Authors Note: I have nothing to say except SPITBURN!

(Also I know one of you unfollowed me because of the 69 joke. I should be annoyed, but that's actually pretty damn funny. Whoever you are, I salute you for trolling me like that! xD)

Drunkenness- Um… if you want that kind of stuff, you can go on Google. I could write an entire essay on why I'm not writing that sort of stuff in this story so I would suggest FIMFiction. Also, I love Feathers and it sucks that I haven't given her much character development until now, so thanks for the praise. And yeah, Newbie Dash didn't suck as much as I feared it would, but it was still pretty terrible… and I didn't notice that picture of her dad in the locker until you pointed it out so cheers. I have to say this as well- I read your comments in the voice of Roxy Lalonde from YouTube's "Let's Read Homestuck". That's not a bad thing; that's a compliment 'cause Roxy's as Drunkenness as you sound. :P

Litestardt- What is up with you readers and suggesting I write this kind stuff this week?! Was it something I said?! What was it?! Enlighten me! Okay, I'm calm now. And thank you for the compliments, Lightning; be sure to get your SpitBurn down below.

Amellia Rose- As always, thanks for reading. Hope this chapter's good as well.

Midnight Star- Holy Celestia, you're really reading this whole thing through again? You, my friend, are a legend! You shall go down in history (this story's history at least) as the girl who suffered through this stuff twice and survived! And I wanna hug you after reading chapter 35 again. I don't know what's more depressing about it, the fact that Typhoon croaks or that it's so frigging long. And don't you worry; I'm never going to give up on this story. No matter how long it takes, I will finish it at some point. And Spring Song's nightmares will be addressed in the future. You… you drew fanart?! Oh my gosh! You have no idea how happy I was when I read that. Welp, if you make an account on the site I could PM you my email and you could send it to me that way? Seriously, thank you so much for making art of my crazy story. You are so awesome! :D *cyberhugs*

Luna'snight625- Aww, thank you! I'm pleased that you enjoy Scootaloo and Feather Duster's dynamic. Those two are very fun to write. ^u^

Captain Alaska- Dear lord, you make my comments on your story wet themselves in terror at the length of yours on mine! First off, yes I despise those cliché things in stories where the couple just gushes about each other to their face. It's making me gag just thinking about it! "Your eyes are an ocean; your breasts are also an ocean." So many things I can complain about with that one thing alone! But we aren't here for an essay so let's continue. The thing I love the most about Soarin and Rainbow's relationship is that it contradicts the above grossness with its mere existence. At first I thought that it would be really hard to write their relationship because of that element, but I've learned to use it as an advantage instead and give a big ol' "Screw you!" to the disgusting lovey-dovey stereotypes. And there's a reason that Soarin and Braeburn are high on my Wall of BROTP's! I just adore those friends who can tease the shit out of each other but they care about each other so much that they can't stay mad at each other. And I feel like Appleoosa's Most Wanted was a little harsh on Braeburn, so what better way to fix your nitpicks than with a fanfic am I right? And yes, Applejack's "WHAAAAAAT?!" was hilarious! And Applejack's been such a joy to write these past few chapters, so what better way to end it than her forgiving his cousin for his carelessness, and him forgiving her in return for being harsh? This is why the Apple Family is the best family! I'm pleased you like the parts with Scoots and Feathers so much (their scenes were my favourites too) and I do like your theory a lot, and it would make a pretty great backstory for Feathers. It would definitely make a lot of sense, given that low self-esteem can often lead to people pretty much hating the world they live in. Feathers would likely try to get back at the world by becoming a villain (even if she sucks at it). You get bonus theory points for the Wreck-it Ralph comparison. And both of your theories for why Feathers told the stories that she did are great! Plus, it gives PsycholoSass an opportunity to emerge! Feathers' attempts to teach Scootaloo to fly may very well be for the reasons you described; Feathers would hate for a filly to wind up a mess like her, so she'd probably do anything in her power to keep that from happening. And I could talk about option B for hours! Option B is a very real thing that a lot of people unsatisfied with their lives would do; they would create an entirely different backstory for them to come across as cool to others. After all, who would want the boring truth when you could have an amazing lie? I'd know! I like to pretend that I crashed down to earth from another universe on a meteor! But yes, Feather Duster does have a lot of potential to be a great pony, and maybe at some point she'll realize that for herself.

