Losing Makes Part of Winning

Rainbow frowned, lost in her thoughts about today's events. She would be lying to herself if she said she didn't want to break that sweet record. Yet, despite all her predictions, they were cut short of wing power and almost didn't make it for a fairly decent tornado if wasn't for Fluttershy.

Seven pegasus were missing for the event and, for Rainbow's utter disappointment, Thunderlane was one of them. She was already breathing down on his neck ever since day one, not that she would admit of course.

His lazy, uncaring, self-assured behavior was driving her nuts, not only because it was something that she does a lot too, but because despite how little effort Thunderlane applies on his job he still is more successful than any of the others.

Rainbow Dash was tired of chewing him out for not trying to push himself a bit harder. It was clear he didn't care about anything she says unless it's related to their work. Otherwise the stallion would just make some witty remark and go on his merry way.

Nopony else in the team seemed to care much. Sure it bothered them that the stallion could do his work so much better without trying that hard, but it wasn't really his fault if he knew it better how to do it.

Cloud Kicker, in the other hoof, was constantly bothering Rainbow for the sake of Rainbow to stop picking on Thunderlane. The purple mare, surprisingly, gave up on trying anything with the stallion, especially after she realized he wasn't over past incidents.

"You know my rules Dash. I don't mess up with anypony if they're not well. Thunderlane hasn't been for a long time. You're getting angry at him for the wrong reasons."

It frustrated Rainbow Dash beyond belief that Kicker would take his side. The purple mare has always worked so hard in the team, there was a reason for Rainbow to pick her as her co-captain and 'awesomest friend ever' aside the rest of the Mane Six.

"Maybe you two need a really good talk. If you two keep this up you will only end hurting each other and I don't wanna loose any of you because of a job issue. I thought he meant something to you aside of just a coworker, Dash. Aren't friends worth the trouble?"

Kicker was right and Rainbow Dash hated to admit. Especially when the purple mare literally forced Rainbow to admit such outloud just to poke at her pride.

Now here she was, at the Hospital's waiting room, nearly bored to death and wondering when she would be cleared to check in on the lazy bum she's been tormenting for weeks.

"Miss Rainbow Dash? You're clear to go in, but I strongly advise you to not cross the bubble unless you want to spend your next weeks under Feather Flu symptoms." An mare earth pony with white coat, her mane and tail of a light pink, said somewhat threatening.

"Huh...thanks, Nurse Redheart. I won't for sure." Rainbow replied while feeling extreme relieved for being free from such torturous experience. She definitely didn't like waiting.

The cyan mare made her way inside the room. She was still uneasy when it came about being in an Hospital. Normally she only would only be at such place due serious crash injuries. The dull ambience of the Hospital never sit well with a 'pure in adrenaline ' mare like herself.

The sound of hoofsteps over the tiled floor immediately caught the attention of the pony currently laying still over the single bed in the room. The bubble designed to prevent outsiders from spreading the disease was hardly noticeable if not for the proper illumination the room possessed.

"Huh.....never thought you would be considerate enough to bother visiting me of all ponies." Thunderlane said, his voice dripping with every single ammount of sarcasm he could muster.

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth, biting back a very nasty retort, knowing full well that there was a thin line present here. A line that was hanging the last remnants of their friendship. She couldn't buck this up. Not again.

Rainbow didn't say anything at first. Her resolve focused on getting as close as possible without crossing the isolated perimeter. Her eyes quickly registered the stallion's wings limping at his sides, they were nearly devoid of all the feathers that Thunderlane always took a good care of. Rainbow was pretty sure he preened them every day.

"Rumble was here few hours ago. He told me some stuff that I would be concerned about if I didn't know any better." The stallion said casually, his eyes studying the cyan mare carefully.

Rainbow internally grimaced at this reveal. She had a very poor choice of words when adressing Thunderlane's brother back at the lake where they performed the tornado. Once the little gray colt informed of Thunderlane's excuse to be absent Rainbow may have been bit too cynical towards Rumble. She surely didn't spare colorful words on her loud opinions about his older brother.

'The little brat probably told Thunderlane everything I said. That's just bucking great.'

