The New Recruit

Ace waited patiently int the administrative lobby. He'd been here numerous times in the past few years, and was used to the procedure by now.

Two and a half years. He was a third-year student, not quite the top of his class, but definitely in the top five. It was at this point that all of the students ahead of him were being considered for acceptance into the Wonderbolts as Lance-Squires. They'd have to go through a few tours of duty before being allowed to perform at the stunt shows. Ace, having done the shows already, having taken a few breaks from terms to go out and perform, was not going to be a squire. He was already an initiate, having skipped over his first tour of duty entirely by accident.

He had been touring with the stunt show at the time. Soarin had joined him again, this time as his tutor, rather than his protector. They'd been at a party in Manehattan, and a slight bump on a balcony had sent the host's wife plummeting over the side. Ace had immediately gone over the edge of the balcony, joined quickly by a few of the other Wonderbolts in order of who was closest to the rail. Ace caught up with her first, slowing her descent just enough for the others to catch up and bring her back to the balcony. The very next day, the host, a very influential pony, had demanded that the Wonderbolt that saved his wife be promoted, and just like that, Ace was no longer a squire. But more importantly, he'd saved a life. That made all of the training worth it.

Two more ranks, one of which would come from time and service. Two more ranks, and he'd be allowed to actually perform at the shows, despite already having permission. All he had to do was spend some time as a Wonderbolt, performing Wonderbolt duties, and he'd make the next rank. After that, it was up to his superiors, most of whom had heard about him by now, and would be willing to give him the opportunity to progress from Lance-Initiate to Lance-Aspirant to Lancer, and then he'd be able to perform. He'd also be allowed to issue commands to squires at that point, but that was less important to him.

"Ace."

He looked up. Spitfire was standing in the doorway, beckoning him to follow her. He stood up, grabbed his paperwork, and followed her to her office.

"Have you given any thought to what I'd asked about?"

"Yes, ma'am. I appreciate the offer, but I'm going to decline. For now, at least. When I'm a little bit older, a little bit wiser, and a lot more experienced, maybe, but for now, I think I'm a bit too green to teach. Give me a few more years, and I'll consider it further, but not right now."

Spitfire nodded. "Fair enough. I take it then, that you want to continue your courses here?" She opened the door to her office, waving for him to go in."

"I'm actually okay with being sent out to join the Wonderbolts, if they decide they want me in an official capacity. If not, I'm plenty happy taking on more coursework. They want the best, so if I don't qualify, then I need more work, and what better place to polish my skills than here?"

"Very well said," smiled Spitfire, sitting down at her desk and taking his paperwork. "Well, I'll go ahead and tell you right now, your name is on the list. It has been for awhile. The powers that lead the Wonderbolts have decided that you're a good fit for early duty. A month from now, you will no longer be a student, if that is what you wish. You'll be a Wonderbolt, with a rank of Lance-Squi-- Lance-Initiate. Sorry. I'm used to giving that speech to students who aren't already Wonderbolts."

They shared a small chuckle. They'd become close over the time they'd spent together at the academy, as very good friends. They weren't romantically entangled, in spite of the various rumours. They had probed at the idea, and found that there was a chance that they could be lovers, but with their current relationship of teacher/student, coupled with the gap between their ranks, plus the fact that Ace was one of the highest-ranked students in his class, and in fact, ranked higher than half of the fourth-year students, and was already in the Wonderbolts and having skipped his first tour of duty, there was too much evidence to support a claim of quid pro quo sexual harassment already, without needing them to actually share a bed.

"So you're leaving, then?"

"I believe so, yes."

Spitfire leaned back. "I remember when you first showed up. I was counting down the days until you quit. I had a pool going, you know? Whenever you left, we'd look at the numbers again, and divide up the pot among the winners."

"And how'd that work out for you?"

She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a plastic tub. It was full of bits, and a piece of paper rested at the top. "I owe Fleetfoot all of this. She bet the closest."

"And what did you bet?"

"Five days," she snorted. "You didn't even make it as far as your first class before I lost. Fleetfoot, we were so sure was making a bad bet and wasting her money. She thought you'd last a good two months."

"What about Soarin?"

"One week. You really proved us wrong."

Ace just chuckled. "I don't know if I'd have even put that much faith in me. The first time I saw the dizzitron, I thought, "This is what's going to make me look so useless that I'm going to be kicked out." I'd have never dreamed that it'd be my saving grace."

"Yeah. Seeing you on the dizzitron is what cemented in my mind that you were here to stay. And since Soarin and I had already lost our bets by then, we figured that we might as well see how far you could make it."

"Turns out, pretty far," nodded Ace.

Spitfire nodded in agreement, pushing some pages across the desk. "You made it far enough to end up in the Wonderbolts. You've impressed me beyond what I thought possible. And when, not if, you make Lance-Sergeant, I want to take you to dinner."

Ace glanced up from the paperwork and smirked. "It's a date."