Now without further ado, let the chapter commence! It's time for the moment we've all (maybe) been waiting for! Squee!

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Tempest and Free Fall trotted down the hallway to their dormitory, deep in conversation.

"…okay, but a herd of orcs, and the entire Celestian army would totally take over Maretropolis is this scenario," Tempest explained to his friend. Free Fall sighed and rolled his eyes. The two of them had been having this argument for most of the day… it felt like it had been going on for months though.

"No, remember that Saddle Rager is still alive, and we managed to worm Super Mare into this somehow. You'll need to get past them first," the cream stallion replied. Tempest chuckled.

"Wrong! Orcs are magical creatures, and Super Mare is vulnerable to magic. Plus, Saddle Rager was already killed by the Wonderbolts and Drakezilla!" Tempest argued. Free Fall was a little embarrassed that they had put so much thought into this imaginary crossover battle. But there was no way he was going to lose it.

"Well then why don't I send in Celestia and Luna to wipe out your army?"

"You're really going to send in two God alicorns against their army… and orcs?!"

Before they could continue any further with this, something sped by them, almost frightening the pair out of their fur.

"Sorry!" the whatever-it-was apologized as it galloped down the hall. Free Fall took a second to calm down after his initial scare and glanced after the pony.

"Hey, isn't that the cook? Wonder what's got him like this?" he wondered, scratching his chin in thought with a hoof. Tempest scoffed and tapped a hoof on the ground impatiently.

"Who cares? We have more important things to talk about, dummy!" the orange stallion glared at his roommate. "You can't tell Celestia to destroy her own darn army!"

---

Braeburn burst out the entrance doors and onto the steps. Glancing up at the sky, which was still turning pink, he reckoned that Spitfire wouldn't have left yet. Taking a breath to try and calm down, he thought through his plan… oh dear Luna he didn't have a plan!

He had seriously just thought that he could come out here, run into her on the way out and convince her that they should start talking again. This was weird! If he just hovered around out here until she came out he would seem like some kind of creepy stalker. And he didn't want to scare her! Darn it, why didn't he think this through better?!

He suddenly realised that he needed to take the time to construct a more efficient course of action rather than shout at himself in his head, so he trotted down the steps and sat on the clouds beside them. Feather Duster's garden was beginning to bud, he noticed, which amused him because who knew that Feather Duster cared about any form of life.

Okay… she wouldn't blame him for doing this, right? This was something that needed to be done, and at this point did it really matter how creepy it made him look. This may be the only way he would even get her to look at him. Yes, he told himself, this was the right mind-set to be in. It's her fault if she ignored him… remember what Applejack said. He was in love with this mare, and like heck he was gonna let this opportunity slip through his hooves.

He jolted with shock as the doors creaked open, and he backed up, flattening himself against the wall of the Academy and gazing up as a familiar voice nattered on from above.

"I swear that it was Misty Fly who drew most of the-"

"Surprise, I don't care. As long as Misty cleans it up like she promised I couldn't give less of a damn about crude drawings on the tables. Got it?"

Braeburn felt that familiar pulsing in his chest as he heard Spitfire's raspy yet lovely voice. It felt like it had been an eternity since he'd heard it. The two mares started trotting down the steps and across the clouds, and Braeburn knew that they could fly off at any moment, so he needed to find some way to get Surprise to leave. It needed to just be him and Spitfire.

"I'm surprised you're taking this so well," the white mare giggled, "then again, as long as someone cleans the table, why should it matter? Feathers sure as hay isn't going to do it, so Misty's our newest Savior of the Tables…" she stopped walking for a second to think. "Hmm… I might even have to thank her… nah, she'll get a big head about it if I do."

Braeburn trotted to the bottom of the steps, clearing his throat. Surprise's ears pricked up and she glanced over in his direction, but thankfully he hadn't been loud enough for Spitfire to hear. She saw him and froze, not quite knowing how to react. Before the excitable pegasus could alert Spitfire of his presence, he put a hoof to his lips to signal her to be quiet, and then pointed a hoof at the golden captain, who was still walking as if she hadn't even noticed her best friend had left her side at all.

