Just a Normal Dayby Lil PenpusherChaptersThe Early Morning HoursTiresome PaperworkNot Quite Done YetThe Early Morning HoursA loud beeping noise interrupted the silence in Spitfire’s home. A staccato ritual — three loud, high pitched beeps — followed by five seconds of silence. The disturbance continued for about half a minute. It finally stopped when Spitfire disabled it at its source, the alarm clock that sat on her bedside table. A long, loud yawn followed as Spitfire sat up in her bed, stretching both her hooves and wings. ”Morning already?” she asked herself as she jumped out of her bed. She put on her favourite Wonderbolt slippers that stood by her bed and slowly but steadily marched out of the room. The tired Wonderbolt Captain rubbed her sleepy eyes as she walked down the hallway towards the bathroom, passing by many different photographs that hung on the wall. Some showed her and her family —one even held a vision of her grandma that she barely knew due to her premature death— although most showed her and the Wonderbolts. She felt proud. To her, the images showing her and her team were just as valuable as those of her actual family. In a way, she thought, the Wonderbolts were her family. She was responsible for them, cared for them, even feared for them when times got tough. But they had done it all, through thick and thin, they had remained united and strong. A soft groan escaped Spitfire’s mouth as she reached for the door handle, accidentally missing it due to her sleepy vision. After rubbing her eyes once again though, her second attempt was more successful. The bathroom of hers wasn’t particularly luxurious; not that any part of her home was particularly ostentatious, but it was more than enough for what Spitfire needed. The mare looked over to her right where the shower stood, slowly walking towards it after closing the door behind her. She gently pulled off her slippers and put them beneath the towel rail, which held two medium-sized towels, one yellow and one orange-coloured. Spitfire reached for the yellow one and quickly, though quite orderly unfolded it and laid it down next to the shower. A few months back, water had started leaking through a small hole in the shower screen, and she had yet to have the time, or motivation to fix it. Instead, she had gotten used to the problem, preparing two instead of one towel for her shower: one for the ground, in order not to slip when she stepped on the wet ground, and one for, well, herself. It had become natural for her over these past couple of months. The yellow-coated mare stepped into the relatively small, constrictive shower and closed the screen behind her, knowing that, as usual, it would start leaking a small bit. She stroked her mane once before the water poured down on her. The lukewarm liquid finally woke her up from the half-asleep state that she had been in. For about a minute she stood there, idle, as she let the refreshing water pour through her mane and down her body. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, taking a deep breath. Her mind drifted off to what was ahead – her daily routine and training session at Wonderbolt Headquarters. She smiled at the thought. She truly did love her job, even when it was sometimes frustrating, annoying or even dangerous. It was just what she wanted, and nothing else could or would ever satisfy her the same way. She opened her eyes and reached for her shampoo, briefly turning the water off as she mixed the shampoo into her mane. Spitfire had never really been into long, fancy manes; fashion wasn’t her thing at all, but she was truly thankful for having a relatively short mane that was quick and easy to handle. The yellow-coated mare put the shampoo back into its place and turned on the water once more. She stroked her soaked mane as the water ran through it. She looked down just in time to see the white foam of the shampoo whirl down the drain. The water stopped as Spitfire gave out a short, light-hearted sigh. She opened the shower screen and stepped outside, onto the yellow towel which, just as usual, was largely soaked with water now. She once again reached over to the towel rail and grabbed the orange towel this time. After trivially drying most of her body, she put the towel back onto the rail, which followed the other, yellow one. The mare then turned and walked over to the sink, briefly looking into the mirror that hung over it. Once again, she lifted her right hoof, grabbing the hair dryer that laid on the edge of the small sink. She pressed the button and proceeded to dry her mane, followed by her tail. Once again, she was glad to have a reasonably long mane so it didn’t take forever. About ten minutes later, Spitfire sat in her kitchen, eating a cheese sandwich while listening to the radio which stood on the dining table. Next to her plate stood her favourite coffee mug, which had “Best Captain