Spitfire paced back and forth along the cloudy ground, awaiting the return of the cadets. Her two assistants, Whiplash and Fast Clip stood close behind her, Fast Clip looking at the clipboard he was holding, a thoughtful expression on his face while Whiplash stared into space. Spitfire didn't even bother snapping him out of his trance. Why did she need to when the cadets hadn't even shown up yet?

"What time is it?" She asked Fast Clip, who obediently checked his watch.

"12:29, ma'am," he replied. Spitfire nodded in thanks and glanced over to the mess hall, where a couple of the cadets were beginning to come back outside. After the drills had ended, Spitfire would go to her office and look over the cadets stats. She liked to know things about the pegasi she would be commanding so she knew which ones to go harder on. There was no doubt in her mind that Rainbow Dash was the best cadet here. Ponies all over Equestria looked up to Spitfire, but Rainbow Dash was the only pony that Spitfire idolised. She was super-fast, could do a Sonic Rainboom and was just plain awesome. Spitfire thought that Dash may even be faster than herself.

"She'd make a great Wonderbolt" Spitfire thought to herself. For quite some time now Spitfire had wanted to get Dash into the Wonderbolts, but she had decided that right now her friends needed her more. She was the Element of Loyalty after all. If Equestria was in some kind of danger, Dash would have to be there, not in Cloudsdale performing. Spitfire had confirmed that Rainbow Dash would become a Wonderbolt eventually, but for now, the cyan mare had enough on her plate being a hero of Equestria.

Spitfire was snapped from her thoughts by Fast Clip coughing.

"You'd better be coughing 'cause you swallowed a bug, Fast Clip," Spitfire told him. The white pegasus dipped his head in a mix of shame and embarrassment. Spitfire mumbled something under her breath. She didn't want anypony getting sick around here, especially the newbies.

"Um…it's 12:30 now, ma'am," Fast Clip informed her, obviously still a little nervous about the whole coughing thing. Thirteen of the fourteen cadets were standing in a line before her now, all whispering stuff to eachother.

"Quit your kitten whispering this instant!" Spitfire barked at them. They immediately stopped talking and stood straight. She motioned for Fast Clip to pass her his clipboard, which had the names of all the cadets on it. "It's roll call time. Simple enough, I call out your name and you say 'here'. Pfft, it's elementary school all over again," She added to nopony in particular. She cleared her throat before calling out the names.

"Beau!" She called out.

"Here!" Came the reply from the dark pink mare near the middle of the line.

"Bumble!"

"Here,"

"Cinder!"

All that Spitfire heard was a timid whimper.

"Cinder?" She repeated.

"Um…here ma'am," the blue mare replied, raising a shaky hoof. Normally when this happened, Spitfire would scold the cadet for not being loud enough. But she just couldn't yell at Cinder. She was too... innocent. It would be like yelling at a puppy. She just sighed and continued the roll call.

"Free Fall!"

"Here!"

"Lullaby!"

"Here!"

"Paradise!"

No reply.

"Paradise?"

Still no reply.

"Final call for Paradise!"

Nothing. Spitfire gave the clipboard back to Fast Clip, having found the culprit. "Do any of you know where Paradise is?" Spitfire interrogated the cadets.

"No, ma'am!" They all said together. The flapping of wings was suddenly heard and everypony looked up to see none other than Paradise hurtling towards them. The green mare touched down on the ground and joined the end of the line, looking a little nervous. Spitfire took her shades off, marched over to Paradise and gave her a menacing glare.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" She asked her.

"It's 12:34, ma'am," Fast Clip replied, making Spitfire face-hoof.

"I wasn't talking to you," She called over her shoulder. Paradise hesitantly spoke, choking her words out.

"Well…four minutes isn't that late," She gave a nervous chuckle as she stared up into the fiery orange eyes of her drill sergeant.

