"C'mon, it's almost 12:30," Spring Song jumped up from her seat in the cafeteria and stood by the door, waiting for Rainbow Dash to add her plate to the growing pile of dirty crockery and cutlery. Rainbow Dash grumbled. Drills had been tough this morning. Spitfire had made them do 100 wing-ups with a sandbag on their backs. Dash had struggled through but was one of the only cadets to do 100 wing-ups. She hoped that whatever they were going to do now was less exhausting.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, good luck," Braeburn called to her from behind the kitchen counter. Rainbow gave him a bright smile.

"Won't need it!" She called back. She went out the door and walked beside Spring Song, who looked a little astounded.

"Holy Celestia, do you know him?" She gasped. Rainbow Dash tilted her head, baffled at her roommate's behaviour.

"Braeburn? Yeah, a little…She trailed off. "What's wrong with him?" Spring Song obviously had some negative feelings towards Braeburn. "Is it because he's an Earth Pony?"

"No…he's just so weird. And he talks like a hillbilly or something," Spring Song replied. Rainbow Dash had to resist the urge to give Spring Song a stern lecture about how you shouldn't stereotype ponies like that, but then she'd sound like an egghead. Lecturing was Twilight's thing, not Rainbow's. The two of them joined the end of the line, where Rainbow Dash continued pondering Spring Song.

After Rainbow Dash had failed at Soarin's trick yesterday the two of them and Braeburn had just sat around talking. They'd gotten to know eachother better and just had an awesome time together. Braeburn made a lot of jokes that Rainbow and Soarin laughed at and he'd told them about how much he liked living in Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash just couldn't see how anypony couldn't like him. He was just so NICE!

Rainbow Dash suddenly heard the sound of a whistle and the cadets around her took off into the air. Rainbow gasped when she realised that she hadn't heard what she was meant to do. She flapped into the air and caught up to Paradise.

"What are we supposed to be doing?" She asked.

"Just some cloud busting. I bet the Wonderbolts just brought us here to do chores," The green mare replied, saying the word 'chores' the same way you'd say 'diarrhoea'.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. Today she was seeing a side of some of her new friends that she hadn't seen before. She was just glad that they weren't doing any more wing-ups.

Dash got to work busting clouds, trying to stay as focused as she possibly could. She was still befuddled by Spring Song's actions. What was so weird about Earth Pony's on clouds. All of this was just so messed up.

---

Soarin took a huge bite of his hayburger, the deliciousness of the snack exploding across his tongue as he chewed. He was interrupted from his lunch by a hoof prodding his shoulder.

"What?" Soarin asked with a mouthful of burger. Braeburn glowered down at him, irritated.

"What're ya eatin'?" The earth pony asked. Soarin shifted his eyes to the side, catching sight of the large Hayburger logo on the brown paper bag his meal had come in.

"Celestia's royal cheese," Soarin replied sarcastically. Braeburn raised an eyebrow.

"You're sittin' in a kitchen, Soarin, and ya actually went out to buy a hayburger when ya could've come here and got free lunch from me," The Appaloosan said to his friend.

"Well…I like hayburgers," Was all Soarin said. Braeburn sneered down at him.

"But it's really unhealthy!" He argued. "Besides, Ah would've given ya pie," He tried to tempt the pegasus stallion.

"I've got pie. You can get it half price whenever you order a mega carrot cola," Soarin held up a tall paper cup the height of his head in one hoof and a slice of blueberry pie in the other. Braeburn stomped a hoof on the floor.

"Is this a crazy way of sayin' that ya don't like mah cookin?" he asked, making Soarin's eyes bulge out of his head. He loved Braeburn's cooking, especially his pies.

"Of course not, Brae, why would you think that?" The pale blue stallion said, completely bewildered.

"Because if ya liked mah cookin', ya wouldn't go down to a fast food place to grab a meal," Braeburn was almost shouting now.

"I do like your cooking, Braeburn, don't be ridiculous," Soarin took another bite of his burger, praying that his friend would just go away.

"Tell me the truth, Soarin," Braeburn ordered Soarin with such ferocity that it almost made him jump out of his fur.

"The truth is I like your cooking, now leave me alone," Soarin was beginning to get irritated with his friend.

"Tell me, tell me, TELL ME!" Braeburn was practically oozing frustration. Soarin got up from his chair. He decided he was going to tell Braeburn exactly what he thought.

