(Twenty Eight Years Earlier...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oIR45quUk8
The fur on the back of Spitfire's neck stood on end as she looked into her mother Stormy Flare's eyes.
"You're finally ready my little flame." Stormy cooed, as she sized her daughter up with a critical eye."
Spitfire meanwhile shook as if she were surrounded by a hungry pack of Timberwolves. Her ears were pinned and it took all of her effort to keep her wobbling legs beneath her. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of fear and anticipation as her mother approached.
"I trust that the Wonderbolts' secret will be safe with you?" Stormy asked, arching a brow.
Spitfire swallowed before replying, careful to keep her eyes locked with her Mothers'. "Yes. The Wonderbolts' secret dies with me."
"Excellent!" Stormy purred. "Then I hereby pass the title of Captain, as well as it's legacy on to my Daughter Spitfire."
There was a round of applause by from everypony in the room, although Spitfire couldn't see any of them. She was far to focused on the tube of grey seed that her mother had produced for her.
"Here's a taste of your new legacy honey. I hope you enjoy it." Stormy whispered in her Daughter's ear as she passed the tube off to her.
With her eyes on the tube, the Wonderbolts new Captain swallowed again, before removing the lid, and clenching her eyes shut as the paste tasting seeds filled her mouth.
Spitfire had thought that she was a fast flyer. She was wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Eighteen Years Earlier...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71hoVCDsR-4
"Miss Spitfire? Were you aware that the ponies on your team were taking Rush Seed?" A Gaurdspony asked her.
"No sir, I wasn't" Spitfire responded smoothly, as the body of one of her teamates was loaded into a black carrage.
Nearby a pair of doctors inspected a bloody crack in one of Canterlot's smooth white walls. One of them whispering to the other while pointing to a tuft of mane that was still jammed into the crack.
Spitfire risked a glance over at them only to find herself shuddering. 'I Didn't know it'd get this bad.'
"Miss?" The guard asked.
Spitfire shook her head. "Huh? Oh sorry? I just, feel really bad for the kid. That's a really nasty habit to have."
"Indeed." The guard agreed quietly.
"Don't worry though!" Spitfire added a little too quickly. "I'm going to make sure that this never happens again!"
"Miss, with all due respect, this is the fourth Wonderbolt you've lost in the last two years. I should also mention that this kind of misconduct was prevalent under your mother Stormy Flare."
Spitfire rubbed a hoof on the back of her neck. "What can I say, we both were kind of lax."
"Very lax if you ask me. Still, there is a chance her for course correction." The guard said, pulling out a clipboard.
"What should I?..." Spitfire trailed off as she examined the orders on the note. "They want me to...Start the team over from scratch?" The mare could hear her own heart as it pounded in her chest.
"You'll still be the Captain of course, but I fear this is the only way. I'm sorry Miss Spitfire, but too many pegasi have died under your family's watch. It's either this, or the guard will have to launch it's own investigation. It really shouldn't be that hard? It's not like you have anything to hide right?"
The mare lowered her head. "No sir...Nothing at all."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Ten Years Earlier...)
A Knock on the door caused Spitfire's ear to flick. "Come in." She said not bothering to turn around.
"Ma'am, we need to talk."
A sigh escaped the Captain's nostrils as she turned to address the Wonderbolt's newest recruit, Rainbow Dash."
"Yes, can I help you?" Spitfire asked calmly, her forehooves caressing a hidden tube of Rush Seed under her desk.
"I know about the seed ma'am" Rainbow Dash stated in an even, almost friendly tone."
"Who doesn't?" Spitfire snorted, rolling her eyes.
"I mean I know where it came from." Rainbow Dash replied taking a nonthreatening step forward.
"Are you accusing me of something newbie?" Spitfire asked aggressively, her tone more fearful than angry.
"Captain! You need help!" A third voice chimed in. This one belonging to Fleetfoot.
