• Published 23rd Oct 2012
  • 22,410 Views, 3,140 Comments

Fire & Rain - Ruirik



Sometimes it takes the darkest moments of our lives to find the brightest

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Pop A Wingie

After finishing their brunch, the two pegasi trotted down towards the city’s bustling commercial district. Spitfire took care to point out all the interesting locations she’d been to during the semi-regular trips she’d taken to Manehattan during her time as a Wonderbolt. Fancy restaurants where the team had been treated by wealthy sponsors, exclusive clubs they went to after shows for private parties, and even a run down rat-hole of a bar that Spitfire swore up and down was the single greatest pub in Equestria. Rainbow was understandably skeptical about that one.

Rainbow kept pace beside her, entranced by every little story and always looking for more details. Her nerves were much easier to ignore when she was moving around and burning energy. Flying would have been better, but that option was unavailable for obvious reasons. As excited as she was to be spending her whole day with Spitfire, there was a question that had been bouncing around the back of her mind since they had left the diner. She waited for a break in the conversation, and enough built up nerve, before she spoke up.

“Hey, Spitfire?” She asked.

“Yeeesss?” Spitfire drawled.

“So, um, that is, if you don’t mind me asking,” Dash hesitated, earning an amused look from Spitfire. “Are all those stories about you and Soarin’ true?”

Spitfire sighed and shook her head causing a slight panic in Rainbow.

“I mean if you don’t wanna tell—”

“Whoa, Rainbow!” Spitfire said as she patted Rainbow on the shoulder. “Easy there, I’m not upset”

“Oh, phew,” Rainbow sighed, her posture relaxing.

“Honestly, I had just kinda forgot about those setups.” She admitted as she resumed her walk.

“They were setups?” Rainbow asked, trotting to catch up with the Wonderbolt. Spitfire giggled lightly.

“Yeah,” Spitfire laughed, “Soarin’, Celestia bless the big softie, was going through a nasty spat with a couple of tabloids that were publishing smear articles claiming he was dating colts. There were also rumors spreading that I was a fillyfooler. So to counter the rumors, Soarin’ and I got set up on a bunch of publicity dates. It was arranged so that we were always standing next to each other during press conferences and public meet and greets. After shows, we’d have meetings about team business over coffee at public cafés, and every now and then we’d have to get ‘caught’ sharing longing glances and sly touches,” Spitfire giggled deviously.

“Wait, what?” Rainbow blurted.

Spitfire stopped in her tracks and leaned close to the cyan mare, giving Rainbow her very best bedroom eyes. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, you are so adorably naïve.”

Rainbow’s wings shot up almost as fast as her face went from blue to red. Spitfire nearly fell over laughing.

“Th-that is so not cool!” Rainbow squeaked once she regained some semblance of control.

“Oh-oh wow…” Spitfire struggled to speak through her laughter “Y-your face, was so-so.” She burst into another fit of laughter before sitting heavily, clutching her sides “Oh... Ow. I-I can’t breathe.” She snickered.

“Karma’s a pain in the flank,” Rainbow noted dryly, sitting beside Spitfire and patting her back.

“Oh boy,” Spitfire gasped, directing a broad smile to Rainbow. “Look at the bright side, Dash.”

“What bright side?” Rainbow eyed her incredulously.

“At least you didn’t pop a wingie during a public meet and greet.”

Rainbow snorted, a lopsided smirk forming on her face.

“Who did that?” She asked impishly.

“My brother,” Spitfire chuckled.

Rainbow eyed the Wonderbolt suspiciously. “Why do I get the feeling you had something to do with that?”

Spitfire tried her best to look innocent. “I can neither confirm nor deny that I may or may not have whispered a… colorful comment on the quality of some mare’s flank.”

Rainbow struggled to restrain a giggle. “You are eeeeevil.”

“Maybe, but I make it look good,” Spitfire puffed her chest out. “Besides, he put powdered sugar in my uniform, so he deserved a little humiliation. It took me hours to get it out of my coat and feathers,” Spitfire grumbled.

