RosaSilvermist- Glad you thought it was funny. I love coming up with all the jokes. :D

PieLover139- Aw, thanks. I'm so happy that you like my story and don't worry, more horseshoe stuff is coming soon. :)

---

"D'ya hafta sleep on there?" Braeburn asked Soarin, who was asleep on the serving counter. "The last thing Ah need is you moltin' in the food."

Soarin grumbled, not wanting to be disturbed. "Gimme a break, Brae, I need to get as much sleep as possible," he screwed his eyes shut, wanting nothing more than a few more hours sleep. He heard Braeburn trotting over to him.

"Ever heard o' beds?" he asked. "They were made fer sleepin' in," he poked Soarin in the ribs and the blue stallion kicked him away.

"You don't understand. If you did, you'd be sleeping, too!" Soarin sat up, looking seriously at his earth pony friend. Braeburn looked suddenly alert.

"What is it?" he asked. Soarin slid off the counter and shuddered at the thought of what would happen later. This was the part of his job he hated the most.

"I-I don't wanna scare you," the Wonderbolt looked dramatically off to the side. Braeburn hopped up and down like he was on a sugar buzz.

"Tell me! Tellmetellmetellme!" he ordered. Soarin looked down at the ground, even saying it made him want to die of boredom.

"It's…staff meeting day!" he revealed. "DA-DUH!" he threw his hooves into the air. Braeburn tilted his head, making his hat slope sideways.

"What was this?" Braeburn mimicked Soarin's 'Da-duh' thing. Soarin face hoofed.

"I was making the sound of a thunder clap, of course," he scoffed as if it were the most obvious thing ever. To his surprise, Braeburn didn't look disappointed or terrified, actually a little excited. "Why aren't you yelling to the heavens for the meeting to be cancelled?" he noticed the weird look he got from his friend. "Heh…not that I do that every time I wake up on a meeting day," he lied, making a bad poker face.

"Well, Ah think it'll be great, gettin' the heads up on ev'rythin' goin' on in the Academy," Braeburn said optimistically. Soarin laughed bitterly.

"We'll see what you think after the meeting," Soarin drifted into past memories of the meetings. Usually, they just talked about things that didn't concern him, like the state of training equipment or payment (actually he did care a little about that last one). He decided to go and nap elsewhere, hopefully somewhere soundproof since the cadets would soon be done with their second half of drills. When the cadets finished their training for the day the noise they made could disturb ponies halfway across Cloudsdale. Soarin didn't really blame them though. If he had to get up at six, then train until ten, have half an hour to eat and then do more training until two-thirty, he'd be pretty excited to get inside, too. That was his daily routine when he was at the Academy, and he didn't regret it for one moment. All of the blood, sweat, tears and bugle-wake-up-call's was all worth it in the end.

He looked out the large window at the cadets in the middle of wing up drills. Wing ups had always been his least favourite exercise, but he managed to get to the target number if he was rewarded with a pie. Just thinking about it made his wings ache, how it always made him exhausted and sweaty and he had to take a shower after.

He imagined Rainbow Dash exhausted and sweaty and in a sh-

*FWOOMPH*

Braeburn came out the kitchen door at that exact moment.

"Hey, Soar. D'ya know where the-" he stopped talking and halted as he saw Soarin with a… well, ya know. For what felt like hours, Soarin stared over his shoulder, red faced while Braeburn stared back, looking disturbed.

"Er…" Soarin said awkwardly.

"Yeah…" Braeburn replied, equally as awkwardly.

"Uh-huh…" Soarin looked down at the ground. This was followed by even more agonising silence.

"So…Ah'm just gonna…pretend Ah didn't see that," Braeburn excused himself and turned back into the kitchen. Soarin nodded in agreement.

"Let's never speak of this again," he called after his friend. He returned to staring at the floor, relieved when his wings finally folded back down. Braeburn poked his head back through the door a moment later.

