Authors Note: This is only a short author's note since I know how long the last one was. Just wanted to let you guys know that this story has absolutely no relation to my other MLP story, Let The Rainbow Remind You. Anything that happens in this story will not affect LTRRY in any way whatsoever. Just imagine that this story takes place in a parallel universe or something. Now that that's covered, on with Dashing and Soaring chapter 2!

…..

"Okay, Rainbow Dash, it's your turn."

Rainbow stood rigid while the mare in charge of finding the cadets the right sized uniform measured her. After about a minute of the mare stretching a measuring tape along her back and legs, she disappeared into a room that Rainbow Dash assumed had the uniforms in them. She returned with one that was the perfect size and Rainbow Dash wasted no time in putting it on.

"You look awesome," Spring Song complimented Rainbow Dash, beginning to show off her own uniform.

"Does this make me look fat?" She asked, smiling. Rainbow tilted her head.

"I don't actually think it's possible to look fat in these things," She replied, looking herself over.

"Hey there, Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow turned to see Lullaby and Sugar Swoop trotting over to her, each of them wearing their new uniforms.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Rainbow greeted, hoof bumping each of them in turn.

"I love these uniforms," Lullaby chirped. "It's kinda like a second skin-"

"Don't say it!" Sugar Swoop's eyes bulged out of his head as he foresaw what she was going to say next. Rainbow Dash had a feeling she knew what was coming next, too. Lullaby puffed out her chest and spoke.

"It feels like I'm wearing no-"

"Okay, that's enough!" Sugar Swoop covered the purple pegasus pony's mouth with a hoof. Rainbow Dash chuckled at their behaviour. Lullaby was about to say a famous Spitfire quote that had been used for a Wonderbolt's poster. Sugar Swoop then noticed Spring Song.

"Hi, who're you?" He asked her.

"Name's Spring Song and I guess you're…" She stopped talking and looked at his cutie mark. "…Candy Cane?" She guessed, shrugging her shoulders.

"Sugar Swoop," The peach stallion corrected her.

"And I'm Lullaby," the purple mare hoof bumped Spring Song. Then, they were joined by Paradise and Ray.

"Hi, Spring Song," Paradise smiled brightly at her friend. She then looked over to Lullaby. "Hey, roomie," She added.

"Hi, Paradise," Lullaby smiled back. Rainbow Dash had forgotten that the two of them were roommates. "Hi, Ray," She looked up at the yellow stallion, who gave her a lopsided smile. Rainbow didn't bother asking how she'd met Ray before. Paradise gave a little bounce.

"Did you two hear?" She asked Sugar Swoop and Lullaby.

"Hear what?" They both asked at the same time. Paradise put a hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder.

"Dash here is being trained by a Wonderbolt," She informed them. Lullaby gasped and lunged forward to hug Rainbow.

"That's so cool, Rainbow. How did you get a Wonderbolt to train you?" She asked, tightening her grip on the cyan pegasus, almost cutting off her circulation.

"And which one is it?" Sugar Swoop added.

"Well, first off, I didn't ask Soarin to train me, he asked Spitfire if he could and she said yes," Rainbow replied honestly. She could hardly believe it herself. When she had woken up that morning she had wondered if it was all a dream. She'd even tried pinching herself to see if she would wake up. It didn't work…it just hurt.

"Soarin!" Lullaby squeed. "You're so lucky, Rainbow Dash!" She bounced up and down like a kangaroo on a sugar buzz.

"Yeah, Soarin must really believe in you, Dash," Sugar Swoop congratulated the cyan mare by slapping her on the back. Rainbow smiled proudly.

"Well, if I were him, I'd believe in me, too," She bragged.

"What was that?"

"AH!" All six of the cadets gasped and turned around to see none other than Soarin standing a few feet away, an amused grin on his face.

"Don't do that, dude!" Sugar Swoop clutched his chest. "You almost scared the cornflakes outta me!"

"Sorry about that," Soarin chuckled sheepishly. "My ears were just burning. Were you talking about me?" He asked. He'd totally caught them red hoofed.

"We were just talking about you training Dash," Ray informed the pale blue stallion. Rainbow was a little shocked. This was the longest sentence Ray had said since she'd met him. According to Spring Song, he was a stallion of few words and usually spoke in one word sentences. He kinda reminded Rainbow of Big Mac with extended vocabulary.

"Can you train me, too?" Lullaby asked hopefully, her eyes sparkling. Sugar Swoop stood by her side.

"Can you train all of us?" he asked, making puppy dog eyes, which was quite pathetic for a stallion. Soarin shook his head.

