Misty Fly attempts to salvage an item of special significance from a decimated Equestrian city.
No character tag for poor Misty Fly!? Oh well…
The lands of Equestria are in ruins, destroyed by mysterious, billowing monsters who devour ponies. Some kind of cursed magic? Nopony knows.
The survivors forge on up in Cloudsdale, and only the re-militarized Wonderbolts go below and only for strategic, tautly planned, rigorously overseen missions. That is, until one day when Misty Fly gets it in mind to surprise her girlfriend, Lyra, with a special gift, and Soarin agrees to be her wingpony.
Same AU as my stories Happy Birthday, Sugarcube and Planted in the Clouds (it would be during the 5th chapter of Planted). All can be read and understood separately but reading all three will add more context and details to the AU.
It was morning, and though she wasn’t due at Wonderbolts HQ for several hours yet, Misty Fly had woken up early to indulge in her favorite morning activity: watching Lyra get ready.
Lyra’s bedroom was flooded with sunlight. Made sense; it used to be Soarin’s apartment and he was always a morning pony. Misty - not so much. But she was disciplined enough to wake promptly when properly motivated. Like on days she was due at HQ early. Or when she wanted to peacefully ogle her girlfriend.
Girlfriend, right? She had only tried out the term a few times, including to Lyra herself, and Lyra had not protested, but neither had she used the term in return. Not that Misty knew of, anyway.
Lyra’s minty fur looked soft and pretty in the sun as she brushed her mane until it shone. As usual, however, a look of distracted concern creased her brow. She wasn’t scowling last night. Misty stretched a bit and fluffed her wings proudly. Still, morose was Lyra’s default expression. She was hardly alone in that under the circumstances. Misty had once ventured to ask Rainbow Dash if Lyra had smiled more before the war, and Rainbow had looked at her as if she were hopelessly dumb.
“You don’t have to leave with me.” Lyra was watching Misty in the mirror. “You can stay for a while, go back to sleep.”
“Looking at you, I’m wide awake now,” she rejoinded quickly. Lyra grinned but didn’t take the bait.
“Where are you flying off to this afternoon?”
“Baltimare,” Misty yawned. “There’s a modest sized nest of creatures still lingering around the city. A few of us are going to test out some new explosives Dr. Whooves came up with.”
“They had a great conservatory in Baltimare,” Lyra commented after a beat. “I spent two summers studying there.”
“Really?” Misty perked up. Details about Lyra’s life before all this were far and few between. Usually she preferred a little mystery. Actually, she preferred almost total mystery. Easy in, easy out. But with Lyra she found herself noting these odd little tidbits. Filing them away. Lyra intrigued her.
“Back then I thought I’d be….” her eyes lit briefly, then she caught herself and finished bitterly. “Well. Not a second rate nurse.”
“You’re a good nurse. First rate. I trust you with this sexy flank over any of those other hacks.” Misty tossed aside the covers to expose her lean, shapely hip, and the long, curving scar that had come dangerously close to slashing through her cutie mark. It was far less pronounced than it could have been, thanks to Lyra’s neat stitches. Just noticeable enough to look cool. Enough to show everypony she’d tangled with one of those fuckers and lived to fly another day.
Lyra’s horn illuminated and Misty felt the gentle caress of her magic tracing the scar. Her fur raised responsively. “I did do a good job with this. And it was one of my first.” That night, Misty had been more rattled by her close encounter than she’d cared to let on. Similar to many of her teammates, she compensated with a twisted combination of bravado and indifference. She had tried, out of reflex as much as anything, to flirt with Lyra, but either hadn’t gotten, or couldn’t remember, her name.
Not long after, however, Lyra had accompanied Applejack to Soarin’s birthday party. Misty remembered being pleased to see she’d brought her cute little unicorn friend with her. She’d whispered “dibs” to Rapid Fire and High Winds. Pulled out a chair for her and smiled coolly, invitingly. An hour or so later while everyone was distracted finalizing their bets as to whether the birthday colt would finally make his move on the pretty farmer / Element Bearer/ Hero of Equestria, Misty and Lyra snuck off and had their way with each other.
She also made a cool 50 bits when Soarin swooped into practice beaming and exhausted the following day. Never doubted you for a minute, Clipper. All in all, a very profitable night for everypony. She and Lyra started hooking up on the regular after that. And now? Girlfriends.
Right?
Lyra had approached the bed and was looking down at her with a softer, more relaxed expression. “I’ll be at the hospital late tonight. But maybe tomorrow night…?”
“Yeah. Cool,” Misty nodded. Lyra kissed her lingeringly, and laughed a bit when Misty flicked her tail across her nose as she turned to leave.
After a quick shower Misty decided to forego returning to her own place and head straight to Wonderbolts HQ instead, taking her time, a leisurely flight. She was coasting along above the community farm when she spotted Applejack below, nudging a basket of beets towards the greenhouse.
