Spitfire grinned broadly as she surveyed the Manehatten practice field. She'd never admit it to anypony, but she kind of preferred it to the Cloudsdale Coliseum that served as the traditional Wonderbolts practice field. The Coliseum allowed for grand maneuvers, death defying dives, and spectacular scale in their routines. The open air both above and below the venue gave her team the space they required to set up complicated exchanges where she could hide four team members under the bottom lip of the stadium and have them swap out with active members at any time to create the illusion of a Wonderbolt's unparalleled stamina and ability for impossible turns. Part of the reason they still wore the full body uniforms was to conceal the switches from the throngs of adoring ponies.

The Manehatten Stadium on the other hoof was a terrestrial venue. The grassy field underhoof provided a much more exciting show in spitfire's opinion. Aside from the basic fact that the hard ground with the wood and stone stadium made for an exponentially more dangerous crash experience, the skies in and around the Coliseum were always cool with a generally predictable wind speeds and patterns. The grass and dirt under the Stadium acted like a heat sponge providing semi-stable thermal updrafts and shifting wind patterns. Furthermore she couldn't hide team members anywhere for mid-show swaps that meant that the shows had to be paced differently; either short high-octane shows or methodical endurance shows. Spitfire much preferred the former. The speed, the difficulty, the danger; it was better than almost anything to the yellow pegasus. She lived for the euphoric thrill of getting as close as she could to the metaphorical fire without getting burned.

So it was with a broad grin she trotted onto the soft grassy field of Manehatten Stadium, the stands currently devoid of spectators. Behind her trotted Soarin her second-in-command and closest friend. Ahead of her were ten other Wonderbolts, each a superb stunt flier in their own right and none in uniform. They were relaxing, chatting, and laughing in the afternoon sun.

"All right kiddies, line it up!" She hollered in her best command voice. They reacted immediately, forming a shoulder-to-shoulder line facing both herself and Soarin at perfect attention. Spitfire allowed herself a smirk. "Alright, we've got a show in this bucket in three days. This isn't Cloudsdale or Las Pegasus, we've got no clouds to crash into if you lose control during maneuvers. I want everypony partnered up and practicing their maneuvers till quitting time.

The show pattern will be our standard routine for Earth Pony venues. The opener will be the aileron flyby into pattern four. After that we have the standard five-lap race followed by freestyle flying. I don't want any of you knuckleheads doing anything crazy. Last I checked none of us had figured out a Rainboom." She gave a pointed glare to Fleetfoot who grinned sheepishly. "The finale will be divided into two groups. Group One will be led by Soarin. Fleetfoot, Blaze, Misty, Lightning Streak you're with him. Rapidfire, Wavechill, Surprise, and Highwinds, you're with me. Group one will perform the Celestial Starburst, group two will perform the Lunar Moonburst. I expect nothing but the best from all of you. Questions?" Spitfire gave each of them time to consider the plan. Rapidfire raised a hoof first.

"Any VIP's in attendance?" He asked.

"The mayor and a few local politicians. We are, as always, expected to hob knob with them for at least a little while, so tell your marefriend you'll be home late." Spitfire grinned. Rapidfire rolled his eyes.

"At least I have one." He retorted earning a loud 'oooooo' from the other Wonderbolts and a death-glare from Spitfire.

"You can be replaced you know." She growled.

"Yeah, yeah. You've been saying that since we were kids, maybe one day I'll take it seriously." He winked at his fraternal twin. Spitfire groaned and facehoofed.

"Of all the idiot brothers in all the world I get shafted with you." She groused.

"Captain?" Blaze spoke up, her hoof raised slightly.

"Yeah, Blaze?" She asked.

"Has Princess Celestia gotten back to you about our training request?" Blaze asked hopefully. Spitfire felt her heart sink.

"Same answer I got last year. Sorry guys, the Rainboom is still out of our reach." She forced her expression to remain neutral even as every other pony bemoaned the decision to varying degrees. Fleetfoot looking particularly put out by the news.

"Did she at least give us a reason this time?" Fleetfoot grumbled.

"She doesn't want to risk an element on, and I'm quoting here: 'a pursuit of pride'. Sorry guys, but we've just gotta be patient for another couple of years. At least until she's old enough to apply." Spitfire answered. Fleetfoot grumbled in irritation.

"No sense pouting over what we can't have, now get your heads in the game. I want everypony in the skies and practicing, you all know the drills. Now!" Spitfire waved them off. Each Wonderbolt delivered a crisp salute before taking to the skies and breaking into pairs. Spitfire watched from the ground allowing herself a moment of pride as her Wonderbolts expertly went through their maneuvers, each team of two partnering with a second group just long enough to practice a larger trick before breaking off again in an elaborate aerial ballet. Soarin stepped up beside her his wings fluttering excitedly.

"Not your best speech today boss," he noted with a smirk. Spitfire elbowed him in the ribs lightly "Like you could do better."

Soarin shrugged lightly and snickered.

"Never said I could." He smirked at her.

"Come on, Soarin it's sunny skies all day long! Now let's get some flying done!" Spitfire grinned brightly as she took to the air with a mighty flap of her golden wings. She savored the feel of the wind in her mane and the rush of air past her ears. In the skies she felt alive.

Soarin wasn't far behind her. The sky blue stallion had the largest wingspan of all the Wonderbolts. It had proven to be his greatest asset and liability. He could gain and maintain speed quickly in a straight line, but he wasn't as maneuverable as smaller Pegasi like Spitfire. In only a few flaps of his wings Soarin was side by side with Spitfire, grinning like a foal.

"Five laps around the stadium for a warm-up sound good?" he called to her over the wind.

"Race ya!" She called back before darting ahead.

"Hey! No fair!" he shouted as he gave chase.

Spitfire knew her advantage would only be short lived. Soarin's powerful wings were quickly shrinking the distance between them. She drifted to the inside of their aerial track; if she could cut take the corners at a much steeper angle, then Soarin would have a much more difficult time catching her. The corner tactic was how Fleetfoot regularly beat Soarin when they raced.

If Spitfire was to be honest with herself, she would have admitted that she had allowed was getting just a little soft around the edges since becoming team captain. She flew less and less than she used to, her time occupied with coordinating show schedules with their manager, doling out the payroll, and putting out fires between the disparate personalities that made up the Wonderbolts. Needless to say, it wasn't quite the job her predecessor had sold her on.

Her excitement to be away from the sedentary duties of team captain bypassed her old safety habits. Flapping her wings as hard as she could, she found herself pulling further away from Soarin. As she banked hard for the first turn she felt a pop in her right wing's bicep.

'That's not good.' She realized just before her wing locked up, the bicep itself tensing until the fibers of the muscle felt like a scalding-hot rock under her skin. Through the excruciating pain she had just enough wherewithal to realize the grass was getting awfully close.

'This is gonna suck.'

Black.

Faint sounds, so distant in the endless dark.

Where they talking to her?

She saw without seeing, her eyes open to the clear blue sky, yet unaware of its presence. Shapes crowded her vision, things prodded at her and made noises, but she couldn't understand a word of it. Her ears rang, though no sound seemed to reach her. There was … something in her wing. Was it pain?

A face, so familiar, filled her vision again. The lips flapped and the sound filled her ears, though none reached her brain. She thought she felt moisture dripping down onto her face before she blacked out again. When she next awoke she was in a simple room, surrounded by light tan walls. After a moment to look around she surmised she was in a hospital room. Her brother, Rapidfire was lightly sleeping in a chair beside her bed. Her attempt to sit upright ended about an inch after it started, with a heavy groan she flopped back onto her pillow. Rapidfire's eyes fluttered open at the sound, glancing around the room momentarily before he remembered where he was.

"Spitfire!" He exclaimed happily, the volume earning a wince from his sister, any attempt to say something was thoroughly quashed when he wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug.

"You idiot!" He admonished her "You scared me half to death."

"Urk! Rapid … Air!" She choked out; Rapidfire blushed slightly, his grip loosening as he let her breathe. "Thanks." She wheezed.

"Sure," he replied, "You're still an idiot though."

Spitfire allowed herself another groan "What happened?"

"According to Soarin, you pushed yourself too hard before your wings were properly warmed up. He thought you were diving at first to gain speed, by the time he realized you were falling it was too late for him to make the catch." Rapid fire admitted sadly. "The doctors said you tore the bicep in your wing. After that, you decided to get into a head-butting contest with the ground. Three guesses how that turned out." He grinned playfully, Spitfire grumbled. "I'll go get the doc, they'll want to know you're finally awake." He said as he rose to his hooves.

"Finally?" She questioned, "How long was I out?"

Rapidfire paused, a hoof rubbing at his chin thoughtfully "Almost two days now."

Spitfire's brain ground to a halt, the information felt like a slap in her face. She was the Captain of the Wonderbolts; to be on the injured roster was bad enough, but to also be comatose for two days! The media would have a field day when they found out, the possible fallout left her staring in a cold-sweated horror at the ceiling. She didn't notice that her brother had left until he had returned with a doctor in tow.

"Ah, Ms. Spitfire," The brown-furred unicorn smiled down at her "good to see you finally awake, you had us all a bit worried. I'm Dr. Bay, how are you feeling?" he asked, his magic retrieving a pen sized flashlight from the pocket of his jacket.

"I've got a headache, and my wing aches pretty bad too." She answered, hissing slightly as he flashed the light first into her right eye, then into her left.

"Well you had a pretty good crash, I'd be surprised if you were feeling great." He mused. Spritfire groaned, more in annoyance than pain.

"Just gimme the damage report, Doc." She pleaded.

Rapidfire's glance shifted nervously from his sister to the doctor. Dr. Bay studied her for a moment with his emerald eyes.

"Do you want your brother to stay for this, or shall I see him out first?" he asked. Spitfire's amber eyes shifted to her brother, who offered a sheepish smile in return.

"He's fine." She answered. Dr. Bay nodded once before beginning.

"Well, the good news is you managed to avoid breaking any bones in the fall, and your concussion seems to be healing well." He paused for a breath, "However your wing wasn't so lucky."

Spitfire winced from the implications.

"So, what?" she asked "Keep off it for a week or two?" a subtle frown formed on Bay's lips.

"Spitfire," He started, the tone of his voice making her heart skip a beat "You have a second-degree strain in your wing. You nearly tore the muscle in half, length-wise! I honestly can't decide if I should be concerned or impressed!" the physician declared. Spitfire stared up at him, the worry starting to show on her face.

"W—what are you saying?" she asked, afraid of the answer she suspected was coming.

"I'm sorry Spitfire, but you're not flying anywhere for at least three to four weeks. Until your muscle has had time to mend you are grounded. After we've determined that the damage is sufficiently healed a physical therapist will take over your care."

"I'm Captain of the Wonderbolts!" She snapped, wincing at the pain in her skull, "I can't be grounded for that long! I have a team to run!"

"Let me be crystal clear about this, Captain." Bay started, the humor evaporating from his voice instantly. "If you over-stress your wing before it heals properly, you are at serious risk for a third degree tear. If that happens, then it would be a Celestia-blessed miracle if you ever flew again."

"T—then just call a surgeon and stitch the thing back together!" Spitfire pleaded, adrenaline starting to flow into her aching body as the fear took hold. Rapidfire moved closer to the bed, just incase he needed to restrain his sibling.

"Surgery is what will happen if you tear the muscle any further, and it would only slow down potential recovery. I'm sorry Spitfire, but you'll just have to tough this one out for a month or two." He said sympathetically, "We'll keep you here one more night just to make sure there are no lingering issues from the crash. If everything checks out you can leave first-thing tomorrow morning."

Rapidfire noticed the hollow look setting in Spitfire's amber eyes. It was a look he'd seen only a few times before, and it still chilled him to the bone.

"T—thanks Doc," he sputtered quickly "We really appreciate everything, uh, do you mind if I just talk to her alone for a bit?"

Bay quirked an eyebrow curiously at the sudden shift in demeanors, but nodded and excused himself quickly enough. Rapidfire waited for the door to click shut before facing his twin. Spitfire was staring at the ceiling, her eyes simply vacant.

"Spits?" He started, lightly resting a hoof on her shoulder "Come on sis, talk to me."

"My career is over." She lamented after a lengthy silence.

"Oh come on, you're just being melodramatic." He replied, even if he wasn't entirely convinced she was wrong "You'll be all better in no time and this will just be another story that gets passed around the bar after an awesome show!"

Spitfire glared at Rapidfire, though the look lacked much of the passion it usually did.

"I bucked up a basic warm-up!" she hissed angrily, "I ignored every common-sense rule of show flying for a dumb thrill. If I had done something that stupid during a show somepony could've been hurt or killed! The press is gonna have a field day with this! I'll be lucky if Arcus only suspends me indefinitely!" She swiped a hoof through the air before bringing it to rest over her eyes.

"Coulda been worse," Rapidfire offered with a smirk "Mom and Dad could've been watching." Spitfire's eyes went wide at the though, a shudder running through her body before she banished that particular horror from her mind.

"I'm so royally bucked I might as well be the third princess." She lamented again. "I might as well have just binged on salt and hard cider before a show."

Rapidfire's face contorted as he tried not to giggle. As good as his sister was at running the Wonderbolts and controlling their admittedly colossal egos, she always did have a habit for expecting the worst. Even still, he couldn't entirely fault her for some of her feelings. Mr. Arcus was an exceedingly pragmatic team manager. 95% of the time, that quality served them very well. However it had made things difficult when the media occasionally picked up on some of the inner workings of the team.

"But you were clean," He said finally "and it was just an accident. Soarin can vouch for that, poor guy feels terrible for not being able to catch you."

Spitfire sighed, her foreleg covering her eyes wearily.

"I'm Team Captain," she responded quietly "The Captain doesn't get to screw up like this."

"Everypony messes up now and then." He retorted, the concern apparent in his tone.

"Rapid," Spitfire started, making a point to look her brother in the eye "If the media doesn't eat me alive for this, Arcus will.

Rapidfire sighed and shook his head.

"Tell you what Spits," he started as he stretched his wings "Why don't I let you get some rest and I'll go let the team know how you're doing. I'll do what I can to smooth Arcus's feathers while I'm at it. Okay?" he offered. Spitfire acknowledged the plan with a dismissive grunt. He gave her another light hug before he started towards the door.

"I'm glad you're alright." With that final sentiment, Rapidfire disappeared out the door, leaving Spitfire alone with her thoughts.

For Spitfire, sleep came in small intervals that night. Part of the problem had been her lifelong habit of sleeping on her right side, a position made quite impossible by her damaged wing. Complicating that particular irritation was the cloth bandage that secured the wing folded against her side. She was a world-class aerial acrobat, having a wing immobilized was akin to sealing the magic in a unicorn's horn or trapping an earth ponies leg in a plaster cast. Her wings were her pride and glory, to say that being unable to flex one of them freely was a disconcerting sensation was more than a mild understatement. The few times she did manage to fall asleep, she often woke up from the sharp pain of rolling onto her injured wing.

Further complicating matters was the mattress itself. Spitfire was used to terrestrial mattresses. Any pegasus that spent more then a weekend on the ground learned quickly to tolerate them. What she wasn't used to was earth pony hospital beds. No position seemed to alleviate the dull ache in her back caused by the cheap bedding that spitfire was quickly becoming convinced was a padded sheet of rock. By the time dawn crested over the horizon she had managed a somewhat tolerable position on her stomach that yielded a solid few hours of sleep. All to soon she was roused from sleep again, this time by an expectant Dr. Bay and a decidedly uncomfortable looking Soarin and Rapidfire.

"Gooood morning Spitfire!" He said cheerfully.

"Uhg, not until I've had some coffee." She groaned as she sat up, the remark earning an amused chuckle from Bay.

"Well, I'll just give you a once over and if everything looks good then we'll get your discharge papers all set and send you on your way." He offered her a pleasant smile.

"Let's get this over with." She replied before yawning.

Dr. Bay kicked Rapidfire and Soarin out of the room until he finished his assessment. Once he was satisfied that Spitfire's only lingering problem was a wing injury and catastrophic bruising of the ego he excused himself to arrange her release and allowed Soarin and Rapidfire back into the room.

"Have fun?" Rapidfire teased playfully. Spitfire rolled her eyes.

"Oh yeah, it was a party to end all parties in here. There was cider, salt, and the hottest flanks in Equestria dancing on the end table. Celestia herself provided the dancers and salt tablets." She answered in the most deadpan manner she could manage. Soarin facehoofed while Rapidfire did his best to restrain a giggle.

"Say, since Celestia controls the sun, would that mean she's got the hot-mpff!" Rapidfire found himself silenced by Soarin's hoof jammed into his muzzle.

"Finish that pun and I swear I will end you." The exasperated stallion sighed. Rapid fire gave his best pleading look to an equally unenthused Spitfire.

"Don't look at me," She shrugged "I'm wounded and helpless to do anything." She said in the meekest voice she could manage, batting her eyelashes and quivering her bottom lip. Soarin burst out laughing his hoof abandoning Rapidfire's muzzle.

"You are totally proof that evil twins are real." He groused. Spitfire stuck her tongue out at him before giggling.

"So," she started as she stood and stretched "What brings you two so early?" Spitfire hoped her anxiety wasn't too obvious for them. Rapid fire opened his mouth to speak, though Soarin cut him off as he prostrated himself in front of Spitfire

"I'm so sorry boss," he whimpered "it's all my fault!"

Spitfire blushed lightly; reaching down and pulling the stallion back to his hooves.

"It's not your fault Soarin, I bucked it up all on my own." She reassured him.

"It was my job to be your safety if something went wrong." Soarin reminded her, his ears flat and his eyes still downcast "I wasn't paying enough attention and you took the fall for it."

Spitfire sighed before pulling her friend into a hug "Soarin, you did nothing wrong. It's all on me, okay? Don't pull your pinfeathers out over this."

The stallion eventually nodded, his emerald eyes remaining focused on the floor. Spitfire gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek, Soarin was possibly the most softhearted stallion she had ever known.

"Come on Marshmallow," she said, earning a huge blush from Soarin and a muffled snicker from Rapidfire "keep your chin up and your eyes on the sky. I'll be back before you know it."

Soarin mumbled something indistinguishable as he nodded and retreated from Spitfire. He paused long enough to notice Rapidfire who was struggling mightily not to burst out laughing.

"… Don't you do it…" He warned Rapidfire. The ginger stallion's expression degraded the more he struggled not to laugh "Rapid, don't you dare…" Soarin warned again.

"Sure thing…" his voice cracked as a giggle nearly escaped him "…Marshmallow!" He said as he burst out laughing. Soarin pressed his hoof to his forehead and contemplated the all the possible ways he could think of for revenge.

"I hate you…" he grumbled "So much."

"Love you too … Mallow." Rapid retorted, trying desperately to quell his laughter.

Soarin's irritable glare shifted to Spitfire, who quickly averted her gaze and whistled innocently. When she realized he wasn't planning on letting her off the hook for what was guaranteed hours of locker room teasing she held up her hooves in surrender.

"Okay, okay, I'll make it up to you. Promise!" she assured him and while crossing her heart.

He shook his head and grumbled, his response cut off by a knock on the door. Spitfire gave her brother a mild kick to compose himself, which he did after an indignant squawk.

An exceptionally bored looking earth pony mare trotted in, a set of saddlebags on her back that contained various folders and clipboards. She quirked an eyebrow at the two stallions before shifting her attention back to Spitfire.

"Ms. Spitfire, I'm here to give you your discharge instructions. I assume you've got a place to stay and one of these stallions is family or your spouse?" she asked before retrieving Spitfire's file from one of her bags.

"Rapid's my brother, Soarin's a coworker." She answered. The mare nodded, only half-listening.

"Very good. You're to keep from flying for no less than four weeks, after which you should get an appointment with an orthopedist to reassess your wing. From there he or she will refer you to a physical therapist and who will be able to give you further instructions. Dr. Bay has included a note for your employer to excuse any abscences due to your injury, it's at the back of the file." She explained with the efficiency of a mare that had spent years memorizing her job. "Unless you have any questions, then you can just sign the top form and you're free to go."

"No questions, thanks though." Spitfire replied, taking the file she was presented with and promptly signing the necessary area.

"Very well," the mare said, taking the hospitals copy of the form and leaving Spitfire's copy on top of her instructions. "And you're free to go! Have a good day." She smiled and bowed lightly before retreating out of the room.

Spitfire's eyes followed the mare out of the room, waiting until she was long out of sight before sighing and turning to Soarin and Rapidfire.

"So, did one of you bring my saddlebags? I'd like some coffee and a good breakfast before Arcus tans my hide." She said with a grin. Rapid nodded retrieved the bags from the corner he'd set them in.

"Um, Spitfire?" Soarin started, his body language adopting an uncomfortable posture. "Arcus is waiting outside."

Spitfire's heart skipped a beat and her eyes went wide. It was rare that she found herself completely lacking words to describe the emotions that she felt. Usually a string of creative curses would do in the more complicated instances, yet even that solution seemed incapable of covering it.

"R—Rapid?" She turned to her brother "d—didn't you talk to him?"

"Whoa, hey!" he took her by the shoulders and offered a reassuring smile "it's alright, sis. Arcus took it pretty well. Your not gonna be fired or suspended or anything! He just wanted to talk to you to figure out the best way to proceed."

"Then why is Arcus waiting outside instead of being here with you two?" She asked worriedly. This time it was Rapidfire's turn to look uncomfortable.

"Red Top got a tip that a Wonderbolt was in the hospital sometime yesterday, he's been sniffing around ever since. Arcus wanted to keep an eye out for him, just in case he decides to sneak a camera in." Soarin added.

Spitfire facehoofed, Red Top owned the most popular gossip tabloid in Manehatten. The stories his paper published vacillated between annoying, but harmless, details on private lives of celebrities and political figures, to borderline slanderous 'exposes'.

"You see that article they did on that DJ?" Rapid asked while Spitfire got her saddlebags on.

"I don't read that junk." She answered curtly.

"I saw the cover," Soarin spoke up "made me sick to my stomach."

"Aww, poor Mallow," Rapidfire grinned.

"I really hate you." Soarin glowered at Rapidfire.

"Okay kids," Spitfire interrupted "Let's get out of here, you two can flirt later." She trotted out the door, very intentionally ignoring the indignant noises the two stallions made at the suggestion.

She hated hospitals, she hated the smell, hated the temperature, hated the atmosphere, hated the colors, and she wasn't terribly fond of the needles either. Spitfire was happy to get out, even if she wasn't able to take a flying leap out of the nearest window and make straight for Cloudsdale. Soarin and Rapidfire took up their positions beside her quickly enough, each blushing a noticeable shade of red. Spitfire smirked openly at that.

Once outside she quickly spotted Arcus. The aging stallion's brown fur and greying mane beguiled most into assuming him a fairly harmless stallion. In truth he was one of the most cunning ponies Spitfire had ever met. Most of the time, it meant her team got whatever they needed whenever they needed it. Sometimes it had meant that Arcus had to exercise his power as team manager to stop problems before they escalated. Spitfire could only hope that she never fell into Arcus's 'problem' file. Though, in fairness, she certainly had a penchant for tap-danced on its rain-slicked precipice more than a few times. Her posture stiffened as he spotted her and waved her over, his eyes constantly scanning the area cautiously.

"Hey Arcus," She kept her voice as polite and carefree as she could manage "how's it going?"

"Keep your eyes open for a red unicorn." He stated "I've been dodging Red Top since yesterday."

"Um, alright." She answered. Soarin and Rapidfire each faced a different direction.

"As to your question, it was going splendidly. Until the Team Captain went and crippled herself in spectacular fashion." He leveled an annoyed look at her. "Good job on that by the way."

"If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right." Spitfire countered, earning a smirk from Arcus.

"Touché. What's the damage report?" he asked. Spitfire bit back a frown and hoofed over the file the discharge pony had given her. Arcus took them in his hoof and read through the papers, his face a well-practiced mask of neutrality. Spitfire forced herself not to fidget like a teenage filly applying for her first job, though there wasn't much she could do to prevent a nervous sweat from breaking out over her body. After several minutes of silence, Arcus sighed and closed the folder.

"I'm not gonna sugar coat this Captain," Arcus started grimly "You haven't given me much room for flexibility."

Spitfire felt her throat tighten and both Soarin and Rapidfire subtly turned to observe the conversation, both stallions' concern written plainly on their faces.

"Effective immediately you're relieved of duty as Captain and placed on medical leave. After you've been cleared for flight by at least two physicians of my choosing and a physical therapist we can reassess your status." He returned the folder to her, which she numbly accepted. "I'll see to it you can remain in the hotel suite we booked here in Manehatten until you're back up to speed and you will receive a monthly stipend in lieu of your standard pay." He sighed and ran a hoof through his mane. Spitfire stared dejectedly at the ground, her ears flattened against her head.

"Wait, why does she have to stay here?" Rapidfire interrupted, earning a glare from Arcus. "Surely Cloudsdale has better doctors for wing injuries!"

"Cloudsdale does," Arcus agreed "unfortunately your sister can't use her wing for the next month, and Clousdale isn't built for long strolls." He reminded the ginger maned stallion.

Rapidfire's response died on his lips as Spitfire held up a hoof for him to stop. Her eyes stared vacantly at the ground and her shoulders sagged slightly.

"I understand sir." Spitfire stated, her voice quiet and dejected.

"We'll be based in Manehatten for a while," Arcus continued "You are, of course, still welcome to visit the team anytime."

Spitfire nodded again.

"Soarin," Arcus turned his attention to the cyan stallion. "Effective immediately you're the Captain until further notice. You are free to pick your lieutenant from any of the active team roster. Your first task is informing the rest of the team about the changes. Rapidfire, I expect you there as well."

"But…" he started; stopping when Spitfire looked him in the eye shook her head lightly. He sighed as he relented "Yes sir."

Arcus retrieved a small bag of bits from his own saddlebag, which he offered to Spitfire. The despondent mare regarded the gesture with a confused look.

"I want you to take today for yourself. Get a meal, go shopping, or see a movie. Whatever you need to do. Just keep away from media and keep your nose clean." He warned "If Red Top or another media pony publishes an expose it could risk alienating our sponsors, and if that happens I won't be able to protect you."

"Yes sir. Thanks." Spitfire forced a smile. Arcus nodded as Spitfire took the bits and placed them in her bag.

"Soarin, let's go. Rapidfire, don't be long." Arcus ordered, taking to the skies with a mighty flap of his wings. Soarin lingered only long enough to give Spitfire an apologetic look before he flew after Arcus, leaving the twins alone. Silence filled the air between them for a moment before Spitfire spoke.

"Buck my life." She lamented, her hoof kicking at the ground in frustration.

"At least you aren't fired." Rapidfire offered uncomfortably. Spitfire scoffed, blowing ginger strands of hair from her face.

"Might as well be at this rate." She sighed. Rapidfire hugged her lightly.

"Anything I can do for you? Besides find a time travel spell?" he offered, earning a chuckle from his sister.

"Keep an eye on Fleetfoot, she can get pushy when she wants something. And back up Soarin when he needs help. The Captain must demand respect, and the overgrown marshmallow will need backup." She blinked and facehoofed when she realized Rapidfire was giggling again "And no, you may not call him Marhsmallow or Mallow infront of the team. If you do I will personally deliver one of Mom's photo-albums with all your foal pictures to the office."

Rapidfire's giggles died immediately as he paled noticeably at the threat.

"You wouldn't dare." He said.

"Evil twin." She reminded him with the sweetest smile she could manage.

"Your pictures are in those albums too!" he threatened meekly.

"So?" Spitfire asked "I thought you realized I had no shame after I brought my first marefriend home."

Rapidfire narrowed his eyes. Clearly, this would be war.

"Okay then, you show them the albums, I show them Ms. Blankey."

Spitfire's eyes went wide at the threat. Her treasured fillyhood blanket was the closest thing she had to a treasured item. The fact that she still kept it with her was perhaps the only shame she had left after coming out.

"Okay," Spitfire held a hoof out to her brother "Mutually assured destruction it is."

Rapidfire grinned manically, his own hoof bumping hers "The best kind!" he declared. Both twins shared a laugh for a moment.

"I'll see you around Spits," Rapid hugged her again "Keep out of trouble."

"You know me." She replied, returning the hug. Rapidfire rolled his eyes melodramatically.

"That's why I'm reminding you." He smiled before taking to the skies in the direction Arcus and Soarin had flown.

Spitfire sighed to herself, sitting quietly for a moment before her stomach voiced its grievances loud enough to draw a sidelong glance from a passing earth pony couple. She grinned at them sheepishly before trotting quickly away. She needed a stiff cup of coffee and something to eat.

"let's see now," she mumbled to herself "there should be a good café a few blocks down."

She did her best to keep her mind off her… situation. A surprisingly easy task when she was focused on trying to find the street signs without the advantage of being able to hover over the crowds. It took her nearly an hour to reach her goal, a nice outdoor café she had been to before called Perry's Cherry Diner.

She smiled as she trotted up to the counter, a modest line of ponies in front of her. After waiting for a few minutes she ordered herself a sandwich with hayfries and a large coffee and was told to pick a table to sit at while they prepared her food. After paying she turned to a small section of tables shaded by cherry trees where she noticed a familiar mare with cyan fur and a rainbow mane. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head as the name clicked into her brain.

"Rainbow Dash?!"

Rainbow Dash hummed a tune to herself as she trotted to a table outside of Perry's Cherry Diner. A nice hot cup of cocoa was being brewed with her name on it, and it would be the most awesome cocoa ever! Then again, even a boring cup of tea would have been an acceptable reprieve from her rampant thoughts. She was far from Ponyville, her friends, and her comfy cloud house. All she had was the Daring Do books stuffed at the bottom of her saddlebag, her toothbrush, and enough bits to get her by for a couple months if she kept to a tight budget. She wished she could've at least brought Tank along, but she was fairly convinced the Weather Committee in Cloudsdale would have been less than thrilled by the idea.

As she relaxed into the wicker chair, she stared up to the Manehatten skies, clear azure speckled with cotton like cumulus clouds. To the casual observer, it was a picture perfect weather day. To Rainbow's practiced eye, either the previous weather manager was an idiot, or they hadn't left the weather team with a clear schedule to follow between their departure and Rainbow's arrival. Either way it meant she had more work to do.

She shook her head and sighed, glaring at the folder of papers resting on the table in front of her. Inside, attached to the inner cover with a paper clip was a letter from Manehatten's normal weather manager. Some pegasus named Downburst. She had met him briefly at a manager's event in Cloudsdale last year. At least she was pretty sure she met some pony named Downburst. Rainbow rubbed her chin with a hoof as she strained for the memory. Eventually she gave up on it with a frustrated groan and turned her attention to the letter itself. She skimmed through it for any relevant information, but was unsurprised to see nothing more than typical office politics.

"Joy of my life." she bemoaned to herself.

Most of the rest of the papers in the file were a list of all her new employees, their specialties, and what was expected of her for the extent of her tenure as Manhatten's weather manager.

"Stupid Weather Factory. Stupid management exchange program." She grumbled to herself. With another annoyed sigh, she began the task of sifting through the dossiers. It wasn't awesome, it wasn't cool, and it certainly wasn't fun, but Rainbow was extremely proud of her work, and she was bound and determined to make this weather team good enough to compete with her Ponyville weather team.

Her initial pass through the file already gave her ideas for improvement. The Manehatten weather team was one of the largest weather teams in the terrestrial Equestrian cities, yet there didn't seem to be any balance in how the team was set up. She had more than enough cloud pushers and rain handlers, but almost no Pegasi certified to handle the lightning producing thunderhead clouds. Even for Pegasi like Rainbow, who specialized in working with thunderheads, the temperamental could be extremely dangerous. She decided her first action right there; Manehatten needed lightning wranglers, and she was one of the best.

A unicorn waitress discreetly delivered her cocoa and sandwich; Rainbow thanked her politely, but didn't lift her eyes from the papers in front of her. She'd rather get the boring stuff done so she could do something fun, like nap or fly. She skimmed through several dossiers before taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Rainbow Dash?!" a familiar voice blurted from somewhere behind her. Rainbow jumped slightly in her seat, turning to face the unseen pony. She turned in her seat, her eyes going wide when she saw who was calling her.

"Spiurhk!" she gagged, her traitorous brunch lodged itself in her throat.

Spitfire panicked slightly, her good wing flaring out as she feverishly patted Rainbow's back. The younger mare coughed heavily until the last bits of her sandwich were disloged and she was able to breathe again.

"Th—thanks." She gasped to Spitfire while she caught her breath.

"Don't mention it," Spritfire chuckled "I didn't mean to startle you." She admitted sheepishly. Rainbow chuckled nervously, her brain torn between star-struck excitement that she was talking to her idol, utter mortification that she had almost choked to death on a sandwich in front of said idol, or the fact that Spitfire's hoof was gently rubbing her back.

"It's cool." Rainbow gave Spitfire her best carefree smile, though the act was somewhat marred by her flushed cheeks and the occasional post-choke cough. Spitfire innocuously patted Rainbow's back a few more times for before retracting her hoof.

"Glad to hear it." The Wonderbolt answered with a relieved smile.

"S—so," Rainbow started nervously, her mind panicking for something clever to say. Unfortunately, the best she got was an anxious "what's up?"

'Good going, Dash' she mentally chided herself 'real smooth.'

"Well, not me anymore." Spitfire admitted with a doleful sigh. Rainbow tilted her head slightly, her confusion written plainly on her face. Spitfire turned slightly so Rainbow could see her bandaged wing.

"Oh my gosh!" the polychromatic mare gasped, "Are you okay? What happened?"

"It's a dumb story," Spitfire admitted with a chuckle "Mind if I join you?"

"O—of course not!" Rainbow's heart fluttered in her chest, her idol wanted to sit and chat with her! That alone was almost enough to make it the best day ever! She enthusiastically waved a hoof to the empty seat beside her own.

Spitfire snickered even while she trotted over to it, her amber eyes watching Rainbow the whole time. The cyan pegasus looked like she was doing all she could to keep from bouncing in place, it was an energy Spitfire wished all her team showed on a daily basis.

"Might wanna fold your wings though, Dash, other ponies might talk." Spitfire said with a playful wink. As bad as she felt for embarrassing the poor girl, it was still worth seeing Rainbow's cyan cheeks turn almost as red as the streak in her hair while she frantically got her body-language under control.

"Sorry!" She blurted once she got the excitable appendages under control. Spitfire couldn't contain herself any longer and burst out laughing.

"It's fine, Rainbow. I was just playing with you." She admitted apologetically, Rainbow mumbled to herself and did her best to hide her face behind her cup of cocoa. Spitfire had to admit; the mare was cute when she was embarrassed.

'Whoa there brain,' she chided herself 'Lets keep out of the gutter, she probably doesn't even swing that way.'

"So," Rainbow started, attempting to derail the conversation with what little dignity she had left, "what happened to your wing?"

"Well," Spitfire paused long enough to thank the waitress who delivered her coffee and meal "I uh, I tore the bicep."

Rainbow gasped lightly, her mouth acting before her brain again "Oh my gosh! It's not too serious is it? Cause, your like one of the best fliers ever!"

Spitfire chuckled, her cheeks feeling slightly warmer than usual from the compliment. "I did a pretty good job tearing it," she admitted ruefully "I'm kinda grounded until it gets better."

"That stinks," Rainbow winced "I hurt my wing a while back. I couldn't fly properly for over a week. It was the worst." She shuddered at the memory. Granted, that experience had also introduced her to the Daring Do series that she now loved, but she'd trade those for flying any day of the week. And twice on Saturdays.

"It's gonna be at least a month till I can glide again," Spitfire admitted, staring sadly into her coffee.

"Whoa," Dash gasped, "How did you mess it up that bad?"

This time it was Spitfire's turn to blush. As nice of a mare as she thought Rainbow Dash was, she wasn't about to admit she almost buried her career on a warm up exercise. It was bad enough the rest of the Wonderbolts knew it. She'd never live it down if she made it back to the active team roster.

"Well," Spitfire clucked her tongue, stalling for a decent response. Eventually she settled on Arcus's favorite words of wisdom, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right."

Rainbow giggled "Especially crashes?"

"Buck yeah!" Spitfire grinned manically earning a full-throated laugh from the cyan mare.

"So," Spitfire started, popping a hayfry into her mouth "What brings you to Manehatten?" she paused to swallow and have a sip of her drink. "Discord break loose again? Changelings invading? Some other super-special save the world kinda thing?"

Rainbow blushed faintly and shook her head. "Nah, just my day job. The Weather Factory in Clousdale was looking through the last few years of performance assessments from all the weather teams in Equestria, and they decided that if they exchanged the managers from all the teams for a couple months than performance in all territories would improve." Rainbow took a leery bite of her neglected sandwich, the experience proving happily choke free.

