectoid creatures then began to spread out in every direction, hoping to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible. Spitfire herself found the red Halfling wrap itself around her hoof. “You shall fall.” He snarled. “Fat chance bug brain!” Spitfire replied as she bucked the crimson creature off. After crashing to the ground, the creature shouted, “All who stand against the master shall die!”

“I don’t think so.” A new, far more familiar voice said from the stadium. Spitfire and the others turned to see Princess Twilight Sparkle, Equestria’s new ruler, and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony charge forward. “I won’t let you harm any-pony!” Twilight shouted defiantly. She turned to Rainbow Dash and playfully asked, “A little help?” “Thought you’d never ask.” Rainbow Dash replied. She then turned to Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts and ordered, “We’ll take care of this bozo. You guys get every-pony out of here!” “On it!” Spitfire replied as she and the others began to fly towards the stands, hoping they could get everyone out safely.

The Stands

Spitfire managed to fight her way to the announcers booth. Bucking through the door, she asked, “Any-pony in here?” Almost immediately, she was tackled to the ground by the announcer. “Oh, thank Celestia! I thought I was a goner!” he said with relief. “Don’t thank me just yet.” Spitfire said as she managed to gently get him off of her and began to lead him out of the booth.

“Yahoo!” another, unfamiliar voice cried out as another of the Halflings dropped down from the roof of the booth. This one was light blue and had red compact eyes and, if Spitfire’s own eyes weren’t deceiving her, a scorpion’s tail. As another Halfling, the red one from earlier, made his way up to her, the new blue one began to speak, “Ah don’t know about you Inferno, but Ah’m in the mood to kick some keister!” Spitfire then grabbed the announcer, held him in her front hooves, and immediately shot towards the heavens. It was just as she was out of ear range that she heard, “Next time, don’t gloat Quick Strike, just act!”

As Spitfire made it to a safe distance above the stadium, she was horrified by what she saw. As Princess Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and their friends distracted Megaton, the Halflings were continuing to spawn all over the place. It seemed that there was no end to how many of these creatures there were. She was so horrified by what she was witnessing that she failed to register her passenger shouting, “Look out!” until it was too late. Spitfire turned, only to see a light purple Halfling with yellow eyes and a pink pig nose like bump on his forehead crash right into her. “Ugh.” She groaned as she collapsed down to the ground.

As Spitfire began to rise to her hooves, she was held down by the light purple Halfling. It was then that Megaton managed to shake off the Element Bearers and made his way to her. “Ah, the captain of the Wonderbolts.” He boasted. “Well done Trapdoor.” “What of the other one sir?” Trapdoor asked. Megaton pondered for a moment before surprising everyone by waving his hand and saying, “Let him go. He’s not worth it.” Trapdoor then turned to the announcer and let out a terrifying shriek, scaring him until he flew off into the distance. “Now then…” Megaton began as he stepped forward as he bent down to Spitfire. “Let’s deal with the leader of the Wonderbolts, once and for all!”

“I’d be careful if I were you.” Yet another new voice called out. Spitfire managed to turn her head to see, of all things, a dark blue bat-pony. He was wearing an olive officer’s uniform not unlike her own drill officer’s, and had dark blue draconian eyes and a simple moustache above his upper lip. He then continued, “I’m afraid you’ve made a rather horrible mistake.” “And what would that be?” Megaton sarcastically asked. “Would it be targeting a pony too weak for my standards?” The bat pony then grew a smirk on his face and said, “Choosing to attack when the Thunder Makers are in town.”

Once again, the sound of thunder began to ring out all around them. However, this wasn’t thunder from the clouds, but from the horizon. Several yellow lights began to approach the stadium, and approach fast. It was at this point that Spitfire noticed a new expression of Megaton’s face; fear. Before he could react, the yellow lights crashed all around the small group. Explosions consumed the field and track in clouds of yellow and red, and clouds and dirt were sent all over the place, forcing Spitfire to cover her face, only to realize that the Halfling was no longer restraining her.

Megaton realized that he wouldn’t be able to win this day. “Halflings, retreat!” He shouted. The Halflings began to abandon their tasks and took to the air towards the dark clouds. As Megaton took to the air after his minions, he turned to face Spitfire and the bat-pony and angrily seethed, “Enjoy your victory ponies, for when I return, victory will be mine. Yes.” As he and his minions fled, Rainbow Dash mockingly shouted, “Run you great big coward!” Spitfire, Twilight, and the others simply rolled their eyes as Rainbow’s ego emerged once again.

The Royal Palace, Two Hours Later

“And that’s about it.” Spitfire said as she finished recalling everything she remembered from the attack. Once Megaton and his monstrosities had disappeared, Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts were escorted to the castle to recount what they’d seen and heard to the royal guard. The Pegasus before her finished writing everything down in his notebook and said, “Thank you for your cooperation ma’am. Your team should be in the dining hall.” “You’re welcome.” Spitfire replied as she rose from her seat and departed to rejoin her teammates.