"I don't think I could handle six of you at once," He shifted his eyes from side to side, to see if anypony was around. "But maybe if you begged-I mean- asked Silver Lining politely, he could teach you," He told them. Without saying another word, Sugar Swoop zoomed off, with Lullaby, Spring Song, Ray and Paradise right behind him. Then, all was silent in the room, apart from the occasion stretching noise of the measuring tape as the last cadet was measured.

"Well, they're an odd group," Soarin commented, staring after them. "Just between you and me, I just wanna get back at Silver Lining for taking the last slice of pie this morning," He revealed, making Rainbow Dash laugh.

"Do you ever stop thinking about pie?" She asked him, poking his shoulder.

"Nope," He replied without hesitation, making Rainbow Dash laugh even more. He hesitated before talking again. "Hey, how about we go flying right now. You can show me some of your tricks and I'll show you some of mine," He asked her, making Rainbow Dash beam.

"Sure, that sounds great!" She replied enthusiastically, spreading her wings, despite the fact that they were still inside. The two pegasi headed outside to the training grounds, which were deserted since there were no drills today. Rainbow Dash found it odd to see it so silent. Usually whenever she had been out here before, Spitfire had been yelling in her ear. She was an awesome drill sergeant.

Soarin led Dash to the air obstacle course and looked around to make sure no one was watching. He turned to Rainbow Dash and snickered.

"Don't tell Spitfire," He whispered, activating the obstacle course. Rainbow's jaw dropped. This was amazing! She would totally wow Soarin with her stunts. The pale blue stallion spread his wings. "Okay let's-"

Before he could finish, Rainbow Dash whizzed past him, leaving her signature rainbow trail in her wake.

"-go," he finished. He quickly took off after the cyan mare, putting on a huge burst of speed to catch up with her. The two pegasi skilfully passed through all of the cloudy hoops, Rainbow Dash showing off by looping around them a couple of times. Dash knew that she could do as many loops as she wanted around the rings and still keep up with Soarin. They reached the next part of the obstacle course, where they had to dodge clouds. The rainbow maned pegasus zoomed on ahead at top speed. While Soarin was manoeuvring his was around, under and above the clouds, Rainbow Dash simply went around the sides the whole way, making Soarin's jaw drop. Dash laughed at his expression as she whooshed past. She didn't stop to wait for him. She wanted to beat a Wonderbolt in a race. She knew that he had never said anything about this being a race, but it was a race starting now.

Since there were no cadets blocking her way this time, Dash found the rest of the obstacle course as easy as pie. She ran into a little trouble when she had to fly through a storm, almost being blown away, but being the awesome pegasus she was, she quickly recovered and got back on track. She noticed that even Soarin struggled a little flying through the storm. Maybe all the Wonderbolts did, but never said.

Then came the easy part, simply flying over and under violent jets of mist, which Rainbow Dash decided to show off on. Instead of simply flying under and over repetitively, Dash decided to do a loop around them before moving onto the next one. Soarin was catching up, but Rainbow Dash didn't let that bother her. She carried on strongly, loving the feel of the wind whipping her face. She skidded to a halt on the landing strip mere moments before Soarin, who stared at her with fascination.

"That was awesome, Rainbow Dash!" he complimented her. Rainbow Dash proudly raised her chest.

"I know," She bragged. Soarin's features lit up as if he'd just got a brilliant idea, which he had.

"Hey, Dash?" He asked her.

"What?"

"Do you think you could do a Sonic Rainboom?" He asked her. Dash determinedly spread her wings.

"No prob!" She exclaimed, taking off immediately. She flew high into the air, higher and higher until Soarin was a tiny dot on the clouds below. She took a deep breath, preparing every bone in her body to perform her signature stunt. All of the Wonderbolts had their own special stunt that only they could perform, though Dash was sure that the Sonic Rainboom was much cooler than any of them. She began descending, picking up speed with every passing millisecond. She felt her face being pulled back by the g-force. She felt the pressure building up against her sides as it became harder and harder to go faster. Her wings and chest were beginning to burn, but she kept going. It had gotten a lot easier for her to perform Sonic Rainboom's since the Best Young Flier competition. She cheered as she finally broke the sound barrier and a spectacular rainbow coloured explosion occurred. She whizzed around the entire academy, leaving her rainbow trail behind her everywhere she went.

She landed a couple of minutes later beside Soarin after a series of flips, twists and other tricks. Soarin wore a hilarious expression on his face at the sight of the awesome stunt.

"Impressed?" Rainbow Dash asked, chuckling a little.