"Really? How do they figure that will help things across Equestria?" Spitfire leaned forward slightly, genuinely interested in the conversation. Rainbow swallowed before she spoke again.

"Well, on one hoof you've got Ponyville where we're on schedule with the weather 98% of the time, we have a nonexistent accident rate, and the only complaints we get are occasional water distribution errors to the various farms. On the other hoof there's the Manehatten weather team, which is regularly behind schedule, and often gets complaints sent to Headquarters. The bigwigs in Cloudsale believe that if they switch around managers for a couple months, then the underperforming teams will benefit from a good manager taking control, and the bad managers will learn from the better teams." Rainbow paused for another drink, sighing contentedly as the warm chocolate slid down her throat "Personally, I think it's all a bunch of ponyfeathers."

"Huh," Spitfire mused, her eyes drifting up to the sky. "I never worked in the weather offices, I joined the National Guard when I was eighteen." Spitfire admitted "To me, today looks like just another perfect day. So Dash, tell me what's wrong with this picture." She waved a hoof to the mostly-sunny skies.

Rainbow looked up to the sky, an annoyed scowl spreading over her face.

"Well first off, today was scheduled for a light shower to keep the midtown parks green and to keep the air from getting too dry. Second, those cumulus clouds were placed at too high of an altitude, they're getting caught in the trade winds which means that the cloud-pushers are spending too much time keeping them in the city limits instead of setting up the rainclouds, it also means that some clouds are being lost, which means we can't recycle the water for rain. The height also means that Unicorn's and Earth ponies aren't getting the optimal amount of shade from the cloud coverage, which also means that the temperature is a bit higher than planned."

Rainbow sighed and paused for another drink.

"They aren't a lot of big things, but they're simple details that shouldn't be getting overlooked."

Spitfire found herself taken aback by Rainbow's keen understanding of her work. What little she knew of the younger mare had painted the impression of a capable and highly competitive flyer, but hiding under the surface appeared to be a pony that took her job very seriously and was very good at it.

"Well, color me impressed Dash." Spitfire smiled "You know your stuff."

The compliment brought another blush of color to Rainbow's cheeks. She smiled sheepishly and chuckled.

"Thanks." She answered, "So, uh, what brings you to Manehatten? Are the rest of the Wonderbolts here?"

"Yea, they had a show..." She paused to remember the date, her ears falling flat as she recalled the information, "… last night." Spitfire said sadly.

"I missed a Wonderbolts show by one day!?" Rainbow blurted "That is so lame!" she lamented, her head flopping onto the table dejectedly. Spitfire laughed and patted the younger mare's back.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I missed it too." She admitted earning a giggle from Rainbow.

"Is there another one coming up anytime soon?" Dash asked hopefully.

Spitfire shook her head, seeing the disappointment fill Rainbow's expression saddened her as well.

"That was our last one for a couple months. This is the time we take to schedule our next batch of shows and fulfill our commercial obligations." She explained, silently ecstatic she would get to miss out on propaganda shoots and interviews. As much as she loved her job and the fans around it, she absolutely hated the press side. "Guess I get a surprise vacation out of it at least." She admitted with a chuckle.

Silence briefly settled over the two as they worked through their lunches. Spitfire noticed Rainbow trying to subtly steal a glance at her every so often; her eye's darting back to her own plate every time Spitfire caught her looking. An idea popped into the Wonderbolt's mind.

It was probably stupid, reckless, and altogether ill advised, but at the same time she was getting mixed signals from the weather mare. Deciding to at least satisfy her own curiosity, she swished her tail just enough so it brushed against Rainbow's. It was a trick she'd picked up in high-school, a good way to subtly test if another mare might swing her way, and yet easy enough to brush off as an accident if they weren't. With great interest, she watched Dash's reaction from the corner of her eye.

Rainbow was many things, mostly pure awesome and speed, but subtlety was never something she had been any good at. When Spitfire's tail brushed against hers, she tensed visibly, her cheeks flushing crimson, and her eyes going wide for a second until she managed to regain control of herself. She stole another glance at Spitfire, who was sipping her coffee with seeming disinterest.

Rainbow hesitated, had the touch been an accident? Had it been a test? With any other mare she would have returned the gesture and seen how things played out. But this wasn't any other pony this was Spitfire! Her hero, her idol, and the Captain of the Wonderbolts! And Wonderbolts were exemplars of what made Pegasi great, they wouldn't seriously flirt with the likes of her … right?

Rainbow couldn't remember feeling quite so nervous as she flicked her own tail, the polychromatic hairs brushing along Spitfire's ginger tail. Her cheeks burned fiercely when Spitfire looked her in the eye, the Wonderbolt confident, the weather manager terrified.

"So tell me Rainbow," Spitfire started calmly "any special somepony back home?"

"Wh—er…well, no." Rainbow flubbed, Spitfire quirked an eyebrow.

"No special mare or stallion? I'm surprised." She said genuinely. Rainbow just blushed deeper, shrugging noncommittally. Spitfire allowed a small smile when Rainbow didn't comment on her use of 'mare or stallion'. "I'd think a mare like you would be swamped with dates."

Rainbow laughed nervously, wondering if her cheeks would stop burning anytime soon. "No, not really no."
"Not really?" Spitfire asked, "Does that mean you've got your eye on somepony, but you don't think they would be in to you?"

Rainbow fidgeted uncomfortably and managed a nod. "s—it's a friend. I know they wouldn't feel the same." She mentally kicked herself. Spitfire didn't miss the slip and decided to take a leap of faith.

"Rainbow," She started a bit nervously, the shift in her tone catching the younger mare's attention. "I'm gonna tell you a secret, something that only my family, Soarin, and a few other Wonderbolts know. Can I trust you not to tell anypony else?"

Rainbow nodded, her heart pounding in her ears.

"I like mares." She admitted, watching Rainbow's reaction very closely. "And I suspect, and if I'm wrong about this I will grovel your hooves and beg for forgiveness, but I suspect you do too."

Rainbow flinched noticeably, her ruby eyes blinking rapidly to prevent tears from showing. Spitfire understood that look. It was a look she had for years after she first came out to her friends and family. The confusion, the fear, all took time to work out, in the end costing her many ponies she considered friends, and damaging her relationship with her family for a long time. She put a reassuring hood on Rainbow's shoulder.

"Hey, it's alright. There's nothing to be ashamed about." She cooed, earning a small nod from Rainbow. "Have you ever told anypony?"

"My Dad knows." Rainbow answered, her voice nearly a whisper "And Fluttershy, my best friend."

Spitfire nodded, vaguely recalling the timid mare. "What about your Mom?"

"My Mom died a long time ago." Rainbow answered, sending Spitfire's brain into panic mode.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean t—"

"It's alright, really." Rainbow cut her off "I was too young to know her, so it doesn't hurt to talk about." Spitfire nodded, somewhat relieved.

"Is your Dad good with it?" Spitfire asked. Rainbow nodded.

"Yeah. When I told him he just hugged me and told me to be happy." Rainbow smiled fondly.

"That's good." Spitfire grinned, as the conversation lulled again Spitfire got an idea. An idea she could easily see blowing up in her face in spectacular fashion in any myriad number of ways.

'Keep out of trouble.' Her brother's words echoed in her mind.

'Sorry Rapid…' she thought regretfully.

"Say, Rainbow…" she waited for Dash to look her in the eye, "What are you up to today?"

"Uh," Rainbow blushed again "Well I gotta find a hotel to stay at, and then tomorrow I start running the Manehatten weather team."

Spitfire sat up slightly, a smile on her lips. "Well Rainbow Dash, I happen to know my way around Manehatten, and I suddenly have found myself with a lot of time and not a lot to do, so would you like to hang out today, then maybe get some dinner together later?"

Rainbow was fairly convinced she her heart had stopped at some point during the proposal.

"L—like a date?" she asked nervously. Spitfire pretended to think it over for a moment.

"Well we could make it a proper date if you'd like." She smiled "And I promise, no strings attached. If you don't like it, I'll never bring it up again and word of it will never reach Wonderbolt ears. Cross my heart, hope to die." She said as she pantomimed the gesture on her chest. Despite all her concern and nerves, nothing in the world could've stopped the smile that bloomed on Rainbow's face.

"That sounds awesome!"

---

And that's chapter 3. Please leave a comment if anyone actually likes this, otherwise I've got no way of knowing what I'm doing right or wrong.

After finishing their brunch, the two Pegasi trotted down towards the cities bustling commercial district. Spitfire took care to point out all the interesting locations she'd been to during the semi-regular trips she'd taken to Manehatten during her time as a Wonderbolt. Fancy restaurants where the team had been invited by wealthy sponsors, exclusive clubs they went to after shows for private parties, and even a run down rat-hole of a bar that Spitfire swore up and down was the single greatest pub in Equestria. Rainbow was understandably skeptical about that one.

Rainbow kept pace beside her, entranced by every little story and always looking for more details. Her nerves were much easier to ignore when she was moving around and burning energy. Flying would have been better, but that option was unavailable for obvious reasons. As excited as she was to be spending her whole day with Spitfire, there was a question that had been bouncing around the back of her mind since they had left the diner. She waited for a break in the conversation, and enough built up nerve, before she spoke up.

"Hey, Spitfire?" she asked skittishly.

"Yeeesss?" Spitfire drawled playfully.

"So, um, that is if you don't mind me asking," Dash rambled, earning an amused look from Spitfire, 'were all those stories about you and Soarin true?"

Spitfire sighed and shook her head, causing Rainbow to panic slightly.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—"

"Whoa, Rainbow!" Spitfire patted her shoulder calmingly "Easy there, I'm not upset"

"Oh, phew." Rainbow sighed, her posture relaxing noticeably.

"Honestly I had just kinda forgot about those setups." She admitted as she resumed her walk.

"They were setups?" Rainbow asked, trotting to catch up with the Wonderbolt. Spitfire giggled lightly.

"Yeah," Spitfire laughed, "Soarin, Celestia bless the big softie, was going through a nasty spat with a couple of tabloids that were publishing smear articles claiming he was dating colts. There were also rumors spreading that I was a fillyfooler. So to counter the rumors, Soarin and I got set up on a bunch of publicity dates. It was arranged so that we were always standing next to each other before and after shows, we'd have meetings about team business over coffee at public cafés, and every now and then we'd have to get 'caught' sharing longing glances and sly touches." Spitfire giggled deviously.

"Wait, what?" Rainbow blurted. Spitfire stopped in her tracks and leaned close to the cyan mare, giving Rainbow her very best bedroom eyes.

"Oh Rainbow Dash, so adorably naïve." She said in her most sultry voice. Rainbow's wings shot up almost as fast as her face went from blue to red. Spitfire nearly fell over laughing.

"Th—that is so not cool!" Rainbow squeaked once she regained some semblance of control.

"Oh—oh wow…" Spitfire struggled to speak through her laughter "Y—your face, was so—so" she burst into another fit of laughter before sitting heavily, clutching her sides "Oh—ow I—I can't breathe." She snickered.

"Karma's a pain in the flank." Rainbow marveled aloud, sitting beside Spitfire and patting her back gently.

"Oh boy," Spitfire gasped, directing a broad smile to Rainbow "Look at the bright side, Dash."

"What bright side?" Rainbow eyed her incredulously.

"At least you didn't pop a wingie during a public meet and greet."

Rainbow snorted, a lopsided smirk forming on her face.

"Who did that?" she asked impishly.

"My brother." Spitfire chuckled.

"Why do I get the feeling you had something to do with that?" Rainbow eyed the Wonderbolt suspiciously. Spitfire tried her best to look innocent.

"I cannot confirm or deny that I may or may not have whispered a…colorful comment on the quality of some mare's flank."

Rainbow struggled to restrain a giggle "You are eeeeevil."

"Maybe, but I make it look good." Spitfire puffed her chest out. "Besides, he put powdered sugar in my uniform. So he deserved a little humiliation. It took me hours to get it out of my fur and feathers." Spitfire grumbled.

"I wish I had a brother or sister like that, it must be so cool!" Rainbow grinned.

"Yeah, we're kinda like very close enemies." Spitfire giggled "He's a pain in my flank, but I love the big dope." Rainbow laughed for a moment before another question entered her mind.

"Spitfire?"

"Allegedly." The Wonderbolt answered lightheartedly.

"You're so confident and cool," Rainbow started, earning the faintest of blushes from the golden-furred mare "why would you need to have a fake coltfriend if you don't swing that way?" she asked, her brow furrowing slightly in confusion.

Spitfire sighed a bit, "Well, it's, hm … how do I explain this." Spitfire put her hoof to her chin for a moment. "Well Dash, I know you're a big fan, so tell me, about what do you know about how the Wonderbolts get their funding?"

Rainbow thought for a moment before answering, "Well according to all the magazines I've seen, you get baseline funding from the military which and then pull in additional revanue from commercial and private sponsorships."

Spitfire nodded, "That's mostly correct, but a bit out of date. About five years ago the military stopped providing funds to the Wonderbolts, mostly because our success meant that ticket revenues and sponsorships more than met our budget needs. It's great for the team, but it does make for some … problems." She scowled.

"Whaddaya mean?" Rainbow queried, subconsciously edging closer to the older mare.

"When I got my first interview with the Wonderbolts, I was in a relationship with a mare at the time, she came with me to the interview to wish me good luck." Spitfire smiled at the memory "Well, the previous team Captain and our current team manager, Arcus, asked me about that relationship. I told them we were dating, and they told me that if I wanted to be on the team, I would have to keep that relationship secret."

"What? Why?" Rainbow gasped, feeling her hackles rise at the very notion. Spitfire shrugged sadly, a distant look coming over her.

"It's just business, really. The Wonderbolts have an image to maintain. The uniform, the tricks, the acts, it's all to glorify what's best about Pegasus culture. We're family friendly, nonpartisan, and controversy free. That's the image that sells, that's the image we have to keep for our sponsors. Anytime a team member becomes embroiled in a controversy, the situation is resolved quietly. For example; Soarin's situation with the muckrakers. We solved it by never directly addressing it. Other times, Arcus has had to take more drastic actions." Spitfire explained. Rainbow nodded, getting the idea of what 'drastic actions' probably meant.

"So, um…what happened with your marefriend? I—I mean if you don't mind me asking!" Rainbow panicked slightly, suddenly wondering if Fluttershy felt this nervous everyday. Spitfire smiled and chuckled softly.

"She was alright with it at first," Spitfire looked up to the sky longingly "but as the weeks turned into months, and I spent less and less time around Cloudsdale she got fed up with it and made me an ultimatum. It was her, or The Wonderbolts." Spitfire's shoulders sank and her gaze fell to the ground "I had been offered the office of Team Captain the day before. I was gonna celebrate it with her. Turns out it was the last time I'd see her."

"That's horrible." Rainbow said, gently resting a hoof on Spitfire's shoulder. The Wonderbolt patted Rainbow on the back and smiled.

"Being a Wonderbolt makes for some hard choices in life Dash, some of them will stick with you for a long time." She admitted candidly, Rainbow nodded.

"Have you dated since then?" she asked curiously. Spitfire chuckled.

"Well depending on how today turns out, then I will have had between zero and one dates since then." She smirked at the pink tint gracing Rainbow's cheeks again.

"Let me ask you Dash," Spitfire started, standing resume their walk through town. Rainbow fell into step beside her, "have you ever been on a date with a mare before?"

"Um…kinda yes, kinda no." Rainbow admitted shyly, causing Spitfire to raise and eyebrow.

"Now this I gotta hear." She prodded.

"About five or six years ago, I worked up the courage to ask my friend Fluttershy out. In hindsight, I think she only said yes cause she didn't want to hurt my feelings." Rainbow blushed deeply, though the memory buoyed her embarrassment with a pleasant smile "I figured out pretty quick that she wasn't into it, but she humored me for the day."

"Aww, she sounds like a sweet girl." Spitfire commented.

"Heh, yeah she is. In retrospect, I'd say she's the closest thing I've ever had to a sister." Rainbow grinned. The two settled into a comfortable silence for a while before Spitfire turned to the weather mare again.

"So Dash," Spitfire asked with a friendly smile "Wanna catch a movie?"

"As long as it's not one of those boring romantic comedies." Rainbow answered, Spitfire gagged melodramatically.

"I think I'd rather suck face with my brother than suffer through one of those!" she shuddered "And Rapid has terrible breath."

Rainbow giggled and hopped onto her rear hooves, using her wings to stabilize herself "They're all the same! Stallion meets mare, she hates him, then through a series of wacky misadventures they slowly get closer and closer until it they sleep together, then one of them takes something completely out of context and there's a twenty minute crying montage before they reconcile in front of a large crowd of ponies professing their eternal love and GAG ME WITH A STICK!" Rainbow pantomimed elaborate gestures with her rant, leaving Spitfire clutching her sides for breath.

"Oh, oh! Don't forget the part where she's about to marry another stallion and he crashes into the wedding and tells her why she can't marry the other guy!" Spitfire laughed loudly, Rainbow's laughter forced her to plant all four hooves firmly back on the ground. Once both mares had managed to calm down and catch their breath, Spitfire stood and motioned for Rainbow to follow her.

"I was thinking something more explosion-y." Spitfire grinned. "Sound like fun to you?"

"Hay yeah!" Rainbow agreed.

"Then onwards!" Spitfire stuck a hoof out ahead of her as she struck her best action pose, the kind normally reserved for propaganda posters. "To adventure!"

Rainbow giggled and snapped a crisp salute

"Yes Ma'am!"

The two walked side by side for a while in comfortable silence, each taking advantage of the period to assess their thoughts. For Spitfire, she struggled to remember when was the last time she had so much fun without flying. Once she had gotten Rainbow distracted from her anxiety, the weather mare had opened up resplendently. Spitfire certainly wouldn't get her hopes up, especially not after only a few hours of casual hanging out with the younger mare, but the prospect of things developing was far from unpleasant. Dash certainly understood the intrinsic need to fly, she had a good head on her shoulder, and it didn't hurt that she was very easy on the eyes. Plus, if Spitfire played her cards right, maybe she could learn the Rainboom after all.

'No!' The Wonderbolt mentally kicked herself. 'No, we are not going there! I am not leading this mare on just so I can learn a fancy new trick!' she berated herself more while maintaining a casual smile on the outside.

Her errant thought did highlight a potentially problematic situation if things did work out between her and Dash, specifically if or when she broke the news to Arcus and principal team. She knew Rapidfire and Soarin would be on her side, Arcus would (probably) tell her to keep it secret, but Fleetfoot and Blaze would probably give her no small amount of headaches. She could already hear Fleetfoot badgering her endlessly that the Wonderbolts deserved to know the Rainboom, Blaze's more subtle persuasions that the training could at least benefit the team immeasurably.

Spitfire's problem would be that she couldn't fully disagree with either of them. Whatever training Rainbow had figured out to perform a Rainboom probably would make any pegasus a better flier. Likewise she didn't think it was necessarily fair for only one pony in all of the world to know something as awe inspiring as that. But on the other hoof, perhaps it was the Rainboom's exclusivity that made it so special. If any pegasus could do it on command, would it still bring joy to the eyes of those who saw it? Would it still send the world into that instant of silence just before the visible light spectrum shattered? Could she bring herself to be the mare that took the extraordinary and made it ordinary? Did any pony have that right?

Spitfire turned slightly so she could better see the young flier beside her. Rainbow was unique even amongst Pegasi. Her unique polychromatic mane and tail, her athleticism, and indeed her loyalty were all remarkable in their own rights. Combined it was almost unreal. Spitfire felt heat building in her cheeks when Rainbow noticed her staring.

'Oh ponyfeathers I think I'm developing a crush.' She cursed herself. 'Good job there Spits, way to be pathetic.'

"Uh, Spitfire?" Rainbow asked, breaking the Wonderbolt of her treasonous thoughts "You okay in there?"

"Yup!" Spitfire shot back, swinging her hips to playfully bump Rainbow's. She couldn't resist a giggle from the streak of red that formed on the weather manager's face.

"Wow, you really don't have much dating practice do you?" She smiled. Rainbow hung her head in shame, her body tensing slightly when Spitfire's good wing draped over her back.

"Hey, come on, chin up now." Spitfire softly spoke "We all gotta start somewhere, it just looks like you get to start here and now with me."

Rainbow's eyes went wide for a moment, her cheeks burning red "Wait, you mean…"
Spitfire laughed, using her wing to pat Rainbow's back.

"Come on Rainbow, first dates aren't supposed to be spent walking the streets!" She grinned brightly

Spitfire led Rainbow down a few more blocks to the local cinema. The two perused the posters adorning the side of the building before setting on what looked like an interesting film called Blazing Saddles. Spitfire paid for both tickets, much to Rainbow's embarrassment, though Rainbow managed to insist on paying for the snacks. Though upon seeing the heavily inflated prices for a bucket of popcorn and two drinks, she silently regretted that decision.

The two set themselves up in the top row of the surprisingly empty theater, though in fairness it was a bit early in the day for most ponies to be out to movies. And, despite Rainbow's professional opinion, it was indeed a nice day outside. As the lights dimmed and the previews began to play both mares made themselves comfortable. Spitfire sat with Rainbow on her left side so she wouldn't accidentally bump the injured wing.

After the annoyingly long previews were over the movie began in earnest with the titles emblazoned on the screen in bold lettering over a sweeping shot of the San Palomino Desert. Spitfire smiled and half watched the movie, half watched Rainbow. As two earth ponies pushing a handcart along an under construction railway, Spitfire took a large sip of her drink. Then the first pony started speaking and Spitfire's drink nearly exited through her nose.

"Come on, boys! The way you're lollygaggin' around here with them picks and them shovels, you'd think it was a hundert an' twenty degree. Can't be more than a hundert an' fourteen."

Things devolved quickly from there, both mares trying to survive their snacks and the movies relentless and raunchy humor. About twenty minutes into the film, once the humor had slowed enough that Spitfire felt safe enough to eat or drink she cast a glance over to her date. Rainbow was smiling brightly, here eyes affixed to the screen.

Spitfire took a chance and wrapped her left foreleg around Rainbow's shoulders. Rainbow gasped lightly, her posture stiffening before she managed to relax. Spitfire could feel the younger mare trembling. She rubbed her hoof reassuringly against Rainbow's shoulder, subtly encouraging the mare not to worry. Slowly but surely, the weather mare did relax, even leaning into Spitfire's sidelong embrace.

By the time the movie had almost reached it's midpoint, Rainbow had relaxed to the point of almost snuggling with Spitfire, her head resting lightly against the Wonderbolt's shoulder. There was something that Spitfire couldn't quite explain about the embrace. Something she hadn't quite felt before, even in her longer lasting relationships. Those had always felt good, safe, and comfortable. But this simply felt right.

Then the film shifted to a scene involving a group of stallions sitting around a campfire, drinking black coffee and eating baked beans. The mood vanished in mortified laughter.

After the film was over, Spitfire and Rainbow Dash exited the cinema together, each quoting lines and laughing the whole way. Spitfire noticed that Rainbow was walking closer to her than she had been earlier. It was a small gesture, but it signaled to the Wonderbolt that Rainbow was feeling more comfortable with the idea of a relationship.

'Don't get ahead of yourself, Spitfire.' She reprimanded herself.

"That was the best movie ever!" Rainbow beamed happily, her excitement and energy nearly contagious. "Thanks for buying the tickets." She added bashfully.

"Well lets see now, I got to see an awesome movie, got some free snacks, and had an awesome mare to spend the time with, I call that a hay of a deal!" Spitfire winked.

"Yeah, I am pretty awesome," Rainbow smirked "But you're pretty good too." she retorted, playfully elbowing Spitfire's ribs.

"Ooo, somepony thinks she's a hotshot." Spitfire challenged, her playful tone and noticeable grin not doing much to cover the fun she was having. Rainbow made a show of polishing her hoof against her chest in the most disinterested way she could manage.

"Well, I've only saved the world a couple times, done a few Rainbooms. Nothin' real big." She winked to Spitfire.

"Too bad my wing is messed up," Spitfire countered with a light elbow of her own "otherwise I might have to embarrass you in front of everypony."

"Oh, it is so on!" Rainbow grinned, her competitive streak forcing its way to the surface. Spitfire couldn't contain the laughter any longer, and pulled Rainbow into a sidelong hug with one foreleg.

"Okay then, a race it will be."

"R—really?" Rainbow perked up, almost giddy at the idea of racing her idol.

"Really really." Spitfire nodded "And every pony will get to see just how cute you look when you're embarrassed." The Wonderbolt said with a wink.

"I don't do cute!" Rainbow protested, even as her face turned beet red.

"Somepony forgot her floaties." Spitfire teased in a singsong manner.

"I—wai…What?" Rainbow shot Spitfire a befuddled stare.

"Floaties. You know? Swimming in Denial?" Spitfire explained. Rainbow simply blinked.

"That is the weirdest line ever." She deadpanned.

"Nevermind," Spitfire groaned, resisting the urge to facehoof and make a further fool of herself. "So Dash, what should we do next?" she asked. Rainbow took a moment to look up to the sun; quickly gauging approximately how much daylight was left.

"Well, before it gets too late I should find a hotel to stay in. You wouldn't happen to know of any affordable places nearby would you?" She asked. Spitfire thought for a moment, she was used to having her booking hoofed to her by Arcus or a member of the support staff. That said she still took personal trips from time to time, though her budget was probably far more flexible than the salary a weather manager would afford.

"Well," she started slowly "I know that anything along Main Street is good quality. They usually have pretty good prices too from what I remember." Rainbow nodded, her wings instinctively spreading before she remembered Spitfire's injury. She blushed and grinned apologetically.

"Sorry. I'm not used to walking everywhere." She admitted. Spitfire shrugged nonchalantly.

"Meh neither am I. Ah well, that's life. No sense crying about it now." Spitfire smiled. She couldn't blame Rainbow for wanting to fly; it was simply the nature of a pegasus to be in the skies. Setting those thoughts aside for the time being she took a step ahead of Rainbow and motioned for the weather mare to follow. "Shall we?"

"Right behind you." Rainbow answered. Spitfire gasped melodramatically, pressing a hoof to her chest and feigning outrage.

"Why Rainbow, such a perverse filly!" To Spitfire's mild disappointment, Rainbow was getting wise to her tricks.

"Oh please, your plot isn't that hot." She rolled her eyes. Spitfire smirked.

"So you have been looking." She winked. Rainbow's face turned crimson again.

"No! I—Ju…you….wh—" She pressed her hoof to her face and groaned "I crashed right into that one."

Spitfire patted Rainbow's withers gently.

"Don't worry, if anypony asks just tell them it was an unscheduled snack stop."

"That is so wrong…" Rainbow commented with a lopsided smirk.

Spitfire led Rainbow through the bustling Manehatten streets with the confidence granted with frequent travel experience. She was grateful that she was both in Manehatten and out of uniform. In Cloudsdale, every Wonderbolt was a celebrity, and every pegasus knew what they looked like without the uniforms thanks to a very talented, albeit intrusive, group of paparazzi photographers that seemed to make camp outside of the teams headquarters.

In Manehatten, there were a few ponies in the media circles that knew the team out of uniform, but the market for the photos was almost nonexistent. Earth ponies and Unicorns enjoyed watching the team perform like every other pony, but beyond that they cared very little about the private lives of celebrity Pegasi.

It was this indifference that made Manehatten a popular vacation spot for Spitfire and her team. Without their uniforms and without the familiar windswept look to their manes, they blended in very easily with the rest of the city. Some of the team even preferred to spend the off-season living in the earth pony city. She knew at least half the team leased apartments year round for that express purpose. Spitfire could certainly understand why.

If she were in Cloudsdale, the press would have been swarming her the instant she set hoof out of the hospital. She didn't even want to think about attempting a legitimate date in Cloudsdale. The fake dates with Soarin resulted in hours of being stalked by ponies with cameras. The mere thought of showing up with a mare for a date in Cloudsdale was enough to make Spitfire feel queasy. She snuck a glance at Rainbow as they walked, the younger mare's attention currently distracted by the Manehatten architecture. How would she handle that sort of spotlight, was it fair to ask her to endure that if this one night turned out to be only the first of many? Spitfire bit back a sigh. She didn't know what could happen, and Spitfire absolutely hated not knowing. Rounding a corner she spotted a familiar red unicorn trotting casually in their direction, his eyes focused on a notepad he was writing in. Spitfire's eyes went wide.

"Oh buck my life." She uttered. Without thinking, she hooked a foreleg around Rainbow and pulled the oblivious mare back. The comedy of Rainbow's very surprised yelp was lost on her as she dragged the weather manager into the nearest shop.

"What the hay Spitfire?" Rainbow groused, a look of bewilderment spreading over her face when she noticed the mare in question crouched low, only her eyes peering out of the storefront's bay window.

"Sorry, sorry. We gotta lay low for a minute." She whispered, moving up slightly to get a better view.

"Uh … what are you doing?" Rainbow asked.

"Looking out for him." Spitfire answered quickly.

"Who is him? Are we talking a pony or some weird two legged thing with crab claw arms instead of hooves." Rainbow smirked. Spitfire stared at her in bewilderment before shaking the image free of her mind.

"Unicorn…a unicorn named Red Top. He runs the Manehatten Enquirer." She said.

"I'm guessing that's a bad thing?" Rainbow surmised flatly.

"It's a gossip paper. They find a piece of news, they write up whatever story they think will sell to fit with it, and they don't have any sense of shame. There was a DJ not too long ago they did a cover on, not sure if or how she recovered from that. It was…bad." Spitfire explained.

"Okay, so, uh…why don't you just tell him to buck off?" Rainbow asked, the simplicity of the question giving Spitfire a chuckle.

"I wish it was that simple." She answered sadly. Sucking in a sharp breath through her nose, she ducked down a bit "There he is."

"Yeah, there are several unicorns on the street." Rainbow noted flatly. "Which one is he?"

"Look for the orangey-red one with a notepad." Spitfire replied.

Rainbow spotted him quickly enough, a tall unicorn stallion that had the majority of his attention in the notebook levitating in front of his face. Saddlebags obscured the mark on his flank. As he made his way past the storefront window Spitfire pressed flat against the wall, doing her best impression of a chameleon, which wasn't a particularly good one.

Rainbow studied the stallion curiously, he seemed like a normal enough unicorn to her, but she wasn't exactly a celebrity. The only one of the elements of harmony who ever got any level of celebrity treatment was Twilight, and that was more due to her status as Celestia's protégé than any other role. Red Top seemed to notice her staring, his gaze shifting from his notepad to her. Rainbow nodded politely, a gesture that Red smiled and politely returned. He never broke from his trot as he disappeared down the street in the throng of Manehatten ponies.

"Well," Rainbow started "Looks like he's gone now."

"Phew, that's a relief." Spitfire replied, flopping against the floor.

"You two planning on buying something, or just playing hide and seek?" Groused an older mare from behind them. The question startled both Pegasi into finally noticing that the shop they had spontaneously chosen to hide in was, in fact, a bridal shop. With a quick apology, both mares made a beeline for the exit and trotted quickly down the street. Spitfire was the first to break the awkward silence between them.

"We shall never speak of this again." Spitfire insisted. Rainbow smirked, sensing an opportunity for precious vengeance.

"Gee Spitfire, not even one full date and you're already trying to plan our wedding." She chided playfully. Spitfire nearly tripped at the implication, barely managing to catch herself in a more-or-less dignified manner.

"Marriage? Me?" Spitfire guffawed "As if I could be tied down so easily!"

"Tied down, huh?" Rainbow mused, sending Spitfire into cold horror as she realized the implications of what she had just said. She slowly looked over to Rainbow, who was doing her very best to keep her smirk reigned in.

"Kinky." Rainbow said, her voice intonating the Hedley LaMane from the film they had just seen together.

"And now it's my turn for the sudden snack stop." She groaned. Rainbow patted her on the back and smiled.

"Don't worry Spitfire, you're still cool." She grinned brightly. Spitfire chuckled, silently thanking any and every god, demon, and spirit that her brother had not been present for that exchange.

"Come on Dash, let's find you a hotel and then get some dinner." She said cheerily.

"Sounds good." Rainbow replied, giving Spitfire a playful salute.

Together they trotted through the bustling city streets until they found a cluster of hotels along the Main Street strip for Rainbow to peruse. Spitfire found yet another surprise in the younger mare as she proved to be very money conscious. She went to each hotel and spent several minutes talking with the ponies behind the counters about long-term renting rates, incentives, and any business discounts they offered before she settled on one of the few hotels that offered pegasus cloud beds in the upper rooms. Once she had filled out the papers and received a key the two exited the building to find themselves being lightly rained upon.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Rainbow glared angrily up at the skies "It took those ponies all day to set up this?!"

"Maybe they had to build the clouds themselves." Spitfire snickered.

"Oh I am gonna kick their flanks so hard tomorrow that they'll feel it next month." The young weather manager promised. Spitfire couldn't help but smile.

"You take a lot of pride in your work." She noted. Rainbow nodded slightly, her magenta eyes keenly studying the overcast sky.

"There's no point in doing something unless you intend to give it all you've got." Dash explained. Spitfire nodded, leaving the easy innuendo joke alone for once.

'Ha ha, give it all—No! Shut up brain!' Spitfire cursed her own dirty mind.

"I can understand that." Spitfire said, "I expect everypony on the team to hold absolutely nothing back for a show. We live to fly, so why not act like it."

Rainbow nodded, seemingly more focused on the cloud cover than Spitfire's comment. A more normal mare might have been irritated by the seeming indifference, but Spitfire wasn't just any pony. She knew that look, the look of a mare who was fiercely proud of her work and took it very seriously. The Wonderbolt saw that same look in the mirror every time she was preparing for a show. She had seen it in her parent's faces when she and Rapid were little, and it was in Arcus's face every time she saw him.

Spitfire couldn't be irritated with a pony like that. She respected them far too much to be annoyed by it. That said, she still wasn't a weather pony, nor did she plan to become one.

"So, uh, mind telling me what you're lookin' for?" she asked. There was a momentary pause before Rainbow seemed to realize she was being spoken to.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." She pointed her hoof up to the sky, drawing Spitfire's attention to a line of slowly moving clouds "See the movement there? Where the clouds are drifting west?"

Spitfire squinted for a moment, her eyes scanning the cloud cover until she spotted the movement Dash was talking about "Yeah?"

"That's the trade winds. Whoever's the interim manager up there keeps placing them to high. It's not that big of a problem for water distribution, but it is making the cloud pushers work way too hard just to keep the rain in the city." She sighed "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be getting annoyed about this."

"Hey," Spitfire put her hoof on Rainbow's shoulder "There is no shame in taking pride in your work."

Something about that comment made Rainbow flinch visibly. Spitfire noticed the flinch and the look that flashed over Rainbow's face. It was a deep sense of unresolved hurt that lingered in the younger mare. Spitfire held her tongue, whatever it was she would leave alone until Rainbow was ready to talk about it, if she ever felt like opening up about it.

"I guess." Rainbow answered softly.

"Come on," Spitfire patted her back "Let's get some dinner, my treat."

"I can pay my share." Rainbow protested.

"Consider it a belated 'thanks for saving my life' dinner." Spitfire winked.

"Fine," Rainbow smirked slightly, "But I get to pay for the next one."

"Oooh, I suppose." Spitfire replied playfully. The implicit promise of a second date with Rainbow Dash was definitely not an unpleasant prospect.

Spitfire led them to a fancier place she knew on upper Main Street simply called Club White. The simply furnished establishment had a large bar area with many small round tables set in front of a small performance stage. Booths lined most of the walls that were adorned with countless photos of performers and celebrities that had either played at the Club, or had given it their patronage.

To the surprise of both mares, a griffon was the performer for an evening. He was sitting comfortably on a bar stool with an acoustic guitar strapped over his shoulder. The instrument was only playable by griffons, their natural fingers and talons giving them the dexterity to play complicated arpeggios and patterns that even prodigal unicorn musicians had difficulty in replicating. Beside the stage was a tip jar half-full of bits, and beside him was a box of records available for sale.

"He can sing pretty good." Rainbow commented as they were shown to a table.

"Yeah he can." Spitfire agreed. Both mares opened their menus, Spitfire casually reading through the options while Rainbow gasped.

"S—Spitfire, I—I can't asked you to pay these prices!" She stared almost horrified at the Wonderbolt. Spitfire smiled calmly, her hoof reaching out and resting on Dash's.

"Rainbow, this is my treat. Order anything you like." She smiled. Rainbow's ears folded back timidly.

"I—I just don't wanna be a moocher." She lamented.

"Don't worry, Dash. Just relax and have some fun." She reassured her date. Rainbow blushed and nodded lightly.

