That Saturday, Spitfire did something she thought she would never, ever do: she wore a dress. Nothing fancy, just a yellowish-orange sundress, but it was still a dress. She headed towards the front door.
"Dad, I'm going out," Spitfire said, opening the door. Her dad looked at her.
"Woah, where are you going all dressed up?" He asked.
"Out," Spitfire said simply, "I'm...meeting Soarin' and Blaze and we're...going to a fancy-ish place to celebrate...graduation."
"Oh, ok," Sunflame said. Spitfire stepped outside into the warm air. The sun shone dimly above her as she trotted over to the nearby resteraunt. There she met ThunderScam, who was wearing a red plaid jacket.
"Hey," He said, "You look nice."
"Thanks," Spitfire smiled, "So do you." They went inside and had dinner, after which Thunder walked Spitfire home.
"Thanks," She said, "So, I'll see you tomorrow at training."
"0700 hours," Thunder said, saluting. Spitfire saluted back and walked inside.
A month later, a terrible illness had come to Sunflame, and the doctors feared he wasn't going to make it. They hadn't told Spitfire this yet, though. Everyday she would visit her dad in the hospital.
"How's the academy?" Sunflame asked weakly.
"It's-it's good," Spitfire said. A memory flashed inside her, of her sitting at this exact bed, in front of her mother, "Everypony's doing good. Soarin' and Blaze are helping train classes."
"That's good," Sunflame coughed, "That's good."
"Hey, uh," Spitfire looked at her dad, "The Gala is coming up soon. And, y'know, like usual, Princess Celestia gave you a ticket. Are we, um, still going?"
"I...don't know," Sunflame sighed. Suddenly, he started coughing loudly. Spitfire took a step back as nurses came rushing in. They started yelling and gathered around the stallion. Spitfire was pushed into the wall as she watched fearfully. Finally, silence. The only sound was a one-tone beep.
Spitfire's heart sunk.
The nurses backed up, allowing Spitfire to walk forward. She stared down at her father, laying completely still in the hospital bed. Spitfire was silent for a minute before breaking down into quiet sobs. A nurse walked forward and set a hoof on Spitfire's shoulder.
"I'm sorry," She said quietly. Spitfire shook the nurse's hoof off and bolted towards the front door, tears staining her vision as she ran through the building and out the doors, flying to the academy. She galloped through the halls of the building and burst through the office door. She skidded to a stop and walked slowly to the desk. She put her front hooves on top, set her head on her hooves, and sobbed.
The next day, Spitfire was in an office, sitting in front of a pony wearing a black suit and sitting at a desk.
"First of all, I'd like to say sorry for your loss," He began, "Would you like me to read?" Spitfire nodded, "Ok. Ahem. 'I, Sunflame, leave half of my money to my cousin, Sundress, in hopes she uses it to start her own fashion store. And lastly, I leave the rest of my money, my house, and the Wonderbolt Academy to my daughter, Spitfire, in hopes that she will run it even better than I ever could have.'"
Spitfire stared in shock. The academy? She...owned...the academy?
"I...I…" She didn't know what to say, "Th-the academy?"
"It appears so," The pony smiled, "Congratulation." Spitfire walked out in shock a few minutes later. ThunderScam, Soarin', and Blaze were waiting outside for her.
"So?" Blaze asked, "What did he leave you?"
"I...I," Spitfire was still speechless, "The academy."
"The academy?!" The three cried.
"That's so cool!" Thunder said.
"You're, like, the boss now!" Soarin' said. Spitfire nodded. The four flew home, and Spitfire entered her house. she looked around at the quiet, lonely room, sighing as she walked up to her room.
A month later, Spitfire was running the academy quite well, but she had changed a bit. Her additude was more firey, and she usually kept to herself when she wasn't teaching. Today Spitfire was coaching Thunder's class. She watched them from the ground as they expertly went through the obstical course. She sighed as she looked around and had a few memories.
One was of her five-year-old self and her dad, watching the students fly above them. Another was of her a year later, flying around as her dad watched. She had come crashing down to Earth, yelling 'I got my cutie mark!' Tears stung her eyes under her glasses, but she rubbed them off. Things just weren't the same anymore. She looked up suddenly at the sound of screaming and saw a tornado!
"HEY!" Spitfire yelled, blowing her dad's old whistle and flying up, "STOP! STOP!" She braced herself and flew into the tornado. The others watched from the ground as the tornado slowed to a stop and Spitfire and ThunderScam landed.
"What was that?!" Spitfire yelled at her coltfriend.
"Sorry, I...I guess I just got carried away," Thunder said. Spitfire groaned and sighed.
"Class dismissed," She mumbled, flying off. Thunder stared after her and, after standing there a minute, flew after her. He found her in her office, looking over papers.
"Hey," Thunder said.