Rainbow Dash was always fond of Rumble, he was a very kind and sweet little colt at first impression. That until Rainbow learned the hard way how looks could be deceiving. Just because the gray colt seemed innocent it did not mean he was any of it.

Most of the time.

Rainbow was well known for being a mouthful about several things she liked and didn't like. The problem with that is when it was something about Thunderlane, she couldn't find an even ground on how to adress the stallion when he wasn't around. 'Usually' she would (rarely) praise him, or just trash talk until everypony was annoyed enough to ignore her constant complains about Thunderlane's mannerisms.

And when her constant bickering reached Cloud Chaser's ears a tragedy was bound to happen very soon. Rainbow Dash should've know better than to talk about Thunderlane when Rumble's fillysitter was around.

Cloud Chaser was a mare with avid admiration towards Thunderlane, it was pretty obvious for the whole team how bad Chaser had the hots for the charcoal stallion. Thunderlane was well aware of Chaser's more than normal affinity towards him.

"I-I know....Thunderlane...I....do you....do you hate me?"

Such question surprised the stallion. He expected a more aggressive approach coming from the mare, perhaps even lots of sarcasm and off-hoofed insults. Yet the clear despair in her voice made him think twice about how to tread the conversation.

"Gee, what gave you that impression?I'm sure that the constant harassment you put me through has definitely not turned on any of my bad feelings about you." The stallion's sarcastic reply made Rainbow wince. She already was feeling guilty enough, he didn't have to throw it on her face like that.

"I wanted to impress Spitfire, okay?! I wanted to break that record so she could see how awesome I am and that I'm totally Wonderbolt stuff!" Rainbow retorted nervously. Thunderlane snorted.

"So? I also want to try to be a Wonderbolt someday, but do you ever see me trying to impress everypony? I don't see why you think showboating is so important. If we ever get accepted into the Academy you will have plenty of opportunities to show off as much as you want. I only feel bad that I couldn't help with the tornado. Getting the water to Cloudsdale should be what matters in this case, not impressing the Wonderbolts. The day you start caring about what is really important I will start taking you more seriously. "

Rainbow Dash stood mouth agape for a second before she could come up with a response. She was peeved that the stallion dared to say she didn't care. Yet she couldn't deny the partial truth on what he said. She did want to impress, she did want to break records, she did want for to Fluttershy to make part of it, yet she couldn't help Fluttershy, the yellow mare helped herself. She was so caught on looking good for Spitfire that she lost the grip of the situation and they barely managed to gather enough wing power to get the water up.

"Well, I got the water to Cloudsdale. I may no-

Rainbow paused as Thunderlane's eyes narrowed at her.

"WE may not have broken the record but Spitfire said I did great!!" Dash corrected herself with a bit more of excitement.

"Hurrayyyy." The stallion replied with the most clearly faked enthusiasm possible. He was getting really upset but Rainbow was hardly paying any attention to the signs of danger.

"What's the matter with ya?! Why can't ya be happy for me for once?!" Rainbow complained, fed up already with Thunderlane's sarcasm and bad mood.

"Happy for you? Happy for you?! Are you actually kidding me?!"

Thunderlane's voice raised to a level Rainbow never heard from him before. She took few hoofsteps back, her eyes widening in surprise at his increasing outburst.

But before he could say amything else a familiar white coated earth pony entered the room with a very unamused expression.

"Ms. Dash. I will kindly warn you to not aggravate my patience while he's recovering from a serious illness. Keep your problems to yourself if they're only good to agitate your friend further." Nurse Redheart warned with a quick side glance towards the stallion. "No yelling. I won't say again. Also.....you got another visit Mr. Thunderlane, should I let her in?"

"Huh, s-sure?" Thunderlane sputtered, clearly surprised by Redheart's imposing presence. "I mean, yes, of course."

"Hey, what's keeping your sexy back busy there hearty? I got things to do." Said a voice coming from outside the room.

Both Rainbow and Thunderlane groaned in unison. This definitely wasn't the best time to have a conversation with Cloud Kicker.

"I will send her in immediately." Redheart announced while trying to suppress a giggle from escaping her lips. She quickly made her way outside only for her presence to be replaced by a very well known blonde mare.

Cloud Kicker stopped in her tracks, evident surprise at seeing Rainbow Dash also present in the room, though she recovered in the blink of an eye.