She ordered a comparatively cheap entrée and a glass of water while Spitfire ordered herself something slightly more expensive. The griffon started a introspective song as their food was delivered that both mares found entrancing.

"That's a really pretty song." Spitfire commented absently.

"Yeah, it really is." Rainbow agreed.

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain.
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend,
but I always thought that I'd see you baby, one more time again.

---

Comments and feedback are always welcome

Spitfire and Rainbow Dash stayed in the restaurant long after their plates were emptied, their table cleared, and their appetites sated. Both fliers watched the stage with rapt attention on the griffon sitting on a lonely stage, a pale spotlight washing him in its soft glow. Every song he put his heart and soul into, pausing only long enough to mutter a shy 'thank-you' between songs as the ponies surrounding him made their accolades clear. His demeanor between songs, as well as his soft singing reminded Rainbow very much of Fluttershy. It was a stark reminder to the young weather manager that Griffons weren't all like Gilda.

Eventually his set came to an end, and after packing away his guitar, he sat at the bar where the Club had provided him a free meal and drink. Rainbow and Spitfire took that as their cue to leave. They each deposited a few bits into the Griffon's tip jar and purchased a copy of his album before they left.

The rain had stopped by the time they exited the Club, the amber glow of the street lamps reflecting off the small accumulations of water on the damp streets and sidewalks. A gentle breeze put a light chill in the air, sending a mild shiver through both mares. They kept close as they walked.

"Thanks again for buying dinner Spitfire," Rainbow said for at least the fourth time that evening, "you really didn't have to do that."

Spitfire smiled kindly, "I know I didn't have to, Dash, but I wanted to."

"Fine, then I guess I'll just have to walk you home." Rainbow grinned. Spitfire found herself taken aback by the suggestion. She had never heard that before from any pony she had dated.

"Hey now," She protested, "I'm a big filly, I can walk myself."

"Yeah, but your wing is messed up." Rainbow pointed out, "I can fly back to my place no sweat."

Spitfire was about to protest when she noticed the pleading look in Rainbow's eyes.

"Fine, just this once." She acquiesced, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

Rainbow grinned, happy for the small win. The pair enjoyed the quiet walk back to Spitfire's hotel that was located in a wealthier part of town. Both mares paused outside of the hotel's pavilion, Rainbow was rendered speechless by the opulence of the building, even though it was more or less what she expected.

"Whoa, you guys stay here?" She marveled aloud.

"Usually. Sometimes different places offer better group deals."

"Wow, must be nice to be famous."

"It has some perks." Spitfire admitted, a peculiar feeling tickling at the back of her mind. It was almost like a disappointment that the evening had to end, something she couldn't recall feeling before with any date.

"So, Dash," She turned to face the younger mare "how was your first date?"

For all her bravado and pride as a tough pony, Rainbow found her heart fluttering at the question, "I—It was awesome!" She exclaimed.

"Glad to hear it," Spitfire replied, genuinely glad to see the weather mare happy "So, want to do it again sometime?"

Rainbow felt her heart stop momentarily. It didn't seem real; her idol was asking her out for a second date! Fear and indecision threatened to overwhelm her. Before she could psyche herself out, she decided to take the jump.

"S—sure! That would be awesome." She smiled; her cheeks burning red and a slight tremble running through her athletic frame.

"Great! What are you doing Wednesday night after your shift?

"Um…well," She paused a moment to think, "I, uh, I hadn't really thought about it. I've never been to Manehattan before."

"Well then, how about you and I meet up at Perry's Cherry Diner again, and from there we'll make it a date."

"O—okay, that would be cool!" Rainbow smiled nervously.

"Awesome, 6:00 sound good?" Spitfire asked, making an educated guess as to Rainbow's work schedule.

"I'll be there!" Rainbow affirmed happily.

"Great! I'll see you Wednesday Dash." Spitfire winked before disappearing into her hotel. Rainbow felt her cheeks burn again, but what struck her as more curious was how strange she felt being left to herself again. With a flap of her wings, she took to the skies. A good flight would clear her head.

Spitfire felt a peculiar spring to her step as she made her way up to her room, humming to herself the whole way. What she had expected to be a miserable start to a miserable month had proven to be one of the best days she had in recent memory. It had been a no-pressure, no-commitment day with a likeable mare, which was more than Spitfire could say for any of her prospects since she became Captain.

Her tail swished happily as she came to her suite, if Wednesday was half as fun as today had been, maybe the next couple months wouldn't be so bad after all. Fishing the key from her saddlebag, she unlocked the door and pushed it open. Her thoughts were distracted by the crumple of paper underhoof when she stepped into the darkened room.

Looking down she spotted a folded sheet of paper, now crumpled along the section she was standing on. Quirking her eyebrow curiously, she made her way fully into the room and closed the door before opening the note. She quickly recognized Rapidfire's impressively sloppy writing.

'Hey Spits, I swung by around six to see if you wanted to grab some drinks with us, but I guess you're out by yourself. Soarin picked me for the El-Tee spot, I think I'll get him a gift. Do you think he likes Marshmallows or would he find that cannibalistic? Can't be too careful. I'll stop by and see how you're doing tomorrow if I can. Hope you've kept outta trouble.

…

Buck it, who am I kidding; just don't do anything you want Arcus, Mom, or Dad to read in the papers.

-Rapid

p.s. I took your uniform for cleaning. The buckin' thing stinks.'

Spitfire facehoofed, the note reminded her of a slew of issues that could prove highly problematic if she continued to date Rainbow Dash. She put the note on her nightstand, determined not to let the challenging realities of her life ruin a great evening. Those could wait until morning, and Spitfire couldn't think of a better time to think about those issues than when she would be out on the town scouting out places to take Rainbow on Wednesday. Her mind made up, she tossed her saddlebags onto the king size bed and raided one of the small bottles of wine from the well-stocked minibar her room contained before she started the water for a hot bubble bath. While she waited for the tub to fill, she uncapped the small bottle and slipped a straw into the bottle-which she loudly slurped from.

'Eloquence, eat your heart out.' She snickered to herself.

Across town, in her decidedly less opulent hotel room, Rainbow Dash lay in her cloud bed, flat on her back, with a Daring Doo book resting on her chest. Two laps around the city hadn't cleared the thoughts from her head, nor had several chapters of Daring Doo, and she highly doubted brushing her teeth would prove much more helpful.

The day had been like a strange dream. A perfectly boring morning interrupted by a surprise encounter with her personal idol. An idol that then took her out on the first proper date she had ever been on and seemed genuinely keen on a second date. Rainbow pressed her hooves to her face and groaned.

She could kick a dragon in the face, charge the physical incarnation of chaos, and gleefully dive into a brawl with just her five friends against hundreds of changelings, but the prospect of seriously dating a mare was terrifying to her. Fluttershy and her Dad would be fine with it, but what about her other friends? What about her coworkers? What would it do to her chances of one day joining the Wonderbolts?

"What am I gonna do?" she lamented quietly. Sleep avoided her for most of the night.

By the time the sun had crested the horizon, Rainbow was already in the Manehattan weather office. The whole concept of a formal weather office was an alien idea to her Ponyville mindset. Then again, in Ponyville she only had to worry about a few dozen employees to cover all of the town's weather needs. Their 'office' in Ponyville was whatever shop they all agreed to meet at for breakfast. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best setup for the poor pegasus who was running her normal team during the exchange program.

Manehattan's staff was in the hundreds. Just on a logistical level, it was an unprecedented challenge for Rainbow. Still, Rainbow was not a quitter. If she could handle a day around Pinkie Pie, how much crazier could running a large weather team be? With a deep breath and a brave grin she stepped into her new office.

"Today is gonna be awesome!" She declared proudly.

'Today is gonna suuuuck.' She lamented. Three hours after her bold declaration, she found herself standing in front of several dozen Pegasi, each wearing a color-coded vest to denote their team.

"This is a battery cloud." Rainbow explained for what she was reasonably sure was the fourth time. She tilted her head towards a baseball-sized lump of gray cloud in her hoof, "Well, technically it's just a clump of regular cloud that I charged this morning, but that's not the point. It is roughly 4000 volts of electricity, which is roughly the yield of a static shock."

"W—what are we supposed to do with it?" asked a nervous sounding mare whose name Rainbow hadn't learned yet. Either way, her blue vest told Dash all she needed to know.

"You're on the rain team, right?" Rainbow asked, erring on the side of caution.

"Y—yes ma'am. I'm Dewdrop." She introduced herself. Rainbow forced a pleasant smile even as she was screaming inside.

"You don't do anything. Like I explained earlier, the rain teams are to keep clear of the thunderheads at all times. Only the cloud-pushers and the lightning wranglers should be handling them."

"W—what happens if one of the rain ponies handles them?" Dewdrop squeaked. Rainbow found herself wondering if Fluttershy had a long-lost sister.

"You might get a static shock if the cloud is inactive, or you could be on the receiving end of a full lightning bolt if the cloud is primed. Either way: Do. Not. Risk it." Rainbow growled.

"Thunderheads are the lightning wrangler's jobs," interrupted a light green stallion wearing an orange vest, "why are the cloud pushers here too?"

Rainbow answered by flying over to the stallion and holding the battery cloud close to his nose. The stallion yelped as his snout got zapped by the little cloud.

"There are only fifteen lightning certified Pegasi in Manehattan." Rainbow explained, "For a city this size, with all the clouds your team has to handle, there should be at least 60. Minimum."

"What's that got to do with my crew?" The stallion pouted, rubbing his tingling nose delicately.

"I need Pegasi with natural lightning resistance, which is why I can handle this cloud without getting zapped."

"So you're gonna zap all the cloud pushers?" an amused stallion in a yellow vest postulated. Rainbow did know his name, Flash Cloud. He was the senior lightning wrangler in Manehatten.

"Well, your crew is gonna help with that." Rainbow smirked, "just for the sake of timeliness."

"Sweet." Flash grinned, eyeing the green stallion with nothing less than wicked intentions. The stallion didn't miss the look.

"I know where you live, Flash." He warned.

"I know where you nap, Headwind." Flash retorted cheerfully.

"Oh for Pete's sake." Rainbow mumbled as the two stallions exchanged playful insults. "Do you two need a few minutes in private?"

Both stallions stopped their bickering and faced Rainbow, Headwind mortified, Flash laughing his plot off.

"N—no ma'am!" he choked between laughs, "I'm good!"

"All right then," Rainbow hoofed the battery cloud over to him "I want a list of all the cloud pushers with potential to be certified for lightning wrangling by the end of the day."

Flash saluted, "You got it boss lady."

Rainbow smiled and dismissed Flash with the wave of a hoof before turning her attention to Headwind. "Alright, you get to come with me. We're gonna start placing these clouds right or my name isn't Rainbow Dash!"

Spitfire hummed as she walked the streets of Manehattan, the unbearable boredom having driven her from her hotel very quickly after she woke up that morning. After raiding the complimentary breakfast that the establishment provided in the lobby she had been struck with a bit of wanderlust. The Wonderbolt struggled to recall the last time she truly had no responsibilities to anypony but herself and, thusly, the opportunity to satiate such a desire. She glanced at her injured wing, the disappointment clear on her face.

Stepping outside she quickly noticed that the Manehattan skies were abuzz with activity. From Spitfire's position on the ground it appeared as though Rainbow was making good on her promise to kick some flanks in the weather crews. Dozens upon dozens of Pegasi filled the sky above her. Ponies in blue and orange vests worked in small teams to bring clouds down below the reach of the trade winds to heights of only a few hundred feet above the buildings.

Spitfire occasionally spotted a faint rainbow trail darting from team to team, never staying in one spot for more than a minute or two before disappearing in a multicolored flash. Spitfire smiled, glad the young Pegasus seemed to be having success in her new role. She couldn't wait to see Rainbow tomorrow evening and talk to her about her work.

Seeing the weather manager talk about her work, the frustration in her eyes at the little mistakes, the burning passion to make things better. It reminded Spitfire of her own passion for her work. She gave the Wonderbolts everything she had both in the air and behind the scenes. To her, there was simply nothing more beautiful than seeing a pony practicing their craft with skill and passion. Spitfire sighed; Wednesday night suddenly couldn't arrive fast enough.

She wandered the streets for the better part of the morning, window-shopping as she moved from block to block. After stopping in an outdoor diner for a light lunch consisting of a fruit salad and fresh lemonade, she made her way to one of the smaller parks that had a good view of the sky. She wasn't terribly surprised to see a dozen or so fillies and foals playing in and around the small playground, their respective parents or foalsitters lingering a small distance away.

Spitfire found herself a nice spot of soft grass under the shade of a large oak tree. Laying on her back, she put her forelegs behind her head and sighed contentedly. There were few 'wild' clouds in Equestria, a good weather team ensured that, however that had never stopped Spitfire from enjoying watching the weather teams do their work. Perhaps Rainbow had been right, the clouds were much nicer to watch up close.

"Captain Spitfire?" A stallion called from somewhere she couldn't see.

'Oh buck me…' She cringed internally when got a look at the stallion. He had a reddish-orange coat with a brown mane and soft brown eyes. Spitfire was suddenly glad she had forgotten to put a fresh bandage on her wing when she rolled out of bed that morning.

"Red Top," she regarded him coldly as she brought herself to a sitting position. "What brings you here?"

"Hey," he feigned a hurt look, "I take a day off now and then."

"In a park?" She asked disbelievingly.

Red Top sighed and pointed to a small unicorn filly and foal playing tag around the playground. The foal was a spitting image of Red Top, the same unkempt brown mane, and the same rusty brown coat. The filly's coat was tan, her mane a light silver color. Both were too young to have earned their cutie marks yet. Spitfire shot Red Top and incredulous glare, Red Top noticed the look.

"I'm out with my kids." He noted with a proud smile, noticing Spitfire's withering look he frowned "What? Is it really so hard to believe I have a family?"

"Well, given your…uh…work." She answered carefully. Red Top laughed.

"Fair point, but we all do what we must to pay the bills. Tell me Captain," he sat beside her, his eyes keeping track of his children "Word has it that a Wonderbolt was in the hospital the other day for an unspecified injury, and you were absent from the teams last show. Care to shed some light on it?"

"For inquiries about internal team matters, talk to our press office." Spitfire answered evenly.

"Yeah, but I have the team Captain sitting right here," he noted with a smirk, "the team captain who mysteriously misses the last performance of the season at the same time as I get a tip about an injury on the active roster. Tell me Spitfire, what brings a Wonderbolt to the ground?"

Spitfire had to force herself to look bored, a task not made easy by the potent mixture of anxiety and irritation the questions caused. She certainly didn't like Red Top, but she could at least respect the nosey Unicorn's gift for sniffing out stories. Arcus had made it very clear he was to be avoided, but he hadn't given her any detail on what to do if he stumbled across her. The wrong answer could very easily end her career, and she wasn't about to kick a pony where that pony's children could see. With a sigh, Spitfire decided to roll the dice and make something up.

"Health issues among team members are privileged information, if that pony wanted their health to be public knowledge, then you would know."

"Fair enough," he conceded politely "What about you?"

"I'm just here on holiday." She half-lied. Red Top cast a disbelieving glance at her.

"What?" she squawked, "I take them from time to time." She emphasized her point by returning to her relaxed position to watch a group of cloud pushers haul a large nimbus from the height of the trade winds to only a few hundred feet.

"Not a lot of Pegasi cloud watch from the ground." He noted. Spitfire smirked; it hadn't been an accusation, just a statement of fact. Most Pegasi didn't watch the clouds from the perspective of the so-called 'ground-pounders'.

"Point being?" She replied, doing her best to maintain a disinterested tone.

"No point," Red top answered casually, "just an observation."

Spitfire shrugged.

"Well, enjoy your vacation Captain, I'll certainly be in touch if there's any news." He smiled politely before trotting away.

Spitfire held her breath until she was sure he was gone, releasing it in a long sigh.

"Too close." She mumbled wearily, "That was too close."

She gazed up to the sky, her attention loosely focused on a group of Pegasi that were maneuvering smaller clouds around to provide even coverage. She didn't see a hint of Rainbow anywhere, probably a good sign for the young weather manager. To be busy was far better than to be bored, and Spitfire was fast earning a PhD in boredom.

With a groan, she rose back to her hooves and shook the grass from her coat. She needed to find something active to do. As she left the park she cast an annoyed look at the terrestrial ponies that surrounded her.

'How do you ponies live without wings?' she marveled, gritting her teeth in frustration. She wandered through the city for a while longer, noting a couple of promising looking venues for Wednesday, before ultimately making her way back to the Manehattan stadium. The Security ponies guarding the staff entrance recognized her immediately and let her pass without any interruption.

As she trotted through the concrete hallways she couldn't help but smile when the familiar sounds of arguing drifted to her ears. It probably wasn't a good sign for her long-term mental health that she enjoyed this sort of thing. Pushing her way through a set of wooden doors that led to a large conference room where the team held their meetings, she found herself suddenly the focus of attention.

"BOSS!" Misty exclaimed loudly, tackling Spitfire to the ground before the poor mare had a chance to react. "You gotta save us boss!"

"Misty…ow…" she cringed as she disentangled herself from the canary-colored mare. "Save you from what now?"

"Screw them, save me!" Rapid shouted from his position at one end of a conference table, Soarin directly opposite of him with a wicked smile.

"Heya Boss!" Soarin smiled at her quickly, before returning his attention to Rapidfire.

"Oh-kay, I think I'm missing some vital details." Spitfire mused out loud.

"Tomorrow is media day," Soarin explained "Misty, Fleetfoot, and Rapid drew the short straws."

"Ah." Spitfire clucked, an amused smirk teasing the corners of her mouth. Media day was the worst of all the off-season days for the team, a full twelve hours of interviews and photo shoots. Nopony on the team liked it, though some were certainly more…dramatic than others.

"P—please boss, you gotta save us." Misty mewled, her bottom lip quivering and her eyes swimming in unshed tears. Spitfire groaned and facehoofed.

"Misty, stop the waterworks. It's not nearly as persuasive as it used to be." She said flatly. Misty sighed and flopped onto her belly.

"Killjoy." She pouted.

"Yup, that's why I get paid the big bits." Spitfire boasted, patting Misty's head gently.

"I did it last year." She moaned like a filly that wanted a new toy. "Make Blaze do it."

"Come on Spits, I'm your brother!" Rapid pleaded from across the room. "Pretty please?"

"Medical leave, not my problem." Spitfire smiled. "Besides, Soarin's the boss now. Kiss his plot, not mine."

"Aww," Rapidfire pouted, "but … but his plot is s—"

"Finish that sentence and I will sell your pinions to the local library." Soarin growled.

"For Pete's sake," Spitfire facehoofed, "by the power vested in me as Captain emerita I now pronounce you two husband and wife." She said, waving her hoof at them in a blessing manner.

Misty burst into giggles at Spitfire's hooves while Soarin and Rapidfire exchanged an uncomfortable look. Their silence only lasted until Rapid's trademark smirk emerged.

"I call husband!" He grinned, winking at Soarin.

"I'm bigger then you." Soarin leered, ignoring the burst giggles from the two gutter brained mares in the room.

"Yeah, but you're soft like a mare." He smiled back. The larger stallion was taken aback momentarily until he hit upon an idea. He leaned to the side in a relaxed posture, flashing Rapid his most demure smile and bedroom eyes. The shift in his attitude left Rapidfire suddenly very uncomfortable.

"Oh honey," He purred in a voice that seemed factory built to make mares swoon, his wings relaxing into a low, half-open posture that Pegasi only used when they were getting very intimate with a lover, "be a dear and help me, just this once?"

Spitfire nudged Misty, who was transfixed by the scene in front of her.

"Go get a camera, this is gonna be hilarious." The former Captain whispered.

"Get it yourself boss, I'm actually enjoying the show." Misty shot back.

Spitfire rolled her eyes, but didn't press the issue. She wasn't about to miss how this ended. Soarin sauntered his way over to Rapidfire, who had unfortunately wedged himself in the corner of the room and had a look on his face that was roughly akin to a trapped mouse with an approaching cat.

"C—Come on now Blue," He held up his hooves in surrender, "we can talk about this."

Soarin didn't stop as he encroached into Rapid's personal space. Rapidfire squeaked uncomfortably when the larger stallion wrapped a foreleg around his shoulders and pulled him close. Soarin started to speak again, but was interrupted when Rapidfire planted a big wet kiss right on his lips.

"Gah!" both stallions recoiled, Soarin leaping away like he'd been burned.

"Celestia's great flaming plot dude, what the buck was that?" Soarin yelled, frantically trying to scrape the taste off his mouth.

"Oh stick a sock in it, I was just calling you on your bluff." An equally miserable Rapidfire answered.

"Uhg, didn't your Mother ever teach you to brush your teeth?"

"Hey now, you're no prize either! That apple pie isn't nearly as good from this end."

"I will give you 500 bits to do that with tongue!" Misty interjected between fits of laughter.

"A thousand if you do it on camera." Spitfire added.

"What kind of sister are you?" Rapidfire stared flatly at his twin.

"Hey, you kissed him all on your own." she sniffled melodramatically and wiped a fake tear from her eye. "I'm so proud."

Rapidfire glowered at the mare for a moment before exchanging a look with Soarin. Both stallions smirked, finding themselves in a rare moment of understanding.

"Alright Spits," Rapid started, the sentiment earning both mares sudden attention, "I'll make out with Soarin if Misty makes out with you."

"What?" Misty balked "Leave me outta this!"

"Where's the fun in that?" Spitfire asked. "I mean come on Rapid, I kiss mares on my own time."

"She's got a point." Soarin nodded "Oh! We should get Surprise in on this! She might go for it."

"Okay, I'm just gonna leave now before this gets really creepy." Misty said as she slowly retreated out of the room.

An awkward silence settled on the three after Misty left, eventually Spitfire broke it with a chuckle.

"I knew you two would be a cute couple." She smiled causing both stallions to groan and slink away from each other.

"I'm thinking divorce sounds good." Rapidfire grumbled.

"Yeah, irreconcilable differences and stuff." Soarin agreed.

"Wimps." Spitfire smirked "So, the last few minutes non-withstanding, how are things going here?"

"It's only been a day, sis." Rapidfire laughed. "Give us time to buck things up a bit."

"I got bored today, sue me." Spitfire shrugged.

"Hey, I know what I'm doing." Soarin pouted.

"I stopped by to check on you yesterday," Rapid said as he trotted up to give his sister a hug which she returned, "left you a note."

"I saw, thanks for taking the uniform to get cleaned. I've been meaning to do that." She replied.

"So I noticed, what'd you do yesterday? Have any fun?" he asked.

Spitfire found herself hesitating, unsure of exactly how much, or how little to tell them. Suddenly visiting the team no longer seemed like the best idea. Then again, Rapidfire was her brother, and Soarin was probably her closest friend. She trusted them both more then any living creature. She couldn't say she was in a relationship with Rainbow Dash. One date certainly wasn't enough for that. But Rainbow wasn't exactly the subtlest pony that Spitfire had ever known, and given how active she was in the skies it was only a matter of time somepony on the team spotted her.

"Yeah…yeah it was a great day." She used her rear hoof to kick the door closed.

"Okay, spill it. What happened?" Rapidfire eyed her knowingly.

"Well, I kinda…okay, you two need to keep this a secret for now, especially from Blaze and Fleetfoot."

"Huh?" Soarin's face scrunched in confusion.

"Yesterday I wasn't in my hotel cause I was hanging out with Rainbow Dash." She confessed. Both Rapidfire and Soarin's jaws fell open.

"She's in town!?" Rapid exclaimed a massive grin spreading across his.

"Yeah, she's running the weather team here for a couple months."

"That's awesome!" Soarin grinned.

"Yeah, I'm meeting her again tomorrow." Spitfire smiled. Rapidfire's excitement quickly turned to concern.
"Like, hang-out meet or date meet?" He asked.

"Uh…" she flubbed, caught off guard by the question.

"Oh no…Spits…" he put his head in his hooves. Soarin just shook his head.

"Hey, it's not like I haven't dated a mare before." She defended herself.

"Yeah, but this isn't just any mare." Soarin pointed out.

"Arcus will flip when he finds out." Rapid noted blithely Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Would it have killed you to keep out of trouble just once?"

"Alright look," Spitfire's temper flared slightly "First of all, it's just a date. To the casual observer it would just look like two ponies having dinner and talking. Second, it's not like I'm gonna sing a sappy love song in a karaoke bar then stick my tongue in her mouth and ask for her hoof in marriage. Thirdly neither of us is in this town for more then a couple of months, so I'll be surprised if this lasts to a third date. Either way I know what I'm doing Rapid."

Rapidfire locked eyes with his sister for a long moment before he let out a sigh and pulled her into another hug.

"I just don't wanna see you get hurt again." He said softly. Spitfire returned the embrace, her mind drifting to unhappier times.

"Never again." She muttered "I'll never let that happen again."

Of all the words that Rainbow Dash would ever have used to describe herself, 'nervous' would not have been her first choice. Awesome? Sure. Fast? Definitely. Egghead? Only in the privacy of her home…well, except for that one time. Nervous was a relatively new one.

It wasn't like the Best Young Flyers competition, where stage fright and her own fear of failure had reduced her to a quivering mess. That had been a bit different. This was dating, not just dating, but dating another mare who just happened to be her personal hero! It didn't particularly help that Rainbow's only experience to look back upon was a one-off fake date with Fluttershy when the two were teenagers. And calling that day a date was a stretch that even Blossomforth would have problems with. As much as Rainbow normally liked making things up on the fly, this wasn't a normal situation, and her lack of experience made her very nervous.

"What if I say something stupid? What if I make a total fool out of myself?" Dash fretted while she paced anxiously in front of the diner. She eventually forced herself to sit at one of the empty tables before she paced a trench into the sidewalk.

"Chill out Rainbow," She told herself, "you can handle this. You're too cool to let a date freak you out. Just act natural and everything will work out fine." She attempted to reassure herself. She gulped hard and waited. In hindsight, showing up half an hour early was a poor decision.

Dash did her best to hold still and look casual, not an easy feat given her natural propensity for activity. She sighed and tapped her hoof against the table impatiently. Her wings flexed at her sides and she had to force herself to stay on the ground.

She tried to distract herself by watching the various ponies moving through the endless crowds of Manehattan. Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and the rare Pegasi were trotting from place to place, many engaged in conversations with the pony they were walking with. She observed ponies of all colors with every style of mane; far more diverse than the pastoral town she called home. She wondered if any of the ponies that passed were different like her and Spitfire.

Different.

Her ears sagged slightly. Her desires had been a personal source of consternation for years. It wasn't the fact that she was attracted to other mares that bothered her, but the fear of being rejected by the ponies she cared about. She wondered if bearing the Element of Loyalty added to her worries. Having to end her friendship with Gilda still hurt, even though she was fully aware that the Griffon had been nothing but possessive and cruel to all her other friends. Rainbow knew it had been the right thing to do, but being right didn't make it any easier.

She couldn't imagine what she would have done if her Dad had rejected her when she came out to him. It wasn't a thought she wanted to entertain, much like how she would react if she came out to her friends back home and they rejected her. The five of them were the best friends Rainbow ever had. Losing even one of them would be a devastating blow.

Rainbow blew a wayward tuft of hair from her eyes. Fluttershy already knew her secret, and was for all intents and purposes a sister to Rainbow. Pinkie was…well, Pinkie. Predicting that mare was about as easy as predicting an earthquake, but Rainbow was pretty sure Pinkie didn't know how to dislike anything (parasprites notwithstanding).

Rainbow didn't think Twilight would realistically have a problem with it; she might want to run an experiment or something, but Dash didn't think she would hate her for it. At least she really hoped the Unicorn wouldn't, that would be quite the downer. She enjoyed hanging out with the obsessive-compulsive mare.

Rarity and Applejack were the real wildcards in her circle of friends. Rarity was a fairly progressive mare; she had to be just to keep up in the fashion industry. Rainbow had heard that nearly every male fashion designer was a coltcuddler, which meant that at least in theory, Rarity would have to be ok with homosexual ponies. Still, Rainbow wasn't willing to bet her friendship on things she'd heard from the more gossip-oriented employees she managed on the Ponyville weather team.

Applejack worried Rainbow the most. The ornery farmer was one of the best friends Rainbow ever had. Not to mention she was the only pony with a competitive streak that rivaled Rainbow's own. From horseshoes to the Iron Pony competition, Applejack was the only pony that could not only keep up with Rainbow, but also push her to challenge herself. Well, at least when Rainbow allowed her wings to be tied up. If she used her wings, it really wasn't very fair to Applejack.

Rainbow groaned again, wishing she had brought a book or something. She wasn't good at being idle; it gave her too much time to think of the ways her life could get screwed up, usually by her own big mouth. She shifted in her seat and flexed her wings. Her feathers were starting to itch. Rainbow glanced around the street, wondering if anypony would care if she discreetly preened herself. Not seeing any Pegasi milling about, or anypony that looked remotely interested in her little corner of the world for that matter, she stretched out her left wing and began the meticulous process of preening.

She lost herself in the process; painstakingly tugging the misaligned feathers back into place one at a time. After the itch in her left wing was dealt with, she shifted her attention to her right wing. After ensuring her primary and secondary feathers were aligned correctly, she moved on to her covert feathers. Finding one of the feathers that was loose she gently bit down on it and gave it a little tug. The momentary sting of the feather being pulled quickly evaporated. Her ears perked when she heard Spitfire's voice chuckling softly.

"Having fun?" the older mare asked with a smirk, having difficulty restraining a laugh as Rainbow's wing lowered revealing Rainbow's caught-in-the-act expression, complete with a freshly plucked feather in her mouth. The weather mare spat the feather out and laughing sheepishly, a hoof rubbing at the back of her head.

"Uh, y-yeah! Of course!" She grinned. "How've you been?"

"Ooh, I'm doing pretty good, thanks." Spitfire smiled and sat beside Rainbow, giving her a friendly hug in the process, which Rainbow happily returned. "So, ready to go?"

"Sure! Where are we going? I'll pay this time. Um, as long as it's not too expensive." Rainbow's cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Spitfire wrapped a foreleg around the weather mare's shoulders.

"Rainbow, I bought dinner Monday night because I wanted to and I could. I don't want you to feel like you owe me anything for it, okay? It was a gift, and I don't give gifts expecting anything in return." She smiled. "Besides, if I did, then it would be a trade, not a gift."

"I suppose." Rainbow replied softly. Spitfire gave her another light hug before hopping off the chair.

"Come on, Dash, let's grab some food and have some fun!" The Wonderbolt grinned. Rainbow couldn't help but smile back as she hopped off her seat and stood at Spitfire's side.

"I'm with you." She said.

The pair walked quietly for a while, checking out various menus taped to the windows of small diners along the way. They settled on a nice sandwich shop that Rainbow was elated she could afford to pay for both their meals. Spitfire insisted she didn't have to, but she did relent to the younger mare's insistence on paying. She couldn't deny that it was nice to see Rainbow smiling so genuinely.

"So, how's the weather team going?" Spitfire asked after they had ordered.

"Depends who you ask." Rainbow chuckled. "The lightning wranglers are thrilled to be getting help after all this time, the cloud pushers are mad that I'm making them learn a whole new style of cloud handling and that I'm training ponies from their ranks for lightning certification, and the rain teams are largely glad they don't have to spend so much time helping the cloud pushers anymore."

Spitfire glanced up at the sky while Dash explained. The clouds were close enough to provide wide areas of shade with minimal wind drift. Additionally, she had to admit they were quite lovely to see up close. She couldn't help but notice the irony in her life. She was a Pegasus, born and raised in a literal city of clouds, but she had never really stopped to admire them.

"So, how's your week going so far?" Rainbow's question snapped Spitfire back to reality.

"Boring for the most part," she noted drably, "though on the plus side I've had a lot of time to walk around and find places we can check out after dinner."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Rainbow asked.

"There's a club in midtown that has an open mic night every Wednesday from six to midnight. I figured we could check that out and see what happens." Spitfire smiled.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Rainbow giggled.

"Oh Celestia, never say those words aloud," Spitfire grinned "it's just begging for the universe to do something horrible to us."

"I guess it's a good thing you've got me here to protect you then." Rainbow winked while polishing her hoof on her chest.

"Oh, my hero!" Spitfire said in a singsong manner while batting her eyelashes.

Their sandwiches were delivered fairly quickly, after which they ate in companionable silence. Spitfire took the time to think. She liked Rainbow; just on a personal level they had similar interests. They were both action-oriented mares with a deep love of flight and speed. They had common taste in food, music, and entertainment, not to mention a talent for dirty jokes.

All of that made Spitfire nervous. She didn't want another heartbreak. Nor did she have any desire to break another pony's heart, especially when that pony was a top candidate to join the Wonderbolts in the not too distant future. Perhaps it would be best for both of them if they agreed to just be friends. If she headed off the issue there, then neither of them would risk getting their feelings hurt later. She took another bite of her sandwich to avoid a sigh. That talk could wait until later in the evening. She was committed to at least giving Rainbow a nice second date.

After they had finished their meals, and Rainbow had left a few bits for a tip, the pair made their way downtown, Spitfire leading the way. Eventually, their walked ended outside of an older looking building. The red brick that made its walls was thoroughly worn down from decades of wind and rain. The heavy wooden doors were painted forest green and a simple sign affixed to the door on the right simply read 'The Cider House'. The door on the left had a broadside poster that detailed the establishment's hours and advertised the open mic night every Wednesday. Spitfire pulled the door open and motioned Rainbow in with a smile.

Inside the building glowed with a dim golden light that reflected off the dark wooden surfaces of the bar and tables. The wood of the tables, chairs, and even the top of the bar was worn to a smooth polish from decades of use. At the far end of the room was a stage with a modest speaker set up and several microphone stands. The jukebox filled in the dead air between performers. Rainbow's ears perked from the sound.

"I know this song!" She exclaimed happily. Spitfire raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Really? Who is it?" She asked as they found an unoccupied table not too far from the stage.

"It's a combined griffon and Pegasus band that my Dad is a big fan of," Rainbow giggled, "he used to give me piggy-back rides and dance around the house before bedtime with this song playing." She admitted with a blush.

"Aww, that's adorable!" Spitfire grinned at the massive blush spreading over Rainbow's face. Though as she listened to the lyrics, she couldn't help but blush slightly as the implications.

"Come on baby finish what you started," the chorus sang.

"I'm incomplete!" called the lead singer.

"That ain't no way to treat the broken hearted," the chorus responded.

"Come on and finish me!" called the lead singer just before the song broke into a spirited lead section. Spitfire returned her attention to Rainbow.

"This song is so messed up." She snickered.

"That's the fun part." Rainbow grinned.

"Your Dad must have a great sense of humor if he let his baby girl listen to this." Spitfire nudged the weather manager's ribs. "No wonder you like the stuff you do."

"What can I say," Rainbow shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm just Daddy's little squirt."

"That is so wrong." Spitfire groaned, putting her head in her hooves and laughing in spite of herself.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." Rainbow giggled as she patted Spitfire's back.

"Just for that," Spitfire got to her hooves, "I'm buying the drinks."

Rainbow blushed again, but didn't make a fuss. Spitfire disappeared to the bar only long enough to order two pints of cider which she returned with in short order.

"I hope you don't mind non-alcoholic." Spitfire smiled sheepishly.

"Works just fine for me, thanks!" Rainbow gratefully accepted her drink with her front hooves.

Spitfire smiled back and took her seat beside dash. The next performers had taken to the stage, a pair of griffons with acoustic guitars sat on stools in front of two microphones. They talked quietly while they made sure their instruments were in tune. One looked to be middle-aged, with greyish-brown fur and white feathers on his head. The other looked to be at least a few years younger, though his colors reminded Rainbow of Gilda. She nudged Spitfire's ribs discreetly and leaned closer to her.

"Do a lot of griffons play music in Manehattan?" she asked quietly.

"Surprisingly, yeah." Spitfire nodded. "I guess the competition back in the Griffon Kingdom is very tough for small time musicians. So a lot of them tour Manehattan, Baltimare, and Las Pegasus."

"That's cool." Rainbow grinned. Both mares turned their attention to the stage as the older griffon strummed a minor chord on his guitar, signaling the start of the duo's set.

His talons began to pick a melancholy pattern across the strings. The younger griffon muted his guitar with his palm, his eyes closed as he listened to the song. Rainbow frowned slightly; which Spitfire was quick to notice.

"Don't like it?" She asked.

"No no, it's great." Rainbow smiled lightly. "It's just, I don't know … a really sad song."

Spitfire couldn't help but nod. There was a certain melancholy to the song that she couldn't quite put her hoof on. Like a lonely soul struggling to find it's place in the world. The griffon repeated his pattern only once, letting the last note ring for several long seconds before he began to play a different song.

