Spitfire sighed, as she leaned back in her desk chair, and eyed the clock on the wall. “They’ll be here any minute.” She thought to herself, and straightened herself out to look professional. She didn’t like what she was about to do in any sense of the word, but she knew that she had to do it, such was the life of the young captain of the Wonderbolts.
Just as the clock struck two, there came a knock on Spitfire’s office door. “It’s open, come in.” She instructed.
The knob turned slowly, and into the room trotted Bow Hot Hoof and Windy Whistles, both of whom looked quite concerned. Who could blame them? Being called into the office of the captain of the Wonderbolts, and not for a social visit, would be enough to unnerve even fellow cadets and team members. Parents of a Wonderbolt would surely be intimidated as well.
Spitfire got up from her chair, and made sure to shut and lock the door, before she instructed to Bow and Windy. “Take a seat and get comfortable. We all know why you’re here.”
Bow and Windy didn’t bother to say a word in protest, they obeyed without question. They strolled over to two chairs Spitfire had prepared for them, and slumped down into them without saying anything. Spitfire made sure to maintain eye contact with them and tried to read their body language for visual cues about how they were feeling, so that she might know how to best proceed with what she was about to say and do. Alas, she couldn’t get much out of the two other than the fact that they were clearly unnerved, and for good reason.
For a couple of minutes, nopony said or did anything. They looked all around, occasionally making eye contact, but mostly just glancing at everything and anything else that caught their eye. It seemed like no one wanted to say a word, and each were waiting for the other party to speak up first.
At last, Spitfire decided it would have to be her responsibility to start the discussion. “Celestia help me and keep me from losing my cool.” She thought to herself, as she reluctantly cleared her throat and began to speak. “Alright, Mr. and Mrs. Dash, or do you prefer Bow and Windy?”
“Either one’s fine,” Bow quickly replied. “I suppose Bow and Windy would work better for the discussion though.”
Windy nodded. “Look, before you say anything, Spitfire, we just want to say that we’re sorry. I know that doesn’t make what we did okay or anything, but we know why you’re upset with us.”
“Do you?” Spitfire asked, trying not to sound angry. “Because your actions and behavior over the past few days has definitely given me a lot to talk about,” With a sigh, she then began her lecture. “We’ll start from the beginning. I know you two are Rainbow Dash’s parents, but you are still civilians. And civilians aren’t allowed on academy grounds without permission, so already you were breaking a rule, a very important one at that. The last civilians who showed up at the academy without permission, were involved in a hot air balloon crash that could’ve ended in disaster without the quick thinking of our cadets.”
“We didn’t mean to intrude on you in the middle of practice, but we didn’t see any kind of security or anything when we arrived,” Bow explained to Spitfire. “So we assumed nopony had a problem with us being here. We’d have been willing to wait for permission or obtained the necessary paperwork if that was required.”
Spitfire reluctantly realized that Bow made a good point. “Fair enough, I’ll definitely need to recheck the security detail so that this doesn’t happen again. So I suppose I can let the trespassing slide, this time,” She then warned. “But don’t let it happen again. In all my years as captain, I’ve never had a civilian injury on academy grounds, and I’d like it to stay that way.”
Windy gulped, looking across to her husband. “I take it that doesn’t mean we’re not still in trouble?” She reluctantly asked Spitfire.
Spitfire firmly nodded. “Now we have your cheering turbulence to discuss. You disrupted Wonderbolts, including myself, in the middle of practice. And I think you should know, we don’t just practice for shows and performances. Our help is sometimes needed across Equestria to help ponies in distress, so we need to be at the top of our game for those situations,” She proceeded to add. “Not to mention, the noise pollution could’ve prevented us from hearing any other flyers that might have been nearby, or an important announcement over the speakers. It can get pretty noisy up in the air, and any bit of excess noise could be a danger to us and to others. I trust you already got the fine for your excessive cheering in the mail, correct?”
Bow nodded. “Yeah, we’ve already sent the check. I thought the fine would be higher though, it only cost me half a retirement paycheck.”
“Did you have anything to do with lowering the fee for us? Because if so, thank you.” Windy smiled.