"You bet I am. I wish I could do that," Soarin replied, getting over the thrill of the Rainboom.

"Well, I do have a knack for impressing ponies," Dash bragged, examining a hoof casually. Rainbow suddenly blushed as her tummy growled loudly.

"Wow, somepony's hungry," Soarin teased her. Dash had skipped breakfast because she wanted to post her letter to her friends. She'd had to fly to the post office and back and by the time she'd returned to the Academy, she was too excited to eat anything. Now she was realising how hungry she really was.

"I guess so," She responded as her tummy growled again.

"Y'know, I might be able to persuade Braeburn to give us a free brunch," Soarin suggested. Rainbow Dash licked her lips. The Apple family's food was always delicious, especially if it was free.

"That sounds great. Race ya there!" Rainbow Dash took off with Soarin right behind her.

…..

"I won!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she burst through the double doors to the mess hall. Soarin was only a couple of seconds behind her.

"Well, of course you did, you had a head start," The pale blue stallion argued. The mess hall was empty with the exception of three of the Wonderbolts: Surprise, High Winds and Blaze. Soarin wondered what they were talking about. Those three were always coming up with ridiculous plans to make the Wonderbolts look more heroic and most of those plans ended with them getting hurt. Their most hair-brained scheme so far was when they tried to take down a rampaging dragon on their own and got trapped. Then they had the nerve to pretend that they were still heroes afterwards. Soarin chuckled to himself as he remembered that Spitfire had given them a week of cleaning the toilets for punishment, since they had headed out without her permission.

"What are you waiting for, I'm starving," Rainbow Dash snapped him from his thoughts. Soarin nodded an apology before leading her into the kitchen where the smell of various lunch choices wafted around them. Soarin found it hard to resist one of the huge apple pies cooling on the counter. He heard a clang from the back of the kitchen and turned to see Braeburn putting some fresh apple fritters into an oven.

"Hey, Brae!" Soarin called out, making the earth pony jump. He smiled when he saw his old high school friend.

"'Sup, Soar?" Braeburn greeted, closing the oven door.

"Just wondering if we could get some grub," Soarin replied, nodding his head at Rainbow Dash. Braeburn smiled wider at the sight of his rainbow maned friend.

"Hey there, Rainbow Dash, ah heard that Soarin was training you. You're one lucky mare." He told her.

"You bet I am. I'm the only cadet here being trained by a Wonderbolt. I must be more awesome than I thought," Dash bragged.

"You are pretty awesome," Soarin told her, before blushing slightly.

"Thanks, Soarin, is it that obvious?" She bragged a little more. Braeburn grabbed a few muffins and put them on a plate.

"Y'all can have these on the house," He told them. "Though, can ah just have that one?" Braeburn quickly grabbed one of them and began munching on it. Soarin grabbed one and took a large bite.

"MMMM! These are delicious, right Rainbow Dash?" He ate the rest in no time and grabbed another.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash agreed with a mouthful of muffin. "Soarin definitely made the right choice, making you the new cook."

"Ah should hope so, though it's only 'til they can find a full time cook. By the end of the boot camp ah should have been paid enough to restart my apple sellin' business," He explained, licking the crumbs from around his mouth. Rainbow Dash finished her second muffin.

"Man, I wish I could bake like that," She complimented the earth pony stallion, eying a third muffin.

"You and Soarin, both," He chuckled, turning to the pegasus stallion. "Remember that one time when ah tried to teach ya how to bake apple pie and ya almost burnt down the kitchen," He teased Soarin, poking him in the chest.

"It's hard to forget when you keep reminding me," Soarin grumbled, spraying a few crumbs as he spoke. Rainbow Dash chuckled at the two stallions. Soarin couldn't help thinking that she had a nice laugh.

"Ya know, ya remind me of Soarin," Braeburn told Rainbow Dash. "You're an amazin' flier, ya wanna be a Wonderbolt and ya love my cookin'."

"I can bake pretty well, too, ya know," Soarin argued with his friend, who rolled his eyes.

"Well, ya should have improved since ya learned that ya don't put apple crumble in the dishwasher," Braeburn shoved him playfully. Rainbow Dash gave a snort of laughter at her trainer's stupidity and he flushed red with embarrassment. He'd like to say that he hadn't done that, but he couldn't because he had done it. He decided to change the subject.

"Hey, Braeburn, remember when I asked you if you remember who all the Wonderbolts were last week?" he asked his buddy.

"Yeah," Braeburn replied, taking another muffin off the plate for himself.