This time he strummed more upbeat chords, his companion adding flourishes on top of the older griffon's rhythm. The interplay continued for just over a minute before the two strummed the chords in unison and the older griffon began to sing.

Rainbow found herself relaxing more than she thought possible. There was just something pleasant about the whole situation, something that made her feel comfortable. Like she didn't need to hide who she was or reign in what she liked so other ponies could keep up with her. At some point, Spitfire wrapped a foreleg around her shoulders, lightly pulling Rainbow closer. Rainbow leaned her head against Spitfire's shoulder; for once she didn't care how many ponies saw, or what they thought.

Eventually the griffons finished their set and yielded the stage to the next performers. Poets, solo musicians, and other small acts made up the bulk of the evening. Some were very good, others were very bad, most were at least entertaining. Around eleven O'clock when things seemed to be winding down, Spitfire turned to the mare resting on her shoulder and gave her a gentle nudge.

"Hm?" Rainbow sat up and stretched a bit.

"Wanna go for a walk?" Spitfire asked.

"Sure." Rainbow smiled.

The two left a few bits on the table for a tip before the trotted out the door. The streets had quieted significantly since they had entered the club earlier. Gas lanterns lighted the streets with only scattered groups of ponies traveling them.

"So, where should we go?" Rainbow asked.

Spitfire hummed softly while she thought. "I got an idea, follow me."

Rainbow nodded, keeping pace with her date for the walk through town. She didn't ask Spitfire where they were going; she trusted the Wonderbolt knew what she was doing. The two walked for nearly half an hour before arriving in the same park Spitfire had been lounging at the prior day. Spitfire led Dash to the hilltop she had been cloud watching on and invited her to sit, which Rainbow did.

"So, Dash," Spitfire started, her voice soft and her eyes watching the starry sky. "What do you think about, this?" she waved her hoof between them.

Rainbow thought it over for a few minutes, her ears folding back slightly.
"Honestly, it's been amazing!" she smiled. "It's just—well, I don't know. I've never done this kind of stuff before." She sighed and ran her hoof through her mane. "I've got no idea if I'm doing any of this right, but it's been the most fun I've had in a long time."

Spitfire nodded, "Hey, Rainbow? Can I ask you a kind of personal question?"

"Totally." Rainbow answered.

"You mentioned the other day that only your Dad and your one friend knew you liked mares. Why haven't you come out to anypony else?" she asked softly, maintaining eye contact with Rainbow the whole time.

Dash hoofed at the grass uncomfortably for a minute. "I—well… I guess, I guess I'm scared." She whispered.

"Scared of what?" Spitfire asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"It's stupid." Rainbow sighed. "But I'm scared of what my friends might think of me if I came out to them. I'm scared to lose their friendship." She laughed bitterly, tears stinging at her eyes. Spitfire wrapped a foreleg around her shoulders; it hadn't been that long ago that she had been in a similar situation.

"I know what it's like, Dash. I've been there too." She offered a reassuring smile. Rainbow laughed softly.

"You know what's pathetic? When I came out to my Dad, I begged him to make me normal. And when he told me I wasn't broken, I asked him why I had to be different. Why couldn't I just be normal?" She laughed sadly, a few stray tears escaping her eyes.

Spitfire pulled Rainbow close, gently cradling the younger mare. For a while there were no words, just the soft sounds of the younger Pegasus crying onto her chest.

"I'm sorry." She managed after calming down. "I'm so sorry."

"Hey, there's nothing to be sorry about Dash." Spitfire smiled. "I've been there too, I know what it's like to get burned by friends who weren't okay with us being different. And it hurts like buck for a long time. But I promise you it gets better after a while."

Rainbow nodded mutely, not entirely believing Spitfire.

"Let me tell you a story, Dash." Spitfire started. "A long time ago, when I was still a filly, I knew there was something different about me. I would play with my brother's toys, I would read his comics, and I would play with his friends. When I got older, I started to notice that other mares would talk about colts and dressing up, and gossip about celebrities; but I had no interest in any of those things.

I thought that if I just tried really hard, I could be normal. So I did everything I could to be like every other filly my age. I would get dressed up, I would wear makeup, I'd get my mane styled, all that girly junk. The more I tried to fit in, the more I realized it wasn't working." She smiled sadly. "All the other girls talked about how amazing it was, kissing and foreplay and sex. But I didn't get any of that with my first coltfriend. I told myself it was because he wasn't the right colt for me; so the next colt I dated, I tried again. I still felt nothing. So I pretended that it was because I just wasn't into sex." Spitfire sighed, a distant look forming in her gaze.

"Then one day I was at a party with some friends, and someone bet me and this other mare to kiss. Well, I'd had some hard cider and I was in a good mood, so I walked over and planted a big old wet one right on her lips." Spitfire smirked at the memory while Rainbow suppressed a giggle. "Suddenly all those things that my friends had told me about for years made sense. It was hot, it felt good, and I enjoyed every second of it.

I realized then that I was a fillyfooler, and I started to experiment in secret with marefriends. My brother found out by accident, and he helped me come out to my parents." She explained, deliberately leaving out some of the more dramatic details.

"How did they take it?" Rainbow asked softly.

Spitfire chuckled quietly, "Dad didn't care as long as I was safe, Mom cried because Rapid knew before she did."

Rainbow nodded, quietly leaning against Spitfire. For a time, neither of them spoke, both lost in their own thoughts. Rainbow broke the silence first.

"Hey Spitfire?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, Dash?"

"Thanks. For telling me that, I mean." She smiled up to Spitfire, who smiled back kindly.

"No problem Dash." She answered, giving the weather manager a light squeeze.

"Hey, um…can I ask you something else?" Rainbow asked nervously.

"Sure, what's on your mind?" Spitfire inquired.

"If um, if this becomes something more…I dunno, serious. What would happen when I apply to the Wonderbolts?"

Spitfire raised an eyebrow, surprised by the question. "Well, I'd have to recuse myself from the process, regardless of if we were dating or not. Either way it wouldn't give you a free pass, or even an easier one." To Spitfire's surprise, Rainbow smiled broadly.

"Awesome." She beamed.

"Hm?" Spitfire tilted her head, confused.

"I'm gonna be a Wonderbolt someday," Rainbow stated confidently. "But I'm gonna get it because I earned it, not because it was a gift!"

Spitfire couldn't help but grin. "That's the spirit Dash!"

Rainbow giggled and rubbed the back of her head, a question popped into Spitfire's head as she observed the innocuous act.

"Hey Dash, mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure thing." Rainbow answered.

"What's it like to pull off a rainboom?"

Rainbow opened her mouth to answer, only to snap it back shut. Nopony had ever asked her to describe the rainboom before and she had never really thought of it in conversational terms.

"Well…" she drawled "It's um…it's like. Hmm." She rubbed her chin with her foreleg.

Spitfire smirked at the sheer intensity on Rainbow's face as she struggled for the words she wanted. Finally she seemed to hit upon an idea, her posture perking up noticeably. What Spitfire didn't expect was for Rainbow to crouch low and spread her wings.

"Hop on my back." She said with a smile.

"What for?" Spitfire asked, quirking an eyebrow skeptically.

"Just trust me, please?" Rainbow asked, her magenta eyes silently pleading Spitfire.

Spitfire sighed and nodded slowly, hoping she wouldn't live to regret this. She carefully climbed onto Rainbow's back, hooking her legs around the weather manager's core.

"Sweet Celestia, what do they feed you ponies in Ponyville? You're like, all muscle." Spitfire marveled, she could feel Dash's heart flutter in her chest.

"I practice a lot." She mumbled. "Hold on tight."

Spitfire managed a nod before Rainbow leapt into the skies. The Wonderbolt had longed to be back in the skies, though this certainly hadn't been the method she had expected to get there. She held onto Rainbow as tightly as she could, burying her nose in Rainbow's mane. Their acceleration came to an abrupt stop several miles above the city. Spitfire could feel the cool tradewinds running over her coat and feathers. Her wings longed to feel the air in her feathers, only the sharp pain in her right wing kept her head in the reality of her situation.

"Alright," Rainbow shouted so Spitfire could hear her voice. "Hold on tight, here we go!"

Rainbow went into a steep dive; her speed building quicker then Spitfire had ever felt in her life. The wind roared past her ears, deafening her to all but the sound of her own racing heart. Rainbow's wings pumped furiously, her body going rigid as she built her speed. Spitfire's eyes went wide when she saw the Mach cone forming; a shudder ran through her frame, primal fear gripping her chest. If Rainbow lost control they would both be sent careening into the night sky, and while Rainbow could still fly, Spitfire's odds were decidedly less optimistic.

She clung tighter to Dash, her eyes struggling to stay open against the rushing winds. She forced herself to look to the tip of the cone, that's when she saw it. It was a tiny light, barely the size of a pinhead and brilliant white. She couldn't look away, no matter how much she tried. The cone enclosed around them, the tighter it became, the more intense the light became. Finally, there was a brilliant flash; the world disappeared into a veil of white. Spitfire's jaw dropped, her eyes staring into the void.

Time seemed to stop; the world seemed to no longer exist outside of her and Rainbow. Then cracks formed in the light, colors seeping through, and with a deafening crack, the light spectrum shattered before her very eyes and their speed increased exponentially. The city blew past them in a blur of colors until Rainbow slowly increased their drag with her wings, eventually slowing to a stop on a hilltop several miles out of town.

Spitfire stumbled off of Rainbow's back like a newborn foal. Her body trembled uncontrollably as she stared, mouth agape, at the now distant city. A rainbow trail was suspended over Manehattan; the clouds over the city were deformed from the sudden burst of energy. Spitfire slowly turned to Rainbow Dash; the young mare was watching her nervously. She took a trembling step towards Rainbow before throwing her forelegs around Dash's chest. For the first time in years, Spitfire sobbed.

Rainbow started to panic until Spitfire looked up to her, a smile on her lips.

"Th-thank you, Dash." She managed with an overwhelmed laugh. "Thank you so much."

Several hours after experiencing the rainboom, Spitfire and Rainbow Dash remained on the hill where they had landed. Spitfire's joyous tears had long since dried, as had Dash's chest, and soon after, the both of them had laid side by side on their backs to watch the night sky.

For a while they reclined in silence, simply listening to the gentle whistling of the wind through the grass and the soft chirp of the crickets. Spitfire's hoof found its way over to Rainbow's, gently resting on top of it. The weather manager blushed lightly from the contact, her head turning to face the Wonderbolt.

"Hey, Spitfire?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah, Dash?" Spitfire turned her head to face Rainbow.

"Where are we going with, um, this?" She motioned between them with her free hoof.

Spitfire took a breath and hummed quietly.

"Honestly, Dash, I have no idea," she replied quietly. "And to be honest, that kinda frightens me."

Rainbow scoffed. "I can't imagine anything really frightening you. You're a Wonderbolt!"

Spitfire chuckled. "We're just normal ponies, Dash, and everypony is afraid of something. My brother, Rapid, is terrified of spiders, Soarin can't stand deep water, Misty won't get within ten meters of a clown. We've all got our own issues."

Rainbow nodded in understanding.

"So," Spitfire turned to Dash, "what are you afraid of?"

"I'm…I'm terrified of letting anypony down," Rainbow conceded softly. "That's why I got so messed up at the Best Young Flyers competition a couple years ago."

Spitfire nodded, easily understanding that sentiment.

"What about you?" Rainbow asked.

"Well," she sighed as she decided how to phrase it. "Had you asked me four or five years ago, I would've said that my biggest fear was snakes."

Rainbow smirked, recalling Twilight's reaction to the—admittedly—unsettling reptiles. "But what about now?" she asked.

Spitfire remained quiet for several long seconds before she sighed quietly. "After my big breakup a few years ago..." She spoke in a deliberate pace, keeping her voice level. "...I was kind of a mess for a while after that. Once I finally crawled out of the slump I was in, I decided that I wouldn't ever let anypony hurt me like that again."

Spitfire looked into Rainbow's eyes so the younger mare wouldn't misunderstand her. "What I'm afraid of, Rainbow, is falling in love with another pony who's only going to break my heart again."

Rainbow nodded slowly, understanding at least to some degree how the Wonderbolt felt. "What was her name?" Dash asked quietly.

Spitfire sighed, her eyes drifting to the night sky. "Zephyr," she answered, her voice scarcely more than a whisper.

"What was she like?" Rainbow asked, hoping she wasn't pressing Spitfire for too much information.

Spitfire smiled nostalgically. "Well, she was a pretty quiet girl when we first met, which was back in high school. Shy, kind, bit of a bookworm, and she had a beautiful singing voice."

"What does she do?" Rainbow asked curiously.

"Well, I don't know what she does now," Spitfire answered wistfully, "but when we were together, she was a teacher for primary school."

"She sounds like she was a great mare," Rainbow concluded with a gentle smile.

Spitfire nodded. "She was."

Rainbow let the silence between them linger for a few long moments while she collected her thoughts. "Hey Spitfire?" she asked gently.

"Yeah, Dash?" Spitfire replied, turning her gaze from the sky to her companion.

"Was it worth it?" she asked softly.

Spitfire chortled and smiled brightly to Rainbow. "Totally."

"So um… where do we go from here?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, I've had a blast just hanging around with you! It's been like a dream come true." Rainbow smiled brightly to Spitfire. "But, well, I guess I just wanna know if this is something real, or what…" Her voice trailed off timidly.

Spitfire found herself hesitant to answer Rainbow's question. On one hoof she was genuinely uncomfortable with the idea of a serious relationship again; on the other hoof, Rainbow hadn't been what she had expected, nor could she recall the last time she felt quite so comfortable on a date. With Rainbow, it was like she didn't have to be on guard at all times. She didn't have to watch her language or bite her tongue.

She could make a raunchy joke, she could flirt, and she could be herself. Perhaps it was just a side effect of being relieved of duty while she was recovering, or maybe it was something about Rainbow that made her relax like she did when it was just her and Soarin or Rapid. Around Rainbow she felt like she didn't have to be Captain Spitfire, she could just be Spitfire. All things considered, Spitfire felt profoundly confused, and it wasn't a sensation she enjoyed.

Her mouth opened several times to speak, but each time she failed to find the words she needed. Rainbow watched her patiently, the young weather manager's expression patient and understanding, mostly because her mind was full of a very similar fear and confusion.

'It's been so long since I've let anypony get this close,' Spitfire mused. 'Is it worth getting hurt again? What's the point if it's only gonna last a couple months. But…but will it end in a couple months? Does it have to?'

"Honestly, Dash," Spitfire started slowly, "I have no idea where this is gonna go."

Rainbow nodded slowly, her ears sinking slightly.

"But," Spitfire continued, catching the cyan mare's attention, "I'm willing to give it a try if you are, just as long as we can be still be friends later if it doesn't work out." She smiled to Rainbow.

Rainbow returned the smile happily and nodded. "Definitely!"

"Great!" Spitfire exclaimed.

"So, um… what are you doing Friday?" Rainbow asked hesitantly.

Spitfire put her hoof to her chin and hummed loudly. "Well, I think I've got to watch some grass grow in the park, then there's some paint I could watch dry. Um, let's see now, what else was there…" She tapped her hoof against her forehead and grumbled loudly.

Rainbow left hoof covered her mouth as did her best to suppress her giggles.

"Oh yeah, a whole lot of nothing!" Spitfire exclaimed happily. "How about you?"

Rainbow folded her forelegs over her chest and pursed her lips. "Well, after I spend the day whipping the cloud pushers into shape and training the new lightning wranglers, then I should have the whole weekend free. Well, barring any weather emergencies." She gave a light smile.

"Well then," Spitfire pushed to her hooves with a little grunt, arching her back in leisurely stretch, "how about you meet me outside of my hotel at six and we'll paint this town red."

"Sounds like fun to me," Rainbow agreed, climbing to her hooves as well.

Spitfire smiled, silently cursing the faint blush that was building in her cheeks from the next question she had to ask. "So, Dash…uh, do you mind giving me a lift back home? It's kind of a long walk from here," she said with an awkward chuckle.

Rainbow laughed sheepishly as she looked at the distant city of Manehattan. There wasn't much of a doubt in her mind that if they walked it would be dawn before they made it back to their respective hotels. Rainbow crouched low and spread her wings.

"All aboard the Rainboom Express," She said with a grin.

Spitfire laughed as she carefully climbed onto Rainbow's back. "As amazing as it was, I think you might want to avoid a rainboom for this trip; I don't think the city would appreciate that kind of wake up call at this hour."

"You got it, boss." Rainbow saluted with a hoof before taking off with a gentle flap.

As Spitfire nestled herself onto the weather managers back, and idea popped into her head. Discord himself couldn't have stopped the smirk that spread over her lips as she leaned to Rainbows ear.

"I do love a good slow ride," she whispered in her most sultry voice.

Rainbow sputtered, losing all sense of coordination. Their flight ended less than ten feet from where it started, with Rainbow facedown in the grass and Spitfire not much further away. The Wonderbolt clutched her sides as she laughed herself senseless.

"Oh wow…" she wheezed, "I—I'm sorry!" Spitfire apologized through fits of laughter.

Rainbow kept her face pleasantly buried in the grass. The cool ground felt quite lovely against the inferno that was burning in her face. Spitfire managed to eventually calm herself down and, after catching her breath, she walked over to Dash and patted her back gently.

"You alright down there?" she asked with a gentle smile.

"Rainbow Dash isn't here right now," the weather mare answered with a flop of her hoof. "Please leave a message and she'll get back to you later."

Spitfire chuckled as she lay beside Rainbow and nuzzled the younger mare's head. "Alright then, my message is this." She pressed her lips to Rainbow's cheek.

Rainbow's body went rigid from the contact. She let the kiss linger for several long seconds before she pulled away. Rainbow slowly lifted her head from the ground and gazed at Spitfire. Her cheeks were tinted red as cherries, eyes were wide in surprise.

"What?" Spitfire asked with a knowing smile. "If we're gonna date, I'm gonna do that sometimes."

Rainbow stared at the Wonderbolt dumbly for a moment, her mind stalled for an intelligent response. Her eyes shifted from left to right as she pondered the statement.

"…Which part?" she asked after a minute.

Spitfire opened her mouth to answer before promptly snapping it shut and considering the question. She had been referring to kissing, but—in fairness—she did have the unfortunate combination of a big mouth and a dirty mind.

"Probably both," she admitted with a sheepish grin.

Rainbow seemed to weigh the information in her mind before shaking her head with a soft chuckle. After a moment, she climbed up and returned to her crouched position, wings spread.

"Once more, with feeling?" she asked, her cheeks still flushed red.

Spitfire climbed on her back and stole a light nuzzle. "Whenever you're ready," the Wonderbolt said when she had a good grip.

This time, Rainbow was able to take off without any unexpected interruptions from her passenger. She flew at a relatively casual speed. She couldn't go too slowly as she did want to get at least a little sleep before she had to get up for work, and unlike Ponyville, where she could afford to sneak a few naps in during the day, the Manehattan team required her undivided attention. That said, as they flew into the city, she realized she didn't want night to end. Even if Spitfire could mortify her in seven words or less guaranteed; it just felt good to be around the older mare.

The city below them was fairly dim, only the warm glow of the gas lamps that lined the streets illuminated the empty streets. Rainbow spotted a few ponies walking here and there, usually with a companion. For the most part, the city was asleep. All too soon, Dash had arrived at Spitfire's hotel, and with a palpable feeling of disappointment, she landed in front of the lobby, allowing her passenger to slip off of her back. She shivered slightly as the cool night breeze replaced the older mare's warmth.

Spitfire slipped beside Rainbow and pulled her into a close hug. "I can't thank you enough for letting me experience the rainboom, Dash. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

Rainbow blushed brightly as she returned the hug. "You're welcome."

Spitfire slowly released Rainbow from her embrace and smiled again. "See you here, Friday at six?"

"I'll be here!" Rainbow answered happily.

"Great!" Spitfire exclaimed, giving Rainbow one last hug. "Fly home safe."

Rainbow nodded once, silently holding her regret that the evening had come to its inevitable end. As their hug broke, Rainbow took flight back to her hotel room. The night had left her with a lot to think about.

As for Spitfire, she couldn't stop smiling as she walked up to her room. The night hadn't gone at all like she had thought it would, though she couldn't find much fault with how it had worked out. To her knowledge, she was now the second pony to have experienced a rainboom, albeit from a decidedly second-hoof role.

She made a note to talk to Dash about it more after she had some time to process the experience. It was still so fresh, so vivid, so unreal that she could scarcely believe that she had even been there herself. No pony she had ever dated had left her feeling quite so giddy. Then again, it seemed highly likely that Rainbow was the only pony physically capable of accomplishing such a feat. Spitfire had never heard of acceleration like that, and she certainly wasn't capable of it on her own, even if her wings were in perfect health.

With a sigh, she flopped onto her bed and relaxed. If she closed her eyes she could almost hear the wind roaring past her ears. She could still see that moment when the barrier shattered. That miniscule instant when the world had turned silent and white. She smiled as she relaxed in her bed, regardless of how things developed between her and Dash, it had been a night she would treasure for the rest of her life.

The next morning, Spitfire slept in until nearly ten in the morning. After a quick shower, and another daring raid on the complimentary breakfast in the lobby, she decided to go visit her brother and Soarin. She wondered if any of the team had noticed the rainboom last night. She couldn't imagine that many ponies missed it, but if she was lucky, then perhaps the team had been in one of the clubs and hadn't seen it.

Spitfire snorted and rolled her eyes. "Fat chance I'm that lucky," she groused.

With a spring in her step, she trotted to the Manehattan stadium. Upon arrival, she was greeted politely by the earth pony security guards that were watching over the backstage areas. After a quick walk through the halls, she found the entire team assembled in the main meeting room, and in the midst of debate that, if the look on Arcus' face was any indication, was rapidly getting heated.

The team had divided into two groups: Soarin, Rapidfire, Misty, Surprise, and Lightning Streak were opposed by Fleetfoot, Blaze, Silver Lining, Fire Streak, High Winds, and Wave Chill. Between them was Arcus, who happened to look up from the papers in front of him and noticed Spitfire.

"I'm telling you," Fleetfoot growled at Soarin, "if she's in town we need to seize on this opportunity!"

"For the last time, Sergeant," Soarin emphasized Fleetfoot's rank, "that is not going to happen."

The familiar sound of clashing egos triggered Spitfire to slip back into her command role. With a sharp whistle and a stomp of her hoof, she attracted the attention of everypony.

"Alright, everypony sit down and shut buck up!" She stalked towards the table.

Everypony at the table, except Arcus and Rapid, shrank in their seats as the former Captain approached. Arcus didn't bother to hide his smirk, the old pegasus reclined slightly, intent on enjoying the show. Similarly, Rapid looked like he was torn between amusement and terror.

"Now, somepony explain to me exactly what this nonsense is about," she stated firmly, making eye contact with every Wonderbolt at the table.

"Didn't you see it last night?" Fleetfoot balked.

"You're gonna need to be a bit more specific. I see a lot of things in a day," Spitfire replied dryly.

"The rainboom over Manehattan, around midnight," Blaze interjected softly.

"Alright, now what is all the arguing over?" Spitfire asked.

"If she's really in Manehattan, then we should find her and ask her directly to teach us the rainboom!" Fleetfoot exclaimed.

"We don't know if she's even staying in Manehattan, and even if she was, then it's none of our business," Soarin interjected, casting an irritated glare at Fleetfoot.

"It's totally our business!" Fleetfoot growled. "We can't keep relying on the same tricks over and over again; we need to step up our game before next season. What would be more spectacular than six Wonderbolts performing six rainbooms for the season opener?"

"Or if we can't master the rainboom itself, surely we could at least learn some new techniques to incorporate into our practice. It might even improve the shows overall."

"Or we might learn nothing and just alienate the most promising pegasus we've seen in years!" Soarin shot back.

"Okay, that's enough for now," Arcus stated flatly. "Everypony take a break, get something to eat, and cool down a bit. Captain, Lieutenant." He turned to Soarin and Rapid, "I'll meet you two in the kitchen. Start another pot of coffee while you wait."

"Yes sir," both stallions answered simultaneously, backing out of the room.

Soarin shot Spitfire a particularly apologetic glare as he passed her. Rapid merely nodded, knowing better than to ask about her date in front of Arcus. Once the doors clicked shut behind them, Arcus motioned for her to have a seat. Spitfire suppressed a nervous gulp and took her seat near the aging stallion.

"Good timing," he commented softly, his hooves sorting the paperwork in front of him.

"You get what you pay for, sir." She smiled.

Arcus smiled and quirked an eyebrow. "So you're saying that I could've prevented years of tardiness by not paying you? I'll have to remember that trick."

"…Touché," she pouted.

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

"Alright. Just bored," she answered honestly.

"Keeping yourself out of trouble?" he asked, his eyes watching her keenly.

"I do my best," she replied. "I stumbled into Red Top the other day on accident; managed to get out of that without compromising anything."

"So I heard. Good job," Arcus complimented her. "What are you doing to fill your time?"

"Uh, just, you know…walking around the city, catching movies. That sort of thing," she answered, suddenly getting the familiar feeling that Arcus was a griffon trapped in the body of a pegasus.

"I see," he said as he nodded slowly. "Is she an earth pony, a unicorn, or a pegasus?"

"Wai—what?!" Spitfire balked, her heart skipping a beat and her face heating up.

"You never speak in vague terms unless you're hiding something, Spitfire. I taught you that when you first joined the team," he calmly noted, "which tells me that you've either started dating again, or you're thinking about dating somepony."

Spitfire fidgeted in her seat, her silence saying everything to him. After a minute, Arcus sighed and rubbed his temple with a hoof. "Just be careful," he said, his tone gentle and almost fatherly.

"I will sir," she answered.

"Before you go," he continued, "what's your opinion on the rainboom situation we've found ourselves in?"

Spitfire thought about her experience the night before, how overwhelming the sensation had been: the fear, the euphoria, even now it was still too much to process.

"I don't know, Arcus." She sighed. "I think I'm with Soarin on this one. I'd rather leave Rainbow Dash alone and let her apply in her own time later than accidentally scare her away from us forever."

"I see. Thank you for your input." He nodded. "Oh, and please stop by the kitchen and check on Soarin before you leave. Between your brother, Fleetfoot, and Blaze, I think he might tear his feathers out," Arcus said with the barest hint of an amused smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Spitfire nodded and waited a moment before she got to her hooves and made for the kitchen, her heart racing the whole way there. Arcus was good at his job for many reasons, chief among them being that he was nearly impossible to fool. The popular joke/rumor in the locker room said that he used to work for the Equestrian Intelligence Service as an undercover spy. Spitfire tended to believe he was the only one amongst them with the sense to not get hammered during an afterparty. Drunken Wonderbolts were not known for their ability to keep secrets.

Upon arriving in the kitchen, Spitfire found herself momentarily stunned by the sight that greeted her. Rapidfire was standing on his rear hooves, leaning casually against the kitchen counter. Tucked under his left foreleg was a bag of Marshmallows, which he was eating in slowest, most sultry manner he was capable of, shooting Soarin his most dashing eyes. Conversely, Soarin was sitting by the opposite counter by the team coffee pot, which was just starting a fresh brew, and glaring daggers at Rapid.

"What in the actual buck are you two doing?" Spitfire said with a bemused laugh.

"Heya, Spits, want a marshmallow?" Rapid grinned broadly. "I offered Mallow one, but he told me to buck off." Rapid pointed to Soarin and faked a pout.

"Enjoy your future diabetes," Soarin grumbled.

"Will you two just buck and get it over with." Spitfire chuckled.

"Hey, speaking of buckin'." Rapidfire tossed the bag of marshmallows onto the counter and trotted up to his sister, "how'd your big date go?"

Spitfire blushed and made sure the door was closed tightly before she motioned both Rapid and Soarin closer.

"Well, um, that rainboom last night?" she started skittishly.

"Did you scare her off that ba—OW!" Rapid yelped as spitfire lightly smacked his shoulder. "Meanie," he pouted.

"I was riding on her back. She took me through a rainboom," Spitfire revealed quietly.

Both stallions gasped loudly. Rapid grabbed her shoulders excitedly. "Oh my gosh! What was it like? Was it awesome? I bet it was awesome!"

Soarin pushed Rapid off of Spitfire, excitement gleaming in his emerald eyes. "What was it like, boss?"

"It was…it was…" Spitfire sighed; words simply couldn't adequately convey the rainboom. "It was indescribable," she confessed, "It-It's like... I don't know. It's like nothing I've ever experienced before."

"Whoa," Soarin started, the large pegasus practically bouncing in front of her, "cool enough to leave you speechless. That takes talent, boss." He grinned.

"How does she do it? Do you think she'd actually teach us?" Rapid asked, his excitement nearly palpable.

Spitfire sighed dejectedly and shook her head. "Guys, I… I don't think there's another pony alive that could pull off the rainboom. She can accelerate faster than Fleetfoot, and she's got more raw power then you do, Soarin."

"W—what?" Soarin balked, his whole posture sinking.

"No way," Rapidfire huffed. "There's gotta be some trick to it that we can figure out."

Spitfire laughed bitterly. "No, Rapid. I was on her back, I—" She paused as both stallions began giggling like young colts. "Oh shut up you perverts."

"Excuse me?" Rapid laughed. "You're like, the princess of the pervs!"

Spitfire facehooved. She couldn't deny her own hypocrisy, much as she wanted to.

"I was right there," she sighed. "There was no trick. It was just... her."

Spitfire sighed again, and waited for the two stallions to get the laughter out of their systems.

"So then, are you two done?" Rapid asked.

"N—no," Spitfire answered coyly. "I'm gonna see her again Friday."

Rapid and Soarin exchanged a worried look.

"So are you two, like, gonna go steady?" Soarin asked.

"I…I don't know. Maybe?" Spitfire kicked at the floor uncomfortably.

"What happens when the rest of the team finds out? I mean, it's gonna happen someday," Rapid postulated.

"Fleetfoot and Blaze will get their feathers in a twist," Soarin said with an annoyed sigh.

"I'll deal with them when I have to." Spitfire rubbed her temple with a hoof.

The prospect of having to argue with Fleetfoot was never a fun idea. The blue-coated mare was one of the most talented and passionate flyers in the team's history, unfortunately, she was well aware of her skills, and wasn't afraid to push the boundaries if she thought she could get away with it. Spitfire tended to tolerate it. At least Fleetfoot had the team's best interests at heart most of the time. But when it came to Rainbow Dash, Spitfire felt oddly protective.

"Speaking of those two," Spitfire used the opportunity to change the topic away from her romantic life, "how are you holding up, Soarin?"

"Uhg," the stallion groaned. "You can have your job back, I don't want it."

Spitfire laughed softly. "Tell you what, why don't the three of us go hit the bar after quitting time and you can tell me all about it." Spitfire smiled.

"Who's buying?" Rapid asked learily.

"Eh, whoever passes out first," Spitfire said with a shrug.

"We should totally bring Silver Lining." Soarin giggled.

"He doesn't drink," Spitfire pointed out with a smirk.

"Exactly!" Soarin grinned. "One hard cider and it's open tap for the rest of us."

Spitfire patted Soarin on the shoulder and smiled broadly "I've taught you well."

Rainbow was in an unusually good mood for a Friday morning. She had gotten a fantastic night of sleep, there had been no line at the bagel shop she had stopped at for breakfast on her way to work, and the flight to her office had been essentially perfect.

In other words: She should have known something was about to go wrong.

She had barely started reading the weekend weather schedule when Headwind, Dewdrop, and Flash Cloud piled into her office. Headwind and Flash Cloud were bickering over some issue that Rainbow knew would probably be her problem in the immediate future, while Dewdrop trailed close behind them with a look of abject boredom plastered on her face.

'Dad warned me about days like this,' Rainbow lamented as she suppressed a sigh and tried to focus on what the two stallions were arguing about

"If it's just bodies you're concerned about," Flash Cloud started, "then you can always hire more Pegasi. It's not like cloud pushing is hard to teach."

"That's not the point," Headwind retorted, "the point is, you've shanghaied half of my crew managers for your training program!"

"Well then," Flash smirked, "they shouldn't have been born with lightning resistance."

"How in the hay am I supposed to replace twenty-two crew managers and forty-eight cloud pushers in any sort of timely manner? We had our hooves full enough, and that was before most of our clouds got wrecked Wednesday night," Headwind countered, his hoof running though his chestnut-colored mane.

Rainbow bit her tongue and did her best to keep a neutral expression. Yesterday had been nothing but awkward after she had gotten to work and realized that her rainboom had thrown all of Wednesday's work over a good portion of the city. She was very glad that either nopony on the weather team had realized the rainboom had caused the problems, or that they all had the good sense not to ask her about it.

"My rain teams will cover for you when they can," Dewdrop said softly.

"In fairness, Dewdrop," Flash interjected, "your rain ponies are spread pretty thin already."

"I know, but they can still help if Headwind's got a team in their sectors," she answered.

"Or Headwind could just work harder," Flash teased his friend lightly.

"Alright, alright, let's settle down and go over today's plan," Rainbow cut in, deciding to move things along before the argument could get heated. She waited for all three of them to be seated before she began. "Okay, so first thing's first: Flash, have you got all the lightning wranglers assembled?"

"Yeah, all sixty candidates will be waiting for us on the east side of town where we receive all the weather shipments. I've also broken them into teams of four with one of my current lightning wranglers acting as a team supervisor for the duration of their training."

"Awesome." Rainbow allowed herself a small smile. "You and I will head over there next."

"Sounds good boss lady." Flash replied with a salute.

"Cool." Rainbow quickly glanced down at the schedule on her desk. There was a lot to get done before quitting time, and Rainbow had no intention of being late to meet Spitfire after work.

"Alright," Rainbow started, looking at Headwind and Dewdrop, "Dewdrop, the farms north of the city are scheduled for three hours of rain. We also need to get a light shower over the midtown parks sometime this afternoon. Then I need you to start planning for next month's storm.

"I'll make sure it's ready," The saffron-colored mare answered with a polite smile.

"Good. Headwind," She turned her attention to the light-green stallion, "how many clouds are we missing since Wednesday night's… um…" she paused, catching herself before she said 'rainboom', "…thingy?"

"We're down roughly twenty-three percent," he answered plainly. "If you add clouds that were damaged and need to be reshaped and replaced, then the number gets closer to thirty percent."

"Okay." Rainbow frowned. She had never really given much thought to quite how much her rainboom was capable of effecting her surroundings. "Well, there isn't much we can do about that right now." She frowned and rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Coulda been worse," Flash offered. "Coulda been raining."

Dewdrop rolled her eyes. "You could use the shower, Flash," she lightly chided him.

"Hey, I can't help it. It's not easy to keep a hundred pounds of rippling stallion contained!"

Dewdrop facehoofed and groaned loudly. Headwind stifled a giggle and hoofbumped Flash Cloud.

"How in the world are you married?" Dewdrop asked despondently.

"Okay, moving on!" Rainbow interjected quickly. She gave the three managers a moment to refocus on her before she looked to Headwind. "Headwind, I need you to do what you can with the clouds we've got left. We're scheduled for about fifty percent coverage all day."

"No promises on keeping to that plan with a quarter of my team transferred to the lightning team," Headwind complained.

"For the last time," Rainbow started, doing her best to keep her voice neutral, "there needed to be a big increase in the number of lightning wranglers. The rain teams can't do it for safety reasons; you can train new cloud pushers much faster than we can train new lightning wranglers. It was the best solution."

"Whatever you say," Headwind replied sarcastically.

Rainbow bit back a growl and forced herself to take a calming breath.

"As I was saying," she continued after a moment, "fifty percent coverage for today. I'll be busy training the new lightning pegasi, so when you're done with that, I need you to place the order for next month's storm. If you send the order to the weather factory today, then we should get the shipment in the next two or three weeks."

"That's no fun," Headwind groaned, kicking his hoof at the floor.

"That's why it's called work," Flash said with a smirk as he nudged Headwind in the ribs.

"Go suck a rock." Headwind rolled his eyes.

"Hm," Flash Cloud put a hoof to his chin, feigning a look of deep contemplation, "well they are very high in minerals."

"The orders need to be signed by a senior manager," Rainbow reminded Headwind while ignoring Flash. "Flash and I won't have the time, and there's almost no way Dewdrop will be finished with her work early enough to do it either. Sorry but you're the only one who's gonna have the time to get the paperwork in by the end of the day.

"I'll take care of it," Headwind relented with a sigh.

"Great, thanks!" Rainbow smiled happily. In truth, she probably could have done it on her own, but then she definitely wouldn't be on time for her date, and that simply wasn't an option.