Applejack was not yet what you’d call heavily pregnant but she was definitely noticeably so. She looked so ridiculously adorable with a big round belly on her otherwise sculpted frame; it made Misty grin every time she saw her. Among the few things she was unabashedly sentimental about were foals. She’d been rooting for Soarin and Applejack to start a family since the day they’d married. Actually, she was told she had said so in very explicit terms during her wedding toast; that whole night was a bit of a blur though.
AJ clocked her approach and paused, smirking expectantly. “Howdy, Misty Fly!”
“Heyyyyy…. You look great, Mama!” Misty circled her appraisingly a couple times before going in for a belly pat.
“Thank you kindly.” The other ‘bolts had swiftly picked up Misty’s habit of rubbing AJ’s bump; she took it with good grace, knowing how much the new foal already meant to all of them.
“How are you feeling?”
“Fit as a fiddle,” Applejack smiled sweetly. “Looking forward to meeting this little critter soon.”
Misty rested her hoof on the basket. “Soarin would be pretty upset if I didn’t at least offer to help.”
“Duly noted.” Applejack tugged it away from her. Even now she was loathe to accept anypony trying to do things for her. Misty respected that. She liked a pony who could handle their own shit.
“Lyra said you had to give up nights at the hospital,” she mentioned sympathetically.
“Yeah,” AJ sighed. “I hated to do it but I gotta admit I’m getting tired early nowadays. Dr. Spring Flight and Lyra got things well in hoof though, I’m sure. The farm needs me more. I hope after - oh! I think somepony wants to say hi.” She grabbed Misty’s hoof and guided it to a spot on her belly where she could feel a firm, distinctive kicking.
“Wow!” Misty laughed. “She’s getting stronger.”
“Yep. She - or he - sure is.”
Misty lowered her head to address Applejack’s expansive abdomen directly. “Baby, this is your coolest Auntie speaking. Whatever Rainbow Dash may have told you, I’m the coolest. You go easy on your Mom now, okay?”
Applejack chuckled. “If you two are finished, I better get back to it.”
“Great seeing you, AJ, as always.”
“Y’all be good in Baltimare, okay Sugarcube?” That’s right; Soarin was the lead on today’s flight. Applejack’s tone was light, casual, but her green eyes when they latched onto Misty’s betrayed her real concern.
“You got it, Mrs. Clipper!” Misty gave her a snappy salute as she rose into the air, trying to give it all the assurance and confidence she (mostly) felt. AJ was a tough cookie and had had a few years to get used to it but still, any mission Soarin undertook must suck extra since her pregnancy.
Lyra never gave any indication that she thought about it. Generally this didn’t bother Misty. No one at home worrying about her meant one less thing on her mind too. The fewer distractions the better. But lately she started to wonder, was it really as easy on Lyra as she made it look? Did she really not care, or did she care more than she wanted to give in to?
Early on the Wonderbolts relied mostly on fire and especially lightning to fight the strange monsters plaguing Equestria. But eventually Dr. Whooves began providing them an assortment of experimental explosives of varied effect; not all could be described as entirely successful (or safe to handle, strictly speaking) but Misty found great satisfaction in using them nonetheless. It wasn’t the mechanics of the process, though she understood that well enough. She didn’t fool herself that they were exacting any kind of karmic retribution. She just thought it was pretty cool, and doing it made her look and feel cool.
Cooler than usual, that is.
The prototypes she and Soarin, and Pizzelle and High Winds had toted along to Baltimare were among the Doctor’s better efforts: lightweight, and fashioned in such a way that they didn’t interfere with their wings, or run uncomfortably hot when fired. Misty intended to rate the weapons highly in debriefing.
Everypony was in great spirits as they prepared to head back, with Soarin in particular eager to get home before Luna raised the moon. If she was being honest with herself, Misty had to admit she kind of envied him.
They had only just started to pick up speed on the way out of town when she noticed the conservatory. It was still in decent shape, with what appeared to be a circular concert hall adjacent. Had Lyra ever performed there?
Misty snapped to a halt and flew backwards a bit, finally stopping to stare at the structure as a crazy idea began to take root in her mind.
“Misty Fly? Dizzy?” Soarin had flown back to see what was up. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah…” she returned slowly. “Yeah, I’m good. Listen - why don’t you guys go on ahead. I need to take care of something, then I’ll catch up.”
His eyebrows lifted. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I am not.”
“What is it that you need take care of?”
“I don’t want to say.”
“Uh-huh. Well, request denied. Let’s go.”
“Oh, for Celestia’s - just cut me some slack here!”
“Misty, you know any kind of solo outing down here is completely out of the question. Spitfire would have both our asses if I let you do that. Where is this even coming from? What’s this about?”
She jerked her head back in the direction of the conservatory. “I want to see if there’s a lyre.”
Soarin stared at her flatly.
“It’s like a small harp,” she added helpfully.
“I know what a lyre is, Misty Fly.”