Surprise gave the earth pony stallion a nod of understanding, and rushed to catch up with Spitfire. "Whoopsie-doopsie, I just remembered!" she announced loudly, making Spitfire jump a little. "I have to go to the bathroom… at my house!" she spread her wings quickly. "See ya later, Spitz! PCHOOOooooo!" she yelled as she rocketed off in a flash, leaving a trail of clouds in her wake. Spitfire stared after her in a state of confusion for a few more seconds before shaking her head and turning around.

This was his chance.

"Ma'am!" Braeburn called out to her, trotting towards her, quick enough to let her know he wanted to see her, but not slow enough to give her too much time to escape. If she decided to fly off there was no way of going after her… sometimes Braeburn's lack of wings depressed him.

Spitfire let out an audible gasp and whipped around, orange eyes bright and wide. Braeburn gulped and spoke again.

"Ah… Ah need t-to talk to you… just fer a second…" he said timidly, trying to keep his voice loud enough for her to hear him, even though he felt nervous enough to just burrow into the clouds and hide. Spitfire shifted her eyes around a bit before beginning to trot away.

"I, uh, I have things to do right now," she called back hastily. Braeburn picked up the pace until he was beside her, trying and failing to make eye contact with her since she was glaring straight ahead.

"It won't take long," the earth pony insisted, trying to remain calm. Spitfire sighed and looked up, judging the wind's speed and direction as quickly as she could in order to see how she could get out of here the fastest.

"I don't have time," the pegasus tried to get him to get the heck away from her. Braeburn was determined to get her to listen to him, though.

"Please, all Ah need is a minute-"

"Not right now Cowboy," she spread her wings and slapped him away with her right one, "could you just leave?" she didn't give a flying feather about being polite right now.

Trying not to let her words sting him or make him back down, he tried again. "I just need to say that-"

"Ugh!" Spitfire groaned and took off.

With such speed and confidence that he surprised himself, Braeburn leapt up into the air after her and caught her tail in his teeth. Gasping, Spitfire was dragged back down to the ground, but was so unprepared for it that she wound up flapping harder to try and get away; all this did was create a whiplash that sent the pair of ponies crashing down and rolling forward (and causing a little strain to Braeburn's neck).

Putting the pain aside in favor of completing the task at hoof, Braeburn tried to focus and get the world to stop spinning around like a crazy carousel of clouds and agony. Once he stopped rolling, he did the first thing that came to mind… he sprung to his hooves and swiftly pinned Spitfire to the cloudy grown below, where she had landed on her back. Spitfire shook herself back to her senses and stared up at Braeburn… yeah, it was more than a little awkward. Finally, Spitfire realised exactly what the heck was happening.

"What the- get off me, you crazy redneck!" Spitfire delivered a few rough punches to the earth pony's forelegs. It kinda felt like his knees were being bashed by a couple of bricks, and it took every ounce of Braeburn's willpower not to scream or get off her. After Spitfire had ceased slugging him, she decided to use verbal persuasion instead of physical persuasion (assault).

"You'd better have a damned good reason for holding me down like this, Cowboy. I'm not afraid to dislocate your jaw if I have to." She threatened, and while the idea of getting a military-trained hoof to his chin sounded like one of the most painful things ever, he couldn't be a wuss and give in.

"Ma'am, never in mah wildest dreams would Ah think o' holdin' ya down like this unless I knew it was important. Besides, Ah'm stallion enough to take whatever punishment ya give me fer this insubordination." That last part was an obvious lie, but hopefully he wasn't giving that away. "I apologize fer my actions but Ah'm just so desperate to talk t' you."

Spitfire just regarded him with hostility for a little while before simply crossing her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes at him, waiting for him to say something. Braeburn awkwardly looked away from her, hoping with all his being that nopony would wander outside and see the two of them in this compromising position.

"Um… Ah'm just… Ah'm r-really sorry about what happened the last t-time we talked," he stuttered a little, suddenly breaking into a cold sweat. He was pinning down and lecturing the captain for crying out loud. "Ah'm not sure what it was that upset you, and Ah know ya probably don't wanna talk about it, and Ah won't make you! Ah just want t' apologize so we can at least talk to each other again." Great Celestia, this was harder than he thought. Every word was a struggle to get out of his mouth; the fate of his friendship with Spitfire rested on this encounter. So far it was just awkward. She probably thought he was pathetic or insane for doing this… it was pretty darn stupid in hindsight. "It's just… Ah only wanted t' make ya happy. And I failed… and Ah'm sorry."