“Since nopony got hurt, I figured you two could get a lighter fee for your first offense,” Spitfire replied. “However, that’s about as far as my generosity can go I’m afraid. I still have rules to uphold, and if I started giving exceptions to anypony who broke them, just because they didn’t know better, then there wouldn’t be any rules.”
“Are you talking about-” Bow began.
Spitfire nodded, as she interrupted. “Yes, you two shooting off fireworks in the middle of our show in Canterlot! I don’t know if the rules have changed since I was last in Canterlot, but I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to use fireworks without a license. And even if you two did have a license, permit, or some form of valid permission, that still wouldn’t give you the right to shoot the fireworks during one of our shows! Fireworks and other pyrotechnics have to be run by me prior to the show and with at least half a day’s heads up first!”
“We didn’t mean to cause any trouble, we tried our best to aim them so nopony would get hurt.” Windy apologized, trying not to look too guilty.
“Again, you’re lucky nopony did, otherwise I’d have probably bared you two from Wonderbolts shows all together!” Spitfire said seriously, pausing to take a few calming breaths, before she added. “You two should’ve known better, and should’ve thought before you decided to use fireworks during a Wonderbolts show! At that point I was starting to see why Rainbow Dash never bothered to tell us about where you two lived, I’ve had to deal with careless and obnoxious fanponies before, and a couple of times I’ve had no choice but to remove them from shows. So if you two don’t want to meet the same fate, I need you to promise me that you will NEVER shoot off fireworks in the middle of a Wonderbolts show without prior permission from me, or whoever is acting captain if I’m not available! Understand?!”
Bow and Windy slowly nodded. “Yes, Spitfire.”
“Alright, I hope I can trust you two to keep your word,” Spitfire cautioned, moving onto the next subject she wanted to discuss. “And now we come to perhaps the most important thing I need to discuss with you two. Your excessive fanponyism at events, and even in the academy locker rooms. There were at least a dozen and a half complaints filed with us after our ‘Meet the Bolts’ event in Canterlot, and the ribbon cutting ceremony we were invited to. All of them had to do with your loud cheering disturbing the peace, and how your actions were ruining the event for everyone else in attendance. Many of them were pretty peeved about your behavior, and I can see why. You two are Dash’s parents, but you were acting like kids, even though you should’ve been setting an example as functioning members of society!”
Bow and Windy said nothing, they knew there was nothing they could say or do to make up for that. Heck, Rainbow Dash herself had chewed them out for that kind of behavior in the locker room, and the words still stung.
“I apologize if I sound mad,” Spitfire went on, lowering her voice a tad bit but not losing the serious tone. “But I want you two to realize just how serious this is. What you did was unacceptable, disruptive, and even dangerous,” She then asked them. “Do you remember when you interrupted Rainbow Dash in the middle of the ribbon cutting ceremony?”
“Yeah, we certainly haven’t forgotten, and after the lectures we’ve been getting, I don’t think we ever will.” Bow replied in an unhappy tone.
“But nopony got hurt, right?” Windy asked in a hopeful but also worried tone.
But much to the surprise of both Bow and Windy, Spitfire trotted closer to them, and showed off her tail as she gave the response. “Unfortunately, somepony did. Me!”
“But, I thought your tail was always like that.” Bow commented, scratching his head in confusion.
Windy gulped. “Actually, it isn’t. I know because I shook wings with Spitfire. I saw what her tail is supposed to look like,” She then asked. “But, how did it end up so short? Did we do something to cause it?”
Spitfire firmly nodded. “Rainbow Dash cut my tail with the scissors, because you two distracted her and made her slip,” She explained quite seriously. “You’re quite lucky that tails grow back! Imagine for a second though, what could’ve happened?! How would you have felt if your actions caused Rainbow Dash to slip and cut somepony with the scissors?! Somepony could’ve gotten hurt, or worse!”
Neither Bow or Windy bothered to say anything, they were horrified at Spitfire’s implications! They didn’t even want to think about what could’ve happened in that hypothetical “What If?” scenario!