Ever” printed on it in bright yellow print. It was a present the other Wonderbolts had made for her to celebrate her birthday four years ago. She loved it straight away. Spitfire used to be freaked out by the complete silence that would fill the room during breakfast, so she quickly bought herself a brand new radio which she could not only use to break the silence but also to listen to some of her favourite songs. Unfortunately, as she quickly realised, her home didn’t have a great reception, and so she only had one channel to choose from, which, to her dismay, was a rock channel. It annoyed her greatly at first – so much, in fact, that she’d often turn the radio off completely, but later, she learned that the silence was more terrifying than rock. The only thing that sucked about it was that she often kept hearing it when attending the newbies at Wonderbolt Academy, who would consistently listen to their ‘jam’ the entire day, save for training sessions. As the song on the radio ended, Spitfire stood up and picked up her plate and coffee mug. She opened the dishwasher and raised her mug to her mouth one last time, taking a big final sip. She quickly put both her dirty plate and mug, into the dishwasher and shut it again. She once again turned towards the dining table as the speaker on the radio was announcing an upcoming concert in Cloudsdale Stadium. Spitfire turned off the radio and walked out of the kitchen. She took her warm, comfy brown jacket off of the coat hook next the front door. Like any Wonderbolt, she, too, had one of these. Her cutie mark was sewn onto it, just like her nickname. The pegasus did not waste any more time and pulled on the jacket. As usual, it was a perfect fit; trusty and comfortable. Spitfire took a small breath as she opened the door, taking in the early morning breeze as she stepped outside. She shut the door and locked it, storing her keys in one of the pockets of her jacket. The Captain unfolded her wings and swiftly catapulted herself into the sky. At long last, after all the same - old mundane morning routine, the fun was about to commence. Wonderbolt HQ was near. Tiresome PaperworkThe clock inside Spitfire’s office ticked loudly. It was the only thing that truly broke the silence in the room. The windows were closed, so the fresh, early morning breeze was shut out. Similarly, the blinds in front of them blocked out most of the sunlight, letting only a few narrow beams in. Compared to offices of businessponies, Spitfire’s was quite empty. There was only one locker containing four different drawers for all kinds of paperwork Spitfire had to do. Her desk naturally also had a few drawers, but those were reserved for either personal things, such as sunglasses, or simple things like spare pens and sheets of paper. Spitfire liked the simplicity. She wasn’t one who particularly enjoyed doing office work, but paperwork was naturally going to come along with her rank of Captain, especially during the Wonderbolt Academy trials. She used much of the free space to decorate her room and give it some ‘Wonderbolt flair’. Different posters, photographs and even small statues gave it just the right look. She had scrambled together some of the Wonderbolt Trial posters, flight show advertisements, news articles and photographs and hung them all up in her little office. She was proud. She felt honoured, in a way. The Wonderbolts were, in a way, all she had. She never really showed or said it to the others, but they truly were part of her family. She had grown attached to her work, it became a part of her. Ten o`clock. A key entered the door, followed by the quiet creaking as Spitfire shoved the door open. She stepped inside and put the key to the office, which she held in her mouth, back into her jacket. She took a deep breath and took a look around her own, personal safe haven at the Wonderbolt HQ before kicking the door with her rear hooves, shutting it with a loud bang. The mare steadily advanced towards her desk. With just a few trained moves, she pulled off her jacket and laid it on the desk for the time being. As usual, she first went over to each and every window and rolled up the blinds, finally letting in some light into her room. She also opened one of her four windows for the next couple of minutes, just to let in a breath of fresh air. Once again, Spitfire walked over to her desk and picked up her jacket. She turned around and hung it on one of three coat hooks before taking her Wonderbolt Captain Uniform off of the hook next to it. Spitfire didn’t particularly dislike the uniform, though she much preferred her actual Wonderbolt attire. To her, the very uniform that depicted her rank made her feel bored. It was almost as if it spoke to her and whispered “Paperwork.” Putting on her uniform understandably took her a fair bit longer. After all, putting a tie on is pretty hard without a horn. Yet, after