“Okay, then maybe you’ve noticed one on my girlfriend’s ass??? It means she kind of likes it.”
“Oh yeah? As much as you like insubordination?”
“C’mon, Clipper, don’t pull that shit with me. You can understand where I’m coming from, right?”
“Look, if you want a lyre, why don’t you just ask Blaze and Thunderlane to find one for you? They can file a mission request and -“
“Because I don’t want it to come from them, I want it to come from me!” If they’d been standing she would have stamped her hoof. She had one more card to play, and it was a damn good one, but it was a borderline low blow, so she hesitated to go there.
On the other hoof, if he wasn’t going to make the connection on his own …
“Be honest,” she crossed her forelegs. “If you had had the chance to find those apples instead of Thunderlane, wouldn’t you have taken that shot? Wouldn’t you have liked to be the one to find them for AJ?”
Soarin frowned and cast his eyes downward. Nailed it, Misty triumphed internally. Of course, now he goes looking all sad and making me feel guilty…
“Listen,”she drew closer and lowered her voice, although Pizzelle and High Winds were nowhere near close enough to hear anyway. “I know Lyra and I aren’t like you and Applejack. We don’t have the same kind of… relationship.” Ugh, ew, relationship. Misty hated that word. “But the truth is I kind of want that. It’s how I feel about it anyway and I’m trying in my own way to show her that.”
Soarin’s expression had softened and now he quirked a smile. “It’s for your relationship, huh?”
This prick knows me too well.
“Alright, listen. I can’t let you go in there alone. Let me send them back and I’ll go in with you.”
“No way.”
“On the contrary. It’s the only way. Take it or leave it.”
Shit. Misty rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
She flew broad circles around the building, scoping things out from above while Soarin spoke to Pizzelle and High Winds. There were wide double doors leading into the concert hall that were set wide open. Left that way when everypony fled in a panic? She couldn’t remember any particular stories about the fall of Baltimare.
“I told them we should only be about a half hour behind them,” Soarin said as he swooped up alongside her, considering the doors.
“And if we aren’t?” She had to ask.
“Give us another half and then fess up to the Captain.”
Misty hissed. “And then the shit hits the fan.”
“We can quit now if you want to and ask her to come back another time. Your call.”
“Nah. It’ll take us what, 15 minutes tops to clear the building and hopefully dig up a lyre. What could go wrong?”
Soarin cringed. “You had to say that out loud, didn’t you?”
Misty was warming up to the idea of this little side mission, a little adventure in the name of love. She was grinning broadly as she gave Soarin a shove. “What do I have to be worried about? You’re the CO here. If things go south it’s on your head.”
“Thanks for the reminder.”
The lobby reflected the disuse of years, dusty, leaf strewn, and vaguely eerie in the way they were accustomed to finding hastily abandoned properties. All in all though, they had seen much worse. There were no particular signs of struggle or of hopeless last stands. A bar on the left and a small souvenir stand were well stocked and organized. The ticket booth closed. Aside from the front doors left open everypony might be assumed to have left in orderly fashion.
Misty and Soarin hovered just inside, ears twitching. Silence. He looked at her and shrugged.
“Lead the way.”
Misty flew over to peer through the doors of the theater, also wide open. The years of fresh air had not entirely washed away the all too familiar, stinging, acrid smell the creatures gave off. She could see that most of the seats on one side of the theater had been torn up; here, then, the confrontation had taken place.
“We must have some ponies from Baltimare, right?” Soarin rose higher to check out the balcony.
“Probably a few at least. I don’t remember who they sent out here to assist, though. I don’t remember hearing anything about it.”
“The doors on this level are wide open too.”
“Soarin, look!” Misty called him back, as she noticed the orchestra pit. They reached the string section simultaneously, and there, beneath an overturned music stand, was a lyre. For a moment they just stared incredulously, then exchanged triumphant grins. Soarin gently scooped aside some fallen sheet music while Misty lifted the instrument and blew the dust away. Already she was imagining how she might present it to Lyra. Laying on the pillow beside her when she woke up one morning, like a vision from a beautiful dream?
“Is it okay?” Soarin asked eagerly. “Does it still work, like, the strings aren’t too brittle?”
Misty ran her hoof across them. It wasn’t exactly music but it sounded okay. “I think so? That sounded right…right?”
Soarin smiled reassuringly. “It will sound even better when Lyra plays it. Does she use her hooves or her magic?”
“I honestly don’t know - but I can tell you she’s great with both!” Misty winked and Soarin snorted with laughter.
“I gotta admit, Misty, you were right. That was easy!” The red velvet stage curtain behind them billowed slightly in the breeze.
Wait, what breeze?
Misty saw her own panic reflected in Soarin’s eyes in the split second before the huge creature spilled off the stage, flailing its limbs and howling. She shot straight upwards, clutching the lyre to her chest. Soarin had been knocked backwards by one of the thing’s appendages; just barely, behind the billowing mass of the creature she saw him slide through an opening at the base of the stage.