"Oh, seems we are having a nice reunion going on in here? Mind if I stick around?" She asked with a wink.

"Buck off, both of you." Thunderlane said before resting his head on the pillow, his eyes staring with sudden fascination towards the wall.

Kicker's eyebrows raised to stratospheric levels at the stallion's incredibly rude response, but she quickly recovered from the shock only to glare at the cyan mare nearby.

"Ok, what did you do? I known Thunderlane well enough to know he wouldn't be acting like such a prick if you haven't done something extremely inconsiderate to him."

Kicker's insult fell on deaf ears for Thunderlane but they seemed to work too well for the rainbow mare.

"WH-" Rainbow paused her outburst, quickly remembering about Redheart's threat and what she could possibly do if they started yelling again. "I didn't do a thing. It's not my fault if he doesn't care about my career."

"Rainbow," Kicker started, her voice wavering with a certain edge of pure irritation."Thunderlane's sick, he's not only part of the team but also our friend. You better stop picking on him just because he was better than you at thunderstorm management. You are not the best pony in the entire world, and everypony else will like you way more if you stopped acting as if you were."

"That's not true!" Rainbow exclaimed, angry and undignified. "So what if he does a better job at thunderclouds than me!? He's lazy, stubborn and doesn't care about trying harder! I AM the fastest pegasus there is in the entire world! I never said anything about being the best pony! I am not even....."

Rainbow Dash paused, her eyes widening in realization at the truth she so hardly ignored for so long, her wings falling limp at her sides, her magenta eyes casting downwards in resentful acceptance.

"...I am not even the best friend for anypony, much less a good friend. Yeah....I know that....I just....it's so much different with the other girls. They accept me for who I am and we get along just fine."

"Yeah, but your friends have different goals and lifestyles." Kicker said while approaching the sulking mare, wrapping a wing around her for comfort. "Me, Thunderlane, Cloud Chaser, we have similar goals and lifestyles just like yours. You're always boasting about how you're the greatest pegasus around. Honestly we don't mind that. Well, not much as we should but still. I wouldn't get mad at you if wasn't for the solemnly fact you ARE hurting somepony else because they can actually put up a challenge against you. You're finally experiencing the fear of losing to somepony else and you've show clearly how much of a poor sports you are. The thing is that you don't know how to deal with losing."

Rainbow Dash's ears flattened against her head. Kicker's sincere words hurt as much as a buck to the face. The worst thing is that Kicker wasn't wrong on any of what she just said, Rainbow never had anypony calling into her fears other than the purple pegasus, the same one who stood at her side despite all the wrong doings Rainbow committed against her in the past.

Rainbow's magenta eyes directed themselves towards the stallion she's been dreading about for weeks. A very uneasy feeling shook her gut as she realized how much of a pain she has been towards a pony that hasn't wronged her in any way.

Except for....

"Thunderlane. " Rainbow called, her voice a bit raspy. "Why didn't you want to go out with me at the Summer celebration?"

Cloud Kicker flinched back in complete astonishment. Her eyes wide while glancing from Rainbow to Thunderlane forth and back. Her mouth hanging loosely for a second before the edges slowly started to arise, a naughty stare quickly forming on her face.

Thunderlane's sour behavior was replaced by sudden nervousness. The stallion was pulling a lot of effort to keep a straight face, yet he could feel Kicker's eyes laying down on him like a bird of prey watching her next meal.

"Huhhh." It became so difficult to form words that the stallion tried to make hoof gestures instead, though that wouldn't really help a bit. "I wasn't really...you know?"

"What?" Rainbow asked. Her saddened expression drowning the stallion in utter guilt. He was upset at Rainbow for being such a pain but he would be dammed if he ever hurt a mare's feelings. His mother taught him better.

He just wished she could be around to help him. Dealing with mares was always a touchy subject, especially when they wanted to pour his feelings at him or, in Kicker's case, lots of cider.

"I wasn't ready, okay?! I know I....I'm likeable in a way and stuff, but I don't have time to spend with anypony else that not my little bro. I need to make sure he-

Thunderlane chocked. It hurt. It still hurt too much to think about. He promised himself he would be stronger than that, strongest for him and his brother. He couldn't let Rumble down. He wouldn't.

