_________________________________________________________________________________________ It’s just after closing time at the Golden Oaks Library and Twilight Sparkle (Resident Librarian and Princess of Equestria) was preparing dinner for her and her marefriend Spitfire. She walked out of the kitchen with a proud smile on her face and a snickering dragon in her shadow. The wonderbolt looked at her smiling marefriend and then to the snickering dragon wondering what could’ve been so funny. Twilight levitated the plates onto the table and sat down ready to eat. Spitfire looked at the plate, puzzled at what she saw.
“Uhhh Twilight. This is a potato.” Said Spitfire still puzzled at the potato
“Yeap, it’s our dinner. I made it myself.” Twilight replied showing obvious pride.
Spitfire looked at it again and gave it a little poke to determine the doneness of said potato. “Twilight this potato is raw.” She deadpanned
Twilight looked at Spitfire with confusion. “But I was told that it’s considered romantic to serve one’s special somepony a whole potato raw.” She said.
“Who told you that?” Spitfire asked.
At this point Spike couldn’t contain his laughter anymore and fell on the floor laughing like a hyena. Twilight gave Spike a look that could rival the Stare. Spike took this as his cue to flee upstairs where he can hide in his basket.
Twilight looked at the floor in shame and was about to start crying. Spitfire walked up to her marefriend and lifted her head to look into her eyes
“It’s ok hun. It was a pretty good prank that he pulled, so don’t be too hard on him.” Spitfire said in a soft voice. “I have an idea. Why don’t we go into the kitchen and i’ll show you what you’re supposed to do with raw potatoes.”
Spitfire gave Twilight a kiss on the cheek and this put a smile on Twilights face. “Ok, that sounds good.” Twilight replied
When they got into the kitchen Twilight set the potatoes onto the cutting board so Spitfire can show her how to prepare the potatoes.
“Ok so we’re going to be preparing Mashed Potatoes.” Spitfire announced. Twilight sat on the floor and watched with awe has her heroic marefriend taught her how to make mashed potatoes
“First thing we do” Spitfire began “is peel the potatoes. Will my lovely assistant care to assist me.”
Twilight levitated two potato peelers from the top drawer and proceeded to peel the two potatoes. Meanwhile Spitfire filled a pot with cold water.
“Now we cut the potatoes into chunks and put them into the pot of water and wait til their tender.” Spitfire continued
Spitfire picked up a knife cut the potatoes into chunks and put them in the pot of water. She turned the fire on and turned to Twilight. “You see, it’s better to start with a pot of cold water and let it heat up with the potatoes in it because it allows the heat to penetrate the potatoes easier and cook faster.”
Twilight pulled a scroll and quill out of another drawer and wrote down that tidbit of information for later. “Makes sense.” She said to herself.
Spitfire used a fork to check the doneness of the potatoes. Once she confirmed that they were done she poured the pot into a colander in the sink. She placed the potatoes into a bowl and set it on the counter.
“Now is the time to add in the ingredients to flavor the potatoes.” Spitfire said “Personally I prefer cheddar cheese and garlic but i’m open to suggestions.”
“That sounds good.” Twilight replied.
Spitfire pulled out the potato masher and began mashing the potatoes in the bowl. Then she added a cup of shredded cheese, white pepper, salt and garlic. She mixed up the potatoes and put them in a bowl for herself and her marefriend.
“And thats how you make mashed potatoes.” Spitfire announced.
They walked out into the dining room and enjoyed their dinner and each others company.
“Company! Attention!” The cadets quickly fell into formation, some still shivering from the cold mountain air but for the most part ignoring it on behalf of their officer’s order. “Present arms!” Instantly, the group threw their right forehooves into a salute, a tribute to the mare walking in front of them.
Twilight Sparkle paid them no mind as she continued her march into the Wonderbolts Academy proper. The heat and power of her own rage served as more than enough insulation, and the nip in the air hardly seemed to bother her. From behind, she could hear the company shuffle about, wondering amongst themselves how long they should hold a salute to a princess who didn’t seem to have any intention of returning them to rest.