“Now do you understand?!” Spitfire asked, looking the two firmly in the eyes. “This is exactly why Rainbow Dash asked me to give you two this talk, even though I really didn’t want to be the one to do it. Your actions and behavior over the past few days, were putting other ponies at risk of being hurt or even killed, not to mention you were ruining the fun of Wonderbolts events for everypony! This kind of fanponyism is a danger, to yourselves, and to others! So, do you two understand now?! Do you realize why it is that your own daughter snapped at you and told you off?!”
Spitfire paused for a moment, realizing she was on the verge of exploding. She retreated, and took a few deep breaths to calm herself, before she told Bow and Windy. “Look, I’m not mad, at least not absolutely one hundred percent mad. I’m definitely peeved, and yes, I know that’s not a word to repeat in polite company. But Rainbow Dash was worried about the way you guys were acting, worried about what might happen if somepony didn’t set you straight. She asked me to do it, specifically because she was hopeful that if she wasn’t the only one telling you off, you’d listen.”
“Well, I guess that’s our daughter,” Bow commented, once Spitfire had finished. “Leave it to her to teach us a lesson.”
“I just can’t believe we were so thickheaded and didn’t realize it for ourselves,” Windy added, her lips quivering a bit. “Some parents we turned out to be. We were so eager to show support for our daughter now that she got to live out her lifelong dream, that we let it blind us to our own careless and inappropriate behavior.”
Bow sighed, as he felt a huge wave of guilt wash over him. “How could we ever look ourselves in the mirror after all of this? Maybe we weren’t meant to be parents?”
But Spitfire immediately shook her head. “Perish the thought. You two may have gone overboard with your fanponyism and put others at risk, but luckily for all of us, it was stopped before anypony got hurt,” Then, tapping a hoof to her chin, she softly added. “And you two aren’t the first parents of a Wonderbolt to get carried away with being supportive. In my time as captain, I’ve dealt with a lot of over enthusiastic parents. Heck, I dealt with an experience not unlike Rainbow Dash’s with my own mother, Stormy Flare.”
“Stormy Flare? Why does that name sound familiar?” Bow asked, scratching his forehead with a hoof.
“Did she use to be part of The Wonderbolts? I seem to recall her being with them at some point.” Windy commented, though she couldn’t remember if that was true, or if her mind was playing tricks on her.
“That’s because she was, she was actually their captain for a brief amount of time,” Spitfire explained. “But that was before she met my dad and retired to settle down and raise a family. Growing up, Mom never really talked about Dad much, she just said he passed away before I was born.”
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry to hear that!” Windy exclaimed. “I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like.”
“It’s fine,” Spitfire replied, not even shedding a tear. “That just meant Mom and I were really close. She used to tell me stories while I was bouncing on her knee, stories about her days as a Wonderbolt. They inspired me to become a Wonderbolt in my own right, eventually working my up to the rank of captain. And when she found out about this, my mom was practically over the moon! She started showing up to every Wonderbolts show and event to cheer me on, kind of like you two with Rainbow Dash.”
Bow and Windy said nothing.
“At first I thought it was harmless enough, even if it was a tad bit embarrassing,” Spitfire went on, continuing her story. “But as time went on and my mom’s cheering and hollering only grew in enthusiasm, I started to get a tad bit annoyed. I tried telling her to stop, but she wouldn’t listen. Eventually, things reached a boiling point about three months after I’d been promoted to captain,” Spitfire seemed to hesitate, and looked a tad embarrassed, before she cleared her throat and continued. “Maybe you’ve heard about how we Wonderbolts have these nicknames for each other, it’s all in good fun more or less. But my nickname, well the story behind isn’t very pleasant.”
“We won’t tell anypony if that’s what you’re worried about.” Bow promised.
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Spitfire said as she shook her head. “What I’m about to tell you, is something that even to this day I’m still kind of embarrassed by. So I don’t usually talk about it. If you’re going to hear it, you have to promise not to laugh.”
“We won’t. I’m sure whatever it is, it won’t even be all that funny.” Windy commented.