“I wish I had a brother or sister like that. It must be so cool!” Rainbow grinned.

“Yeah, we’re kinda like very close enemies,” Spitfire giggled. “He’s a pain in my flank, but I love the big dope.”

Rainbow laughed for a moment before another question entered her mind. “Spitfire?”

“Allegedly.” The Wonderbolt answered lightheartedly.

“You’re so confident and cool,” Rainbow started, earning the faintest of blushes from the golden mare. “Why would you need to have a fake coltfriend if you don’t swing that way?” she asked, her brow furrowing slightly in confusion.

Spitfire sighed a bit, “Well, it’s, hmm… how do I explain this?” Spitfire put her hoof to her chin for a moment. “Well, Dash, I know you’re a big fan, so tell me, what do you know about how the Wonderbolts get their funding?”

Rainbow thought for a moment before answering, “Well according to all the magazines I’ve seen, you get baseline funding from the military,and then pull in additional revenue from commercial and private sponsorships.”

Spitfire nodded. “That’s mostly correct, but a bit out of date. About five years ago, the military stopped providing funds to the Wonderbolts. Mostly because our success meant that ticket revenues and sponsorships more than met our budget needs. It’s great for the team, but it does make for some … problems.” She scowled.

“Whaddaya mean?” Rainbow queried, subconsciously edging closer to the older mare.

“When I got my first interview with the Wonderbolts I was in a relationship with a mare. She came with me to the interview to wish me good luck.” Spitfire smiled at the memory. “Well, the previous team captain and our current team manager, Arcus, asked me about that relationship. I told them we were dating, and they told me that if I wanted to be on the team, I would have to keep that relationship secret.”

“What? Why?” Rainbow gasped, feeling her hackles rise at the very notion. Spitfire shrugged sadly, a distant look coming over her.

“It’s just business, really. The Wonderbolts have an image to maintain. The uniform, the tricks, the acts, it’s all to glorify what’s best about pegasus culture. We’re family-friendly, nonpartisan, and controversy free. That’s the image that sells, and that’s the image we have to keep for our sponsors. Anytime a team member becomes embroiled in a controversy, the situation is resolved quietly. For example, Soarin’s situation with the muckrakers: we solved it by never directly addressing it. Other times, Arcus has had to take more drastic actions,” Spitfire explained. Rainbow nodded, getting the idea of what ‘drastic actions’ probably meant.

“So, um…what happened with your marefriend? I—I mean if you don’t mind me asking!” Rainbow panicked slightly, suddenly wondering if Fluttershy felt this nervous every day. Spitfire smiled and chuckled softly.

“She was alright with it at first,” Spitfire looked up to the sky longingly, “But as the weeks turned into months, and I spent less and less time around Cloudsdale, she got fed up with it and made me an ultimatum. It was her, or the Wonderbolts.” Spitfire’s shoulders sank and her gaze fell to the ground. “I had been offered the office of Team Captain the day before. I was gonna celebrate it with her. Turns out it was the last time I’d see her.”

“That’s horrible,” Rainbow said, gently resting a hoof on Spitfire’s shoulder. The Wonderbolt patted Rainbow on the back and smiled.

“Being a Wonderbolt makes for some hard choices in life, Dash... Some of them will stick with you for a long time,” Spitfire admitted candidly.

Rainbow nodded. “Have you dated since then?” she asked curiously.

Spitfire chuckled. “Well, depending on how today turns out, I’ll have had between zero and one dates since then.” She smirked at the pink tint gracing Rainbow’s cheeks again.

“Let me ask you, Dash,” Spitfire started, standing to resume their walk through town. Rainbow fell into step beside her. “Have you ever been on a date with a mare before?”

“Um…kinda yes, kinda no,” Rainbow admitted shyly, causing Spitfire to raise and eyebrow.

“Now this I gotta hear.” She prodded.