"Do we know how many cloud batches we'll need?" Headwind asked.

Rainbow shuffled through the papers on her desk for a moment.

"Well, according to the notes Downburst left me, for a citywide storm, he usually ordered three shipments of thunderheads, and twelve shipments of rain clouds," Rainbow answered as she read the normal manager's notes. "I'm assuming that's enough to cover the whole city."

"It depends," Dewdrop interrupted. "Our coverage tends to be a bit thin on the outskirts of the city, and if it's not a great batch of clouds, then it gets spotty."

"Three full shipments of thunderheads is more than enough to power the storm engine though," Flash added. "We usually have a few leftover after that too."

"Okay, then we'll stick to the three shipments of thunderheads, and order an extra three shipments of rain clouds. That should leave the rain team with enough clouds to cover the whole city and have a few to spare."

"Sounds good to me!" Dewdrop said with a grin.

"Great!" Rainbow smiled happily. "Any questions before we all get to work?"

"Nope!" Dewdrop answered.

"I'm good," Headwind said.

"Nah," Flash answered with a shrug.

"Good." Rainbow stood and started for the door. "Dewdrop, Headwind, I'll see you two Monday. Flash, let's go teach some lightning wrangling!"

"Aww yeah!" The light grey stallion cheered.

The four Pegasi quickly made their way out of the office. Dewdrop and Headwind each flew off in opposite directions, while Flash Cloud led Rainbow Dash to the weather receiving area.

All the cities and towns in Equestria that had a weather team also allotted space on the periphery where Pegasi from the weather factory could safely store clouds for upcoming weather events and sort the shipments for distribution. Much of the organizational process had been adapted from the Royal Mail Service, which also relied heavily on Pegasi to run at peak efficiency.

Even the comparatively tiny weather team in Ponyville had a staging area where all the clouds were kept until they were needed. When Rainbow had been promoted to Weather Manager, one of her first tasks had been to relocate the entire area to a position closer to Sweet Apple Acres. Her reasoning had been that it was more efficient to keep the rain clouds closer to the farms where they were needed most often. So far, it had worked out very well for everypony.

Dash didn't have the experience with the Manehattan teams to know if their staging area was set up as efficiently as is could be. Even if it wasn't, about all she could do was leave a note for Downburst that recommended changes, and possibly get Dewdrop, Headwind, and Flash Cloud to put some pressure on him as well.

Rainbow put those thoughts out of her mind once the staging area came into view. Flash Cloud's current lightning wranglers had taken some of the stored clouds and put them together to form a large platform cloud that all the recruited cloud pushers could stand on while they waited. He had also, per her instructions, left a live thunderhead at one edge of the platform where several lightning wranglers were keeping curious Pegasi well away from it.

Rainbow grinned excitedly as she flew past Flash Cloud, doing an aileron roll into a loop over the assembled crowd before she landed between them and the thunderhead.

"Alright everypony," she shouted loud enough to draw their attention, "gather around and listen up!"

She grinned as the crowd slowly assembled around her, the senior lightning wranglers hovering above them and wearing the yellow vests of their team. Rainbow hopped back into the sky and hovered ten feet above the cloud platform so everypony could see her.

"For those of you who don't know," she began, "I'm Rainbow Dash, and I'm the manager around here for the next six weeks. You're all here because of your natural lightning resistance and Manehattan's severe lack of professional lightning wranglers. This. Cannot. Happen," she stated firmly, clopping her hooves together.

She pointed to the thunderhead behind her.

"That is an active thunderhead," she began, "notice the dark grey color that differentiates it from normal clouds, feel the static in your feathers, smell the electricity in the air. And above all…" Rainbow flew over to the thunderhead, nodding to the lightning wranglers that had been acting as guards for the cloud before she motioned for them to move away.

Once they had moved to a safe distance she turned back towards the curious Pegasi that were watching her. She took a breath before she delivered a powerful buck to the cloud. There was a deafening crack behind her as a bolt of lightning exploded forth from the cloud, arcing harmlessly into the open skies. Her feathers tingled, her mane stood in stood in all directions, and she could feel the residual static making every hair on her body stand on end. She couldn't help a manic grin; only a rainboom was more exhilarating than handling lightning.

"Respect the power of these clouds like an angry dragon," she finished, giving the former cloud pushers time to absorb the demonstration. After a few moments she flew closer to them again and continued her presentation.

"Now, individually, each thunderhead can produce multiple lightning strikes of the scale I just demonstrated. Each strike carries enough voltage to kill or seriously injure anypony, even those of us who have natural resistance. When networked together, they form the storm engines that power the large weather events we need to run from time to time.

"All of you have been broken into teams of four and assigned to a senior lightning wrangler who will supervise your training. These team leaders are the ones responsible for your safety, so if they tell you to do something, then you do it. If they say jump, you say how high, if they say fly, you ask which direction, and if they say stop, you stop!" Rainbow declared firmly.

"Lastly," she continued, "there are a couple of rules all of you need to follow. First: Nopony should land on a primed thunderhead; there's the very real chance that you could accidentally discharge the cloud and get yourself fried. Second: Nopony should handle a thunderhead alone. If I hear about any of you trying to be some kinda hotshot, I will personally bust your flanks from here to Appleloosa."

Rainbow paused for a breath.

"Now everypony get into your teams. Your captains will start teaching you the basics of lightning wrangling with battery clouds. By the end of the day you will all be able to charge, discharge, and direct the energy in those clouds at will. After that you'll, each take a battery cloud home for the weekends to practice, and on Monday we'll start working on small lightning clouds. In the next three weeks you'll all be ready to work with a full scale storm engine," she finished, waving her hoof to the crowd.

For the remainder of the day, Rainbow bounced from group to group, usually keeping quiet and observing how the older lightning wranglers were handling the education of their new teammates. Occasionally, she stepped in to answer bigger questions, and on a few occasions, she had to shift some of the groups around to deal with personality clashes, but overall, she couldn't help but feel optimistic with how things were looking.

'I guess it's a good thing I was paying attention to all of Twilight's yapping about lists and plans.' She snickered to herself.

Near five o'clock, when things were just winding down, Dash spotted Headwind and Dewdrop flying over to her. She smiled to them as they landed.

"Having fun over here?" Dewdrop asked, looking nervously at the parked thunderheads not too far away.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Rainbow answered with a smile. "You two all done for the weekend?"

"Yup, we got all the weather set up and the weekend team should have everything under control," Headwind answered.

"Awesome," Rainbow said. "Did you send the weather order out to Cloudsdale?"

"Erm…no," Headwind admitted with a faint blush.

"Do that before you head home, please," Rainbow stated, earning an irritated look from the stallion.

"Fine." He sighed before taking off in the direction of the main office where the necessary paperwork was located.

Rainbow let out a weary sigh.

'It'll all be done soon, then I can hang out with Spitfire,' she reminded herself.

Headwind made good time back to the office. What was normally a twenty-minute flight he managed to do in just over fifteen. Quickly, he retrieved the necessary orders from the manager's desk and set to work filling them out. It wasn't that he had a problem with actually doing the work himself, it was just that he had plans for the night with his own family that he didn't want to miss.

"Stupid lightning wranglers," he grumbled quietly as he blitzed through the forms. "Stupid storm engine."

With all the haste he could manage he checked the boxes for thunderheads and rainclouds and scribbled down the number of shipments. After he signed the form he folded it and slipped it into a prepaid envelope, which he addressed to the weather factory. He tucked the envelope into his saddlebag and took flight again, there was a post office on his way home where he could send off the order without minimal inconvenience.

He never noticed the mistake he had made.

"Is she here yet?" Rapidfire asked, his hoof tapping the ground impatiently.

Spitfire sighed lightly and resisted the urge to facehoof. She, along with her brother and Soarin, were sitting together out front of Spitfire's hotel, awaiting the eventual arrival of Rainbow Dash. Rapid had been annoying Spitfire with some variation of the same three questions over and over again, whereas Soarin had long since fallen into a catatonic state. The sky-blue stallion's eyes stared blankly through the space in front of him, scarcely aware of the countless ponies that passed the trio by.

Spitfire truly wished she had the same ability to so completely tune out the world.

"Well unless she figured out how to become invisible: then no, I'd say she isn't," Spitfire answered with a roll of her eyes.

"Why are we here again?" Soarin asked with a sigh. "I mean, seriously boss, it's your date, not…" He froze, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head when the realization hit him. "…Oh you little…" He mumbled, pressing a hoof to his forehead.

Rapidfire's face paled as well, his eyes drifting to his sister, who was failing spectacularly at maintaining an innocent look.

"No," Rapidfire stated flatly.

"No what?" Spitfire asked, her voice cracking as she struggled not to giggle.

"You know perfectly well what," Rapidfire growled.

"Hmm." Spitfire rubbed her chin contemplatively. "Nope, pretty sure I don't."

"Mallow and I aren't going on a double-date with you." Rapid jerked his hoof in Soarin's direction.

"Oh, I get it," Spitfire purred, "you two lovebirds want private quality time."

Soarin smacked Rapid's shoulder irritably. "How, in the name of all things sacred, did you not see that one coming?"

"You're not helping," Rapid groaned despondently.

"You two are just adorable together." Spitfire giggled, clopping her front hooves together in excitement.

"There is no 'we'!" Soarin declared in exasperation.

"Hey now," Spitfire gave Soarin a playful shove, "Rapid's a dope, but he's a good catch."

"…Am I supposed to be offended, flattered, or just creeped out?" Rapidfire asked, his face scrunched in confusion.

"Yes," Soarin answered flatly.

Rapidfire groaned in exasperation as he pressed his hoof to his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. "You really are evil," he lamented, pointing an accusatory hoof at his sister.

"I prefer the term 'morally flexible'," she said with a playful wink and a smirk. "Besides, you both seemed keen on getting dinner with Rainbow when I asked Wednesday night."

"Alcohol was involved," Soarin reminded her, "which means nothing said by anypony counts."

"Speaking of that," Spitfire started, abruptly shifting the conversation, "did Silver Lining have much of a hangover?"

Rapidfire and Soarin exchanged an amused glance.

"You might want to avoid the stadium for a few days, Spits," Rapidfire said flatly.

"That bad, huh?" Spitfire tried not to smirk. "Is he alright?"

"Well he spent most of the night praying to the porcelain God, and he spent all day yesterday nursing the hangover," Soarin explained with a sigh.

"Heh, poor little featherweight." She chuckled lightly.

The three Wonderbolts shared a moment of laughter as a familiar rainbow-maned mare landed in front of them. There was only a brief moment where the weather manager didn't recognize the two out-of uniform pegasi. Whatever greeting Rainbow had rehearsed during her flight from work to Spitfire's hotel died on her lips once her brain realized exactly who Soarin and Rapidfire were.

Rainbow Dash sputtered out a noise that, Spitfire assumed, had been a concise thought in the moments before she had landed. With a chuckle, Spitfire walked over to the dumbfounded mare and wrapped her foreleg around Rainbow's shoulders, pulling her into a sidelong hug.

"Right on time, Dash," Spitfire said with a grin. "You remember Soarin, right?" She pointed a hoof to the light-blue stallion, who waved sheepishly.

Rainbow managed a dumb nod.

"And that is my brother, Rapidfire." She pointed to her twin.

Rapidfire puffed out his chest and smirked proudly. "Nice to finally meet you, Rainbow," he said with a smirk.

"L-likewise," Rainbow replied, still staring wide-eyed at the two additional Wonderbolts.

"I thought the four of us could get dinner," Spitfire continued, finding her date's star-struck reaction highly entertaining, "then you and I can hang out for the rest of the night and these two lovebirds can get back to doing their thing."

"We are not dating!" both stallions shouted in exasperation, a flush of crimson spreading over both their faces.

Spitfire leaned close to Rainbow's ear and whispered: "Totally in denial."

Rapidfire's left eye twitched several times before he trotted up to Rainbow and put his hooves on her shoulders. He stared into her eyes with a look of utter seriousness.

"You're too good for her," he warned, jerking his head in Spitfire's direction. "Run."

"Quiet you," Spitfire said, giving her brother a playful punch in the shoulder.

"Hey," Rapid protested, "I'm just trying to help!"

"Anyways," Spitfire said, her tone making it clear that the conversation was over, "I figured since Soarin and I were kinda out of it after the Best Young Flier's competition and we were a bit preoccupied at the Gala, then we could try and make it up to you a bit tonight. Sound good?" she asked, a warm smile gracing her lips.

Rainbow Dash found herself utterly stunned. Of all the things she had expected to see when she had left work, this particular situation hadn't even entered her mind. She suddenly felt glad she had decided against stopping and buying flowers on her way to the hotel. Firstly, because she wasn't quite willing to hoof over her tough-pony card just yet, and secondly, she probably would have managed to choke on the flowers after seeing the two additional Wonderbolts.

"S-sounds great!" she sputtered after managing to coalesce together a somewhat-organized thought process.

"Great!" Spitfire grinned happily. "I got us reservations at the Café Amaréicain for six-thirty."

Soarin and Rapidfire exchanged a shocked glance while Rainbow simply looked confused. The Café Amaréicain was one of the more exclusive clubs in Manehattan. Most ponies found it too expensive, and even for those that didn't, a reservation usually had to be made months in advance. As a team, Acrus had taken them all out there once to celebrate the team's fiftieth anniversary, and while only he had seen the bill, it didn't take a royal magister to get an idea of how expensive it had been.

"Can I borrow you for a minute?" Rapidfire asked, even as he hooked a foreleg around her shoulders and pulled her aside so the two could have a moment of privacy.

"What's up?" Spitfire asked, shooting her twin a glare.

"What in the buck are you doing?" Rapid hissed, keeping his voice low enough so Soarin and Rainbow couldn't hear.

"Going out to dinner with my idiot brother, my best friend, and a date," she answered.

"You don't just take any old date to the Café Amaréicain," he replied. "Hay, nopony goes there unless it's like a crazy special occasion! How did you even get reservations?"

"I talked to the owner and traded him a couple backstage passes for a table tonight," Spitfire admitted with a sheepish grin.

Rapidfire hesitated for a moment as he considered the new information. "...Does Arcus know you did that?"

"Um... maybe?" she answered with a guilty smile.

"Uhg," Rapidfire groaned and facehoofed, "are you trying to get fired?"

"It's not like I'm doing this on the team checkbook!" Spitfire defended, leveling an annoyed glare at her brother. "I promised I'd buy dinner, and I will."

"Spits," Rapid sighed, "the Café Amaréicain is too expensive, even for you."

"If I went there every night, yeah," she agreed, "but this is a special occasion, so I can swing it."

Rapid started, his stern look fading into concern, "Spits, don't." He paused and sighed. "Don't you think you might be taking this a bit, I don't know, fast?"

The ex-captain fidgeted uncomfortably, finding herself unable to look her brother in the eye. "What do you mean?" she asked, not terribly sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"You only started dating her a week ago, and now you're taking her to one of the fanciest restaurants in town?"

"Well in fairness, she did save my life," Spitfire argued.

"Two years ago," Rapid countered.

"Better late than never?" she weakly retorted.

"Spits," he said as he frowned, "I just don't want to see you get hurt again."

Spitfire dug at the sidewalk with her hoof, avoiding her brother's gaze. Rapidfire felt his heart sink slightly.

"Come on sis," he pleaded softly, "talk to me, please?"

"What's there to say?" she asked him. "It just feels right so far."

"Is it really that way, or did going through a rainboom just mess your head up?" Rapid asked quietly.

"The rainboom," Spitfire let a dreamy sigh escape her lips, "was…"

Rapidfire waited expectantly for her to continue, after it became clear she was lost in her thoughts, he nudged her lightly.

"Was what?" he asked.

"It was just… unreal." She sighed. "I don't know."

"Where are you going with this relationship, Spits?" he asked.

"Look," she started with a sigh, "I'm just seeing where things go, and whatever happens, happens."

"Spits—" Rapid started, his words cut off by his sister's hoof. Rapid's posture sagged lightly.

"Rapid, I know you're worried, hay, I'd be lying if I said I knew where this was gonna go." She sighed, subtly glancing over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of Rainbow.

From what she could see, Rainbow was talking about something with Soarin. The weather manager's posture was rigid with a subtle tremble that was visible primarily in the way her wings quivered at her sides. She was doing her best not to act like a star-struck filly, a gesture that Spitfire couldn't help but find adorable. Likewise, Soarin was doing his best to keep things casual and chat with her like he was just a normal pegasus. Spitfire reminded herself to thank him later.

With some effort, she returned her attention to her brother. "I'll never know unless I try, Rapid."

"Even if it costs you your job? Like, for good this time?" he asked, not bothering to hide the concern in his voice.

Spitfire scoffed, a sad smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "One way to find out."

Rapidfire sighed heavily, pressing his right hoof to his forehead as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"You're an idiot," he stated flatly.

"Love you too, Rapid," Spitfire replied, giving him a sidelong hug, which he returned after a moment's hesitation.

"Come on," Spitfire said as she turned back to Soarin and Rainbow, "let's get a move on. I don't wanna be late and miss our reservation."

Rapidfire sighed and shook his head. He hung back slightly from the others, allowing them to lead the way to the Café Amaréicain. He watched Spitfire and Rainbow closely, paying particular attention to the subtle ways they interacted.

Spitfire was walking with Rainbow to her immediate left so as to not accidentally bump her injured wing. From where he was walking, Rapidfire could observe the little moments between the two. He noticed the way Spitfire would flick her tail to brush against Rainbow's; he saw how Rainbow would stretch her wings just enough so that her primary feathers would ever so lightly touch Spitfire's. The longer they walked, the closer their proximity became, until the two were about as close as they could get without actively touching.

Rapidfire frowned. He wanted to see his sister happy; what pony didn't want their siblings to be happy, after all? Still, he could help but feel nervous about the whole situation. Spitfire hadn't had a serious relationship in years. Casual flings, sure, but not anything that lasted more than a couple of weeks. Rapid sighed and shook his head. He barely noticed Soarin slip beside him.

"Usually you're way more annoying than this," Soarin said with an amused tone. "What's bugging you El-Tee?"

Rapidfire shot a glare to the Wonderbolt's current Captain.

"Just thinking," he answered honestly.

"About them?" Soarin motioned with his head to the two mares walking ahead of them.

"Yeah," Rapid answered softly.

"What's the issue?" Soarin asked, not quite sure how to handle a contemplative Rapidfire.

Rapid sighed and shook his head. "Look, Spits hasn't had a serious relationship in years. I don't wanna see her get hurt."

"The boss is a big girl," Soarin pointed out. "She can take care of herself."

"It's not just that which worries me," Rapid continued. "What happens if they get on really well, and then have a nasty breakup? The media scandal will bury her career!"

"Because she dated a national hero?" Soarin asked, not entirely getting Rapidfire's point.

"No, no, no." Rapidfire sighed. "Because she dated one of the Elements of Harmony, specifically the one who just happens to be one of the best flier's of her generation. The media will write it up that Spits used Rainbow, then dumped her when she got bored. Arcus will get too much heat from the sponsors, and Spitfire will be forced to resign in disgrace!"

"That's a bit… hyperbolic," Soarin replied, unable to resist a slight smirk.

"Whatever," Rapidfire huffed in irritation.

"Look," Soarin started with a sigh, "the boss isn't a foal; she can take care of herself."

"Sue me. I worry," Rapidfire grumbled.

"So do I," Soarin replied honestly. "So, how's about this: You and I will do what we do best, and watch her back. If this thing goes sideways, we'll be there for her, if not, then we get to tease her endlessly for being so sappy."

Rapidfire nearly tripped over his own hooves from the comment. He looked over to Soarin, who had a restrained smirk on his muzzle.

"Mallow, I could almost kiss you," Rapidfire grinned.

"Try it and your sister becomes an only child," Soarin answered curtly.

"I love it when you talk dirty," Rapidfire said with a wink.

Soarin groaned and rolled his eyes.

Songs used in this chapter:

watch?v=xYcX534JqG4

watch?v=xHY1L4z7XSk

watch?v=d22CiKMPpaY

---

Walking through the streets of Manehattan during the five o'clock hour on a Friday night wasn't a prospect that anypony particularly enjoyed. Unicorns and earth ponies had at least learned to tolerate the pervasive intrusion of personal space. Pegasi had the unique ability to avoid the traffic entirely by simply flying to whatever location they needed to be at. However finding the space to land on a crowded sidewalk usually ended up being it's own special kind of torment.

The irony of just how badly she longed for that specific pain-in-the-flank was not lost on Spitfire as she slowly made her way through the crowds. Rainbow Dash, Soarin', and Rapidfire dutifully followed her as best they could, though —in fairness—Rapid and Soarin' could have flown away at any point in the last thirty minutes, Spitfire hadn't bothered to check.

Rainbow, on the other hoof, had stayed by her side the whole time irrespective of the difficulties inherent in navigating the crowded streets. Spitfire could see the frustration in the weather manager's eyes. It flashed like lightning in a distant storm. She could all but feel the burning desire in Dash's soul to take to the skies and soar to the clouds above, leaving the claustrophobic streets in her wake. Spitfire even felt Rainbow's right wing bump into her side several times when the younger pegasus had nearly given in to the desire to fly.

The upside to the whole situation, at least for Spitfire, was the proximity it gave her to Rainbow. For the majority of the walk the two were never more than five to ten inches apart. It had allowed the Wonderbolt ample opportunities to discreetly observe the weather manager's reactions in detail. Seeing her frustrations so intimately gave Spitfire an even greater appreciation for how patient Rainbow had been. She wasn't sure that, if their situations were reversed, she would have been able to resist the temptation to take to the air and carry Dash from one end of town to the other.

Spitfire leaned over slightly, giving Rainbow a delicate nuzzle. The small act caused Dash to stumble momentarily, a flush of red blossoming over her cyan cheeks. She made a note to properly thank the younger mare when they weren't pushing their way through an overcrowded street.

Eventually their brave and heroic struggle against the nigh insurmountable odds came to an end, with the four irritable pegasi standing in front of an unassuming brick building. The entrance was set into a large archway with a finely crafted metalwork sign mounted over the door. In elaborate letters it read 'The Café Amaréicain'.

Spitfire smiled as she turned, pleased to see Soarin' and her brother had stayed close behind them.

"Well," Spitfire began cheerily, "here we are!"

"Finally." Grumbled Rapidfire.

"Oh quiet you," Spitfire chided him playfully, "you're getting a free meal out of it."

"Hmm," Rapid put his hoof to his chin as he pretended to contemplate the situation, "fair point." He decided after a moment.

Spitfire shook her head and allowed herself a light chuckle. With out further delay she trotted up to the door and pulled it open, holding it for Rainbow, Rapid, and Soarin'.

"Ladies first." She winked as her brother and Soarin' passed her.

"Oh such a gentlecolt." Rapidfire replied in a falsetto voice, making a point of swaying his hips like a mare as he passed Spitfire.

"Discord, smite me now." Soarin' mumbled quietly.

"Oh pony up, buddy." Spitfire said with a smirk.

Inside, the Café Amaréicain was a large and open space. Several dozen round tables filled the hall each draped with a pristine white tablecloth. Every table had an ornate floral centerpiece crowned with three poinsettia flowers as well as elaborately folded napkin's sitting on porcelain bread plates.

There was a large bar area to their immediate right where nearly twenty ponies, mostly unicorns, were enjoying cocktails and chatting about various topics while they waited to be seated. Beside the bar was a small hearth area, complete with several small tables and a large fireplace. In the fireplace itself was a modest log pile resting on an old looking andiron.

Finally, at the far end of the hall, there was a stage platform that stood about shoulder height over the rest of the floor. On it was a grand piano, a modest drum setup, and several other instruments, most of which were currently unattended. For the time being, the only performer was the pianist, a pegasus stallion with a light grey coat and a two-tone mane that was both neon blue and a very dark bluish-grey. The remnants of polite applause faded completely as the pianist began his next song.

He played a nostalgic melody twice before he leaned towards the microphone and began to sing.

"Making your way in the world today
takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries
sure would help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

where everypony knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everypony knows
Your name."

As he continued his song, Rainbow Dash instinctively took a step back. This wasn't the kind of place she belonged in. She wasn't a famous Wonderbolt like Spitfire, Rapidfire, and Soarin'. She wasn't upscale like Rarity, and she wasn't the personal protégé of one of the Princesses like Twilight. She was just the weather manager from a backwater town.

Spitfire didn't miss Rainbow's nervous reaction; she quickly stepped up beside the cyan mare and draped her good wing over Rainbow's back.

"Hey," Spitfire started in a reassuring voice, "you alright?"

"Y-yeah," Rainbow answered, "I've just never been anywhere like this."

"Don't worry about it," Spitfire gave her a light hug with her wing, "there's nothing to be intimidated about. Just relax and have some fun."

Rainbow nodded, though she found herself wondering when she had started turning into Fluttershy. Spitfire's wing soon left Rainbow's back, leaving nothing but a rush of cool air in place of its warmth. The former Captain smiled as she trotted to the podium where a teal pegasus with a messy brown mane was occupying himself with a notebook and a quill pen. He quickly noticed Spitfire approach, and after putting his quill down he offered her a welcoming smile.

"Good evening ma'am, do you have a reservation?"

"Yes," Spitfire started with an affirmative nod, "it's under 'Spitfire'."

The teal stallion perused his ledger for a moment before finding the name.

"Party of four, correct?" he asked.

"Yup, that's us," she replied, waving her hoof to her three companions.

"Very good," he down from the barstool he had commandeered for a seat as he took four menus under his right wing, "If you'll all follow me, I'll show you to your table."

Spitfire motioned for the others to follow her as she trotted casually after the pegasus. She couldn't help but notice that this particular stallion was a bit on the short side and kept his tail longer than most other stallions did, save for Silver Lining and Lightning Streak.

After a moment he ushered them to a table not too far from the stage. After each had taken a seat, he gave them each a menu and took his leave with a polite bow. Each of them took the time to get comfortable before looking at the menu.

Rainbow felt her cheeks start to burn again. The so-called menu in her hooves was far more aptly described as a short-list. There were six options, each coming with a predetermined appetizer, wine, and desert. Rainbow also noticed a distinct lack of any pricing information on the menu. She recalled Twilight once mentioning how the nicest and most expensive restaurants never put prices on their menus. Ponies simply selected whatever the chefs had chosen to prepare for that night, and then were hoofed an exorbitant bill when you finished.

Though in Twilight's case, the she and her family had been with Princess Celestia. And Rainbow very much doubted there was a pony in Equestria dumb enough to hoof the princess a bill for anything, regardless of whether or not Celestia requested a bill. Rainbow bit her lip uncomfortably and glanced at all three Wonderbolts. Soarin' and Rapidfire were each casually reading through their options, while Spitfire seemed slightly more interested in browsing the drink menu. Slowly, she leaned over to Spitfire, lightly nudging the older mare's shoulder.

"What's up, Dash?" Spitfire asked cheerfully.

"I-uh, I've never been to a place like this." She said quietly.

"Don't worry," Spitfire smiled, wrapping a hoof around Rainbow's shoulders to give her a reassuring squeeze. "Just order whatever you want."

Rainbow looked at the menu again before she returned her gaze to Spitfire.

"Hey Spitfire?" she asked sheepishly.

"Hey Dash?" the Wonderbolt countered.

"What's a truffle?"

"Mold." Rapidfire interrupted.

"No it isn't," Spitfire rolled her eyes.

"Fancy mold." Rapidfire said dryly.

"Oh stick a sock in it." Spitfire groaned.

"Fancy sock mold." Rapid deadpanned.

Spitfire groaned again, pressing her hoof to her forehead in exasperation.

Rainbow blinked in confusion before turning to Soarin' in hopes of some kind of explanation. The sky-blue stallion noticed her pleading expression, and in response he simply shrugged.

"They do that," he explained matter-of-factly, "you get used to it."

Rainbow couldn't help but chuckle as the twins bickered quietly. The arrival of their waiter, a green unicorn with a silver mane, put a stop to their squabble.

"Good evening," he started with a smile, "welcome to the Café Amaréicain. Have any of you dined with us before, or is this your first time here?"

"The three of us have been here before," Spitfire motioned to herself, Rapid, and Soarin', "it's her first time though."

"Ah, I see, well," he offered her a welcoming smile, "welcome ma'am."

"Thanks." Rainbow said, doing her best not to look like a fish out of water.

"So," he began, "what can I get you all to drink?"

"Just water for me, please." Rainbow said.

"I'll take a Whiskey Manehattan." Soarin' added.

"The house cider for me." Rapid chirped.

"I'll have the Pinot Noir." Spitfire said.

The stallion bowed before he trotted off to retrieve their drinks, leaving the four pegasi alone. The pianist had long since finished his song, and was playing a wordless, but moving piece while several other musicians got set up.

"So, how's things going on the team without me there to foalsit?" Spitfire asked Soarin'.

"Ask me when I'm less sober." Soarin' answered with an annoyed sigh.

"Fleetfoot and Blaze are getting really annoying." Rapid added.

"What's Arcus saying about it?" Spitfire asked as she leaned forward slightly.

"Well that's part of the problem," Soarin sighed and shook his head, "he hasn't come to any decision yet, so—officially at least—he's tabled the entire conversation while he thinks about it."

"What's going on?" Rainbow asked, the concern plain on her face. "The Wonderbolt's aren't in trouble are they? Cause that would totally stink."

Spitfire hesitated for a moment. Should she tell Rainbow about the argument that she had walked into? Would it be better to just sweep it under the rug and okay it off as nothing? Soarin' and Rapidfire watched her expectantly, neither of them would say anything more then she wanted them to.

Spitfire carefully considered the consequences of the next few moments. If she played it off as nothing, she risked the whole thing blowing up in her face later and possibly damaging Rainbow's faith in her. On the other hoof, if she told Rainbow about the fight going on in the team, there was a chance it could still alienate the younger mare.

"Well," Spitfire started, deciding that sunshine was the best medicine, "a lot of ponies noticed that rainboom the other night, including the whole team."

"Um, oops?" Rainbow rubbed the back of her head and laughed sheepishly, memories of her awkward day at work rushing back.

"Some ponies on the team are insisting we get you to teach it to us," Rapidfire added, "the rest of us would rather let you decide someday."

Rainbow was quiet for a moment before she turned to Spitfire, her face expressionless, "What do you think?"

"I think the rainboom was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced," Spitfire said with a smile, "and I think you're the only pony in the world capable of performing it."

Rainbow's cheeks flushed red from the compliment.

"Don't worry Dash," Spitfire said, putting her hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "Soarin', Rapid, and I will make sure nopony bothers you unless you want them to. Okay?"

Rainbow nodded, smiling genuinely at the promise.

"Well, I've got one condition for that." Rapidfire interrupted, earning a glare from Spitfire.

"What kinda condition?" Rainbow asked warily. The last time a pony had made her a conditional promise it had ended with watching the butterfly migration with Fluttershy and being bored out of her mind.

"I wanna hear how you figured it out!" Rapid grinned broadly "What was the training like, what did it feel like the first time you pulled it off? I wanna hear that story!"

"Pardon my brother, he's a foal trapped in a stallions body." Spitfire rolled her eyes.

"Hello pot, I'm kettle." Rapid countered.

"Yeah, I gotta side with Rapid on this one boss." Soarin' interjected with a smirk.

Spitfire opened her mouth to reply, only to hesitate as she thought it over.

"…Touché." She mumbled in irritation.

"So," Rapid continued, "tell us how the story, Rainbow!"

"It was the Best Young Flyer's competition, right?" Soarin' asked as he took a sip of water.

"No, um, I did it once before that." Rainbow said sheepishly, her cheeks gaining a subtle tinge of pink.

"Like during practice?" Spitfire asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Heh, not exactly." Rainbow shook her head, "it's how I got my cutie mark."

Soarin's eyes went wide as his drink took a detour through his nose. Similarly, both Spitfire and Rapidfire looked utterly stunned by the revelation. Spitfire's shock was somewhat buoyed by an amazed smile, whereas Rapid seemed unable to fully process the information.

"No way," Rapid mumbled as he shook his head, "that just…that just not fair."

"Dash," Spitfire rested her hoof on top of Rainbow's, "that's incredible!"

Rainbow's cheeks grew a deeper shade of red even as she offered a noncommittal shrug. Spitfire wondered why she seemed so hesitant to talk more about her talents. The deposed captain made a note to ask Dash about it later. Before anypony could say another word their waiter returned with their drinks.

After ensuring each pegasus was satisfied with their drink, he took their orders. Soarin' ordered a phyllo roulade, Rapidfire ordered a Tofu dish served in a brandy cream sauce, Spitfire asked for a hickory basted tempeh, and Rainbow ordered a vegetable mezza platter, mostly because she hoped it was the most affordable item on the menu. The unicorn left them with a small basket of warm dinner rolls before he excused himself to place their order.

Roughly at that point, a teal-coated earth pony mare with a blonde mane had taken to the stage. She spoke with the pianist for a few moments before taking her place at the microphone. The pianist counted her in with a simple progression of two chords. The bassist, a blue-coated stallion with a dark green mane, joined the music, while another pony that the group couldn't see from their position kept a quiet rhythm on the high-hat of his drums. After a few moments, the pianist, bassist, and another stallion held a sonorous note that led into the song itself

The mare's singing voice was deeper than any singer Spitfire had heard before. Perhaps that's what caught the Wonderbolt's attention. There was a motherly quality to it that gave warmth to the haunting tone of the song.

"Er ritt davon, den träumen nach,
Ritt in das Morgenrot hinein,"

Soarin's ears perked immediately from the sound, and he quickly turned in his seat to give the stage his undivided attention.

"Ich blieb zurück und sah ihm nach,
Und wollte stark und tapfer sein,"

The mare kept her eyes closed, her head nodding with the rhythm of the music as the band built into the second verse.

"Ich zähl die tage und mach kerben in das holz,"
In weite fernen geht mein blick,"

Rainbow scooted closer to Spitfire, her hoof locking with the Wonderbolts.

"It's a pretty song," the weather mare noted.

Spitfire nodded in agreement, "Yeah it is. Too bad I don't speak Germane."

"doch in den nächten da vergess ich meinen stolz
und bete bringt ihn mir zurück."

"It's a song for a lost lover." Soarin' stated, earning a confused look from all three pegasi.

"Since when did you speak Germane?" Rapidfire asked incredulously.

Soarin blinked in confusion at the question. "My Mom is from Germaneigh, I was raised in a bilingual home."

"How come you never told me this?" Spitfire balked.

"Weil du nie gefragt." Soarin replied with a smirk.

"Try again in a language the rest of us can understand." Rapidfire growled.

"I said; because you never asked." Soarin' chuckled.

"Okay then wiseguy," Rapid glowered, "what's she saying now?"

Soarin' returned his focus to the stage, listening closely as the mare finished the refrain."

"Komm doch heim, komm doch heim
Heim zu mir, denn ich bin, so allein."

"Roughly translated," Soarin' began slowly, his emerald eyes squinting, "it means, please come home, home to me, because I'm so alone. It's kinda hard to translate, Komm heim means 'come home', but 'doch' doesn't have a literal translation, it's more like an emphasis. Like, like a pleading really."

Rainbow and Spitfire both nodded, their eyes transfixed on the mare's haunting lament. By the time the mare finished her song and took her bow, Soarin' was trying to discreetly wipe at his eyes with his hoof.

Rapidfire nudged him lightly. "You alright there, Mallow?"

"I'm fine." Soaring curtly answered. "Just…just got something in my eye.

"You really are a marshmallow." Rapidfire commented with a wry grin.

"I will stab you in your sleep." Soarin' growled.

"Kinky." Rapid giggled as he patted Soarin's back.

Soon after, their meals were delivered along with a matched glass of wine. Soarin' received some gentle razzing from the twins before the conversation shifted to backstage stories of pranks pulled, close call crashes, and the terror that was an angry Arcus. Rainbow asked questions at every opportunity she could, and when prompted, she shared a few of her own stories.

"I once ate meat." She admitted with wine-induced flippancy.

"You what?!" Rapidfire balked.

"How in the buck did that happen?" Spitfire asked, her expression one of amused revulsion at the very idea.

Soarin' sipped his second Manehattan, very content to pretend this particular conversation wasn't happening.

Rainbow's alcohol flushed cheeks gained an additional shade of crimson as she shrugged, "my best friend in Junior Speedsters was a griffon. She brought it in sometimes for lunch. She dared me, and I tried it."

"Whoa." Spitfire marvelled, her morbid curiosity getting the better of her, "what was it like?"

"…Chewy." Rainbow answered after a moments thought.