"Okay-" Spitfire started to say, raising a hoof.

"No, Ah mean what Ah'm sayin', Spitfire. Ah'd do anythin' to make you happy! Ah'd… repair things fer you; anythin' you wanted, whenever you wanted! If your TV broke in the middle of the night, Ah'd still be over right away t' help!" he explained to her, meaning every single word and being pleasantly surprised by how easily the words were coming out now.

"I don't want you to-"

"I could do better than that, actually! Ah'd bake things for you whenever ya wanted, and Ah could even come over t' your house and cook somethin' for you if that's what ya needed from me. Or- or maybe we could just go out somewhere and have dinner if you preferred that... or not if that would make you feel awkward." He paused for all but a moment before continuing on his long-winded rant. "We could just order takeout, or if you didn't want me t' be there I could just… Ah'm not sure- post snacks through your letterbox?" he began to ramble. Spitfire attempted to get him to shut up again.

"Listen, you don't have-"

"If you ever needed t' take a day off work 'cause you were ill, Ah'd train the cadets for you," Braeburn carried on, forming a constantly expanding list of all the things he would do for her in his head, "and Ah could bring ya soup to make you feel better. Any soup! Tomato, hay, daisy, and why limit it to just soup, Ah'd get you literally any food ya wanted! Or if ya wanted to read somethin' instead Ah have a lot of books I could lend you."

"That's very kind, but-"

"Ah'd do anything to make you happy, Spitfire! Ah'd paint the entire Academy, Ah'd throw out my hats, Ah'd never eat another apple for the rest o' my life, Ah'd-"

"Braeburn!" Spitfire slapped a hoof over the earth pony's mouth. He probably would have stopped talking even without the hoof covering his word-hole. She… she'd only called him 'Cowboy' before now...

The golden pegasus gazed up at him with a look he had never seen on her before. It was like she wanted to say something, but couldn't figure out how to start. He sure as heck knew how that felt because of this very encounter. Finally she just sighed and rid herself of that expression.

"I'm not mad at you…" she confessed, and this warmed Braeburn to his core. She didn't hate him? He felt his worries evaporate a little, and he started feeling a little less awkward. "I don't need you to do anything for me, except calm the heck down," she ordered him, raising her voice a tad. Still not being allowed to talk, Braeburn nodded slowly, and Spitfire removed her hoof from his lips, folding it across her chest again.

"I'm… I'm s-sorry, too." It sounded like she was forcing the words out, which didn't really surprise Braeburn. This was Spitfire after all, and he imagined that this was very hard for her; even harder than it had been for him to confront her. "What happened… it's just complicated okay. You didn't know about it, and I overreacted. It was wrong and unfair of me to shun you the way I did, and I screwed up the entire Academy because of it. I guess I was just too ashamed and embarrassed to suck it up and get over myself." she looked up at him, struggling to maintain eye contact with him. "Don't feel bad."

Braeburn had many questions dancing in his head right now. He stood up and backed away a little, sitting down on the clouds beneath his hooves and watching as Spitfire moved to sit on her own haunches. "Do you wanna talk about… whatever made you so upset?" he asked gently, scooting closer to her. Spitfire sighed and stared down at her hooves.

"No, I don't…" she told the truth. Braeburn wanted to know. He wanted to know more than anything. He wanted to know what was happening in the mind of this mysterious pegasus. It was driving him insane that he couldn't help her out. If only he knew…

But he respected her privacy, and he wouldn't push her any further into revealing anything. If it would keep her happy then he would leave the subject alone for now. Trying to keep his breathing steady, he raised a hoof and put it on the mare's left shoulder comfortingly, smiling softly at her.

"Do you think you'll ever be able to tell me?" he asked her, feeling a little nervous. He wasn't asking her to tell him now, but he was afraid of her misinterpreting it and believing that he was.