Kicker and Rainbow shared a worried glance. They could feel the distress in his voice, see how much it pained him to get close to any mention of his family.

"H-he needs me, okay? I-I didn't h-

"Stop. Please."

The stallion paused. His eyes glistening as he stared towards the cyan mare standing few meters away outside the isolation bubble.

"This is not a good time. I understand it now and....I'm sorry, for....ya know....being such a pain." Dash said awkwardly enough. "I don't wanna lose ya as a friend. I already lost a friend because I didn't bother to ask what was wrong. I don't wanna lose another because I ignored the things ya have been through. Kicker's right. I was upset at you for, perhaps, being -

Cloud Kicker shoved her right hoof at Rainbow's shoulder blade, her action clearly warning the cyan mare about dropping the attitude. Dash gritted her teeth in pure agony.

• For being a better thunderstorms manager than me, aaannd....for turning me down."

Rainbow Dash was thankful that Kicker took her apology seriously, though she didn't need to hoof her so hard! Thunderlane stared intently at Dash for a moment before replying.

"Rainbow Dash. I dunno why me being good at something bothers you so much, but I can understand that being turned down is hard. I just....I'm still getting acquainted with everypony in town. It will take a certain amount of time before I can get comfortable enough to spend my time with somepony else. I turned you down solemnly because I'm not interested on it at the moment. Do ot think it had anything to do with your looks or something you said before. I'm more than willing to give you another chance in the whole friendship stuff, but you gotta do some effort on it."

Rainbow sighed in resignation. Thunderlane wasn't wrong. She really has to make some sacrificies in order to earn some trust, otherwise they might stop being friends and coworkers all the same.

"Fine, ya right, but ya gotta promise to put some extra effort on cloud control. I don't wanna see ya getting more chubby than ya are." Dash replied with a grin to her face.

"I'm not fat!" Thunderlane replied immediately, his cheeks burning as both mares started giving him evaluating stares.

"You kinda look more rounded than you used to." Kicker commented slowly. "I was pretty sure you had more toned muscles."

The stallion stood speechless. His face burning a bright red that was hardly noticeable under his dark fur. He couldn't find any arguments that would justify his apparently increased corporal mass. The mere thought of going into a training routine was scary enough and he couldn't bear thinking of himself getting fat.

"If it will make you complain less then I will start doing more straining tasks for the sake of us both." Thunderlane agreed with a visible frown. He didn't like training at all.

Rainbow seemed pretty satisfied with that answer. Kicker merely shook her head in amusement. At least they were finally getting somewhere after so much unnecessary drama.

"Great! Oh! I bet this will probably count as a friendship lesson! Twilight wants me to keep tab of those for whatever reason." Rainbow said with sudden excitement. Cloud Kicker groaned.

"Of all the kinds of princesses we could get, having one as the Princess of Friendship has to be the silliest thing I've ever seen." The purple mare said while rolling her eyes.

"Hey! Twilight worked hard to get that title! Don't you dare to diss her out!" Rainbow snapped angrily towards the other mare.

"Yeah. She kicked Moony's flank with the magical power of Elements of Whatever and saved us from Discord and yada-yada-yada. Still, all she gets is Princess of Friendship? That is kinda lame. Perhaps Princess of Magic or Princess of Harmony would sound much cooler." Cloud Kicker suggested with an unusual thoughtful expression.

"Now that you mention it, it does sound kinda lame in comparison." Rainbow replied with a frown. "Whatever, I don't care. What were we talking about again?"

"About how long I'll be stuck in this Celestia's forsaken bed until I have my feathers back and I can start a regimen." Thunderlane replied unenthused.

"Well. I think Twilight may have a spell to help your feathers to grow back really quick. I can try talk to her about it once you're cleared out of the Hospital. " Rainbow offered sympathetically. She knew how much it sucked to be grounded because Feather Flu.

"Speaking of meeting other ponies I think there was somepony looking for ya Dash. She was at the entrance. I told her I would be checking out to see if you were here." Kicker revealed, an odd smile spreading across her face. Rainbow instantly knew the purple mare was up to something.