"What!? How would you know anything!?" Spitfire spat, as the tube of seed fell to the floor, and rolled to a stop in front of what was now her entire team. Spitfire looked to the tube, then to her fellow Pegasi then to the tube again, as her ears flattened against her skull, and her eyes narrowed to slits.
"Get out." Spitfire hissed before quickly flying towards the open window.
"No way! We're not going to let you live like this!" Soarin cried as he rushed forward and bit down on the now fleeing Spitfire's tail. Grounding her before she could escape through the window.
"Let go of me Soarin! THAT'S AN ORDER!" Spitfire screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Spitfire! No one blames you for what happened!" Rainbow Dash said as she came over and offered her a hoof.
"What the hell are you on about!? How did you even find out about this huh!?" Thoughts of jail racing though Spitfire's mind.
"Your mother, Stormy Flare..." Fleetfoot responded sadly. "She died of an overdose a few days ago."
"She what?" Spitfire felt her heart sink lower than it ever had. Taking Rainbow Dash's hoof the mare stood only to nearly collapse again, with Dash catching her.
"Mom's...Gone?" Spitfire asked. "No...Not again. Please not again." 'I didn't know it'd get this bad.'
"Spitfire, did Stormy talk you into this?" Fleetfoot asked gently.
'Here's a taste of your new lagacy honey. I hope you enjoy it.'
"Yeah, she did." Spitfire said as an all too familiar burning sensation filled her eyes. "I had no idea that the seed was that bad. It's like being as light as a cloud, and as fast as a speeding train. It's a feeling that you just can't give up once you've felt it. Everypony on the team was on them back then, and now their all gone...I'm all that's left."
"Shh. It's okay." Rainbow dash whispered as she hugged their now sobbing Captain with a wing.
"I don't know what to do! I don't want to go out like the others did...Please, help me!" Spitfire bawled into Rainbow Dash's chest.
Don't worry Captain! We've got you.!" Soarin said gently as he used a hoof to stroke his friend's back. "We've got you..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Three Years Earlier...)
Spitfire proudly stepped onto a platform that had been raised in the center of Ponyville. She held her head high and had an air of pride surrounding her that she hadn't felt in years. Gathered around were her teamates as well as the friends and family of the pony that the ceremony was being held for. Stepping up to the podium, she cleared her throat before speaking into the microphone.
"Greetings citizens of Ponyville! We are all here to celebrate a mare who's loyalty and hardwork, has forever changed the lives of many of ponies across Equestria. This Mare ahem...I mean this friend needs no introduction, as I'm sure that you are all now aware of my...Less than humble beginings."
"Don't dwell on it Spitfire! We all know you turned out awesome!" Scootaloo called out, prompting some good natured laughter from the crowd.
Feeling a small blush forming across her muzzle, Spitfire quickly looked away and coughed before continuing. "Thank you everypony. That means a lot, and is the real reason why I called for this ceremony. I'll be honest. Rainbow Dash as well as the rest of my team saved my life, and I think that we are all in agreement when we believe that she should be the next Captain of the Wonderbolts!"
Everypony besides the other Wonderbolt's gasped.
"What!?" Rainbow Dash squealed in girlish delight, as she quickly alighted into the air and landed on the stage, a grinning ear to ear.
"Ah ah!" Spitfire raised a hoof. "You've shown that you've got the skill, but I'd like it if we could keep some level of professionalism. You know, until the ceremonies over at least." She whispered the last part in Rainbow Dash's ear causing the mare to give an understanding nod.
"I understand and respect your decision Ma'am." Dash spoke with the proper attitude that any high ranking officer should have.
Spitfire turned back to the mic. "Are there any who are not in favor." She asked the audience. The only response she got was a lone cricket that was hiding in the nearby bush.
"Very well then. It's settled!" Spitfire said barely containing her own excitement, as she gave dash her badge. "I Spitfire hereby pass the title of Captain over to my most trusted advisor and friend Rainbow Dash!"
A chorus of applause and cheers rang out from the crowd as several ponies came up to congratulate Rainbow Dash on her new title.
