Authors Note: Oh my God I love writing the mane six! I just love their dynamic; when they're together everything is more entertaining!

RosaSilvermist- I just don't like keeping people waiting. Plus I really wanted to publish something with all of the Mane Six because I've missed them so much!

Captain Alaska- This is happening! I am making Soarin say that if it's the last thing I do! And I'm dedicating every mention of the ScootaFan to all of those people out there that admire someone like she does! I'm so pleased that this reminds you of when you met Jeff! Imagining a younger you meeting your idol is a great mental image by the way.

Luna'snight625- I know the feeling. It's kinda hard to comment on a chapter where hardly anything happens. ^^"

Amellia Rose: Well the wait is over!

IS-3 -also dshk- I am not good at writing romance… at all. If you must know I don't even know what I was thinking writing romance in the first place; I SUCK! I have no experience, and frankly I don't read any of the stuff myself really… seriously, WHAT was I thinking?! But I actually CAN'T put this on FIMFiction. It doesn't meet up with all of the guidelines on there so it's not possible. I'm so sorry but there's really nothing I can do. *cyberhugs*

Snow Hurricane Blue- As much as I'd like to do that there's still all of the stuff in the middle that I have to put in for some awful, unfair reason. Oh, and this will please you- there's quite a bit of SpitBurn in this chapter. :D

PBJFanFiction- First off, I love your username! Second, thanks for putting up with this story till this point. And don't put yourself down like that, pacing is hard (and boring sometimes) but it's worth it in the end. ;)

Jagdpanther- Thanks for your concern, my insomnia's getting better and my flu is gone! I'm happy that you enjoyed the chapter and to answer your question there's some SpitBurn in this chapter and the next, and maybe the one after that! (HALLELUJAH I'VE MISSED WRITING THOSE TWO!)

YoungBlood23- You go for it, dude! And thanks for reading that chapter, as painfully short as it was.

Ponyloco- Oh my God, you really DID have me worried there! And I'm pleased you like those three- they're some of my favourites too, though only time will tell if Cinder becomes the Academy chef… but let's all just face that she would make a pretty good (and adorable) one. And I do like SpitBurn more than SoarinDash (and I'm pleased someone else does too ^^) and no, they haven't gotten together yet… I'm going to apologise now for future reference. Though I doubt this would make a good audio drama, and I'm not even sure I'd want it to be… maybe if I write a better, shorter story then I'll let that be made into an audio thingy. Yes, I have plans. Thank you for reading this weird little story of mine, and I hope you continue to enjoy.

One last thing, I tried to equally balance out the scenes with Surprise and the Mane Six and the scene with Applejack so nobody got annoyed that there was more of one that the other. ^^

---

"Hmm…" Twilight hummed to herself as she observed Surprise's methods of training. She listened to the commands that the white pegasus gave the cadets, who had mostly showed up to training late (with no consequences, Twilight had noticed). The cadets seemed to be fairly calm as they went about their cloud busting, not really caring whether Surprise was watching or not and frequently just sitting around and talking to each other. She noticed that Rainbow Dash, Lullaby, and another peach stallion that Twilight didn't know were the only ones really doing any of the work, and judging by the fact that they were constantly looking in the visitors' direction, they were only doing that to try and hide the fact that something was aloof in the training session. Well nothing like that could hide from the eagle eyes of Twilight Sparkle!

"Hmm…" Twilight watched as a couple of the cadets started throwing cloud-balls at each other. This soon attracted the attention of a few more cadets, and they joined in the battle, chasing each other through the clouds, above them, below them, and Surprise… tried to stop them. She somehow managed to mould the part of her mane the bounced in front of her face to into a megaphone shape, and then started to yell 'STOP PLEASE! OR I'LL… DO… SOMETHING!'

Sure enough, that wasn't a very effective tactic and the cloud-ball fight kept going.

"Hmm…" Twilight took note of Rainbow Dash burying her face in her hooves and meeting Twilight's stare as she looked up. Rainbow was clearly anxious about something, most likely the fact that this Academy was so light on the rules that it was appalling to Twilight. Where was the captain, for starters? And why was one of the female cadets asleep on a cloud at a time like this?

"Hmm-"

"Twilight, you keep humming," Rarity told her friend, raising one freshly plucked eyebrow.

"Hm?" Twilight didn't hear her. Rarity just sighed and shook her head.

"Would you mind telling me what you're so contemplative about?" The white unicorn asked. Twilight pointed up at the cadets with one hoof.

"Surprise's methods of training are pretty unorthodox… it's like she has no experience with this at all. Is she even trying?"

"I don't know, Twilight," Rarity told the alicorn, "why don't you ask her?"

Twilight stood straight up with a start, giving Rarity a fright. "Great idea!" she agreed, and briskly trotted over to Surprise, who was chatting with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy while occasionally stopping to yell something up at the cadets… who didn't seem to notice her in the slightest.

"And then that's when Pinkie Pie said- HEY, CLOUDS ARE NOT FOR EATING!"

"No, that's not what I said!" Pinkie told Surprise, who shook her head.

"I know that, I meant that- OH MY GOSH TEMPEST STOP SWINGING CINDER AROUND- she said that- oh hi Twilight!" Surprise then noticed the new arrival.