"Huh, is that so? Kay....I will make my way out th-

"Rainbow, wait!" Thunderlane called, he sounded a bit anxious as he spoke. It became evident once he continued talking while avoiding looking straight at his coworker. "I was thinking we could maybe go out in the weekend? You, Me Rumble and....what was her name again? Scootaloo, right?" He guessed unsuredly. "It would be nice if we could hangout without feeling weird about. I do want for us to get along better after all. I'm pretty sure the doctor will clear me up before the weekend. What do you think?"

Rainbow Dash stood hesitantly at the door. Her eyes going from the stallion, who stared expectantly at her reply, to Cloud Kicker, who was giving her a very judgemental glare that made Rainbow feel very uncomfortable.

"Huh, sure! That sounds great! I will be there with the squirt. You can count on it." Rainbow replied, her smile wavering a bit. Thunderlane didn't seem so assured. His eyes narrowed in concern before asking.

"Do you promise?"

Rainbow Dash wasn't sure what was the real reason that made her commit towards the stallion after all the conflicts that happened in the last weeks. For one she believed that Kicker's piercing and judgemental glare was the real reason she went on with it. On the other hoof, when she stare at those bright golden orbs, when she saw the hope and expectation reflected in them, she couldn't bring herself to let Thunderlane down. Not this time.

"Alright. I promise. I will bring the skirt so we can all hang out in the weekend. How's that sound?"

Thunderlane, despite missing several feathers and looking beaten to death, couldn't help but smile in appreciation for Rainbow's effort to repair their delicate friendship as it currently stood. It wasn't going to be easy for her to spend time with him instead of her other friends, the cyan mare was always a guaranteed sight near either Pinkie Pie, Applejack or Twilight Sparkle. Even Cloud Kicker would've been a more likely friend to hang out with than Thunderlane.

"Thanks Dash. I guess I should plan something ahead for the weekend then. If you have any suggestions feel free to drop them. My head is kinda fuzzy after the medication." The stallion said, resting his head over the comfy white pillow, his eyes laying their sights at the Hospital's dull wooden roof.

Rainbow nodded in response despite Thunderlane being unable to see it. She didn't bother to correct her mistake as she trotted towards the door.

"Take care Lane. I gotta check on the others. Hopefully everypony will be off by the weekend. I gotta report back at HQ or they will probably send somepony to fuss around and annoying me with dumb questions." Rainbow said while frowning at the perspective.

Visits fom the HQ were never a pleasant experience ever since Rainbow Dash promoted to Captain of Ponyville's Weather Control Team. It seems that, while Ponyville's Mayor had more faith in Rainbow's weather expertise, the big higher ups in the command of Equestria Weather Management Teams weren't so thrilled to see such uneducated mare taking a leadership position that requires more than 'stretching her wings out' per say.

Of course that Rainbow proved somewhat to be capable of hoofling through the management field just fine, much to the dismay of several pegasus interested on taking over Ponyville's leadership position.

Cloud Kicker, Cloud Chaser, Blossomforth, Star Hunter, Sunshower Raindrops, Helia, Rainbowshine, Sunny Skies, Open Skies, Sassaflash, Pizzelle and Derpy all signed an official document claiming Rainbow Dash as their rightful captain, mentioning very clearly how she was more than adequate for the spot and had earn it fairly after serving for Ponyville for so long and meeting all the expectations.

It was times like these that Rainbow Dash felt grateful for the friendships she managed to built with her co-workers despite their clashes of personalities.

But that was never the case with Thunderlane.

Rainbow admittedly didn't try her best to form any strings of friendship with the stallion other than the occasional work talk here or there. Things with Thunder had always go south ever since he displayed his experience at doing a more efficient work than Rainbow could. Instead of a compliment or a praise of any sorts she just soured at his skills, refusing to accept he was good, or maybe even better, in any sort of possibility that involved weather management.

Only now she realized she failed at being a good boss, a team leader, and especially a good friend. It wasn't fair to be mad at him for being good at something. If he wasn't good at anything there wouldn't even be a point for him to be appointed to work in Ponyville.

She really wanted to patch things up. She really liked him. Though she would never said it outloud, especially near Cloud Kicker. She rather be caught playing fru-fru dressing and going into a spa with Rarity than ever admitting she cared about the mohawk show off.