Once Spitfire made it to the dining hall, she realized just how hungry she was as her stomach began to rumble. “Whoa. You alright Captain?” Soarin asked as he walked up to her with a plate with a sandwich. “Yeah.” Spitfire replied as she took the sandwich and took a massive bite out of it. As Rainbow Dash and Fleet Foot made their way up to their captain, the former began to speak, “I can’t believe that dragon tried to invade Canterlot. Talk about massive ego.” Fleet Foot then gave her friend a playful nudge and said, “Yeah, and if you’re saying it then it’s pretty big.” “You bet.” Rainbow Dash replied before she realized she had been subtly insulted. “Hey!” “Don’t worry.” Spitfire said as she found food falling out of her mouth. “She’s just messing.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” A vaguely familiar voice said from just out of sight of the group. “Who’s that?” Fleet Foot asked. It was then that the bat pony from earlier stepped forward. “That would be me.” “Hey, I remember you!” Rainbow Dash said as she approached the bat pony. “You helped distract that dragon!” The bat pony extended his hoof to Rainbow Dash and introduced himself. “Captain Black Adder, formerly of the 15^th Lunar Lancers.” Rainbow Dash shook his hoof and answered, “Rainbow Dash, of the Wonderbolts?” Spitfire approached Black Adder and said, “Thanks for the help. But I thought you were part of those Thunder guys you talked about.” Black Adder raised his wing and explained, “No, the Thunder Makers are the 3^rd Solar Artillery, and I knew they were in town. I figured some real soldiers could give you guys a hand.”

This statement confused the Wonderbolts. “Wait, what do you mean real soldiers?” Spitfire asked. “The Wonderbolts are the pride of the EUP guard.” “Yeah.” Fleet Foot joined in. “We’re the best of the best.” Black Adder gave a somewhat unsettling laugh as he said, “I’d say, as warriors, your gang is about as competent soldiers as griffons are generous money lenders.” This insult certainly irked the Wonderbolts. Soarin then made his way up to Black Adder and angrily demanded, “If you’re gonna say something like that, then you’d better prove it.”

In less than thirty seconds, he would wish he hadn’t challenged Black Adder.

In the Blink of an eye, the bat pony managed to evade the other Wonderbolts and made his way to the back of Soarin and restrain his wings. He then wrapped his front hooves around his neck. “Well now….” Black Adder began. “If I twist your head enough in either direction, I’ll sever your vertebrae, paralyzing you from the neck down. Any further…” he was interrupted by Spitfire flying towards him. Releasing Soarin, Black Adder managed to intercept the Wonderbolt captain. “Funny thing about studying Wonderbolt shows…” Black Adder began as a cocky smirk formed on his face. “You kids are very predictable.”

It was at that moment that Princess Twilight entered the dining hall. “What in the name of Celestia is going on?” Black Adder released Spitfire and replied, “Your majesty, I was giving the Wonderbolts an impromptu sparring lesson, though unfortunately an unwanted one.” As he inspected the room, noticing t the growing numbers of unhappy eyes staring at him, he added, “I should probably escort myself off the castle premises.” “That would be a good idea.” Twilight replied. However, before he left, Black Adder turned to face Spitfire and said, “If you ever need a lesson on how to fight properly, look me up.”

Once Black Adder was gone, Spitfire made her opinion very clear. “That guy was a jerk.” “I know.” Rainbow Dash replied. “I mean, what was his problem?” Twilight stepped forward and joined the conversation. “I’m not too sure. Apparently Princesses Celestia and Luna disbanded many EUP units. I can do some research into Black Adder’s past to see if it has anything to do with… This.” Rainbow Dash added, “He said he was part of something called the 15^th Lunar Lancers.”

However, Spitfire wasn’t really paying attention to what Rainbow Dash and Twilight were talking about. She had two things on her mind. One was the fact that she hoped she wouldn’t want to meet Black Adder again. The second was to get something actually good to eat.

That Night…

If there was one thing that could satisfy Spitfire’s hunger, it was Donut Joe’s double chocolate donuts. “Oh, I can’t wait to dig my hooves into these.” Spitfire said to herself as Joe brought out a plate with a few donuts. “Here ya go.” Joe said as he set the plate down on the table. Before Spitfire could dig in, Joe placed a hoof in front of her. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” He asked with a smug look on his face. “Oh yeah.” Spitfire said as she pulled out a few bits and handed them to him. “Thank you. Bon appetite.” Joe said as he took the bits and departed.

