Rain of Fire

The thunder rumbled as the lightning flashed.  Rain poured from the heavens above.  The door cracked open as a soaking wet yellow pegasus tiredly walked in, her head hanging low, mane dripping wet.  It had been a long weekend and Monday was about to begin.  She had many duties to attend too.  Spitfire was a captain in the Wonderbolts, an elite protecting fighting force for the Equestrian Nation.  She did something she hadn't done in a long time, and that was stay out late with some friends.  The weather turned sour on her, and she might have had a few too many drinks as well.

Spitfire rubbed her sinuses and sniffed as she used a towel to rub her wet face.  Her flank vibrated.  Startled, Spitfire jumped, then realized it was her phone.  She checked to see a message from her friend, Soarin'.  It read; "Hope you got home safe.  See you tomorrow."  She smiled and nodded to herself.  She spent a few minutes to brush her teeth, wash her face, then wearily crashed on her bed, not even putting the covers over her.  She fell asleep within minutes as the rain poured outside.  The wind swirled, and it swirled right in through her open window.  The wind whirled around her room, and rushed by her already wet hair, and made it colder.  It was going to be a cold night.

The morning had come, but you wouldn't know it looking outside.  The skies were gray, and it was still raining.  An alarm sounded and Spitfire slammed the clock hard.  It went off every ten minutes for the next hour until a trumpet was heard playing.  Spitfire's eyes opened wide at the sound of the trumpet and she looked over at the clock.  She had slept in well past what she meant too.  She was needed in the yard for role call, RIGHT NOW!

Without time to even think, Spitfire grabbed her uniform, put it on, and quickly tried to style her hair in a somewhat presentable way.  She grabbed a handful of granola from a box, downed it, and chugged down a big glass of water.  She quickly flew out of her room and to the yard.

The wind wasn't as bad as last night, but it was a cold, wet, and blustery day.  Already Wonderbolts were lined up in their troop formation.  Spitfire landed down beside some of the other higher ranked officials, including her friend and co-worker, Soarin'.  He smiled at her, then double taked and whispered to her, "You look awful."

Spitfire frowned and sniffed.  The sniff startled her, because she realized her nose was stuffed.  She was in such a hurry, she hadn't paid attention.  She sniffed again as she began to feel mucus running from her nose.  Her throat was also really dry and scratchy.   She turned to the side and gave a few quick coughs.

A Wonderbolt handed her a clipboard and she nodded at the comrade.  She had to read each name on the list for role call.  She cleared her throat and tried to speak up, but her voice was weak and cracked.  She pounded her chest a few times, but couldn't speak up.  She nudged Soarin' and whispered to him, "Do me a solid and take role call for me today.  I promise I will make it worth your time."

Soarin' just nodded and smiled and began going down the list as Spitfire stood behind him.  As she stood there, she began thinking how horrid things were going to be if she was sick.  How can she be a strong Wonderbolt captain if she was taken down by a simple common cold?  She didn't want to admit she had a cold, but common sense had beaten stubbornness in a rather early victory.  The wind blew, and she shivered, hoping Soarin' would hurry with his list so she could go hold herself up in her warm, cozy office.  She sniffed again, but this time there was a tickle in her nose that didn't go away.  It kept teasing the inside of her nostrils as if it were a feather tickling her side.  Her nostrils flared as she quickly prepared for release.

"HaaaaaAAAEEESSSHHOOOoooooo!"

The sneeze was loud and wet, but Soarin' kept reading, not even hesitating.  She opened her eyes and noticed her troop was still only paying attention to the role call.  Her nose was still tickling and she could tell she would need to sneeze again.  She didn't want her troop to see this weakness, but she figured they weren't paying attention to her, so she committed and allowed the next sneeze to come.  Her nostrils contorted, her jaw went slack, and her eyes squeezed shut as the next sneeze took complete control of her body.

"Hhhheeerrrssshooooooooie!"  But it continued.  "Hehhh Heeh AAAASSSSCHHHHHHhhhhooooooooo!"  The second sneeze raised her hind quarters and caused her to double down as a string of mucus wildly danced from her left nostril, then wrapped around under her chin.  She opened her eyes and noticed Soarin' looking back at her, then he faced the troop again and continued with role call.  She noticed a few eyes one her within her troop as well.  Trying to regain face, she wiped her chin and rubbed her nose, then stood still.

After the role call, Soarin' handed her the checklist.  Spitfire had a concerned look on her face as she stood before her troop.  She tried to muster as much vocal strength as she could, but it still wasn't enough.

"Troop, today's agenda is to continue with your routine training.  I don't want any fooling around until lunch time. . ."  Spitfire's right eye twitched as a tickle surged back into her nostrils.  They flared big and wide, enough that it was extremely obvious for anyone in the first few rows.  She cleared her throat trying not to think of the sneeze and continued.  "After lunch I want you to work on your team building . . . sniff . . . team . . . teh . . . teahaaam . . ."

Spitfire's eyelids covered her eyes as her head raised up and chest puffed out.  "Haaaaaassshhoooo!"  Spit flew from her mouth as she didn't have time to turn away from her troop.

"Haaa Huh Haaaaaaaa HHHAAATTTSSCCHHHEEEW!"  She turned to her side and misted her side.  Sarin' quickly stepped aside to avoid the barrage of foreign invaders.

Seeing Spitfire was in a predicament, Soarin's stepped in.  "You heard your captain.  The usual routine for the day.  Lets move guys.  Break!"  Sarin' ordered as he stood in front of Spitfire, covering her sneeze fit.

"Haaasssphhleeww!"  "Huh . . . Haasssssshhheeww!"  Spitfire wiped her nose again and rubbed it feverishly.  "Thanks Soarin'."  She smiled sincerely.

"I got an order for you, Spits.  Two actually."

"What are they?"  Spitfire asked weakly.

"Go lock yourself in your office so you don't get me sick."

"Done."  Spitfire nodded.  "What is the second one?"

"Say it, don't spray it."  Soarin' said with a smile as her ribbed her.  Spitfire tried not to smile, but did.  She couldn't hold it in.  "I've got it from here."  Sarin' reassured her.

"Thanks."  Spitfire said as she headed off to her office.  Another two sneezes consumed her as she walked away, each cause her to shake and double over.

The rain continued to come down, but it didn't fully rain out the fire.