"Yeah. I know what you mean. Ponies back at HQ can be lousy twats sometimes." Thunderlane replied, surprising both Kicker and Dash with his clear distaste for the Head Department.

"Huh. Glad we have something we all can agree with." Kicker said while crossing her hooves together, an approving smile plastered across her face. "Old gags back at HQ will be stuck by the codes no matter if Discord makes it rain chocolate and snow sugar."

Rainbow chuckled. It really was a likely thing to happen. Though she was glad they wouldn't need to worry about Discord ever in their lifes. The stories that were passed through generations regarding the strange creature were always so weird and hardly believable if not for Princess Celestia, and also Princess Luna, confirming those abhorrent tales.

"How about we talk more about this back at the office? I could use some lunch right now. Wanna join me Dash?" Kicker asked as she made her way to the doorway. " I'm sure Redy won't mind. See ya tomorrow Thundy?" The purple mare added with a wink.

Thunderlane chuckled before waving a hoof in their direction. He was internally relieved that the conversation was over.

"Sure thing. I'll be waiting here with my usual sarcastic self." Thunderlane replied with a frown, but the smile on his face betrayed his feelings. The stallion was more than happy about having somepony visiting him regularly other than his young brother.

Rainbow Dash and Kicker left the Hospital's premises after checking on few other pegasus that also had caught the Feather Flu. Rainbow felt uneasy at seeing few of her co-workers in isolation bubbles, it was a wonder only few had gotten sick. Despite all the issues they would recover in a couple of weeks. It was surprising that Thunderlane would be up at this weekend, his recovery rate was certainly unusual.

Rainbow came across other team members when they left the Hospital. The cyan mare was surprised to see so many ponies visiting at once, they probably had gathered up for the occasion. Kicker exchanged few words with Blossomforth before saying her goodbyes to Rainbow Dash, something about catching up with her special somepony or whatever. Rainbow made her way to the Flea's Bite to wind up a drink or two. This whole tornado incident took a lot out of her, both mental and physically.

The rainbow mare entered the establishment way quieter than usual, there weren't many ponies present at this hour of the day, shemade her way to the balcony, while avoiding the few other ponies that were enjoying themselves at the tables, Rainbow wasn't in the mood for talking with anypony else. Once she reached the balcony she meet up with no other than Berry Punch.

"Rainbow Dash?" Berry asked, visibly bewildered by her presence. Dash was thankful that Berry was still hanging on her hooves, it was better than ordering a drink to a bartender that seemed to have consumed half the drinks that were ordered before they could reach their client. "What brings you so early around here?"

"Just want a drink, Berry. Don't wanna talk about it." Rainbow replied while crossing her hooves over the balcony, her eyes burning a hole through the wooden surface. Berry raised an eyebrow at Rainbow's grumpy attitude before filling a drink and tossing it near her.

Rainbow chugged it down in a single go, much to Berry's astonishment. A low whistle was heard nearby as another pony approached that balcony. Rainbow ignored it but Berry was already ready to mouth some fitting words, that until she saw who was the pony that came at her balcony.

"Ya gotta way more than just a nice set of colours and speed on ya filly." Said the awfully familiar voice that Rainbow could not mistake for anypony else. Though she mistook it as an early drunk effect.

"Buck. What did ya just gave me Punch? I already hearing nonsense around me." Rainbow asked with a groan, she failed to notice the mare right at her side giving her an odd glare.

"Rainbow, you're not drunk. You had just one drink and that does not get you drunk at all." Berry chastised while staring nervously at the newcomer. "Sorry about that. She's not having a good day."

"How so?" Asked the newcomer, her gruffy voice filled with surprise and humorous disbelief. "This mare here pulled a tornado and did a nice job leading a huge ammount of pegasi through all of that. If anything she should be proud of herself. Well, I ain't sure if that wouldn't make her explode." The mare added with a chuckle. Berry rolled her eyes at the jab.

Rainbow was about to ignore the whole thing until this mare poked fun at her pride. She swirled around on her seat, ready to retort some nice words she learned from Cloud Kicker, but she froze in her seat once she realized who was standing at her side with a very amused expression on her face.

"S...Spitfire?"