"No, finish the story!" Pinkie begged Surprise to continue.

"Later okay," Surprise kept flicking her gaze towards the cadets to check that at least some of them were doing what they were supposed to be doing. "So did you want something, Princess?" She asked.

"I just wanted to ask a question," Twilight was about to tell her to just call her by her actual name when the clump of cloud next to her exploded, giving her a huge scare and making her fall backwards onto her rump.

"Surprise!" Scootaloo shook the cloud from her mane, giggling at Twilight's terrified expression. The purple alicorn put a hoof over her heart and did her best to clutch it.

"You almost gave a heart attack!" She scolded the filly, who pouted and pointed up at Surprise.

"Surprise taught me that." She accused the white Wonderbolt. Surprise bit her lip and sheepishly chuckled.

"Heh… she's got me there." A bead of sweat ran down her face and dripped onto the clouds below. Twilight noted that the puffy maned pegasus actually looked pretty stressed out. "So, uh… about this question?"

"Yes, I wanted to ask about the way you 'train' these cadets." Twilight replied. Surprise's entire body seemed to droop.

"I had a horrible feeling you were going to ask about that," she sighed in a strangely flat voice. "I guess I owe everyone an explanation… but it's kinda awkward and I promised the captain that I wouldn't tell anypony under any circumstance."

"Really?" Twilight put a hoof to her chin. "Is she ill or anything? Doesn't she have anyone… er, more experienced with this kind of job?"

"Yes. But Silver Lining, Wave Chill, and a couple others are performing in Neigh Orleans. All that's left is Rapidfire, Misty Fly, the Streak Twins, Fleetfoot and Soarin… maybe I should go shove this job on Fleetfoot or Fire Streak?"

"That seems wise," Twilight agreed silently, "but I just thought that you'd put more effort into this job."

"I can't!" Surprise threw her hooves into the air, almost hitting Fluttershy in the face and making the butter yellow pegasus yelp.

"I'd, uh… better stand over there." Fluttershy walked around the conversing mares and went to stand next to Rarity. Surprise looked down at her Cutie Mark.

"Princess, my special talent is springing surprises on ponies and getting them to have fun! Giving orders and making them do hard challenges goes against that! It's not entirely possible for me to give orders the way Captain Spitfire does. I can, but I feel super crummy afterwards."

Twilight hadn't considered that before. There were a lot of things about Cutie Marks that she didn't know, but she hadn't ever experienced guilt about going against her special talent. She supposed that if she refused to cast spells and study to learn new ones, then she'd feel guilty as well; the same with Rarity if she decided to get a new job, or Applejack if she chose to live in the city away from her family and Sweet Apple Acres.

"I think I get it now." Twilight looked back up at the cadets. "Still, you should get someone better suited for this position to take your place for the time being. Frankly, it's just not safe to have these pegasi acting so carelessly… besides, I can't stand to see Rainbow Dash so embarrassed anymore."

Rainbow Dash had buried her head in a cloud like an ostrich, while Lullaby and the peach stallion awkwardly stood to the side of her, taking turns talking to her and trying to coax her out of her ridiculous hiding spot.

"You're right," Surprise sighed. "I'll go and get Fire Streak and then hang out with Pinkie Pie."

"YAY!" Pinkie suddenly popped out of Surprise's mane, which ironically didn't surprise her at all since she was used to this kind of behavior from Pinkie Pie.

"Oh yes!" Twilight suddenly remembered something. "Would you mind telling me what exactly happened to the captain?" She asked. Surprise flinched a little at that, which told Twilight one heck of a lot. It seemed like something big was happening with her… and the detective inside Twilight wanted to know more.

"Er… she's not… mentally stable right now," Surprise confessed, her purple eyes shimmering with worry. She must really care about the captain. "She just wants to be left alone until she gets a grip again."

"How long has this been going on?" Twilight had a long list of questions, but she wanted to make sure that she didn't freak Surprise out with just how many she wanted to ask. She didn't even seem to want to answer the ones she had just asked.

"Um…" Surprise shrugged her shoulders, seemingly to herself, "about three weeks." She admitted. Twilight's eyes shot open. How could a pony take this long to recover from a mental shock… though by the looks of things the captain had been suffering completely alone, with only Surprise to help; stuff like this needed professional help, and Twilight knew how hard it was to convince a pony to see a doctor, especially if somepony was as tough and stern as the captain seemed to be.

"Is there a chance of her resuming her position anytime soon?" Twilight asked yet another question. "I'm not gonna drag her out or anything," she assured the white pegasus, almost missing her murmur of 'You'd die.'

"Of course she'll come out; she has no choice. If the captain doesn't show up to stuff then ponies will talk… there's no doubting that she'll emerge from her little hidey hole at some point, but I think that she'll need somepony to meet her halfway."

"Huh?" Twilight was now officially intrigued. There appeared to be a whole story behind this that she didn't know, and Twilight loved a good story. Heck she'd like to hear this story even if it took over forty chapters to put it all down!

"I think that's enough information," Surprise shook her head and gulped, plastering a smile onto her face. Twilight knew the importance of not being pushy, so she decided to leave Surprise be for the time. Maybe she could get some information from another pony.

