Duty to the team.

A fundamental principal in the Wonderbolts. A leader was responsible for her or his team without question. The leader is responsible for the actions and conduct of all her or his subordinates.

Spitfire had to deal with such a situation now. After she learned that there was an unscheduled balloon that entered Wonderbolt Academy space she was furious at first. Then she learned that Trixie was on that balloon with the Elements of Harmony and she ran to the field and was relieved to find no one was hurt.

She then ignored all protocol and hugged her mate on the field. After which they retreated to her office where Trixie sat across from her waiting while she tried to sort out what was going to happen in light of this breach of security. At that moment she was making a written report and was waiting for the first recruit involved to come and give her view of what happened.

In the meantime Trixie was filling her mate in on what she’d been up to the last few days. Her parents, the mansion being repossessed, everything.

“Wow that sounds like a lot to take in. I’m sorry, hon,” Spitfire said looking up from her document. “Do they want to come live with us?”

“Trixie asked them if they’d come to live with us, but mother refused.”

Spitfire smiled nodding. “Sounds like someone else I know personally.”

Trixie puffed her cheeks at Spitfire's jab at her. In her signature manner the unicorn turned her head away in mock anger and crossed her arms and legs. Her attempts to give Spitfire the cold shoulder only made the pegasus smirk.

Getting off from her seat Spitfire walked over to Trixie and nuzzled her cheek with her nose. The wet cold feeling of the pegasus mare's nose made Trixie mane stand on end. She hated that wet cold feeling on her cheek. The only thing worse was when Spitfire licked her. Trixie hated being licked.

*Sliiiiirp*

With as much noise as possible Spitfire ran a slobbery tongue over Trixie’s cheek making her squeal and wriggle away from her and then earned Spitfire a swat to the head by a strong hoof. With a chuckle Spitfire offered Trixie a cloth to dry herself. Trixie took the cloth with a huff and wiped herself dry and threw it in the trash can by her mate’s desk. Spitfire then sat on Trixie’s lap and wrapped her arms around her neck, nuzzling Trixie Affectionately.

“I missed you, hon.”

“It’s not like Trixie missed you or anything, but it’s good to see you too,” Trixie said in an uncaring tone.

“Love you too, hon,” Spitfire cooed lovingly into Trixie’s ear.

She gave Trixie a little nibble on the rim of her ears enticing her mate and exciting her deprived body. Both mares felt a spark of passion erupting inside of them as they jockeyed for position on the chair. They needed each other now more than ever, but a loud knock stopped them from advancing beyond their first kiss.

“Ugh,” Spitfire groaned. “What?!”
Ma’am the cadets are here to see you,” A voice said from the other side of the door.

Getting up Spitfire adjusted her tie to her officer uniform and went back to her seat. Sitting down, the chair creaked under her weight and Trixie snickered, “Fatty”.

Spitfire glared at Trixie silencing her.

“Send them in!”

After the order was given the door to Spitfire’s office opened up and in came two mares that Trixie was very familiar with. One teal green pegasus looked at her and recognized her after a moment of recollection. Lightning Dust and Trixie’s eyes met and instantly they recognized each other from the restaurant a while back.

Then Trixie’s attention went to the other. Her face scowled at the familiar blue pegasus with a rainbow mane. A heckler she called her and humiliated her in response. Trixie glared back at the mare as the two pegasus cadets turned their attention to Spitfire, saluting her as they stood in front of her desk.

“At ease cadets,” Spitfire said.

Before Rainbow or Lighting could say anything Spitfire raised her left wing to keep them quiet while she wrote something down. Not looking up she stopped writing and spoke.

“Lightning Dust, please step outside. Trixie can you go with her?” Spitfire asked.

Trixie nodded and got up to follow the teal green pegasus outside. As they exited the famous Wind Rider strut pass them and entered without even asking for permission. This startled everyone except Spitfire who seemed unusually calm. Had anyone else done this she wouldn’t have hesitated to jump down their throats for it, but Wind Rider was a higher ranking officer. Spitfire knew her place in the food chain, and that put her under Wind Rider.

“Wind Rider, sir.”

Spitfire nodded to him as he sat down in the chair where Trixie had previously occupied. Rainbow and Lightning did their best to hide their obvious excitement seeing him, but Spitfire’s trained eye could see right through them. Keeping her own composure, but for different reasons Spitfire turned her attention to Rainbow Dash.

“Alright cadet, what the heck happened out there? Why did you and Lighting Dust create a tornado for cloud busting of all things? Seems a bit excessive.”

That much was true. Cloud busting never called for a tornado even on compressed time schedules. It was deemed too hazardous for such a menial task. Tornados were reserved for cleaning messes from floods, natural hurricanes, and seasonal cleanups such as Winter Wrap Up, just not in Ponyville.

Rainbow for her part looked unusually calm. Even to Spitfire it seemed a bit jarring how calm the mare was despite how much trouble she could possibly be in.

