The New Recruit

Spitfire sat with her hooves tented in front of her. She didn't want to do what she was about to do, but orders were orders. At least Princess Luna had tried to help, but that on its own wouldn't stop what had been set in motion.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in."

The door opened, and Ace stepped through. "You wanted to see me, ma'am?"

"Yes," she lied. She didn't want to see him right now, nor did she want to talk to him. However, she needed to speak with him. "Please, have a seat."

"I spoke to my professor, and he said I could come back on Sunday to make up the class I missed."

"That may not be necessary," replied Spitfire. "Tell me, Ace. Do you wish to be a Wonderbolt?"

"More than anything, ma'am," he nodded.

"Do you recall earlier today when I asked for a demonstration of your ability on the dizzitron?"

Ace nodded. "Lieutenant Soarin said I passed. Did I do something wrong? I'll take the test again if I have to."

Spitfire shook her head. "No, you did fine. Better than what's normally expected, in fact. Your audience was quite pleased with your performance."

Ace reached up and scratched the back of his neck. "I didn't know anypony was watching me, ma'am..."

"Princess Luna, herself, watched you recover and land."

Ace swallowed hard. If he'd have known that Princess Luna was going to be watching him, he would have put on a cleaner uniform.

"Don't worry. She was pleased with your performance, as was Lance-Paladin Steelwing. As his title implies, he outranks me by two stages."

Ace was still trying to catch his breath. He wasn't nearly this nervous going up in the dizzitron.

"In fact, they were so pleased with your performance that they've opted to extend to you an opportunity. Starting Monday, you would be going on tour, performing aerobatics at the Wonderbolt exhibitions. You would be afforded a full uniform, a trailer to act as your mobile dressing room and living quarters, and all other benefits befitting a Wonderbolt. In return, you would need only perform your particular brand of feats in front of a crowd four times a week. This offer is not being extended to any of your classmates, just you, so don't think you can offer it to somepony you think is more deserving, because they're not eligible at this time."

Ace took a few deep breaths. This was a lot to take in, and Spitfire knew that. If she had a little bit less integrity, she'd have answered for him; no. She'd heard his reasons for wanting to be a Wonderbolt, and he'd never mentioned the fame or admiration as being important. He was there to rescue ponies in need, not be flaunted about like a side show.

"I'd be officially a Wonderbolt?" he asked. Clearly, the idea appealed to him. More than half of the students wouldn't have even waited this long to say yes. There was trepidation, and that meant that Spitfire still had some hope.

"You would be, yes. That means no more classes, no more tests, no more training. This is a skip ahead to the finish that most students are aiming for. Pretty much a guaranteed graduation."

Ace's brow furrowed. Another good sign. "So, I'd be skipping all of my classes?"

"That's correct. You would be moved ahead to graduation, the ceremony would be skipped, and you'd be placed into the Wonderbolts Reserves right away. We can't place you in the actual Wonderbolts because you'd be unable to go on rescue missions without training, but you'd still be eligible to perform in the shows."

She hoped that would be enough. Steelwing had practically ordered her to bump him up to this status, and she would have been required to, had Luna not made it Ace's decision. Spitfire wanted Ace to stay here at the academy, improve his technique, and maybe graduate on his own ability. Training could help him do amazing things, but only if he actually trained.

"I don't know..."

Spitfire couldn't help but smile at that.

"What would you do?"

She shook her head. "I can't answer that."

"I see. In that case, what do you think I should do?"

She scowled. "I'm under direct orders not to answer that question. I can neither theorise, opine, nor display any bias towards one option or the other. You have to choose."

"Oh. Sorry, ma'am..."

She wasn't allowed to sway his decision aside from just presenting the facts. She could make the offer sound unappealing, but only if the facts themselves were unappealing. She wasn't allowed to tell him that she thought he'd be better off staying here and learning more before going out into the world of sports entertainment.

"How long do I have to decide?"

"I need to know before tomorrow. If you say yes, we need to fly you out to Las Pegasus, sign the paperwork, and run you through your first act so that you can perform for a crowd on Monday morning."

"I don't suppose I'd be able to keep up with my studies, would I?"

Spitfire shook her head. "No such luck. I could provide you with a reading list and possibly a tutor, but you would be unable to attend normal classes and unable to attend normal practise sessions. You would be too far away from the academy to return daily, you would be too busy with your shows, and you would be practising a completely different skillset. You would be required, as well, to attend a safety seminar every six months, three and a half months from now. We'd be providing the course to you next weekend as a supplementary course."

"You can just... do that?"

"They're supplementary courses. Typically, they have to be done every six months, but when there's an accident that involves severe injury, the involved parties are given a supplementary course, and any Wonderbolts in the area are invited to attend as observers. The instructor will probably think that you've just caused an incident, but you'll be signed off to perform."

Ace leaned forward. "Do you think I can manage it?" he asked, then leaned back, shaking his head. "Nevermind. I'm sorry. If I did this, could I just make it a trial run? If I'm not good enough, because I don't feel good enough, could I return to the academy and focus on my studies again?"

Spitfire hadn't even considered that. Very few ponies in the history of the Wonderbolts had ever been granted graduating status and then opted to come back to the school for any purpose other than teaching or maintaining the school. Once they were Wonderbolts, they weren't going back to the academy to learn how to be Wonderbolts.

"You know what? I'll make it so. If you go, and you find that you want to return to the academy and resume your studies, I will allow it. However, you must demonstrate that you can pass all of the tests that would put you on par with your fellow classmates. That means that you need to keep improving while you're out there. If you fail, you fail, and you'd have to try again at the start of the next year."

With a strong nod, Ace extended his hoof over her desk. "Then I accept. Thank you for believing in me, ma'am."