The New Recruit

"Come in, Soarin."

As he entered, Spitfire didn't look up from her work. That was a good sign. "Hey, Captain. Brought you lunch."

Spitfire glanced up, then went back to work. "That looks like more than lunch. That looks like lunch and paperwork."

"Consider the lunch a peace offering. I didn't want to be yelled at for bringing in more work."

"Unless you created the "more work," I won't be mad at you."

"No, but you'd still yell and shout, and I'm the only one here to yell at."

Spitfire chuckled. "Perhaps you're right. But I always apologise for being needlessly angry with you."

Soarin nodded, knowing that the captain would be fair and just in her decision. "So, good news or bad news first?"

Spitfire set down her quill and closed the folder she was filling out. "You know you're not supposed to go through my mail."

"I didn't. I read the return address and made assumptions."

"Fine. Good news."

Soarin withheld the mail and pushed forward the styrofoam box. "I brought you chipotle fries."

Spitfire looked down at the box. "That's it?"

"Well, the rest of it is bad news." Soarin waved the letter in front of her. "It's another court summons from Canterlot."

She snatched it and opened it. It was very thick, with a lot of paperwork inside.

"I thought you had this all sorted out?"

Spitfire was silent for a moment, scanning the first two pages. Then, she leaned back. "It was sorted out. This is paperwork allowing me to collect my winnings from the trial."

Soarin nodded slowly. "...Oh."

"Yeah, like I said, we finished. I was just waiting for the court to finish up the paperwork so they could send it to me."

"Good news, then?"

Spitfire nodded, then stopped. "Did I not tell you the outcome?"

"No."

"Well, the first award was to me. My integrity is very valuable, both to me, and because of my role in the protection of Equestria, to Equestria. Princess Luna even swore in her affidavit that if I were as dishonest as the paper claimed, that I should be removed from my position, before affirming that I had her trust. So, for damaging that view of myself, as well as the Wonderbolts in general, I was awarded thirty thousand bits. Most of that, I'm going to funnel into salaries, so expect a small bonus in the near future.

"The second amount is for Ace. Don't tell him; I want to be the one to tell him about it. He was awarded twenty thousand, which I've had diverted to his tuition. That can be further redirected as required, but he's not going to need to pay for pretty much anything while he's living and working here.

"Finally, to the school itself. One hundred and fifty thousand bits have been awarded to the facilities for insulting baselessly our fine institution. That money is to be spent assisting the students and faculty. Which is exactly what I plan to do."

Soarin nodded along. "Sounds like they were let off easy."

"There's more."

"Oh, okay..."

"In addition to their fines, the author of the article was fired. Not because of the hearing, but because the publishing company thought doing so would separate her actions from its own. Well, no, because the publishing company let the article go out into the world without verifying any of that information. To submit lies to a newspaper is slander, to print it is still libel. Whether the author works there anymore is irrelevant, as the editor-in-chief still allowed it to go to print, and then let it be distributed. That's still a crime.

"Because of that, the editor has to print a new story, refuting their prior claims. In addition, we're calling four other news sources to come for an actual interview. I will be participating, you would be called up to answer questions in a reasonable manner, and Ace will be invited to participate. If he chooses to participate, we will have to coach him through the basics."

"Nice. Anything else?"

Spitfire shook her head. "This was hardly a blow to them. The fact that it took no time at all to put this together is evidence of that. Hopefully, the Canterlot Tribune will think twice before printing lies again. At least for a little while."

"Still sounds like they were let off easy."

Spitfire popped open her container of fries, still releasing steam. They were covered in enough toppings and sauces to require a fork. Luckily, she kept a few in her desk.

"So, I have to ask, because I'm curious. What are your thoughts on Ace?"

Spitfire looked up from her fries. "Are you also going to infer that he and I have a physical relationship?"

Soarin was still for a moment, but Spitfire could see his lips puckering and curling.

"Permission granted."

Soarin burst out laughing. It took a few minutes to recover, but when he did, he clarified, "I had... no intention of making such a claim..."

Spitfire nodded. "Your outburst says as much... Rainbow Dash, do you remember her?"

"Yeah?"

"She thinks there's a romance forming."

"I mean, I wouldn't personally judge you for it..." he wiped a tear from hi eye. "Professionally, maybe, but I'm not going to make such a claim. I was just wanting to know how you felt about his progress."

Spitfire returned to her lunch. "I'm actually quite pleased to be wrong. Had I stuck to my original plan, to deny him entry, sure, things would be easier, but a lot more boring. Plus, he's at least handling everything well. Passing his classes, doing his job, even managing to mostly stay out of trouble."

"Mostly?"

Spitfire shook her head in a figure eight pattern. "Yes and no. He has been involved in some disciplinary action, but he's hardly been the primary cause. A week ago, for example. Fleetfoot punished everypony in that room for being in the fight. She said the fight was about Ace trying to steal a spot on the Wonderbolts, but she also thinks he was more trying to stop the others than actually fighting against them."

"And what do you think?"

She shrugged. "It doesn't matter what I think. I wasn't there. I trust that Fleetfoot saw what she thinks she saw, because nopony's come forward to say otherwise."

Soarin nodded. "So, you don't think about him romantically?"