"Hey Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo suddenly yelled as loud as she could. Rainbow lifted her head from the clouds at long last; a little shocked to find that some of the white fluffy stuff had stuck to her face in a fashion that made it look like she had a big bushy beard. She shook it off while Lullaby and the peach stallion laughed, before flushing pink and flapping down swiftly to stand in front of her sister.

"What is it squirt?" She briefly made nervous eye contact with Twilight, who just gave her a nod of understanding… which Rainbow Dash didn't seem to understand, ironically enough. Scootaloo pointed up towards the other cadets with a hoof.

"Can you fly me up there to meet all your new friends?" She asked with a big grin. Rainbow Dash nodded and crouched down.

"Hop on Scoots. I've got a lot of ponies to introduce you to," she said with a chuckle. Scootaloo scrabbled onto Rainbow Dash's back with little difficulty, and Dash took off, laughing as Scootaloo let out a cheer. Surprise looked like she was about to tell Rainbow Dash to land and let her passenger disembark, but thought the better of it and shook her head.

"She can fly, can't she?" Surprise asked with worry in her voice. Slowly, Twilight shook her head, but gave the white pegasus a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about a thing. She's in capable hooves." Twilight smiled, staring after the cyan mare and her little sister. She looked behind her at Rarity and Fluttershy, who was giggling about something or other, and then to the left where Pinkie and Surprise had resumed their conversation. Just then, frantic huffing and puffing came from her right, and she turned her head just in time for Spike to thrust his face into hers, pressing their noses together.

"Twilight! Check it out!" He held up his tail for her to see. "Soarin just signed my tail! And I'm never washing it again!"

A look of horror spread over Twilight's features, and she rapidly shook her head. "No, no, no, nonononono!" She repeated. "You learned your lesson the last time you said that you'd never was anything again, didn't you?"

Spike chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, before looking down at his tail. "Ah well. I'll just take a picture of it when we get home." He decided, and Twilight gave him a nod to show that it wasn't a bad idea. Twilight then remembered something. She recalled something Rarity said to her about Applejack being called away for some matter, and decided to ask Spike about it.

"Hey Spike, do you know what Applejack's doing in there?" she nodded in the direction of the mess hall. Spike shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know any more than the others," he told her. "Something about Braeburn and that's all I know. Soarin said that he just wanted Applejack to say hi to him, but I seriously doubt that's what's actually going on. Meh, it's probably not important."

"Maybe not," Twilight said, mostly to calm her own curiosity. She returned to watching Rainbow Dash introduce Scootaloo to a small group of gathered cadets and tried to forget about the absence of one of her friends.

---

"Braeburn?" Applejack called as she stepped through the door. Soarin followed after her and held the door open for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Braeburn was slouching on the table, so Soarin guessed that they had caught him on one of those rare occasions where he had nothing to do. The gold earth pony looked up from the table, and his eyes widened when he saw his cousin.

"Applejack!" He exclaimed gleefully, bounding over and hugging the orange mare. "It's been forever!" he squeezed her around her neck, almost cutting off her circulation. Applejack didn't seem to be bothered by it though; she knew how overbearing her cousin could be sometimes, after all.

"Actually it's been five months…" Applejack corrected him, not usually one to be specific about these kinds of details but knowing that it would bother her cousin a little bit.

"Ugh!" Braeburn let his face drop into Applejack's shoulder fur. "Who cares?" he mumbled into it, his voice being muffled by the fur. He then lifted his head up and noticed the two fillies. "And Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are here as we-ACK!" He was suddenly knocked to the ground by the two younger ponies. Soarin laughed out loud as the girls knocked Braeburn onto his back and sat on his stomach.

"Howdy Braeburn!" Apple Bloom grinned.

"Hi Braeburn!" Sweetie Belle chirped.

"Mornin', kids." Braeburn groaned, a little winded from the fall. Applejack chuckled and ushered the two fillies off her cousin's stomach.

"Now now, Ah know you two are excited t' see Braeburn, but there's no sense in givin' him a concussion." she rolled her eyes. Soarin clicked his tongue and hummed in thought.

"You sure about that?" he asked. Applejack and Braeburn gave him unamused stares that were so much alike that it was utterly hilarious, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle erupted into giggles. Applejack helped Braeburn up and changed the subject.

"Anyway, are ya doin' okay?" the orange mare asked her cousin. Braeburn hesitated before slowly nodding, looking a little suspicious now that he knew his cousin was worried about him.

"Yeah, everythin's just fine," he was lying to himself because in all honesty his main emotions these pain few feels were guilt and shame, "why do ya ask?"

"Soarin implied that you were in a rough patch," Applejack revealed. Braeburn narrowed his eyes and gave Soarin a side glance.

"Did he now…?" his tone was low and dangerous. Applejack nodded, clearly bothered by Braeburn's change in mood. After all, a minute ago he was hugging her like he'd been reunited with a childhood friend, and now he was grumpy.