When the princess burst through the doors, she was met with all the opulence the Air Force could afford. It wasn’t much, just a lot of banners from graduating classes of the academy. There was a display showcasing various medals and commendations won by several of the Wonderbolts and an entire wall covered with photographs of the showteam meeting with celebrities. The sheer quantity was enough to blow a new recruit’s mind away.
In fact, if she had been in a better mood, Twilight would have taken the time to admire the decor, as she always did when visiting the academy, but then was not the time. Ahead of her was a T-intersection, with a single guard standing post in the center of the two hallways. Good, the alicorn thought to herself. He would serve her purposes just fine.
Upon noticing her, the guard quickly snapped to attention. “Afternoon, ma’am.” The generic greeting would have to be forgiven, as it was the only thing he was technically allowed to say to her without being spoken to.
“Captain Spitfire, where is she?” Twilight’s words were quick and decisive. The tone was concise enough to get the point of urgency across, but not so desperate that the airpony would start asking questions—a skill she had mastered since embracing her new role as a military commander. One more thing, she reminded herself, that she would have to thank Spitfire for when this was all over.
“The captain has asked to not be disturbed, ma’am.” Twilight shot him a look—that “do what I say or I’ll bash your skull in with my mind” look— and the stallion quickly caught on. “She’s in her office, ma’am, down by the ASF bay. Would you like an escort?”
While the guard was quaking in his boots, Twilight couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. It was difficult to limit one’s rage to the pony they’re angry with. In an effort to somehow make up for the lack of compassion, she quickly looked at his rank patch and responded. “No, thank you, Staff Sergeant. I’ll be fine.” She turned down the right passage, leaving the poor thing cowering behind her.
Navigating the Academy was a difficult matter at first, before she started spending at least a day out of every week there. These days, however, finding the good captain’s office was a simple, dreadfully boring affair. Thankfully, time flew by easily as she wandered the halls, eventually coming up on the door she was looking for.
Equestrian Air Force Spitfire, Captain Academy instructor/HAWC liaison
Twilight brought a hoof to the door, ready to knock, but decided against it. Best to not let her quarry know she was coming. Instead, she lowered a hoof to the doorknob and steeled herself. Turning it quickly and barging into the room, the princess almost screamed to the captain seated at her desk inside. “YOU’RE GOING WHERE?”
Spitfire quickly brought herself to her hooves, as did the stallion sitting across from her. “Princess, ma’am,” the pegasus began, stuttering slightly as she tripped over the words. “I wasn’t told to expect you. I would have prepared a formal greeting.”
Twilight caught herself from melting at the voice just in time. “Don’t play dumb with me, ‘Captain’!” The captain let out a long sigh. “Sergeant Major, you’re dismissed. Report back to the ASF at 0800 hours tomorrow.”
“Acknowledged, ma’am.” The stallion left the room, softly closing the door behind him. Alas, the two were alone.
“I missed you, too, Twi.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to war?” Twilight’s resolve was faltering, tears building in her eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Spitfire chuckled a little. “Probably because I’m not going to war.” She saw her marefriend’s confused expression and continued on. “It’s a three month command assignment organizing patrol missions over the changeling border. I’ll hardly even be in the air.”
“Oh…” Twilight began. “I got the letter saying that you were going to be on duty, and I know you’re technically with the Air Force, so I just assumed that…”
She was silenced by the golden hoof on her lips. “No war, Twi. Not on my watch.” She lifted her hoof and gave the royal a small kiss. “It’ll just be three months. And I know that our anniversary is in there too. So I promise I’ll make it up to you when I get back.”
In that short little speech, Twilight had heard Spitfire address every last concern that she had, but something still didn’t feel right about three entire months of separation. “What if I went with you?” she proposed, prompting a questioning look from the airpony. “I could go out to the border and be a base commander, or something, and then we’d be together still for our anniversary. Win-win, right?”
“Two things wrong with that, the first being fraternization. You’re worth my job, but not if it can be avoided. Second, you know as well as I do that this isn’t your duty—it’s mine. So when I leave in two weeks, you need to do me a favor and hold down the fort while I’m gone. And do try to be waiting for me when I come back.” Twilight let out a tear as she jumped on her marefriend, pulling the pegasus into an almost bone-crushing hug. “I’ll be counting down the seconds.”
