Authors Note: OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!

100+ REVIEWS!

You guys are the BEST! When I first started writing this I never thought it would get 100 reviews, and we're only just halfway through! I really couldn't do this without all your reviews and support, so thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! (And congratulations, MidnightBlaze16 for being the 100th reviewer!)

Spiralwish- Thanks for catching those references! Austin and Ally is one of my favourite shows ever! Ya know, that chapter was never supposed to exist, but I was watching reruns of the show a few weeks ago when that episode came on and I thought to myself 'I can so imagine Surprise and Spitfire doing something like this' then one thought led to another and I came up with that chapter. Plus, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get Spitfire to start appreciating friendship.

MidnightBlaze16- Good theory, buddy, but there's no way I'm telling anyone whodunnit until the time is right. And I did actually consider the 'sandwiches' thing, by the way. Also, I've got that song stuck in my head now. Oh, and if you're a TwiDash fan you should check out this video on YouTube: TwiDash- Hearts and Hooves Day… unless you've already seen it, of course.

Litestardt- YES! SOARIN'S SISTER! And I promise- no fourth wall breaks in this chapter…maybe.

RosaSilvermist- Whew. I'm so glad I got Pinkie's character right. She's one of the characters I struggle with the most, so I feel really relieved now!

YoungBlood23- ME TOO! You have no idea how much I just wanna skip the whole relationship building thing, but noooooo! I have to write their whole stories out word by word and it's so irritating! Oh well, I'll get there eventually… maybe sooner than you think. *suspense face*

Tycser- YEAHISAWWUTYOUDIDTHERE! Well, Pinkie Pie is tied with Rainbow Dash for my favourite of the Mane Six but she is darn near impossible to write and I sometimes wonder how the MLP writers manage to portray her so well all the time. I remember the first time I tried to write her I messed up by making her too random. But I once got some pretty good advice which was to write Pinkie as you would write a five year old girl: always doing funny and strange things to have a good time, but is super awkward when there is a real problem, kinda like how she acts in Filli Vanilli. The bottle episode thing is sometimes boring, I admit, and I struggled to keep things interesting, but I'm so glad I managed to do an 'okay' job. Oh, and in this chapter you're going to see just how messy things can get… literally!

The Super Saiyan 3- There ya go! You're in an Authors Note! Anyway, thanks for sticking with this story for as long as you have, buddy, and hopefully it will just get better from here. *Brohoof*

And this chapter has a special appearance from DJ Storm's OC (who is also Soarin's little sister), Rock Star.

---

"I can't believe you're gonna do this," Lullaby groaned, looking at Rainbow Dash over the top of her Harry Trotter book. Rainbow was preening her wings by the mirror, struggling with a particular feather that kept sticking up. "And just because she called you a chicken," the purple pegasus tutted and resumed reading her book.

"I know, I know, I was being an idiot, but I can't go back on what I said now," Rainbow admitted, getting that feather to lie flat only for it to spring up again after a second or two.

"Why can't you? I won't think any less of you. In fact, I'd think better of you because this whole idea is ridiculous!" Lullaby argued, her eyes never leaving the words of her book. Rainbow Dash put her hooves over her eyes and sighed. Lullaby had literally been bugging her about this all day! When they first woke up, when they were changing for drills, during drills, whilst eating lunch, heading back to the dorms after dinner, and now here, in their room, whilst she was supposed to be chilling out before the party.

"Don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit? What's the worst that could happen?" Rainbow shrugged her shoulders casually. She was pretty confident that they could pull this off and not be caught. The Main Hall already had a lot of party stuff in it from previous cadet graduations, so Spring Song didn't even need to worry about sneaking a bunch of tables into the room. In fact, the only thing Spring Song had to sneak in was the food, and nopony would get suspicious when they saw a few cadets carrying a truckload of food to the Hall…okay, maybe a little bit, but that's why everypony had taken turns carrying small amounts down. As much as she hated to admit it, Spring Song was pretty good when it came to planning things out.

"No, I think this is the reaction anypony would have if their featherbrain of a friend was about to go into the Danger Zone!" Lullaby snapped her book shut and glowered over at Rainbow, who glared back.

"Lullaby, this is nothing like the Danger Zone!" Rainbow argued. She finally finished preening her feathers and looked in the mirror to admire how awesome they looked. Yeah, even her wings were made of pure epicness.

"Well, maybe it's not, but it's still completely ludicrous! You're going to a party that's going against Academy regulations and being hosted by your arch nemesis whilst risking the trust of your mentor. If that isn't insane then I don't know what is!" Lullaby ranted.

"This conversation," Rainbow Dash deadpanned before walking out the door and closing it behind her. She leaned back against it and exhaled with relief at being away from her annoying Jiminy Cricket of a friend. There was still about twenty minutes until the Wonderbolts left for the airshow, so she decided to go see if Soarin and Braeburn were in the kitchen. That was usually where they were when they weren't working…well, Braeburn was in there whether he was working or not, but now this is just going off topic.

She headed to the Mess Hall and peered over the counter, where Soarin was flopped over the dishwasher, dressed in his flight suit, catching a quick nap before the air show. She had discovered that Soarin liked to snooze before a show for no apparent reason. He had said it was because he was afraid of falling asleep in mid-air, but she knew that he was just lazy. Braeburn and Cinder were there, too, silently squirting whipped cream onto Soarin's hoof. Rainbow Dash knew this prank very well and decided to be quiet and observe.

"C'mon, Cindy, ya know what t' do," Braeburn whispered to his little assistant, who spread one wing and plucked a feather out of it before hovering a few feet into the air and tickling Soarin's nose with it. Soarin only wrinkled his nose and grumbled in his sleep. After a few more tries, Cinder touched back down on the ground.

"Why isn't it working?" she hissed up at the earth pony, who looked equally as puzzled as her. He pulled out another of the blue cadet's feathers in his teeth and reached over to tickle Soarin's nose with it. This time it worked…sort of. Soarin reached up with a hoof to get rid of the itch and ended up hitting Braeburn in the face with the cream. The earth pony fell back with surprise and landed on his haunches with a loud thud. Cinder burst into a fit of giggles and Soarin sat upright.