The thing was focused entirely on her. It took a swing and she felt a claw rake through her left wing as she turned and then hook onto the now empty canister where the explosives had been. It had lifted up slightly to grab her and had an awkward angle but still it was dragging her down as she beat her wings furiously and fumbled at her harness. When the clasp finally gave her equipment fell away and she shot towards the doors on the second floor as the monster screamed hungrily.
Window, window, she needed a window. She rocketed through the doorway behind the balcony seats and nearly smashed into the wall. Fly through the pain, Misty, you’ve done it before. The first window she located was stuck fast but she muscled it open and tumbled out to find Soarin.
Except he wasn’t there.
She now barely noticed the pain in her wing and her side as she circled the building frantically. Hadn’t he been able to sneak out when that thing came after her? Unbidden, an image of Applejack flashed in her mind. Applejack, walking to the farm bright and early every morning. Smiling a soft, knowing smile and humming to the foal in her belly. Soarin’s foal. I am not going to widow that mare, Misty vowed. I will not be responsible for bringing her more grief. Tossing the lyre onto the rooftop she headed back inside.
The creature was trying unsuccessfully to cram itself into the small door Soarin had disappeared through. Misty whistled piercingly to get its attention. She noticed it listing slightly when it turned and rolled towards her; it was injured. That makes two of us.
“Soarin!” she screamed as it started to pursue her clumsily. Hoping to see him emerge. Was he hurt? That thing wasn’t moving much faster than her but it had a long reach. She doubted her ability to dart around it and get under the stage to look. The smell was overwhelming as she tried to get closer. “Soarin!” she choked out.
“Misty!” She nearly jumped out of her skin when he suddenly grabbed her from behind. “C’mon, let’s get out of here. Up to the roof.” He supported the side with the injured wing as he lead her back outside.
“Fuck, where were you? How’d you get out?”
“There’s a lift leading up to the stage behind the curtain. Took me a while to get to an exit though.”
She glanced at his hooves. “You’re bleeding!”
“Misty, that’s you.”
“Huh?” She peered under her wing and saw a long cut tracing the path the claw had taken when she’d disengaged her harness. “Ohhh shit….” She started to sway unsteadily.
“Sit down. Let me have a look at it.” He shrugged out of his harness, letting the spent canisters clatter to the ground, and unclipped a small first aid kit.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“I’m so, so sorry.”
“Misty, stop saying that. It’s not your fault.”
“It is entirely my fault.” She winced as he started to clean the wound.
“It’s not too deep, thankfully. I can bandage it up well enough but we’ll need a doctor to look at it tomorrow. Or Lyra.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Misty, your wing is shredded. You can’t do a flight that long right now and I can’t carry you the whole way.”
“We’ll stop along the way.”
“No. It’ll be dark soon. Better to stay up here where we know we’re secure for the night. If we have to rest along the way, best to do it in the daytime.”
“When Pizzelle and High Winds go to Spitfire won’t she send anypony after us?”
“I don’t think so. Not at night, not when they won’t know for sure if we’re still in Baltimare.”
“Shit, we’re going to be in so much trouble. She won’t be able to talk for a week with how much she’s going to scream at us.”
“I don’t know. She might surprise you. Rainbow Dash on the other hoof? She’s going to tear us both a new one for worrying Applejack. Is that too tight?” He patted the bandage wound around her middle. Misty winced but this time it was more from the guilt than the pain.
“You don’t deserve that but I do. I feel so incredibly stupid about this whole thing. What a stupid fucking idea.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Soarin picked up the discarded lyre and gave it back to her. “It was a sweet idea. Romantic. You know, you were right about the apples. Even though I was happy for Jackie, I really resented that it wasn’t me who found them for her. And so I was a total dick to Thunderlane for about three days afterwards, when I should have been thanking him.”
“Hey, don’t sweat it. I’m a dick to Thunderlane almost every day.”
He smiled. “Lyra’s going to love this. And I don’t regret it one bit.” Very faintly, they could still hear the creature raging in the auditorium below. “Actually there’s one thing I do regret,” Soarin amended. “I regret we don’t have anyway of killing that bastard.”
A slow smile spread across Misty’s muzzle as she eyed the bottle of rubbing alcohol. “That depends. Do you feel like bringing me some supplies from the bar downstairs?”
About a half hour later, just before the moon appeared, Soarin led the creature outside. Misty struck a match and touched it to the soaked napkin stuffed into the neck of a liquor bottle.
She always was a pony who liked blowing shit up.
Her aim was true. The creature screamed and flailed and snapped its jaws uselessly as it was engulfed in flames. Misty tucked the embossed book of matches into her flight suit, a little souvenir of her own.
Soarin brought her a few broken seat cushions he’d snagged from the concert hall. “Here, use these. Laying on the cold concrete won’t help you feel any better.”
“Thanks Dad,” she snarked as she arranged herself as comfortably as possible.
