Captain Alaska- I'll try and find some way to weave Top Bolt into this story (I actually don't know why I didn't use it in the last one).

YoungBlood23- I'm glad you love my story *does happy dance*. Sorry, got carried away. :D

RosaSilvermist- Merry (late) Christmas to you, too! Have some *cyber cake*.

Hey, everyone. Hope you had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. What was the best thing you got for Christmas this year and do you have any New Year's Resolutions?

I've got three resolutions this year:

Work out more.

Spend more time with family.

Begin writing an actual novel. (It could happen…maybe…)

Anyway, here's the first chapter of 2015. It sounds weird saying that. 2014 went by too fast!

---

"I'm sure that all of you already know about the incident that occurred two days ago."

The fourteen cadets stood in single file in the Main Hall, listening to Spitfire addressing them. Rainbow Dash stood with her head lowered, not wanting to look up at the mare who was telling the entire academy about the 'Horseshoe Incident'. She tried her best to block out the sounds around her to no avail. She stood in the line between Lullaby and Sugar Swoop; the former had placed a comforting hoof on Rainbow's shoulder while the latter looked down at her sympathetically. Rainbow glanced over at Spring Song to find that the pink mare was already looking at her. They locked eyes for several seconds as If they thought they could shoot each other down if they looked long enough. Eventually Rainbow Dash looked away, cursing in her mind.

The Wonderbolts were all lined up behind Spitfire, while the rest of the academy staff stood along the side of the wall. Braeburn looked over at Dash from his spot beside Feather Duster the janitor and gave her a small smile, which Rainbow Dash returned. The least she could do in this situation was smile.

Rainbow looked from cadet to cadet, wondering if it was one of them who hid that stupid horseshoe in the cloud. It could be someone on the other team. She looked at the cadets on the silver team: Bumble, Spring Song, Ray, Butternut, Lullaby, Stains and Cinder. If they were responsible, they had pretty good poker faces. Rainbow Dash knew better than to start suspecting somepony without evidence (Pinkie Pie had taught her that lesson) and she realised that she was completely clueless. Right now, the culprit could be almost anypony.

"On Monday, a cadet who shall remain nameless-"

"What's the point in saying that? Everypony already knows it was me," Rainbow Dash thought huffily, feeling dozens of eyes trained on her.

"-was struck in the Cloud Cluster while searching for a horseshoe in the Horseshoe Hunting exercise. Well, you should all know by now that the Tempest Clouds are pretty dangerous and because of that, horseshoes are never hidden up there," Spitfire explained. "The pony who is responsible for this will be punished in a manner consistent with the severity of the reason for their crime."

Rainbow looked around and saw the cadets looking anxiously round at eachother, most likely wondering which one of them was a criminal. She even saw some of the Wonderbolts and staff looking around at eachother. It suddenly occurred to Dash that the culprit was so mysterious; it might not have even been a cadet. All of this was making her head hurt.

"In addition, anypony found to have knowledge of these events, who fails to speak up, will also be punished," Spitfire added, scanning the assembled cadets with that fiery gaze of hers. "So, if any of you know anything about this, step forward now," Spitfire was silent for a minute, waiting for somepony to come clean. Rainbow Dash looked down the line, left and right and saw that the other cadets seemed to be doing the same. It didn't look like anypony was going to say anything. Spitfire adjusted her shades before giving the cadets her usual serious glare.

"Very well, then. If you prefer to tell me what you know in private, my door is always open. There's also going to be a box outside my office that you can put an anonymous tip into if you want. Dismissed," Spitfire nodded at the cadets in farewell and the pegasi departed the hall. Rainbow walked beside Lullaby, Sugar Swoop and Butternut.

Butternut began ranting as soon as they left the room. "So who do you think did it guys? I read a lot of mystery novels, so I know that you have to look for clues; hey, maybe the Wonderbolts could get a detective to come to the academy to figure it out 'cause I've always wanted to meet one *GASP* maybe I could be his sidekick and then I could have one of those fun hats and-"

"Butternut," Lullaby prodded the excitable peanut butter coloured mare.

"Yes?" Butternut smiled at her fellow cadet.

"Stop," was all Lullaby said. Butternut shrugged and agreed to be quiet, which was a rare thing. "You okay, Rainbow?" Lullaby asked Rainbow Dash, who hadn't really spoken all day.

"Uh…yeah I'm good," Rainbow Dash replied letting her wings droop. As much as she'd enjoyed her day out with Soarin yesterday, she had become pretty depressed when she remembered that the Academy Assembly was being held that day. She hated being viewed as a victim. She didn't want to be felt sorry for, she didn't want anyone to be sympathetic, she was Rainbow Dash, and she showed no weaknesses!