"Uh… yeah?" Applejack said a little awkwardly. "He didn't outright say it, if that makes ya feel any better?" she tried to make things a bit less tense. Suddenly, there was a smash from the other side of the room, and the three adult ponies looked in that direction. They saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle over by the sink, a jug cracked to pieces on the floor between them. Sweetie Belle looked over her shoulder at the grown-ups and pointed to the mess.

"Somepony broke that," she said innocently, while Apple Bloom blushed and took a couple steps back, crouching down as low as she could so that she seemed as small and defenseless as she could manage. Applejack let out a low growl and stomped over to the two fillies, apologizing to Braeburn over her shoulder. Braeburn then marched up to Soarin until they were almost nose-to-nose. Soarin sat on his haunches and did jazz hooves.

"So Applejack's here~!" he sang. Braeburn's face remained stern.

"Cut the crab-apples Soarin, ya obviously made 'er come here so she could deal with the Spitfire problem." his eyes were burning into Soarin's with ferocity. Soarin took a sharp breath before frowning and letting his head drop.

"Yes…" he admitted.

"What the hay were ya thinkin'?" Braeburn whisper-shouted with anger. Soarin slowly exhaled and slanted his eyes to the side.

"I was thinking 'Braeburn needs some help and I could really go for a pie.'" he replied honestly. His earth pony friend let out a growl and raised one hoof as if to grab him before lowing it with a bit of difficulty.

"But ya didn't hafta get Applejack. Why did ya get mah cousin?!" He looked to the side to make sure Applejack was still distracted with the girls. She appeared to be snapping at Apple Bloom, who was grinning sheepishly.

"Because my best friend is slumping on a table and writing and rewriting sappy apology/love letters," Soarin deadpanned. Braeburn's eyes went wide and pupils shrank.

"Wha- Ah… Ah've done no such thing!" Braeburn's face turned bright red. Soarin pointed to the left side of the room.

"So I'm sure you'll be fine if I open that cabinet and check out all the mysterious sheets of paper you've been stuffing in there." That made Braeburn's face morph into one of terror.

"N-no! Stop that!" he whined. Soarin couldn't help but chuckle at how pathetic and childish this was. He decided to wind him up even more.

"Oh my gosh! Braeburn's writing a whole lot of letters to Spitfire senpai!" he put a hoof to his cheek and spoke in a bad anime voice.

"Shut up!" The earth pony bounced on his hooves with frustration. "They aren't love letters, they're confidential documents, and neither is a reason to get Applejack involved!"

"When was the last time you talked to Spitz?" Soarin sat down at the table and glared accusingly at Braeburn. The earth pony stood tall and looked down his muzzle at his winged friend.

"That time she flew me home," he answered honestly. Soarin slammed a hoof on the table.

"That was almost three weeks ago!" the co-captain snapped.

"It seems much longer…" Braeburn sighed, looking forlornly down at the ground, "…like five months."

"What seems longer?" Sweetie Belle suddenly popped up on Soarin's right side, making him hump.

"What's taken five months?" Apple Bloom appeared on his other side.

"Girls, maybe you should go outside with Scootaloo?" Applejack suggested. Apple Bloom pouted.

"Aww… but we wanna look around the Academy; right Sweetie Belle?" the yellow filly looked to her friend for a confirmation, and Sweetie Belle nodded. Applejack sighed and looked over at Soarin.

"Ah'm gonna stay here with Braeburn, but would ya mind takin' these two for a walk around?" she asked. Soarin put a hoof on each of the fillies' heads and ruffled their manes.

"Sure. I'm gonna show 'em all the cool stuff," he agreed, getting a hearty 'YAY' from the two kids. Braeburn looked highly offended.

"Yer lettin' him watch some kids?!" he exclaimed. "Applejack, ya oughta reconsider that!" he warned his cousin, Applejack gave him a small glare.

"He can't be any worse than you," she told him, "ya lost 'em more than once when there was a supposed criminal on the loose, so there ain't no chance o' you babysittin' again anytime soon."

Braeburn sighed and glared from his cousin to Soarin. "Ya know, between the two of ya, ya make me feel totally worthless." he sighed, trying to stay optimistic despite the growing misery in his chest. Applejack looked a little guilty at that, and she pulled her hat down a little so that it cast a shadow across her muzzle.

"Soarin, can ya take 'em now?" she asked with her tone sounding a little gentler now. Soarin nodded and stood up, heading towards the door.

"Sure. C'mon girls, I'm gonna show you the gymnasium, the obstacle course, my office, the bathrooms in case one of you has to go pee-pee or poo-poo…" he kept talking as he left the kitchen, the two fillies bounding after him excitedly. Applejack then turned her attention to Braeburn, who was resuming the position he was in at the table when she, Soarin and the fillies first arrived. She moved over to sit in the chair opposite him.

"So, are ya gonna tell me what's goin' on?" she asked. Braeburn just gave her a flat stare that said it all. Applejack sighed and folded her hooves on the table in front of her. "Ah've got all day, cuz" she told him, "Ah'm not the most patient o' ponies, but Ah love sittin' down, so don't count on me getting' bored any time soon."

"Why do ya care?" Braeburn asked. "Why would ya care about some silly li'l thing Soarin said?"

