"Full name please"
"Lightning Dust, ma'am"
"Age"
"Nineteen, ma'am"
"Any previous employment"
"Two years’ experience as a weather pony, a lightning wrangler and storm chaser and four years as paid martial arts instructor for Cumulus Military academy"
"It says here you were discharged from the Wonderbolts' flight camp, care to elaborate"
"I was demoted by Spitfire herself, Sir"
The stallion nodded his head in understanding before clearing his throat "I don't give flying feather about who kicked your sorry flank out the Bolts” he screamed slamming his hooves against his desk “I what to know what was running through your fucking brain when you thought to come here with a dishonorable discharge from the Equestria's premiere flying aces"
Unfazed by his outburst she looked to the mare sitting next to the midnight blue stallion. She was calmly brushing a few stray hairs from her mane back into to position with a bemused look across her perfect complexion.
“It was political, Sir”
The stallion rolled his eyes and huffed preparing to launch into another verbal assault “wait” the uniformed mare quipped “I want to hear this, go on”
Taking a deep breath she started her story. The same story that had been told countless times to countless ponies with the same result, she would get yelled at and promptly kicked out of the building "I almost got five ponies killed when they decided to visit their friend and go through forbidden airspace that was filled with clouds we were meant to be busting. Since they happened to be the elements of harmony, and the one that helped me make the twister threatened to quit it put the academy in a rough spot so I guess I got the shaft instead of the element of loyalty” She still didn't dare utter her former wingpony’s name not after carrying both of their faults to the bottom of the cider barrel.
Surprisingly though neither of her possible employers were glaring at her after she finished, they just sat there waiting silently until the stallion spoke up “damn”. She smirked, at least she got the loudmouthed stallion to be quite for a moment, even if they were going to both accuse her of being Tirek reincarnated before demanding she leave.
“You don’t sound particularly sorry” the mare asked leaning toward her accusingly “In fact I don’t think your even trying to impress me anymore” this was new to her, usually she would be on her way out now and her only worry would be minding the door didn’t hit her. The mare however didn't look amused, angry, or even concerned about her openly admitting she almost killed national heroes. Her voice was in fact void of anything but conviction, and that concerned her.
“Your flight report” she started pulling the folder marked with the Wonderbolt insignia and a number of stamps reading ‘confidential’ and ‘rejected’ out of her saddlebag “says you are an exemplary flier, equal to the only mare in the world who can do a sonic Rain-boom and according to some of these performances” tapping her hoof on the papers “you surpassed some of the previous records set by Aces. Some nearly a decade older than you are when they did”.
Hearing her achievements read aloud was usually the quickest way to get her in a good mood, and to know that Spitfire herself hadn't struck her name from the history books was a dream come true. Her gut however told her to keep quiet though. “You get where I am going with this don’t you”
“No ma’am”
The mare exhaled in frustration while her partner slyly grinned. She knew the two behind the desk didn't think much of her, the stallion being the more overt of the two when he just scoffed at her the second she stepped into the room.
“I’ll be blunt with you then Dust I don’t care much for the Princesses, Spitfire, the Elements or your little ‘stunt’ with the twister” finishing her sentence she rose from her chair “I want to know exactly why you gave up when it got out of hoof”. She fought back a nervous twitch at the mare’s workds ‘giving up’ was not something she did. Ever.
“I didn’t give up ma’am I just needed some time to recover” out of the corner of her eye she could see the stallion’s face contort in anger, he held his tongue though when heard the mare continue talking.
“I don’t want to hear it Dust, what I want to know is why you were ready to walk out my door with a smile the second you got it off your chest” again her tone was not angry, just insulted “this is the pony I want working here Lightning” she said throwing a picture at her “because when I look at that photo I see a pony who is ready to go above and beyond to succeed, and all I see here is a pony who doesn’t know how to take a setback”
To the untrained eye her posture was still perfect and neutral, it was only due to repetition and the possibility of getting a job in the sky after months of searching and failures that kept her like this though “permission to speak ma’am” she asked forcing a civil tone through gritted teeth.The unicorn mare nodded sitting back down in her seat “ma’am with all due respect what you see is what you have, and I swear to you if give me a chance to prove myself I will do anything you ask with a smile on my face if give me another shot”
This seemed to appease the mare more than the stallion who was now scowling, and looking at the wooden desk “you can promise this miss Dust?”
“Ma’am I promise no matter what you ask me to do you will be impressed”
With a small smile she levitated a couple of papers and an inkwell out of her bag and placed them on the shared desk “this is your chance then, don’t disappoint me”
She eagerly marched forward, catching a glimpse of the photograph of her in a Wounderbolts trainee suit and happily stepping on it. Taking the quill in her mouth she signed her name and stood at attention again.
Satisfied the mare took the papers, levitated them into her saddlebags and promptly walked toward the room’s second door marked ‘CCV’ “Oh and Lightning” she called without stopping “it’s not me you should be trying to impress” with that the mare departed. Turning her head back to both of the ponies watching her as she reached the doorway and smiled as Lightning turned her head away from her rear and the stallion winked at her. With the door closed the stallion then sat at attentively and focused on the remaining mare before him.
“Before we get started here I want you to know two things”
“Yes, Sir?”
“Don’t call me that” he quipped pushing his chair back and resting his hind legs on the table “Unless I’m in a bad mood or in front of my superiors” he almost spat the final word from his mouth as he continued “you call me Card or otherwise Mr Shark if you need something”.
She nodded her head once fighting the urge to think what sort of mother named her son that “secondly if I say something to you either in the field sky or the damn break room follow it to the letter. I’m an understanding stallion, but if see anything close to disrespect or Celestia help you hear any bloody belligerent remarks coming from you or anypony else that changes, you understand”
“Anything else Mr. Shark”
The stallion huffed handing her a silver lined business card with a milky white gem encrusted into it “don’t fuck with me kid, that’s her job”