Spitfire stared at the multitude of papers on her desk in her office. She and the others were on their afternoon break, and she wanted to use this time to get everything organized.

The Wonderbolts' captain was annoyed with one thing. Her newest recruit hadn't shown up for practice, and she had no idea why. Soarin had offered to go and look for her, but he had not returned, and although she was annoyed with that, as well, the yellow-orange pegasus was getting quite worried.

Right as she got up from her chair to put a few manila folders in a nearby file cabinet, the door to her office opened. Standing there was the light blue stallion she knew all too well. "Well, look who's back," she said, maintaining a bit of authority in her tone while putting away her files, "Did you find her?"

"Yeah," Soarin said, a small frown on his face.

"What's up?" Spitfire asked, noticing that her teammate was not looking well.

"Well, Dash isn't sick or anything like that, but..."

"Yeeeeeaaaaaah?"

"I...seem to have...gotten her pregnant."

Spitfire looked Soarin in the eyes, a surprised look on her face. "Oh?"

"Yeah..."

"And...what else is happening?"

"I thought she was getting an abortion, but she came to me and said she didn't do it. She needed some time to think. She and I talked about it, and she eventually decided to carry the foal and give it up for adoption in the end."

"Soarin, do you realize that this means she won't be able to fly with us anytime soon?"

"Yes, I do," Soarin continued, his expression and tone changing to those of a mature businesspony, "That's why I told her that I was going to stick by her every step of the way throughout the pregnancy. I said I would always be there in her time of need, and that I would even throw in a bit of my Wonderbolt salary since she wouldn't be here or on weather patrol. I'm taking full responsibility for this, and I intend to make Rainbow Dash happy until she can fly with us again."

Never did Spitfire think she would hear words like that come out of Soarin's mouth. After several seconds of silence, Spitfire smiled at the stallion in front of her. "I'm proud of you, Soarin," she said, raising a hoof for a hoofshake. Soarin immediately took the initiative. "I'm really glad that things turned out well. I'm also glad that you're being loyal to her, just like she's loyal to all her friends and commitments. I really hope things continue to go well for the two of you."

"Thank you so much," Soarin replied.

"Just try not to miss too much practice. The reserves we have aren't nearly as great as you or Dash."

"Yeah, I know," Soarin said while giggling. He then turned around and began to walk away, but he turned back upon remembering something he had just said. "Just to be clear, Spitfire, me saying that I would give Rainbow Dash a bit of my pay as compensation was not a request for a raise, right?"

Spitfire grinned coyly at Soarin. "Not unless you're staying for longer shifts, big guy..."

Soarin chuckled. "Hehe...I figured."

Author's Note

Don't worry folks, that's it for "Breaking the News". Like I said earlier, new chapter tomorrow. It'll be longer, and it's gonna throw you a curveball (or two...).