"Because Ah care about you," Applejack said as if it were obvious. Braeburn put his face in his hoof and let out a long breath. "Ah promise Ah won't laugh or anythin'; just tell me what's wrong an' Ah'll try n' help ya out." She smiled gently at her cousin. Braeburn placed his hoof back on the table and groaned.

"It's awkward… an' hard t' explain," he fiddled with his tail a little bit. There was silence for a few minutes, and in that space of time Applejack pondered over the possibilities. What could have possibly gotten under her cousin's fur? The last time she had seen him was at the celebration and that was when-

"Oh!" Applejack's eyes lit up with realization, and she exclaimed so loud that it made Braeburn jolt with shock.

"What? What is it? Is there a spider somewhere?" he looked around frantically. Applejack blinked with confusion, but shook her head.

"There ain't a spider, Braeburn." She assured him, unsure as to why he would choose that of all things to be worried about at this point. "Ah think Ah might know what's goin' on is all." she felt a twinge of consequent worry and adoration for this situation.

"H-how…?" he looked a little worried, but Applejack was a smart pony, and she could remember important little details when she needed to. She decided to calm him down a little first before she dropped the bomb.

"Now listen here. Ah'm not makin' fun o' ya in any way, so don't go denyin' anythin'. Ah'm yer cousin, an' Ah wanna be here t' help ya with yer problem. So let everythin' out 'cause Ah'll just get answers from elsewhere if Ah don't. Got that?" she lectured. Braeburn nodded, still looking pretty perplexed. Applejack leaned forward a little and lowered her voice volume.

"This is about the captain, isn't it?"

And Braeburn made no spastic attempt to run away. Nor did he sit up straight, shake his head wildly and toss everything his cousin was saying away. He didn't nervously laugh and call Applejack crazy. He didn't run out of the room blushing. He just sat still…

…and he nodded.

"Yes…" he admitted with a solemn sigh. Applejack smiled at him proudly and reached over to boop him on the nose.

"There ya go! That wasn't so bad was it?" she asked him. Braeburn's face didn't change from a neutral frown, but she got a response from him anyway.

"You aren't Soarin," he simply said. Applejack had to agree that Soarin seemed like the type of guy who'd tease his friends for having mare troubles, and the orange mare wasn't sure that she liked the idea of her cousin hanging around with a stallion that makes him lose confidence and made him shy away from being honest with his feelings. It made her feel pretty guilty for making fun of him when she'd seen him last at the Spring Celebration as well.

"Fair enough," she finally said while rolling her green eyes a little. "So, what did ya do?" she asked, before quickly realizing that he may not have done anything at all. "Ah mean, what did she do? Or, uh-"

"No, no! It's me, all me!" Braeburn told his cousin. Applejack was silent so he could explain. "Ah said somethin' wrong…"

He then went on to explain everything about the flight home, and the things that he'd said to Spitfire once they'd landed outside his house. Applejack listened patiently, her face morphing into one of confusion towards the end of the golden stallion's tale of woe.

"…and she got upset when Ah told 'er she was 'the most amazing' flyer ever t' take t' the skies'. Then she flew away an' Ah haven't seen 'er or talked t' her since." he sighed and took his hat off, putting it on the table beside him. "Ah feel awful."

Applejack blinked with bewilderment, remaining quiet for a minute or two as she tried to process what she had just heard. She put her head in her hoof and looked across at Braeburn.

"Cuz, Ah'm not hearin' that ya did anythin' wrong." she told him. Braeburn threw his hooves into the air.

"AH DON'T KNOW WHAT AH DID EITHER!" he yelled so loud that it made Applejack jump, and she skidded backwards in her chair a little. Braeburn looked mortified at himself and he wrapped his arms around his middle, applying a little bit of pressure so it was like he was hugging himself. The sight made Applejack's heart ache. It seemed like the situation was even worse than she had first hypothesized.

"Hey now, can't ya just ask 'er?" Applejack suggested. Braeburn looked up at her with angry eyes.

"Don't ya think Ah've tried?" he asked with his voice straining as he tried not to shout again. "She won't answer the door t' me. She only ever talks t' Surprise, and judgin' by the fact that Surprise recently slapped me an' said Ah've hurt the captain pretty bad, Ah can only assume that she won't talk t' me ever again."

Applejack wasn't just curious. She was angry. She wanted to know exactly what was going on in the captain's skull and why she was acting this way to her cousin who had done absolutely nothing wrong. She wanted to give this mare a piece of her mind! She had more or less forgotten about her cousin and the captain's potential relationship since the Celebration, but on the off occasion that she did catch herself thinking about her cousin and his crush she had only really looked on the positive side of things. Who wouldn't wanna be the marefriend of a gentlecolt like Braeburn; that's what she had always said when the two of them were foals and Braeburn had had his first few crushes. He was still as adorable when he was smitten now as he was back then, only… he had never seemed to feel this strongly about the ponies in the past. Only now was this seeming to have a visible emotional effect on him. This was definitely not what she had expected to see when she came to Cloudsdale.

Silent as a ninja, Applejack walked around the table and sat beside her cousin, placing her orange hoof on top of his light gold one and giving it a squeeze. "Ya really care about this gal, don't ya Brae?" she asked him softly. "Ah've never seen ya this stressed out before, not even when the cops mistook yer apple stand fer a… er, a different kind o' stand." She bit her lip and glanced awkwardly to the side, remembering an incident from when Braeburn and she were young adults.

