Chapter 12: Spitfire, Captain of the Wonderbolts

Shadow found his mind racing once again. He had a bad habit of over thinking things. For the rest of the day he stayed inside. He barely slept all night and woke tired the next morning to loud knocking on the door.

Still semi-asleep, Storm rolled out of his bed, flopping onto the soft cloud surface below. Stumbling to his feet, he exited his light blue coloured bed room, descending down his tower to the lobby like room below. Walking to the door, Storm stopped to rub his eyes before and opening it.

"Good morning Ponyville! Let's roll!"

Blinking, Shadow found himself confused by Spitfire's sudden appearance.

"Roll?" yawned Storm.

Spitfire rolled her eyes, and replied, "Breakfast, food, eating. Let's go!"

Without thinking, Shadow went upstairs and quickly threw on his uniform. Returning below, he yawned once again as he inspected his uniform, standing in the doorway. Placing his wedge on his head, he watched Spitfire race off the edge of the cloud. Shadow stumbled outside and off the edge of the platform that supported his house. He lazily slowed his descent and landed with a thud. Spitfire looked a bit taken aback by Shadow in this form. She shrugged it off and continued.

The two ate at a small restaurant on the edge of Ponyville. Spitfire gnawed her food down quickly, while a tired Shadow slowly ate his, still preoccupied with the events of last night.

'I've been through this before…' thought Storm, as he began to finally awake.

"Yo! Hotshot."

Spitfire waved her hoof in front of Shadow's face. Glaring, Shadow acknowledged her.

"So what can a pony do in this town...? I don't exactly see it being the centre of the high life and excitement."

"Well, it's got clear skies. That should be obvious," Shadow responded, with a hint of sarcasm.

Spitfire noticed this and glared at Shadow, "I noticed. But aside from that, there's nothing; there's no nice diners, one movie theatre with a whole bunch of old flicks, and I think I saw one single place for ice cream."

"I think someone's been spending too much time in Canterlot," remarked Shadow with a faint smirk.

"Hey, I can't enjoy amenities? I'm not that uncivilized. I enjoy fine dining as much as anypony," Spitfire retorted, frowning.

"Since when DID you? I remember you whined and complained when we had to go to the Inauguration of Captain Armor."

"That's different. That event just sucked in general."

Shadow looked slightly surprised, and said, "I thought it was pretty cool, and it helped RAF and Legion relations, I can tell you that. Back in Canterlot, Armor saved my flank. If it weren't for him, I don't know what might have happened."

"Whatever. That's not the point. I need a drink," Spitfire stated, annoyed.

Waiving the waiter over, Spitfire ordered a stiff drink that Shadow didn't care to take note of. He never drank himself, or hardly did. The whole thing never really appealed to him.

"So where have you been stationed? Last I heard you were in Canterlot, training new recruits," Shadow questioned.

Spitfire responded in a semi-monotone voice, "Yeah. Soarin' and I've been training new flyers for the past couple of months."

Shadow sighed, and asked half-heartedly, "What happened this time?"

Shadow phased out slightly as Spitfire began to speak, taking note of key points to remember.

'Yeah yeah yeah, and in three days you two will be snuggling creepily during briefings,' Shadow thought sarcastically as Spitfire talked, feigning his attention by nodding.

As Spitfire continued, Storm's thoughts drifted to the events of last night. It was a small notion, but the entire thing had him unable to turn his attention elsewhere.

'Why does this bother me so much? She was just being… ladylike? But Dash isn't exactly…' Shadow pondered, 'No! Stop it Shadow. You're a soldier, she's just some weather patroller. It's just another fleeting feeling that'll pass.'

"Are you even listening to me?" Spitfire asked, noticing Shadow's blank stare.

"Yeah," Shadow lied, "You were just saying about your mission briefing last month."

Again, Spitfire droned on and on, complaining constantly about Soarin' and his 'stupidity'. Shadow attempted to keep his attention on Spitfire and her story, but inevitably, his mind wandered once again. Autonomously, he nodded and ate his breakfast.

"…And that's when I finally said no, and we broke up," Spitfire stated.

Shadow attempted to muster sympathy, and said, "How touching. Sorry to hear that."

"Well at least there's one stallion left who cares about others," Spitfire remarked, nudging Storm with her shoulder.

Standing up, Spitfire stretched her wings and legs, before walking out of the café. Shadow followed, still deep in thought. Finally, he forced himself out of his trance, noting that they seemed to be wandering through the midst of town, with little or no purpose.

"Uh… do you know where you're going?" Storm asked, giving a questioning glance at the Captain.

Spitfire chuckled, and answered, "For a walk… you must be really tired, you said you would come along… back at the Café."

"Ah, of course. Sorry," Shadow replied, realizing he most likely said yes to whatever questions she asked earlier.

Silence erupted as they walked about, mostly from the stunning nature that surrounded them. Shadow, surprised at Spitfire's lack of speaking, enjoyed observing the scenery. Quickly, he realized there was a reason for the silence.

"Hey… uh, wanna go out tonight? Like some kind of dinner or whatever?" Spitfire asked awkwardly.

'Here we go again…' Shadow thought, closing his eyes in frustration.

"You're not asking me out again are you?" Shadow questioned back at Spitfire, with a sigh.

The yellow pegasus procured a small smile, and replied, "You see right through me, don't you Hotshot?"

Shadow shook his head, and sat for a moment, figuring a way to verbalize his thoughts.

Turning around, Shadow stated, "It's against regulations."

"They lifted that ban years ago, Hotshot," Spitfire returned, still smiling, "Come on."

The two halted, with Shadow taking a few steps away from Spitfire. He remained silent for a moment, formulating his words. Nothing came to mind. Instead, Shadow kept walking.

The two remained silent for the rest of their trek. As they walked, the sun began to melt into night, casting and orange glow across the skies and the ground.

Shadow warily kept his distance from his companion, but noticed Spitfire gaining on him several times. She had an odd look about her. This situation made him beyond uncomfortable.

Finally, the two arrived at the temporary military base outside Ponyville. Flying up to one of the structures in the sky, Spitfire led the way. The cloudy Quonset was marked very obviously with a large "CPT. SPITFIRE" along the top of the door. The entire place was dark and the base seemed quiet and sleepy.

"Lieutenant."

Shadow snapped to attention with a salute. Spitfire sighed in response to this. Shadow dropped his salute but remained at attention. Moving slowly towards Storm, Spitfire stared at the stallion's eyes. He remained motionless, emotionless and stared into the distance. He was the perfect symbol of a soldier.

Standing face to face with the aviator, Spitfire found she was a bit awestruck by his composure. She hadn't seen the colt in so long. He'd changed so much but so little. He was still the overly formal, awkward pegasus she'd recruited.

Leaning forward, she closed her eyes. Pursing her lips, she waited for what she thought was an inevitable kiss.

"Permission to be dismissed."

Spitfire was taken aback by this statement. She stared once again at the Shadow. He didn't flinch or move. The only visible movement was the blink of his eyes and movement of his chest as breathed the cold air. His breath fogged in front of him. Nonetheless, he remained stone-faced and rigid like a statue.

Without a word, Spitfire turned around and whipped open the door to her quarters. Walking inside, she slammed it behind her. With a cough, Shadow performed an about turn before gliding off the edge of the cloud.

Shadow began his journey home. His mind was practically burnt out. As he arrived home, he quickly hung his uniform on the wall, redressed his wounds, and went to bed. After a few minutes of rapid thought about the events of the day with interludes still going to the previous night, Shadow finally fell asleep, exhausted.