Summer on Fire

She had ordered in for you tonight. A pizza all to yourself, and you couldn't even enjoy it. You knew on the way back to her apartment how it was going to be. She had to go out tonight. She had a date with him.

Poking at a slice, you didn't feel very hungry. At least they're be something in the fridge now...

She was trotting around the place frantically. She's been fussing for an hour over every little thing, and now at the last moment it was all coming together in a whirlwind of activity. She lined her orange eyes, lightly curled her mane, and, you noticed, she put on that pair of underwear you bought her earlier. Topping it off with a sleek little white dress, she finally was ready.

You nearly choked on your soda as she walked into the living room. The windows were lit by the setting sun, framing her figure. She was amazing. The dress showed her off in all the right places. Her fiery eyes were framed perfectly by a dark red eyeshadow.

Maybe this guy wouldn't show up. You two could hang out together...maybe go out on the town...

A knocking a few moments later shattered that plan. She skipped like a little schoolgirl to the door. Spitfire opened it, nearly being taken aback by the stallion's forwardness as he leaned in to kiss her. "H...hey! Not in front of the kid, okay?"

"C'mon babe, you know you can't...wait, what? Kid?" He pokes his head inside, lifting off a pair of mirrored shades. He eyes you up a bit. His tan mane is slicked back, and he's wearing a leather bomber jacket. "What's with this runty kid then, Firefly?"

"Hey, take it easy on him. He's stuck here cause his mom is off doing some shows. You remember Fleetfoot?"

He thinks for a minute, than grins a bit. "Oh yah, I remember her. Pretty fine little mare. Lucky kid!" He says, winking at you.

"Hey! I'm standing right here, ya know!" Spitfire said, annoyed.

"C'mon babe, she doesn't compare to you, you know that."

He reaches over and grabs her plot with his hoof. She blushes a little, but doesn't say anything. He's draped all over her. "Hey kid, I'm Fire Streak by the way. I didn't mean to say anything about your mom. She's a great mare, ya know?"

"Yah, I know. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Streak."

"So my little Firefly here isn't running you ragged yet, is she? She can be quite a bitch!"

You blush a little as Spitfire gives him a nasty look as he chuckles a bit to himself. "Nah, she's super nice." you tell him. "We spent the whole day together. She took me to the mall and all over Cloudsdale."

Narrowing his eyes, Fire Streak looked over at the mare. "Oh yah? I thought you said you couldn't meet me earlier cause you had something important to do. This little twerp's more important than spending the evening with me?"

She was looking a little flustered now, her calm demeanor shattering ever so slightly. "It's only his second day here, dear. He's having a hard enough time being away from his family, okay?"

"Pfft, yah, I see." He looked over at you. "Hey kid, I didn't mean anything by it, okay? It's not your fault. Sometime you just need to keep your mare in line, ya know?

Gods he said that a lot. It was driving you nuts.

Another glare from the fiery mare. He looked at her innocently. "Baby, you know I'm kidding. Now, let's hurry up. I still want to fit some fun in tonight."

His hoof still snaked around her backside, he led her out, the door closing behind them. The apartment was getting dark now that the sun went down. Turning on a lamp near one of the chairs, you finished up your soda, gazing at the lights of the city in the night.

'I guess that's what she wants.' You thought to yourself. 'He's so confident. I'm nothing like that. She just bosses me around and I let her. Spitfire must want a stallion that can tell her what to do.'

You look at your reflection in the glass. That stallion was never going to be you.

It's late when they get back. You had almost dozed off while drawing in Spitfire's room. Even so, you doubt you would have slept for long. The front door is practically kicked in, while a loudly giggling Spitfire stumbles in, followed by Fire Streak. You have the bedroom door still cracked open, allowing you to see and hear them falling over each other in the kitchen.

"Does my big stallion want a drink" She asks, slightly slurring words.

"Of course. You know what I like, Firefly."

She grins, opening an upper cabinet. Taking down a clear bottle, she busies herself making two drinks, all the while trying to push off Streak as he grabs her plot.

They both take a long pull at the drinks she makes. Looking at each other in the still dark apartment, they start kissing deeply. You blush a bit watching her kiss him. She's letting him feel her up as he kisses her, working her white dress over her rump...

She pulls away suddenly. "H...hey, we can't. I told you before, remember?"

He goes in again, kissing her neck, making her gasp. "He won't bucking hear us. I'll be real quiet, baby. We'll be quiet as mice, I promise." He's got a hoof between her legs now. She moans, before pulling away.