"Whoever did this is a real jerk," Sugar Swoop muttered through gritted teeth. "They should be thrown in Cloudsdale prison."

Lullaby piped up from the other side of Rainbow Dash. "Actually, Swoop, I don't think you can get thrown in jail for something like that." Sugar Swoop raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"Lullaby, it was an incident that could have cost Dash her life…" he trailed off as he noticed Rainbow Dash's now colourless face. "…uh…sorry, Rainbow Dash, but anyway, it was still a dangerous act and something as severe as getting another pegasus struck by lightning is worthy of a three year prison sentence," the peach stallion explained. It was Lullaby's turn to look baffled.

"How in Celestia's name do you know that?" she asked him. Sugar Swoop just shrugged.

"Well, I used to want to be a Canterlot royal guard but…I didn't make the grade," he revealed. "I had to know a lot about the law but apparently that wasn't good enough."

"Maybe it was because of your fur," Butternut suggested. Sugar Swoop looked down at his peachy fur.

"My fur?" he echoed her. "What's wrong with my fur?"

"Haven't you noticed that all the royal guards seem to have either white or dark grey fur?" Butternut replied. Rainbow Dash butted into the conversation.

"Not true, guys. I've met a guard with orange fur once," she told them, remembering that stallion, Flash something, that Twilight bumped into. He had certainly looked out of place amongst the other guards. Sugar Swoop looked smugly at Butternut.

"See, fur doesn't matter," he insisted, smirking. "What were we talking about again?"

"Prison sentences," Lullaby reminded him. Rainbow raised a hoof to stop them.

"Guys, you can keep talking about this, but I'm gonna go get a snack," she told them, not wanting to talk about the horseshoe thing anymore. The other three cadets agreed that she could leave and bidded her farewell before heading off again, resuming their conversation. Rainbow Dash sat on her haunches and patted her tummy, realising that she wasn't even hungry. There was no point in hanging out with Soarin and Braeburn, because they were still in the Main Hall since a meeting was being held in there right after the Assembly.

She decided to just wander the halls until the meeting was over, since there wasn't much else for her to do. She walked straight past the kitchen, the bathroom and the dorms until she reached Spitfire's office. Sure enough that anonymous tip box was out there as promised. Rainbow really wanted to open it up to see if anypony had posted something in in, but since it required a key to open it, that wasn't possible.

"Hi, Rainbow Dash, what's up?"

Rainbow looked up from the box to see Bumble and Cinder behind her. Rainbow suddenly remembered Spring Song's outburst at Cinder and felt a stab of pity for the little blue pegasus pony.

"Hey, Cinder, you're not too shaken up after Spring Song yelled at you, are you?" Dash asked her. Cinder looked up at Rainbow Dash with those big brown eyes of hers that could make a fully grown dragon go soft.

"N-n-no, I'm okay," she stammered, looking down at the floor, making her pigtails flop over her head. Rainbow Dash felt so sorry for the small mare that it stung! She was just so innocent and sweet; Spring Song was a huge monster for chewing her out like that. It was like shouting at a little lost kitten.

"Well, I feel like I should do something, so…do ya wanna hang out?" Rainbow Dash offered Cinder and Bumble. Cinder looked up in surprise, one of her pigtails falling back into place while the other still hung limply over one of her eyes.

"R-really? You wanna hang out with me?" Cinder pointed at herself, looking at Rainbow Dash like she'd grown a second head. Rainbow Dash nodded down at her.

"Sure, why not? You seem like a cool pony to chill with. You too, Bumble," Dash replied. Bumble beamed proudly, while Cinder's jaw dropped. She stayed frozen like that for a while before finally getting her senses back. She looked awkwardly down at the floor.

"Nopony has ever called me cool before," she admitted shuffling her hooves, looking like she wished she hadn't said that. Rainbow lifted up the blue mare's head.

"Well, they're crazy, 'cause I know you're a cool pony, Cinder. Ya just need to make it a little clearer. For starters, you can stop staring at the floor," Rainbow Dash told her.

"Heh…sorry," Cinder let her head dip down again.

"Uh, uh, uh," Rainbow tutted at Cinder, roughly lifting her head up again to show that she meant what she was saying. "You're doing it again," she added, and Cinder chuckled. Rainbow began heading down the hall.

"Now, c'mon, let's go outside. Drills were cancelled today 'cause of the stupid Assembly, so we have all day to do whatever we want. So, how's about we race through those hoops? That way we'll have an advantage when we have to do an exercise on them?" Dash suggested. Bumble enthusiastically trotted down the hall after her rainbow maned friend.