"And…uh…you'll hafta forgive me if Ah don't make eye contact with ya fer the next month or two. Any problems with that?" he asked.

"Nope, none at all," Soarin replied.

---

Rainbow Dash sat at the table in the mess hall, her chin upon the table with Lullaby sitting on her right side, following her gaze across the room to the table where Spring Song, Paradise and Ray were sitting. Paradise was yakking away to Spring Song like she was some kind of celebrity, Ray was looking over at the other stallions, looking like he wanted to join them and Spring Song smirked at Paradise as she gave her compliment after compliment. Rainbow Dash just couldn't understand why Paradise saw Spring Song the way she did!

Rainbow Dash hoped that she wasn't the only pony in the dark. Paradise and Spring Song had the strangest friendship she had ever seen, if you could even call it friendship. She had a feeling that Paradise would call it 'Best Friendship' but Spring Song would probably have something different to call it.

Paradise probably couldn't stay away from Spring Song if her life depended on it and Rainbow Dash was almost 100% sure that if the two of them were if a life or death situation where only one of them could survive, Paradise would choose Spring Song's life over hers. Rainbow Dash couldn't argue that Paradise was one of the most loyal ponies she had ever met, besides herself of course.

But Rainbow Dash definitely blamed Spring Song for the majority of their shaky relationship.

All the blonde mare did was make Paradise serve her like some kind of slave. The poor green mare treated Spring Song like a princess…no, a queen! All Spring Song has to do is call her name and Paradise would be there, no matter why, when or where. Even when Spring Song was being her angry, jerky self, Paradise was at her beck and call.

The way Paradise acted, you'd think that Spring Song was an actual princess and she was her loyal guard. Every time Spring Song so much as looked at Paradise she would get this huge smile on her face like she'd just won the lottery! It was just too much!

"Rainbow Dash…Rainbow…helloooo?"

Rainbow Dash looked up at Lullaby's call to meet the concerned mare's gaze. "What is it?" Rainbow asked her roommate, her line of sight flicking back to Spring Song and her friends for a moment. Lullaby folded her hooves on the table and gave Rainbow Dash a serious stare.

"Dash…I think that this whole Spring Song thing is getting under your fur. You never know, maybe if you apologized to her, you can make amends. Ya know, Rainbow, you and Spring Song could be really good friends if you just put this silly Ray thing aside," the purple pegasus explained. Rainbow Dash looked at Lullaby like she was speaking in pig-latin.

"Lullaby, are you even hearing yourself? Sure, Spring Song and I got on before, but…everything's different now," Rainbow stared down at the table, wanting to look at anything other than Spring Song. Lullaby let out an exasperated sigh.

"I personally think that this has gone on long enough. You two can't even be in the same room without giving eachother evil looks," Lullaby threw her hooves into the air in frustration. Rainbow Dash gave Lullaby an evil look right there and then.

"That's not true. Remember the other day when we teamed up to keep you in the Academy?" Rainbow Dash gave Lullaby a playful tap on her noggin, as if trying to jog her memory. Lullaby slapped Dash's hoof away and leaned away in case she tried to rap on her skull again.

"Exactly, Rainbow, the two of you consciously joined forces to help me…and even though it didn't work out the way you'd planned; it proved that the two of you can actually help each other when you put your minds to it," she smirked up at Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare cursed under her breath. Why did Lullaby have to be right all the time? It was so annoying!

"So…you think I should just make amends with her again?" Rainbow sighed, putting her chin back down on the table and blowing a stray lock of her mane out of her magenta eyes.

"Well, I was actually hoping you would make friends, but you're close enough," Lullaby shrugged, snickering a little. Rainbow Dash screwed her eyes shut and wished for a moment that Lullaby could be stubborn like her. Finally, she lifted up her head and stared determinedly over at Spring Song.

"Ya know what... you're right…" she finally agreed. Lullaby examined a hoof casually, looking proud of herself.