“Well ma’am, it was a team effort. Lighting and I decided it would be best to clear the clouds out as fast as possible. To do that we coordinated and worked together to bust up as many clouds as possible, while taking a few that the other teams were trying to get to so they’d have to fly longer without losing ground ourselves,” Rainbow explained.

Spitfire raised her brow. She wasn’t seeing the connection, and Rainbow Dash seemed to sense this.

“We later decided that it was a good idea to create a tornado, together,” She said with great emphasis on the last word. “We did it together. Then we, lost control. I know it was reckless and Lighting-”

“I asked for what happened cadet. I didn't ask you to speak on behalf of your lead pony. She’s a big girl she can speak for herself when she gets the chance.”

Rainbow snapped to attention when Spitfire snapped at her. Spitfire nodded in satisfaction taking several notes down. Placing her pen door she looked at Rainbow Dash with a fierce look in her eyes, it made the rainbow maned mare sweat.

“Anything else you’d like to add cadet?” Spitfire asked.

“N-no ma’am.”

Good. Go outside and wait for me to call you back. Send lighting Dust in while you’re on your way out.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Rainbow Dash said, walking out, but not before giving one last glare at Trixie.

The unicorn mare stuck her tongue out at her as the pegasus passed by. Wind Rider smirked at the exchange, but Spitfire missed it going back to her notes.

Outside the room Lighting Dust was waiting patiently, but filled with anxiety. As rainbow Dash emerged from the room Lighting steeled herself and her resolve. She made a decision while waiting for her turn to get sent in. *How odd*, She thought. *I feel like I’m going to the dean's office at flight school or something.*

“Hey, Dusty. Boss wants to see you now.”

“Thanks Rainbow,” Lighting said, walking to her wing ponies side. “Listen, no matter what happens we’re still friends right?”

Rainbow looked at Lightning Dust and smiled at her. “Of course we are. Sure, you almost killed my friends, but I know you aren’t some sicko. I know you didn’t mean things like you said. You were trying to save face.”

“You knew that?” Lighting asked, genuinely surprised.

“Heck ya! I was just like that once. I know what it’s like. Don’t worry, Dusty,” Rainbow said, as she placed her left wing over Lightning’s back and hugged her. “You’re still my friend. Just as long as you promise to apologize after this.”

“Deal!”

With their pact made Lighting exchanged wing clap with Rainbow before walking into Spitfire’s office. Entering she felt immediately like she was in trial for murder or something, which was a very close possibility. Had the other pegasi of her class not been waiting by, Lighting potentially could have had 6 casualties under her belt. That, and a one way ticket to a dungeon or prison somewhere.

Spitfire was still behind her desk, Trixie was now more at her side, and Wind Rider was off to the side with a very judgmental look on his mug. Lightning walked up to Spitfire’s desk and saluted her. Spitfire saluted back and said, “Alright cadet Lighting Dust, I got a record account of what happened from Cadet Rainbow Dash. Now, i want you to tell me in your own words what happened.”

Lighting felt her heart beginning to race. She tried to control her breathing, but felt her anxiety reaching its peak. She knew what the right thing to do was, but she was having a hard time accepting what she had to do next. For both ehr and Rainbow Dash’s sakes.

“I uh, that is Rainbow Dash and I were out flying the cloud busting portion of our flight training exercises,” She watched Spitfire write something down. “And we were in quite the lead from the others.”

Spitfire looked down and read a note then asked, “It says here in Rainbow's Statement that you were trying to coordinate with each other while throwing the other teams off by busting their clouds too. Is that correct cadet?”

“Yes, ma’am. I know it wasn’t very sporting of us, but I saws it as a competition so I instructed Rainbow Dash to do as such.”

She saw Spitfire frown and write something down,. She felt her heart skip as Spitfire wrote this note on Rainbow Dash’s sheet and made a quick amendment to her statement, “She really is the best wingpony anyone could ask for. Loyal and dependable. She’s a great asset ma’am.”

“I see.” Spitfire made another note. “Continue.

“Well, after a while when we had a huge lead on the others, I decided to use a tornado to finish everything else so Dash and I could get the top spot without any worries.”

“Why?” Spitfire asked.

“Because I… I didn't think straight,” Lighting admitted slumping her wings. “I made a call at that moment and Rainbow was dragged down with me ma’am. I lost control of the tornado and Rainbow couldn’t maintain it herself. We lost control and the tornado went wild. The rest is history.”

“I’d still like to hear it, cadet,” Spitfire said, glancing over at Trixie.

Lighting bit her bottom lip and chewed it as she collected her thoughts. After a minute thinking Spitfire was about to speak when Lightning decided to unleash her tongue finally.

“Ma’am, I< after we lost the tornado a balloon came up from the clouds and the tornado, on top of all the destruction it caused, stuck the balloon and nearly sent six ponies to their…”

Lightning couldn’t get the last few words out. She choked back a sob and wiped her eyes with her wings to prevent tears from falling. She didn’t want to appear pathetic in front of her idol, nor Trixie, or Wind Rider.

