The Scholar and the Wonderbolt: a Twifire prompt collab

by caveman0803

Duty by Outcast9851

Duty

By

Outcast9851

“Company! Attention!” The cadets quickly fell into formation, some still shivering from the cold mountain air but for the most part ignoring it on behalf of their officer’s order. “Present arms!” Instantly, the group threw their right forehooves into a salute, a tribute to the mare walking in front of them.

Twilight Sparkle paid them no mind as she continued her march into the Wonderbolts Academy proper. The heat and power of her own rage served as more than enough insulation, and the nip in the air hardly seemed to bother her. From behind, she could hear the company shuffle about, wondering amongst themselves how long they should hold a salute to a princess who didn’t seem to have any intention of returning them to rest.

When the princess burst through the doors, she was met with all the opulence the Air Force could afford. It wasn’t much, just a lot of banners from graduating classes of the academy. There was a display showcasing various medals and commendations won by several of the Wonderbolts and an entire wall covered with photographs of the showteam meeting with celebrities. The sheer quantity was enough to blow a new recruit’s mind away.

In fact, if she had been in a better mood, Twilight would have taken the time to admire the decor, as she always did when visiting the academy, but then was not the time. Ahead of her was a T-intersection, with a single guard standing post in the center of the two hallways. Good, the alicorn thought to herself. He would serve her purposes just fine.

Upon noticing her, the guard quickly snapped to attention. “Afternoon, ma’am.” The generic greeting would have to be forgiven, as it was the only thing he was technically allowed to say to her without being spoken to.

“Captain Spitfire, where is she?” Twilight’s words were quick and decisive. The tone was concise enough to get the point of urgency across, but not so desperate that the airpony would start asking questions—a skill she had mastered since embracing her new role as a military commander. One more thing, she reminded herself, that she would have to thank Spitfire for when this was all over.

“The captain has asked to not be disturbed, ma’am.” Twilight shot him a look—that “do what I say or I’ll bash your skull in with my mind” look— and the stallion quickly caught on. “She’s in her office, ma’am, down by the ASF bay. Would you like an escort?”

While the guard was quaking in his boots, Twilight couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. It was difficult to limit one’s rage to the pony they’re angry with. In an effort to somehow make up for the lack of compassion, she quickly looked at his rank patch and responded. “No, thank you, Staff Sergeant. I’ll be fine.” She turned down the right passage, leaving the poor thing cowering behind her.

Navigating the Academy was a difficult matter at first, before she started spending at least a day out of every week there. These days, however, finding the good captain’s office was a simple, dreadfully boring affair. Thankfully, time flew by easily as she wandered the halls, eventually coming up on the door she was looking for.

Equestrian Air Force
Spitfire, Captain
Academy instructor/HAWC liaison

Twilight brought a hoof to the door, ready to knock, but decided against it. Best to not let her quarry know she was coming. Instead, she lowered a hoof to the doorknob and steeled herself. Turning it quickly and barging into the room, the princess almost screamed to the captain seated at her desk inside. “YOU’RE GOING WHERE?”

Spitfire quickly brought herself to her hooves, as did the stallion sitting across from her. “Princess, ma’am,” the pegasus began, stuttering slightly as she tripped over the words. “I wasn’t told to expect you. I would have prepared a formal greeting.”

Twilight caught herself from melting at the voice just in time. “Don’t play dumb with me, ‘Captain’!”
The captain let out a long sigh. “Sergeant Major, you’re dismissed. Report back to the ASF at 0800 hours tomorrow.”

“Acknowledged, ma’am.” The stallion left the room, softly closing the door behind him. Alas, the two were alone.

“I missed you, too, Twi.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to war?” Twilight’s resolve was faltering, tears building in her eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Spitfire chuckled a little. “Probably because I’m not going to war.” She saw her marefriend’s confused expression and continued on. “It’s a three month command assignment organizing patrol missions over the changeling border. I’ll hardly even be in the air.”