"Do you wanna be a Wonderbolt?" Was all Spitfire asked. Paradise looked confused. She had without a doubt expected the flame maned pegasus to scold her some more. Her choice of question confused Paradise.

"What?" She asked, making sure that she hadn't just imagined the question. Spitfire rolled her eyes.

"I said 'Do you wanna be a Wonderbolt?" She repeated, a little louder. Paradise nodded fiercely, not wanting to irritate Spitfire further.

"Yes, ma'am," She said.

"Then show up on time! If you were four minutes late to a real airshow, the other Wonderbolts would have gone on without you. Wonderbolts are meant to be fast, so there are no excuses for being late," Spitfire lectured Paradise, who shuffled her hooves before talking.

"Well…I got lost," Paradise muttered, looking down at the ground. Spitfire looked bewildered.

"How?" She asked. All you had to do to get to the mess hall was walk through the double doors. It wasn't exactly rocket science.

"I…went through the wrong door," the green mare replied. Spitfire raised an eyebrow. Surely nopony could be so dumb.

"All you had to do was go through the same door you came in," She pointed a hoof over towards the mess hall. Paradise dipped her head lower, obviously feeling stupid.

"I forgot which door I came through," She said. At this, Spitfire's left eye began twitching. This was a sure-fire sign that she was annoyed.

"You're kidding, right?" Spitfire asked. As Paradise opened her mouth to speak, Spitfire raised a hoof to stop her. "Ya know what, I don't have time for this," She sighed and put her sunglasses back on, stepping back so she could address all of the cadets.

"So, all you're going to be doing is flying through those rings," Spitfire pointed up to the hoops and the cadets immediately began chattering to one another about how exciting this was gonna be. Though, they did become a little nervous when they discovered that Spitfire hadn't finished her sentence.

"…Blindfolded."

---

"It's good to finally get you out of that kitchen. I was beginning to think you were sleeping in there," Soarin joked as he and Braeburn walked through the empty hallways. Soarin had managed to drag Braeburn out of the kitchen at long last and he was determined to introduce him to some of the other Wonderbolts

"Where are we goin'?" Braeburn asked him as the pale blue pegasus led him around another corner.

"To the staff room, of course," Soarin replied, earning a groan from Braeburn.

"Ah'm not so sure about this, buddy," He muttered. "Ah feel a little outta place as it is, bein' an Earth Pony and all."

Soarin stopped Braeburn in his tracks. "Everything's gonna be fine. Everyone here is a pony, wings or not," He tried to reassure his friend. Braeburn took his cowboy hat off and began twisting it, which he always did when he was nervous.

"Well, what if they don't like me?"

Soarin was a little shocked at this. Braeburn was one of the most likeable ponies around. He was friendly and easy to get along with; Soarin couldn't see how anypony wouldn't like such a kind stallion.

"They won't," the Wonderbolt co-captain told Braeburn, making the Appaloosan Earth Pony drop his hat with surprise.

"What?" He gasped as his jaw dropped; surprised his old friend would say something like that.

"They'll love you," Soarin smiled, causing Braeburn to give him a playful shove. "I bet that all of the Wonderbolts will be begging to be friends with you."

"Well maybe not beggin'," Braeburn shrugged, feeling a little better after Soarin's short pep-talk. They finally arrived outside the staff room, which was painted blue with a sign on it shaped like a Wonderbolt badge. Soarin adjusted the tie of his officer's uniform before pushing the door open. He and Braeburn were greeted by the smiles and waves of several Wonderbolts. Fire Streak and Lightning Streak, the two brothers were arguing about something in one corner of the room, Fleetfoot was at the espresso machine, High Winds, Surprise and Blaze were all sitting on the black leather couch at the side of the room deep in conversation and Rapidfire was taking a nap on the plush red chair on the opposite side of the room. The walls were painted blue, like the door and there was a huge window going along both sides of the room. The ceiling was painted dark blue and a few months ago Surprise had flown up there and painted clouds, the Sun and a bunch of birds to make it look like the sky. The floor was covered with a soft white rug, which kinda reminded Soarin of a cloud. Braeburn just stood there in the doorway looking like he had no idea what to do with himself, which he didn't.