about three minutes, she was all dressed up. The Captain walked back over to her desk and, at long last, sunk down into her chair. For just a short moment, she closed her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. She breathed in and out, slowly and calmly. She opened her eyes again and looked down onto her desk. She saw a small stack of forms and requests. She sighed at the sight of all the paperwork, but she knew moaning and crying about it wouldn’t get it done any sooner. She picked up the first sheet from the stack and took a look as the door opened once again. She had a pleasant visitor. The same could not be said however, for what the visitor was bringing with her. “Morning, Spitfire!” greeted a happy, and yet understandably tired-looking Rainbow Dash. “Crash?” Spitfire raised an eyebrow in surprise. “What are you doing here so early? Training starts in four hours.” “Well, yeah but... Fleetfoot came to me yesterday after training and told me she probably wouldn’t come today. She had a really bad stomach ache, apparently,” the rainbow-maned pegasus reported. “Stomach ache, huh? Isn’t the first time that happens to Fleetfoot. I told her several times now to not eat ten minutes before takeoff.” “Oh, and...” Dash added, awkwardly scratching her head. “There’s more?” The Captain inquired. “Apparently some Wonderbolt Academy applications got lost earlier. I found them on my way here.” “Applications? How many?” Spitfire already regretted her question. “Dunno. My guess would be around 100,” the mare replied. “I didn’t count them, though.” Spitfire sighed. “Right, bring them here, I’ll try and get them done in time.” “Yes, ma’am!” Dash replied with a quick salute. “Oh, and uh...” Spitfire said after Dash as she was about to leave. “Do me a favour and bring me some coffee. I’ll need some if I wanna get this done in time for training.” “Sure thing! Just a sec.” The pegasus flapped her wings and dashed down the corridor outside of the office. Spitfire sighed once more, turning her chair to face the window. She had a busy day ahead of her. Not Quite Done YetIt was about 6:30 pm when the door to the locker room opened. A chorus of voices and laughter suddenly filled the room. “You should have seen yourself, Crash! Haha!” Soarin said to the rainbow-maned pegasus that walked beside him. “You went straight into that cloud!” “Oh, please. Don’t pretend like you didn’t mess up, too!” Rainbow countered. Both of the pegasi broke out into laughter as they and the others spread out towards their respective lockers. Spitfire knocked a hoof against her locker once, opening it. “You gotta admit, Crash, that was pretty funny,” the Captain said as she dried her face with a towel. She smirked as Dash rolled her eyes. “I don’t know about you guys, but I think we’re more than ready for our next tour!” Thunderlane exclaimed confidently. “Not so fast, big guy,” Spitfire reminded him as she reached into her locker. “We’ve still got plenty to do, so you best make sure you don’t screw it all up.” The yellow-coated mare shut her locker after she took out her shampoo. The Captain of the Wonderbolts ended up being the first at the showers, followed by Rainbow Dash, Soarin and the rest. They all stripped off their uniforms and threw them on the ground. It needed to be cleaned, anyway. The sudden stream of ice cold water gave Spitfire and the others just what they needed after yet another day of exercise. She briefly let the water pour down on her, resting a hoof on the wall. The mare’s ears twitched ever so slightly as she could identify the chatter of the others beneath the loud noise of the flowing water. A quick turn of the head showed her that, as usual, it was Rainbow Dash talking to Soarin. She had most definitely noticed that trend by now, the fact that 90% of all chatter originated from the cyan-coated mare. Not that she was particularly opposed to it, of course. Dash was one of, if not the best flyer in all of Equestria, and loyal at that. A bit of chatting wouldn’t hurt anybody. “- Spitfire -” she managed to pick out of their conversation, and yet she decided not to bother. Her back was still turned towards them as she picked the Shampoo off the ground. “Spitfire,” she heard again, mixing a decent load of shampoo into her now soaked mane. She suddenly felt somepony tap her on the back. “Sorry, Spitfire, I just...” Rainbow Dash said nervously as Spitfire turned towards her. “Me and the others wanted to hold a small little party back at my place and I figured I’d invite you, as well.” Spitfire smirked back at the cyan pegasus. “I’d love to, Crash.” Rainbow almost jumped in excitement. “So you’ll come?” “I would, but...” she let out a deep sigh, “I’ve got more work to do here, still. All those applications you gave me today have been keeping me busy,” she told her teammate with regret. Dash’s ears flattened. “But can’t you do that