"You can count me in," she agreed. Cinder followed after, having to walk a little faster due to her shorter legs.

"Sounds like fun," she smiled cheerfully, making Rainbow Dash feel proud of herself. The Academy Assembly had made Dash think that it would be a pretty depressing day, but maybe now, with these two friends of hers, today wouldn't be so bad after all.

---

"Braeburn, you in here?" Soarin called out as he walked into the kitchen. The lights were on and he could hear the whir of the air conditioning, so somepony must either be in here or have just left. When there was no reply, Soarin made his way to a stool beside an oven and hauled himself onto it? Why does a stool have to be so tall? (THAT RHYMED!)

Soarin rested his head on the counter and just stared straight ahead at the wall. He was pretty tired because he'd been up all night trying to figure out his newfound feelings for Rainbow Dash (and getting apple sauce out of his fur). It felt right and wrong at the same time. Right because they were so alike and seemed like a pretty ordinary pair, but wrong because he was her mentor. It would be odd for him to have affections for his 'student'. All of this was just so confusing! He wanted to ask someone about this but he didn't know anyone who was an expert on this kind of thing. He had come into the kitchen hoping to just talk to Braeburn about all this but he wasn't even here! UGH!

The Wonderbolt co-captain cursed under his breath and closed his eyes. Putting all his worries aside, all he really wanted to do was sleep. Maybe things would seem clearer once he'd had a nap. Yes, all he needed was a little bit of shut-eye and everything would make sense. Soarin took one heavy breath and relaxed, feeling peaceful for the first time since he'd got back from his 'Intimate Trip' with Rainbow Dash.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!

"GAH!" Soarin jolted up in alarm and flapped high into the air, bonking his head on the ceiling. He crashed to the ground, having lost his focus and lay sprawled on his back, staring up at the spinning room. He was aware of somepony laughing and he tilted his head to the side, catching sight of a light blue pony rolling on the floor, cackling with laughter. Soarin growled and sat up, rubbing his head to try and get his eyes back into focus. He didn't want his eyes to be crossed like that mail mare, Derpy's.

"Fleetfoot, what the heck was that for?" Soarin bellowed at the guffawing mare, who sat up and wiped a tear from her eye with one hoof, the other hoof clutching an air horn.

"Heh…I couldn't resitht. You jutht looked tho peaceful," she lisped, trying (and failing) to supress her laughter. Soarin stood up and glared at his friend.

"I can't believe you can be so cruel," he scolded her. Fleetfoot shrugged her shoulders.

"Can ya blame me? I thaw you there looking all relaxed and I happened to have an air horn with me. You'd do the thame," Fleetfoot told Soarin, who was irritated to admit she was right.

"Yes, that and you were obviously in here when I called out to see if there was anypony here!" the blue stallion added, folding his hooves in frustration. Fleetfoot shook her head.

"Actually, you were here before me, I just flew in over the counter, tho that'th why you didn't hear the door," she explained, nodding at the counter where the food was served. Soarin followed her gaze and raised an eyebrow at her.

"I really hope none of your feathers came off and landed in the trays," he muttered, almost gagging as he thought of swallowing a feather. He'd done that as couple of times while preening his wings and that was not a pleasant experience. Fleetfoot gave Soarin a smug look and sat down on the stool he was on a minute ago before she'd blasted his brains out.

"There's no chance of my feathers falling in the trayth. Ya know why, Thoarin, because I can command my feathers to thtay in," she explained, leaning against the counter coolly. That'th right: I have complete control over my wings."

"Howdy, guys," Braeburn poked his head through the door and smiled as he saw two of his friends.

POMF

Soarin snorted with laughter as Fleetfoot's wings opened up. The sight of the blue mare, leaning against the counter with her wings like that and a red face was priceless!

"Yep, totally under control," Soarin teased Fleetfoot, who shot him an angry glower. Braeburn was totally confused.

"You okay, Fleetfoot?" he questioned the embarrassed pegasus, who folded her arms behind her head and put on a nonchalant grin.

"Yep, I'm fine," she lied. "Jutht thtretching my wings."

"Okay then. So, Soarin, how're ya feelin'?" Braeburn made his way over to Soarin and stood before him. "Ya know, with the whole Rainbow Dash thing?"

Soarin was surprised that Braeburn was asking him about all this and he suddenly felt guilty. Braeburn had enough on his plate with his Spitfire problem, but yet he was still helping Soarin with his Rainbow Dash problem. Soarin suddenly found himself wishing that he'd paid more attention to his friend's dilemma.

"Everything's fine, Brae, don't worry about me. I can deal with this on my own," Soarin decided to say, not wanting to force his friend to help him with any of his predicaments. "How are you doing?"