'Now this is how an initiation should be!...Huh...Mom!?'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwyXMPt6GDQ
Looking out onto the crowd Spitfire could see her mother leaning with her back against one of the near by buildings wearing a smirk that just screamed malicious intent.
As soon as Spitfire blinked her eyes, her mother had disappeared.
"Hey Spitfire, are you coming to the party?" Rainbow Dash asked her, causing her to tear her eyes away.
"Yeah...Of course Captain Crash!" Spitfire said playfully nudging her friend with a hoof.
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash protested at the nickname.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(The Previous Evening...)
Spitfire felt great. Ever since retiring from the Wonderbolts, she felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off of her shoulders. She had a new lease on life and a spring in her step.
Getting ready for bed so that she could travel to Canterlot the next day, to catch up with her old team, Spitfire noticed the fur on the back of her neck standing on end.
'The hell?'
Closing her medicine cabinet she quickly found the reason as she looked into the mirror. It wasn't her own eyes she was staring into, but her mother's.
"You think you can just do that? Just walk away and spit on your dear old mother's grave?"
Spitfire's ears flattened as she turned her back to the reflection.
"I'm sorry for your loss, truly I am, but I can't do anything to you that you already haven't done yourself. It's time to cut our losses and let the past go. Face the facts mom...It was only a matter of time before your addiction caught up with you. Just like everypony else who died."
"Everyone dies my flame." Stormy said quietly. "And I mean everyone..."
An earsplitting scream tore through the upper reaches of Cloudsdale.
Author's Note
Yes I know the prologue is pretty much just a flashback segment. There are a lot of these in my story, so be prepared. Thankfully the rest of them are planned to not be a intrusive or rushed as this one was.
Songs:
Resident Evil 6 ~ Flashback The President's Plan.
Phil Collins ~ No Way Out
Resident Evil 6 ~ Introduction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVDnXpMQd0g
"Woo!" Scootaloo cried estatically as she leaned her head out of the train car's window. "Canterlot here we come! Ack!"
"Scootaloo! Get yer gosh darn head in here before it gets takin off!" Applejack snapped at her from behind as she wrapped a foreleg around the rambunctious pegasi's neck and pulled her back into the train car.
Scoot rubbed the back of her head with a hoof sheepishly. "Jeez! Sorry mom!" She retorted playfully causing the older mare to sigh. Not a day went by that the girls didn't remind her of the time that her overprotective streak got the better of her.
"Ah'm sorry Scoots, it's just, Ah don't want ya'll ta miss tonight's activities.
"Yeah!" Apple Bloom chimed in, quickly grabbing Scootaloo's attention. "Now that we're all twenty one, we can finally go to the Stardust Nightclub!" She said with a great amount of excitement.
Applejack had given up protesting about the girls wanting to visit Stardust, though the look she had was enough for Rarity to jump in.
"I honestly don't see what all the fuss is about darling! All Stardust is, is a high society bar where musicians from all walks of life come to perform."
"And they have some of the best drinks in town at half the price that the more hoity toity bars serve them at." Rainbow Dash added, causing Rarity's eyes to widen.
"Rainbow Dash!" The mare wailed. "I will have you know that Hoity Toity is a very reputable stallion who..."
"Oh for sun's sake! I know that Rarity! I wasn't taking about him!" Rainbow Dash interrupted, exasperated.
"Girls! It's just a figure of speech, please don't fight over it!" Twilight finally spoke up, putting a stop to the conflict and causing Sweetie Belle to snicker.
"Um...Do they have non alcoholic drinks there?" Fluttershy peeped up softly.
"Sure they do!" Sweetie Belle reasured her friend, pulling her into a gentle hug.
"Oh...Ok then." Fluttershy whispered, uncertainly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Five Years Earlier...)