"Dash, I'm always right," she smugly stated. For a few seconds they just sat there, neither saying anything, both staring at the table until Lullaby prodded Rainbow's shoulder. "Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah?" Rainbow Dash looked up.

"Why are you still here? I thought you were gonna go over there and-"

"I know! I know! I was just gonna go!" Rainbow Dash lied, standing up and taking a few breaths before trotting confidently over to the table where her rival and her two friends sat. When she was a few feet away, she saw Spring Song's green eyes meet hers for a moment before she turned and whispered something to Paradise…loudly.

"Is she wearing her mane differently today? It just looks so…messy…well, messier, anyway," she hissed to her friend, who giggled. Rainbow Dash didn't know whether Paradise was doing this against her will or not. She was almost as confusing as Pinkie Pie. She wanted to tackle Spring Song to the ground and beat every last insult out of her…but she remembered Spitfire's words 'Ignore, ignore, ignore' and that seemed to calm her down. Instead she approached the table and placed a hoof atop it, making sure that she had the pink she-demon's attention.

"What did I actually do to you, Spring Song?" she asked the question that she had wanted to know for the longest time now. Was it the race? Was it all Ray? She had so many questions that she didn't know how she had managed to keep them all locked up. "Just because I'm a better flyer than you doesn't mean that you have to hate me," she added, for extra reassurance. Spring Song's eyes bulged out of her head and she began to stand up. Paradise saw the danger and grabbed hold of one of Spring Song's arms.

"Spring Song's a way better racer than you!" she snapped at Rainbow Dash, which seemed to calm Spring Song down a little. Paradise looked a little uncertain at what she was saying, as if she were telling herself as well as the others. "She's way cooler and prettier and…pegasusier," she babbled. Spring Song sat down in her spot between Paradise and Ray, who had scooted down a couple of seats, and put a hoof around Paradise.

"See, Paradise knows best," Spring Song shook her friend playfully, making Paradise gasp with glee at her statement. Rainbow Dash instantly changed her mind, and she didn't care what Lullaby thought, there was no way she was apologizing to Spring Song.

"Look, I don't give a flying feather what you guys say or do to me anymore," Rainbow Dash stared Spring Song down. "I've got better things to do than let you put me down."

Spring Song narrowed her eyes evilly at the rainbow maned cadet. "Ya know, Rainbow Dash. I was gonna say sorry for treating you the way I did, but I don't think I'm so sorry anymore" she gave Dash a stare that could make a fully grown dragon cry. "You're the worst excuse for a pegasus ever, and I hate you!"

Rainbow Dash felt her heart ache at her words, but she refused to let it show. She snarled angrily at the blonde mare and turned around, stomping back to the table where Lullaby sat, awaiting her report, looking a little nervous.

"So…how did it go?" she asked, despite the fact that she obviously knew what the answer was. Rainbow couldn't get her enemy's last sentence out of her head. She wasn't a pathetic pegasus, Spring Song was! She groaned and put her chin back on the table, resuming the position she had been in before she had got up to 'apologize' to Spring Song (seriously, what insulting nickname should she give her?) and replied bluntly.

"…just peachy."

---

Spitfire loved her job, truly she did, but there were certain things about it that she would give up in a heartbeat. The airshow's, tours and fame were awesome, and she loved having so many fans all across Equestria, but if the golden mare had to pick the thing she hated the most about her job, it would be the staff meetings.

Once a month, she and the other Wonderbolts and staff would meet up in the staffroom to discuss whatever and all she really did was sit there, unless she had something of the utmost importance to say. But today was one of those days that she had nothing to say at all. The meetings all started with the staff sitting down in their separate spots, Spitfire sat on the chair beside the coffee machine just in case she got thirsty, then Silver Lining would begin the meeting since he was the oldest and from then on each of them would take turns sharing their concerns and news. It was times like this when Spitfire realised that she had nothing interesting going on in her life, except her job of course.

