Spitfire placed her hoof on the flier, the ink still fresh leaving a mark inside her horseshoe. It was over, the last piece of paper to sign.

There was a knock on the door but she didn´t bothered to answer, it was done simply for formalities and she hated formalities. The pegasus finally walked in the office, her wings respectfully tucked at the sides.

Spitfire got up and approached the pony.

"Wipe that goofy smile of your face...captain."

Rainbow Dash did her best to kept a stern face but she just couldn´t. At least her wings weren´t flapping like crazy.

"Excited for your first day, Rainbow?"

"Very! I mean, very much former captain."

Spitfire frowned. She remembered why she hated so much formalities, they made her sound like an old lady.

"I can´t wait to start meeting the recruits. I already have a whole course planned for them! Oh and my little sister is coming this year! She was so excite-"

"Relax Rainbow, the first day is nothing more but paperwork. You´ll spend half of it just trying to get used to that damn chair."

"Oh..." Rainbow made a mental note to change the chair.

Spitfire looked through the window at the field course. "You know when I first applied for the Wonderbolts this training ground was brand new. Just a couple of rings and flaga, none of this new equipment. I still remember the sky, so clear and blue." There was small pause and Rainbow smile finally wear off. "Heh I remember Soarin crashed on the first obstacle. You did know that I was on the same class as Soarin, right?"

"Of course. Number one wonderbolts fan!"

"Heh did you know back then he had a mullet?"

"No way!"

"Yeah and he looked ridiculous!"

Both mares laughed. Their intimacy was protected by the walls of the office, outside they were divided by rank, or used to be, but when in private they were free to be close friends, almost like sisters. Now that Spitfire days in the uniform were gone, what exactly were they?

Spitfire dismissed those doubts and opened a drawer. Ignoring pictures and medals of her glory days she instead took out an old pair of goggles. They were worn out and had obviously been through a couple of storms but they were still usable. She approached Rainbow who looked at the goggles confused.

"Back when I was a newbie I was a mess. I kept crashing all over the place. They even named me Slip-Fire."

"Lame."

"But I never gave up and I keep trying. I kept crashing and crashing and every time I got up. One time another mare helped me got up, she extended me her hoof, it felt warm. She told me that I should stop aiming for the floor and then she gave me those. Mine broke in the fall and she just gave me those to replace them. I only saw her a couple of times after that but never managed to thank her." and Spitfire handled the goggles to Rainbow.

"You still have a long way to go, kid. Try not to get cocky."

"I make no promises."

They exchanged smiled and then salutes. While Rainbow inspected the goggles, Spitfire took a last look at her office. She gave it one last smile and closed the door behind her.

Rainbow eyes went wide when she found the name "Firefly" in the straps but before she could ask Spitfire about it the door was already closed. She slowly walked over the desk, taking a good look at the pile of papers. She sit on the chair, leaning against it.

Nice chair, she thought.