tomorrow?” she asked. “Come on!” “Sorry, Crash, there’s nothing I can do. Some work simply needs to get done.” “Yeah, alright...” Dash replied quietly, her head hanging low. “Hey now,” Spitfire said cheerfully. “That doesn’t mean you and the others can’t enjoy spending some time together, does it?” “No, of course not.” “Then make a face that shows me that!” Spitfire watched as Dash smiled back at her with renewed enthusiasm. “Yes, ma’am!” she replied. “Now go and have fun or I’ll have you all fly another ten laps!” Spitfire shouted. The cyan pegasus briefly saluted and quickly left the showers. Only then did Spitfire notice that she was all alone in the showers. The others had finished and left during their conversation, and with Rainbow Dash gone as well, it was only her left. For just a moment, she stood there, silent and lonely. She closed her eyes as the water poured down on her again, the white foam of the shampoo running down her body. She began to hum the tune of her favourite song, her eyes still shut. She was reminded of her dad for a brief moment, as it was his favourite song as well. She rarely got to see him these days, however, since she was so busy or on tour throughout Equestria. It was one of the few downsides Spitfire saw in being a Wonderbolt. She hummed louder as the shower continued, almost managing to drown out the staccato rhythm of the droplets. After fully drying herself once again, Spitfire put her towel and hairdryer back into her locker. She reached for her Captain attire which she had put there before the training started and shut the door. As usual, putting on the rather formal uniform took much longer than the normal Wonderbolt outfit, though Spitfire couldn’t be bothered wearing a tie that late in the day and decided to go without it. On the bench next to her still laid her outfit, which she promptly picked up and put into a small box for laundry. Luckily, this was not one of her many jobs at Wonderbolt HQ. As she stepped outside, wearing her sunglasses, she could still see the outlines of the others in the distance as they sped off. She couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t quite know why, and yet she had to. She stood there, all by herself, with extra amounts of work waiting for her, and yet the pure sight of the others in the distance couldn’t have made her any happier. The proud Captain took off and happily marched off towards her office. It was going to be a long night for her, and it would require a lot of coffee.
The Early Morning HoursA loud beeping noise interrupted the silence in Spitfire’s home. A staccato ritual — three loud, high pitched beeps — followed by five seconds of silence. The disturbance continued for about half a minute. It finally stopped when Spitfire disabled it at its source, the alarm clock that sat on her bedside table. A long, loud yawn followed as Spitfire sat up in her bed, stretching both her hooves and wings. ”Morning already?” she asked herself as she jumped out of her bed. She put on her favourite Wonderbolt slippers that stood by her bed and slowly but steadily marched out of the room. The tired Wonderbolt Captain rubbed her sleepy eyes as she walked down the hallway towards the bathroom, passing by many different photographs that hung on the wall. Some showed her and her family —one even held a vision of her grandma that she barely knew due to her premature death— although most showed her and the Wonderbolts. She felt proud. To her, the images showing her and her team were just as valuable as those of her actual family. In a way, she thought, the Wonderbolts were her family. She was responsible for them, cared for them, even feared for them when times got tough. But they had done it all, through thick and thin, they had remained united and strong. A soft groan escaped Spitfire’s mouth as she reached for the door handle, accidentally missing it due to her sleepy vision. After rubbing her eyes once again though, her second attempt was more successful. The bathroom of hers wasn’t particularly luxurious; not that any part of her home was particularly ostentatious, but it was more than enough for what Spitfire needed. The mare looked over to her right where the shower stood, slowly walking towards it after closing the door behind her. She gently pulled off her slippers and put them beneath the towel rail, which held two medium-sized towels, one yellow and one orange-coloured. Spitfire reached for the yellow one and quickly, though quite orderly unfolded it and laid it down next to the shower. A few months back, water had started leaking through a small hole in the shower screen, and she had yet to have the time, or motivation to fix it. Instead, she had gotten used to the problem, preparing two instead of one towel for her shower: one for the ground, in order not to slip when she stepped on the wet ground, and one for, well, herself. It had become natural for her over these past couple of months. The yellow-coated mare stepped into the relatively small, constrictive shower and closed the screen behind her, knowing that, as usual, it would start leaking a small bit. She stroked her mane once before the water poured down on her. The lukewarm liquid finally woke her up from the half-asleep state that she had been in. For about a minute she stood there, idle, as she let the refreshing water pour through her mane and down her body. