The New Recruit

After a quick briefing of how the interview process would go, mostly consisting of Spitfire and Flair hashing out the terms of what would and would not be discussed, they were ready to begin. Soarin had finished his pie long ago, and had eaten the whole thing on his own. He'd offered Ace a few bites to calm his nerves, but Ace had respectfully declined.

"And if I tell you to strike that information, you strike it," commanded Spitfire as her last order.

"Done. Now, are we ready? Then let's begin. State your name for the record, please?"

"Ace of Clubs."

"Spell that for me?"

"A-C-E, O-F, C-L-U-B-S."

"And I already know Soarin and Spitfire. And your profession?"

"I'm a cook at the Wonderbolts Academy."

"Student," corrected Spitfire. "He's a student at the academy. He's a cook as a vocational training exercise."

"Student was what I was going for," clarified Flair. "That's what's important for this interview. Now, just as a side note, Do you mind if I snag a picture? I'd like to be able to print a picture with this article, and since I can't legally print any of the ones I have here, how about we prove that you are, indeed, an earth pony?"

Ace stood up and turned sideways, just long enough to show off his uniform and his lack of wings. He was clearly enrolled at the academy, and a quick fact-check would verify that. He was also clearly an earth pony, with no wings and no horn. Flair's camera clicked, and he sat back down.

"Excellent. Now, we have established what's odd about you being here enough already. Let's start by removing some of these rumours, hm? Let's find out which ones are true, and which ones are false."

"Okay..."

Flair opened the first letter and scanned through it. "Okay, so this first one is saucy. Ace, this past Monday evening, did you and Spitfire spend a moment alone in the hot tub?"

Ace swallowed and turned to Spitfire, who was waiting for his answer. "In what context?"

"No context. Did you or did you not sit down in the hot tub with her and nopony else."

"Well, yes, but--"

"No buts," instructed Spitfire. "Let her ask the questions."

Ace nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"When you were in there, did you or did you not say to her, "I'm here now, and that's all that matters?""

Ace shook his head. "I don't recall my exact words. I just said whatever felt right at the time, and I forgot about it shortly after saying it."

"He did," answered Spitfire. "It was in response to my apology for turning him away from the academy when we first met."

"That sounds right," nodded Ace. "I remember her apologising for that, though her exact words evade me at this time."

Flair nodded. "Spitfire, the next accusation is for you. Did you snuggle up to Ace's chest at any point during your bath?"

"I wrapped a hoof around his shoulder, if that counts," she answered. "Otherwise, no."

"I do have a picture of your hoof on his shoulder, yes. Here we are."

She pulled out a picture of Spitfire with her leg wrapped around Ace's shoulder. It looked like it could have been romantic, but it could also be platonic. In either case, it was genuine.

"So, you didn't snuggle. In the same sentence they quote you as saying "When you're about to finish, you need to really come down hard. I'd be left speechless; I can tell you that much." Is there any truth to that claim?"

Ace's face turned red. That sounded ridiculously dirty.

"I did use those exact words," nodded Spitfire. "We were talking about his performance, and how he could make a bigger boom with his lightning storm. If you had seen his performance, you'd know that his bolt was big."

"I believe I saw it," she answered. "This would have been right around seven-forty? Sounded like two at once?"

"Four," answered Spitfire. "Though I guess the sound may have blended together by the time it reached you."

Flair nodded. "The next claim is that you climbed up onto his lap and--"

"I'll stop you right there," interjected Spitfire. "That's not at all true."

Flair nodded and moved on. "Then it says that you invited him back to your bed. It doesn't say what words you used, just that you told him to join you in bed."

"No. I went to bed. He said he was going to bed, as well. I took a shower, alone, and then I went to bed, alone."

"I also showered, but I was joined by one other student," explained Ace. "I didn't ask his name, but he was dark red with light brown hair. I went to bed with my dorm mates, and while they can't confirm when I walked in, they can tell you that I was sleeping in my own bed the following morning."

Flair had been going through the various letters as they went, clearing off all of the claims as they were discussed. A lot of them were compounded, meaning a lot of them had been reported in the same or similar ways. Finally, she came to a new claim. "This one states that you've been sleeping together every night since you came here."

"We've never slept in the same bed," answered Ace. "I've been sleeping in my own dorm since I arrived, and she sleeps in... Actually, I don't even know where she sleeps."

"Staff housing," answers Spitfire. "Top floor of the administration building we're in right now."

Flair looked down at her notes. "You received a settlement recently in court, yes?"

Ace nodded. "I did."

"On the same day, did you, Spitfire, receive a hefty sum of unexplained income?"

"No. That sum was very much explained, and was from the same settlement. The defendant was to pay off three settlements. One to each of the offended parties. I was two of them, Ace was one, and I stepped forward as his representative. I believe you will find that the money is not unexplained anymore."

Flair nodded. "Any response to the claims of blackmail?"

Ace shook his head. "Not really. I'm not blackmailing the school or its staff; that's about all I can say to that."

Flair nodded and leaned back. "Now, these rumours are just going to rise back up again unless we replace them with something else. For the sake of being accurate, let's hear the story of how you were actually selected to be in this class, shall we? Let us replace this tired lie of cheating and treachery and give it an "underdog rising" sort of feel."