He grinned good-naturedly. “Hey, I need to squeeze in as much practice as possible. And you’re a lot slower and easier to catch than Flurry Heart, so that’s good.”
“Sometimes it still seems so weird that you’re about to be a father.” Misty shook her head. “You seem so relaxed about it. Aren’t you nervous?”
“Oh, hell yeah.” Soarin settled himself nearby and folded his hooves behind his head. “I’m nervous about being a good dad. I mean, it’s something I’ve wanted for a long time but I didn’t have a very good role model for that.”
“You didn’t have a very good role model for being a world class athlete either, or a good teammate, good friend, good husband, and all around great guy. But you figured all that out and you’ll figure out this too.”
“Wow. That’s the single nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, Misty. Should we be concerned about head injury?”
“Ha-ha. It was a moment of weakness, don’t get used to it. I saw AJ on the way in this morning. She looked really beautiful.”
“She’s been amazing.” Misty could hear the smile in his voice, even if she couldn’t see it. “She knows just what to do, like, instinctively. Dr. Spring Flight said she probably won’t even need him to attend the birth. I love seeing this side of her, “ he enthused. “She’s so happy right now. Singing. Talking about her mom a lot more. Every night Scootaloo and Dash and I take turns reading to the baby; she says she can feel it turn its head toward the sound of my voice.”
Misty was trying so hard not to cry her chest was heaving. “She must be freaking out that you didn’t come home tonight. Fuck, Soarin - I am so, so sorry about this.” She squeezed her eyes shut but a couple tears leaked out.
“Hey, c’mon, stop beating yourself up over it. You had a good reason, I agreed to come with you, and what’s done is done. Jackie’s not the freaking out type. She’ll be a little nervous but she understands that shit happens.”
“You know, the nicer you are about this, the worse I feel.”
“Yeah,” he laughed. “That’s kind of what I’m going for.”
“My guilt won’t last forever.”
“I’ll enjoy it while I can. Hey, what about Lyra? Will she get upset?”
“Actually she’s working late and we didn’t have plans until tomorrow,” Misty sniffed. “She probably won’t realize I’m gone.”
“Oh… okay. That’s good I guess.”
Misty couldn’t see his expression in the increasing darkness. She supposed if she were going to talk about her feelings with anypony he was the logical choice.
“Soarin, do you ever think - wonder, if there wasn’t a war… do you think you and Applejack still would have ended up together?”
“Hmmm. I don’t know,” he mused. “I kind of always had a thing for her. Whenever Dash would bring her friends to a show I’d always look for her, make time to talk.”
“I remember that,” Misty murmured wistfully. Goddess, how she missed shows, when she let herself think of them.
“We’ve always been really comfortable around each other. I always thought she was good looking. And anytime I could get her to call me ‘Sugarcube’? That would make my whole month.”
“That is pretty great,” Misty agreed. “We all love that!”
“I thought about asking her out a lot but I didn’t think I had time for a relationship. And I had grown out of one night stands by then.”
Misty snorted. “Not me!”
“Yeah, we know. Figures, it would take the end of the world to get you to stop sleeping around!”
“Hey!” She flailed a hoof ineffectively in his direction. “Come closer so I can hit you!”
“You know I’m right!” Soarin snickered. “Anyway I like to think that I would’ve asked her out at some point, and she would have said Yes, and we still would’ve wound up together. I really can’t imagine myself with anypony else.”
“Did AJ ever have a special somepony before you?”
“Nah. I mean, there were a few other ponies along the way but nothing serious. She was like me, married to her work.”
Misty’s voice when she finally responded was so quiet Soarin could barely make out the words. “Lyra had a special somepony.”
“I know. Shit, I can’t even imagine what that must have been like for her.”
Her!? But what about me? an awful, selfish part of Misty wanted to shout. Almost as though he’d heard her thoughts, Soarin rolled onto his side to face her in the dark.
“Misty Fly, is that was this is all about? Are you worried she’s not over her?”
“Of course she’s not over her!” Misty snapped. “Who in their right mind gets over something like that!?” Good one, Dizzy. Bite the head off the one pony you can maybe, sort of talk about this with. The one you nearly got killed no less.
“You’re right, that’s a poor choice of words.” Soarin replied calmly. “What I mean is, are you worried about how she feels about you?”
“Yes,” Misty bit out.
Soarin rolled onto his back again, and was quiet for a minute. “Even though Jackie didn’t have a special somepony,” he said finally, “she lost everything down here. Most of her friends. All of her family. Her land, her family’s legacy. And at the start I definitely did think Goddess, she loses all of that and gets what in return? Me? How do I even start to make up for all that? I get that feeling, Misty, I really do. I guess what we both have to remember is they chose to go on living and they chose us to do it with. I don’t know Lyra well but obviously you’re what she needs right now. Jackie told me you two are really good for each other. Maybe what’s between you will look different someday, maybe it won’t. But she is choosing you.”
