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by WALN-Zell

Chapter 1

Spitfire arrived at the West Delamare garrison three weeks after her expulsion from the Wonderbolts, just as Blazing had ordered. Before she could ring the front door bell, a plank slid open revealing a slot where a guard’s eyes glared at her. “Etheren sul marto?” he said.

“W-what?”

“Actuvratan atos aqil.”

“I’m sorry. This must be the wro-”

“Ah! I’m just messin' with you toots. Commander Wings told me you’d be coming here.” the guard promptly opened the door and motioned her inside.

“Does Commander Wings know you’re hitting on random mares who come by?”

“What, random? I thought you were his wife.”

“How does that make it better!?”

“Just head inside!” As Spitfire quickly walked away from the rude guard, she looked back and saw another guard walk up to him and give him a good sucker punch. That made her smile.

Through the doors was a hall of artifacts, paintings, and photographs all relating to the history of Delamare. Such as the sword of the captain of the garrison who fought in the Gryphon - Equestrian War. It was in pieces and therefore unusable, so it was placed behind glass on fine red silk for all to see. His light blue military uniform was also on display along with his armor next to it that he would've worn over it. There was an obvious hole in the chest piece and in the uniform shirt from where he had been stabbed with a pike. The droplets of red on them sent chills down Spitfire's spine.

Spitfire proceeded to the front desk. Behind it was a thin, white-fur, dark red-mane earth pony in a grey uniform like the rest of the guards in the garrison. Behind him, many guards and workers went about their business quite loudly, and this stallion at reception didn't seem too pleased, as he looked rather tired. He looked up at Spitfire and asked, "Name and business?"

"Capta- I mean, Spitfire. Here to meet with Commanding General Blazing Wings." she replied.

"Oh right. You." He stated rudely. "Go down the hall behind me and take a right. Then go up the stairs to the fourth floor. His office is the door at the end of the hall."

"Thanks."

Spitfire proceeded as instructed to the fourth floor and to Blazing's office door and knocked. Blazing opened the door and greeted, "There you are. You're early." He let her in. Blazing's office was huge. It was the size of a luxury apartment. Like the hall leading to reception, the office was full of decorations, including Blazing's own armor, polished and without a single scratch on it. There were several bookshelves sorted mostly alphabetically.

"Nice office you've got." Spitfire remarked. "So what're you having me do?"

"For the next while, this'll be your office too. So I'm glad you like it."

"Wait. My office? You're having me do secretary work!?" Spitfire exclaimed.

"Not exactly." Blazing calmly replied. "You're going to be sifting through entry papers and resumes."

"For what?"

"For entry into the Royal Guard. The Air Guard, to be specific."

"How is that not secretary work?"

"I'm not asking you to get coffee and donuts. I'm asking you to do what you used to do. Look at entries into the Wonderbolts, that is."

"Fine. I'll do your paperwork for you. Like a secretary."

"Entry officer, actually."

Spitfire's desk was on the opposite side of the room from Blazing's. A three foot high stack of papers was already there for her. Spitfire took the first paper. A resume stapled to an entry paper. A nineteen year old pegasus stallion named Stone Bridge was seeking entry into the Air Guard. His entry paper listed some medical information such as allergies, current and past illnesses and injuries, average blood pressure, that sort of thing as well as some statistics like wing power. His resume stated experience, education, and family. Spitfire's heart skipped a beat when she saw under Family was Next of Kin. Several names were listed. His fiance, his two little sisters, and his half brother. In this line of work, death was something everyone faced. Spitfire knew this, but wasn't used to it. The Wonderbolts were technically a branch of the military, but they never officially trained for or saw combat.

Spitfire's job wasn't to allow or deny entry, rather, she was to check for all required information and stamp it accordingly. Then Blazing would receive the papers, verify, stamp them, then send them to the Adviser of Defense of the Royal Adviser Council. They would then verify the papers once again, then send a copy back to Blazing to archive. Blazing or a garrison captain would greet several accepted entries and get them to their assigned locations and duties. The last part used to be Spitfire's job back in the Wonderbolts.

Several hours of this process went by. Two new stacks of entries came in during that time. The papers were back to standing three feet high. At around 9:00 PM, Blazing dismissed Spitfire, and she flew back to Cloudsdale. It was a long, hard day. Spitfire could not sleep with the thought of this being what she had become for the next few... who knew what? Weeks? Months? Years?

Three days of this passed. Barely a word was spoken between Blazing and Spitfire despite working in the same room. Spitfire was terribly bored and frankly a bit upset. She would've gladly taken janitorial duty, but this was just... odd. In fact, this was technically a promotion. Ponies with this job usually had a higher pay grade than regular guards. Entry officer was slightly over Major in pay. And Spitfire was paid. Of course, it was nothing like the million bit salary she got as a Wonderbolt like on a sports team, but for anyone else in the military, this was quite a lot. But this still didn't change the fact that this was a punishment. It was tailored just for her. Blazing knew her ambitions, hobbies, and such. It wasn't fair! There was no room for any pleasure. This was worse than any grounding she got as a child. This was like cutting off her wings!

Blazing was standing by the huge window that looked out onto a stretch of open, green, land. He was just standing there. Not a care in the world. Wasn't he supposed to be doing his job!? Spitfire had had enough. She didn't care about pay, she didn't care about getting an even worse punishment. She was a Wonderbolt through and through, and she would not be made a fool of like this. She stood up out of her chair.

"Agh!" Blazing grabbed at his chest.