open Ponyville Weather Team

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

As those that were called up made their way up to the stage, Sprinkle Medley gave Sandy Fire a quick glance and rolled her eyes. "Oh my gosh, those weather team members think they are so much better than us. You and I are the only members of the Ponyville Weather Team that aren't Wonderbolt cadets. It makes me wonder if we really fit in here. Like seriously, if you're related to Spitfire, why can't you fly like her?" Sprinkle Medley rambled. "I know, let's prank the Ponyville Weather Team Office while they aren't looking."

Ater some whispering between all the members on the stage, they all took off simultaneously. WIth such a large group of pegasi in the air, they shifted around to form figures in the air.

"Wow, the Wonderbolts certainly have impressive acrobatic manuvers to do for many members. Rainbow Dash is almost perfectly coordinated with the other WOnderbolts, and the other weather team members are pretty close too," Twilight noted. 

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Skylight Scintillate

Sandy looked appalled at Sprinkle's suggestion, as well as a little indignant, "I don't fly as well as her because I haven't trained nearly as long or as hard as her. I'll have no part in your pranks in any case, they don't think they're better than us, and even if they did, they clearly have the skills to back it up."

Sandy would get up to move to a different part of the audience area to get some distance between herself and Sprinkle, hoping to enjoy the rest of the performance in peace.

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

The performance ended with the whole group landing on the stage simultaneously and the crowd burst into applause. While the rest of the crowd filled out from the stands, all the cadets remained on stage chatting with the Wonderbolts. Spitfire waved at Sandy Fire to join her on the stage. 

"That was awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She looked around to make sure that Sandy Fire wouldn't overhear what she was about ti say, and she leaned in and whispered in Spitfire's ear. "There is something else I wanted to talk about though. Sandy Fire joined the weather team recently, but seems to have trouble adjusting. What do you suggest?" Rainbow Dash whispered.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Skylight Scintillate

Spitfire looked a little surprised, "A hard time adjusting? Hmm... I guess I shouldn't be surprised, Ponyville is about as different as one can get from Dappleshore. I suggest being patient, give her time to acclimate, invite her to things but don't push her to attend, too hard at least. And try to start small, don't let that pink friend of yours do anything too extravagant until she's ready for it. This is, unfortunately, not the first town she's come to since Dappleshore. I don't want to hear that she ran herself out of town again."

With that Sandy arrived at the stage, "That was a great performance as always Spitfire, did you have everyone practicing for that finale? It was too well executed to have been just off the cuff."

"Glad you liked it kid, I've got to oversee the cleanup, but what do you say I swing by your house when we're done here, maybe get some food and catch up?"

Sandy again was immediately nervous, "Oh, no... I wouldn't want to make you go out of your way for my sake, what if I stuck around to help out and then we can go get food from here?"

Spitfire raised an eyebrow, "Well, I guess that works, I'm sure the others will appreciate the extra hooves, why don't you go over there and see what you can help with, I'll be along shortly."

After Sandy trotted off, Spitfire turned her attention back to Rainbow, "She embarrassed about her house or something?"

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

"Hmm, I'll keep that in mind," Rainbow Dash replied to Spitfire when she suggested what to do around Sandy Fire. 

"I don't know," Rainbow Dash shrugged when Spitfire brought up Sandy Fire's house. It felt wrong to reply with a definitive yes or no, each option with a different reason, so she took the easy out and shrugged it off, pretending she had no idea that Spitfire was talking about. She thought it was pretty obvious where Sandy Fire lived was a touchy subject, but she suspected that it might be because she had seen Sandy's house. 

By the time the team finished packing everything up, the sun was starting to set and most ponies were getting pretty hungry.

"Gee, I'm starving," one of the Wonderbolts joked as Rainbow Dash flew over to the group. "Rainbow Dash as a Wonderbolt cadet that has lived here for many years, what restaurants do you suggest?" 

"Uh, thanks..." Rainbow Dash blushed. "Lets' see, there's Ponyville food, Canterlot, Cloudsdale, Manehatten, Appleloosa, Crystal Empire, Mareami, Dappleshire... There are lots of options," Rainbow Dash listed.

"So, Sandy Fire, what do you want?" Spitfire whispered to Sandy Fire.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Skylight Scintillate

Spitfire raised an eyebrow at Rainbow's deflection in regards to Sandy's house, but didn't press the issue.

In regards to where they wanted to go, Sandy looked surprised, "I didn't realize there were so many options. Um, you know I don't get out much, why don't you pick? I'm sure whatever you choose will be perfect."

Spitfire rolled her eyes, "Let's do something Cloudsdale, it's high time she tried some real Pegasus food."

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

"Sure," Rainbow Dash replied as she lead the way. The restaurant was just a few blocks away, near the center of town. Despite being a restaurant that served Cloudsdale food, the restaurant was on the ground. It didn't seem very fair to discriminate against the ponies that wouldn't be able to fly up to the restaurant. While the restaurant has a very unassuming exterior, stepping inside was like stepping into another city; In this case, Cloudsdale.  Large white columns were in the walls while white arches held up the ceiling. In addition, everything else was painted sky blue to give the illusion that the customers were dining on clouds. The whole place screamed elegant and expensive. 