Braeburn gave her an annoyed side-glance, but he couldn't maintain his pissed off expression for longer than a few seconds before his features grew sad and he tipped his head downwards. He closed his eyes and held his breath for a little while, before letting it out and placing his hat back on his head. He didn't tear his gaze from the table top as he spoke once again, ever so quietly.

"Ah love her, Applejack."

Applejack blinked and her mouth formed an O shape. She gazed at her cousin with astonishment.

"Love?" she repeated, almost as if the word were foreign. She was positively stunned!

Braeburn raised his head up, but he didn't look at Applejack. Instead he looked straight ahead at the wall opposite them and poured his heart out. "She's a complete mystery t' me; Ah wanna know what it is that goes on in 'er head. Ah felt like Ah knew her pretty well back before all o' this happened… she told me so much about herself at Surprise's birthday party… now it's like Ah know nothin' at all. She seems so strict all the time, but if ya get 'er in the right place then she's just plain charmin'… like fer a l'il while Ah'm not lookin' at the tough captain, or the famous Wonderbolt. Just Spitfire." His cheeks turned a pink color, but he looked pretty relieved to finally be talking about it like this.

Applejack wanted to help him so much… however she didn't really know much about love or any of that kind of stuff. But she did know Braeburn, and if he was really this distressed about a situation then it sure as heck was dire. She needed to get him to confront the captain somehow…

"Hey," she put a hoof on his shoulder. "Ah'm no expert in this field, but Ah can tell that ya really do need t' make things right with the captain," she waited for Braeburn to finish nodding before continuing. "So Ah say that you should go talk t' her, an' if she's really as special as ya make 'er out t' be, then she'll understand and explain what happened."

Braeburn made split-second eye contact with his cousin. "And if she doesn't wanna see me?" he asked. Applejack sighed and frowned, feeling a bit stuck right now.

"Well… if she won't give ya a chance t' make amends then…" she hated to say this, "maybe she's just not the one fer you."

Braeburn's face morphed into one of utter sadness, but he quickly banished it by letting his mane fall down and cover the side of his face. The subtle nod that he gave Applejack afterward signified that he understood completely. Applejack wrapped her forehooves around him and gave him a side-hug, nuzzling his cheek in a comforting manner.

"Hey, if she really opens up t' you like ya mentioned before, then she probably really trusts ya. Losin' your friendship would be the biggest mistake o' her life." She assured Braeburn. The stallion leaned his head against Applejack's and sighed, pleased that she was there for him.

"If ya say so, cuz," he smiled despite himself. Applejack stood up and made her way around to the other side of the table.

"Well, Ah'm gonna head out an' catch up with the others. If ya wanna come too don't hesitate, 'kay?" she told Braeburn. The gold stallion didn't move from his spot at the table.

"Ah'll think about it," was all he said, but hey, it was better than nothing. Applejack left the kitchen feeling less than satisfied about the situation, but she had something new to be concerned about.

She wanted to know exactly what had happened, and why the captain was shutting him out. She thought it over; nopony had seemed to want to convince her to fix things with him… possibly because they didn't even know about it. But what if they were afraid they'd get in trouble over it? Arguing over a personal subject with a boss did seem to be a pretty good way of getting fired to Applejack, but now she was here. Applejack had nothing to lose- she didn't know the captain and she didn't work here, and frankly she wasn't scared of another pony.

Maybe she shouldn't interfere and let Braeburn handle this by himself…?

She thought about it.

Nah, she was gonna do something about it.

---

"And then we just chill out until the break is over," Rainbow Dash explained to her friends as she sat down in the mess hall, in the same spot she had been when her friends had first arrived. Scootaloo hopped up to sit beside her, her cheeks still flushed with excitement.

"All of your friends seem so cool, Rainbow Dash!" the orange filly chirped. "Sugar Swoop is so silly!" she giggled. Twilight had to admit that the peach stallion had really hammed out a bunch of puns to make Scootaloo laugh… and in all honesty she didn't know if it was more sweet or desperate.

"Hey Rainbow," Pinkie Pie casually dropped down from above to sit on the table in front of her. "Do you know if Stargazer can predict the future like me?"

Rainbow gave her a baffled look and paused for a minute to figure out how she was meant to answer that. "Wh- why would she be able to predict the future?"

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Well she seems to be into the stars and stuff, and when I talked to her she spoke just like the gypsies or whatever they are from all the movies. So does that mean she has a Mystical Orb of Fate's Destiny like mine?"

Twilight wanted to facehoof so badly. Did Pinkie Pie seriously believe in stereotypes like that?

"No Pinkie, as far as I know she doesn't have any fortune telling powers. I don't even really know what her special talent is." Rainbow answered. Pinkie gasped and narrowed her eyes, looking confident.

"Then I should go and find out myself!" she decided. She then stood up straight on the table and pinpointed Stargazer's location in the room. "The desire to know everything about this pony… fills me with DETERMINATION!" And then she hopped off the table and walked away.