Another thing was that the weather was getting warmer, since it was in the middle of spring, so it was a little stuffy in the staffroom. She wished that she could just take off her captain's uniform, but it was mandatory for her to wear it during working hours. She envied Feather Duster, who didn't have to wear a uniform.

Silver Lining was talking about new food for the mess hall or something. Whatever it was, it didn't concern Spitfire, so she just sat in her chair, one elbow resting on the table beside her while she silently sipped her coffee. This. Was. So. Boring!

"Um…sir? Don't ya think there should be less fattenin' food on the menu?"

Spitfire's ears pricked up as she heard the voice of Soarin's earth pony buddy. He was sitting beside Soarin on the couch and, strangely, he didn't look bored at all. She scolded herself for acknowledging him and returned to drinking her coffee, trying to let its strong scent fill her mind to block everything out. However, she just couldn't turn her attention away from Braeburn. What did it matter if he was speaking? He wasn't speaking to her.

…so why was she listening?

"Well, yeah, havin' cookies an' pies are all fine an' dandy, but what if there was healthier stuff like carrots or sugar-free cider?" the earth pony suggested. Soarin sprung up from his spot slumped against the side of the couch and shook Braeburn in a panic.

"Dude! Don't get rid of the pie! DO NOT GET RID OF THE PIIIIIIIIIE!" he shook his friend so hard that his cowboy hat fell off. Braeburn picked up his stetson and bonked Soarin on the head with it before putting it back on his own. Silver Lining gave Braeburn an approving look and Soarin an irritated one.

"Great idea, Braeburn. I have to suggest that to my wife," he joked. Braeburn chuckled at the eldest 'Bolt's words and Soarin joined in a moment later. Spitfire's gaze was glued to Braeburn as he sunk down in his seat and resumed listening to the others talk. The two of them had barely talked since the 'Awkward Hallway Incident', apart from a few simple 'hello's' when they crossed paths in the halls. Oh, and once he had dropped by her office to fix a shelf. Other than that, nothing. In the short time he had been in her office he had just been so friendly, talking to her about his family and the cool stuff he'd seen in Cloudsdale. She hadn't really talked much to him in that time, but the earth pony seemed to be able to make enough conversation for both of them. Truth be told, Spitfire was more of a listener.

He didn't even seem bothered that she wasn't much of a conversationalist; it was like he didn't expect her to do anything. She had to admit that he was quite the…gentlestallion, was the only word that she could think of to describe him.

He was helpful, cheerful and perky, which she definitely preferred to how she had thought him to be when she had encountered him for the first time, which was quiet, hesitant and shy.

She wondered if he was single.

"HOLY CELSTIA STOP!" Spitfire mentally yelled at herself and jolted up in her chair as the thought entered her mind. Her eyes darted around the room to check whether anypony had seen her sudden movement. Luckily she hadn't drawn any attention to herself. She settled herself down again and took another swig of coffee, still unable to get that lingering thought out of her head. She'd just imagined that he had a marefriend since he seemed like the kind of stallion that mares would flock to. She was actually surprised he wasn't married. For reasons unknown to her, thinking about all this made her feel uneasy, so she carried on sipping her coffee.

Without thinking, she looked over at Braeburn again and found that he was already looking at her. She sharply looked away, trying to make it look like an accident, painfully aware of the heat in her cheeks. She stared down into her cup as she drunk more coffee. After a while, which could have been ten minutes or ten seconds for all she knew, Spitfire looked back over at him and, sure enough, he was still staring at her.

"What?" she mouthed at him.

"That's right, blame everything on him," she thought to herself. Braeburn just shrugged and smiled.

"Sorry," he mouthed back. "This is just so borin'."

Spitfire couldn't argue with him there; she couldn't even pay attention to a word anypony was saying. She gave him a small smile. "Okay," was all she mouthed. Braeburn flashed her a grin and Spitfire quickly turned her attention back to the lukewarm drink in her hooves.