"Well, took ya long enough Dash. I was already thinking on dumping water on you just to make sure ya didn't pass out on me." Spitfire replied while grinning at the younger pegasus.

The Wonderbolt Captain was out of her uniform at the moment, her golden fur reflecting the light around the establishment with a surprising amount of intensity. Her eyes danced around as she studied her surrounds carefully. She seemed rather impressed as she finally returned her attention back to the cyan mare.

Rainbow was thankful that she recovered from the shock by the time Spitfire returned her staring. Dash spent a few seconds mouth agape while absorbing the presence of her idol standing so close to her. The temptation of squealing like a little filly was enormous but she held her ground just in time.

'OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH, WHAT DO I SAY? THINK RAINBOW, THINK!'

Spitfire calmly asked Berry for a drink while she waited for Rainbow's brain fart to dissipate. The Wonderbolt was enjoying herself quite a bit.

Rainbow blinked hard, a deep breath being all she needed to get to her senses, though the drink she had made her feel a bit fuzzy.

"Hum...I though you were back at Cloudsdale by now." Rainbow said hesitantly, unsure if being casual with Spitfire was a good approach.

"I would but I have enough time to spend. Never been in Ponyville before so I wanted to stick around and see why this town has been so mentioned in the last months. I can tell it's way bigger than I anticipated. We could host few shows here from time to time, it has a neat location regarding all the other towns and villages." Spitfire replied with that casual behavior that Rainbow Dash did not expect. The daredevil also seemed quite relieved that Rainbow put herself togheter so quick. "What about you? I expected to find yourself celebrating instead of drowning hard feelings." She added, throwing at the cyan mare a questioning glance.

Rainbow's initial excitement disappeared at the reminder of her recent problems. Spitfire frowned as she saw Rainbow 's moid drop so drastically.

"Nothing, just some issues I had with few teammates. I was at the Hospital checking on them."

"The ones that caught the Flu? You're lucky you lost just a very few. That could've gone way worse than it did." Spitfire replied before taking a sip. She couldn't pin on Dash a potential tornado failure due few pegasus getting sick. It was a good thing Rainbow Dash aimed so high for a record, otherwise the loss of few pegasus would've meant the impossibility of being able to generate enough wing power for a decent tornado.

"Yeah, but I was being too picky with one of them. I felt like blaming on him for everything that went wrong, but that was just me being a bad friend and leader. I guess I still got a long way to go before being decent enough at being a team leader." Rainbow's voice was carried with a clear undertone of defeat. She knew she wasn't the best pony around when it comes about social skills, but still...

"Huh, don't be too hard on yourself. We all make mistakes from time to time. It's a matter of recognizing those mistakes and learn from them. Only then you will become a better pony for those who look up at you. I had my fair share of mistakes. I still do once in a while. Ain't easy being the youngest captain around after all." Spitfire added with a chuckle. She was thankful for having Soarin and Fleetfoot around to help her make better decisions, she had no idea where she would be without her friends. " It's always worthy to make amends if it means keeping a friend at your side. You never know when you will need them."

Rainbow Dash was quite amazed with the honesty from that statement. It was the kind of thing Kicker would lecture her about when Rainbow Dash got mad at somepony for whatever reason. Cloud Kicker had her own struggles but always managed to get through them without losing anypony. Well, aside from what happened many years back at Flight Camp, but even then she reattached her friendship with Rainbow Dash, after lots of insisting from Rainbow herself.

Rainbow Dash wasn't a bad pony, she had her heart in the right place even if her head wasn't, and for that reason Rainbow Dash had many friendship issues due letting her feelings take the better of her. She failed to listen to reason and prefered action instead at the worst of the ocassions. She would come to regret her choices later on and anguish at how poorly she reacted to them.

This entire issue with Thunderlane was a painful reminder of how she wished she could've been a better friend when Gilda needed her. Rainbow was still sour about her griffon friend and Gilda wasn't returning any of her letters. Cloud Kicker, being very familiar with this kind of situation, advised Rainbow to go seek the griffon personally. Kicker had many doubts that Gilda would've a parent that would make her listen to reason.

Rainbow Dash wanted to go after Gilda, yet she was afraid of going to Griffinstone all by herself. She knew better than to try her luck in a town full of griffins, especially a hot-headed pony like herself. Kicker volunteered to go with her as long they had, at least, half dozen pegasus to make them company.