Braeburn shrugged. "Ah'm fine. Been workin' on a new recipe: Apple Cinnamon Crips-"

"Not those problems," Soarin interrupted him. "Ya know…" he mouthed 'Spitfire' and Braeburn immediately turned a shade pinker. He awkwardly looked away.

"Nothin'. Ah haven't talked to 'er since Ah repaired that machine," he shrugged again. One thing Soarin noticed was that he and Braeburn seemed to react differently to these kinds of things. Soarin didn't feel all that embarrassed about it, just confused, while Braeburn seemed to be both. Everytime 'She' was mentioned, Braeburn would turn red and become flustered. But then again, they were dealing with two very different kinds of issues. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire were very similar in that they were dedicated to flying and were both the two best flyers in Equestria, but it was the stallions that made their situations so different. Soarin and Rainbow Dash were so similar: they were both great flyers, shared a lot of the same interests, and were naturally great friends. But Braeburn and Spitfire were just such…opposites! Braeburn was happy, optimistic, cheerful, polite, caring and easy to get along with while Spitfire was a loner, a pessimist, strict, serious about work, a little grumpy and it was pretty difficult to get on her good side. It pained Soarin to know that the two had pretty much nothing in common, but he knew not to judge at first glance, after all he'd heard that opposites attract.

"Are you sure?" Soarin raised a brow, wanting to offer as much help as possible to his friend. Braeburn nodded his head.

"Eeyup, everythin's under control," the earth pony confirmed, though judging by his tone he was trying to convince himself as much as Soarin. Soarin put a hoof on his friends shoulder.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help you out, buddy?" he asked. "Maybe I could be your wingpony?" he suggested, though Braeburn looked absolutely mortified at the thought.

"No, Soarin. Ah think that's takin' it too far," he admitted. Soarin agreed, maybe being a wingpony in the early stages of Braeburn and Spitfires (non-existent) relationship was a bit too forward.

"What's taking it too far?"

Soarin looked to the side to see Fleetfoot eavesdropping on their conversation. Soarin and Braeburn exchanged glances. Soarin was not about to tell Fleetfoot that her crush liked another pony so he just made something up.

"Braeburn's taking it too far," he said, making Braeburn twitch in annoyance at having this all pinned on him. Fleetfoot looked at Braeburn.

"What are you taking too far?" she asked him, her eyes wide with interest. Braeburn looked over at Soarin, confused.

"Why don't you tell 'er, Soar?" he suggested, looking smug. Soarin desperately tried to think of something to say. He suddenly got the perfect idea.

"Braeburn was just saying that he…wanted to take his…dog on a walk to…the Crystal Empire, but then he said: 'No…that's taking it too far!" he grinned in triumph at coming up with that. Braeburn nodded and agreed.

"So, Ah'm gonna walk him to Neighagra Falls instead," he added. Soarin was a little irritated at that since Neighagra Falls was still too far! Actually, come to think of it, Braeburn didn't even have a dog. Oops. Fleetfoot glanced up at the clock on the wall and jumped down from her stool.

"I've gotta get going. I bet Rapidfire I could beat him in a 100 lap race and I don't wanna be late," she told the stallions, rubbing her hooves together at the thought of Rapidfire eating her dust. She bid the two friends farewell and headed back over the counter, not losing any feathers in the trays by the way.

"See ya, Fleetfoot," Braeburn waved as she left. Soarin decided he should leave, too. He'd pretty much decided to forget about talking to Braeburn about Rainbow Dash. He had also decided that he was just gonna come out and tell her how he felt. It wasn't exactly rocket science.

"I'm gonna head out, too. Gotta meet Dashie for our training session and tell her I like her," he told Braeburn his plan. Braeburn's jaw dropped.

"Really!? You're gonna tell 'er now?" he blinked rapidly. Soarin nodded.

"Yeah, how hard can it be?" he cleared his throat and spoke to a bowl of fruit resting on the counter. "Rainbow Dash, you'll never guess, but I have a crush on you," he looked at Braeburn, smirking. "See, easy as pie," his mouth watered a little as he said 'pie'.

Braeburn rubbed the back of his neck. "Wow, Soarin. Ah know you're just talkin' to a bunch o' fruit, but that's still impressive. Ah wish Ah was as brave as you," he sighed, staring down at the floor. Soarin headed to the door.

"Don't worry, buddy, you'll get there someday," he assured his friend. "I'll see ya later," he then left the kitchen, wearing a determined smile. How hard could this possibly be?

---

BOOM!