“Shows what she knows, right?” Misty gave a shaky laugh. At some point when Soarin was speaking the tension in her chest had started to loosen. She was crying a little bit too, and it felt like relief.
“Loving somepony that much can be scary, I know. But you’re good enough. I promise.”
“Thank you, Soarin. A lot.”
“You’re welcome a lot.”
“You’re a good pony and you’re going to be a great dad. And listen, anyone with eyes can see how much AJ loves you. You know, she still blushes almost every time somepony talks about you? It’s truly fucking adorable, Soarin. You guys are the ultimate. Seriously.”
Soarin laughed softly. “You’re going to make me blush. But thanks.”
“Fuck, I used to be so much cooler than this!”
“Meh. Not really.”
“Asshole. Listen,I’m going to feel a lot better in the morning. We’ll leave right away so we can get home to them.”
Misty and Soarin weren’t long into their return flight the next morning when High Winds and Pizzelle came back for them. Misty was grateful for their enthusiastic reception. If they judged her for taking such a risk they didn’t say so.
Taking it in turns to support her on her left side, they were able to head straight back without stopping. Soarin insisted on escorting her to the hospital while the other two headed to HQ to inform Spitfire. Dr. Spring Flight sighed deeply when he peeked at her wound. “More stitches for you.” He shook his head. “Somepony will take care of it shortly. For now, lie down in here.” He was off before she could ask if Lyra was around. Soarin shrugged and guided her into the room the doctor had indicated.
“So, who do you think gets to us first?” She climbed onto the hospital bed which, while it was certainly no cloud, was much more comfortable than old seat cushions.
Soarin grimaced. “Dash is faster,” he acknowledged.
Sure enough it was Rainbow Dash who swept in first, looking fit to be tied. “What happened to you?” She asked Misty, without any semblance of real concern.
“I got a little clawed up. The doctor said I’ll need stitches. My wing’s a bit damaged but I think it’ll be fine in a few days.”
She jerked her chin towards Soarin. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Where is -“ He was cut off by Rainbow crashing into him, the unexpected attack knocking him back onto the flimsy bedside table, which promptly collapsed under the weight of both pegasi.
Rainbow Dash was incandescent with rage. “What were you thinking!?” She shrieked, slamming her hooves down to the floor on either side of his head. “Did you spare even one thought for her? Even one tiny fucking thought???”
“Rainbow, for Celestia’s sake!” Misty shot out of bed, grabbing Dash’s tail and hauling backwards. She was still sore though and Rainbow was disproportionately strong. When her hooves scrabbled for purchase on the smooth hospital floor she latched onto Soarin.
“You’re way out of line, Dash.” With one rough shove Soarin dislodged both mares and scrambled to his feet.
Rainbow brushed Misty back with a snap of her metal wing, which she then swung at Soarin, who deflected with his hoof.
“WONDERBOLTS - FREEZE!” Misty complied instantly at the familiar boom of Spitfire’s voice. The fiery Captain landed in the middle of their small group, forcing everypony further apart with her wingspan. “Rainbow Dash,” she growled. “Tell me I did not just see you attacking a superior officer.”
“Superior my ass,” Rainbow snorted.
“If there is any concern with the Commander’s decisions in the field it will come from myself or the Princess. Do I make myself clear? This doesn’t involve you.”
Rainbow’s jaw dropped. “Doesn’t involve me!? Applejack is my best friend, my last best friend, who happens to be about 100 months pregnant with this asshole’s foal!”
“I talked to AJ myself this morning,” Spitfire said firmly, “and she was doing fine.”
“You don’t know her like I do.” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at Soarin. “None of you do.”
There was a slight twitch in Soarin’s tightly clenched jaw. “Applejack is my wife, Rainbow Dash. Back. Off.”
“Captain Spitfire!” Dr. Spring Flight appeared in the doorway, looking aghast. “What is the meaning of this commotion? The shouting is disturbing my patients, who should be at rest!” He pointed his hoof sternly. “That includes you, young mare!”
“I’m sorry, Sir.” Misty scrambled back into bed and yanked the covers up to her chin. She didn’t know the doctor well but she knew that Lyra enjoyed working with him and admired him deeply. She felt like she should try and make a good impression.
“I apologize for our poor behavior, Dr. Spring Flight.” Spitfire smoothly angled herself so that she was blocking the view of the broken table. “We’ll be leaving soon so Misty Fly can get her rest.”
The doctor harrumphed and marched off. The collected Wonderbolts waited until his hoofsteps receded before turning on each other again.
“Rainbow Dash, if you’re going to be mad at anypony it should be me,” Misty said more calmly than she felt.
“Oh believe me, I’m pissed at you, too,” Rainbow growled. “Risking both your lives and nearly widowing my best friend for a fucking harp!?”
“It’s a lyre.” Not helping, Dizzy.
“Can’t you see I don’t care!? Whatever it is it’s not worth it! What were you thinking!?”