"Well, do you remember all of them yet?" he asked. Braeburn shifted his eyes to the sides, trying to remember.

"Well, there's you, of course," He began before ducking his head and mumbling to himself, trying to remember the others.

"Besides me," Soarin told him.

"Um…Fleetfoot!" Braeburn suddenly remembered. Soarin clapped.

"You've finally remembered somepony," He congratulated Braeburn. Then again, he and Fleetfoot were the only ones that had interacted with Braeburn. Fleetfoot was really friendly to him, which Soarin was pleased about, since she was one of his closest friends. The other Wonderbolts hadn't so much as said 'hello' to him. Braeburn probably didn't even acknowledge most of their existences.

"And there's…um…what's her name? Supplies…Surmise…" Braeburn struggled to remember the name.

"SURPRISE!"

"GAH!" Soarin, Rainbow Dash and Braeburn fell backwards with shock as a white pegasus with a bushy yellow mane popped up in front of them and almost gave Soarin a heart attack. He should be used to this by now, but this mare could surprise anypony.

"Urrr…hey there, Surprise," Soarin mumbled, as he got over the shock. He, Rainbow Dash and Braeburn had all fallen to the ground after Surprise jumped out at them.

"You okay down there, Soarin?" Surprise asked, smiling widely.

"Yeah, my muffin broke my fall," the pale blue stallion replied, standing up to reveal that he'd landed on his muffin when he fell.

"You're not gonna eat that now, right?" Braeburn asked his friend, pointing a hoof at the muffin.

"Of course not," Soarin replied, tossing the muffin in the air and kicking it with one of his hind hooves. It made an arc in the air before landing in the trash can.

"That was awesome!" Rainbow Dash congratulated the Wonderbolt co-captain, giving him a slap on the back.

"Yeah, nice shot, Soarin," Surprise joined in, grabbing one of the remaining two muffins off the plate and taking a huge bite out of it.

"Hey, you could at least ask before you take a muffin," Soarin scolded the yellow maned Wonderbolt as she chewed happily on the treat. She gulped it down before replying.

"Sorry," She apologized. "But, your buddy's cooking is just so good!" She licked her lips.

"Oh yeah, Surprise, have you introduced yourself to Braeburn, yet?" Soarin asked her, nodding at his old friend. Surprise eagerly hopped over to Braeburn and began vigorously shaking his hoof.

"Well, it's nice to meet ya, Braeburn, and may I just say that you make amazing muffins," She greeted. "I'm Surprise, official Wonderbolt flier and party planner at your service," She bowed at the last part, making Braeburn chuckle.

"Nice ta meet ya, too, Surprise, and thanks for the compliment about the muffins. It's an old Apple family recipe," The earth pony replied as Surprise let go of his hoof.

"Apple family, huh?" Surprise tilted her head to the side. "Then you must be related to Applejack and Big Macintosh, right?" She guessed.

"Yeah, they're mah cousins," Braeburn replied. Surprise gave a little bounce.

"I've met Applejack before," She told him. "She's really nice. I haven't met Big Macintosh before, but Fleetfoot's told me about him before. She also told me that you remind her of him," She added.

"Really?" Braeburn asked, looking surprised, ironically enough. Personally, Soarin thought that he was nothing like Big Macintosh. Fleetfoot had told Soarin about Big Mac several times before, since she'd met him in Ponyville shortly after she'd got knocked out of the sky by a firework. She'd become smitten with him and began stalking him, so that firework must have hit her head harder than he'd thought.

"Yep," Was all Surprise said. She suddenly looked over to plate as Rainbow Dash grabbed the last muffin off the plate. "Hey, can I take some of those muffins for me, High Winds and Blaze?" She asked.

"Sure, lemme just get some more," Braeburn headed back to the counter and brought back a plate with six muffins on it. "There ya go," He passed them to Surprise whose mouth began to water as she stared at the delicious snacks.

"Thanks, Braeburn. You're awesome!" She could barely be understood with the plate of muffins in her mouth. "Bye, Rainbow Dash!" She waved to the cyan mare as she left the kitchen and headed to the table where Blaze and High Winds were still talking.

"Well, it's certainly not every day you get called 'awesome'," Soarin teased Braeburn, who gave him an irritated glare.

"Well, she seemed friendly," Braeburn commented and he returned to rolling out the dough for some more apple pies.

"Yeah, Surprise is the easiest Wonderbolt to get along with," Rainbow Dash told him. "When I first met her, all I said was 'hi' before she started rambling on and on about us becoming the best of friends and stuff like that," She recalled. Soarin had been there when that had happened. It wasn't long after she'd saved his pie at the gala. Surprise could get excited about anything.