"Whooza?" he groggily looked around, before noticing Braeburn on the floor. "Oh, hey there Brae. I'm not so sure you're supposed to wear food like that but I like your style," he said naively, earning a grunt of exasperation from his friend, who proceeded to wipe the stuff from his face. Rainbow burst out laughing, alerting the others of her presence.

"Oh, um…how much o' that did ya see?" Braeburn asked her, looking a little embarrassed. Rainbow sniggered and gave him a teasing stare.

"Every humiliating moment," she replied, shaking her head at him. Braeburn emitted a pained sigh and pulled his hat over his eyes.

"So, did ya want anything, Dashie?" Soarin asked her, rubbing his eyes and hopping off the dishwasher, stumbling a little before straightening himself up. Rainbow flapped over the counter and stood next to him.

"Just wanted to hang out for a while; I know we can't train today 'cause of the airshow but I didn't think that was an excuse for me to not stop by," she explained. Soarin gave her a grateful smile and ruffled her mane.

"Getting clingy, huh?" he teased her. Rainbow smirked and chuckled. True, she had grown closer to Soarin over the past month or so, but she wouldn't exactly call herself clingy. "Well, Spitfire wants us all to leave early so we can set up the fireworks. Surprise somehow even convinced the pony who runs the arena if we could borrow that cool rising platform room underneath it," Soarin told her about the air show. At that moment Rainbow Dash felt a twinge of jealousy that she wasn't able to go and see them.

"Man, I wish I could watch," Rainbow sighed. "It'd be so awesome to see you guys suddenly rise up out of the ground and then take off as a bunch of fireworks exploded around you all and then-"

"Whoa, Rainbow, easy there," Braeburn snatched a vase out of the way as Rainbow Dash gesticulated with her hooves whilst she described her imaginary performance. Rainbow put her arms behind her back and whistled innocently.

"Yeah, but we're gonna tell the other 'Bolts about the platform thing when we get there. Surprise wants it to be a surprise, no shockers there, so the only ponies who know are me, her and Spitfire," the co-captain said. He then reached out to the side and slapped Braeburn on the back, causing him to drop the vase. Luckily, Cinder was there to catch it. "And Braeburn's gonna be a roadie."

"Eeyup," Braeburn confirmed smugly, before whispering to Soarin out of the corner of his mouth. "What's a roadie?" he asked. Soarin rolled his green eyes.

"A roadie is a pony who sets things up for the performances," he explained. Braeburn got a blunt look on his face.

"So, basically Ah hafta do all the hard stuff," he grumbled. Soarin looked uncomfortably off to the side.

"Um…well…yes, but we can help you out," the pale blue Wonderbolt insisted, the look on his face suggesting that he wasn't telling the truth. Braeburn still didn't look convinced, probably sensing that Soarin was fibbing.

"Soarin, Ah'm not gonna do all that stuff. It's too much work fer just me t' handle and the chances are Ah won't get extra pay for it. So muh answer is no!" he stubbornly refused. The Wonderbolt stallion gave his friend a rough shove and Braeburn slumped away into the storage closet. Soarin shook his head at Rainbow Dash.

"Well, somepony's obviously not the helpful type," he tutted. "Still, I don't really care whether we have help from him or not as long as we get the air show done without any surprises."

"SURPRISE~!" a pair of hooves appeared on Soarin's shoulder and the pegasus stallion shrieked in an embarrassingly high voice. He backed against the wall, looking like he'd just seen a ghost, while his 'attacker' laughed her head off. Rainbow looked at the mare, expecting to see Surprise, but no. Instead of Surprise it was a charcoal black mare with a fiery red mane who looked a little younger than Rainbow Dash. Her cutie mark was a drum set and electric guitar and she had a grey beanie on her head.

"Well, I was at least expecting a 'hello'," she teased Soarin, who was feeling his neck for a pulse. He looked both thrilled and irritated at this strange pegasus. He finally got a grip and dove for the mare, squeezing her and ruffling her mane. "Hey, knock it off!" she whined at him through her giggles.

"Rock Star, it's been forever since I've seen ya," Soarin nuzzled her forehead. Rainbow Dash was instantaneously perplexed by the two of them. Soarin definitely knew this mare and seemed pretty okay with hugging her. She cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Um, hi there," she waved. "So, yeah, er, who's this?" she nodded at Rock Star. The black pegasus playfully slugged Soarin's shoulder so he would release her from their hug.

"Rock Star: Best singer, guitarist and drummer in Cloudsdale," she introduced herself. Soarin then grabbed her and put her in a headlock, making her squeal and wriggle as she tried to escape.

"And she's also the best little sister in Cloudsdale, too!" Soarin added, guffawing as Rock Star tried to punch him to get him to let her go. Rainbow felt a happy emotion rise in her chest as he said the word 'sister', though she couldn't figure out why. For a minute there she had thought that this was his marefriend or something; but then again if he had a marefriend he would have told her.

"I didn't know you had a sister, Soarin," she eyed him, wondering how she hadn't known. She knew a lot about the Wonderbolts, but surprisingly not about the ponies they were related to. Heck, most of the time she failed to acknowledge that the 'Bolts even had parents let alone siblings.

"You never told her about me?!" Rock Star shoved Soarin away from her and smirked at him. "Big bro, I thought you'd tell anypony who walked by about your awesome, musically talented sister," she sounded insulted, but smiled the whole time.

"Well, between training her and performing, I haven't had the time to talk about my family with her," Soarin explained, though Rock Star just ignored him.

"There's always time to talk about family, Soarin. I'm always telling ponies that my brother is the Wonderbolt co-captain," she told him. Soarin just rolled his eyes at her.

"Well, the Wonderbolt thing sounds cooler than-" he stopped talking when he saw Rock Star giving him a warning glare. "…Heh…when was the last time I told you I love you?" he nervously wrung his hooves.