“I was thinking I’m in love with her, okay?” Misty couldn’t prevent her voice from rising. “I love her and I wanted to do something nice and unexpected and thoughtful and I… I just…”
Rainbow Dash’s face turned crimson. “You take that back,” she hissed at him. Misty had never heard her voice sound so strangled before.
“Do you want to tell me where my wife is, Rainbow Dash? If not, I’ll find her myself.”
“This has gone too far already,” Spitfire cut in. “Soarin, AJ went to the farm this morning. You and I are going discuss this later but for now, go.”
Rainbow’s eyes glistened with furious tears. She shifted slightly aside, crossing her forelegs as her glare refocused on Misty. Soarin stormed out of the room without a backwards glance.
“Was that really necessary?” Misty snapped. “For fuck’s sake, Crash, you pretty much just told him he’s a shit husband.”
“There’s no ‘pretty much’ about it, after last night - he is a shit husband and you’re a shit for brains for thinking this was in any way okay!!!”
“Rainbow Dash, it’s time for you to leave,” Spitfire ordered. “Go back to HQ and stay there until I get back. And if you so much as even glance in Soarin and Applejack’s general direction on the way I will have you court-martialed. Understood?”
“Yes,” Rainbow mumbled.
“Yes what?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Dismissed.”
Rainbow Dash flew off mumbling and Spitfire came to sit on the edge of Misty’s bed. “So,” she sighed. “After all that, did you even get the Celestia-damned harp?”
“Lyre.”
“Don’t contradict me.”
“Sorry, ma’am.” Misty lifted the edge of her pillow to show Spitfire where she’d tucked the instrument. She had been so pleased with herself in that brief moment of finding it before everything went sideways, and then Soarin’s reassurances had gotten her back to a good headspace about it. Now though, her efforts seemed foolish again, tainted by the scene at the hospital.
“I hope she’ll appreciate what you went through to get that for her.”
“I feel pretty shitty about the whole thing right now,” Misty mumbled.
“You know,” Spitfire mused. “On a technicality I haven’t got much to punish you for. We’ve all grabbed shit from below on occasion. You had permission from your CO. You got into a tight spot, yeah, but you got yourself out again. And there’s probably nothing I could do to Soarin to make him feel any worse than Dash just did. Mother of Celestia, that got ugly.”
“He didn’t deserve that,” Misty stated firmly. “If things had gone worse, that would have been on me. He was just trying to help a friend.”
Spitfire sighed and pressed her front hooves firmly against her eyes. She sat like that for so long Misty started to fidget. “Um, Captain? Are you….crying?”
“Nah.” When she lifted her head, her eyes were tired and bloodshot but, indeed, dry. “This isn’t enough to make me cry. Though, honestly? It’s been such a long time, I don’t think I’d remember how to cry if I wanted too.”
“I cried last night,” Misty confessed. “I felt so guilty about everything that happened.”
Spitfire shifted to face her fully. “You know, the Wonderbolts haven’t had one single casualty since this disaster started. Not one. Why do you think that is?”
“Because you trained us well,” she replied quickly and loyally. “Because you’re smart and talented and so are we.”
“Could be.” Spitfire half smiled. “Dr. Whooves told me it’s a statistical anomaly. Here’s the thing, though. Here’s what I think about all the time, every night. Especially last night when you didn’t come back. The day one of us goes down? It’ll be my fault. Mine because of something I didn’t drill into you hard enough. Mine because I scheduled the mission and sent you out there. Mine because I maybe wasn’t there. If I had to tell Lyra you were gone? If Soarin and AJ’s kid grew up without a dad? That would have been on me and me alone.”
Misty Fly was shaking but she had no response.
“I’m truly just glad you both are okay. I truly don’t blame you for any of it. If everything had gone right we’d all be hoof bumping you in the locker room about it and saying you were going to get lucky tonight. Instead, shit happened. But you took care of it. Because, yeah - I trained you well and you’re smart and talented. I hope that’s what Lyra sees.”
Misty smiled a little sadly. “She probably has no idea I was even missing.”
“Actually, she does. When I saw Applejack this morning, she said she told Lyra last night. Not about the harp, or whatever, but that you hadn’t come back on schedule.”
“Really?” She perked up. “Do you know how she seemed? How she took the news?”
Spitfire scowled. “Do I look like the ‘how did she seem’ type? I’m sure she’ll come by as soon as she hears you’re back. Actually I bet everypony has heard by now, thanks to Dash. Heh. Maybe you’ll still get lucky tonight.” She punched Misty’s side.
“Hey! I just got clawed there!”
“Yeah, I know.” She rose into the air, snickering. “And by the way, you’re paying to replace that table.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Spitfire paused on her way out the door and stage whispered over her shoulder. “Incoming!” Misty heard her exchanging greetings in the hallway, and a moment later Lyra walked in.
“Hey, Lyra,” Misty aimed for a smile that was equal parts roguish and reassuring.