"FINE! If you really want to know…" Soarin knew exactly what he was going to say and it was going to hurt. "You cook too much healthy food. Ponies don't get satisfied by eating an assortment of lettuces and mashed potato. You cook your food for too long, so it's usually way too crunchy and do you wanna know something?"

Braeburn slitted his eyes so that they were almost closed.

"I've never liked your apple strudel!" Soarin revealed, rising to his full height.

Braeburn's face softened and his eyes grew wider at this revelation.

"Never!" Soarin slammed a hoof into the ground, making a few of the pots and pans around them shake. Braeburn took off the apron he was wearing and threw it in Soarin's face.

"Ya know what, if ya don't appreciate mah cookin', Ah'll go and find somepony who does!"

"Where are you going?" Soarin asked Braeburn as the Earth Pony picked up a tray of his muffins.

"To the staff room, where ponies respect me and treat me like a friend," Braeburn stormed out the door.

"What! I'm the one who got you this job!" Soarin called after him. The door slammed close and Soarin was left alone. For a few moments Soarin was silent before yelling again.

"Fine, I don't need you. I'm gonna make it on my own!" He declared as if he were in some kind of movie. There was no reply and all Soarin heard was the sound of Braeburn's retreating hoof steps.

"You'll see, YOU'LL ALL SEE!" Soarin stood on his hind legs and raised his hooves into the air for dramatic effect. "As soon as I've finished my hayburger," Soarin sat back down and resumed munching his burger.

---

Spitfire paced back and forth outside the nurses office. During the second bunch of drills Fast Clip had collapsed in a coughing fit and he'd been taken to the nurse. Rainbow Dash was waiting with her for reasons unknown to her. The cadet would probably rather hang out with her friends, so why was she here?

"What do you think's wrong with him?" Rainbow Dash piped up, looking concerned.

"Feather Flu," Spitfire sighed, hanging her head. She should have sent Fast Clip home when she'd first seen the signs. Yesterday he'd been coughing too much for it to be normal. She'd suspected Feather Flu right from the beginning, but she'd been too engrossed with the cadets' performances to even acknowledge him.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" Rainbow Dash suddenly appeared beside Spitfire, surprising her. It took the flame maned mare a second to realise that she was sitting down with her head drooped. She hadn't even realised she'd done so and she immediately stood up. She hated it when she showed emotion. She didn't want to show that she was worried about Fast Clip. She was supposed to be a tough, no-nonsense Wonderbolt captain, so showing weaknesses wasn't an option.

"Of course," Spitfire replied, wiping all signs of worry from her features and replacing them with her usual frown. At that moment the nurse emerged from her office, looking a little worried. "How is he?" Spitfire asked her.

"He'll be fine, but he'll have to stay at the hospital for the rest of today and all of tomorrow," The nurse reported.

Spitfire hung her head again, her sunglasses slipping down her nose, so that she had to wrinkle it to get them to stay on. This meant that Whiplash would have to handle the scores and schedule tomorrow. That would probably put too much pressure on the stallion.

"What'th up?" Fleetfoot suddenly appeared, confused about all the fuss. Spitfire looked up to address the blue mare.

"Fast Clip's got Feather Flu," The captain grumbled. The nurse returned to her office after that, flicking a hoof as if to say 'You'd better leave, now'.

"That'th awful. Who'th gonna do hith job, now?" Fleetfoot gasped as she, Spitfire and Rainbow Dash walked down the hallway.

"Beats me," Spitfire muttered, staring down at the ground. She felt truly terrible for making Fast Clip work in his condition.

"Well, you could always find a replacement," Rainbow Dash suggested. Spitfire lit up a little. A replacement was perfect.

"That's a good idea, Dash," Spitfire smiled at the cyan mare, whose face began glowing at her idols praise. "I'll ask one of the other Wonderbolts if they wouldn't mind stepping in for Fast Clip tomorrow."

"Hmm…" Spitfire and Rainbow Dash looked over to Fleetfoot, who was deep in thought. You could practically hear the gears turning in her head.

"Something the matter, Fleet?" Spitfire asked her white maned friend, ripping her from her thoughts.

"Oh, um…well, what if the otherth are buthy tomorrow?" Fleetfoot asked. "I know a pony who could thtep in for you. He'th not a Wonderbolt, tho he hath nothing better to do," She suggested with a shrug. Spitfire had to admit, she'd hate to give the other Wonderbolts another job to do. Fleetfoot's idea was actually pretty good.