"Bluuaaaargh! Ptth!" Fluttershy hacked, before flushing the toilet, and weakly crawling into bed. "I swear...I'm. Never Drinking. Again..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We have been waiting ever since our twenty first birthdays for this night, so we could have our first adult drinks in style." Scootaloo said as she lit up a long flavored cigar with a plastic tip on the end, filling the car with the scent of strawberry mango creme.
"Yuck, Scoot!" Twilight cried, as she opened the window next to her seat and took in a breath of fresh air.
"Aw c'mon! It doesn't smell that bad does it?" Scootaloo protested with a dismissive flick of her tail, as she passed the cigar to Apple Bloom. This causing Applejack to cringe. Ever since the girls had turned eighteen they had been into these things, much to the others dismay. Applejack being the one to protest the loudest, while Rarity was surprising accepting.
Speaking of Rarity she had quickly placed a decorative sky blue breathing mask over her muzzle before calmly answering
the question.
"It smells rather nice but, it makes it hard to breathe darling."
"It actually does smell pretty good!" Spike agreed, earning a glare from Twilight that could petrify a cockatrice. "Heh heh,
not that I would want to try it or anything." The dragon backpeddled.
POP
The sound of a party popper caused everyone in the car to jump and cry out.
"PINKIE! What in tarnation did ya do that for!?" Applejack yelled to her friend who was leaning against the back wall of the train car nonchalantly.
"So tonight is gonna be the big night when you girls have your first real taste of the nightlife? You know what that calls for!" Pinkie Pie cried, a bright smile lighting up her whole face as she pulled her party cannon out from seemingly nowhere.
Firing the cannon she decked out the whole train car in nightclub themed decorations with snacks and drinks at every table, as well as a mirror ball on the ceiling.
"A PARTY!" The mare cried as the crusaders' eyes lit up.
"Wow Pinkie!" Scootaloo exclaimed as her cigar was passed back to her from Applebloom. "You always seem to out do yourself!"
"Yeah! How do ya do it?" Applebloom asked.
"It's not hard!..." Pinkie explained, with all three crusaders listening intently. After a few moments of silence, Pinkie started hopping in place. "What is everypony waiting for? Oh oh oh wait!" She cried as she swiftly vanished from the room only to appear a few seconds later. "Here we go! Nine invitations, and one for myself!" The pink mare giggled as she handed out the cards, causing several ponies to giggle loudly.
Scootaloo shrugged and wrapped her forelegs around her friends. "'C'mon girls let's get this party started." She said with
a smirk. "I bet I can dance both of you off the floor!"
"Oh yeah Scoot? I'll take yer bet!" Applebloom said with a smirk of her own.
"Oh it is so ON!" Sweetie Belle cried as the three began their dance off. Leaving the other mares to their own devices.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Two Hours Later...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKaurKF4Ky4
Scootaloo and her friends were making their way through the streets of Canterlot. The capital being as vibrant as ever.
"It never gets old being her does it?" She asked idly
"It's like a celebrities dream come true!" Rarity responded in a starstruck manner.
"Hey guys! Over here!" Fleetfoot waved them over.
"How was the train ride Ma'am?" Soarin asked Rainbow Dash, as the rest of the team gave her a salute.
"At ease." Rainbow responded kindly. "It was alright. With the exception of getting my flank handed to me in a dance off."
"Hey! It's not my fault that you were born with four left hooves!" Scootaloo retorted with a wink, causing everypony to laugh.
"Yeah, well if somepony didn't nearly spill her punch on me..."
Ah think mah sis thinks ya have a cute butt!" Applebloom teased, before a red faced Applejack cut her off.
"More like a bulldozer fer a butt! Ya'll nearly took the whole damn table with ya Rainbow Dash!"
"Anyway!" Twilight walked between the two mares. "How was your trip here?"
"It was good Princess." Blaze spoke respectfully.
"It's just, we couldn't find Spitfire anywhere." Soarin mentioned
"Don't worry guys, I'm sure she's here somewhere." Dash offered confidantly.
"I'm sure she is!" Spitfire called out from behind Fluttershy spooking the mare and causing her to let a small 'eep' noise.