She was just so confused and she hated everything about this! One moment she hated Braeburn for messing up her head, and then she hated herself for letting him. She didn't like how she enjoyed being around him and how she always felt…happy when she saw him. But most of all, she hated Braeburn for making her feel…things that she had never felt before.

She hated Braeburn.

The captain suddenly realised that she had drunk all her coffee and grumbled before tossing her empty cup in the trash behind her. She then propped her head up on her elbow and looked down at the white carpet, wanting nothing more than this stupid meeting to end. She heard somepony cough and she looked up, meeting the concerned green eyes of the earth pony that was sabotaging her mind.

"Are ya alright?" he mouthed. She gave him a brief nod before looking back down, realising that her worries were practically plastered onto her face. Right now the only thought running through her head was 'Why did he care?'

If he didn't care, then she would be fine right now; she wouldn't have all these questions and emotions attacking her brain and she wouldn't be angry with herself. If he just stopped caring, just like she had stopped caring years ago, then she wouldn't have any of these thoughts or feelings.

She hated him.

But... there was another part of her that loved it that she had somepony looking out for her, a part of her that loved it when he spoke to her, how he did things for her out of his own free will, how he would always smile at her, how his eyes would glow when he saw her.

She didn't hate him.

No…she did hate him!

UGH!

Spitfire squinted with frustration as her mind whirled with all these mixed emotions. If there were any feelings that Captain Spitfire never had it was fear and…and…she couldn't even bear to think of it…The 'L' Word…

So why, all of a sudden, was she feeling both?

---

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash cheered as she burst through the mess hall doors with Soarin following close behind her. "Did ya see me? I was all WHOOSH, and then all those clouds EXPLODED, like BOOM!" she rambled, jumping onto one of the tables and striking a triumphant pose.

"Could ya keep it down in there? Ah'm tryin' t' write!" Braeburn poked his head through the kitchen door. Rainbow Dash's curiosity got the better of her and she flapped over to the serving counter and peered over it to see what Braeburn was talking about.

"Whatcha writing?" she asked, folding her hooves. Braeburn held up some lined paper.

"Just a letter t' muh family back in AAAAAAAppleLOOsa!" Braeburn yelled that last part like he usually did, which actually freaked Rainbow Dash out a little. Gosh, this guy was too perky.

"You write letters, too?" Rainbow asked, interested since she was a fellow letter-writer. Braeburn nodded cheerfully.

"Yeah. Ah've gotta keep in touch with 'em somehow," he replied, sitting back down beside one of the ovens and scrawling a few more words with the quill in his teeth. That was another thing that Rainbow Dash was jealous of unicorns for; they could use their magic to write, too, so it was no wonder that their writing was all fancy schmancy compared to the other two races of ponies.

"Oh yeah, Dashie, I never asked. How are your friends doin'? Is Applejack still making those pies of hers?" Soarin asked. Rainbow rolled her eyes at the pie-loving pegasus.

"Yeah they're fine. In fact I just got my latest letter from them this morning. I'll never understand how Princess Celestia doesn't get freaked out when green fire suddenly appears and chucks a letter at you," she joked. "Pinkie Pie's planning the Spring Celebration and Rarity's working on the decorations. Twilight's gonna try and get the other princesses to make an appearance, too. And, yes, AJ's still baking those pies you like," she added. Soarin grinned.

"Awesome! Ya know Applejack's apple pie tastes amazing…" he sighed dreamily, drooling. Braeburn's head snapped round to face his friend.

"The buck did ya say 'bout muh cousin?" he asked, eyes the size of plates and pupils the size of pins. Soarin realised what Braeburn was getting at and gasped.

"NO! NO! NO! Not like that!" he insisted, waving his hooves in defence before pointing one accusingly at Braeburn. "And you'd better watch your tongue, buddy, this story is only rated T."

Rainbow Dash was baffled at Soarin's words, but shrugged it off. "Say, Braeburn, you're coming to the Celebration, right?" she asked. Braeburn nodded.