“I played it off like nothing bad happened cause, i was scared. Scared of what was to come. So I may have come off as a bit selfish on that account,” She then looked over to Trixie. “I’m sorry I almost killed you. You were one of my favorite customers.”

Wind rider tilted his head wondering what the younger mare meant by it, but Trixie and Spitfire remembered clearly. That night many months ago at the Molnija Cloud '& Barbecue. It was a special night for them and they remembered the wonderful service Lighting gave them. Unfortunately for Spitfire she had to play the mean old lady officer right now.

“Alright Lighting Dust. I have good news and bad news for you,” The mare said looking over the notes she took. “Good news is there will be no charges against either you or Rainbow Dash.”

“Whew.” Lightning Dust wiped her brow.

“However,” Lighting tensed up at Spitfire’s tone. “I will be making a formal reprimand on the both of you and neither of you will continue on to the next portion of the cadets training. I’m very disappointed in both of you.”

“But ma’am you can’t!” Lighting Dust all but screamed. “Rainbow did nothing wrong! It was all me!”

Spitfire stopped and looked at the pegasus. Trixie tried not to say anything, it wasn’t her place, but Wind Rider felt the need to talk, and so he did.

“Well, I don’t see how that matters. She followed a reckless order, that’s against Academy Ground Rules of conduct, and she was part of a stunt that nearly killed several important ponies and this lady,” he said, rudely gesturing to Trixie making the unicorn in the room scoffed indignantly. “It’s clear that you are both reckless and should be barred from the Academy forever, and you should face criminal charges!”

As the words left Wind Riders mouth Spitfire jumped up from her seat, and flared her wings at Wind Rider. She was now between him and Lightning dust who he’d come dangerously close to and was staring him down.

“That’s not your call to make, Wind Rider!” Spitfire snapped at the Wonderbolt stallion. “That’s my call, and I said there will be no charges brought against them.”

Spitfire sat down in her seat taking a calming breath. It wasn’t often she lost her temper to a fellow officer, but it happened often enough that others learned to give her a wide berth in most cases. Wind Rider however; loves pushing the boundaries all the time with her.

“Lighting Dust, as I just said there will be no charges, but Wind Rider is right. I can’t just let this go as is. You and Rainbow Dash will face a formal inquiry and will be barred from the Wonderbolts for a severe lack of judgment on both your parts. Anything else you want to add?”

This was it. The moment of truth and Lighting Dust knew it. She knew what she had to do. It wasn’t fair that Rainbow Dash had to suffer for her own short sightedness. As a manager in training for her parent’s restaurant she knew better than to let someone else take blame for your own faults and mistakes. A lesson she learned the hard way.

Now she had a chance to make things right. She knew it was her fault that the tornado lost control, and it was her responsibility to ensure her wing ponies safety. Something she didn’t do before. She knew she was going to do her family, and her friend right.

“Yes, ma’am. I want to take sole responsibility for this incident.”

This was it. The moment of truth.

Spitfire narrowed her eyes at Lightning Dust, while Trixie looked shocked, but wind Rider smirked with satisfaction.

“It wasn’t her fault. As lead pony I’m responsible for her conduct under me. Please, don’t blame Rainbow for what I ordered her to do ma’am,” Lightning pleaded.

Trixie could only stare at Lightning Dust as she made her plea. The teal pegasus then lowered her posture to a low bow to Spitfire as if addressing the Princesses themselves. Spitfire for her part looked conflicted, it was well hidden that most ponies wouldn’t notice, but Trixie knew her well enough to see the subtle indicators. Left ear twitch, a tail flick, followed by her ruffling her wings slightly at her sides.

Not only that, but it was a good sign that what Lightning said had a significant impact on Spitfire. She very well might take what Lightning said into account. Spitfire in the meantime sat at her desk deep in thought. She couldn’t just do nothing, not with Wind Rider knowing what happened. He’d never let this go on his own. So she had to take things into her own hooves. That meant someone had to be blamed, so Spitfire gave it some long thought. Then after five minutes she closed her eyes and rested her chin on her clasped hooves.

She rested her elbows on her desk and sat there in the quiet thinking. She couldn’t think of a way out of this without throwing one of her cadets to the wolves. One the one hand Lightning was right she was responsible before Rainbow under her wing, and Rainbow was just a cadet wingpony so she shouldn’t have to shoulder the responsibility. Then again they were her cadets so she was responsible for them, which meant...

“Cadet Dash front center!” She yelled, standing up to bellow at the door.

In a flash Rainbow Dash was in the room next to Lighting. Her sudden entry startle everyone there with exception to Spitfire, who was expecting it. The rainbow maned mare saluted.

“Ma’am!”

“I have something to tell you two.”

Author's Note

Alrighty! Sorry for being late again everyone!

So let's jumped head first into this thing! So Spitfire clearly has a plan, but what is it? Is it really as simple as she makes it out to be? We'll find out soon in the next installment!