Needless to say that there weren't enough pegasus interested in joining a group, fly all the way across the eastern sea towards a town full of dangerous griffins, only for the sake of making amends.

Rainbow Dash would've to live with the fact that she lost her best friend and she would never see her again.

"Thanks. Hopefully we can get things through. I don't wanna lose a friend again." Rainbow couldn't help but feel depressed at the possibility, especially when she had no other to blame but herself.

Spitfire felt the sorrow in Rainbow's voice and felt sympathetic for the other mare. Rainbow Dash had impressed her a fair number of times before, including saving her squad at one ocassion. Perhaps she could use some help in return, Spitfire owned her a few at least.

"Say, we have a show in Canterlot at this weekend. Why don't ya bring a friend around? I gotta a few tickets for VIP right here that I was supposed to deliver to some ponies of my choice anyways. I would like to see ya after the show so we could talk more on a better ocassion." Spitfire offered with a knowingly grin on her face.

Rainbow stared in disbelief at her offer. Was Spitfire actually giving her VIP tickets for the next Wonderbolt show at Canterlot?!

"Wha-...A-are you for real?! I mean...that's awesome and all, but...." Rainbow seemed awfully hesitant at taking her offer. "I promised a friend of mine I would spent some time with him. I don't think that would work out too well."

Spitfire rolled her eyes.

"Dash, just bring him along. What kind of pony doesn't wanna go to our shows?" Inquired the Wonderbolt confidently.

Rainbow was biting her lip at this point. The idea was beyond tempting. Hay, she would bet her house that Thunderlane would be more than happy to go to a Wonderbolt Event, maybe she could even get Rumble and Squirts to join them. It would be a great weekend for everypony. She just had to make sure to keep her head out of the clouds this time.

"Alright. Sounds like a deal. How many tickets are we talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked after finally coming to a decision. Spitfire stood thoughfully, wondering how many tickets would be fitting for the ocassion.

"How about five? That's far as I can give in a go without somepony at HQ pestering me with questions." Spitfire responded, her thoughts drifting towards Fleetfoot and her lousy mouth.

Five? Rainbow wasn't sure who would be the extra pony to bring for the ocassion. Perhaps Thunderlane would've somepony in mind? Sounded like a good deal to let him make the choice.

"Five's great! I'll take it." Rainbow sounded more cheerfully this time. "Hum...thanks, ya know? It means a lot." Spitfire shrugged.

"I kinda owned you after all you did these past months. I look forward to see ya at the Academy. You did sent an application, right?" Spitfire asked somewhat hopefully. She would be really disappointed if Rainbow didn't.

"Yeah, I did! Lots of my team did actually. Heh, can't wait for that day." Rainbow Dash was almost back at her usual self at this point. Nothing like a good talk about flying and Wonderbolts to cheer up her mood. Spitfire was throughly amused at her cheerfulness, it reminded of herself back at her academic days.

"Alrighty. Just keep your head leveled up and I'm sure ya will do great. We want more amazing flyers, not egocentric balloons hovering around." Spitfire advised with smirk before tossing a couple bits over the balcony. She placed the five tickets near Rainbow before flapping her wings. "Thanks for the drink and the talk, gotta go now Dash. Take care."

Rainbow, who was still fuming at being referred as a balloon, waved a hoof in Spitfire's general direction.

"Don't ya worry. I will, see ya at the weekend."

Spitfire gave her a quick salute before vanishing through the entrance at an incredibly dangerous speed. Rainbow stood in awe while Berry, who was standing quiet during the whole conversation, was glad that Spitfire didn't damage her entrance like Rainbow does sometimes.

Rainbow Dash carefully picked the tickets. Her mind full of expectation at meeting the majority of the Wonderbolts after the show. She failed to notice at certain purple earth pony staring expectantly at her.

"Soooo....are gonna stay there daydreaming or you gonna pay your drink?" Berry asked with an emotionless expression.

"Gez, fine. Can't let me enjoy myself a bit, sheesh."

"Well, you don't really have to pay. I'm always available f-

"I'm not inviting you Berry!"

"Awww."