“About five or six years ago, I worked up the courage to ask my friend, Fluttershy out for a date. In hindsight, I think she only said ‘yes’ because she didn’t want to hurt my feelings.” Rainbow blushed deeply, though the memory buoyed her embarrassment with a pleasant smile. “I figured out pretty quick that she wasn’t into it, but she humored me for the day.”

“Aww, she sounds like a sweet girl,” Spitfire commented.

“Heh, yeah she is. In retrospect, I’d say she’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a sister,” Rainbow grinned. The two settled into a comfortable silence for a while before Spitfire turned to the weather mare again.

“So, Dash,” Spitfire asked with a friendly smile, “Wanna catch a movie?”

“As long as it’s not one of those boring romantic comedies,” Rainbow answered.

Spitfire gagged melodramatically. “I think I’d rather suck face with my brother than suffer through one of those!” She shuddered. “And Rapid has terrible breath.”

Rainbow giggled and hopped onto her rear hooves, using her wings to stabilize herself “They’re all the same! Stallion meets mare, she hates him, then through a series of wacky misadventures they slowly get closer and closer until it they sleep together, then one of them takes something completely out of context and there’s a twenty minute crying montage before they reconcile in front of a large crowd of ponies professing their eternal love and gag me with a stick!” Rainbow pantomimed elaborate gestures with her rant, leaving Spitfire clutching her sides for breath.

“Oh, oh! Don’t forget the part where she’s about to marry another stallion and he crashes into the wedding and tells her why she can’t marry the other guy!” Spitfire laughed loudly. Rainbow’s laughter forced her to plant all four hooves firmly back on the ground. Once both mares had managed to calm down and catch their breath, Spitfire stood and motioned for Rainbow to follow her.

“I was thinking something with explosions,” Spitfire grinned. “Sound like fun to you?”

“Hay yeah!” Rainbow agreed.

“Then onwards!” Spitfire stuck a hoof out ahead of her as she struck her best action pose, the kind normally reserved for propaganda posters. “To adventure!”

Rainbow giggled and snapped a crisp salute. “Yes Ma’am!”

The two walked side by side for a while in comfortable silence, each taking advantage of the period to assess their thoughts. For Spitfire, she struggled to remember when was the last time she had so much fun without flying. Once she had gotten Rainbow distracted from her anxiety, the weather mare had opened up resplendently. Spitfire certainly wouldn’t get her hopes up, especially not after only a few hours of casually hanging out with the younger mare, but the prospect of things developing was far from unpleasant: Dash certainly understood the intrinsic need to fly, she had a good head on her shoulders, and it didn’t hurt that she was very easy on the eyes. Plus, if Spitfire played her cards right, maybe she could learn the Sonic Rainboom after all.

‘No!’ The Wonderbolt mentally kicked herself. ‘No, we are not going there! I am not leading this mare on just so I can learn a fancy new trick!’ She berated herself more while maintaining a casual smile on the outside.

Her errant thought did highlight a potentially problematic situation if things did work out between her and Dash, specifically if or when she broke the news to Arcus and the principal team members. She knew Rapidfire and Soarin’ would be on her side, Arcus would likely tell her to keep it secret, but Fleetfoot and Blaze would probably give her no small amount of headaches. She could already hear Fleetfoot badgering her endlessly that the Wonderbolts deserved to know the Rainboom and Blaze’s more subtle persuasions that the training could at least benefit the team immeasurably.

Spitfire’s problem would be that she couldn’t fully disagree with either of them. Whatever training Rainbow had figured out to perform a Rainboom would probably make any pegasus a better flier. Likewise, she didn’t think it was necessarily fair for only one pony in all of the world to know something as awe inspiring as that. But on the other hoof, perhaps it was the Rainboom’s exclusivity that made it so special. If any pegasus could do it on command, would it still bring joy to the eyes of those who saw it? Would it still send the world into that instant of silence just before the visible light spectrum shattered? Could she bring herself to be the mare that took the extraordinary and made it ordinary? Did anypony have that right?