"I thought Stargazer was lovely." Fluttershy put in her opinion.

"Did you see her mane though?" Rarity suddenly burst out. All the remaining ponies turned to look at her, their matching expressions making it clear that they didn't know why it mattered or why Rarity even cared. The white unicorn realised what she had said and coughed politely. "I'm just saying that it's not something I'd choose for myself." She corrected herself. Good enough, Twilight decided.

"So what are you gonna do next?" Scootaloo put her front hooves on the table so she was eye-level with Rainbow Dash. Rainbow shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm not sure; Surprise will just surprise us." She replied.

"Yep-a-rooni!" The white mare suddenly appeared on the table. Everypony leaned back in shock/fear at the freaky revelation of the wacky Wonderbolt. The whole time the others were internally screaming in terror, Surprise just sat there with a grin on her face, which only served to amplify the creepiness of the moment.

"Uh…" Twilight couldn't get any words out, so she just settled for an uncomfortable groan instead. Nopony seemed to think that this was the incorrect thing to do anyway.

"Fleetfoot's gonna make you do laps around the Academy for your information," Surprise told the gathered ponies, who didn't have any reaction at first since they were still recovering from Surprise's 'witchcraft'. Rarity eventually spoke.

"Oh, um… thank you for telling us." She managed to say, though the smile she had on was obviously forced. Twilight was pretty sure that the tight pull at the corners of her mouth meant that her smile wasn't real either.

"Oh yeah, that sounds like fun," Rainbow Dash finally came to her senses. "Maybe I could take Scootaloo around with me while I fly?" she asked hopefully. Much to her dismay however, Surprise shook her head.

"Sorry Rainbow Dash, but Scootaloo would weight you down. You'll just get worn out if you fly laps with her riding on your back." She informed the blue pegasus. Rainbow scoffed and folded her arms.

"Say what? Since when has a little weight been a problem for me? I did save three Wonderbolts and Rarity from falling to their deaths and that didn't slow me down." She bragged. Twilight raised a hoof.

"Rainbow, you were already going at an incredible speed when you caught them all, and the momentum you'd gained from breaking the sound barrier was partially carrying you along as you flew. So as a matter of fact, physics was doing all the hard work while you flapped your wings and kept hold of Rarity and the Wonderbolts." She explained.

Needless to say, everypony looked like they hadn't a clue what Twilight was nerding on about.

"Ugh! Never mind!" Twilight huffed; a little ticked that nopony appreciated her knowledge around here.

"It's fine," Scootaloo said to Rainbow Dash, "I'll settle with watching you be awesome."

Rainbow nudged her sister with her shoulder. "Yeah, good point there Scoots." she said with an air of pride in her voice. "Anyway, once we're done me and Soarin can show you around, and you're all gonna love this placed, I promise!" The rainbow maned pegasus vowed. "Twilight will love the Wonderbolt Hall of Fame, Rarity can check out the old uniforms, Pinkie can hang with Surprise and Fluttershy… well Lullaby's here so they can talk about stuff I guess," Rainbow knew that Fluttershy wasn't really into the Wonderbolts at all, but she and Lullaby connected over their shared love of taking care of things.

"Did somepony say my name?" Lullaby trotted up to the group. Rainbow nodded.

"I'm gonna show these guys around; wanna help out?" she asked. Lullaby nodded enthusiastically.

"Sure! That sounds kinda fun." the purple cadet agreed. Rarity silently objected to that under her breath.

"It sounds like a lot of walking to me." she complained, but secretly she liked the idea of seeing all the Wonderbolt uniforms. She had created replicas of them before for when Rainbow Dash was taking the test to get into the Wonderbolt Reserves, but she had never actually seen the real deal.

"It'll be worth it though, right? I've missed you all so much." Rainbow said with a hint of sentimentality in her tone. Fluttershy then did her best to tackle hug Rainbow Dash, but it just looked plain adorable.

"We've missed you too, Rainbow," she nuzzled her friend's cheek, getting Dash to blush. She wasn't too keen on sappy moments like this, but she'd deal with it for the sake of being with her friends again. Twilight and Rarity joined in the hug, and Scootaloo popped up in the middle of them all, an adorable grin on her face as she was engulfed by the hugging ponies. Pinkie then jumped up from behind Rainbow Dash and wrapped her arms around her, placing her head on top of her cyan friend's mane.

"Yay hugs!" She cheered. Surprise and Lullaby watched the whole scene, both smiling at the sweetness of it all. However, Surprise's happiness was 'surprisingly' short lived.

"Surprise, can I talk to you?" Misty Fly approached from her left.

"You already are but yes," she forgot that they were supposed to be making friends and mentally slapped herself for making that comment. Misty absentmindedly fiddled with her hooves.

"Er… Feather Duster wants to see you about something supposedly 'bonkers' because you're, and I quote, 'the most bonkers thing about this Academy'." she paused before carrying on. "And she took away my cigarettes when I asked her if she was sure of that, and I kinda need those to survive." She gave Surprise a nervous smile. The white mare knew how Misty could get when she didn't have a regular cigarette… and to be honest it kinda worried her, so for the sake of not having an angry Wonderbolt on their hooves, she would help her out.