"Hey there you are!" Surprise cried as she lept forward and hugged the former Captain.
"Yep, here I am!" Spitfire giggled. "Sorry if I worried you guys, I left for Canterlot last night."
"Why? I thought we were gonna fly together like the old times." Soarin asked.
"I thought so too but, it was really hard to get any sleep last night. I mean...It's been so long since I've been out here."
"Is that all?" Fleetfoot asked.
"Well, I mean, I guess I still feel like I don't fit in anymore." The mare admited guiltily.
"Hey...You may not be the Captain anymore, but that doesn't mean we don't see you as a part of our team." Rainbow Dash reassured her old friend.
"Thank you." Spitfire replied gratefully.
"EWW! That's it, I'm outta here!" Scootaloo cried, throwing her hooves in the air.
The other ponies laughed.
"You know, you'd think she'd catch on to the fact that she's a mare. Sweetie Belle whispered to Applebloom, causing her to chuckle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Ten Minutes Later...)
"Seriously? How gross can you get?" Scootaloo lamented to herself.
"Ay! Pretty lady! Over ere!" A voice called out from a nearby alleyway.
Not caring that nopony was around at this point Scootaloo followed the voice and was quickly greeted by a group of younger colts, the leader easily identifiable from his fancy jacket, and gel slicked mane.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7FLlQGXErY
--*Canterlot Punks*--
Ay, pretty lady! How's bout a kiss for daddy?" The leader asked as his gang surrounded the mare.
"How bout a spanking instead kiddo?" Scootaloo retorted with the raise of an eyebrow.
The mare then swiftly whiped around as the gang leader lunged at her and swiftly kicked her left hindhoof up into the underside of his jaw, before following it up with her right.
"Guuuagh!" The colt yelled as the force of the second kick caused his teeth the grind painfully before launching him into the air.
Scootaloo quickly spun around and caught the falling colt with a foreleg, holding him over her shoulder before throwing him into the two punks in front of her as they charged forward.
'Strike!'
"Ay! Yer gonna pay fer that you cheap bitch! Augh!"
The punk to the Scootaloo's right was swiftly silenced with a back hoof to the muzzle, before Scootaloo lifted him up onto her shoulders and flipped him into the punk on her left.
However before she could celebrate, a hot splash of pain across the top of her head followed by the scent of week old whiskey, then by a pronouced. "Ahhhuugh!" Coming from her own muzzle, Had the mare realise that one of the two bit rapist wannabes had nailed her.
'How'd he do that?'
Turning, Scoot saw much to her shock that the leader had gotten back up.
"So, tha's how it's gonna be ay pretty lady!?" The colt yelled at her in a rage before punching her in the gut, and then landing his own backhoof one the left side of her face.
"Ouuugh!" Scoot cried out before rolling with the last blow to the colt's right side and wrapping a foreleg around his neck. Using all of her weight, Scootaloo slammed the colt into the nearby wall just as a voice yelled out.
"The hell's going on DOWN HERE!?"
Scootaloo turned to see a creature that until just that moment she had considered a myth.
'Damn...Heartstrings was right...Humans are huge.'
"Mr. Hammond sir!? I swear t'is ain't what it looks like!" The leader of the gang that Scootaloo had been fighting quickly protested.
"Save it! I've been following you colts all day!" The man growled in an authoritative voice as he approached Scootaloo with several of Canterlot's guards filling in after him.
"Are you alright miss?" The dark skined human asked as he got down on a knee to speak to her eye to eye.
"Mmmhmm...I just...Need a nap...is all..." Was all Scootaloo was able to get out before succumbing to her own injuries and blacking out on the spot.
Author's Note
Alright! It's finally done. Thank you all again for being so patient with me.
Soundtrack:
Equestria Girls: Helping Twilight Win The Crown Instrumental.
NRGFORCE: At The Gala Orchestral Instrumental
Yakuza Kiwami: Funk Goes On