"Um…sure, okay, Fleet. Who is this guy, anyway?" Spitfire asked. She wanted to make sure she wasn't giving the job to a complete stranger. Fleetfoot grinned as she spoke his name.

"Braeburn, Thoarin's friend from Appalootha."

"Ya mean that Earth Pony that Soarin begged me to give the cook job to?" Spitfire asked, unsure why Fleetfoot would choose this guy to do a pegasus pony's job.

"Yep. He'll do great," Fleetfoot sounded really enthusiastic about all this. Spitfire sighed, knowing that Fleetfoot would keep trying to persuade her until she gave in and let him have the job.

"Sure, he can have the job. Go find him and tell him the details," Spitfire agreed and Fleetfoot gave a little bounce.

"Thank you, Thpitfire!" Fleetfoot began bounding down the hall. Rainbow Dash began following her.

"I'm gonna go, too. I was heading to the kitchen anyway," The rainbow maned mare explained. Spitfire nodded in farewell, before turning and heading to her office.

Hopefully this 'Braeburn' wouldn't let her down.

---

Rainbow Dash followed Fleetfoot to the kitchen, where Braeburn was pounding a ball of dough. Rainbow had never seen him mad before. The scowl he wore just didn't suit him. He looked up from his work and lit up a little when he saw the two mares.

"Braeburn, what's wrong?" Rainbow Dash asked him. The Earth Pony let out an agitated sigh.

"Nothin' much, Soarin just got on mah nerves earlier," He replied. Fleetfoot whizzed over to his side.

"Well, I've got thome newth that'll turn that frown upthide down," She chirped. Braeburn went over to the sink to wash the dough off his hooves and nodded at Fleetfoot, allowing her to speak.

"I got you a job, Braeburn!" She announced. Braeburn looked confused.

"Um…but Ah already have a job," he stated the obvious, pulling at his apron.

"I know that. But ith jutht a temporary job," Fleetfoot added. Braeburn raised an eyebrow, looking interested. "Jutht for tomorrow, you get to handle the thchedule for drillth."

"That's all Ah have to do? Just look at a timetable?" Braeburn looked amazed at how easy this job was.

"Yep, and you even get paid for it," Fleetfoot added, trying to tempt Braeburn into the job. Rainbow Dash was still confused at Fleetfoot's choice of replacement. Hopefully she'd get an answer soon.

"But…why me, Fleetfoot, why not another Wonderbolt?" Braeburn asked the white maned mare. It was like the stallion could read Rainbow Dash's thoughts.

"I thought you'd be right for the job, that'th all," Fleetfoot shrugged. Braeburn still didn't seem convinced.

"But... Ah thought that there was already somepony in charge of the schedule," He questioned Fleetfoot.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the thtallion who handled the timetable got the Feather Flu," Fleetfoot replied. Braeburn's eyes popped out of his head.

"That's awful!" He gasped. "Ah hope it doesn't spread," He paused for a moment. "If it'll help then sure, Ah'll take the job," He accepted. Fleetfoot gave a little bounce and lunged at Braeburn, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. This took Braeburn by surprise and he froze, unsure of what to do in this situation. Rainbow Dash let out a small chuckle at the sight.

"You're awethome, Braeburn. I- I mean- all of the Wonderboltth apprethiate thith a lot," Fleetfoot gushed, squeezing Braeburn, who awkwardly put one front leg around her, seeing this as a friendly thank you. Rainbow Dash almost collapsed with laughter when she saw Fleetfoot turn her head to the side and take a quick whiff of Braeburn's neck. Fleetfoot finally released Braeburn from her grip and skipped out of the room. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but notice that Fleetfoot's wings were now open.

"I'm gonna go tell the captain. You'll be working with her tomorrow," Fleetfoot called over her shoulder as she left the room. Braeburn did a double take.

"Ah hafta work with the captain!" He gasped, suddenly looking scared. He sat down. "Maybe Ah can't do this," He began to reconsider. Rainbow Dash flapped over to his side.

"It's too late to back down now, buddy," She told him, patting him on the back. "You're not scared are ya?"

"Of course not, Dash," Braeburn defended himself. "But working with the captain is a huge responsibility. Ah'm not all that good with any kind of responsibility. Ah almost burned lunch earlier, for Celestia's sake!"