Spitfire turned slightly so she could better see the young flier beside her. Rainbow was unique even amongst Pegasi. Her unique polychromatic mane and tail, her athleticism, and even her loyalty were all remarkable in their own right. Combine those qualities with her keen understanding of weather management and her innate knowledge of flight and you had a mare who was almost unreal. Spitfire felt heat building in her cheeks when Rainbow noticed her staring.

‘Oh ponyfeathers, I think I’m developing a crush,’ she cursed herself. ‘Good job there, Spits. Way to be pathetic.’

“Uh, Spitfire?” Rainbow asked, breaking the Wonderbolt of her treasonous thoughts. “You ok in there?”

“Yup!” Spitfire shot back, swinging her hips to playfully bump Rainbow’s. She couldn’t resist a giggle from the streak of red that formed on the weather manager’s face.

“Wow, you really don’t have much dating practice, do you?” She smiled. Rainbow frowned, a look of nervous discomfort spreading over her face as she turned her head away. She tensed slightly when Spitfire’s good wing draped over her back.

“Hey, come on, chin up now,” Spitfire spoke softly. “We all gotta start somewhere; it just looks like you get to start here and now with me.”

Rainbow’s eyes went wide for a moment, her cheeks burning red. “Wait, you mean…”

Spitfire laughed, using her wing to pat Rainbow’s back. “Come on, Rainbow, first dates aren’t supposed to be spent walking the streets!”

Spitfire led Rainbow down a few more blocks to the local cinema. The two perused the posters adorning the side of the building before setting on what looked like an interesting film called ‘Blazing Saddles’. Spitfire paid for both tickets, much to Rainbow’s embarrassment, although she insisted on at least paying for the snacks. Upon seeing the heavily inflated prices for a bucket of popcorn and two drinks, however, she silently regretted that decision.

The two set themselves up in the top row of the surprisingly empty theater, though in fairness it was a bit early in the day for most ponies to be out seeing a movie. Despite Rainbow’s professional opinion, it was indeed a nice day outside. As the lights dimmed and the previews began to play, both mares made themselves comfortable. Spitfire sat with Rainbow on her left side, so she wouldn’t accidentally bump the injured wing.

After the annoyingly long previews were over, the movie began in earnest with the titles emblazoned on the screen in bold lettering over a sweeping shot of the San Palomino Desert. Spitfire smiled and half-watched the movie, half-watched Rainbow. As two earth ponies pushed a cart along an under-construction railway on-screen, Spitfire took a large sip of her drink. Then the first pony started speaking and Spitfire’s drink nearly exited through her nose.

“Come on, boys! The way you're lollygaggin' around here with them picks and them shovels, you'd think it was a hundert an' twenty degree. Can't be more than a hundert an' fourteen.”

Things devolved quickly from there, both mares trying to survive their snacks and the movie’s relentlessly raunchy humor. About twenty minutes into the film, once the humor had slowed enough that Spitfire felt safe enough to eat or drink, she cast a glance over to her date. Rainbow was smiling brightly, here eyes affixed to the screen.

Spitfire took a chance and wrapped her left foreleg around Rainbow’s shoulders. Rainbow flinched at first, her posture stiffening before she managed to relax. Spitfire could feel the younger mare trembling. She rubbed her hoof reassuringly against Rainbow’s shoulder, subtly encouraging the mare not to worry. Slowly but surely Rainbow relaxed, even leaning into Spitfire’s sidelong embrace.

By the time the movie had almost reached its midpoint, Rainbow had relaxed to the point of almost snuggling with Spitfire, her head resting lightly against the Wonderbolt’s shoulder. There was something that Spitfire couldn’t quite explain about the embrace. Something she hadn’t felt very often, even in her longer lasting relationships. It was simply... nice.

The film shifted to a scene involving a group of stallions sitting around a campfire, drinking black coffee and eating baked beans. The mood vanished in mortified laughter.