With everything sorted out, Spitfire took one of the donuts and dunked it in her mug of coffee before eating it. The rich chocolaty flavor was simply intoxicating, and she nearly forgot that it had been a horrifyingly busy day. The Wonderbolts’ Derby, chasing off a megalomaniacal dragon and his army of mutant freaks, and the scuffle with that uppity bat pony Black Adder had worn her out. Still, being a Wonderbolt was never easy, and Donut Joe had given her a pretty nice discount, so there was that. “Oh yeah, I forgot I actually won today.” Spitfire said as she remembered she had come in first at the derby.

As she was about to take a bite from her last donut however, she heard the sound of something crashing. “Huh? What was that?” she said out loud. She then heard the crashing again, and it sounded like it was coming from behind the store. Quickly exiting, Spitfire began to head towards the back of Donut Joe’s bakery, figuring it was probably just a raccoon or some other pest getting into his trash.

What she found instead was far worse.

There, scavenging through the trash and scrounging anything that looked edible, was one of the Halflings from earlier that day. It was smaller than the others, had a dark green body, a rear end with yellow and black stripes, brown arms, the split lower jaw of the others, and two sets of blue-purple compact eyes. He was floating above the pile of garbage, his wings making the buzzing of a wasp or a bee. Perhaps what surprised Spitfire the most was his voice. “Ugh, Wasp always bottom of pecking order.” The Halfling said to himself in a long, drawn out and somewhat whiny voice. “Why universe hate Wasp?” The creature asked himself as his eyes briefly passed Spitfire.

“Aaahh!” the Halfling screamed as he realized he was being watched. “Pony sees Wasp! Wasp must get away!” the Halfling screamed as he tried to flee, only to fly right into the wall.

Spitfire found herself somewhat conflicted. While this creature was one of the Halflings that had attacked during the Derby earlier that day, he wasn’t trying to attack anyone. If anything, this “Wasp”, as he called himself, was just trying to find a bite to eat. He almost reminded Spitfire of a little filly or colt.

“Hey!” Donut Joe shouted as he came through the back door and found Spitfire and Wasp. “You!” He shouted at Wasp. “You’re one of those things!” He then pulled out a rolling pin and made it clear what he was going to do with it. “Neugh!” Wasp screamed as he fled in the opposite direction, only to stop in front of a speechless Spitfire. Donut Joe walked over to the pair and said, “Hey Spitfire, give me a hand and help me deal with this freak.” Wasp immediately flew behind Spitfire and began to whimper in fear.

Spitfire may not have been as good at telling when some pony was lying as Rainbow’s friend Applejack, but she knew when someone was genuinely afraid, and it seemed that the Halfling hiding behind her was absolutely terrified. She knew what she had to do. “Don’t!” Spitfire firmly said as she took a defensive stance. “You lay a hoof on him and I’ll beat you to a pulp.” “Ma’am, are you crazy?” Donut Joe asked. “He’s one of those monsters!” “Wasp not want to hurt anyone!” Wasp said as he raised his arms over his head. “Wasp was forced to attack or else Megaton would punish him. Wasp ran away when Megaton did!”

Run away. Those two words danced around Spitfire’s head. Was one of the Halflings really trying to flee? Realizing this, Spitfire stared Donut Joe and firmly told him, “Wasp here is coming with me.” Donut Joe was about to hesitate, but relented and sighed. “Fine. But don’t let me catch him near my shop again.” He angrily said. Spitfire then added, “And don’t tell any-pony about him while you’re at it.” Once again, Joe simply sighed and answered, “Fine.”

Once Donut Joe returned to his bakery, Spitfire turned her attention to Wasp. The Halfling was still shaking and whimpering. “It’s ok kid.” She said to him warmly. “He’s gone.” Wasp looked up to Spitfire. No one had ever stood up for him before, not even any of the other Halflings. Overcome with happiness, Wasp lept towards Spitfire and wrapped her in a warm embrace. “Wasp is so thankful. Thank you for protecting him!” Once again, Spitfire couldn’t help but find him more like a child than a dangerous creature.

It was then that both Spitfire and Wasp heard the sound of a stomach growling and realized it was coming from Wasp’s stomach. “Hey,” Spitfire began. “Why don’t we go back to my place and get you something to eat?” Wasp nodded and answered, “Wasp would like that very much yellow pony.” “My name is Spitfire.” Spitfire said as she knelt down and lowered one of her wings. “Wasp’s name is Wasp.” Wasp said as he climbed onto Spitfire and wrapped his arms and front hooves around her neck.

“Well then Wasp…” Spitfire said as she gently took to the air. “Let’s go get you some dinner.” With that, Spitfire took off towards Cloudsdale, figuring that Wasp would be much safer away from the city his friends had attacked earlier. Besides, she figured she had enough to make something for her little guest at home as well as herself, and probably much more filling than a donut.

Even if it wasn’t as tasty.

Author's Note:

Next Time; we learn a little more about Wasp.