“Oh…” Twilight began. “I got the letter saying that you were going to be on duty, and I know you’re technically with the Air Force, so I just assumed that…”

She was silenced by the golden hoof on her lips. “No war, Twi. Not on my watch.” She lifted her hoof and gave the royal a small kiss. “It’ll just be three months. And I know that our anniversary is in there too. So I promise I’ll make it up to you when I get back.”

In that short little speech, Twilight had heard Spitfire address every last concern that she had, but something still didn’t feel right about three entire months of separation. “What if I went with you?” she proposed, prompting a questioning look from the airpony. “I could go out to the border and be a base commander, or something, and then we’d be together still for our anniversary. Win-win, right?”

“Two things wrong with that, the first being fraternization. You’re worth my job, but not if it can be avoided. Second, you know as well as I do that this isn’t your duty—it’s mine. So when I leave in two weeks, you need to do me a favor and hold down the fort while I’m gone. And do try to be waiting for me when I come back.”
Twilight let out a tear as she jumped on her marefriend, pulling the pegasus into an almost bone-crushing hug. “I’ll be counting down the seconds.”

Comments

[Oddboy]

Nitpicking time!

While Twilight is royalty and technically Spitfire's superior, she isn't part of the Air Force nor is she a military officer which makes me wonder if the rules about fraternization apply to her. She's, as stated previously, royalty, so if that rule does apply then it isn't impossible that she can choose to ignore it. It isn't like anyone other than Celestia or Luna can tell her no (I personally assume that while Twilight is a princess of the throne, her authority isn't yet equal to Celestia and Luna due to her youth and inexperience).

Nitpicking time over.

[jazzie366 FLUFFKIN]

D'aww!

[Archangel of the Silent]

5603968 hey, I'm glad you enjoyed itM if you want, you could head over to my page and give the individual story a thumbs up!

Hey, Caveman. Have you linked to my individual story? If not, could you do that? I did independently publish before you, so that seems fair.

[jazzie366 FLUFFKIN]

5615518 Which story is it?

[Archangel of the Silent]

5615522 duty, if course. I independently published a little while ago.

[jazzie366 FLUFFKIN]

5615524 Mkay, just wonderin.

[Archangel of the Silent]

5603281

isn't part of the Air Force

That's a headcanon issue. I relate the Wonderbolts as something akin to the Blue Angels (United States Navy). And while yes, Twilight (being one of the highest-ranking military officials in Equestria) is allowed to ignore such trivial rules, martial law still applies to a Captain of the Air Force.

[Oddboy]

5618298 That's just the thing. Twilight isn't a superior military officer. She's not military. Does the fraternization law even apply? To either of them?

[Archangel of the Silent]

5618313 she's the superior military officer. A "Commandant" to a G-5 Commander or Fleet Admiral, if you will.

[Oddboy]

5618323 Given that I have very little understanding on how military ranks work beyond the painfully obvious, I'll take your word for it.

Edit: We're both assuming Equestrian military works anything like Earth military. It might not. Though, I guess it doesn't matter.

[Archangel of the Silent]

5618333 basically, fraternization is "any relationship between grade-difference members of a military that could interfere with military readiness or standards".

[Donraj]

5618337 Wouldn't it follow that if Twilight has both higher rank than everyone in the Equestrian military and is at the top of their government (which is not known to be subject to any laws or checks) she has the authority to declare that their relationship does not interfere with either of those things?

[Donraj]

5618337 Also what's the next word?

[Archangel of the Silent]

5648063 talk to Tater. He knows.

[Donraj]

5648187 Who's Tater?

[Archangel of the Silent]

5648251 if you check my collab thread there should be a link to his page. He's the next author.

[Donraj]

5648297 Oh, in the TwiFire group? I was looking for a link in the story description.

[Archangel of the Silent]

5648301 so was I, hut CM refused to let me manage the collab.

[Knight N Gale]

So is this going t be continued?