"Don't worry 'bout it. I'll be out there with you, remember. You're gonna love watching me fly," Rainbow Dash encouraged him. Braeburn sighed.

"Alright, Ah'll do it, but only 'cause you'll be there," He agreed. Just then, Soarin came through the kitchen door. Braeburn seemed to forget all about his new job and grabbed some apple pie from his stock. He cut off a slice and began eating it, clearly ignoring Soarin.

"Hey, Soarin," Rainbow Dash greeted him awkwardly, unsure of what to do in this situation.

Afternoon, Rainbow Dash," Soarin nodded at the rainbow maned mare before heading towards a counter on the other side of the room. Rainbow shifted a little in her seat before speaking again.

"Do you wanna join us over here?" She asked. Soarin shook his head.

"I'm fine on my own, thanks," Soarin replied. The chairs in the kitchen were pretty tall, so Soarin was having trouble getting on it. Braeburn cupped a hoof around his mouth and called over to his friend:

"Struggling to get on the chair, are we?" He asked rhetorically. Soarin immediately turned around and shot something back.

"Pretending this isn't our second lunch, are we?"

Braeburn sneered over at him before returning to eating his slice of pie. Rainbow Dash shifted a little in her seat. Boy was this awkward.

"Hey, Dash!" Soarin called from the other side of the room. Rainbow Dash groaned before turning to face the pale blue stallion. "Can you ask Braeburn if he would for once share his pie?"

Braeburn grabbed the plate with the pie on it in his mouth and trotted over to Soarin. He put the plate down on the counter, grabbed a slice and smashed it in Soarin's face, rubbing it in a little, too.

"Oh mah, Ah'm so sorry about this, if Ah could stop, Ah would," Braeburn said sarcastically, grinning. Soarin wiped the pie from his eyes and stood up.

"I'm gonna show you how mad I am by my exit walk!" Soarin announced before doing a strained march towards the door. "See my physical anger!" He pushed his way through the door and kicked it with a hind leg so it slammed.

"Strutting like an elderly drum major are we?" Braeburn yelled after him. Rainbow Dash buried her face in her hooves and sighed.

"Stallions."

---

Soarin marched down the hallway. Braeburn was so…so…LAME! Ugh! If only there were somepony he could discuss his problems with. Usually, he'd discuss his problems with Braeburn, but he couldn't talk about Braeburn with Braeburn. Suddenly-

"Look out, Thoarin!"

CRASH!

Soarin fell to the floor, weighed down by something heavy. Once he could see straight again, he found that everything was white. Was he dead?

Wait.

No, it was just Fleetfoot's mane. He helped the blue mare to her hooves and dusted himself down; making sure that the tie on his officer's uniform was straight.

"What in Equestria is going on, Fleetfoot?" Soarin asked her as she shook herself.

"I was just looking for Thpitfire." The mare replied. "You theen her?"

"Nope, sorry," Soarin answered her, suddenly becoming curious. "Why are you looking for her?"

"It's a long thtory. Fatht Clip got Feather Flu and we needed to find a replathment for him. Then, I athked Braeburn if he'd thtep in and he agreed, tho I need to tell Thpitfire the good newth," She lisped. Soarin hoped that Braeburn was given super hard chores to do. Then again, the hardest thing Fast Clip ever had to do was hold a clipboard.

"Poor Fast Clip, I'll have to buy him a get well card," Soarin said, feeling sorry for his ill colleague.

"Somepony say my name?" Spitfire appeared at the end of the hallway.

"I did, captain," Fleetfoot saluted.

"News about the cook's response, I presume?" The yellow pegasus guessed. Fleetfoot nodded.

"You're right. He thaid he'd do the job," Fleetfoot revealed. Spitfire breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank Celestia for that," She breathed. "I hope he's good."

"He's brilliant, captain, believe me," Fleetfoot told Spitfire. Spitfire adjusted her shades and turned to go to her office. Soarin felt a little guilty as he heard her words. Braeburn was a brilliant friend.

"I'll take your word for it, Fleetfoot," She called over her shoulder before turning the corner. For a few moments all was silent until Fleetfoot randomly blurted out:

"Braeburn's cologne thmells fantathtic, don't you agree, Thoarin?"

Soarin shifted his eyes, unsure of how to answer a question like that. "I didn't know Braeburn wore cologne."