Soarin motioned for Braeburn to follow him over to the couch next to Blaze, High Winds and Surprise. He hesitantly made his way into the room, closing the door behind him and cautiously trotted over and sat down on the couch. Just as Soarin was about to get up and get some coffee Surprise practically launched herself over to him.

"Hi, Soarin, hi Braeburn," She greeted, giving them one of her massive smiles. Braeburn's face lit up a little at seeing another of the Wonderbolts he knew.

"Afternoon, Surprise," Braeburn greeted her, tipping his cowboy hat to her and sitting up straighter. Surprise gestured for High Winds and Blaze to come over and Soarin could practically see Braeburn's confidence melting away.

"What is it, Surprise?" Blaze asked as she and High Winds came over to stand beside the white mare. Surprise nodded over to Braeburn, who looked like her was considering whether to leave or not.

"I just wanted you two to meet Soarin's buddy Braeburn. He's the greatest cook ever!" Surprise replied, throwing her arms into the air. High Winds and Blaze gave Braeburn kind smiles which seemed to calm him down.

"So, you're the Earth Pony that I heard some of the cadets talking about, huh?" High Winds asked, holding out her hoof. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Um…thank you, ma'am," Braeburn smiled back at the curly maned mare, shaking her hoof before proceeding to shake Blaze's. Surprise put her arms around Blaze and High Winds and began introducing them.

"These are my two bestest friends in the whole world: Blaze-," She patted the orange maned pegasus on her shoulder. "-and High Winds," She did the same for the other mare.

"Nice to meet ya," Blaze grinned. Soarin was relieved at his teammates' friendliness towards Braeburn; the Earth Pony stallion seemed a lot less nervous now. Surprise pointed over to Fire Streak and Lightning Streak, who had finally settled their argument and were staring out the window at the cadets training. "Those two are Lightning Streak and Fire Streak. Just in case you can't tell, they're brothers," Surprise explained. The white mare then pointed over to Rapidfire, who was snoring loudly.

"That over there is Rapidfire, the laziest Wonderbolt ever…besides Soarin," Surprise said.

"Hey!" Soarin snapped at Surprise. He wasn't that lazy…was he? Soarin had no time to ponder his laziness because he heard some hoof steps coming over. He looked up to see Fleetfoot heading towards them.

"Hi there, Braeburn. Long time, no thee," She lisped, smiling at him. Soarin remembered when Braeburn had first arrived; Fleetfoot was the only Wonderbolt to introduce herself to him. She was super friendly…almost too friendly if you asked Soarin. Soarin was snapped from his thoughts by Fleetfoot grabbing him by an arm and practically throwing him off the chair. When he turned around to ask Fleetfoot what the big deal was, she was sitting in the seat he was in not moments ago, chatting away to Braeburn like he was a celebrity! Soarin just rolled his eyes and walked over to the window. He had a perfect view of the cadets flying through hoops blindfolded. Soarin was familiar with the drill they were doing. They were blindfolded so they could learn to rely on other senses apart from sight. Soarin recalled the first time he tried out that drill. He mostly kept crashing into the rings or missing them entirely. But now he could make his way through the entire course blindfolded, backwards and upside down. One of the cadets crashed into a ring and plummeted to the ground and Soarin just couldn't hold in his laughter.

"Hey, Braeburn, you've gotta come and watch this," Soarin looked over his shoulder, but it looked like Braeburn was a little busy at the moment. He was surrounded by the other Wonderbolts. High Winds, Blaze and Surprise looked like they were explaining their 'dragon attack' plan to him. Knowing those three they'd twist the story around to make them seem like heroes. Lightning Streak and Fire Streak were standing on the other side of the couch rolling their eyes at the three mares, Fleetfoot was leaning against Braeburn looking like the cat that got the cream and even Rapidfire had awoken from his slumber to talk to the Earth Pony. Soarin had been sure from the start that the other Wonderbolts would like him.