"We can't. He'll hear us, okay Streak? I'll do whatever you want later, I just can't do this right now. It's not right."

Even in the dim light of the apartment, you can see his demeanor change. He's scowling, eyes widening as he becomes angry. "Firefly, I bought you a nice meal. We had fun right? You sure you want to act like this?"

She's standing up to him. He outweighs her by a good seventy five pounds but she's still standing up to him. "I think you better leave."

"I'm not going anywhere. You aren't going to play the little hussy on our date and then leave me hanging, ya know?"

Spitfire narrowed her eyes. She looked him in the face, eye to eye. "When are you going to stop ending every sentence with that line, you insufferable, childlike excuse for a stallion."

It was too much for his ego. He struck out with his hoof, catching her off guard in the side of her muzzle. You could hear the sickening crack as bone hit bone, and she stumbled off to the side, colliding with the counter. Coming to rest there, Spitfire's hooves scrambled to catch her, the mare trying to keep herself upright.

Fire Streak immediately tried to reach for her, perhaps realizing what he did. She stares at him though disheveled hair, making him think twice about it. Spitfire rights herself, wobbling unsteadily as she tried to regain her composure. She glares back at him again. His bulletproof cockiness seems to fall away.

You can see a tiny rivulet of blood on her yellow muzzle. Maybe he sees it too.

"H...hey, look, maybe we should just call it a night. I mean, I've had too much to drink, you've had too much to drink, we said some stupid things, before ya know it..."

She stops him mid sentence. "Streak...I know you outrank me. But believe me when I tell you, if you don't leave right now, I'll make it my mission to destroy your career. You know I can."

He's scowling at her again. "Hey, um, Firefly, I think you just need to cool off, okay? Don't want to do anything rash, ya kn..." He cuts himself off. "Anyways, I'll talk to ya tomorrow, okay?"

He leaves without getting an answer.

Spitfire just stands there for a while. You can see her shaking ever so slightly. Minutes pass, before you hear her sigh, reaching a hoof down and smoothing her white dress back over her flank. She dumps out both drinks, carefully putting away the liquor.

She softly walks to her overstuffed couch, laying down, and wrapping the blanket around her, watching the city night scape. You watch her for a while before you realize she's crying.

It's hard to take in. She's the head of the Flight Academy, a top tier Wonderbolt. Her demeanor always impenetrable as she would walk around the academy, commanding respect and obedience from all the recruits. She never took any crap from anypony.

Watching her on the couch, her invulnerability fell away.

Shifting a bit as your hoof fell asleep, you squeaked the door ever so gently. The yellow mare looks over at you, eyes wide as she realized you had been watching her. She dabbed her eyes clear, before beckoning you over to her sofa.

You trot over and sit down next to her. "Can't sleep?" She asks. "It's pretty late for a little colt to be up."

"Yah. Don't worry, I'll go back to bed."

"It's okay. We can talk a bit if you want." She puts a hoof around your shoulder. Before pulling you closer, she motions down. "Look, got all my clothes on." She said, chuckling.

It's different now, anyways. She was different, then the Spitfire you remembered as a foal. You rest your head on her shoulder. She smelled like cigarettes and cologne. You hated it. That's not what she should smell like.

"How long were you up, rookie?"

"A while."

"Hm." She's stroking your mane again now. At least that still feels nice.

"Guess you can tell, I don't have much luck on the dating front, either." She said. "I've been putting up with that oaf for a while now."

"How come?"

"Hm, good question." She says. "Maybe I just got comfortable. You may think I'm hot stuff, kid, but not every stallion wants a mare that takes charge."

"It doesn't sound so bad to me." You respond, quietly.

She chuckles a bit. You like hearing her happy again. Burying your head against her neck, you let her keep smoothing your mane with her yellow hoof. "You know, some part of me still is saying what he did was an accident. That he still loves me, and when I go see him tomorrow everything will be fine again."

"Are you going to? See him again, I mean?"

She's quiet for a bit before she answers. "No...I don't think so. Besides...he didn't like you very much. He was angry all night about you being here. It was really annoying me by the time we got home. No one talks crap about my cadets. Right, rookie?"

You knew that full well from the days at the academy. "I thought everyone knew better than to do that." You said, smiling.

"Yeah, I guess not." She's holding you close now, still softly stroking your mane and back. Looking out into the city lights, your eyes start drooping. You fall asleep against her, wishing she smelled like lemon shampoo.