"Rock Star?" Braeburn came out from his storage and looked over at the black mare. Rock Star gasped and jumped over to the earth pony, giving him a hoof bump, then a hug.

"Brae, it's been forever. Didn't expect to run into you, especially here…why are you here?" she asked curiously. Braeburn then proceeded to explain the whole story of how he needed money from this job to her. The entire time she listened with interest and once he had finished telling her the tale she snorted with laughter.

"Dude, only you could mess up selling apples," she took his hat off his head and bonked him on the nose with it. Braeburn quickly snatched it back from her and sighed with irritation. Rock Star then looked over to the side and saw Cinder sitting on a chair, looking at her with wide eyes. Letting out a squeal, Rock Star fluttered over to her and wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her tightly, while Cinder writhed around, trying to get free, her face red. "You are the most adorable thing ever!" Rock Star teasingly rubbed her cheek against the small cadets, who stopped struggling and hung limply, looking like she just wanted to disappear. After a while, Rock Star let Cinder go, and the little blue mare sat there, still flushed from all the hugging.

"Um…thanks," she shyly smiled, trying to get her now ruffled mane back into place. Rock Star, still grinning leaned against the counter.

"So, what's your duty around here?" she asked Cinder before giggling. "I just said 'doody'" she said to Soarin, who joined his sister in snickering. Cinder cleared her throat hesitantly.

"I just help Braeburn with stuff…and I'm training to be a Wonderbolt," she added that last part after some delay. Rainbow would have thought that she would have said that part first. Rock Star shot another glance at Braeburn.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly wanna be bossed around by a stallion who can't even sell fruit without messing something up…" she trailed off and gave the Appaloosan stallion a playful stare. "But, hey it's your life," she shrugged. Rainbow saw Cinder cover her mouth with a hoof as if she was trying not to giggle and Braeburn let out an unamused huff.

"Rock Star, d'ya think you can dial down the humiliation just a tad?" Braeburn put his head in a hoof. Rock Star, however just took the opportunity to make fun of him a little more.

"Nope. So, lemme get this straight, you get kicked out of the apple selling business 'cause your food wasn't good and then you get a new job where you have to feed an entire building of pegasi. Where's the sense in that?" she shrugged her shoulders. Rainbow Dash had to admit that the humorous mare had a good point.

"Well-"

"Ya know, he's not just a cook," Soarin cut his earth pony friend off. "He's a pretty useful member of staff; he fixes things, helps out when I train Rainbow Dash sometimes and he's even our roadie," he listed the things that Braeburn did. The stallion folded his arms and glowered over at Soarin.

"Ah thought Ah said Ah wasn't doin' that job," he cocked an eyebrow. At that moment, Spitfire opened the kitchen door, also dressed in her flight suit and addressed the two stallions.

"You guys ready? Everypony's out front for a head count. Oh, Cowboy, you're still helping with set up, right?" she asked. Rainbow Dash was flabbergasted as Braeburn's decision made a sharp U-turn.

"Yes, ma'am, Ah'm doin' it, ma'am. It's no problem at all fer me, and ya don't even hafta pay me extra. Yep, Ah'm yer roadie," he hurriedly rambled. The reactions from around the room made Rainbow Dash more confused than ever, Soarin face-hoofed, Cinder giggled, Rock Star's eyes popped out of her head and she shoved a hoof in her mouth to keep her laughs from escaping, Braeburn turned red and Spitfire just stood there, looking like she thought she'd stepped through the door to Nutcase City.

"…Okay," she replied awkwardly before noticing Rock Star. "Hey, I know you," she looked the mare up and down. "Rock Star, right?" she got a nod of affirmation from the mare in question. "Soarin's…" she ceased talking, her mouth open but no words coming out. Rock Star looked over at Soarin, who refused to meet her gaze before turning to face the Wonderbolt captain again.

"Sister," she finished the golden mare's sentence for her. Spitfire gulped and nodded, tugging at one of the sleeves of her flight suit.

"Yeah, that," she shifted her eyes to the side. "So, um, I hate to be a bother but-" she then decided to stop being polite. "Oh, who am I kidding, it's role call time! Let's move 'em out" she turned and headed out the door sharply, barking the order over her shoulder. Rainbow locked stares with Soarin.

"What was that about?" she asked him. Soarin just shrugged.

"Oh, nothin'," he said. Rainbow was about to ask whether he was telling the truth or not but after that Soarin seemed pretty desperate to leave. "C'mon, Brae, she'll bite our heads off if we don't get out the front pronto," he beckoned for Braeburn to follow him out the door. He quickly pulled Rock Star in for a final hug. "I'll catch ya later, sis," he promised her. Rock Star made a 'meh' sound.

"Yeah, I was about to head out anyway. I've got a club gig. That's lingo for a gig... via club," she gave Braeburn and Cinder another hug, hoof bumped Soarin, and shook Rainbow Dash's hoof before heading out the door. Soarin and Braeburn said bye to Rainbow, too before the door swung closed and they were gone. Rainbow looked up at the clock, her stomach seeming to twist as she realised that it was almost time for the P-A-R-T-Y.

"Hey, Cinder, are you going to Spring Song's party?" she asked the little blue mare, who hastily shook her head.

"No way, Rainbow Dash! I'm not hanging around with Spring Song all night. She…she kinda scares me," she admitted, hanging her head.

"Hey, don't be ashamed," Rainbow smirked. "Spring Song scares everypony," she added, getting a snort of laughter from Cinder. The blue cadet hopped down from the chair she was sitting on and the two of them walked out the door.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, do you think you can at least tell me about the party in the morning? I'm too afraid to go myself but I still wanna know what goes on at parties," she bashfully looked down at the ground, and she would have crashed into the Mess Hall double doors if Rainbow Dash hadn't warned her to look up. She wasn't really in the mood to give the little blue mare the 'keep your head up' pep-talk again, so she kept her mouth shut.

