Stormy Flare Suffers a Heart Attack

The sight of seeing her mother being dragged away on a stretcher was clearly a distressing moment for Spitfire. Today was supposed to be a joyous day, a day of celebration! The day when her mother would watch her win the Wonderbolts Derby, and be there to shower her with praise and even a bit of embarrassing motherly affection! But instead, it was now being spent in the waiting room of Canterlot General Hospital for any word on her mother;s condition. That was the worst part, the waiting. Unable to do anything but just sit there until somepony, a nurse, a doctor, perhaps even just an intern, could tell her what had happened and what was likely to happen next.

“Take it easy, Spitfire,” Soarin commented, trying to rub his captain’s back. “Just calm down. It probably isn’t as serious as it looks,” He optimistically expressed, even though he knew that was probably a lie. “Your mother’s a fighter, she’s sure to pull through this and it’ll be a distant memory before long.”

Spitfire wouldn’t listen and simply kept her head away, looking down at the floor.

“What makes you so sure that it isn’t serious?!” She snapped, talking in a very low, but angry voice. “She is my mother, Soarin! And everything that happens to her is serious! So, don’t go saying that it’s nothing serious, because it is serious!”

The sounds of Spitfire’s angry voice caused her second-in-command to jump back slightly, but for Rainbow Dash, she couldn’t help but feel sort of worried for her. Spitfire was a hero to Rainbow Dash, and even though there were times that she had upset her, there was no reason that Spitfire deserved to go through this.

“Spitfire, I wish that I could make this go away.” Rainbow Dash sighed, unable to say anything else.

“Well, you can’t, Rainbow Dash!” Spitfire furiously replied, still looking down at the floor. “How would you feel if the only family in your life was fighting for her life right now?! My mother made me into the pony that I am today and the last thing I want is to see her…her…”

Spitfire couldn’t finish her sentence, and was now struggling to keep her emotions in check. Getting up from her seat, all the Captain of the Wonderbolts could do, was just pace around the waiting room back and forth.

“Captain.” Soarin sympathetically whispered.

For the next few minutes, all the Wonderbolts could do, was watch their leader nervously paced around back and forth. Awaiting, perhaps, news that her mother, the only family she had, had expired right on the operating table. The wait was agonizing for Spitfire as well as for the rest of the Wonderbolts, even more agonizing than the events with Wind Rider, as he had only tried to frame Rainbow Dash for sending a letter to send Spitfire away, in an effort to get her kicked out of the Wonderbolts for good.

“What can we do?” Misty Fly asked Fleetfoot.

“Nothing, but wait,” Fleetfoot answered. “I’m going to go out for a fly. Let me know when news about Spitfire’s mom comes out.”

...

The clock continued to tick, and time continued to pass, with still no word on Stormy Flare’s condition. Spitfire was now beginning to grow more and more desperate for news, fearing for the worst. Finally, a nurse came into the waiting room and turned towards Spitfire.

“Miss Spitfire?” The nurse called, she looked like she could pass for Nurse Redheart’s younger sister.

“That’s Captain Spitfire to you!” Spitfire retorted, causing the nurse to jump back slightly.

“Um, yes, would you please just come with us?” The nurse recovered, motioning for Spitfire to follow her and not the rest of the Wonderbolts as she added. “Family only.”

Nervous, Spitfire followed the nurse and soon found herself in the room where Stormy Flare was being held. Spitfire’s heart sank when she saw her mother lying in a hospital bed, slightly groggy but very weak.

“Mom!” Spitfire cried, tears forming in her eyes as she dashed to her mother’s side. “I was so worried about you!”

“Well, you needn’t worry, my dear,” Stormy Flare replied weakly, as she was embraced by her daughter. “It will take more than this to bring me down,” She then added. “I don’t know how it happened, Spitfire. My chest had been acting up for a while, and I didn’t know why.”

“Your chest was acting up?!” Spitfire exclaimed. She was no doctor, but she knew that was hardly something to be taken lightly at any age. “Why didn’t you tell me?! I could’ve had a doctor come to visit you and we could’ve avoided the scare at the derby!”

“I hadn’t attended one of your shows in a while,” Stormy Flare responded, coughing slightly. “My chest was bothering me, but that wasn’t going to stop me, Spitfire. I’m a former Wonderbolt, I know the risks.”

Sighing, Stormy Flare looked up at the ceiling of her hospital room and coughed slightly.
Seeing her mother, her hero in a hospital bed was clearly a concern for Spitfire.

“Mom, please tell me that you’re going to be fine,” Spitfire pleaded, her voice filled with despair. “I can’t bear to see you like this! I mean…I…I could have lost you!”

…

Just then, the door opened to reveal a caramel colored unicorn pony in a white doctor’s coat, holding what appeared to be a file of papers in his magic aura.

“How are you feeling Miss Stormy Flare?” he asked. “Is the medication we gave you in the ER helping you?”

“What kind of medication, doctor?” Spitfire asked with concern. “What did you give her?!”

“Medication to restart her heart,” The doctor answered, causing Spitfire’s mouth to drop open in shock and horror! “I’m afraid that your mother suffered a mild heart attack. It’s a good thing she was brought here so soon, even a slight delay in getting help could’ve been fatal!”

Spitfire couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Part of her wanted to just curl up and cry like a little foal, but she was a Wonderbolt and not just any Wonderbolt, she was the Captain of the Wonderbolts. And the captain most certainly didn’t cry. “Are you certain that she suffered a heart attack?” Spitfire asked, her voice now filled with shock and disbelief.

“We are very certain,” The doctor remarked, trying not to show how annoyed he was. He’d had the loved ones of patients ask him these sorts of questions all the time. “Her heart was at a point where it wasn’t beating, and we had to use shock therapy to get it started again,” He explained to Spitfire. “Tell me, has she been under any kind of stress lately?”

“Stress? Me? I don’t think so,” Stormy Flare answered. “It’s just been coming out of nowhere and I don’t know what it is that’s been happening to me.”

“Apparently, mom never told me about this,” Spitfire replied, then she asked. “So, what does this mean, doctor? Is my mom gonna be okay?”

“Well, I will say this,” The doctor somberly stated. “Your mother is at an age in her life where her stress needs to be monitored very closely. If she suffers another heart attack, it could be fatal. And therefore, we can’t take any chances. If I could make a suggestion, I suggest that you spend some time with your mother while she recovers. You may not get a lot more chances, especially if you have a family history of heart diseases as could be the case. A family history puts you at greater risk of having things such as a heart attack.”

Spitfire was shocked to hear this, as she was now facing the inevitable task of taking time out of the Wonderbolts.

“But, what about…?” Spitfire asked, however her mother intervened.

“Find somepony to fill in for you,” Stormy Flare interjected, turning towards her daughter. “Besides, didn’t we talk about spending time together? Just the two of us?”

“We did, but…” Spitfire started to reply, but to no avail. In her mind though she was thinking. “How’s the team is going to handle itself without me?” One thing was for sure, Spitfire now had some serious thinking to do.