Rapidfire groaned and put his head in his hooves while Spitfire laughed. Time melted away as the four swapped story after story, and the conversation continued long after their plates were cleared and their bill paid. Spitfire had managed to suppress any visible reaction when she had received the bill, though she did swear she was never coming back unless somepony else was paying.

"Well," Soarin' said with a yawn, "I suppose we should clear out soon. It's getting a bit late."

Spitfire turned slightly so she could see one of the clocks that was affixed to the wall. She was mildly surprised to see it was well after nine o'clock. Rainbow's low tolerance for alcohol manifested in the weather manager sleepily leaning on Spitfire's shoulder, her magenta eyes half-open and watching the stage. She nudged Rainbow gently, just enough to get the cyan mare's attention.

"What do you say, Dash," she smiled to her date, "ready to head out?"

Rainbow covered a yawn with her hoof, nodding slowly, "Can we stay for one more song?" she asked.

"Sure thing." Spitfire answered, her smile growing slightly.

Rapidfire nudged Soarin's side lightly. "Check it out, Mallow, Spitfire's gone domestic on us."

Soarin' covered his snicker behind a hoof, clearly noticing the chagrined look on Spitfire's face.

"Careful, she might clock us with a frying pan." Soarin' replied.

"When I get my job back," Spitfire growled, "you two are gonna get media duty for a month."

"Totally worth it." Rapidfire grinned.

"You won't think that when you've sobered up." Soarin' commented.

"That reminds me," Rapid pointed his hoof to Soarin's empty cocktail glass, "how are you still conscious? You had, like, three of those."

Soarin' stared at Rapid as though he had just asked if fire was hot.

"My Mom's an old Germane mare and Dad is from a long line of Scolt's." He stated, as though that somehow explained everything.

Rapid groaned and facehoofed.

On stage, the pianist began to play again, this time a brown stallion with a salt and pepper mane stood at the microphone. With a smile on his lips he began to sing, his vibrato voice washing over the entranced hall.

"You must remember this
A kiss is still a kiss
A sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by

And when two lovers woo
They still say I love you
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by."

Spitfire couldn't help but hum happily as she walked with Rainbow through the quiet Manehattan streets. They had parted with Soarin' and Rapid shortly after leaving the Café Amaréicain, the stallions flying off in the direction of the hotel, while Spitfire and Dash meandered in the general direction of the hightown parks. The former Captain had originally planned to show Dash some of the cities nicer clubs, however that plan seemed markedly less appealing with a full belly and a pleasant buzz.

Perhaps one of the larger surprises for Spitfire had been discovering just how relaxed Rainbow Dash became after a little alcohol. The weather manager, Celestia bless her heart, was doing her level best to walk in a straight line and keep her eyes open. Unfortunately for her, the only way to achieve that goal had been to lean on Spitfire. The Wonderbolt couldn't help but find that a highly amicable solution, as evidenced by her good wing draped over Rainbow's back.

There was a tiny corner of her mind that was mildly disappointed by Rainbow's reaction to alcohol. The weather manager was a pony that seemed to just get sleepy from drinking. Perhaps if she had a higher tolerance she would be different, but for the moment at least, she was comparatively boring. Part of the fun of drinking, at least for Spitfire, was seeing how various ponies changed while under the influence. Rapidfire was a chatty drunk, always with new questions and stories pouring out of his mouth. Her brother's inability to keep his mouth closed after a few pints was probably where Arcus got half of his information from on the personal lives of the Wonderbolts.

Soarin', on the other hoof, drank like an old stallion. He would sit there and sip at his cocktails, rarely imbibing enough at once to get more than a pleasant buzz. Spitfire had only seen him drunk once, and that had been because she and Rapid had spiked the punch bowl during an afterparty. To her great surprise, and mild disappointment, the sky-blue stallion was a very quiet drunk. Halfway through that party he had found a comfortable spot to sit in and barely spoke until the next morning.

The other Wonderbolts were fairly stratified in their reactions. Misty and Blaze thought everything was hilarious; Lightning Streak and Surprise were loving drunks, always hugging, touching, and flirting with everypony in sight, and Fleetfoot and Wave Chill turned into sobbing wrecks after one too many. Spitfire and all the other Wonderbolts made a point to stop both Fleetfoot and Wave Chill before they reached that level.

Spitfire would deny it to her dying breath, but she was beginning to see a certain advantage in being—at least temporarily—flightless. It was forcing her to slow down and take notice of the quieter moments—those same, quiet moments that had driven her to near insanity when she had been on her own, had changed entirely now. Here, with Rainbow, every moment was a little treasure. Spitfire smiled, her wing giving Dash a gentle hug. She decided that even if their relationship were to end tomorrow, it would still have been worth every second.

"Where're we going?" Rainbow asked, stifling a quiet yawn.

"I figured we could just walk through the park, maybe find a nice spot to watch the stars, talk for a bit," Spitfire answered with a noncommittal shrug. "Unless you're too tired. I can take you home too."

"I'll be fine in a minute," Rainbow responded, doing her best to perk up. "I guess I'm just not used to wine."

"Don't worry about it." Spitfire chuckled. "Besides, you're cute when you're sleepy."

Rainbow blushed and mumbled indistinguishably.

After nearly half an hour of walking, Rainbow's head had begun to clear some of the lassitude that had been plaguing her since dinner. Had she wanted to, she probably could have walked without leaning on Spitfire, however she found that prospect was decidedly less appealing than her current position. The golden wing draped over her back didn't particularly encourage her to move either.

Their walk took them up to hightown's central park, which was emptied of most ponies. There were a few other couples taking an evening stroll and the odd police pony making his nightly rounds. Gas powered lamps that bathed the cobblestone streets in a golden glow and pale moonlight filtered down from above. A gentle breeze washed through the park, sending a mild chill through the two pegasi.

Spitfire's wing held Rainbow close.

The two parted with the cobblestone path and made their way through a small copse of trees; past that was an open, hilly area where the stars were clearly visible and the grass underhoof was soft. Spitfire and Rainbow made their way to the top of one of the small hills where they finally sat down. The Wonderbolt's wing never left the weather manager's back.

They sat in silence for a long while before Rainbow spoke up.

"Hey, Spitfire?"

"Yeah, Dash?"

"How did both you and your brother make it to the Wonderbolts?" she asked.

Spitfire chuckled softly. "That's a good question, but probably not a very interesting story."

"Still, I'd love to hear it." Rainbow said as she reclined against Spitfire's side.

"Well, when we were little, we got to travel around a lot because Dad was in the Royal Guard. Then, around the time we turned ten, he retired and took a job in the Royal Mail Service. The Cloudsdale office, specifically," Spitfire explained with a smile. "I was always a bit of a Daddy's girl, so when I was old enough, I signed up for the Guard just like him. Rapid took a job with the Royal Mail cause nothing else struck his fancy.

"Well, I got through basic and was placed into the communications corps because of my speed—that's where I met Soarin' actually. We became friends pretty fast, mostly 'cause I was the only flyer who could keep up with him in a race. This was about the time when Blue Streak, the previous Captain of the Wonderbolts, and Arcus noticed us.

"They brought us in and had us do tandem-flying exercises for a week; by the end of it, we were both offered a position on the team. I got assigned to the lead pony and Soarin' got wingpony. Soarin's the best friend you could ever ask for, loyal, kind, and heart of gold. Even when he was offered a lead pony position of his own he refused."

Spitfire paused at the memory, a nostalgic smile on her lips.

Rainbow waited a moment before speaking up. "So, how did Rapidfire join up?"

"Well," Spitfire started, "about a year and a half after Soarin' and I were accepted onto the team, Blue Streak decided to retire. It was kind of an awkward timing, most of the team he ran were all getting close to the mandatory retirement age. Blue Streak didn't want to appoint a new team Captain if that pony was just going to retire in a year, so he picked me and I picked Soarin' for my lieutenant.

"Within a year, most of the older team members had retired as well, and the Guard didn't want us raiding all their best flyers for propaganda purposes, so I suggested to Arcus that we open up the Wonderbolts for civilian applications. He talked it over with the higher-ups, and they agreed.

"Arcus, Soarin', and I spent a couple of months looking for pegasi that might be Wonderbolt material. We found some promising athletes here and there, but not a lot of great endurance flyers. Then, on a lark, I reached out to Rapid to see if he might be interested. He always was better in endurance flying then I was. And, turns out, working for the Royal Mail turned him into one of the best endurance flyers alive today. He's not the fastest or most agile Wonderbolt, but he can fly all day everyday."

Spitfire paused for a breath as she finished her tale, "So, that's our story, Dash."

"That's so awesome!" Rainbow said, her grin beaming up at Spitfire.

The Wonderbolt chuckled lightly, her wing flexing for a moment. The innocuous action sent a mild tickle through Rainbow's back and brought a flush of pink to her cheeks. For a moment, silence again filled the gap between them until Spitfire thought of a question.

"So, Dash," she began, looking down to face the younger mare.

"Yeah?" The weather manager replied.

"What's your Dad like?" Spitfire asked.

"Um," Rainbow paused, caught slightly off guard by the question. "Well, he's really nice. He manages Thunderhead production in the Weather Factory now."

"What? Really?" Spitfire blurted.

"Yup." Rainbow grinned proudly. "Before that, he was the lead lightning wrangler for the Cloudsdale weather team."

"That's amazing, Dash," Spitfire said with a smile. "What else does he do?"

"Um, well... he used to write songs and perform in some weekend bands when I was younger. I know he still does band stuff from time to time, but not as often as he used to," Rainbow explained.

"Really?" Spitfire quirked an eyebrow in surprise. "What kind of songs?"

"Folky music mostly. My uncle told me he used to sing them for Mom when they were dating," Rainbow answered.

"Is your uncle on your Dad's side or…" Spitfire trailed off, not wanting to poke what might be a sensitive subject. To her immense relief, Rainbow merely shrugged and smiled

"Technically he's not my uncle at all," Rainbow answered, earning a quizzical look from Spitfire. "He's actually my Dad's best friend, but he was around so often that I just sorta grew up calling him my uncle."

Spitfire chuckled and nodded. After a brief moment of silence she turned back Rainbow.

"So, any songs I might know?" the Wonderbolt asked with a smile.

Rainbow flushed slightly. "I dunno, maybe?"

"My parents played a lot of folk music while Rapid and I were growing up." Spitfire sheepishly dug her hoof at the ground. "I have kind of a soft spot for it."

Rainbow was quiet for a minute as she thought. Spitfire waited patiently for a time before she started to speak, only to stop when she heard Rainbow humming a melody that seemed vaguely familiar to the golden pegasus. It was only when she began to sing that Spitfire recalled the song, a perennial favorite of hers and her fathers.

"Have you seen the old stallion
in the closed-down market
Kicking up the paper,
with his worn out hooves?
In his eyes you see no pride
Wings held loosely at his side
Yesterday's paper telling yesterday's news"

Have you seen the old mare
Who walks the streets of Lundy
Dirt in her mane and her clothes in rags?
She's no time for talking,
She just keeps right on walking
Carrying her home in two carrier bags.

So how can you tell me you're lonely,
And say for you that the sun don't shine?"

Spitfire's wing pulled Rainbow close as she broke into the song, her voice warm and gentle, like a summer breeze.

"Let me take you by the hoof
and lead you through the streets of Lundy
I'll show you something
to make you change your mind"

Rainbow's cheeks flushed lightly as she continued what had become their duet.

"In the all night cafe
At a quarter past eleven,
Same old stallion sitting there on his own"

Spitfire wrapped her left foreleg around Rainbow's waist as she picked up the verse.

"Looking at the world
Over the rim of his tea-cup,
Each tea last an hour
Then he wanders home alone"

As the song came to it's finale refrain, their voices wove together in a seamless harmony. Rainbow's magenta eyes lost in Spitfire's amber gaze.

"So how can you tell me you're lonely,
And say for you that the sun don't shine?
Let me take you by the hoof and lead you through the streets of Lundy
I'll show you something to make you change your mind"

The finale note faded from their lips, their music replaced by the delicate chorus of the night. The silence between them seemed to stretch into eternity as they stared at one another. Rainbow felt her heart skip a beat as Spitfire leaned closer, subtle tremors ran through her body as the golden pegasus held her close.

The finale note faded from their lips, their music replaced by the delicate chorus of the night. The silence between them seemed to stretch into eternity as they stared at one another. Rainbow felt her heart skip a beat as Spitfire leaned closer, subtle tremors ran through her body as the golden pegasus held her close. She could feel Spitfire's warm breath wash over her muzzle; she heard her heart pounding in her ears.

Time froze as their lips met.

It didn't seem real.

Things like this were only supposed to be in the purview of schlocky romances, like the ones Fluttershy and Rarity were so fond of—yet there Rainbow Dash was, frozen in her place, with Spitfire's lips interlocked with hers. Rainbow's cheeks burned, her heart palpitated, and her mind spun from the simple fact of her situation.

It wasn't like the way she had seen it in movies or read in books. There were no fireworks, no clarion calls or sweeping strings; there wasn't a particular shift in her previous paradigms, nor a sudden epiphany of new emotion. It was simply Spitfire and her, with the world around them nothing more than a vague afterthought.

All too soon, Spitfire's lips parted with Rainbow's, a ghost of warm breath washing over her muzzle as the Wonderbolt retreated. Rainbow forced her eyes open, immediately she found herself once again lost in Spitfire's gaze. The older mare's golden cheeks laced with the faintest hint of crimson and her lips still parted slightly.

The weather manager remained frozen in her place, Spitfire's forelegs wrapped loosely around her waist with her good wing draped over her back. Rainbow's forelegs had, at some point unbeknownst to their owner, wrapped themselves around Spitfire's waist as well. Despite however hard she tried, Rainbow couldn't find the words to break the silence of the moment. She was torn between euphoric excitement and utter terror, which resulted in a noticeable tremble running throughout her body. Spitfire's forelegs very slightly tightened their grip.

"You alright, Dash?" Spitfire asked, her voice airy and soft.

"Y-yeah," Dash answered with a smile, a strong shiver running through her at the sound of Spitfire's voice.

"You sure?" Spitfire asked worriedly. "You're shaking."

Rainbow managed an anxious laugh, "S-sorry, I've just-just, well…you know…"

"First kiss?" Spitfire inquired with a quirked eyebrow.

Rainbow nodded mutely, her cheeks ears flattening back.

"Like… with a mare, or ever?" Spitfire asked, her surprise apparent in her voice.

"…Yes," Rainbow answered quietly, and after a significant pause.

Spitfire mouthed a silent 'oh', her wing providing a constant hug to the younger mare. Silence filled the air between them for a moment before Spitfire lightly nudged Dash's ribs to draw her attention.

"So, Dash," she began with a goofy grin, "was it good for you?" she asked, waggling her eyebrows playfully.

Rainbow snickered and folded her forelegs across her chest. She pursed her lips, tilted her head, and furled her brows together to look like a mare lost in deep thought over the matter. Spitfire chuckled, though at the same time she felt a peculiar sense of anxiety well up in her stomach at the thought of Rainbow saying 'no'.

"Well, I don't know," she teasingly drawled. "I mean, it wasn't a rainboom or anything, but I'd say it was pretty good."

"A rainboom, huh?" Spitfire grinned impishly, "I'll give you a rainboom."

Rainbow barely managed a squeak as Spitfire pulled her close and dipped her low. The Wonderbolt's left hoof supported the back of Rainbow's head while her powerful wing gently cradled the weather manager's back. Spitfire smiled warmly as her right hoof gently brushed stray strands of mane from Rainbow's face.

Any words were lost when Spitfire's lips again pressed against Rainbow's. Rainbow inhaled sharply through her nose as the Wonderbolt's tongue teased at her lips. Spitfire lost her self in the physicality of the moment. More than once she found herself come dangerously close to yielding to her more carnal desires. With any other mare, she probably would have caved, yet with Rainbow, there was something she couldn't quite put her hoof on that made her reluctant to take things too quickly.

Spitfire held the kiss until the muscles in her wing began to burn and her lungs screamed for a full breath of air. Reluctantly, her lips again parted with Rainbow's. Both mares panted lightly, the Wonderbolt's lips ghosting over the weather manager's more than a few times. Spitfire gently pulled Rainbow back to an upright position, stifling a giggle at the dazed look on the cyan mare's face.

"How was that?" Spitfire asked with a smirk, her forelegs pulling Rainbow into a close hug.

"Whooooaa," the weather manager breathed softly.

Spitfire chuckled proudly and gave Rainbow a soft kiss on the cheek. "Glad I made an impression."

Rainbow managed a soft laugh as she rested her head on Spitfire's shoulder. A cyan wing gently slipped around the Wonderbolt's back in a tender hug. A comfortable silence settled over the couple for a moment before Rainbow spoke.

"Thank you," Rainbow said quietly.

"For what?" Spitfire asked, mildly confused.

"Everything." Rainbow made a broad gesture with her hoof." This whole week has been like something out of an awesome dream.

"I'm glad, Dash," Spitfire replied as she nuzzled between Rainbow's ears.

For a while, the two lost track of time on the peaceful hilltop. Both mares content to hold, and be held, as the minutes ticked by in silence. Spitfire's gaze shifted between Luna's beautiful night sky and the rainbow-maned mare in her embrace. There was something that had been bugging her for days, a question only Rainbow could answer, though Spitfire was hesitant to ask for fear of poking at what could easily be a sore spot for the weather manager.

Spitfire had first noticed it just after Rainbow had booked her hotel accommodations, and again on several other occasions. It was a notable reticence that came over the younger mare when Spitfire or even Soarin' and Rapid had complimented her achievements. It didn't seem like simple humility; humility didn't carry the sting that Dash seemed to subtly recoil from.

Several times, Spitfire opened her mouth to ask Rainbow about it, yet each time she found herself stopping before she could speak. Rainbow's discomfort with whatever it was that kept her quiet concerned Spitfire. At the same time, she wasn't sure if she had the right to really ask about it. After all, they had only been dating a week; what did that make them to eachother?

Spitfire took a deep breath as she thought it over. It had been so long since she'd allowed another pony, intentionally or not, to get so close. She hadn't dared to call anypony her marefriend since her breakup with Zephyr. Just how serious did she want to let things get between them? Spitfire had certainly enjoyed herself during their brief time together, and she knew Rainbow had too. With a light sigh, she planted a gentle kiss between Dash's ears.

'No,' she decided after thinking it over a while longer, 'not tonight. Tonight's been too nice to end it with a question like that.'

She couldn't help a smirk as a question of perhaps greater interest popped into her mind.

"Hey, Rainbow?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah?" Dash answered, peering up to Spitfire.

"I don't think I asked the other day," she began nervously, "but um…how…how do you feel about getting serious?"

Rainbow's cheeks flushed bright red. Spitfire's forelegs, still wrapped around the smaller mare's torso, felt her heart flutter in her chest.

"As in, like, real marefriends?" Rainbow asked sheepishly.

"Real marefriends," Spitfire confirmed with a nod.

Rainbow's cheeks burned intensely as a wave of dizziness nearly overwhelmed her. She found herself deeply glad she was both sitting down and had another pony already holding on to her. The torrent of emotions that roiled through her resulted in a sharp gasp from the weather manager.

"I-is it bad I'm scared?" Rainbow asked, her voice quavering.

"No," Spitfire answered as she smiled and nuzzled the top of Rainbow's head, "because it scares me too."

The cyan-coated mare laughed softly, her grip tightening on Spitfire's waist.

"Y-yeah," Rainbow began anxiously. "I'd like that a lot."

Spitfire gave Rainbow a gentle squeeze, a broad grin spreading over her lips. "Then it's official," she said happily, "marefriend."

Rainbow felt her cheeks burn anew at the title. She nuzzled her cheek against Spitfire's shoulder for a moment, until Spitfire's hoof gently lifted her chin up. Her magenta eyes again met with Spitfire's brown orbs. With a warm smile, Spitfire's soft lips met Rainbows for a third time. The kiss ended all too soon for Rainbow when Spitfire's lips left hers, the older mare gently nuzzling her.

"Are you free tomorrow?" Spitfire asked, her voice soft and breathy.

"All day," Rainbow answered. "What should we do?"

"Oh, I've got a few ideas," Spitfire winked mischievously, "but you'll just have to wait and see for those."

Rainbow giggled and nuzzled into the crook of Spitfire's neck. "Well then, I guess I'll just have to walk my new marefriend home and pick her up in the morning."

Spitfire laughed and gave Rainbow a playful nudge. "Just you wait until my wing is healed, then we'll see who picks who up."

Rainbow giggled and nudged Spitfire back. "Deal."

The two sat for a while longer under Luna's moon, simply enjoying each other's company for as long as they could. Far across town, Soarin' was trying valiantly to remember why he had agreed to grab a post-dinner drink with Rapidfire. Also, when 'a drink' had turned into multiple drinks.

"You totally gotta teach me how'ta talk in those Germaneesy words," Rapid said as Soarin' helped him out of the bar and onto the deserted streets.

"You're drunk, Rapid," Soarin' pointed out in annoyance. "Do us both a favor and shut up."

"I'm not drunk," Rapid protested. "I'm just kinda incapissatated."

"You mean 'incapacitated'?" Soarin' asked, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"That's what I said!" Rapid nodded his head sagely.

"No dude, you said 'incapissatated'." Soarin' elbowed the ginger stallion.

"No I didn't," Rapid said, his face scrunching in contemplation. "…Unless I did."

"You did," Soarin' answered.

"Whatever, just teach me some of your fancy mouth stuff."

Soarin' nearly fell face-first onto the ground from Rapid's comment. "Y-you wanna rephrase that, buddy?" Soarin' all but pleaded, his cheeks blushing furiously.

Rapid blinked in genuine confusion, his inebriated mind completely missing the potential innuendo.

"What?" Rapid asked.

"Nevermind," Soarin' lamented, resisting the urge to facehoof.

"Come on, Mallow," Rapid whined, draping his left wing over Soarin's back. "Just teach me a few things. Pretty Please?"

"Will you shut up if I do?" Soarin' half asked, half pleaded.

"Maaaaybe." Rapid grinned.

"Uhhg. Das lustige daran eine Fremdsprache zu sprechen sind all die kreativen Wege wie ich dich einen Idioten nennen kann," Soarin' grumbled.

"What did ya say?" Rapid asked, the confusion plain on his face.

"I said fine." Soarin lied.

Rapid eyed his companion untrustingly. "That was a lotta noise for one word…"

"It's a verbose language," Soarin' said with a shrug.

"Okay…" Rapid said, still not entirely buying the excuse. "What's a nice greeting sound like?"

"Deine Schwester hat 'nen Arsch der nicht aufhört und Beine die bis zum Himmel reichen," Soarin' said, doing his best not to smirk.

"An' what's that mean?" Rapid asked, grinning like a foal.

"It's a nice, formal greeting," Soarin' lied again.

"Cool, Mallow!" Rapid exclaimed, giving his friend a drunken hug. Well, to Rapid it was a hug, to Soarin' it was more like having another stallion fall onto his back.

"Down boy, down!" Soarin' squawked, trying to push the smaller stallion away without accidentally knocking him over. The minor kerfuffle ended with Rapid's backside hitting the ground with a thud.

"Meanie," he pouted.

"Hey, I'm the Captain," Soarin' reminded his Lieutenant, "which means I'm paid the big bits to be a meanie."

Rapidfire kicked his hoof at the sidewalk, remaining seated until Soarin' hefted him to his hooves.

"Besides," Soarin' smirked impishly, "nopony gets on top of me."

Even through the alcohol haze in his mind, Rapid noticed the euphemism in the sky-blue stallion's words.

"Oh really?" Rapid challenged, a lopsided smirk on his face.

"Yup." Soarin' nodded before beginning to trot back to the hotel. "Now let's get a move AHH!" Soarin' yelped loudly as Rapidfire jumped onto his back and hooked his legs around the larger stallion.

"Giddyup little pony!" Rapid shouted gleefully, his wings outstretched to help keep his balance.

"Rapid," Soarin' yelled, his face flushed crimson, "get off a me!"

"D'aww, but you're so soft and squishy, Mallow!" Rapid cooed.

"I am going to hurt you," Soarin' growled, even as he begrudgingly carried Rapidfire back to the hotel.

"Hurt so good!" Rapid sang loudly.

"Oh buck my life." Soarin' moaned as his passenger sang drunkenly.

"Come on baby make it hurt so good! Cause sometimes love don't feel like it should, you make it hurt so good!"

"Please for the love of all things good and sacred, shut up," Soarin' pleaded.

"Don't have to be so exciting, just tryin' to give myself a little bit of fun, yeah. You always look so invitin', you ain't as green as you are young." Rapid sang cheerfully, his eyes closed and his body swaying to the motions of the song only he could hear "Hey baby, its you, come on, girl, now, its you. Sink your teeth right through my bones, baby let's see what we can do, come on and make it up. A-hurt so good. Come on baby, make it hurt so good. Sometimes love don't feel like it should, you make it, a-hurt so good!"

It was a lovely Saturday morning in Manhattan. Celestia's glorious sun shone brightly down upon the many ponies that called the city home. Granted, not many ponies were perky morning ponies like Red Top was, but it was a lovely morning nonetheless.

The red-coated unicorn leafed through the pages of his pocket-sized notebook. The small pad floated in front of his snout, held aloft in his magic. Every so often he glanced up from the page he was reading to make sure he wasn't going to bump into anypony. Years of practice had made him very capable of navigating Manehattan while jotting notes or looking over his schedule.

The reason for this particular morning's walk was primarily business. Business and he needed to pick up some groceries on the way back home. Not that he minded the errand; his wife was an earth pony after all. Just in practical terms it was easier for him to pick up the groceries than it was for her. The fact he didn't have to do the dishes from breakfast was a nice bonus too.

"Let's see," he muttered to himself as he found the page containing the morning's to-do list. "Gotta get milk, oats, coffee, stuff for dinner, bread, and a treat for the kids at the market…" he hummed softly, flipping to the next page.

"Ah here we are," he smiled, "meet with Quick, nine-thirty, Morning Brew's Coffee House."

He paused at the street corner long enough to get his bearings. Red Top found himself at the corner of Downer and Mane Street, only a thirty-minute walk from his home. Morning Brew's Coffee House was a fair distance down Mane Street, another forty-minute walk if he made good time.

Red Top took a moment to stretch before he began his walk. It wasn't often that he missed the days of being a beat reporter for another pony's newspaper. It was a lot of hard work for lousy pay and few benefits, not something he could raise a family on. That said, years of sitting behind a desk coordinating ponies, meeting with advertising interests, and planning stories had left him a little soft around the edges.

Becoming an entrepreneur and establishing his own paper had nearly ended in failure. Few ponies were willing to buy an unknown publication without some sort of word-of-mouth and those that did weren't going to leave their subscriptions to the big name papers like the Manehattan Times or the Post.

Red Top couldn't fault them for that; he probably wouldn't have changed his subscription either. His paper had muddled through six months before Red Top hit on an idea. He had noticed how much ponies enjoyed gossiping and speculating about the private lives of others. Even his (meager) editorial staff enjoyed putting together their own mock paper in their free time that was a fun little romp into the fantastical.

With what money he had left, he scrounged together a new paper full of nothing but the juiciest gossip he could get his hooves on. He and a few editors then began writing outlandish headlines and borderline farcical articles about anything they could think of. He ordered a short run printing and sent samples to a few select newsstands in the less affluent areas of Manehattan. To his great surprise they had all been sold out within the day.

There wasn't really any turning back from that moment. Red Top met with his entire team, informed them of the change in strategy, and did what he could to find work for the writers who didn't want any part of his new venture. That same month his old paper closed and his new paper, the Manehattan Gazette, began full publication.

It was a success like Red Top had never imagined. Profits were great, advertisers were interested, and it was fun to write for himself and his employees. He got his first hate mail that same month. He still had that letter framed on his office wall. He couldn't explain exactly why he had felt compelled to frame the letter. Most ponies had been mildly horrified at the very idea of it. Red Top found it absolutely fascinating that his work had inspired a pony to actually take the time to sit down and write, not to mention spend the postage.

Red Top chuckled to himself as he trotted down Mane Street, his magic securing his notebook into his saddlebag. He had a feeling today was going to be a great day, and he planned on making the most of it with his family when he got home. First though, there was a little bit of business to take care of.

After nearly forty minutes of walking he arrived at Morning Brew's Coffee House. The modest establishment, a small two story brick and mortar building was blended in quite well the surrounding buildings. Only a forest green awning that shaded a cluster of sidewalk tables, only a small sign on the window informed potential customers that the place was, in fact, a functioning coffee shop.

Red Top had once spoken to Morning Brew himself about his peculiar lack of marketing. The peculiar old earth pony had simply shrugged and claimed that 'it had worked out well so far'. Red Top shook his head, Morning Brew was a good friend, but the stallion had never been particularly good at small talk.

Shaking those thought free of his mind, Red Top scanned the tables out front of the shop. There were only three ponies sitting outside so far. At the nearest table was a red earth pony mare with a orange mane, a thick looking stack of papers in her hooves. Across the table from her was an off-white pegasus stallion, his brown mane partially hidden by a black fedora. The two seemed to be bickering over something related to the papers in the mare's hooves. Red Top chuckled, he knew that feeling all too well from at least one editorial meeting a month.

At a different table was the pony he was looking for, a tan-coated pegasus with a chestnut colored mane. A unicorn waitress was trotting over to him, a drink carefully held in her magic. The stallion's back was facing Red Top and he seemed to be distracting himself by tinkering with a camera that was held carefully in his hooves. Red Top smiled as he trotted over.

"Here's your tea, sir." The unicorn waitress chirped as she carefully set the cup on the table.

"Thanks very much," Quick Snap smiled up to her.

The mare smiled back at him before she trotted off. Quick carefully grasped the cup with his forelegs, lifting it to his lips where he took in a deep breath of the steam. He could just barely smell the sweet aroma of honey over the delicate tea. He took a tentative sip of the drink, wincing as the hot liquid threatened to burn his tongue.

Quick set the cup back on the table and let out a bored sigh. He wasn't the type of pony who often bought things out when he could avoid it. His frugality was borne of necessity more than anything else. While pegasi photographers were usually in high-demand for their ability to get to a scene quickly, he was the notable exception to that rule. The demand for an asthmatic pegasus, who couldn't fly at breakneck speeds from location to location was far less prevalent.

The possibility of additional work was what had brought him to Morning Brew's Coffee House in the first place. Specifically a tip from his on-again, off-again boss who had suggested that he could get some decent paying freelance work if he met a certain pony. Quick rolled his eyes, more than slightly annoyed that he hadn't been provided with the name of his prospective employer.

He took another sip of his tea before a familiar voice behind him nearly scared his feathers off.

"Quick, buddy!" Red Top began with a broad grin, "how's it going?"

"R-Red Top," Quick started after a light cough, "what brings you around here?"

Red Top quirked an eyebrow curiously even as he took a seat across from the pegasus.

"Uh, I'm the one who asked to meet with you again." He said, an amused smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Quick Snap felt a bit of panic welling up in the back of his mind, "Oh ponyfeathers," he cursed as he pressed his head into his hooves.

"Easy buddy," Red Top said as he held up his hooves in a placating manner, "it's an easy job."

"The last time you gave me an easy job," Quick began, his voice laced with suspicion, "it involved taking a picture of a half-dead mare in a hospital room."

"Fair point," Red Top admitted with a shrug, "though in my defense, I had no idea how serious Miss Scratch's injuries were."

Quick Snap cast a wary glare at Red Top. "Would knowing have changed your mind?" he asked.

Red Top thought for a moment, his lips pursing and his eyes drifting up and to the left.

"Well," he began with a cluck of his tongue, "maybe, maybe not. It's hard to say with the benefit of hindsight."

Quick sighed and shook his head slowly. He had never quite been able to forgive himself for doing that job, even if he had been desperate for the money at the time.

"How's that studio I set you up with working out?" Red Top asked.

Quick shrugged his shoulders. "Depends on the week. If there's lots of inside studio work then I get plenty of hours, but on the slower weeks I get furloughed."

Red Top nodded slowly, "I'm sorry to hear that, Quick," he said honestly, "you're a talented photographer."

Quick Snap shrugged off the compliment. He was well aware that his work was more about his lucky timing than his studio quality.

"What do you want, Red?" Quick asked bluntly. "If it's another picture of a hospitalized pony, than the answer is no."

Red chuckled, "No, no. Nothing so upsetting." He answered, "I just need some of that famous timing of yours."

"What for?" Quick inquired, his wings giving an anxious flutter.

"Well, you know the Wonderbolt's, right?" Red Top asked.

"Every pegasus and most other ponies do." Quick Snap confirmed with a nod.

"One of them is out with some sort of injury," Red Top explained, his horn igniting and retrieving his notepad from his saddlebag. "I got a tip from a pony that it was either Spitfire or Rapidfire, but it could be any of the other ones as well."

"Okay," Quick began slowly, "What do you need me for?"

Red Top flipped through his notebook until he found the page he was looking for. With a meager effort he tore it free and set it in front of Quick.

"There's the address of the hotel that the majority of the team is staying at." Red Top pointed to the innocuous parchment. "I want you to stake it out and see if you can figure out which one is injured and what sort of injury. I'll pull some strings on my end and see if I can find out that way. Once we've got that settled, I just need a few good photos of the pony in question. Nothing intrusive, you don't need to get in their faces or anything like that, just a decent set of photos of them around town."

Quick Snap stared at the paper in front of him, the discomfort clear on his visage. He took a calming sip of his tea before he answered.

"I don't know Red," he began, his brow furrowed in concern, "you know I really don't like this kind of work."

"Then consider it a favor to me," Red suggested, his forelegs folding on the table.

"Favor for what?" Quick balked in confusion.

"For not informing anypony that you got me those pictures of Vinyl Scratch." Red Top said, his voice low.

Quick Snap's heart froze for a moment, his mouth going dry, and a pit forming in his gut. While Red Top may have put him up to the task, it had been Quick and Quick alone who had stolen into Vinyl's hospital room and taken her photograph while she slept. The guilt still kept him up at night from time to time. Quick swallowed the lump in his throat and stared at his teacup in dejection.

"H-how," Quick paused to clear his throat and take a breath. "How did you get out of trouble for that?"

Red Top shrugged, "I issued a formal apology, gave them the negatives and the photos, and I personally made a donation to Vinyl's medical expenses."

Quick Snap could stop the scoff that escaped his lips.

"It must be nice to be rich." He noted out loud.

"It's got some perks," Red Top agreed, "like the payment I will provide you for every photo you get."

Quick Snap sighed and ran his hoof through his mane. He needed the extra income, of that there was no doubt. Between rent, food, and his medicine, his budget was tight to say the least. Quick didn't trust Red Top on a lot of things, but he did have to give the unscrupulous unicorn credit for one thing: He paid well.

"Alright, Red." Quick relented, his posture sagging in his seat. "I'll get you some pictures."

Rapidfire groaned as a series of heavy knocks on his hotel room door roused him from his sleep. His head ached, his throat was dry, and his limbs were sluggish. Furthermore, there was the ache in his gut that left him with the distinct impression his liver was punishing him.

With a fair amount of effort, he forced his eyes open, and immediately regretted the act. The dim light of his room was all but blinding to him and immediately sent a cringe through his body. Slowly he lowered his head back to the pillow, his foreleg draping over his eyes. For a few comparatively blissful moments the only sound was the throbbing in his skull. Then the knocking came again, as insistent as ever.

"Hey, El-Tee," somepony called from the hall, "you dead in there or what?"

Rapidfire groaned again, reluctantly sliding out of his bed. He steadied himself against the mattress for a minute before he dragged himself to the door. After a short and stumbling walk, he managed to reach the door. Unlatching the door he pulled it open to reveal Soarin', his right hoof poised in the air ready to knock again. Soarin' stared at Rapid for a moment; his expression shifting from mild confusion to thinly veiled amusement.

"Dude," Soarin' started with a chuckle, "you look like a train wreck."

"Whaddaya want?" Rapid growled, his head pounding from the light filtering in from the hall.

"Making sure you're still alive," Soarin' answered.

"It's too early for this," Rapid whined.

"It's eleven-thirty," Soarin' informed his colleague.

Rapid leveled a blank stare at Soarin' for a good while, his hungover mind not quite able to process the sky-blue stallion's information. The last time Rapidfire had slept so late had been the day after he had been accepted into the Wonderbolts. That party still retained a legendary status in the annals of team history.

"…What?" Rapid asked.

Soarin' sighed and shook his head. "This is why you shouldn't drink so much."

Rapid grumbled an indistinct response.

"How you feeling?" Soarin' asked after a moment's pause.

"…Lovely," Rapid growled, the discomfort plain as day on his face.