"Okay, I'll catch ya later," Cinder said when they made it to her room. "I bet Bumble's already left," she muttered to herself as she pushed the door open and went in. Rainbow Dash waited until she heard the latch of the door click into place before traipsing down the hall, coming to a halt outside hers and Lullaby's room. She put a hoof on the door handle and stopped, debating whether or not she should open it. Lullaby would just bombard her with questions and make her feel guilty about the whole party thing. No… she couldn't face her, not now. Besides, it wasn't like there was anything in there she needed to retrieve before heading down to the party.

"Rainbow Dash?"

"Huh, what?" Rainbow looked over at the source of the voice, her sudden movement making the mare who had talked jolt with surprise.

"Whoa, no need for that reaction, Dash," Beau remarked, fluffing her high ponytail out. "So, are you heading for the party, now? Spring Song had better make this thing work," she began heading down the hall and Rainbow Dash, deciding that she needn't see Lullaby again before the party, walked next to her.

"Yeah, she's really put a lot of thought into this," Rainbow admitted, feeling ashamed for complimenting her rival.

"Well, still, if even one thing goes wrong I'm gonna bolt outta there faster than General Firefly on steroids," Beau vowed.

"Same here; Spring Song and I aren't exactly 'buddies' right now, so I'm gonna stay alert," Rainbow agreed. "If she makes a wrong move then I'm leaving, too."

"Great. We stick together, right Dash?" Beau nudged Rainbow's shoulder, and Rainbow shoved back gently, not managing to reach the dark pink mares shoulder since Beau was a lot taller than her.

"I just really hope Spring Song knows what she's doing," Rainbow sighed, though in truth she feared for herself. She still didn't trust Spring Song as far as she could throw her and there was no way she was starting now. Tonight she was going to stay alert and she didn't know it yet, but she would need to.

---

"What's the password?" Paradise, wearing her cactus disguise, asked from her post beside the huge, blue-painted, double doors to the Main Hall. She peered out at Rainbow Dash and Beau through a pair of eyes holes cut into the side of the vase she had squeezed herself in.

"What password? I didn't know there was a password!" Beau spat at 'Para-plant'. "And why do we even need a password?"

"I made up a password so that I know whether or not ponies are who they say they are, or evil alien overlords come to destroy us all!" Paradise explained. Rainbow Dash and Beau shared an incredulous look, both now 100% sure that Paradise was completely mental.

"Well, what's the point in making up a password if you don't tell anypony what it is? How are we meant to know it?" Rainbow Dash snapped down at the green pegasus, who made a humming sound as if she was thinking.

"You could always try guessing the password," she suggested. Rainbow Dash pictured her making a shrugging motion, but from the position she was in within that vase, a shrug would probably make her dislocate something. Seriously, how did she fit in that thing?! Beau pulled Rainbow Dash over to the side.

"Seriously, Paradise is so random the password could be anything," the dark pink cadet grumbled. Rainbow Dash tried to think of what the password could be; it was something Paradise-ish, she was certain. Beau stood up at her full height, which was pretty unnecessary since she already towered over all the cadets and most of the Wonderbolts, and sneered down at Paradise.

"You thought of it already?" Rainbow asked. Beau nodded.

"Yes. Paradise, you like funny words, right?" she asked the cadet in the cactus.

"Yeah! I love funny words!" she confirmed. Beau rubbed her front hooves together and sat down.

"Well, I have a funny word for you. The password is…" she paused to smirked down at Paradise and Rainbow leaned against the wall, curious to find out what Beau was about to say. "Rumpelstiltskin!" she declared. Rainbow Dash shifted her eyes to Paradise.

"Nope," the green mare sounded pretty smug, and Rainbow was sure that if she wasn't inside a vase she would look it, too. Beau didn't seem to be giving up any time soon, however.

"Kumquat," she guessed again. Rainbow thought that was actually a pretty good guess, since that was one of Pinkie Pie's favourite words and if anypony knew funny things, it was Pinkie.

"No," Paradise informed Beau, who rolled her eyes and frowned.

"Summer squash?"

"Nu-huh."

"Sandwich?"

"Wrong again."

"Pickles?!"

"No!"

"Hold on, why are all your guesses based on food?" Rainbow Dash asked Beau, who sighed and looked down at her tummy.

"I'm hungry, okay," she admitted before she continued her wild guesses. "Uno? Dos? Tres? Cuatro?"

"Nuevo incorrecto," Paradise revealed and Beau let out an annoyed hissing sound.

"Lions? Tigers? Bears?"

"Oh my…" Rainbow gave an exasperated sigh and buried her face in her hooves, feeling a little embarrassed for Beau. She had learned that while the pink mare was well organized and cared a lot about appearances, she also had a tendency to make a fool of herself on occasion.

"Tail? Ears? Wings? Hooves?" Beau kept on trying. Great, she'd resorted to guessing parts of the pony body now.

"Circle? Square? Triangle? Octagon?!"

"Still no," Paradise sounded pretty bored now.

"It probably isn't stripy…but it could be polka-dot!"

"No."

"I knew that was a long shot," Beau hung her head.

"Beau, just stop," Rainbow almost pleaded, but the pink mare just ignored her.

"It might be armadillo… but knowing you, it's probably not."

"Nope, it's not," Paradise confirmed, and Rainbow could see her roll her golden eyes.

"Kaleidoscope? Kindergarten? Bunny? Honey? Kittens? Paws?"

"Okay, this is just getting weird," Rainbow Dash commented, blowing a stray lock of her mane out of her eyes.

"Water balloon? Dental floss? Spaghetti with tomato sauce?!"

"I'm begging you to stop," Rainbow Dash mumbled.

"Elephant? Pumpkin pie? Colossal hippopotami? Private eye? Hue and cry? I'm running out of words to try!"

"One can only hope," Rainbow Dash sat down and leaned against the wall, pretty close to just bailing on the party idea and leaving.