He should have put money on it.

---

Rainbow Dash landed on the cloudy ground, narrowly missing bumping into Lullaby on the way down. She took of her blindfold and blinked a couple of times so that her eyes could adjust to the bright light of the sun. That was some challenge if Dash did say so herself. She had never realised just how much she relied on sight to fly. Maybe Soarin would let her practise on the rings after drills.

"Nice work, newbies!" Spitfire congratulated the cadets as they came in for a landing and took off their blindfolds. "Drills are done for today, so the rest of the day is yours. Now get outta here, get to your rooms before curfew, eat your greens, yadda, yadda, yadda," Spitfire dismissed them all with a flick of her hoof and the cadets all left, separating into their different groups.

"Man that was crazy!" Lullaby laughed, rubbing her head. "I slammed face first into one of those rings."

Rainbow Dash chuckled along with her. "I took a couple of blows, myself," She admitted, feeling a little embarrassed that she'd crashed more times than she could count. She suddenly remembered.

"You go on without me. There's something I've gotta do," Rainbow told Lullaby, halting suddenly. Lullaby nodded.

"Sure, catch ya later, Dash," Lullaby smiled as she rushed ahead to catch up with Sugar Swoop. Rainbow Dash turned around to see Fast Clip and Whiplash flapping off towards the mess hall, while Spitfire went in the other direction towards the main door. Rainbow Dash whizzed over and stopped in front of her, giving the flame maned pegasus a fright. After the Wonderbolt captain had recovered from her shock she adjusted her shades and gave Rainbow Dash a glower.

"What's the big idea, Dash?" Spitfire questioned the rainbow maned mare, who shuffled her hooves, looking a little sheepish.

"Well…Soarin was gonna show me some tricks and I wondered if you wanted to come and watch, too," Rainbow Dash proposed. Spitfire looked down as if she were considering it before she looked back up.

"Sorry Dash, I can't," She responded, beginning to walk on. Rainbow Dash simply flew alongside her.

"How come?" She asked the yellow pegasus, who replied without even looking at Dash.

"Because I have some important stuff to do," She said with a slight grumble. Rainbow Dash continued interrogating the Wonderbolt.

"What sort of stuff?"

"Important stuff. Like looking over the cadet profiles," Spitfire gave Rainbow Dash a sideways glance. "And writing my first reports on the cadets' performances," Spitfire paused and put a hoof to her chin. "Hmm…it sure would be a shame if I 'accidentally' forgot to write a report on the awesome cyan mare that won't stop bugging me," She gave Dash a slight smirk. Rainbow Dash gasped, mostly because Spitfire had just threatened not to write a report on her but also because she had just called her awesome.

Then again, she was awesome!

"Okay, ma'am, sorry ma'am, I'll go now, ma'am, thank you, ma'am-"

Spitfire gave Rainbow Dash a sharp slap on the shoulder.

"Hey, what was that for?" Dash asked, rubbing her shoulder. Spitfire sure could slap.

"I wanted to get you to shut up," Spitfire smiled, rolling her eyes. Rainbow gave a cheery laugh.

"Okay, bye, ma'am," Rainbow Dash waved before zooming off to find Soarin.

---

Braeburn finished sweeping the last of the flour from the kitchen floor at long last and collapsed against the wall, wiping sweat from his brow.

"That's the last time ah let you help me make pie," He scolded Soarin, who was lounging on a chair reading an issue of Wonderbolt Weekly. Braeburn eyed the magazine. "…and why are ya readin' your own magazine?"

Soarin looked up from the magazine to reply. "Just in case I want to read about myself, of course," He said like it was the most ridiculous question he had ever been asked. Braeburn walked over and peered over the pale blue stallions shoulder.