Soarin' regarded Rapidfire for a long moment before he leaned slightly to the left, peering over the ginger stallion into the darkened room.

"Uh, Rapid," Soarin' began, an amused smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. "Why do you have two uniforms in your room?"

Rapidfire blinked in confusion before he turned to look. After a moment he spotted his familiar blue and gold uniform laid out on the room's desk. Beside it, wrapped in clear plastic, was a second uniform, the only difference being the sizes between them. The sound of Soarin's giggles drew Rapidfire's attention back to the door.

"So," Soarin' teased, "is that Misty's or Fleetfoot's?"

"…Spitfire's." Rapid answered after a moments thought.

Soarin' pressed his hoof to his lips, trying mightily not to burst out laughing.

"You know," Soarin' giggled, "when you said you liked twins…I didn't think that included yours."

Rapidfire stared flatly at Soarin', clearly unamused.

Soarin' pantomimed wiping a tear from his eye. "And here I thought we had something special."

"It's too early for this, Mallow." Rapid groaned, his hoof gingerly rubbing the side of his head. "And I've got a headache."

"Turnabout's fair play," Soarin' kindly informed Rapidfire.

"Do you need something, or can I go back to enjoying my hangover?" Rapid asked, his voice laced with irritation.

"Actually you can get your flank in gear," Soarin' began casually. "Arcus wants to see us at the Stadium."

"What for?" Rapid asked, wincing from the throbbing ache in his skull.

"I'm not entirely sure," Soarin' answered, "but if we leave now we can meet Spitfire and Rainbow Dash for lunch."

"I think I'll just go back to sleep," Rapid grumbled as he started to turn back to the bed.

"Rapid," Soarin' started as he reached out and stopped his friend, "you need a big greasy breakfast and a lot of water. Otherwise you're just gonna feel worse when you wake up again."

"Says who?" Rapid challenged.

"Say's your boss," Soarin' answered, "who also happens to be the pony who will have to drag your dehydrated flank to the hospital for an IV. And I'm not explaining to your sister why you need IV fluids."

Rapidfire stared down Soarin' for a long moment as he considered his situation. On one hoof, he really wanted to go back to sleep. On the other hoof, he knew full well that Soarin' was right. He kind of hated when the oversized stallion was right.

"Fine," Rapidfire relented before he slowly made his way back into the room.

"The exit is in the opposite direction, genius," Soarin' pointed out.

"I know that," Rapid growled as he retrieved Spitfire's uniform from the desk, "but if we're meeting with Spitfire then I'm returning her uniform to her now that it's been cleaned." He explained as he carefully folded the uniform and placed it into his saddlebag.

"Whatever." Soarin' shrugged before he leaned casually against the doorframe.

After taking a few minutes to brush his teeth and splash some water over his face, Rapid pushed Soarin' out of his room.

"All set?" Soarin' asked.

Rapid grunted a sedate confirmation and Soarin' gave him a light nudge in the ribs. "Come on, Rapid, you look like you're walking to your own funeral," Soarin' playfully chided.

"Shut up and walk," Rapid grumbled, his ears flat and his head low.

Soarin' shrugged and led the disgruntled pegasus down the hall and into the lobby. Soarin' hummed a jaunty tune the whole way while Rapid followed close behind, seemingly under an invisible raincloud. Making their way into the bright outdoors, Rapidfire hissed from the sudden increase in light.

Soarin' didn't take much pity on Rapid's self-inflicted condition.

"Come on buddy," Soarin' said as he draped a wing over Rapid's back. "Pony up and take it like a stallion."

"I really hate you right now," Rapidfire glowered at Soarin'.

"That's nice, dear," Soarin' replied.

Rapidfire made a mental note to plot his revenge the minute his head stopped hurting so much. Since flying with a migraine was never a good idea, they trotted down the sidewalk, Soarin' leading the way while Rapidfire did his best to follow while keeping his eyes mostly closed. Occasionally Soarin' stretched out his wing to adjust Rapid's path before he could bump headlong into something or somepony. After a twenty-minute walk they arrived at a small diner's simply called 'Zeke's'. Soarin' paused for a moment, looking through the small crowd to see if Rainbow and Spitfire were still there.

The place was one of the many indoor/outdoor café's that lined the streets of Manehattan. A single massive window allowed most of the natural light filter into the building as well as let the ponies inside see out into the street. Outside, eight, round wooden tables were set up with collapsible umbrellas mounted in the middle to provide extra shade on a hot day.

Directly across the street was a comparatively small park area. It only took up the space of a single city block, but that was more than enough room for a decently-sized playground for young fillies and colts to play in. Alongside it were several street vendors, each with their own cart, presumably filled with whatever it was they were selling.

If there was one observation, Soarin' felt comfortable applying to all the ponies in Equestria, it was that they took the idea of 'lazy Saturdays' extremely seriously. Soarin' spotted a perfect example at the nearest table. There, an orange unicorn with a curly brown mane was engaged in discussion with a grey pegasus who's grey mane was streaked with red. By the look of things, both stallions had long since emptied their plates and were taking their time to enjoy their respective drinks and chat.

At a different table there was a dark-brown earth pony stallion; he had several unfinished maps spread across his table, one of which he was very carefully inking and several others that were rolled and tied with twine poked out of his overstuffed saddlebag. His cutie mark, a bronze compass, gave Soarin' the idea that this pony was a cartographer of some sort. The stallion set his quill down and reached for his drink, seemingly in no rush to complete his work.

Wonderbolts didn't have that sort of luxury most of the time. While they had enough downtime to keep healthy and (mostly) sane, they rarely had the chance to just sit and watch the clouds drift by. For the most part, Soarin' liked that. He was raised to keep busy and productive, but sometimes it was just nice to take things a bit slower.

Not seeing Spitfire or Rainbow Dash outside, Soarin' trotted into the diner and glanced around. He glanced slowly around the open room, looking for Rainbow's unique mane or Spitfire's ginger locks. Finding neither amongst the myriad of colors and styles, he started to retreat out of the diner, hesitating only when a pair of cute mares at the table nearest to him caught his eye.

The one nearest to him was a white unicorn mare with a short cut black mane, but he couldn't make out what her mark was from his angle. Seated across from her was a tan-colored earth pony mare with a wavy blue mane and a pair of sunglasses perched on her nose. She held a notepad in her hooves that she carefully read over.

"All-in-all," the first mare said, "I think that should be enough to get them through the day and leave a little to spare."

The tan mare peered over her glasses at her counterpart. "I guess, but that still leaves 'em without an opener."

"That's your job," the unicorn mare chirped.

"…Touché," replied the earth pony.

Before he could accidentally eavesdrop on more of their conversation, Soarin' turned and trotted back to where Rapidfire was waiting. To his surprise, Rapidfire was looking away from the diner and across the street where Rainbow and Spitfire were trotting in their direction. Soarin' stopped beside Rapidfire and waited till the two mares were close enough before he spoke.

"Where did you two go?" he asked with a smile.

"We stopped for snow cones," Spitfire answered.

"Snow cones?" Rapid balked, his face scrunching in confusion. "Where in Equestria did you find snow cones at this time of the year?"

Rainbow pointed across the street to one of the sidewalk vendors. Soarin' and Rapidfire squinted for a moment before they each spotted the vendor in question. He was a blue unicorn with sweptback mane standing behind what looked to be an icebox on wheels. In his magical grasp, he carefully held out a snow cone to a young unicorn filly that was doing her best to grab it with her own magic. Her mother's horn flared to life, subtly assisting the filly's magic.

"Huh," Soarin' clucked his tongue, "well, you don't see that every day."

"The guy makes good snow cones too," Rainbow noted with a lick of her lips.

"Well ain't that swell," Rapidfire grumbled earning an amused look from Spitfire.

"What train ran you over?" Spitfire asked.

"Rapid had a few too many drinks last night," Soarin' said, his right wing giving Rapidfire a playful embrace.

"I hate you," Rapid grumbled.

"Karma's a pain in the flank," Spitfire said, an amused smile on her lips.

"Whatever," Rapid said with a roll of his eyes. Without any ceremony, he reached into his saddlebag and hoofed over Spitfire's folded uniform. "It doesn't smell like a donkey anymore."

"Thanks," Spitfire said as she tucked the uniform into her own saddlebag. "So, shall we head in and get a bite?"

"Sure," Rapid answered.

"Yup," Rainbow said.

"Food sounds good," Soarin' agreed.

The four pegasi trotted into Zeke's and got in line at the counter, each taking their turn to order their food. Rainbow and Spitfire each ordered a sandwich, Rainbow with just water, and spitfire's with coffee. Soarin' decided on a salad with tea, and Rapidfire ordered the greasiest foods he could with both a large glass of water and coffee.

As they sat down to wait for their food, a peculiar question popped into Spitfire's mind.

"Hey Rainbow?" Spitfire asked.

"Yeah?" Rainbow said as she sipped at her drink.

"I've got a…weird question," Spitfire said, after a moments thought.

Soarin' and Rapidfire exchanged a knowing glance.

"Define 'weird', Spits," Rapid said.

"Oh shush you," Spitfire admonished Rapidfire lightly.

"What is it?" Rainbow asked, having the most peculiar feeling that she was walking into a trap.

"Well," Spitfire began as she shifted in her seat, "being one of the Elements of Harmony, you've spent some time around the princesses, right?"

"Personally? Not as much as you might think," Rainbow answered. "Twilight spends way more time with them then the rest of us do combined."

"Still, you've been around them both, more than pretty much anypony who isn't in the royal guard or in the castle staff, right?" Spitfire asked again.

"Yeah…" Rainbow confirmed slowly. She wasn't entirely sure where Spitfire was going with this line of questioning.

"So Rainbow," Spitfire hooked her foreleg around Rainbow's waistline, cutting off any chance of escape, "who's got the better flank?"

"…What?" Rainbow deadpanned.

Soarin' stared at spitfire with his face an amusing combination of horror and amusement while Rapidfire snorted his water.

"Celestia or Luna," Spitfire said in as casual a manner as she could manage, "who's got the better flank?"

"I…d—" Rainbow groaned and pressed her head into her hooves.

"Oh come on," Spitfire drawled playfully. "You can't tell me you haven't at least looked."

"…No comment" Rainbow muttered.

"I vote Celestia," Soarin' interjected.

"Why's that?" Spitfire asked with a chuckle.

"Cause her face is on the money." Soarin' answered.

"Fair enough," Spitfire said with a grin. "What about you, Rapid?"

"Celestia," he answered quickly.

"Why's that?" Soarin' asked, lightly elbowing the smaller stallion.

"Cause I'm not interested on getting sent to the moon for the rest of my life," Rapid answered simply.

Rainbow groaned. "Twilight's gonna kill me if she ever hears about this."

After finishing their lunch the four pegasi went their separate ways. Spitfire leading Rainbow Dash towards hightown while Soarin' and Rapidfire made their way to the stadium. Soarin' had suggested they fly to save time. Rapid had opted to walk, at least until his hangover was a little more tolerable.

Soarin' had to give Rapidfire credit when it was due. The former mail pegasus knew his limitations and placed safety above all else. Soarin's respect for that usually allowed him to ignore most of Rapid's more irritating antics. Usually.

The wide Manehattan streets were abuzz with activity, which was normal especially for a Saturday. Carts lined the sides of the road each with a different pony trying to sell their product to the passing crowd. Everything from food to home crafts could be purchased at a reasonable price.

Soarin' quite liked the city life, always news ponies to meet and new things to try. Rapidfire was less enthralled, partially due to his hangover but also his more pastoral tastes. When he had worked for the Royal Mail, Rapidfire's days had been spent flying long distances over open country. From what Spitfire had told Soarin' during their time in the guard, Rapid had always been fond of taking long flights as a way to clear his head.

Soarin' recalled Rapid once saying he felt claustrophobic in cities, too many tall buildings and ponies between him and the open air. He could understand that sentiment from a certain perspective. It was the nature of a pegasus to fly, much like it was the nature of an earth pony to run or a unicorn to use magic.

It was hard for a pegasus to stretch his or her wings in a crowded street, even harder to take off and land at will. Soarin' wondered if that was why most pegasi that made homes on the ground tended to settle in more rural communities. He noticed the tense look on Rapid's face, a mixture of pain from the hangover, and a general discomfort being on the ground.

"Hey," Soarin' said, "how you holding up there, El-Tee?"

"I'll live," Rapid answered with an aggravated grunt.

"Well that's something I guess," Soarin' said with a chuckle.

"Whatever," Rapidfire said, his eyes squinting from the bright sunlight.

Soarin' fought back a sigh and silently cursed his soft heart. "Hey, we have to pass that pharmacy on the way. We can stop in and get you something for that headache if you want."

Rapidfire stared in surprise at Soarin' for a moment. "Uh, alright. Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet, I just need you functional when we meet with Arcus." Soarin' said.

"You really know how to sweet talk a guy, Mallow, "Rapidfire said, the barest hint of a smile teasing at the corner of his lips.

"Rapid, shut up before I change my mind." Soarin' replied.

After making the detour into the pharmacy to get a remedy for Rapid's headache, the two stallions resumed their walk to the stadium. They arrived at the stadium nearly half an hour later. After a brief pause to ensure they were presentable they trotted into the building.

Neither Soarin' or Rapid were surprised to find none of the other Wonderbolts lingering around the stadium. With no press events planned and no shows in the immediate future, most of the team were essentially on leave. In all likelihood the team was out enjoying their weekend.

Arcus was a different pony entirely. The aging pegasus didn't seem to understand the concept of a vacation. If he wasn't working, he wasn't happy. Although, Soarin' couldn't argue with the results.

Soarin' led Rapidfire to exactly where Arcus had instructed to meet: the team lounge. True to his word, Arcus was there waiting for them. The old stallion had made himself comfortable on one of the couches where he was reading through a stack of letters. A thin framed pair of reading glasses balanced on his snout.

What they didn't expect to see was Fleetfoot. The cyan mare was reclined on the couch opposite of Arcus. In her hooves was a paperback book she was reading, though neither Soarin' or Rapid could see what it was. After a moment she noticed them out of the corner of her eye. Sitting up, she saluted before brushing her pale mane from her eyes.

"Hiya Cap," she waved to Soarin' before shifting her gaze to Rapidfire, "El-Tee."

"Sergeant," Soarin' acknowledged her, "what are you doing here?"

"She is here for the same reason I asked the two of you to be here." Arcus answered as he set the letters down.

"What's up, boss?" Rapid asked.

"I've been thinking more about this rainboom situation," Arcus said as he slipped off the couch and onto his hooves. "Fleetfoot and I talked it over yesterday and she made some compelling points."

"I'm curious why the Sergeant didn't feel compelled to bring this to my attention first, sir." Soarin' said.

"You and the Lieutenant weren't around yesterday, Captain." Fleetfoot answered.

"Be that as it may, Fleetfoot did bring up a few good points, and before I make a final decision I wanted to get your input as team captain." Arcus explained.

"Like what?" Rapidfire asked.

"Training," Fleetfoot answered. "The Wonderbolts are supposed to be the best flyers alive, and for the most part we are. But none of us has ever gotten close to successfully pulling off a rainboom. Everypony who tries just gets sent tumbling off when the barrier snaps back on us.

Whatever Rainbow Dash figured out in her training regime is probably revolutionary in terms of flight instruction. If we can harness that training, then we can learn the rainboom, and after that, what else can we achieve?" Feetfoot explained with an ambitious grin.

"What do you mean 'what else we can achieve'? Just what are you getting at, Fleet?" Rapid asked.

"Think about it, Rapid," Fleetfoot said, "the rainboom was just an old mare's tale for centuries. Nopony thought it was possible until it happened. So, what's beyond the rainboom? If we can do that, what's the next plateau we can reach?"

"Ooookay," Rapid said as he shot an uncomfortable look to Soarin.

Soarin' forced struggled to keep a neutral look on his face as he processed his situation. He had underestimated Fleetfoot's tenacity on the matter. He had assumed that she would leave well enough alone until Arcus had made a decision. It was a mistake he intended never to make again.

More importantly it left him and Rapid in a very precarious position. They were the only two that knew Spitfire and Rainbow were dating. Soarin' could see quite well just how badly the next few minutes could blow up in his face, should he handle the situation wrong. Not for the first time, he wished Spitfire had never injured her wing.

"May I speak with you in private, sir?" Soarin' asked.

Arcus regarded Soarin' thoughtfully for a moment before he nodded. "Alright Captain. Fleetfoot, Rapidfire, please wait in the hall."

Rapidfire and Fleetfoot gave Arcus a crisp salute before they left the room. Soarin' waited until the door clicked shut before he allowed himself to breathe again. Arcus circled around the couch, his eyes focused on Soarin' the whole time. The Wonderbolt felt a nervous sweat start to form on his brow. He found his respect for Spitfire increasing; Arcus could be a very intimidating pony when he wanted to be.

"Speak your mind, Captain," Arcus quietly stated.

Soarin' cleared his throat and took a deep breath before he spoke. "Sir, I—I um…I think there's something you should know."

"I assume this 'something' pertains to the question of the rainboom?" Arcus asked.

"Yes sir." Soarin' replied.

"Alright, Captain, I'm listening." Arcus said.

"Sir, I um…I've known Rainbow Dash has been in town since Wednesday."

Arcus' eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly from the information. "And how did you come across her?"

"Spitfire ran into her sir," Soarin' said.

"Then how did Spitfire find her?" Arcus asked.

"I don't know, sir." Soarin' answered.

"Well then what do you know…" Arcus' words died as his eyes widened, "oh no. Soarin', please tell me Spitfire isn't trying to date Rainbow Dash!"

"W—what? N-no I don't think so sir, what would give you that idea?" Soarin' asked, a fit of panic welling up in his chest.

"I know she's been thinking about dating again," Arcus said, doing his best keep his voice down, "and with any other mare that would be fine! We can keep that on the down low. But this isn't any other pony; Rainbow Dash is one of the Elements of Harmony. All six of them are national heroes as well as high-level defense assets. If the media finds out the scandal will bury Spitfire's career, not to mention the collateral damage to the Wonderbolt's and to Rainbow Dash!"

"I—" Soarin' started, only to be cut off by Arcus.

"Celestia forbid if Red Top gets wind of this. I can see the scandal now, 'Wonderbolt seduces Element of Harmony!" in big red letters!" Arcus' shoulders slumped and his posture slackened, "I can't protect her from that, I can't protect any of you from that!"

Arcus took a moment to catch his breath, reaching up with a lightly trembling hoof to remove his glasses, which he then set on the couch. Soarin' couldn't recall ever seeing the older pegasus look so hopeless. It was one of the more disconcerting things he had ever seen.

"So please, Soarin'," Arcus began, suddenly feeling his age, "please tell me Spitfire isn't trying to date Rainbow Dash."

"N-no, I don't think so," Soarin' lied, "if anything they're becoming friends."

Arcus took a moment to process the information, his gaze studying Soarin's expression. There were far too many unknowns for his liking. Without more information he couldn't make a judgement call, without more information he was helpless. Arcus hated being helpless. He needed a plan, and he needed that plan quickly.

"Alright," Arcus began, "Soarin', I need you to do me a favor."

"Yes sir?" Soarin' said, his posture stiffening.

"Keep a close eye on Spitfire when you can. Watch her back. I don't want to lose the best Wonderbolt I've ever seen to a damned tabloid witch hunt."

"Yes sir, but what about Rainbow Dash?" Soarin' asked.

Arcus took a deep breath that he slowly breathed out through his mouth. His jaw hung slightly open for several long moments as he chose his words. "The rainboom is a very useful asset that the Wonderbolts would do well to have access to."

"…But?" Soarin' asked.

"But I'm concerned about media perception. If it looks like we are taking advantage of Rainbow Dash then the blowback would be catastrophic. Worst-case scenario: Princess Celestia takes direct notice. If that happens, we're all out of a job." Arcus explained as he rubbed his temple with a hoof.

"So what are we doing with Fleetfoot's proposal?" Soarin' asked.

"Fleetfoot has been discussing it with everypony on the team, last I checked only you, Rapidfire, Misty, and Surprise are still against approaching Rainbow Dash. Everypony else is in favor of looking for her." Arcus said.

"What about you sir?" Soarin' asked.

"That depends," Arcus said with a sigh.

"On what?" Soarin' wondered, his head tilting curiously.

"On how involved Spitfire has become in the situation," Arcus answered.

"Sound's like you've got some things in mind." Soarin' noted.

Arcus scoffed, "you could say that."

"Care to enlighten me?" Soarin' asked.

"You said Spitfire seems to be making friends with Rainbow Dash, correct?" Arcus asked, turning his head to face Soarin'.

"I think so, yes." Soarin' answered.

"Alright, we might be able to use that." Arcus said as he rubbed his chin with his foreleg.

"What do you mean?" Soarin' asked.

"If Spitfire and Rainbow Dash become friends, then it is within reason for her to ask about the rainboom." Arcus reasoned.

"What if she says 'no'?" Soarin' countered.

Arcus hesitated as he thought of an answer. "We'll cross that bridge if or when we get there. For now at least, I think it may be prudent to test the waters."

"So you're on Fleetfoot's side." Soarin' said, the hint of disapproval in his tone did not go unnoticed by Arcus.

"Is there a problem here that I need to be aware of, Captain?" Arcus asked.

"No sir." Soarin' answered.

"Soarin', tell me what's the issue or I will find out the hard way." Arcus stated.

The implication sent a cold shiver down Soarin's spine. Still, he maintained the neutral visage perfected from years in the Royal Guard.

"The sergeant is a bit of a hothead sir, and I don't like ponies going behind my back with an issue." Soarin' explained.

Arcus nodded, "I agree. Fleetfoot is headstrong and tenacious, but you're the captain now, Soarin'. If there's an issue it's your problem to resolve it."

"Yes sir, I understand." Soarin' replied.

"Good." Arcus sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily. "Do you know if you'll see Spitfire again today?"

"I'm not sure, Rapid might though." Soarin' answered.

"Alright, well, one of you please tell Spitfire that first thing Monday morning she is to report here to meet with the team physician. He wants to take a look at her wing."

"I'll make sure she get's the message, sir." Soarin' answered. "Can I make a request though, sir?"

"You may," Arcus said.

"Could you not mention the Rainbow Dash situation to the rest of the team? I'd like the chance to talk to Spitfire about it in private first." Soarin' said.

Arcus thought the request over for a moment before he nodded in agreement. "Alright Soarin', alright."

Quick Snap stared into the teacup clasped firmly in his hooves, his eyes focused on his reflection in the amber liquid. The warmth had long since left the ceramic vessel, dissipating in the gentle breeze. Quick couldn't exactly recall the precise time when Red Top had excused himself from the table. He was reasonably sure it had been around the time his tea was still hot. With a sigh, the dejected pegasus set the cup down on the table, his thirst long forgotten.

Sitting to the left of his drink was his favorite camera, an old thirty-five millimeter his grandfather had given him when Quick was a colt. The luster had long since faded from the textured metal body which was scored with countless little scrapes, scratches, and dings. The rewind lever had fallen off years ago and the flash bulb burned out…well, Quick couldn't remember exactly when. Still, Quick loved that ugly, old, and functionally questionable camera.

Sure it wasn't as nice as some of the more modern cameras that Quick had access to, but none of those reminded him of his Grandpa. None of those cameras seemed to capture the colors of a moment so richly. None of those cameras had any character to their shots.

A small frown pulled at the corners of Quick's mouth. He reached out with his left hoof to stroke the cool metal body. The camera was quintessential to some of his earliest and most cherished memories. The pictures he had taken with it had gotten him his first job, paid for his first apartment, and introduced him to his wife.

It had been that old camera, wielded for the last time by his grandfather, which had photographed his wedding day. Only a few short years later it took the first photos of his newborn daughter. Two years after that, it had photographed her baby brother.

In due time, Quick would use it to take pictures of his children's weddings. He looked forward to photographing their foals when they arrived. And when the time came, he looked forward to sitting his grandchild on his lap, supporting the heavy old camera in their little hooves, and helping them take their first photographs, just like his grandfather had done with him those many years before.

A meager smile supplanted Quick's frown as he recalled those fond memories. All those precious moments had passed through the lens of his camera. The photos it took held everything from the dreams of a budding young couple to the limitless potential of a newborn foal. So many priceless little moments frozen in time to be shared and cherished.

Then the paper he had been working for had assigned him to cover the wedding of Princess Cadence and Captain Shining Armor in Canterlot. It had been the opportunity of a lifetime for Quick, a chance to get his work seen by ponies in high society. He had been ecstatic about the offer and accepted the assignment in a Manehattan minute.

When Quick arrived in Canterlot, he had set to work the instant that the press ponies were allowed to begin. In his zeal he went—perhaps—a bit overboard in his duties. Quick photographed everything he was allowed to point his camera at: everything from The Royal Guard in their parade uniforms, floral arrangements wrapped in gossamer ribbons, ornately sculptured shrubberies, and even the oversized pastries that gave him a toothache just to look at. The interplay of colors and textures, the diffusion of the afternoon's light through the humid summer air, and the constantly changing palette of colors as the cool mornings gave way to the warm evenings. Then, amid the golden glow of countless candles, Quick had still more little moments to capture. Innumerable little stories he could tell in a single image. It was a photographer's dream.

Then the inevitable wedding day had arrived. Quick had woken up early that morning to get the best spot in the press gallery for the day's events. With the exception of the event's official photographer, the press had been barred from covering the actual ceremony. The gallery Quick had been waiting in since the early morning was situated just outside where the newlywed would present themselves to the citizens of Canterlot.

That was when everything had gone wrong.

Quick had been enjoying a spirited discussion with another photographer about various darkroom techniques when a blast of magical energy from inside the cathedral startled them all. Before they knew what was happening, the barrier around Canterlot shattered and a horde of changelings poured into the city. In the ensuing chaos, Quick had tried to flee, only to be tackled to the ground by several changelings.

A shiver ran through Quick's body and he bit down on his lower lip as his wings wrapped tight around his core. The panic had sent him into a severe asthma attack that left him hospitalized for days after the changelings had been repelled. He had missed the entire wedding along with all the pomp and circumstance surrounding it. Work became harder and harder to come by for a long time after that day . Quick's limited savings were quickly depleted with the day-to-day expenses of life.

That was when he had run into Red Top outside of Manehattan General Hospital. That was the moment he had been offered a chance to work again. All he had to do in exchange was get a few simple photographs of Vinyl Scratch. What he didn't know, what nopony knew, had been Vinyl's condition.

The memory of what he found in that empty room still haunted Quick. He could still smell the antiseptics, dried blood, and gauze. Quick sucked in a sharp breath through his mouth, a brief bout of vertigo making him waver in his seat.

Red Top had kept true to his word. After Quick had given him the pictures, Red had paid him a very handsome sum and even got him in touch with a studio he could work for. Even with a more-or-less reliable income, Quick couldn't remember feeling more vulnerable in his life.

He was a pegasus, born and raised in cloudsdale. Like every pegasus, he loved the Wonderbolts. Like many young colts, he had even had dreams of wearing that iconic blue and gold uniform while performing death defying tricks to the adulations of an adoring crowd. Now as a grown stallion who's flying ability was mediocre at best, it seemed it was his role to attack the very thing he idolized. Quick scoffed at the irony of it all.

Quick's gaze shifted to the innocuous paper slip Red had left him with that contained the address of the Wonderbolt's hotel. Quick frowned, wanting nothing more than to crush the paper underhoof, throw it away, and go back home without a second thought. But if he did that, what would Red Top do? Would he really make good on his threat of exposing Quick's identity? If that happened, would Quick be fired from his job, or arrested?

With a weary sigh, Quick took the paper and read over the address again. There didn't seem to be any other choice. He slipped his beloved camera into his saddlebag and tossed a couple bits onto the table for a tip. After taking one last drink from his cup, he gazed up to the sky to get an idea of the time. Estimating it to be roughly eleven o'clock, he stretched his wings. Even for him, it was only a short flight from the cafe. If he was lucky, he'd see a whole lot of nothing and he could at least tell Red that he tried.

With a jump, Quick took to the skies, his wings carrying him over the crowded streets. Getting above the rooftops, he bypassed several city blocks in a few minute's time. Spotting the hotel easily enough, he came to a landing across the street from the pavillion where there was a bench he could relax on while not looking too conspicuous.

Quick Snap set his saddlebags beside him and fished his inhaler out, taking a puff from it as he settled in. To his great surprise, he didn't have to wait very long before two pegasi trotted out of the lobby. Quick recognized them instantly: Soarin' and Rapidfire.

For the briefest of moments, his inner fancolt took over. It took everything Quick Snap had not to run over and beg for an autograph. As much as he would have loved to get a genuine Wonderbolt's autograph, he lacked both a marker and anything to write on. The fact that it would also expose him as a photographer didn't particularly help matters. Quick sighed, taking a moment to rub his eyes on his foreleg. He didn't have the best view, but it didn't take much to see something wasn't right with one of the two Wonderbolts.

Firstly, they were walking. A healthy pegasus would only ever walk from place to place when they were accompanied by an earth pony or a unicorn. It was simply impolite to fly around a flightless partner. Secondly, Rapidfire didn't look well. It was in the way he carried himself down the street with his head down a pained look on his face.

Quick Snap's lips pulled into a pained frowned as his ears folded back. He didn't want to do this; he didn't want to be the pony that vindicated Red Top's information. He didn't want to be the pony that killed the careers of his idols in order to live. But if he didn't… Quick didn't have the courage to find out what could happen. A soft whimper escaped his throat as he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out his camera. Without a working flash bulb in his camera, the only way Soarin' or Rapidfire would notice him was if he made himself obvious.

Quick waited until he was sure neither Soarin' or Rapidfire were looking in his direction before he lifted the camera to his face. After taking a moment to adjust his view, Quick centered the two unsuspecting pegasi in the frame and snapped his first picture. His grandfather's camera clicked once as the shutter snapped open and shut. Soarin' and Rapidfire kept walking, completely oblivious to Quick's work.

Quick remained still for several moments after taking the picture, his right eye watching them from the viewfinder. His lips were pressed into a tight line and his eyebrows knitted together in self-disgust. Slowly he lowered the camera from his sight, the old metal feeling heavy in his hooves.

Quick shook his head as his gaze turned down to the old camera. What would his grandpa think of him now? Quick scoffed: the old stallion would have been heartbroken to see how far Quick had fallen in life. Quick sighed again as he retrieved the camera's neck strap from his back and attached it to the metal frame. Once the camera was secured around his neck he trotted in the direction that the Wonderbolts had gone.

They hadn't gotten too far since Quick had taken the picture, and two pegasi walking the streets of Manehattan were easy enough to spot. Quick stayed far enough behind them that he could remain unnoticed while keeping them in sight. He chewed anxiously on his lower lip to quell an anxious shiver that was spreading through his body.

After walking for a while, the Wonderbolts came to a stop in front of Zeke's diner. Quick hesitated for a moment before he crossed over to the opposite side of the street. He would have a better angle from there and be less noticeable if they spotted him fiddling with a camera around all the street vendors. If that happened, he could always pretend to be a tourist.

Quick found a good spot under the shade of a small tree. From his position he had a clear view of Rapidfire, who was standing outside of the diner with a miserable look on his face. Quick wasn't sure where Soarin' had gone until the Wonderbolt in question emerged from the diner, a confused look on his face. The confusion evaporated as Spitfire and a sky-blue mare with a rainbow mane and tail trotted over to him and Rapid.

Quick arched an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. He lifted his camera to his face and snapped a set of pictures just as Soarin's wing pulled Rapidfire into a light hug. Quick recoiled slightly, surprised by the gesture more than anything. He had seen the rumors about Soarin's preferences, he never would have thought it would have been with Spitfire's brother.

With a shrug, Quick Snap lined up another photograph, this time trying to get a better look at the mare with the rainbow mane. He knew the Wonderbolt's active roster like he knew the back of his hoof. He did not know who that mare was, which made him curious if she was a new recruit. Anypony that spent one-on-one time with Captain Spitfire had to be an impressive flyer.

He took a few photos of the unknown mare, frowning as he couldn't get a shot of her face from his angle. The four pegasi talked for a moment before the blue mare pointed her hoof across the street at one of the street vendors. Quick followed the gesture to where he noticed a unicorn selling snow cones. Quick's mouth watered. He quite liked snow cones.

Shaking his head to clear the distraction from his thoughts, he focused back on the three Wonderbolts and the unknown mare. To his shock, he saw Rapidfire pull a folded Wonderbolt uniform from his saddlebag, which he unceremoniously hoofed over to Spitfire. Quick reacted on instinct, instantly snapping multiple photos of the exchange until the blue and gold uniform was hidden away in Spitfire's saddlebag.

Quick's inner fancolt wanted nothing more than to beg Rapidfire not to turn in his uniform and quit the team. On the other hoof, Soarin' was the team's lieutenant. Having an affair with a subordinate was probably very bad for team cohesion. There had also been longstanding rumors of favoritism when it came to Rapidfire's career.

He groaned and shook his head, his right hoof pressing against the bridge of his nose. If he lived for a thousand years, Quick would never understand why some ponies were so put out by the idea of same-sex couples. Love was supposed to be love, right? Did it matter if the pony happened to have the same equipment downstairs?

Quick shook his head again to dislodge the errant thoughts from his mind. Just as he refocused his attention on the diner, he watched as the four pegasi disappeared inside. Quick blinked several times as he processed his situation. Eventually a grin spread over his face as a realization hit him: he now had time to get a snow cone.

Suppressing a happy squeal, if for no other reason than he didn't feel like being stared at by everypony on the street, Quick trotted over to the snow cone vendor. A few minutes later and a few bits poorer, Quick relaxed on one of the grassy knolls overlooking the street. From there he could keep an eye on the diner and look like a normal pony enjoying his summertime treat. At least for a few minutes, he could forget his troubles and enjoy the day.

All too soon, Spitfire, Soarin', Rapidfire, and the rainbow-headed mare emerged from the diner. Quick zoomed in on them with his camera, snapping a clearer picture of their faces, including the unknown mare's. Spitfire, Soarin', and the rainbow mare seemed to be engaged in an amusing story, while Rapidfire looked noticeably uncomfortable. Quick squeezed his eyes shut as he snapped another picture. He wished all four of them would just fly away so Red Top would no longer have a story to investigate, and by proxy Quick wouldn't have to take clandestine photographs.

After a brief conversation, the four pegasi parted ways. Spitfire and the rainbow mare trotted towards hightown while Soarin' and Rapid headed in the opposite direction. Quick hesitated as he considered which pair to shadow. He only had a couple photos of Spitfire and the unknown mare, and no idea if Spitfire had the injury that had garnered Red Top's interest. Still, Spitfire looked much healthier than her brother did.

Making his decision, Quick gathered his things and slipped his camera back around his neck before he trotted off after Soarin' and Rapidfire. He made a note to investigate Spitfire on a different day. For the time being at least, Rapidfire was the more interesting story.

Quick trailed Soarin' and Rapidfire for a while, watching the two talk from a very safe distance. The pair came to a stop outside a small pharmacy, Soarin' nudging Rapidfire inside. Quick Snap winced as he photographed the moment, memories of the Vinyl Scratch incident flashing before his eyes.

Quick looked down at the camera in his hooves for a long while. The cold, metal camera felt like lead in his hooves. He looked up several minutes later when he spotted Soarin' and Rapidfire emerge from the small establishment. They spoke for a few moments, oblivious to Quick's presence.

Glancing back down at his camera, Quick stared at his reflection in the lens, his lips pulled into a deep frown. He couldn't bring himself to lift the camera anymore. With a sigh, he removed the camera from around his neck and placed it carefully into his saddlebag. He turned around and jumped into the skies with a grunt.

Quick made himself a promise as he flew home. After he had resolved his 'debt' to Red Top, he would never do that kind of work again. He couldn't live with himself like this.

Soarin' couldn't help feeling at least a little pathetic as he sat beside the door to Spitfire's empty hotel suite. The occasional ponies that passed him in the hall all took the time to shoot him a variety of interesting looks. Soarin's personal favorite was either the look of 'you just got into a hay of a fight with your marefriend' or the look of 'you're clearly too proud to admit to the hotel staff that you locked yourself out'. As was often the case in life, the truth was far more pedestrian in nature—though no less pathetic.

After his conversation earlier in the day with Arcus, Soarin' was feeling on edge. He didn't like to lie to anypony, least of all the pony that quite literally signed his paycheck. At the same time, he didn't want to betray Spitfire's trust in him. He would always be her El-Tee. She trusted him, and he trusted her in kind. He owed her too much to not put his own neck on the line.

Soarin' sighed as he ran his hoof through his mane. He much preferred being the lieutenant. Being the second in command meant that, while he had the authority to do most anything, he still had Spitfire to keep him in check. Furthermore he could always pass problems up to her when he didn't want to deal with them.