It was rather chilly outside that day, and when Braeburn peered closer at the mare before him, he could see that she was shivering a little as the cool breeze rippled through her golden fur and made her mane ruffle. Not being able to stand seeing her cold, Braeburn stood up and shook off his brown vest, picking it up and reaching behind the captain to drape it over her shoulders. She emitted a quiet gasp and looked from Braeburn's hooves on her shoulders to the stallion, and then to the ground. Braeburn couldn't bring himself to remove his hooves from her shoulders; just being able to have such meager contact with her was exhilarating. After a moment, Spitfire glanced up and gave him a little smile, which of course caused his heart to skip a beat.

The pegasus sighed and shrugged. "Maybe, okay," she finally answered his question, "but not now."

"And that's alright," Braeburn said silently, not certain why he had lowered his voice like this since nopony was around to hear them, "but if you ever change yer mind or wanna get it off your chest, Ah'll always be here for you. You can always come t' me. Understand?"

Spitfire let out a soft chuckle and smirked. "I do." She answered him. "And, again, I'm sorry." She sighed, finding it a lot easier to say it the second time around. Braeburn chuckled and removed one hoof from her shoulder to grab one of hers, which got her to make a rather adorable squeaking sound. Judging by the groan that followed, she'd noticed she'd made the noise, as well.

"Quit apologizin'. Fer all Ah care, this is history; it'd be okay if we just put this behind us and moved on, right?" the earth pony asked the pegasus, and after a few seconds she nodded slightly.

"Yeah… I acted like an idiot, and like heck I want to remember that." She sneered at herself. Braeburn laughed and looked her in the eyes again, more confidently this time.

"Ah wouldn't call you an idiot, ma'am. You aren't even close to one; you had yer reasons to react the way ya did after all. They must be perfectly equitable, right?" the stallion comforted the captain. Spitfire nodded again.

"They are…" she agreed, "but I don't wanna think about them, please." She tried not to sound too desperate. It was kinda funny… the mere thought of the incident used to shake her to her very roots, but after these last few weeks she'd seemed to improve. Sure she still felt stick to her stomach whenever she imagined the faces of the ponies she'd lost, but at least she could think of her sister's name now without completely breaking down.

Maybe it was Applejack? She had no idea how to describe that mare… the words "kind" and "patient" were the first to enter her mind. Perhaps it was because of the way she had listened and helped. She wasn't proud to admit it, but nopony had turned her mood around so drastically in a long time. There was even a small, childish part of her that saw Applejack in a sisterly light, but that would be like replacing Typhoon, wouldn't it?

Or maybe it was Surprise? The white mare had been her most trusted companion in these troublesome times. When this had happened before, she had stuck by her side and kept her company until she was mentally healthy enough to get back to work. She hadn't really appreciated it until now, and she kinda wondered if Surprise was offended by that at all. She had shouted at her friend a lot over the past few years and any normal pony would have gotten pissed off and left a jerk like that alone. For once Spitfire found herself quite relieved that her friend wasn't a normal pony.

Heck, perhaps it was a little bit of all the Wonderbolts. They had done an exceptional job of not broaching the sensitive subject with Spitfire, and she cherished them all because of that. As annoying, crazy and obnoxious as the majority of them could be sometimes, at least they cared for her enough to not make her descend into madness (well maybe they drove her a little mad sometimes…)

But she knew that Braeburn was the one who had started all of this. If not for him then this never would have happened… and she wasn't sure if she was pleased about that or not. He may have made her do some pretty shitty things, but she couldn't help realizing that it had made her stronger. The help she had received because of it, and all the things that Surprise had tried to get her back to normal (yes, even the crappy slumber party) had helped her out one way or another. At least the slumber party had helped her feel normal in comparison to the other guests. But this stallion seemed to have awoken something inside of her… she'd tried to ignore it at first but he'd been making her feel happy before that night. Everything he did seemed to be out of the kindness in his heart- supporting her at Surprise's birthday party, repairing the fog maker on the air obstacle course, and that time he'd simply made her coffee- and it was amazing and confusing both at the same time. It was so rare to find a pony like this, and in a way she considered herself lucky to have met him. She felt lucky to have him care about her of all ponies.