"OOOOH! Is the password 'Paradise'?" Beau guessed, pressing her nose against the vase, so that her eyes were pretty close to the green mares. Rainbow made sure to look down the hall every now and then, realising that the racket they were making could cause Whiplash or Fast Clip to come and investigate. That was the last thing they needed!

"No, it isn't," Paradise groaned, her voice sounding echoey from inside her disguise. Beau rubbed the sides of her head as if she was trying to massage an idea into it.

"That's okay, I've got a lot more," she told Paradise. Both Rainbow Dash and Paradise let out a moan in sync. Make it stop!

"Robin? Sparrow? Bow and arrow? Oreo? Parakeet? Drama? Llamas? Old pajamas? Yokohama? Blunt force trauma?"

Rainbow let out an agonised grunt and slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. She wasn't sure she could take much more of this.

"Jalapeño? Jelly-beano? Cappuccino? Palomino?"

"Shut up!" Rainbow Dash yelled at Beau, who by now seemed oblivious that she was even sitting there.

"Penguin? Squirrel? Boy or girl? Ruby? Opal? Emerald? Pearl?"

"Can you just give up?" Paradise uttered, most likely wondering whether she would be allowed to climb out of the vase and run.

"Tenor? Bass? Piano? Treble? Alto? Mama Mia? Is it organization or ketosteroid?"

"What's that?"

"I've no idea! Is it eggs and bacon?"

"No."

"Forsooth forsaken?"

"No."

"Dragons?"

"No."

Wagons?"

"No."

"Cat? Hat? Bat? Rat?"

"No. No. No. NO!"

Beau took a deep breath. "I've got it, I've got it! It's… um…" finally she raised her hooves into the air to show she surrendered and slouched down on the floor, looking a little out of puff.

"You okay?" Rainbow asked, just glad that it was all over. Beau shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But that was every word I know… and even some I don't," she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck whilst her ears drooped. Paradise whistled softly to get their attention.

"Welp, you two aren't getting in, so just head back to the Mothership," she told them. Just then, Rainbow Dash got an idea as to what the password could be. She moved to sit in front of Paradise and looked down her nose at the vase she was in.

"Paradise, is the password 'Spring Song'?" she guessed.

"N-WHAT?" she gasped, jolting up clean out of the cactus. "Aw man, I didn't think you'd get it," she headed over to the door. While Paradise performed some kind of secret knock on the door, Rainbow Dash glanced at Beau who was staring straight ahead with her jaw slack.

"Heh… easy, right?" she teased the pink mare, who just made a 'meep' sound and sunk lower to the floor, knowing that she would never get the five minutes she had spent guessing back. Some shuffling was heard on the other side of the door and Spring Song opened it up.

"Hurry up, you morons," she snapped at them. "You're late!"

Rainbow Dash noticed that nearly all the other cadets were already there. Wait…how?

"Paradise, did you give the other pegasi the password warning?" Rainbow asked the green mare who nervously twiddled her hooves.

"Well... no… but I thought Spring Song would appreciate it. She doesn't really like you that much, ya know?"

"Why I oughta-" Beau started advancing on Paradise so Rainbow Dash quickly stuck a hoof out to stop her from throwing the crazy cadet clean off Cloudsdale. Before Paradise did anything else to annoy her, Beau went over to talk to Bumble and Tempest who were eating by the small table of snacks Spring Song had found in the closet (the table, not the snacks). It looked like she didn't want to do too much work and had only brought out one table. It was just big enough so that everything fit on it without falling off, but was still pretty cramped.

The room had the lights turned down enough that it was dark but still light enough to see to give it a party like feeling and Rainbow heard music playing, though it was at a low volume just in case one of the guard ponies got too close to the door. Hopefully, Paradise wouldn't let that happen, though… okay, maybe putting trust in Paradise wasn't the smartest of moves, but then again she was the only pony Rainbow Dash knew that could fit in such a tiny space. She still wanted to know how she managed to do that. Rainbow Dash's mouth gaped open when she saw the cake in the centre of the snack table.

"Whoa, Spring Song, I knew you were loaded but that thing looks really expensive!" Rainbow said to the blonde devil-mare. It was taller than Rainbow Dash, Paradise, Spring Song and even Beau stacked on top of eachother, was decorated with red velvet frosting and had small white flowers iced onto it literally everywhere! If Rainbow peered at it closer she could see light pink swirls littering it. It must have taken forever to make; Rainbow Dash wasn't even sure that Pinkie Pie and the Cakes could make something this advanced.

"Oh it wasn't that much," Spring Song casually examined one of her freshly polished hooves. "52,000 bits put a little dent in Aunt Sunny Money's bank account, but it's nothing we can't just earn again."

If Rainbow Dash had been drinking something she would have sprayed it right out. "52,000 BITS?!" she exclaimed. That was almost as much as her house! She looked back over at Spring Song, who to her surprise was reading a newspaper!

"Yeah? So?" she didn't even look up from the page she was on.

"So, that's a lot of bits! I'm just impressed!" Rainbow admitted. She hated that she was a little envious of Spring Song. Still, who wouldn't be in this situation? "Are you even listening?" she asked the pink cadet, who looked up from her newspaper.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, I'm just so used to ponies complimenting me because of my money. It's got really old," she returned to reading. Rainbow Dash looked over at Paradise, who had just come back from covering up all the gaps in the door and filling the keyhole with putty. The cyan pegasus still wasn't sure whether the room was completely soundproof or not, but decided not to question it. Paradise seemed unphased by Stink Song's snootiness, most likely because she'd been dealing with it since they had first interacted.

"Hey, what are you reading? Shouldn't you be partying with everypony else?" she walked behind Spring Song and peered over her shoulder at what she was reading. Paradise got excited at that idea.

"Yeah, let's party, Spring Song!" she got up onto her hind legs and bounced up and down flailing her forehooves around in the air. Spring Song decided to ignore her, which was probably for the best because Paradise's dancing made her look like a chimp trying to climb an invisible rope.