“What happened to you?” Lyra was more bustling nurse than worried girlfriend as she came to examine Misty’s injured side.
“One of those fuckers clawed me… again,” she muttered.
“Is that why you didn’t come back last night?”
“Uh… basically.”
“This is a pretty good field dressing,” Lyra smoothed the bandages back down with her magic. “We should leave your injured wing to Dr. Spring Flight but I can do the stitches.”
“Hang on,” Misty stilled her with a hoof on her back. “Can you just sit for a minute? I’ll be alright.”
“Okay.” Lyra perched uncertainly on the side of the bed.
“I got something for you.”
“You what?”
“I picked up a little souvenir for you in Baltimare.” From beneath the pillow beside her, Misty produced the lyre.
She could see the jolt that ran through Lyra when she set eyes on it. Her magic flared briefly. Her hooves, her face, her whole body twitched towards it. “Oh my goddess,” she whispered. “Where did you find it?”
“I made an unscheduled stop at the conservatory,” Misty grinned, laying it on Lyra’s lap.
Lyra turned it over and over between her hooves. “It’s in great condition,” she murmured. “But, Misty? Is this the reason something happened? Did you run into one of those things trying to get this?”
“Well, the conservatory is just where it happened to be hiding,” she shrugged nonchalantly.
“So that’s a yes, then.”
“Yeah.” For a long moment they just held each other’s gaze. Lyra eventually looked away first, casting her eyes downward as she set the lyre carefully aside.
“I’ve missed playing more than I can put into words,” she said. “Having a lyre again is really… something.”
“Something” could be…well, almost anything. Misty frowned slightly but held her tongue.
“I don’t want to sound ungrateful because this is probably, no - definitely the most remarkable thing anypony has ever done for me. But you could have been killed trying to get it for me, right? You and Soarin could have both been killed. Did you feel like you needed to impress me? Do I make you feel like you need to impress me?”
Misty squirmed. She tried to flex her wings and winced at her injury. “I just wanted to do something nice for you. And maybe impress you a bit, too, but that’s just me, you know? You didn’t do that.”
Lyra sighed. “You’re lying. Misty, let me make this clear. I would have missed you much more than the lyre if anything had happened to you. And I am already impressed by you all the time, always. The things you do out there? The way you fly, the way you protect everypony, the situations you put yourself in for the good of Equestria? Goddess, Misty - I think you’re amazing. Nopony impresses me more than you do. Sometimes I don’t know what you see in me. “
“Hey,” Misty whispered, taking her hoof. “Don’t sell yourself short. I think you’re amazing too, and incredibly brave and way stronger than me. You -“ Celestia, how do I put this? “you lost a lot and here you still are.”
“I did lose a lot. But I gained a lot too since then and I know I haven’t been great at acknowledging that. Misty, I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Whoa, we just said that out loud, didn’t we? That wasn’t too hard. Lyra lurched forward suddenly and wrapped her forelegs around Misty, kissing her hard. Misty hurried to respond, pulling her closer and biting back a hiss of pain at the strain on her injuries.
“Thank you for the lyre,” Lyra whispered against Misty’s lips. “But please, don’t do anything like that again. Please don’t put yourself in more danger. I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t,” she swore blithely, running her hooves up and down Lyra’s back and pressing against her cutie marks. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”
It was Lyra who reluctantly started to pull away first. “You still need stitches…”
“It can wait…” Misty held fast.
“Dr. Spring Flight will be coming back…”
Fuck. “Alright. I don’t want to give him even more of a bad impression.”
“More?”
“Long story.”
Lyra pressed a kiss to Misty’s forehead as she rose, lifting the lyre with her magic and giving it a jaunty twirl. “Do you think you’ll be up for a private concert tonight?”
“Definitely!” Misty grinned and folded her hooves behind her head, again ignoring the pain in her side and wing. She does like it. Damn, this was so worth it.
Lyra was about halfway done with the stitches when Dr. Spring Flight returned to set Misty’s wing. She did her utmost to appear both respectful and respectable, every inch the brave Wonderbolt. She knew that Applejack liked her for Lyra, but she wanted his seal of approval as well.
“I’m afraid I must recommend you remain grounded for a week, followed by another week of light duty,” he pronounced. “And I will be conveying that to your Captain as well.” He glanced over his shoulder and, seeing that Lyra was distracted, added “You have a knack for getting out of close scrapes but don’t push it. You are needed here. Understood?”
“Without a doubt, sir. Thank you.” She hoped that Lyra noticed him giving her a fatherly pat on the shoulder; that had to be a good sign.
What Lyra certainly did notice, again and again, was the lyre which was now propped on the pillow by Misty’s side. Her eyes kept drifting towards it each time she paused in her stitching. Her lips kept twitching upwards, even the ever present crease between her eyes seemed to have smoothed a bit. Misty felt warm all over watching her. She’d never cared much for classical music before but she had a feeling that after tonight she was going to start.