"Alright, let's go find her," Surprise sighed; she'd rather spend time with Pinkie Pie and her friends, but duty called, she supposed.

"Hey!" Speak of the devil, Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared leaning against Surprise. Misty stepped back in shock but Surprise just grinned and gave her Twinzie a friendly head-butt. The other ponies had stopped hugging and were listening to Scootaloo natter on happily about something.

"Ooh, I have a good idea! Pinkie, do ya wanna come with us to investigate something wacky?" she asked, loving the prospect of Pinkie going along with her and Misty Fly to keep things entertaining.

"Since when do I not wanna investigate wacky stuff?" she then smooshed her cheek against Surprise's and said in a low but chipper whisper. "We are wacky stuff!"

"You… are…" Misty confirmed before Surprise could say anything. Pinkie then bounced all the way into the air and landed back next to Misty Fly.

"Hi there! I haven't met you before. Are you Surprise's friend? Me too!" she hopped up and down like Pepe Le Pew. Misty bit her lip, not really knowing how to answer that.

"This is Misty Fly, and… well she's not exactly my…"

"We aren't… um…"

Misty and Surprise both seemed to not want to offend the other by revealing whether or not they were on friendly terms. Pinkie… took this the completely wrong way.

"Oh my gosh!" The pink mare squealed. She looked from Surprise to Misty Fly, who for once shared the same expression of confusion.

"Is something the matter?" Misty asked, raising one eyebrow. Pinkie slid a little to the side, put one hoof around Surprise and another around Misty Fly and then pulled them towards her rather abruptly in a hug.

"That's adorable!" The bouncy end of Pinkie's mane somehow curled into her wild mess of hair and re-emerged with a camera on the end. Before Surprise and Misty (but mostly Misty) could question what she was doing there was a bright flash, which darn near blinded the two baffled mares.

"Pinkie!" Surprise was laughing despite the fact that she was seeing spots. "What's going on?"

Pinkie then grabbed the photo out of the back of the camera and presented it to Surprise. "Pinkie Pie Picture Service: Taking heart-warming pictures since twelve seconds ago!" she declared. Surprise examined the picture in her hoof with Misty looking at it over her shoulder. The photo consisted of a gleefully smiling Pinkie Pie, Surprise's face her smooshed into her shoulder with her only visible eye red. Pinkie had grabbed Misty around the neck, and so she looked like she was in total distress. If it wasn't for the caption underneath it, Surprise would have laughed at the panicked Misty Fly.

The Happy Couple

(With Pinkie Pie)

"EEEEEEEEERRRRRRR?!" Surprise reflexively gaped, going rigid at the current position. Misty Fly cringed from behind her and let out a strained groan.

"Holy Moly," she muttered through her teeth, "I look like an ostrich choking on a trumpet."

"That's the problem?" Surprise was a little ticked that Misty couldn't see the issue here. She turned back to Pinkie, taking a surprisingly strict tone with the pink mare. "Pinkie, that's not it! We aren't even friends, let alone that!" she was genuinely miffed. Pinkie blinked a few times, looking a little upset that her Twinzie was mad at her.

"Oh…" she flicked the camera back into her mane. "Sorry…"

"It's… whatever," Surprise wasn't sure it was 'okay' but she'd roll with it. "Now let's go find Feather Duster," she wanted to get this done as quick as possible so she could hang with Pinkie Pie. She was eager to return to that candy shop to use the discount cards they'd gotten the last time they had visited. She shoved the picture behind Misty's ear on the way past as a way to get rid of it.

"And I really… really need to smoke." the custard mare said, mostly to herself. Pinkie looked behind her as Misty followed after her and Surprise.

"You shouldn't do that ya know?" she said matter-of-factly before talking to Surprise again. "So who's Feather Duster? Another friend of yours?" She asked.

"Kinda?" Surprise shrugged. "I think she qualifies as a friend; we kinda made it official at a slumber party recently."

"Ooh, we should have a slumber party too!" Pinkie adored the idea. "We can invite Feather Duster and Misty Fly and have lots of cake and ice cream and punch, and have pillow fights and play 'Guess Who's Sleeping, and put shaving cream on somepony's head and stay up all night singing and-"

"Really needing that cigarette right about now…" Misty grumbled.

---

Endnote: Again, I hate that there are such long waits between chapters, but there are a couple of reasons for that.

The first is that sometimes there are scenes that I just don't feel motivated to write. My best work is the stuff that I really want to write instead of stuff that's just there for plot progression, and my lack of enthusiasm holds me back from time to time. It gets done in the end, but just a lot slower than I would like.

The second reason is that I'm just plain not feeling all that good. Nothing major but it's just that I've been diagnosed with depression and anxiety, and lately they have been kicking my ass. I don't want to go into too much detail but I'm just super down and feeling neglected by people, and kinda hating myself for feeling like this, so that's sorta sapped up my will to write on several occasions.

But next Saturday is my birthday so I'm sure that'll be happy! *Fluttershy Yay*

So see you in part two, which I hope won't take as long. It has a lot of stuff I've waited months to write in it, and the chapter after that is already almost completely written out so hopefully that means fast updates! Woot woot!