Applejack's words began to ring in her head. "Braeburn really likes ya, Spitfire… more than Ah can say." Her breath hitched and her heart pounded in what she convinced herself to be terror. Did he…? No way…

"Are you crazy? Stop thinking things like that…" the little pony in Spitfire's head snapped at her, but for some reason she couldn't help thinking about it. The questions, the feelings, the hope were all spinning in her head like a tornado, and she found herself looking the other pony in the face, feeling uncharacteristically determined and emotional.

Braeburn met the eyes of the golden pony and felt his brain go numb… holy Luna's mane, she was beautiful. He was aware that if he moved forward a few more inches then their muzzles would meet. All of a sudden he felt like he had wings of his own, like he was completely weightless and floating with Spitfire in the stratosphere. He'd not really understood the concept of Flying when Soarin had explained it to him, although it had fascinated him, but now he could completely see the appeal. Maybe not to the extent that pegasi could but this had to be a similar feeling, right?

Before he could contemplate these feelings and thought any more, he felt Spitfire put her left hoof on his right shoulder, and he was snapped back into reality, staring right into her nervous-looking eyes. Dear Celestia, was this happening…?

Cautiously, Braeburn leaned down towards her, face flushing and heart pounding like a bass drum. He moved his hoof so the captain could rest her cheek against it and closed his eyes to lessen the anxiety, shutting out the rest of the-

"AAAH! IF ANYPONY'S DOWN THERE LOOK OUT!"

Braeburn and Spitfire leapt backwards just in the nick of time for a pegasus to plummet down from the sky and crash into the clouds where they had been sitting, a number of letters exploding into the air.

After shaking the stars from his eyes, Braeburn glanced at the crashed pegasus and stood up to assist her. "Are you alright Miss Hooves?" the earth pony helped Derpy to sit up. The grey pegasus groaned and her eyes crossed for a couple of seconds before she shook her head and straightened them out.

"Oh, hi Braeburn!" she said cheerfully, which was a little odd considering that she'd just landed on her face. "I'm fine… I was just heading down here when my mailbag blew into my face. Kinda screwed up my sense of direction… and vision." She giggled nervously. Spitfire trotted over with the letters in her mouth and put them in Derpy's mailbag for her.

"I think I got them all," she said, a little too confused right now to be mad at Derpy for crashing. Then again it's not the first time she's crashed near the Academy. Wave Chill and Lightning Streak actually had a chart in the staff room that recorded the number of days it had been since Derpy's last crash

"Thanks captain," Derpy stood up and took a moment to un-ruffle her wings, "so do either of you know where Soarin is. I'm delivering his new issue of Pie Digest." She explained, nodding down at the mailbag.

"Ya mean this?" Braeburn pointed down to the clouds where Derpy was sitting. Looking at the clouds below, Derpy spotted the magazine underneath her back right hoof. "And he's probably in Dorm Room 7," he remembered Rainbow Dash's dorm number.

"Oh, thanks," Derpy picked up the magazine and put it back in her mailbag, giving both of the ponies a smile, "it was nice seeing you two. Catch ya later." And with that she trotted off in her usual cheery manner, leaving the other two ponies behind. There were a few moments of silence and staring at the ground before Spitfire cleared her throat and made her way over to Braeburn, grabbing his vest from its place around her shoulders and draping it over his back.

"So um…" she began to say, before taking a couple steps back, "I'd better be getting home." She spread her wings and prepared to take off, giving the stallion one last quick smile and a perfect view of her rosy blush. "See ya tomorrow, I guess," and with that she was off.

"Bye…" he said dreamily to his empty surroundings once she was gone.

Braeburn had to sit there for a few more minutes to run through what had just happened. Had they… had they really been about to… to…? No way, right? She may have just mistaken everything for comfort before he went for the plunge… maybe he'd made her uncomfortable?

But he couldn't help wondering if maybe she'd been about to reciprocate. His mind was racing faster than the Wonderbolts themselves… what if she hadn't been mistaken? What if that had been an actual moment!

With those thoughts still swirling in his head, Braeburn turned and headed back inside to catch up to the others, with a spring in his step and the dopiest smile on his face.

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Endnote: PSYCHE!

As if I'm going to finish their arc here when there are so many possibilities to make their story go on for longer! Anyway, I hope I catered to the SpitBurn fans' needs and that they're happy with the fact that their tale is just going to get even fluffier from here on out.

Also it's about time Derpy showed up in this story again. ^u^