"Oh, I'm just checking out my horoscope," Spring Song replied, holding it to the side so Rainbow Dash couldn't see it. She smiled ecstatically at Paradise, who had stopped dancing. "Apparently I'm gonna get kissed tonight!" she squealed, and Paradise hopped up and down, squeeing like a crazed fan. Suddenly, there was some silent knocking at the door and Spring Song jumped, dropping the paper in her hooves. Paradise instinctively switched off the radio and tiptoed to the door, moving the putty in the keyhole just enough that she could see through it. Letting out a sigh, she looked over her shoulder at the concerned cadets.

"Everything's fine, it's just Ray, Free Fall and Sugar Swoop," she informed them and Spring Song let out an exhale of relief and wiped some sweat from her brow. At least Rainbow knew that she did actually care about not getting caught. Paradise opened the door and ushered the three stallions inside before closing it again and blocking it with the putty and the draught excluders that they were using to conceal the bottom of the door. The green mare then switched the radio back on and took her usual spot beside Spring Song. The pink she-demon mare, who at some point had picked the newspaper up again, looked down at it hopefully and then cast her gaze towards the yellow stallion she fancied.

"There he is," she smirked, reading her horoscope over again. Rainbow Dash looked at Spring Song as if she were a massive loon.

"Wait a second. You think Ray is gonna kiss you?" she asked, raising a brow. Spring Song rolled her eyes at the blue coated pegasus.

"Well, duh! He likes me, doesn't he?" she gave Paradise a glance and the loyal cadet nodded to show that she thought Spring Song was correct. Rainbow Dash sighed and looked from Ray to Spring Song.

"Look, Spring Song, I don't think he wants to kiss you. I don't even think he sees you in that way," she told the pink mare, who slitted her eyes at her before looking away and fluffing out her blonde bob-cut mane.

"Pfft. You don't know what you're talking about," she tossed Rainbow's musings away like garbage. "Paradise, why are you just standing there? You're meant to be on guard duty!" Spring Song snapped. Paradise sunk to the ground.

"Um…it's kinda cramped in the-"

"Do it!" she gave Paradise a little shove to get her moving. The green mare sprung to her hooves and was out the door as fast as she could, leaving Spring Song to replace the draught excluder. Rainbow Dash decided to go and talk to somepony. Lullaby wasn't there so she couldn't hang around with her first choice, but there was always another pony there to talk to. So, for around twenty minutes she talked to Butternut and Free Fall… well, Butternut did most of the talking because that mare couldn't shut up for a full minute. Suddenly-

"You're busted!" somepony grabbed Spring Song by her shoulder and she screamed from the surprise. She whipped round to face the pony who had scared her and was met with a hysterical Tempest. The orange stallion was laughing like there was no tomorrow at the stunt he had pulled on Spring Song.

"Man, you should have seen your face!" he wiped a tear from his eyes, still chuckling. "It was the best thing ever!"

"You complete ass!" Spring Song jabbed him in the chest. "You could have-"

Just then there was a rhythmic, frantic knock on the door and Spring Song's eyes shrunk.

"Celestia damn it, that's the warning knock! Everypony hide!" Spring Song rushed over to the side of the room and turned the lights all the way down while Ray switched the radio off. The cadets hid wherever they could, which wasn't easy since the Main Hall was almost completely empty, aside from a few stacked chairs and the table that Spring Song had set up on one side of it. Rainbow Dash sat down on the left side of the door, so that if the door opened she would be hidden behind it. Unfortunately she wasn't the only pony with that idea and Spring Song, Tempest, Ray and Stains crowded around her, none of them daring to breathe. It was so silent that all Rainbow Dash could hear were the approaching hoofsteps from outside. Actually, now that she thought about it; being in a huge room, in the dark, where all you could hear was hoofsteps and the fast-paced beating of your own terrified heart was pretty scary.

"I'm sure I heard something," Rainbow Dash heard Fast Clip say, his hoofsteps slowing down until they stopped altogether.

"Like what?" Whiplash's slightly gruffer voice responded.

"It was a scream; you must have heard it, too," the white pegasus guard told his companion. Rainbow Dash, along with several other ponies glared at Spring Song, who shot a menacing scowl at Tempest, making the green maned stallion shrink lower to the floor with shame.

"Fast Clip, you're just imagining things. I would know it if anypony had screamed," Whiplash denied his colleagues accusations. A hoof could be heard stomping on the floor.

"But, you're half deaf!" Fast Clip yelled. The two stallions continued bickering as they headed back down the hall, their voices fading to nothing until Rainbow Dash could hear nothing but the soft breathing of the ponies surrounding her. Spring Song whispered to them from her spot beside Ray (who she was clinging to for dear life, much to his embarrassment).

"Okay, we just need to wait for Paradise to give the 'All Clear Knock'," she informed them. Just then-

"All Clear Knock!" Paradise whisper-shouted from outside the door.

"That would be it!" Spring Song announced, standing up and turning the lights up a notch. While she turned the radio back on and everypony cooled down from the shock of having to hide from the two guard ponies, Tempest cleared his throat and spoke to Rainbow Dash, Ray and Stains.

"I got her pretty good, didn't I?" he asked them, smiling cockily and chuckling.

"You sure did," Stains agreed, giggling as well. "I've never seen Spring Song so ticked… and that's saying something," she looked to the side to make sure the pink mare couldn't hear what she was saying. "If you ask me, she's deserved that for a long time," she whispered. Rainbow Dash snickered in unison with Ray and turned to face the yellow stallion.

"Um… Rainbow Dash?" he hesitantly spoke to her, looking down at the ground. The cyan pegasus stared at him with concern.

"Yeah?" was all she asked. He opened his mouth then closed it again, looked at Rainbow Dash, then looked away, then babbled, then looked back at Rainbow Dash, then away again and this went on for quite some time, until he finally started to talk.

"I was just… wondering if you'd… um… like to-"

"What. Is. Happening?" Ray was interrupted by a certain pink pegasus standing right next to him, glaring dangerously at Rainbow Dash. Ray completely tensed up and gulped.