"Yeah, but it'll hafta be later in the day. Ah promised muh family that Ah'd go back to AAA-"

Soarin flew over the counter and slapped a hoof over Braeburn's mouth. "Don't say it. Just don't!" he ordered before removing his hoof. Braeburn shoved the pale blue Wonderbolt away.

"Ah promised Ah'd go home fer muh family's Celebration…" he looked away uneasily. "Muh pa's not okay with me celebratin' spring in Cloudsdale, so that's why Ah'm goin' home."

Rainbow Dash made her way over the counter and sat beside Braeburn. "Why can't you celebrate here?" she asked. Braeburn sighed.

"Muh pa doesn't exactly like pegasi…" he admitted, dropping the quill from his mouth. Rainbow was appalled at that.

"Wha- why not?" she asked, anger working its way onto her face. Why would Braeburn's dad have a thing against pegasi? Braeburn shrugged.

"Ah dunno. Just figured that he was jealous o' their wings or somethin'," he frowned. Soarin folded his arms with irritation.

"Yeah! Your dad was so hostile towards me!" he recalled, scowling at the memories. Rainbow Dash had no idea that earth ponies felt this way about pegasi. Braeburn looked over at Soarin with a reassuring smile.

"Hey, look on the bright side. Muh ma loves ya, Soar. Yer kinda like her second son," he said optimistically. Soarin smiled brightly at that.

"Yeah, she would always make me pie; whatever kind I wanted. Your mom was the best, Brae," Soarin complimented the earth pony. Braeburn must have decided to drop that topic because he returned to the Celebration conversation.

"So, anyway, Ah'll be stoppin' by Ponyville t' see muh family there, too," he told Rainbow Dash. "It'd be nice t' go to Ponyville when Ah don't hafta deal with a whole bunch o' relatives at the Apple Family Reunion."

Rainbow Dash giggled, remembering how Applejack had told her how a reunion had gone completely out of control. "Yeah, hopefully this time you won't have to rebuild anything," she smirked. Braeburn laughed along with her and Soarin joined them. Rainbow Dash was pleased that the two stallions were such good friends; even when they got into an argument they would always make up in the end, just like they did right at the beginning of the boot camp. She just wished that she could make amends with others that easily.

"Guys…can I ask you something?" she asked them. Soarin shrugged and Braeburn nodded, so Rainbow Dash spoke what was on her mind. "You two are great friends, right…but you sometimes get into arguments and scrapes? So, how can you forgive eachother?"

Soarin and Braeburn looked at eachother and then at Dash. "Well…you of all ponies should know that friendship is something that isn't easily fractured. You always come through for your friends in the end," Soarin replied.

"Yeah, me an' Soarin get into fights all the time, but since we're such good friends, we can always just get over it. That's what true friendship is, Rainbow Dash: stickin' by yer pals even when they screw up or disagree with ya," Braeburn added. Rainbow Dash had never known the two of them to be so wise. That definitely shed some light on her current problem, too. She and Spring Song were in the midst of their own battlefield, and Spring Song clearly wasn't going to apologize any time soon. And if Soarin and Braeburn were right about friends always forgiving eachother, then maybe she and Spring Song were never friends in the first place.

"Thanks guys…I needed to hear that," she smiled up at them.

"Don't sweat it Dash. We're always here for ya," Soarin trotted over to her and ruffled her multi-coloured mane. Rainbow Dash was glad that she had all these wonderful friends to help her through her situation, but deep down this still bugged her. She didn't like it that somepony hated her. It felt…sickening and it hurt like a wound in her heart. She wanted that pain to go away. She wanted to be liked by everypony. And even though she hated to admit it…

The thing she wanted most of all was Spring Song's friendship again.

---

Endnote: Seriously, what insulting name should Rainbow Dash call Spring Song?

Also I've finally written an endnote that hasn't turned into a rant!