Author's Note

Hehe, he.
so, first update in, what, ten months?
sorry, I had this written, but I couldn't figure out the ending? hopefully I have a better writing schedule now.
sorry agen! expect updates!

Chapter 5

There was a flash of light and all 7 Wonderbolts and the one alicorn of friendship appeared in Canterlot Castle. They were all still staring at Spitfire, who was crying, and Soarin, who was hugging Spitfire and glaring at them.

“Twilight!” Princess Luna cried, rushing towards them. “Your back! How did it-” she saw their expressions and stopped, her smile disappearing. “What happened?”

“I’m actually not really sure.” Twilight admitted.

“Luna, what's going on?” Princess Celestia asked, trotting around the corner, but then she spotted them. “Oh, Twilight!” she smiled. “Did you find anything?”

“There was a castle in the area, but it was completely destroyed.” the violet alicorn said. “There wasn't anything to find, but I did try to gather samples.”

“That’s not true.” Rainbow realized. “Spitfire found this amulet. I think it was completely undamaged. It was in the clearing you teleported us from.'' There was a flash of light and Twilight was gone. A second letter she reappeared, the amulet in her magical aura.

“Couldn't you have mentioned it was on one of the skeletons?” she asked, looking a little green. Princess Luna levitated the amulet over.

“This had a very old preservation spell on it. Old enough for it to have been cast before Equestria was even formed. It was destroyed about ten years ago, I think.”

“Skeletons?” Princess Celestia repeated, looking worried. “What do you mean, 'skeletons'? And what happened to Captain Spitfire?”

In the next few minutes, they told Princess Celestia and Luna everything they knew about what happened, which actually wasn't much. They hadn't been there long, thankfully.

Princess Celestia tapped her chin thoughtfully.

“You said they were all pegasi, correct?” She confirmed with Twilight. The newer alicorn princess nodded.

“All the skeletons we saw had wings, so I’m pretty sure. Why?”

“In Commander Hurricane's Diary, there are several mentions of another group of pegasi that branched off from the original tribe. There is a possibility that this is the same group he mentions, especially if you take into account how old the amulet is.” she gestured to the necklace in question.

"Wait, hold up," Rainbow Dash said, breaking into the conversation. "What do you mean 'branched off'? Why would they leave the rest of the tribe?" Princess Celestia sighed.

"They had strange powers, according to the records. They could control some of the natural elements, such as air, water, and fire. They were called manipulators, and their abilities, manipulating." The other ponies shuddered.

"What an awful name." High Winds commented. "they certainly don't sound very nice." Princess Celestia shook her head.

"It’s impossible to tell what they were like. The pegasi were highly suspicious of them, and there are hardly any records of them. Perhaps they were just normal ponies that the rest of the tribe was fearful of because of their abilities." She sighed, "It wouldn't be the first time rumors and speculation drove ponies away. However, there isn't anything we can do about that now." Princess Celestia turned her concerned gaze to the Wonderbolts Captain. "What happened to Spitfire?" High Winds glanced at Spitfire.

“I’m not sure. I think she was mostly fine before we got to the ruins, but when we re-grouped she was sobbing.” the older Wonderbolt turned to Rainbow Dash, “you were with her while we were exploring the ruins, right? What happened?” RD shrugged.

“She was quiet through most of it, but when we landed in this clearing, she went over to a skeleton and found the amulet, then she just started crying. I have no idea why.” Fleetfoot flapped her wings worriedly.

"I don't think I've ever seen her like this, she's normally so, well…" she paused, unsure how exactly to finish that thought. The ponies who did know Spitfire filled in the bank.

Closed off, temperamental, commanding, and not very open with her emotions, especially her negative ones.

“What would you expect?!” Spitfire suddenly burst out. They all turned to look at her in surprise. “What if you saw your home destroyed right in front of you? What if you returned years later to find it lifeless and the skeletons of ponies you knew, respected, and loved burnt to a crisp? What would you do if you found your mother's body, charred but her prized possession completely undamaged?'' She gestured to the amulet floating in Princess Luna’s magical aura. “What would you do?!” At this point she was sobbing once again, tears were running down her face, and she was trembling severely. Soarin pulled her back into his wings, not meeting their gazes. The other ponies in the room were having trouble understanding what was going on. Even Princess Celestia was at a loss.

“Wait, home? Destroyed?” Fleetfoot said, starting to piece things together. “You used to live there?” Spitfire was crying silently, and Soarin answered instead.

“We were both born there,” he said quietly, keeping his eyes on the fire-maned mare.

"So you're both manipulators," Princess Luna asked accusingly. Soarin scowled at her.

"we are NOT manipulators." he said frostily, "I'm a Wind Rider and Spitfire's a Fire Dancer. Those are the proper names for it, not manipulators." The atmosphere of the room was tense until Fleetfoot broke in.

“When was it destroyed? How could anything destroy something so huge?”

“I was almost 12 when the castle was attacked. Spitfire was a year younger." Soarin said quietly, "There was a fire, the flames were back and impossible to control or put out. It burned everything, water was useless. We barely managed to get out. Before we flew away we saw this huge cloud of black and red smoke with glowing red eyes, just like the one we spotted yesterday.”

“No wonder you acted so weird.” Surprise realized. The other Wonderbolts winced.

“I…” he looked up at them. “Yes. Seeing it again… was… terrifying.”

“Perhaps it wouldn't be best to talk about this right now.” Princess Celestia suggested. “This is a bit too sudden for any of us to understand. For the time being, you could stay in Ponyville with Princess Twilight and fill her in when you're ready.“ Soarin shared a look with Spitfire and sighed.

“That sounds like the best option.”

“I could teleport us there.” Twilight said. She glanced at the fury-maned mare. “It might be easier.”

“Thank you Princess.” Spitfire whispered, not looking up. Twilight blinked.

“Uh, you're welcome..?”