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, taking a deep breath. Her mind drifted off to what was ahead – her daily routine and training session at Wonderbolt Headquarters. She smiled at the thought. She truly did love her job, even when it was sometimes frustrating, annoying or even dangerous. It was just what she wanted, and nothing else could or would ever satisfy her the same way. She opened her eyes and reached for her shampoo, briefly turning the water off as she mixed the shampoo into her mane. Spitfire had never really been into long, fancy manes; fashion wasn’t her thing at all, but she was truly thankful for having a relatively short mane that was quick and easy to handle. The yellow-coated mare put the shampoo back into its place and turned on the water once more. She stroked her soaked mane as the water ran through it. She looked down just in time to see the white foam of the shampoo whirl down the drain. The water stopped as Spitfire gave out a short, light-hearted sigh. She opened the shower screen and stepped outside, onto the yellow towel which, just as usual, was largely soaked with water now. She once again reached over to the towel rail and grabbed the orange towel this time. After trivially drying most of her body, she put the towel back onto the rail, which followed the other, yellow one. The mare then turned and walked over to the sink, briefly looking into the mirror that hung over it. Once again, she lifted her right hoof, grabbing the hair dryer that laid on the edge of the small sink. She pressed the button and proceeded to dry her mane, followed by her tail. Once again, she was glad to have a reasonably long mane so it didn’t take forever. About ten minutes later, Spitfire sat in her kitchen, eating a cheese sandwich while listening to the radio which stood on the dining table. Next to her plate stood her favourite coffee mug, which had “Best Captain Ever” printed on it in bright yellow print. It was a present the other Wonderbolts had made for her to celebrate her birthday four years ago. She loved it straight away. Spitfire used to be freaked out by the complete silence that would fill the room during breakfast, so she quickly bought herself a brand new radio which she could not only use to break the silence but also to listen to some of her favourite songs. Unfortunately, as she quickly realised, her home didn’t have a great reception, and so she only had one channel to choose from, which, to her dismay, was a rock channel. It annoyed her greatly at first – so much, in fact, that she’d often turn the radio off completely, but later, she learned that the silence was more terrifying than rock. The only thing that sucked about it was that she often kept hearing it when attending the newbies at Wonderbolt Academy, who would consistently listen to their ‘jam’ the entire day, save for training sessions. As the song on the radio ended, Spitfire stood up and picked up her plate and coffee mug. She opened the dishwasher and raised her mug to her mouth one last time, taking a big final sip. She quickly put both her dirty plate and mug, into the dishwasher and shut it again. She once again turned towards the dining table as the speaker on the radio was announcing an upcoming concert in Cloudsdale Stadium. Spitfire turned off the radio and walked out of the kitchen. She took her warm, comfy brown jacket off of the coat hook next the front door. Like any Wonderbolt, she, too, had one of these. Her cutie mark was sewn onto it, just like her nickname. The pegasus did not waste any more time and pulled on the jacket. As usual, it was a perfect fit; trusty and comfortable. Spitfire took a small breath as she opened the door, taking in the early morning breeze as she stepped outside. She shut the door and locked it, storing her keys in one of the pockets of her jacket. The Captain unfolded her wings and swiftly catapulted herself into the sky. At long last, after all the same - old mundane morning routine, the fun was about to commence. Wonderbolt HQ was near.