Soarin cheered for Rainbow Dash as she pulled off a triple Buccaneer Blaze. That was the kind of move that, in a real airshow, would have spectators passing out from the sheer awesomeness of it. Rainbow swooped down and landed triumphantly beside Soarin. "Rainbow Dash, you were incredible!" he complimented her. Rainbow just shrugged.

"Meh, it was nothin'…but it was still SO AWESOME!" she put her hooves on her cheeks and squeaked out the last two words, making Soarin chuckle. She could be real sweet when she wanted to be. She was in a good mood, so now was the time to tell her.

"So, Dashie, I've gotta say something," Soarin felt his cheeks tingle with warmth. Rainbow squinted at him.

"Soarin, have you been exercising today?" she asked him. Soarin shook his head, wondering why she would ask something like that.

"Nope, why?" he asked her. She pointed a blue hoof at his face.

"Well, you look a little red, that's all," she told him. Soarin shook his head once again.

"Nah, I just have a cr-" Soarin blinked rapidly. His throat had just kinda seized up. That had never happened to him before. "Speak!" he thought to himself, opening his mouth again. Nothing came out!

"You have a crah?" Rainbow Dash tilted her head. What was a 'crah'? Soarin fanned himself before finally finding himself able to speak again.

"No, I meant to say I have a-" he stopped again and growled at himself in frustration. Since when did it become so hard to talk? Soarin didn't know words could get stuck in your throat like that. It was actually pretty terrifying! Rainbow Dash waited while Soarin opened and closed his mouth, with no sounds coming out whatsoever. He tugged at the collar of his officer's uniform as sweat trickled down the side on his head. "Whew, hot day, isn't it?" he grinned the best he could. Rainbow Dash seemed a little befuddled since it was a particularly nippy late March afternoon.

"Er…yes?" Rainbow shrugged, shuddering as she noticed how cold it was.

"Cr-cr-cr-crush!" Soarin felt successful as he got a key word out. Rainbow Dash still didn't get the message.

"What about crushing?" she asked him.

"I have-" Soarin felt his throat freeze and the words got jammed once again. He swore in his head and wanted to slap some sense into himself. But he'd look ridiculous if he socked himself in the face. This was in no way normal. He needed to get out of there. He had been wrong: THIS WAS TOO HARD!

"Ya know, I just remembered I have to…" Soarin got an idea. "Buzz buzz buzz," he made phone noises and dug into his uniform's pocket. He pulled out the first thing he found and held it to his ear. "Hello?" he spoke into a pen. Rainbow took a cautious step away from him. "What's that, my house is on fire? I'd better go. Bye," he 'hung up' his pen and put it back in his pocket. "Sorry about that Dashie; gotta bolt. See ya!" With that Soarin sped off into the sky as fast as he could.

"Er…bye?" Rainbow awkwardly waved after him.

---

Hi, guys,

That Assembly I told you about was today. By the way, thanks for those get well gifts. Pinkie Pie, those cupcakes you sent were fantastic! I really want to know who put the horseshoe in the clouds so I can give them a stern talking to, but for all I know it could even be a Wonderbolt!

Say, Fluttershy I have to ask you for some advice. There's a pretty shy pony I've met here called Cinder and she's finding it really hard to come out of her shell. Can you tell me how I can get her to act a little braver because I think that she can be a much greater flyer if she stopped focusing on what other ponies think of her.

I'm really looking forward to coming to the Spring Celebration in April. I've really missed you guys and whenever I get your letters it feels like you're really here. Speaking of you being here, I was wondering if you guys could visit me here. You could meet my cadet friends and I could maybe take you on a cloud ride.

I'm gonna get some shut-eye now. I wasn't woken up by a bugle this morning because there were no drills, but tomorrow the 'Trumpet from Tartarus' will be back.

Yours incredibly,

Rainbow Dash.

Dash put the letter in her saddlebag and sat on her bed, looking around at the empty room. According to Lullaby she was sleeping on the floor since Spring Song had taken her bed, so Rainbow Dash was waiting for-

"Hey, Dash!"

Rainbow beamed as Lullaby appeared at her door. The purple mare was holding a bag full of her belongings in her teeth and had a pillow balanced on her back.

"Hey, roomie," Rainbow greeted her back. Lullaby tossed her pillow on Spring Song's old bed and began unpacking. "You have no idea how relieved I am to get out of that room. I should have done this weeks ago."

"Here, let me help you," Rainbow got off her bed and began to help Lullaby arrange her stuff. Lullaby smiled over at Rainbow Dash as she spread one of her Wonderbolts poster on the wall beside her bed.

"I think I'm gonna like having you or a roommate," she told Dash. Rainbow returned her smile.

"I'm gonna enjoy having you here, too."