"What interestin' things could you possibly do?"

"A whole BUNCH of stuff, of course. Check this out," Soarin turned the page to reveal an entire two pages dedicated to a photo of him with a pie balanced on his head. Soarin looked up at Braeburn with a massive smile on his face. Braeburn just rolled his eyes.

"Ah can't believe ponies pay-" Braeburn turned the page to the front cover for the price tag. "-eight bits just to look at pictures of ya."

"It's not just pictures," Soarin argued. "This week there's a 'Which Wonderbolt Are You?' quiz," Soarin paused for a moment. "I got Misty Fly," He revealed. Braeburn raised an eyebrow.

"Wait. So, Soarin the Wonderbolt got Misty Fly on his 'Which Wonderbolt Are You' quiz?" he asked, a little bewildered.

"Yep," Soarin replied, still wearing his usual goofy smile. Braeburn stood there for a few more moments just processing if his friend really was this idiotic. He finally decided that Soarin was and just walked away. He was just deciding whether he should serve ice cream or cake for dessert tomorrow when Rainbow Dash came bursting through the door, looking excited about something.

"Soarin, it's time!" She exclaimed, flapping over to the Wonderbolt co-captain, who looked up from his magazine.

"For what?" He asked, keeping one eye on the magazine. Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Ya know, for you to show me that trick, of course," She began hopping from hoof to hoof in her impatience. Soarin's face lit up as he remembered.

"Oh yeah, of course I remembered, I was just checking to see if you remembered," Soarin lied, closing the magazine and placing it down on the counter. Braeburn put a hoof to his mouth and did a fake cough which he used to cover up the words: "He's lyin'".

"Well, what are we waiting around here for? Let's go!" Rainbow Dash practically dragged Soarin to the door.

"Whoa, hold your horses, Dash," Soarin ordered the cyan mare, who obediently released him from her grip. He looked over to Braeburn. "Do ya wanna come and watch?" He asked his friend. Braeburn thought for a moment. It was either that or sit around thinking about work. He could use a break.

"Sure, why not?" Braeburn shrugged. It sure beat hanging around in the kitchen deciding what flavour of pie to make. Rainbow Dash let out an impatient huff and began hopping up and down.

"Come on!" She wailed, almost like a foal. Soarin rolled his eyes and headed out the door.

"Fine, let's go," He sighed, grinning at Rainbow Dash who sprung after him. Braeburn smiled at his two friends before following them, pleased to leave the kitchen again. As they headed out into the training grounds, Braeburn realised for the first time how long it had been since he'd taken a break. Sure, he'd taken a break earlier when Soarin had taken him to the staff room, but that was still stressful. Being surrounded by ponies you didn't know really did make you nervous. But, they were all super friendly and Braeburn was officially thinking of them as friends. He couldn't believe that High Winds, Surprise and Blaze slayed a dragon all on their own. It turns out he was right when Soarin revealed that the dragon was the one who slayed them. He suddenly felt the ground vanish from beneath his hooves and he gave an embarrassingly shrill shriek. He discovered that he wasn't going down, but up. Soarin had grabbed him and way flying up through the sky beside Rainbow Dash.

"What are ya doin'?" Braeburn gasped, once he'd gotten over the shock of being airborne.

"I thought you two would like the highest seats in the metaphorical house," Soarin replied, plopping Braeburn down on a fluffy cloud. Braeburn loved the feel of the fuzzy cloud beneath his hooves. It was like standing on cotton candy…that wasn't sticky. Rainbow Dash touched down on the cloud beside him, making it bounce a little. The rainbow maned mare was buzzing with excitement; she was so excited you could practically see the joy wafting around her.

"So, are ya gonna show us this trick of yours?" Braeburn asked his buddy, who was doing some pre-flight stretches.

