The New Recruit

Spitfire fluttered back to her cloud, having just moved it for the final time. Most of the crowd has dispersed, with just three of the Wonderbolts sticking around. If Ace were to fall, they would catch him, and then they would carry him to safety. That is, Spitfire was keeping a close eye on him, Fleetfoot was watching from below to make sure she was first to grab him out of the air, and Wild Wind was toggling his attention between Ace and the surrounding area. Everypony else was gone.

"You handle that cloud very well," noted Spitfire. "Not as well as most pegasi, but better than any earth pony I've ever seen."

"Thank you, ma'am," answered Ace, having lost his stutter. Not having everypony staring at him and trying to demean him had been a big step forward in making him feel more confident.

"Where did you learn that technique?"

"At sea, ma'am. I spent a lot of time on merchant ships as a teen, whether it was helping my dad or just working for myself, ma'am."

The way he was propelling the cloud forward was similar to that of the oars on a rowboat, but different. Rather than lifting the "oars" up out of the denser medium and moving them forward, then back into the denser medium, as the air was more or less the same density above and below his little cloud, he would widen them to push forward, then flatten them to return to the front. It was a smart design, but wholly unnecessary for a pegasus, as they could use their wings to do so, and much faster, at that.

He finally made it up to the level of the academy building and, once it was safe, dismounted his cloud. There was some scattered applause from the ponies that had been waiting for his arrival, but he didn't bow. He knew from the outset that he wasn't the cause for their applause. They weren't celebrating him making it up here, but their captain's heroic rescue of a stupid earth pony that was stranded on a cloud. Every clap was a degree of condescension towards him, and he knew it.

Spitfire placed a hoof on Ace's shoulder, the first time somepony had touched him since he left the ground. Several others had tried to grab him, but nopony had. "How are you feeling?" she asked. "Injured in any way?"

Ace just shook his head. "I'm fine, ma'am."

"Good, good..." She turned to look at Soarin, who was just now coming back from watching the laps. "Lieutenant, take Mr. Ace of Clubs, here, into custody."

"Yes, ma'am," nodded Soarin, to the shocked murmurs of the crowd.

"Once he's in lockup, bring him some food and send for the nurse to make sure he doesn't have a rash from that cloud. I'll be in my office."

"Right away, ma'am."

As Spitfire started back toward the administrative building, she turned back to the crowd that was all staring at her. "Do I need to find extra training for all of you?"

She didn't even need to shout it at them. Merely mentioning that she could assign them extra training was enough to make them straighten up and fly right.

She returned to her office to find that her sandwich had gone soggy while it was waiting for her. Her hay fries were limp and unappetising, and her pickle spear was dry on the surface, and quite rubbery. This would have been fine an hour and a half ago, when it was delivered, but as it was, this was going to be a disappointing late lunch. She still ate it, of course. Just because she was called away from her desk was no reason to waste food. Still, it was vexing to think that Ace was probably eating better than she was right now.

As she disposed of the empty container, there was a knock at the door. "Come in, Soarin..."

Soarin walked in and shut the door. "Permission to speak freely, ma'am?"

"Granted. Have a seat, too."

Soarin walked forward and pulled up a chair. "I gave him a daffodil and daisy sandwich with some hay fries, and doc says he's fine."

"That could have been reported without speaking freely," noted Spitfire, leaning back in her chair. "You're here to ask if I think I'm doing the right thing..."

Soarin reluctantly nodded.

"Well, you're right to ask. I don't actually know, myself. Standard protocol, as you know, says we are to grab him out of the air and escort him to the ground safely, and not endanger his life at all. Now, I did my best to ensure the safety of his conditions, but I'm wondering if I shouldn't have just tackled him and dragged him to the ground, kicking and screaming, as the book says."

"I just want to know why you indulged him."

Spitfire shrugged. "He signed up for the Wonderbolts. He did pretty well, too."

"But he can't fly?"

"That's what I told him. If we can't have a conversation in my office about his performance, then he can't join. That's what I said. Or something along those lines, anyway. I don't recall the exact wording."

"Is that why he wanted to talk to you in your office?"

"Probably, yeah."

Soarin sighed. "We can't accept him into the academy. He can't pass the tests!"

"Thoe are two completely different statements," argued Spitfire, swivelling in her chair. "Look, I know as well as you do why we only accept pegasi as applicants. If he had wings, I'd have signed him right up, and we wouldn't be having this conversation. We'd be talking about the new recruit that showed up and is clearly ready to prove that he's good enough."

"But he's not," argued Soarin back. "If you put him on the dizzitron, how is he supposed to recover and land?"

Spitfire rubbed her hoof against her chin. "He would..." she turned back toward Soarin and smiled, tenting her hooves. "I know exactly what it is we're going to do with Mr. Clubs. Bring him here. That's an order, now, lieutenant."

Soarin saluted as he stood up. "Yes, ma'am."

He left and came back ten minutes later with Ace in tow. "You wanted to see me, ma'am?" asked Ace.

"I did," nodded Spitfire, setting down her pen and crossing the desk. She held out her hoof to him, and he took it. She immediately shook it, smirking at him. "You've impressed me with your resourcefulness. If you seriously still want to be a Wonderbolt, tell me now."

"I do, ma'am. More than anything."

"Then welcome to the academy. Classes start in a month, but because you decided to show up early, you're to be given extra time for training. Don't blow it, cadet."