Rainbow sat on the edge of the cloud, staring forward at nothing in particular. She didn't notice the pony alongside her until he spoke.

"You okay?"

Rainbow turned in surprise towards the uniformed pony. "Soarin'?" she gasped. "Yeah. I'm a bit bummed out, but I'm fine."

"You sure? I'm pretty sure you said you were fine last time."

"Yeah," Rainbow said with a weak smile. "I don't get it though… I gave my best performance last year… and I think I doubled that today… I don't know why I didn't make it."

Soarin' looked at Rainbow with his look of concern slowly fading. Her voice was much different that he remembered. The last time they spoke here, her voice was weak and frail. This time it was disheartened, but still rang with a healthy dose of confidence.

"So what are you gonna do now?"

Rainbow cocked her head as if the answer should be obvious. "I'm going to be nominated next year. Next year, I'll triple what I did today. And I will pass tryouts. I'm gonna be a Wonderbolt someday and nothing is going to stop me."

Soarin' smiled. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear! Believe it or not, skill one of the last things we look at. The first thing we need to know about a Pegasus is how he or she deals with a setback. You've made incredible progress in that field."

Dash stood up and turned to face Soarin' properly. "Really? You're not just giving me a pep talk, right?"

"Of course not. I'm telling you the truth. We make mistakes too, and if any of us gave up easily, it would cause huge problems for the team." Soarin' paused for a moment, and then sat. "Let me tell you a story. A true story."

Rainbow sat back down. She hadn't interacted this much with one of her heroes since the day of the Young Fliers Competition. This was a treat for her, but she tried not to look like a filly at story time.

"Not so long ago, there was a filly and a colt," Soarin' started. "They were best friends, and they both wanted to be Wonderbolts more than anything. One year, they were both nominated for the tryouts, and they both did their best. Neither of them got past the first round. The filly handled it very well, but the colt flew off. He had a lot of other things on his mind…" Soarin' paused and coughed gently. "Things he still wishes he could forget. And the truth is, he was hurting for a long time before that, he just was really good at not letting it show. But he was sure he'd pass the tryouts, and when he didn't, it just piled on top of a lot of other stuff and he just couldn't take it anymore. So he did a very stupid, selfish thing. He stepped off the edge of a cloud. Not as high as this one, but still very high."

Rainbow looked at Soarin' as he closed his eyes. She was frightened by the revelation she was beginning to expect.

"I- he almost didn't make it. He did survive though, but he wasn't able to even leave the ground for close to six months."

Rainbow remembered vividly the words Soarin' had said to her in the hospital just less than a year ago: "I was grounded for almost half a year once before I joined the 'Bolts."

"Anyway, his friend didn't handle what he did very well at all. She definitely should have handled it better. But she was angry, and I sure don't blame her. She said some things that really did hurt, but when she gets angry, she lives up to her name, and she tends to, well…" Soarin' stopped mid-sentence.

"Spit fire?" Rainbow sheepishly asked.

Soarin' opened his eyes again, and saw the rainbow-maned Pegasus fighting back tears.

"That's how you got hurt? Not an accident? You tried—"

"It was a very stupid thing I did," Soarin' interrupted. "I don't like to talk about it. That's why I didn't just say it." Soarin' sighed. "Anyway, it took a long time, but I finally got my confidence back and eventually I was able to join the Wonderbolts." After a short pause, he added, "Can you keep it a secret?"

Rainbow nodded and wiped her eye with the side of her foreleg. "Yeah. That explains why Spitfire was so mad at me." She looked down towards her hooves in shame. "I almost took her friend from her. I mean, you got hurt saving me. It must have brought up those memories."

"Two friends."

Rainbow looked up at Soarin' and replied with a strange glance. She wore a heavy pout, and both eyes were narrow with regret, and yet curiosity was battling for dominant expression.

"You two really hit it off after the Young Fliers Competition," Soarin' explained with a slight smile. "You're both a lot alike. Are you really surprised that she considers you a friend?"

The younger Pegasus's face brightened. "Really? She said she barely knew me…" her voice squeaked.

"Really. She does live up to her name when she's angry. And you two only spent that one day together, and a few minutes at the gala. But I don't think she meant it the way you thought she meant it. In fact, her and I both nominated you last year, and this year. Most ponies think we can't put in nominations, but we can. We just usually don't. I think I even saw a nomination for you from Princess Celestia."

Rainbow was so surprised, she accidentally let an omigosh slip.

"Anyway, I found out what I needed to. Oh, and one of the contestants dropped out. I guess she just wanted to see if she could get past the first round, and she was happy enough with that. Either that or she got last-minute jitters. But the spot's yours if you want it."

Dash smiled and nearly accepted the offer, but bit her tongue. "I'd love to, but I know if I was in the second round, and somepony else did that, I'd feel cheated. I'll just try again next time, and I'll be even better then."

Soarin' smiled again and stood up. "You know, it took a lot to make me feel like I did that day. If you need somepony to talk to, I'm sure any of your friends are willing to listen. Remember, nopony's perfect, so don't worry if your friends will understand. They will. I learned that long ago."

"Nopony's perfect," Rainbow repeated quietly. Her brows furrowed as a realization hit her. "I think I know just who I need to talk to." She spread her wings dramatically and thrust herself upward. "Thanks, Soarin'!"

"No problem at all."

"By the way… I –er…" Rainbow struggled for words for a moment as she hovered. "I know you'll probably be too busy, but my friend's throwing a party for me when I get back." Dash blushed slightly. "If you or Spitfire, or anypony you know want to stop by, it's at Sugarcube Corner in Ponyville, and it'll definitely go past sunset."

"I'll spread the word," Soarin' said as the other Pegasus sped off towards Canterlot, leaving a short multicolored contrail behind her. As he walked back towards the cloudiseum, he shook his head and spoke to himself. "Dash… not a very common name… couldn't be…"