---

Rainbow Dash was pretty ticked off. She was meant to hang out with Soarin, but he was off somewhere sulking. So she was stuck in the kitchen with Braeburn, finding what entertainment she could in rolling an apple up and down the counter. Braeburn resumed pounding the ball of dough like it was a boxing bag. Dash had to admit, the earth pony could pack quite a punch. She'd hate to be that dough.

Rainbow's ears pricked up when she heard the door creak open. She turned to see Soarin poking his head through the door. Great, this probably meant another argument. Soarin trotted over to Braeburn, who was still beating the dough into next week…or month.

"Um…Brae, can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked, looking a little shy. Braeburn looked at Soarin for a mere moment before looking away again. This was getting ridiculous. Soarin groaned and turned around, heading for the oven. He got out some flour and other ingredients and started mixing it all together. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but go over and see what he was doing. After a few minutes it became clear what he was doing and Dash had to admit that it was a good plan. She assisted Soarin in rolling out the dough and making shapes with it. When they were done they stood back to admire their work.

"There we go, all done," Soarin said, sounding satisfied. "I know it's not a flying lesson but it's better than nothing," He added. Rainbow Dash patted his shoulder.

"It's alright, we can always do some flying tomorrow," She shrugged. It didn't matter. They had four whole months to fly. One day without training wasn't going to make a difference. Soarin cleared his throat, trying to get Braeburn to come over. The earth pony just ignored him, again. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and flapped over to him, picking him up by his shoulders, earning some squeals of protest from the stallion.

"Rainbow Dash! Put me down right now!" He ordered her, kicking around a little. Of course, Rainbow didn't listen. She just plopped Braeburn down in front of hers and Soarin's work and waited for the magic to happen. Braeburn set his eyes on what they'd made: The words: 'I'm sorry' out of dough. Soarin looked up at Braeburn with puppy dog eyes.

"Pleeeeeaaase?" He squeed. Braeburn looked away, a teasing look in his eye.

"Ah'm not sure…" He smirked. Soarin hopped from hoof to hoof.

"Please, please, please, please, please, please-"

"If Ah say yes, will ya shut up?" Braeburn asked him. Soarin let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank Celestia for that 'cause I wasn't sure how many more times I could say 'please'."

Braeburn hoof bumped Soarin, looking relieved that they were friends again. Rainbow Dash was relieved, too, mostly because she hadn't been sure how much longer she could survive hanging around two bickering stallions.

"I'm happy you're friends again, too," Rainbow smiled. "Now for the love of fudge, can we eat these letters?"

Braeburn eyed Soarin, who revealed his entire plan.

"Well, I put some sugar and raisins in the dough so we could eat the words after I apologised."

"That's a great plan," Braeburn agreed, picking up an 'R' from the table and taking a grateful bite. Soarin helped himself to an 'M' and Rainbow Dash picked up a 'Y'. She hadn't expected there to be any friendship problems while she was at the boot camp, but once again she was wrong. At least she'd have something interesting to write in her letter to her friends.

---

"Lemme guess, you're writing another letter to your friends?" Spring Song asked Rainbow Dash from the vanity in their room. Rainbow Dash looked up and nodded since she couldn't speak with the quill in her mouth.

"You're gonna have to tell me about your friends," The pink mare suggested, brushing her mane again. Rainbow Dash smiled at her to show she agreed before resuming writing her letter.

What's up, everypony?

The academy is one of the few places I thought I could encounter friendship problems. Boy was I wrong. Turns out, even stallions bicker from time to time. Soarin and Braeburn encountered some issues today, and I've just realised I have no idea what they were arguing about in the first place. But, they've resolved their problems, so I guess I've been rubbing off on them. All it took was some dough, water and sugar to make a recipe to fix friendships.

Yeuch, that's a sappy thing for me to say.

Oh, yeah, Applejack. Braeburn's gonna help out with drills tomorrow, so another member of your…freakishly large family can see my awesomeness.

Yours fantastically,

Rainbow Dash

Spring Song sat beside Rainbow Dash on her bed as the cyan mare rolled up her letter and put it in her saddlebag.

"So, can you tell me about your friends now?" She asked hopefully, rocking back and forth. Rainbow Dash let out a chuckle. Man, she had a lot to tell Spring Song about her friends.

"Sure. Well, first there's Twilight Sparkle…"

…..

Endnote: Just to let you know, after this chapter the real plotline begins. Expect some fluff, suspense and a lot more humor. See you next time!