Tiresome PaperworkThe clock inside Spitfire’s office ticked loudly. It was the only thing that truly broke the silence in the room. The windows were closed, so the fresh, early morning breeze was shut out. Similarly, the blinds in front of them blocked out most of the sunlight, letting only a few narrow beams in. Compared to offices of businessponies, Spitfire’s was quite empty. There was only one locker containing four different drawers for all kinds of paperwork Spitfire had to do. Her desk naturally also had a few drawers, but those were reserved for either personal things, such as sunglasses, or simple things like spare pens and sheets of paper. Spitfire liked the simplicity. She wasn’t one who particularly enjoyed doing office work, but paperwork was naturally going to come along with her rank of Captain, especially during the Wonderbolt Academy trials. She used much of the free space to decorate her room and give it some ‘Wonderbolt flair’. Different posters, photographs and even small statues gave it just the right look. She had scrambled together some of the Wonderbolt Trial posters, flight show advertisements, news articles and photographs and hung them all up in her little office. She was proud. She felt honoured, in a way. The Wonderbolts were, in a way, all she had. She never really showed or said it to the others, but they truly were part of her family. She had grown attached to her work, it became a part of her. Ten o`clock. A key entered the door, followed by the quiet creaking as Spitfire shoved the door open. She stepped inside and put the key to the office, which she held in her mouth, back into her jacket. She took a deep breath and took a look around her own, personal safe haven at the Wonderbolt HQ before kicking the door with her rear hooves, shutting it with a loud bang. The mare steadily advanced towards her desk. With just a few trained moves, she pulled off her jacket and laid it on the desk for the time being. As usual, she first went over to each and every window and rolled up the blinds, finally letting in some light into her room. She also opened one of her four windows for the next couple of minutes, just to let in a breath of fresh air. Once again, Spitfire walked over to her desk and picked up her jacket. She turned around and hung it on one of three coat hooks before taking her Wonderbolt Captain Uniform off of the hook next to it. Spitfire didn’t particularly dislike the uniform, though she much preferred her actual Wonderbolt attire. To her, the very uniform that depicted her rank made her feel bored. It was almost as if it spoke to her and whispered “Paperwork.” Putting on her uniform understandably took her a fair bit longer. After all, putting a tie on is pretty hard without a horn. Yet, after about three minutes, she was all dressed up. The Captain walked back over to her desk and, at long last, sunk down into her chair. For just a short moment, she closed her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. She breathed in and out, slowly and calmly. She opened her eyes again and looked down onto her desk. She saw a small stack of forms and requests. She sighed at the sight of all the paperwork, but she knew moaning and crying about it wouldn’t get it done any sooner. She picked up the first sheet from the stack and took a look as the door opened once again. She had a pleasant visitor. The same could not be said however, for what the visitor was bringing with her. “Morning, Spitfire!” greeted a happy, and yet understandably tired-looking Rainbow Dash. “Crash?” Spitfire raised an eyebrow in surprise. “What are you doing here so early? Training starts in four hours.” “Well, yeah but... Fleetfoot came to me yesterday after training and told me she probably wouldn’t come today. She had a really bad stomach ache, apparently,” the rainbow-maned pegasus reported. “Stomach ache, huh? Isn’t the first time that happens to Fleetfoot. I told her several times now to not eat ten minutes before takeoff.” “Oh, and...” Dash added, awkwardly scratching her head. “There’s more?” The Captain inquired. “Apparently some Wonderbolt Academy applications got lost earlier. I found them on my way here.” “Applications? How many?” Spitfire already regretted her question. “Dunno. My guess would be around 100,” the mare replied. “I didn’t count them, though.” Spitfire sighed. “Right, bring them here, I’ll try and get them done in time.” “Yes, ma’am!” Dash replied with a quick salute. “Oh, and uh...” Spitfire said after Dash as she was about to leave. “Do me a favour and bring me some coffee. I’ll need some if I wanna get this done in time for training.” “Sure thing! Just a sec.” The pegasus flapped her wings and dashed down the corridor outside of the office. Spitfire sighed once more, turning her chair to face the window. She had a busy day ahead of her.