"He was just asking me something," Rainbow shrugged. Spring Song stepped between her and Ray and the yellow stallion slunk away, his ears hanging limp with a disappointed expression on his face. Rainbow Dash went to follow him to ask him what was wrong when Spring Song bit down on her tail. "Hey, what's the big idea?" the rainbow maned mare snarled at her. Spring Song spat her tail out and got up in her face so that they were nose-to-nose.

"I know what you're up to," she hissed through her teeth. "And you'd better stop it before I make you regret being born!" she added, her green eyes shimmering with anger and hatred. Rainbow groaned loudly and prodded Spring Song's shoulder.

"Look, Ding Dong, I've told you a thousand times! I. Don't. Like. Ray!" she emphasised every word to make it extra clear. The devil-mare just scoffed as if she couldn't understand a word Rainbow Dash was saying.

"Yeah, right, Rainbow Trash. You'd just better watch your back, 'cause if I find out that something's going on between the two of you I will bring a world of pain upon you," she threatened in a cold voice that was barely above a whisper. She began to trot away, but paused to look over her shoulder. "Not that he'd ever like you, anyway. You're just so worthless," she spat before heading away.

Rainbow Dash felt as if she'd just taken a bullet through the brain. Her ears flattened to her head and she looked down at her hooves. It wasn't what Spring Song had said to her so much as how she had said it. There had just been so much venom in her voice when she said the word 'worthless'. But Rainbow Dash wasn't worthless. She was strong, and she knew better, and nothing Spring Bitch could say would make her forget that.

After that, things went surprisingly smoothly. Spring Song didn't give her any problems; she stayed away from Ray at all times, and actually had a pretty good time just hanging out with the other cadets. Come to think of it, she had seen Spring Song give her a couple of envious glances while she was talking to the others, most likely jealous that nopony wanted to talk to her. Well, that's what you get for being a jerk, sister. Before Rainbow Dash knew it, it was 1AM and they had been at the party for almost six hours! As much as she condemned saying it, Spring Song was great when it came to planning these things.

Rainbow Dash decided to give herself a little sugar boost and headed over to the snack table to munch on some of the candy. Whilst she was busy chewing some jelly beans, she became aware of somepony standing next to her.

"Um… do you know when we can have some of the cake?" Ray asked her, sounding a little shy. Rainbow was pretty shocked, mostly for fear of Little Miss Jealous spotting her and getting the wrong idea, but also because that was the longest sentence she had heard Ray say. He was a pretty quiet guy, but when you hung out with somepony with a mouth as big as Spring Song, then not speaking was probably part of the deal.

"Nope, no idea," Rainbow Dash replied, refusing to look at him. Instead she looked over to the side where Spring Song was talking to Smart Set, and sure enough she was giving her a furious death stare. Rainbow looked up at the yellow cadet beside her.

"Look, Ray, Spring Song doesn't want you to talk to me, so-"

"Well, I don't have to do everything Spring Song tells me," he cut her off. Rainbow Dash was surprised to see him being so independent, especially with Spring Song in the same room as him. "I can be friends with whoever I want, and I don't care what Spring Song thinks," he smiled down at her, and Rainbow Dash felt pretty proud of him. She had known him for almost two months and not once had she seen him stand up for himself like that.

"Try telling her that," Rainbow nodded towards the pink mare, whose eyes she could feel burning into the back of her skull, into her brain and melting everything in there. Ray cleared his throat and looked down at the floor again.

"So, um-"

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, buddy, can I talk to you for a second, over there?" Spring Song suddenly popped up next to Rainbow Dash and began dragging her away by one hoof. Deja-vu, much?

"What's up now?" Rainbow sighed as she dragged her all the way to the other side of the room, wishing that Spring Song would just leave her alone. The she-demon gave her a shove and flapped into the air a little so she could stare the cyan pegasus down.

"What's up is that you're completely messing up my party!" she pointed an accusing hoof down at her rival. Rainbow's jaw dropped open.

"HUH? No I'm not!" she argued, wishing that she could just make Spring Song disappear. What right did she have to say that she was ruining the party? She hadn't even done anything!

"Yes you are!" Spring Song shot back. "You're taking all the attention for yourself and you're trying to steal my coltfriend!"

"Ray is NOT your coltfriend!" Rainbow Dash told her, flapping into the air as well so they could be eye to eye. "He doesn't even like you!"

Spring Song didn't have a response to that, so the two mares just stared at eachother for what felt like hours, each trying to intimidate the other. Finally Spring Song let out a breath through her nose and landed back on the ground. "Well let's see what he thinks of you by the time the party is done," she hissed before heading over to the snack table to talk to Ray. Rainbow Dash decided that she couldn't give a flying feather. To get her mind off Spring Song and her ridiculous allegations she went to talk to somepony else. Soon, she was speaking to Bumble by the snack table, thankfully on the opposite side to Spring Song and Ray. She and Bumble just talked about drills and how much they wanted to show how they'd improved flying through hoops, and Rainbow Dash tried to explain to Bumble what it felt like doing a Sonic Rainboom. All the while, Rainbow Dash kept one ear open on Spring Song, curious to see if she was saying anything about her. She wasn't, but Bumble obviously caught on to what she was doing.

"Pfft, I can't believe Spring Song's still crushing on Ray. Why can't she just accept that he doesn't like her?" she asked Rainbow Dash.

"That's exactly what I think," Rainbow agreed, watching Spring Song attempt to flirt with the brown maned stallion. "Then again, it's pretty fun just watching her suffer," she added. Bumble giggled.

"Yeah, you're right. For everything she's done and what she's put you through she should get rejected a million times," she watched the pink mare as she unsuccessfully tried to hold his hoof. He 'accidentally' moved it away just in time.

"I wish I had a camera," Rainbow thought about how satisfying it would be to film Spring Song failing at winning Ray's affections and then replaying it over and over and over again.