"Oh, Spitfire, Rainbow Dash, I was expecting you to bring the Wonderbolts here," the waiter said. She lead the whole group to a table large enough to seat them all and handed them all menus.

As the rest of the group sat down, Spitfire gestued to Sandy Fire to the empty seat between her and Rainbow Dash.

On the first page of the menu which talked about the uniqueness of the food served at the restaurant, it mentioned that all their food was grown solely using hydroponics by growing the plants directly on clouds. There were other differences too, but Rainbow Dash didn't really understand it.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Skylight Scintillate

Sandy was intrigued by the information on the menu, "Wow, I never knew they could do something like that. I always assumed they just had their food imported from a ground city, you know, like Canterlot does. I wonder how the different growing conditions would affect how the food tastes?"

Nonetheless, she wasn't too familiar with what all the different options entailed, and so would defer to getting whatever sounded best between what Rainbow Dash and Spitfire decided to order.

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

"You'll see," Spitfire replied, winking at Sandy Fire. 

A few minutes later, the waiters came around to take the orders and collect the menus. Both Rainbow Dash and Spitfire ended up ordering a salad and pasta, but they ordered different kinds of each one. A few minutes after that, the salads arrived, along with salad forks. "Mmh!" Rainbow Dash said as she ate her salad. She didn't say much, mostly just enjoying her salad and realizing how much she missed Cloudsdale food. 

"So, what do you think?" Spitfire asked Sandy Fire while she ate her salad.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Skylight Scintillate

Sandy was familiar with both salad and pasta, at least in a basic sense, as she didn't know the more fancy terms or that salad and pasta even had more than one configuration, she'd default to whatever Spitfire got, which was a Caesar type salad and a linguini carbonara with bits of haybacon. (Assuming I'm allowed to insert details like that)

Due to being grown in clouds, the lettuce was lighter, more delicate, and generally had larger leaves than lettuce grown on the ground, making for an interesting experience for Sandy, and that was beside the seasonings that came with the arrangement, it was almost overwhelming, but unlike her experience with the muffin earlier she didn't try to make a comparison back to home, choosing to stay focused on the moment.

When asked, Sandy nodded thoughtfully, "It's very different from what I'm used to. I never knew salad could be this good!"

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

"I knew you would like it," Spitfire replied. "So, you suggested we talk about something here instead of at your house Is there something you don't want to tell me?" Spitfire pressed. "I know Rainbow Dash and you know something I don't," Spitfire continued, giving Sandy Fire a firm but friendly look once they finished their salads.

Rainbow Dash continued to stay silent, eavesdropping on the nearby conversations while sipping her cider with her eyes closed.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Skylight Scintillate

Sandy did not expect to get cornered like this by her aunt, trying to hide her blush with more salad, but that was ultimately futile. She sighed and took a deep breath, "It's nothing, it's just... I don't want you to be disappointed is all. My house isn't anything special at the moment, I had hoped to have more time before you came to fix it up, maybe move somewhere better, so I'd have something you could be proud of."

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

“Hey look, you’re my niece, and I know that it’s really challenging to move to a new town and try to fit in and make connections, but you’re doing really well. The other weather team members have been talking about how much you have helped them all. Sunshower Raindrops in particular has mentioned how hard you have been trying to improve your firefighting skills. You might not believe me, but I’m proud of you,” Spitfire said, giving Sandy Fire an empathetic look.

Sunshower Raindrops waves from across the table and Rainbow Dash smiled, still trying to make it seem like she wasn’t eavesdropping on others. Soon enough, the pasta arrived.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Skylight Scintillate

Hearing Spitfire say that she was proud of her made Sandy tear up, she wanted to protest, say that Spitfire was just saying that, but she pushed those doubts down, forcing herself, just for the moment, to enjoy it. She managed to choke out, "Thank you" as she struggled to maintain her composure.

Spitfire would offer a subtle, yet very comforting gesture, stopping once the rest of the food arrived.

Sandy was once again overwhelmed by the complexity of the flavor and the shear elegance of it. It was definitely a very different situation from what she had had in Dappleshore, and with her aunt there to support her she was eager for more, ready to accept new things rather than shy away from them. She looked happier then than any of the others had seen her before.

[Rainbow Dash]

@Illiad Easle 

Rainbow Dash smiled and sighed with contentment as she leaned back in her chair. She was confident that Sandy Fire would come to like it here in Ponyville. And while Rainbow Dash knew that adjusting wouldn't be easy, Sandy Fire would manage just fine. Rainbow Dash wasn't sure what kinds of changes would happen in the future, but she was sure that together with her weather team, they would be tackle any challenge thrown at them with an optimistic view.

(This seems like a natural place to end the RP.)