Spitfire looked all around, and double checked to make sure the door to her office was locked. “Alright, but consider yourselves warned. It’s not exactly a pleasant story,” She began, clearing her throat. “So, I was in the middle of a performance, and my mother was in attendance, cheering me on as usual. Already, I was feeling a tad bit under the weather. So, anyways, my mother’s cheering kept getting louder and louder. And I found it very distracting. In fact, it was so distracting that I forgot to watch where I was going. I bumped into Misty Fly, who bumped into Soarin, who bumped into Blaze, who bumped into Surprise, and the chain reaction caused to break formation. But it also had another effect on me.” But Spitfire refused to say more.
“So what happened?” Bow reluctantly asked.
Windy nodded. “Yeah, that’s not where the story ends. Right?”
“You really wanna know, huh?” Spitfire asked, and when Bow and Windy nodded in unison, Spitfire sighed, pulling them close. “Alright, I’ll whisper it you.” And she proceeded to do so. The looks on Bow and Windy’s faces when they heard it, were mixes of surprise, disgust, and goofy smiles.
“So anyways, after that happened,” Spitfire reluctantly went on. “I was pretty darn furious with my mother. So I decided I had to give her a piece of my mind, after I’d changed out of my flight suit of course. I told her that I appreciated her support, but she was really embarrassing me, and that was keeping me from performing at my best. But at the same time, I knew that my mother must be lonely, since I was the Wonderbolts captain all. So I made a promise that, if she agreed to keep her enthusiasm in check and stop embarrassing me all the time, I’d try to take time off every now and then to come and see her. And it’s a deal we still honor to this day. My mom comes to every show she can to cheer me on, and whenever I find a break in my busy schedule, I make sure to fly home and spend my free time hanging out with my mom.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet.” Windy commented, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Do you think we’ll ever be able to have that kind of parent/child relationship with our own daughter? Especially after the way we embarrassed her so much?” Bow asked Spitfire. “She’s probably still kind of mad with us if she asked you to lecture us.”
“It’s not my place to say,” Spitfire replied seriously but kindly. “If Rainbow Dash wants you two to be a part of her life, it’s up to her to make that decision. I will have to have a bit of a talk with her about why she never told me about you guys, or I would’ve sent you a letter informing you of your daughter becoming a Wonderbolt. All I can say is, regardless of what happens between you and Rainbow Dash, please try to remember that you’re not the only fans in existence, or the only ones who can say they’re parents of a Wonderbolt. You need to make sure that you don’t ruin the fun for others. You can cheer and be a fan like everypony else, without having to go overboard. Do you think you can remember that?”
“We’ll try our darnedest!” Bow vowed, and he and his wife got out of their chairs. “Come on, honey. Let’s see if we can’t find Rainbow Dash and give her a proper apology now that Spitfire’s set us straight.”
“Yup, she apologized to us, now it’s our turn to do the same for her,” Windy added. “If not, well I hear she’s bringing Scootaloo by to visit us tomorrow. So I guess she’s not too mad at us.” And with that, both pegasi left Spitfire’s office, closing the door behind them.
Once Bow Hot Hoof and Windy Whistles had left, Spitfire looked at her desk. “Something’s missing here,” She thought to herself, looking at the vast empty space on her desk. She bent down and opened up one of her desk drawers, grabbing a worn picture frame that had gathered quite a bit of dust. Frowning, Spitfire blew the dust away and wiped the picture inside the frame clear with a wing. She then set said picture on her desk, next to her academy sunglasses, and turned it so that it was facing towards her. “Ah, much better. Can’t believe I’d forgotten about this.” The picture was of a younger Spitfire, perched on her mother’s lap. Both had a bright smile, as Spitfire was clearly looking up at the sky, while Stormy Flare stroked her filly’s mane with a hoof.
Looking at the picture reminded Spitfire, her next scheduled day off wasn’t for a few more weeks. But maybe, just this once, she could bend the rules with a “Wonderbolts Emergency” and leave the academy in capable hooves. Surely, if it meant she’d have a chance to visit her mother again, her teammates wouldn’t be too mad, right?
Author's Note
I knew I had to write something like this after “Parental Glideance”, the episode really would’ve benefited from someone calling out Bow Hot Hoof and Windy Whistles for their behavior.
As for Spitfire’s nickname, well you can draw your own conclusions about it. If you think you know what it is, post it as long as it’s PG (remember this fic is rated Everyone).