"I'd definitely have a copy of the tape," Bumble joked. Then they just settled on watching Spring Song hopelessly flirting. She tried flipping her mane at him, leaning against him, which he found especially awkward, and then she did the typical pegasus thing of putting on a plumage display.

Spring Song opened up her wings and began preening them in earnest, ruffling and shaking them loudly and making pronounced gestures as she dragged the feathers through her mouth, never taking her eyes off Ray, who much to Rainbow Dash's amusement was busy watching Butternut and Free Fall play fight across the room. Spring Song was by now pulling at her feathers with frantic frustration, standing in a way that one of her legs was being extended briefly. She shifted and extended out another leg in an exaggerated display of balance as she worked on her other wing.

Rainbow Dash and Bumble were struggling to hold in their laughs, but painfully tried their best, knowing that the show would stop if Spring Song was aware of the two of them watching her like hawks. Rainbow reached over to a bowl on the table and picked up a hoof full of popcorn, chewing them slowly, hoping that they would block her incoming laughter.

Spring Song let her wings fall to her sides and she let out an irritated growl. The look on her face was worth a billion bits! But, Spring Song was a strong mare, and if she had to make the first move then that was exactly what she'd do. Rainbow bit her lip to conceal her chuckles as Spring Song took a few breaths to calm herself down.

"Is she…" Bumble cocked her head to the side and looked from Spring Song to Ray and then back again, before her ears pointed straight up and she softly gasped. "She is!" she folded her hooves on the table and stared straight ahead at the two pegasi as Spring Song closed her eyes and leaned towards the oblivious Ray, who was still watching Free Fall and Butternut wrestle while several other cadets rooted for whichever one of the cousins they wanted to win.

Unfortunately, since Spring Song had her eyes closed she didn't see a certain green mare popping up in front of her.

"Big prob-MMPH!" Paradise's words were snatched away as Spring Song's lips connected with hers, paralyzing her. Rainbow Dash and Bumble finally did let out a laugh at this, Bumble falling over backwards, clutching her tummy. Rainbow looked back in time to see Spring Song slightly lift one eyelid. Suddenly, both her eyes shot open and she pulled away, gagging and spluttering while Paradise just stood there, her mouth still slightly open while blushing like a fool.

"Paradise, what's the big idea; you'd better have a good reason to be here!" Spring Song sounded ballistic. Paradise shifted her eyes from side to side.

"Um… why am I here?" she asked herself, blinking a couple of times and rubbing her head. "Oh yeah, Fast Clip and Whiplash are heading this way and some of the Wonderbolts are with them!" she reported. Spring Song shook her green furred friend roughly.

"Well, you could have said something sooner!" she scolded her. Paradise shamefully looked down at the floor.

"Sorry," she muttered, before replacing all the stuff by the door. Spring Song called everyone's attention.

"We've gotta hide again, somepony get the lights!" she ordered as she switched the radio off. Tempest turned the lights all the way down, while Rainbow Dash ran for cover past the snack table. She suddenly crashed into somepony else and landed on the floor, winded.

"Rainbow Trash, was that you?" Spring Song's silhouette could be made out in the darkness.

"Uh-huh," Rainbow replied, focusing on her now bruised leg too much to care about Spring Song's stupid nickname for her.

"You did that on purpose!" she snapped harshly and Rainbow stood at her full height.

"No, I didn't!" she snarled as Spring Song began circling her. Not wanting to seem like the weak one, she began circling Spring Song, too, forgetting exactly where she was standing, and about hiding altogether. If it was a little brighter in the room, Rainbow Dash would have seen the cunning look in Spring Song's green eyes, a look that suggested that she was about to do something dastardly. She would have seen the evil smirk she gave her as she finished connecting the dots of her plan and would have seen her spin round and kick out with her hind hooves.

Spring Song's hooves made contact with Rainbow's shoulder, sending her flailing backwards… face-first… right into 52,000 bits worth of frosting, sponge and sprinkles… which then tilted over and fell on top of her.

Even thought there was fondant in her ears, Rainbow Dash could hear the loud gasp that rang throughout the room. Slowly lifting her head up, she looked over her shoulder, cringing as a large clump of cake fell off her nose and splattered on the floor. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough so that she could see the cadets standing there in silence, staring right at her.

Then Spring Song started laughing.

And then Paradise started laughing.

And then everypony was laughing.

Rainbow Dash's face burned as all the cadets in the room started cackling and pointing at her while she sat there… the victim… the loser… the chicken…

"Rainbow Dash… are you… okay?" Sugar Swoop asked her between laughs.

And then it dawned upon her that after seeing her like this, the cadets had completely forgotten that they were supposed to be keeping quiet.

"WHAT IN CELESTIA'S NAME IS GOING ON IN HERE?!"

Everypony whipped round to face the door, as it swung open. Fast Clip and Whiplash were there along with Soarin, Spitfire and Fleetfoot and they all looked very mad. The room was silent for a few seconds before Paradise whispered loudly.

"I have a plan!" she then addressed the Wonderbolts. "Look over there!" she pointed up. Then, not noticing that the Wonderbolts hadn't looked up in the first place, glanced around and hissed: "Run!" before galloping towards the storage room, the silence being vanquished by her faint, lone hoofsteps as she ran. Upon realising that nopony was following her she slowed to a halt and sat down sheepishly, giggling weakly.

"Who is responsible for this?" Spitfire gave the cadets her signature death glare of mass destruction. The cadets knew that they were in potential danger, so they instantly pointed a hoof at Spring Song, who began shaking and cowering lower to the ground in terror. Normally, Rainbow Dash would have been satisfied seeing Spring Song in this state, but she was too busy staring at Soarin, who was staring right back at her. His expression was unreadable, but Rainbow Dash could tell that he was probably disappointed in her. Why wouldn't he be?

Not being able to look at him anymore, she spread her wings and zoomed past him and the others, out of the room and down the hall, wanting to say a million things to Soarin to explain what had happened. But only two words stuck out in her mind as she raced out of the Academy doors and into the night.

I'm sorry.