"Rainbow Dash, are you in here?"

Soarin recognized the voice of the purple pegasus that was hanging out with Dash earlier. Rainbow Dash whipped around as she heard her name called. She looked over her shoulder at Soarin, then back to the kitchen door.

"You'd better go see what she wants," Soarin told her.

"Yeah, I guess," Dash sounded almost sad to leave. Then again, being trained by a Wonderbolt was pretty exciting for her. If he were her, he wouldn't want to part with his mentor either. "But, you never got to show me any of your signature tricks," She reminded him. Soarin had forgotten that he'd said he'd show her some of his moves.

"Well…I guess I can show you tomorrow after drills are finished," Soarin shrugged. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him.

"Promise?" She asked. Soarin rolled his eyes and smiled.

"I promise," He replied, earning a bright smile from the rainbow maned mare.

"Catch ya later, Soarin!" She called over her shoulder as she went through the double doors. Braeburn by then was making some apple brown betty's. Soarin took the opportunity to try and take one of the pies. He silently crept up to the counter and grabbed one of them. He then attempted to sneak out of the kitchen with the pie balanced on his back. He froze as the door squeaked as he began to open it and he heard Braeburn yell at him from behind. Soarin gasped and galloped out of the kitchen, into the mess hall, then out the door into the training grounds with Braeburn galloping behind him.

"Get back here, Soarin. If ya want pie, wait for lunch like everypony else!" The earth pony ordered him.

"But where's the fun it that?" Soarin yelled over his shoulder as he raced across the cloudy ground.

"Ya know, eventually ah will catch you!" Braeburn shouted at his high school friend.

"In your dreams, Brae, I'm one of fastest fliers in Equestria, so naturally, I should be a fast runner, too," he argued. "GAH!" Soarin suddenly tripped and tumbled over. Braeburn skilfully jumped over his friend and caught the pie on his back.

"You were saying?" He gave Soarin a smug look as the pale blue stallion picked himself up, a little dazed from his fall.

"Er…never mind," He groaned, rubbing his now sore head.

…..

"Bye, guys," Rainbow Dash said as she closed the door to her and Spring Song's room. Ever since she had left Soarin and Braeburn in the kitchen, she, Lullaby, Sugar Swoop, Spring Song, Paradise and Ray had been hanging out in her dorm. They'd told eachother about competitions they had flown in, their first time watching a Wonderbolts air show and just random things about themselves. All of them had been speechless after Rainbow Dash told them how she'd saved Soarin, Spitfire and Misty Fly's lives in the Best Young Flier competition and performed a Sonic Rainboom. She'd promised to show them one tomorrow.

"I'm beat," Spring Song yawned, leaping onto her bed. Rainbow Dash chuckled at her.

"Ya know, it's surprising you're so tired when we haven't even done any drills, yet," She told the pink pegasus.

"Well, it is one in the morning," Spring Song nodded up at the clock. Rainbow Dash looked too, sure enough it was exactly one O'clock. How had time gone by so fast?

"Well…maybe you're right. We need to be up early for drills," Rainbow Dash agreed, letting out a small yawn, herself. She switched off the light and got into bed, switching on her bedside lamp, as she hadn't written a letter to her friends today. She picked up a quill, spread some paper across the surface of the bedside table and began to write...

'Sup, everypony?

Guess who the first cadet to try out the air obstacle course was?

ME, that's who!

Well, technically, I'm the only cadet that's tried the air obstacle course out so far. Soarin is the best mentor ever. He even let me perform a Sonic Rainboom!

Hey Applejack, can I just say that the Apple Family muffin recipe is fantastic. Braeburn made a batch and it was kinda like eating happiness!

Tomorrow's the first day of drills, and I need to be up and at 'em at the crack of dawn…well, maybe not exactly the crack of dawn, but pretty early, anyway.

Wish me luck, not that I'll need it.

Yours epically,

Rainbow Dash.'

Rainbow Dash rolled up her letter and put it on the table beside her lamp. She crawled under the covers and rested her head on her pillow, giving a relaxed sigh at the warmth of her bed.

"Night, Spring Song," She yawned. The only reply from her roommate was the sound of soft snoring. Rainbow Dash let out a silent laugh before reaching over to her bedside table and switching off the light.

…..

Endnote: So, chapter two has reached its end. From now on I'll try and get one chapter done per week, and I put extra emphasis on 'try'. I have a busy life outside the computer, too, you know. So, tune in next time when Rainbow Dash has her first lesson at the boot camp.