Not Quite Done YetIt was about 6:30 pm when the door to the locker room opened. A chorus of voices and laughter suddenly filled the room. “You should have seen yourself, Crash! Haha!” Soarin said to the rainbow-maned pegasus that walked beside him. “You went straight into that cloud!” “Oh, please. Don’t pretend like you didn’t mess up, too!” Rainbow countered. Both of the pegasi broke out into laughter as they and the others spread out towards their respective lockers. Spitfire knocked a hoof against her locker once, opening it. “You gotta admit, Crash, that was pretty funny,” the Captain said as she dried her face with a towel. She smirked as Dash rolled her eyes. “I don’t know about you guys, but I think we’re more than ready for our next tour!” Thunderlane exclaimed confidently. “Not so fast, big guy,” Spitfire reminded him as she reached into her locker. “We’ve still got plenty to do, so you best make sure you don’t screw it all up.” The yellow-coated mare shut her locker after she took out her shampoo. The Captain of the Wonderbolts ended up being the first at the showers, followed by Rainbow Dash, Soarin and the rest. They all stripped off their uniforms and threw them on the ground. It needed to be cleaned, anyway. The sudden stream of ice cold water gave Spitfire and the others just what they needed after yet another day of exercise. She briefly let the water pour down on her, resting a hoof on the wall. The mare’s ears twitched ever so slightly as she could identify the chatter of the others beneath the loud noise of the flowing water. A quick turn of the head showed her that, as usual, it was Rainbow Dash talking to Soarin. She had most definitely noticed that trend by now, the fact that 90% of all chatter originated from the cyan-coated mare. Not that she was particularly opposed to it, of course. Dash was one of, if not the best flyer in all of Equestria, and loyal at that. A bit of chatting wouldn’t hurt anybody. “- Spitfire -” she managed to pick out of their conversation, and yet she decided not to bother. Her back was still turned towards them as she picked the Shampoo off the ground. “Spitfire,” she heard again, mixing a decent load of shampoo into her now soaked mane. She suddenly felt somepony tap her on the back. “Sorry, Spitfire, I just...” Rainbow Dash said nervously as Spitfire turned towards her. “Me and the others wanted to hold a small little party back at my place and I figured I’d invite you, as well.” Spitfire smirked back at the cyan pegasus. “I’d love to, Crash.” Rainbow almost jumped in excitement. “So you’ll come?” “I would, but...” she let out a deep sigh, “I’ve got more work to do here, still. All those applications you gave me today have been keeping me busy,” she told her teammate with regret. Dash’s ears flattened. “But can’t you do that tomorrow?” she asked. “Come on!” “Sorry, Crash, there’s nothing I can do. Some work simply needs to get done.” “Yeah, alright...” Dash replied quietly, her head hanging low. “Hey now,” Spitfire said cheerfully. “That doesn’t mean you and the others can’t enjoy spending some time together, does it?” “No, of course not.” “Then make a face that shows me that!” Spitfire watched as Dash smiled back at her with renewed enthusiasm. “Yes, ma’am!” she replied. “Now go and have fun or I’ll have you all fly another ten laps!” Spitfire shouted. The cyan pegasus briefly saluted and quickly left the showers. Only then did Spitfire notice that she was all alone in the showers. The others had finished and left during their conversation, and with Rainbow Dash gone as well, it was only her left. For just a moment, she stood there, silent and lonely. She closed her eyes as the water poured down on her again, the white foam of the shampoo running down her body. She began to hum the tune of her favourite song, her eyes still shut. She was reminded of her dad for a brief moment, as it was his favourite song as well. She rarely got to see him these days, however, since she was so busy or on tour throughout Equestria. It was one of the few downsides Spitfire saw in being a Wonderbolt. She hummed louder as the shower continued, almost managing to drown out the staccato rhythm of the droplets. After fully drying herself once again, Spitfire put her towel and hairdryer back into her locker. She reached for her Captain attire which she had put there before the training started and shut the door. As usual, putting on the rather formal uniform took much longer than the normal Wonderbolt outfit, though Spitfire couldn’t be bothered wearing a tie that late in the day and decided to go without it. On the bench next to her still laid her outfit, which she promptly picked up and put into a small box for laundry. Luckily, this was not one of her many jobs at Wonderbolt HQ. As she stepped outside, wearing her sunglasses, she could still see the outlines of the others in the distance as they sped off. She couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t quite know why, and yet she had to. She stood there, all by herself, with extra amounts of work waiting for her, and yet the pure sight of the others in the distance couldn’t have made her any happier. The proud Captain took off and happily marched off towards her office. It was going to be a long night for her, and it would require a lot of coffee.
