The clock inside Spitfire’s office ticked loudly. It was the only thing that truly broke the silence in the room. The windows were closed, so the fresh, early morning breeze was shut out. Similarly, the blinds in front of them blocked out most of the sunlight, letting only a few narrow beams in.
Compared to offices of businessponies, Spitfire’s was quite empty. There was only one locker containing four different drawers for all kinds of paperwork Spitfire had to do. Her desk naturally also had a few drawers, but those were reserved for either personal things, such as sunglasses, or simple things like spare pens and sheets of paper.
Spitfire liked the simplicity. She wasn’t one who particularly enjoyed doing office work, but paperwork was naturally going to come along with her rank of Captain, especially during the Wonderbolt Academy trials. She used much of the free space to decorate her room and give it some ‘Wonderbolt flair’. Different posters, photographs and even small statues gave it just the right look. She had scrambled together some of the Wonderbolt Trial posters, flight show advertisements, news articles and photographs and hung them all up in her little office.
She was proud. She felt honoured, in a way. The Wonderbolts were, in a way, all she had. She never really showed or said it to the others, but they truly were part of her family. She had grown attached to her work, it became a part of her.
Ten o`clock. A key entered the door, followed by the quiet creaking as Spitfire shoved the door open. She stepped inside and put the key to the office, which she held in her mouth, back into her jacket. She took a deep breath and took a look around her own, personal safe haven at the Wonderbolt HQ before kicking the door with her rear hooves, shutting it with a loud bang.
The mare steadily advanced towards her desk. With just a few trained moves, she pulled off her jacket and laid it on the desk for the time being. As usual, she first went over to each and every window and rolled up the blinds, finally letting in some light into her room. She also opened one of her four windows for the next couple of minutes, just to let in a breath of fresh air.
Once again, Spitfire walked over to her desk and picked up her jacket. She turned around and hung it on one of three coat hooks before taking her Wonderbolt Captain Uniform off of the hook next to it. Spitfire didn’t particularly dislike the uniform, though she much preferred her actual Wonderbolt attire. To her, the very uniform that depicted her rank made her feel bored. It was almost as if it spoke to her and whispered “Paperwork.”
Putting on her uniform understandably took her a fair bit longer. After all, putting a tie on is pretty hard without a horn. Yet, after about three minutes, she was all dressed up.
The Captain walked back over to her desk and, at long last, sunk down into her chair. For just a short moment, she closed her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. She breathed in and out, slowly and calmly.
She opened her eyes again and looked down onto her desk. She saw a small stack of forms and requests. She sighed at the sight of all the paperwork, but she knew moaning and crying about it wouldn’t get it done any sooner. She picked up the first sheet from the stack and took a look as the door opened once again. She had a pleasant visitor. The same could not be said however, for what the visitor was bringing with her.
“Morning, Spitfire!” greeted a happy, and yet understandably tired-looking Rainbow Dash.
“Crash?” Spitfire raised an eyebrow in surprise. “What are you doing here so early? Training starts in four hours.”
“Well, yeah but... Fleetfoot came to me yesterday after training and told me she probably wouldn’t come today. She had a really bad stomach ache, apparently,” the rainbow-maned pegasus reported.
“Stomach ache, huh? Isn’t the first time that happens to Fleetfoot. I told her several times now to not eat ten minutes before takeoff.”
“Oh, and...” Dash added, awkwardly scratching her head.
“There’s more?” The Captain inquired.
“Apparently some Wonderbolt Academy applications got lost earlier. I found them on my way here.”
“Applications? How many?” Spitfire already regretted her question.
“Dunno. My guess would be around 100,” the mare replied. “I didn’t count them, though.”
Spitfire sighed. “Right, bring them here, I’ll try and get them done in time.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Dash replied with a quick salute.
“Oh, and uh...” Spitfire said after Dash as she was about to leave. “Do me a favour and bring me some coffee. I’ll need some if I wanna get this done in time for training.”
“Sure thing! Just a sec.” The pegasus flapped her wings and dashed down the corridor outside of the office.
Spitfire sighed once more, turning her chair to face the window. She had a busy day ahead of her.