"Of course I am," Braeburn whispered the next part. "If I kept Dash waiting any longer, she'd probably throw me off this cloud to give me a jump start."

"I heard that," Rainbow Dash alerted them, making Soarin twitch a little. He took off into the sky.

"You ready?" He asked the two ponies he was performing for. Braeburn gave a nod while Rainbow Dash gave him a full on cheer. "I can't hear you!" Soarin cupped a hoof around his ear.

"Just do it already!" Rainbow Dash ordered him, making Soarin chuckle.

"Of course, captain," He said sarcastically. Soarin flew up high into the air until they two observing ponies could barely see him. He then began descending rapidly and as he dove he flew round and round in circles, faster and faster until a tornado formed. It got bigger and bigger and when Soarin finally pulled up, the tornado practically exploded into powerful gusts of wind that sent Braeburn and Rainbow Dash tumbling backwards until they almost fell off the cloud completely. Soarin flapped back up and rested himself on the cloud beside Rainbow Dash.

"So what did ya think?" He asked casually, preening his wings. Rainbow Dash just sat there with an awestruck expression on her face, and for a moment Braeburn feared that she had completely frozen.

"Um…anypony home?" The earth pony asked her, waving a hoof in front of her face. Rainbow Dash suddenly flapped up into the air, giving Braeburn a shock.

"That was SO COOL!" Rainbow cheered, throwing her hooves into the air. Soarin flushed red, despite the fact that he was used to being showered with admiration by his countless fans.

"Yeah, I guess it's pretty cool," Soarin shrugged. Rainbow's jaw dropped.

"Are you serious? That trick was undeniably, unquestionably ultra-awesome!" The pegasus mare complimented Soarin. "I've gotta try it sometime," She added. Soarin gave a small shrug and raised an eyebrow.

"How about right now, Dash?" He asked her. Rainbow Dash gave a small squee and took off. Braeburn chuckled at her behaviour. She was a pretty fun pony to hang out with. She lay with his hooves folded behind his head as he watched her ascend into the sky. He took a deep breath and relished in the feel of the soft cloud on his back, thinking how great it was that he had these two awesome friends to hang out with.

---

That night, Rainbow Dash sat on her bed and got to work writing her daily letter to her friends back in Ponyville.

Hey, everyone!

The first drills were today and you'll never believe what we had to do. Fly through hoops BLINDFOLDED! I've never crashed so much in my life, but on the bright side, nopony could see that since we were all blindfolded, so my dignity is still intact.

I can't say I'm too fond of the wake up calls though. I know what you're thinking: 'Dash, you're just lazy', but believe me, if you woke up to the sound of a bugle so loud it could wake ponies up in Baltimare, you'd hate it, too.

Soarin finally showed me his trick, which was SO AWESOME and he even let me try it. My first attempt was pretty good…if you consider spinning out of control and crashing into the ground good, that is.

I also got to perform a Sonic Rainboom in front of all the cadets and you'll never guess what, but Spitfire, the Wonderbolt CAPTAIN said that I was her favourite cadet!

I'm gonna go to sleep smiling tonight, that's for sure.

Yours coolly,

Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash rolled the letter up and put it in her saddle bags as usual, so it was ready for her to take to the post office after drills. She heard a yawn and looked over to the other bed to see Spring Song sitting up.

"You still awake, Dash?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm just about to turn in," Rainbow Dash replied, yawning herself. She rested her head on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. "What do ya think we'll be doing tomorrow?" She asked.

"Beats me," Spring Song shrugged, burying herself deeper in her bed sheets. "I'm fine with anything as long as there aren't any blindfolds involved."

"True dat," Rainbow Dash smirked, closing her eyes. She reached over to her lamp and rumbled for the switch to turn it off. "Night, Spring Song," Dash murmured through another yawn.

"Night Dash," Spring Song answered, before the two of them fell into dreams of tricks, applauding audiences and absolutely no blindfolds.