His role as captain was the other reason he had parked himself outside of Spitfire's suite. He wanted Spitfire's advice about Fleetfoot. Rapidfire had suggested he speak with Fleetfoot directly before they left. Soarin' had opted to get some professional advice first. And who better than Spitfire to advise an interim captain like him.

There were only two problems with Soarin's plan. First, he had no clue when Spitfire planned to return from her day out with Rainbow Dash. That lack of knowledge is why he had spent the better part of two hours sitting beside the door. Second, and perhaps more pressing of a concern, he was bored out of his mind.

In the time since he had sat down to wait, Soarin' had preened his wings—twice. He had then counted all the plucked feathers, counted all his primary feathers, calculated the flight time from the hotel to his favorite pie shop, and recounted in detail every cocktail recipe he knew. Soarin regretted not bringing something to read. A book, a magazine—hay, even one of those trashy tabloids would be a welcome relief from the boredom. He wondered, briefly, if that was half the reason tabloids even existed

Leaning his head back until he lightly bumped against the wall, he blew a raspberry and kicked at the floor with a hoof.

"Bored," he mumbled, thumping his head against the wall several times, "bored, bored, bored, bored, boooooooooooored."

Soarin' groaned and allowed himself to slide down the wall until he was flat on his back with his legs in the air. "How do the Palace guards do this sort of stuff all day? Why couldn't they teach us that stupid trick in basic?"

After a few moments of laying on the floor like a whining foal, Soarin' hefted himself back to his original sitting position. He tapped his hoof against the floor as if it would somehow make the time pass quicker. After about thirty seconds when he got bored of that, he closed his eyes and hummed softly. Soon, an old melody crept to the forefront of his mind. It was a song his mother used to sing around the house when he was little. Soarin's head began to slowly nod in time with the melody.

"Hejo, spann den Wagen an," he sang, mindful to keep his voice down. "Denn der Wind treibt Regen übers Land, Hol die goldnen Garben, Hol die goldnen Garben. Hejo, spann den Wagen an, Denn der Wind treibt—"

"Mallow, what are you doing?" Rapidfire asked.

"Gah!" Soarin' yelped, his wings flaring out as his eyes snapped open.

Rapidfire covered his mouth with a hoof to stifle his laughter.

"H-how long have you been there?" Soarin' demanded.

"Long enough to hear your little, uh… concert, Mallow." Rapid answered.

Soarin' groaned and pressed a hoof to his forehead, "Celestia erschlage mich"

Rapid rolled his eyes before giving Soarin's shoulder a light smack, "In Equish please."

"Do you need something, Rapid?" Soarin' asked.

"Not from you, no," Rapid said as he sat next to Soarin'.

A smirk spread over Soarin's face. "Tell me again why you had Spitfire's uniform?"

An intense blush spread over Rapidfire's cheeks for a moment before a smirk of his own crossed his lips. He casually wrapped his foreleg around Soarin's shoulders and leaned a bit too close for Soarin's comfort.

"Cause you'd fill it out in all the right places, babe," Rapid purred.

Soarin' narrowed his eyes. If Rapidfire wanted a war, Soarin' would give him a war. He lifted his left hoof and used it to caress Rapid's cheek. The gesture took Rapidfire by complete surprise, nearly sending him toppling backward.

"Oh honey," Soarin' cooed, "but you'd look so much better in her uniform."

Before Rapidfire could formulate a response, or an escape plan, their ears perked to the familiar sound of approaching hoofsteps. Quickly disentangling from each other, Soarin' and Rapid did their best to look natural, which wasn't the easiest of feats when both their faces were burning red. To their mutual horror, the pony trotting towards them was Spitfire. The former captain had a smile on her lips and a spring in her step as she trotted towards them.

"Hey guys, what's—" She came to a stop in front of them, her left eyebrow arching upward. "Uh, you two alright?"

"Yup!" Soarin' and Rapid answered simultaneously.

Spitfire blinked and watched them for a moment, "you sure?"

"Yup!" They answered again.

"Oookay," Spitfire said as she stepped past them to unlock the door to her room. "Well, it's actually kinda convenient that the both of you are here."

Soarin' and Rapidfire exchanged a worried glance.

"The Bad Seeds are playing tomorrow night at the Stonewall Bar and Grille," Spitfire said as she pushed the door open and motioned them to follow her. "Rainbow asked if you two wanted to join us as well."

"Why would she invite us?" Soarin' asked, his face scrunching in mild confusion.

"Cause she had a lot of fun hanging out with the three of us Friday night and thought it'd be nice to do it again." Spitfire answered as she trotted into her room and set her saddlebags on the floor. After taking a moment to stretch out her back she turned to face the two stallions. "So, you two interested?"

"Uh, sure," Rapid answered.

"When does it start, where would we meet you, and when does it end?" Soarin' asked.

The faintest hint of a smirk tugged at the corner of Spitfire's lips. "The show starts at eight, Rainbow and I would meet you there at seven, and it ends whenever the music stops."

Soarin' rubbed his chin as he thought over the information, "I guess as long as Rapid and I leave no later than ten, it should be fine."

"What, why?" Rapid balked.

"Tomorrow is Sunday, Rapidfire." Soarin' said.

"Yeah, so?"

"So, you and I have to work on Monday."

"Bah," Rapidfire gave Soarin' a flippant wave of his hoof, "we'll just call in dead."

"I don't think Arcus would appreciate that." Soarin' replied with an amused snort.

"That would depend on the day," Spitfire interjected.

"What makes you say that?" Rapid asked.

"Well, remember when you greased the toilet seats?" Spitfire asked.

Rapid snickered; Soarin shot a death glare to the smaller stallion.

"That was you?!" he growled.

"Hey, she made me do it!" Rapid laughed, pointing a hoof at his sister.

Soarin's irritated glare shifted to Spitfire, who immediately held her hooves up in surrender.

"What in the world possessed you to do that?" Soarin' demanded.

"In fairness, it seemed like a great idea at the time." Spitfire answered.

"W-what about in HIND-sight?" Rapid asked as he fell onto his back in gales of laughter.

Soarin's eye twitched as his rational mind ground to a momentary halt. He noticed Spitfire biting her foreleg in an attempt to quell her own laughter. Soarin' came to a realization; he was surrounded by crazy ponies. He forced himself to take a deep breath, which he held for a few seconds before he exhaled slowly.

"You're both insane." Soarin' noted.

"Sanity is overrated," Spitfire replied with a manic grin.

"And totally boring!" Rapid added from his position on the floor.

"Anyway," Spitfire began after she regained some semblance of control, "what brings you two here?"

"I'm just here to pester you," Rapid answered.

"Well, at least you're honest about it," Spitfire mused.

"I try." Rapid happily chirped.

"What about you, Soarin'?" Spitfire asked her friend.

"Wonderbolt stuff." He answered.

Spitfire nodded, "Well, why don't you two come inside and grab something from the minibar."

"My liver still needs to recover from last night," Rapid groaned.

Spitfire snickered, "well, that'll learn you a thing or three."

Spitfire trotted into her room, Soarin' and Rapidfire following close behind her. Rapidfire closed the door with a light kick. Spitfire made her way over to the minibar and fished through it momentarily for a few drinks. She retrieved three bottles of water and hoofed one to both Rapid and Soarin' before she sat down.

"So," She began, her attention focused on Soarin', "what's on your mind?"

"A couple things," Soarin' mumbled as he played with the small bottle of water. "Fleetfoot's been convincing most of the team we should look for Rainbow and ask her to teach us the Rainboom."

"I thought Celestia said 'no' to that whole idea," Rapidfire said before taking a sip of his drink.

"Celestia said she wouldn't give Rainbow Dash an assignment to train us," Spitfire corrected her brother, "she never said we couldn't approach Rainbow on our own. Granted she implied that we shouldn't do that either."

"I had to tell Arcus that you had run into Rainbow," Soarin' said.

"You what?!" Spitfire blurted.

Soarin' held up his hooves in a placating manner, "whoa there, I didn't tell him you started dating her. I just told him that you ran into her on the town and were talking to her."

"Does he suspect anything?" Spitfire asked. Almost immediately she smacked herself in the forehead, "oh, what am I saying? It's Arcus, he always suspects."

Soarin' nodded, "He wants you to come by the stadium on Monday morning. Triage is gonna take a look at your wing."

Spitfire nodded, her hoof rubbing her chin as she considered her situation. Triage was the team's physician, and probably the only pony Arcus actually trusted. If he wanted Spitfire to specifically go to the stadium to see Triage then it probably meant Arcus planned to confront her directly. If he did that, Spitfire would need a plan of action to defend her budding relationship with Rainbow.

She sighed, her hoof running through her mane. Perhaps tomorrow she would talk to Rainbow about it first. Spitfire still wasn't sure how Rainbow might react to that sort of attention. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure if Rainbow was even willing to teach anypony the rainboom.

If it came down to that, would Fleetfoot or Blaze press the issue? Spitfire had already decided to side with Rainbow Dash if it came to that. Soarin', Rapidfire, Misty, and Surprise would, in all likelihood, stand with her on that decision. But Spitfire didn't know what long-term effects that sort of schism could have on her team.

Stunt flying required a lot of things, athleticism, a sharp mind, and good instincts. But it also heavily required the complete and unflinching trust between wingponies. Spitfire trusted Soarin' to catch her if she fell, a trust that had been well and truly earned after years of flying together. Well, except for that last time, but that had been entirely her fault.

Either way, any sense of bitterness between teammates was nothing less than dangerous. She knew none of her Wonderbolt's would do anything to intentionally sabotage one another they were better than that. Still, that fundamental distrust of one's wingpony could lead to oversights. There was no room for oversights in stunt flying. Not if you wanted to land safe and sound on all for hooves at least.

Spitfire pursed her lips as her eyebrows knitted together. Folding her forelegs across her chest she hummed to herself. She made a metal note to get Rainbow's opinion on the matter. Perhaps the weather manager's different perspective would yield some answers. And she owed it to Rainbow to be honest with her about what was going on.

"So," Rapid spoke up, interrupting Spitfire's thoughts, "what are you gonna do?"

"Well," Spitfire began slowly, "I think I'll enjoy the rest of my weekend and deal with Arcus when the time comes."

"What about Fleetfoot?" Soarin' asked, "any advice for me?"

Spitfire considered the question for a long moment before she answered. "Let's see, this week is when most of the team goes on vacation, right?"

"Yeah, Arcus, Rapid, and I have a few meetings, but other then that everypony has the next couple weeks off." Soarin' answered.

"Okay, here's what you do," Spitfire began as she sat up straight, "Tell Fleetfoot that you will think it over during the break and you will have a decision when the team reassembles in two weeks for the preseason planning. Throw her a bone and tell her to prepare some plans on how we might approach Rainbow, and what sort of arrangement we could offer her as compensation. Also make it clear that if Rainbow at any point says 'no' to the deal, then she is to drop it immediately."

"Makes sense," Rapid said with a nod, "it gives her something to do and stops the politicking for a while at least."

"Yeah," Soarin' agreed, "but I'm concerned about what happens if Rainbow doesn't want to train us or she finds out we're the ones running interference for her."

"If it comes to that, I'll deal with Fleetfoot personally." Spitfire said.

Rainbow had a spring in her step as she trotted down Mane Street toward Spitfire's hotel. Had somepony told her a week ago that she would have gone out on a series of dates with Spitfire, Rainbow would have died laughing. Yet seven short days later she found herself almost giddy for her impending date.

Part of the reason for her excitement was the prospect of seeing a live band. The live musicians she had seen Friday night at the Café Amaréicain had certainly been nice, but that wasn't really up Rainbow's alley. The Bad Seeds were classic griffon rock like the songs her dad played on the gramophone when she was just a filly. Amplified guitars, pounding drumbeats, wicked solos, and soaring choruses were what she longed for in music.

Rainbow fondly recalled the days where she would stand on her dad's back when he took her to see the bands that toured Cloudsdale. The older she got, the closer he took her to the stage. Finally, when she was in her teens, he got them to see one of their favorite bands from the front row.

She had loved it, of course. The pounding bass that resonated in her chest, the screaming guitars that made her ears ring. It had been somewhat of a revelatory experience for the young mare, almost as much as pulling off her first rainboom had been.

Perhaps Rainbow's only regret in accepting the job as Ponyville's weather manager had been the distance it put between her and Cloudsdale. As it stood, she no longer had the time to regularly see her dad. While they both tried their best, it was very difficult to coordinate their schedules to see shows together anymore. Perhaps that was why she was so excited to see a live show with her marefriend.

Marefriend, the word stuck in her mind and caused a hitch in her trot. Rainbow had never had a marefriend before. Hay, she had never really had a proper date before Spitfire had stumbled across her. Rainbow wondered what it was that had perked Spitfire's romantic interest in her.

Spitfire was a mare who had seemingly everything going for her in life. As a Wonderbolt she had money, fame, and star power. Similarly, as a member of the Royal Equestrian Airforce she had confidence, rank, and leadership skills. In comparision, what Dash had to offer seemed fairly trivial.

Rainbow, after all, was a mid-level weather manager from Ponyville. The only weather managers less influential than her were the poor saps running Appleoosa and Dodge City. Rainbow could at least empathize with the manager of Dodge City. The biggest difference between that town and Ponyville was the Dodge City cherry industry versus the Ponyville apple industry. The weather team in Appleoosa was a joke even to themselves.

Rainbow didn't consider herself to be a particularly attractive mare. She put literally no effort into her mane, she rarely dressed up, and she would sooner rip out her pinions than wear makeup. That said Rainbow didn't consider herself to be a bad looking mare either.

So if it wasn't her looks that first caught Spitfire's attention, then what had it been, she wondered. Spitfire had the status, looks, and smarts to get any mare or stallion she wanted, so what made Rainbow so special? Rainbow sighed and shook her head free of the errant thoughts. She made herself a mental note to ask Spitfire about it later. Today she just wanted to enjoy a good show.

A smile bloomed across her face as she came into view of the hotel. Spitfire, Soarin', and Rapidfire were waiting for her by the doors. The three Wonderbolts were chatting about something that Rainbow couldn't hear as she trotted over to them. Soarin' noticed her first and elbowed Spitfire's side to draw her attention. Spitfire's irritation with her lieutenant quickly faded into a smile as she noticed Rainbow.

"Hey, Dash!" she said as she trotted over to meet rainbow. "Right on time."

Before she could reply, Spitfire pulled Rainbow into an affectionate hug. She blushed a little even as she returned the gesture.

"I do my best," Rainbow said as they separated. Looking past Spitfire, she waved to Soarin' and Rapid. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Rapidfire looked up to the sky. "By the look of things, I'd say the sun, a few clouds, a couple birds, a few weather ponies."

Soarin' groaned and rolled his eyes. "Rapidfire, shut up before you hurt yourself."

"I love you too, Mallow." Rapidfire said, sticking his tongue out at Soarin'.

Spitfire shook her head and chuckled while Rainbow stared at the stallions in confusion.

"Okay, we're all too sober for this conversation," Spitfire decided, "come on, lets gets some hustle in our trot."

Soarin' and Rapid saluted Spitfire before they fell in line behind her. Rainbow took her place at Spitfire's left side. Spitfire leaned over to steal a brief nuzzle, which Rainbow returned in kind.

The four made good time from the hotel to the Stonewall Bar & Grille where the Bad Seeds were booked to play. The Stonewall itself was separated into two distinct sections. Facing the street was the main entrance, which led to the restaurant style grille area. Sidewalk tables were set outside where various ponies could chat and drink while they waited for an available table inside. Slightly down the ally to the side of the building was a stairwell leading down to the bar and stage area. Ponies that weren't looking for it easily missed it.

Spitfire led them down the narrow staircase and through a painted black door. After walking down a short hallway the four pegasi came into the bar proper. The room was large enough to pass for a dining hall with about three quarters of its space devoted to the stage and a dance floor.

The bar itself was placed very near the entrance they were standing in. It was in the shape of a hollowed out rectangle with stools all around it. There already a few dozen ponies crowded around the bar, each lost in their own conversation as they waited for the band to start.

"Not too crowded yet," Rainbow noted.

Spitfire nodded. "I see an empty table near the stage, you guys wanna sit there?"

"Hay yeah!" Rainbow said with a broad grin.

"Sure," Soarin' agreed.

"Works for me," Rapid said with a shrug.

Rainbow could hardly contain her excitement as they made their way to the table. Her manic grin didn't escape the notice of Spitfire. The Wonderbolt found the smile infectious. By the time all four had taken their seats, Rainbow was practically bouncing.

"Somepony's excited," Rapid noted with a chuckle.

"Sorry," Rainbow said as she attempted to control herself.

"Ignore Rapid," Spitfire said with a wave of her hoof, "he's just grumpy that Soarin's making him sleep on the couch."

Soarin' and Rapidfire exchanged a glance. An impish smirk grew on Rapid's lips.

"What can I say, I miss cuddling my mallow." He said with a wink.

Rainbow's hooves shot to cover her mouth as she burst out laughing. Spitfire didn't bother trying to contain her own laughter. Soarin' groaned and smacked his head against the surface of the table.

"Ich bin viel zu nüchtern für diese Unterhaltung." He mumbled, despondent.

After they recovered, Soarin' excused himself from the table to order drinks. Ciders for Rainbow and spitfire, a brandy on the rocks for Rapid, and an old fashioned for himself. While he was away Rainbow turned in her seat to watch the stage.

Spotlights overhead bathed the entire stage in a pale blue glow. Smoke emanated from hidden machines behind the speaker stacks. On the right side of the stage there was a keyboard set up on a swiveling stand that an orange-brown unicorn with a gray-green mane was carefully adjusting to the perfect height. Rainbow guessed, by his wrench cutie mark, that he was a stagehand employed by The Stonewall for events like this.

On both sides of the stage Rainbow could see guitar racks. Each rack held four guitars, presumably each tuned for a specific song or set. She also spotted an acoustic guitar tucked behind one of the racks. She wondered if the band had many acoustic songs, or if they would just be using the acoustic guitar for rhythm sections in certain songs.

Rainbow tried to resist bouncing like a foal as she impatiently waited for the show to start. As time went on more and more ponies began to fill up the empty tables and booths. She was about to turn back to talk with Spitfire when she spotted two unicorns making their way to the jukebox near their table.

The unicorn in the lead, a stallion with a burgundy colored coat and a mahogany colored mane had a pair of bits in his telekinetic grasp. Slipping them into the jukebox he tapped at the controls excitedly. His friend, a unicorn with a white coat and a ginger mane seemed generally bored with the whole experience.

The burgundy unicorn tapped his hoof impatiently on the floor.

"Dude I think it ate my change." He whined.

"What a tragedy," the white unicorn answered.

The burgundy unicorn waited another moment before he gave the machine a hard smack with his right hoof. The jukebox sprang to life with a western sounding guitar over a pounding kick drum. The burgundy unicorn grinned like a foal and bobbed his head in time with the music.

"Awww yeah!" he cheered.

"You're such a foal," his friend noted with a sigh.

"Loosen up dude, we're here to have some fun!"

Rainbow stifled a giggle as she turned to face her companions. Both Spitfire and Rapidfire nodded their heads with the beat. Rainbow watched them for a moment before she cast a confused look to Soarin'. Soarin' offered a simple shrug as he sipped his cocktail.

Spitfire wrapped her foreleg around Rainbow's waist and swayed her with the music. Rainbow's surprised squeak quickly turned to a giggle as she joined in the impromptu dance. Not to be outdone, Rapidfire attempted the same trick to Soarin', much to the latter Wonderbolts irritation. The attempt ended with Soarin' lightly thwacking Rapid on the nose.

It was nearly another twenty minutes before the main lights dimmed signaling the bands imminent arrival to the stage. Rainbow immediately shot to her hooves, her wings fluttering in excitement. Spitfire hopped up next to her, her good wing draping over Rainbow's back. Rainbow flashed Spitfire an excited grin as the band took to the stage.

The drummer, a griffon bathed in shadow, took his seat first. He took a moment to adjust himself before he took his sticks and waited. From somewhere offstage the first chord rang out, a distorted guitar that was quickly joined by a second. The drummer tapped a rhythm on the high-hat as the guitars merged into a unified rhythm with just enough syncopation to differentiate them.

Two griffons made their way on stage, each from opposite sides. They walked on two legs, using their wings to balance themselves as the moved. As the drums and guitars built to the heart of the song the lights came up. The ponies assembled cheered when the band was finally visible.

The two griffons had grey-brown coats with white plumage on their heads. The smaller of the two wielded a polished red guitar with an ebony black neck. The taller had a cream colored guitar with a neck the color of maple wood. Both were grinning from ear to ear at the raucous cheering from the crowd. They took turns between rhythm and lead, the larger griffon seemingly in control of the song for a few moments before he passed it to the smaller one.

As the song ended, Rainbow threw her hooves in the air and cheered at the top of her lungs. The griffons didn't wait for long, the drummer counting them into the next song without any delay. Again, the griffons played an identical rhythm, the taller griffon stepping up to the microphone in at the front of the stage. He sang with a powerful tenor that carried through the hall and over the screaming ponies.

"I can't get rid of you

I don't know what to do

I don't even know who is growing on who

'Cos everywhere I go you're there

Can't get you out of my hair

Can't pretend that I don't care - it's not fair"

Perhaps it was rush of sugar from the cider; perhaps it was the infectious energy of the crowed that was running through her, Rainbow didn't know. Nor did she particularly care as she grabbed Spitfire's hoof and dragged her into the crowded dance floor.

"Woah! Easy there girl!" Spitfire laughed.

"Come on Spitfire!" Rainbow shouted over the music, "What's the point of rocking out if you're not gonna dance?"

Spitfire didn't argue with her marefriend, instead she turned to Rapid and Soarin'. "You too, boys!"

"Nah, we're good!" Rapid shouted.

"Get your flanks on the dance floor now soldiers!" Spitfire ordered, her face a wide smile.

Soarin' raised his hooves in surrender before he got his hooves.

"Have fun!" Rapid teased in singsong.

"Oh no," Soarin' said with a wicked smile as he wrapped a foreleg around Rapidfire. "If I gotta suffer then I'm making you suffer with me."

Rapid's protests went fell on deaf ears as he was unceremoniously dragged to the dance floor. Spitfire pointed her hoof at him and shared a laugh with Rainbow. The act spurred Rapid to take an action he knew he'd probably regret later. Without much ceremony he cut between Spitfire and took Rainbow by the hoof.

"I think I'll have this dance," he said, winking to his sister.

Spitfire grew a smile that sent a chill down Rapid's spine, "Rainbow, do you mind foalsitting him for a song?"

"You got it, boss!" Rainbow answered with a grin.

'I'm so dead,' Rapid mused.

Spitfire moved to Soarin' with a friendly smile, "What do you say Soarin', a dance for old time's sake?"

Soarin' smiled and curtsied her. "It would be my honor, Captain."

"Ever the gentlecolt," Spitfire said.

Rapidfire watched Spitfire and Soarin' from the corner of his eye as he tried to keep up with Rainbow. More than once he caught them looking at him with nothing but bad intentions, perhaps more concerning to him was whatever Spitfire kept whispering in Soarin's ear.

As the song came to a close, the band didn't give their audience time to rest or cheer. Instead they began their third song in earnest. To Rapidfire's horror, Spitfire's plan was revealed as she and Soarin' cut between him and Rainbow. Spitfire dancing with her marefriend, and Soarin' dancing with Rapidfire, Rapid was about to laugh it off when the singer began.

"Love,

Love is not the answer

Love

Love is not your friend

Love

Love is not the beginning

And love

Love is not the end

And love isn't just

Liking someone a lot

I don't know what love is

But I know what love is not

For the feint hearted

You turn your back and it is gone

For the feint hearted

It can melt a heart of stone

And nobody can make it on their own"

Soarin' did his very best not to react to the unfortunate lyrical timing.

"What's she paying you to do this?" Rapid asked after it became clear Soarin' wouldn't let him escape the dance.

"Enough." Soarin' answered.

"I hate you right now," Rapid glowered.

"That's nice dear." Soarin' answered.

A few feet away, Rainbow could scarcely stop herself from giggling.

"What did you bribe him with?" she asked.

"A bottle of his favorite scotch and the satisfaction of watching Rapid squirm." Spitfire answered.

"You really are evil," Rainbow laughed.

Spitfire shrugged and kissed Rainbow between the eyes. "Morally flexible."

When the song ended and the last note had faded, the band took a few minutes to let the crowed cheer and catch their breath. The singer stepped closer to the microphone, his light panting audible through the speakers.

"How you doing out there Manehattan?" he asked.

His answer was an approving roar of the crown.

"Niiiice," he drawled. "Well, I'm Niko Grivridge and we are the Bad Seeds."

The crowd cut him off with another wave of cheers and stomped hooves. Rainbow noticed the keyboard player slip out from backstage to take her place at her instrument. Rainbow grinned like a filly as she got a good look at the keyboardist. The mare in question was a pegasus with a periwinkle blue coat and a hay colored mane. Niko cast a glance to make sure she was ready before he continued speaking.

"For this next set, please allow me to introduce my little brother, Kale!"

Kale bowed to the energized ponies as he took center stage. "So, I hear ponies like to party. You all wouldn't know about that would you?"

The cheer of the crowed made Kale recoil melodramatically; the mare at the keyboard hid her laughter behind a hoof.

"Alright then," Kale began, adjusting his guitar. "Lets get this show on the road!"

From behind Kale, the drummer counted them in, his words lost over the cheers of the ponies on the dance floor. Kale stomped on a distortion pedal and played a lively riff that quickly built to a loud resolve. The full band joined in, as Kale moved to the microphone.

"You, you got a nasty reputation

We're in a sticky situation

It's down to me and you."

Rainbow lost herself to the music. Her body moving in time with Spitfire's in a primordial dance. It was unlike anything Rainbow had ever experienced in her life.

"Raise your hooves!

When you want to let it go

Raise your hooves!

When you want to let a feeling show

Raise your hooves!

From New Yoke to Coltago

Raise your hands From Manehattan to Trotkyo

Whoa, whoa

Raise your hooves!"

The intensity of the crowed seemed exponentially linked to the intensity of the song. The more the music built, the more feverishly the ponies danced. Even Soarin' and Rapid lost themselves to the rhythm of the dance floor. By the time the song did end, everypony on the dance floor was out of breath and sweaty.

The crowed shifted automatically, the tired ponies making their way back to their seats for a break as fresh ponies took their places. The band continued in earnest, the mare at the keyboard leading the next song in with a staccato rhythm. Rainbow, Spitfire, Soarin', and Rapidfire yielded their space on the dance floor to rest and catch their breath.

"Well," Spitfire began as she caught her breath, "that was fun."

"Hay yeah it was!" Rainbow beamed.

"They play pretty good," Soarin' said.

"I'm gonna grab us some more drinks," Rapid said after catching his breath, "four cider's sound good?"

Receiving no complaints he began the tedious process of worming his way through the crowd to get to the bar. Spitfire followed him with her eyes for a moment before she looked to Soarin'.

"Better go help him out with that, just in case." She said.

Soarin' nodded, quickly vacating his seat and following Rapid. After they left, Rainbow leaned against Spitfire, using the older mare as a living pillow. Spitfire obliged happily enough, her foreleg wrapping around Rainbow's shoulders.

"Having fun?" Rainbow asked,

"Oh hay yeah," Spitfire answered. "Are you?"

Rainbow nodded, "More than I've had in a really long time."

Spitfire allowed herself a proud smile. For a few minutes the two simply listened to the band play. Despite how crowded the hall had become, it felt like they were in their own little world.

After a few more minutes alone, Soarin' and Rapidfire returned, each carrying two mugs of cider. They carefully set each of the mugs on the table before they reclaimed their own seats.

"Thanks, guys," Spitfire said as she reached for a mug.

"No biggie," Rapid answered, reclining.

For nearly an hour, the four pegasi remained at their table, content to let the music take their minds to other places. It wasn't until the bad began to downshift for a slower set that Rainbow sat back up.

Kale had retrieved a stool from a stagehand and had set himself up next to the mare at the keyboard. He had also changed to an acoustic guitar that he strummed once to confirm it was in tune. Niko, the drummer, and the bass player had all made temporarily abandoned the stage for whatever what about to happen next.

After adjusting the microphone to the right height, Kale began to speak.

"So before we slow this down a little bit, would you please all give a big Manehattan greeting to the last member of the Bad Seeds, and my wife, Skysong." He motioned to the periwinkle mare behind the keyboard.

Amid the applause and cheers, Rainbow was reasonably sure she hear the distinctive sound of multiple jaws hitting the floor, hers included. Neither Kale nor Skysong seemed at all surprised by the mixed reaction as they continued. Kale began picking a soft rhythm, Sky joined him, her keyboard set to an organ sound that wove seamlessly into the griffon's rhythm.

Spitfire got to her hooves and held out her hoof to Rainbow. "May I have this dance?"

A gentle smile grew on Rainbow's lips as she took Spitfire's hoof and followed her onto the dance floor. While it wasn't as full as it had been at the start of the show, the floor was still very crowded with ponies dancing slowly with their dates and spouses. Spitfire and Rainbow kept close as they danced, their bodies swaying in time with the music.

They barely noticed when the rest of the band quietly filled into the song, their attentions focused on each other. Spitfire kept her eyes locked with Rainbow's. They didn't speak, there was no need for words.

When the song came to its inevitable end, Spitfire pulled Rainbow into a tender embrace. Rainbow returned the gesture with a soft nuzzle. They remained still for a moment before separating. Onstage the periwinkle mare, Skysong, had abandoned her keyboard and took a moment to kiss her husband's feathered cheek before she took to the microphone.

"So how'd everypony like that?" Sky asked.

The ponies on the dance floor cheered and stomped their hooves in approval. Behind Sky, Kale and Niko discreetly changed guitars. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure they were ready before she continued.

"What do you say, Manehattan," she began with an excited grin. "Should we turn it up to eleven and go out with a bang?"

The howl of approval from the crowd was nearly deafening in and of itself. Sky's grin only grew wider before she hopped onto her rear hooves, her front hooves grasping the microphone stand for support. She turned to face the band and shouted loud enough for her voice to be heard to the ponies in the front.

"Lets bring the house down boys! One, two, three, four!"

The drummer led them in, the guitars tuned a half step down from the previous song. Sky's head bobbed in time with the song, her eyes closed as she gave herself to the music. As the intro faded, she leaned to the microphone.

Your gentle voice I hear

Your words echo inside me

You said "You long for me, that you love me"

And I want to see you too, feels just like I'm falling

Is there nothing I can do, wonder if you hear my calling

I'm here and waiting for you

Where are you, I can't find you

I'm here and waiting for you

I'll wait forever for you

Mom's gone to Heaven now

Why won't she come back down

Does she have someone she loves more than me

I thought I could love you better, we were always together

If we took some time apart you would finally know my heart

I'm here and waiting for you

Where are you, I can't find you

I'm here and waiting for you

I'll wait forever for you

I fell in Love with you and now you're gone

There's nothing left within my lonely room without you

I'm here and waiting for you

Where are you, I can't find you

I'm here and waiting for you

I'll wait forever for you

"My ears are still ringing," Rapidfire said loudly.

"That's how you know it was a good show!" Rainbow said with a wide grin.

"You're a mad mare, you know that right?" Rapid asked, shooting Rainbow a flat look.

"If the music is too loud, then you're too old." Rainbow answered with a sagely nod.

"I'm not old," Rapid pouted, folding his forelegs against his chest and pursing his lips.

Soarin' and Rainbow shared a laugh from Rapidfire's amusing pout. Spitfire had excused herself from the table nearly ten minutes earlier, whereto exactly she hadn't said. Still, neither Soarin', Rapid, or Rainbow felt any particular compulsion to worry just yet. Soarin' in particular was grateful for the opportunity for a moment—relatively—alone with Rainbow. There were a few things he was curious about.

"So, Dash," Soarin' began, "I take it you liked the show?"

"Hay yeah! Didn't you?"

"Yeah, it was pretty good," Soarin' answered.

"Woulda been better if Mallow hadn't been trying to cop a feel every time we danced," Rapid chided with a playful wink.

Soarin's rolled his eyes. "Ignoring you now."

"Killjoy," Rapid grumbled.

"Anyway, Rainbow," Soarin' continued, folding his forelegs on the table in front of him. "There was something I was curious about with you."

"Yeah?" Rainbow felt a nervous sweat start to form on her brow.

"You're one of the most impressive flyers I've seen in a long time. Your speed and acceleration are amazing not to mention the rainboom. Can't say about your endurance flying—"

"I'd be the one to judge that," Rapid interjected.

"As I was saying," Soarin' continued, "I'm curious, Rainbow, what makes you want to be a Wonderbolt?"

Rainbow balked for a moment. "You're kidding, right?"

"Not even a little," Soarin' answered. "Everypony should be able to articulate why they want something or why they don't want something.

"Why wouldn't a pegasus want to be a Wonderbolt?" Rainbow asked.

"Antipathy towards the military nature of the organization, no interest in repetitive formation flying, or maybe they just don't like the uniform." Rapidfire answered.

"You can already do a Rainboom," Soarin' continued, "Hay, I saw it myself at the Royal Wedding. That's something no other pegasus is able to do, though certainly not for a lack of trying. From what I hear you're also one of the best weather managers around. So I find myself curious, why would a mare with your extraordinary ability want to limit yourself to being just another Wonderbolt?"

Rainbow folded her forelegs across her chest as she considered the question. For as long as she could remember it had been her dream. No pony had ever asked her to justify it before.

"I guess," Rainbow began, her voice quiet. "I've always lived for competition, you know? I always had to be the best at whatever I did. I need that challenge, that competition. And being a Wonderbolt, means you're considered good enough to fly with the best.

"I can't just sit still and let the world pass me by. I need somepony who can keep me on my hooves and force me to get better with every race. I need that pony that can make me work for my victories. And hopefully I can push them to get better too."

Soarin' gave Rainbow a warm smile. "That's a good attitude to have, Rainbow."

"R-really? Thanks!" Rainbow said with a grin.

Soarin' nodded his head. "I look forward to flying with you someday, Dash."

Rainbow's cheeks flushed pink from the compliment. She gave Soarin' a sheepish smile as she rubbed the back of her head. Before the conversation could continue, Spitfire returned, a noticeable bounce in her trot.

"Hey guys, what'd I miss?" Spitfire asked.

"Nothing really," Soarin' answered, "Rapid and I were just about to head out. It's getting late."

"Your marefriend called me old," Rapid said, feigning a pout.

"I said if the music's too loud, you're too old." Rainbow quickly added.

Spitfire pulled Rainbow into a sidelong hug. "This here is a smart mare, Rapid, she's got a point."

Soarin' chuckled and mussed Rapid's mane. "Come on Gramps, let's get you back to the old folk's home. I hear they have pudding cups for snack time."

Rapid glared daggers at Soarin'. "I hate pudding."

"Well, that's your problem," Soarin' said with a nod.

"You're older than I am."

"I swear to Celestia, you two should just rut and get it over with," Spitfire interrupted with a snicker.

Both stallions glared at Spitfire. Spitfire simply offered them her most innocuous smile.

"You are sick in the head, Spits," Rapid said after a moment of silence.

"It's a dirty job, but somepony's gotta do it." Spitfire retorted with a nod.

"Anyway," Soarin' said, desperate to derail the conversation, "I'll see you tomorrow morning Spits. Don't forget your appointment with Triage."

Spitfire gave Soarin' a crisp salute, "Sir, yes sir."

Soarin' blinked several times. "Never do that to me again. Its creepy having you call me that."

Spitfire laughed out loud. "I'll see you in the morning, boys."

Both Soarin' and Rapidfire saluted her before they trotted away. Rainbow waited for a moment before she turned to Spitfire.

"Who's Triage? Is everything okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Triage is the chief medical officer for the Wonderbolts. He's just gonna take a look at my wing. Nothing to worry about, honest." Spitfire answered, a warm smile on her lips.

Rainbow nodded slowly. "Okay. So, what do we do now?"

Spitfire's smile widened to a broad grin. "Well, Dash, how would you like to meet the band?"

Rainbow sputtered, her eyes growing to the size of small plates "W-would I!" she exclaimed.

"C'mon," Spitfire said, motioning for Rainbow to follow her.

Both mares trotted to a door near the side of the stage where a very intimidating earth pony was standing. Recognizing Spitfire, he gave he a curt nod before stepping aside to let them pass. Rainbow kept close to Spitfire as they passed him.

"How did you manage to set this up?" Rainbow asked after a moment.

"Being a Wonderbolt has a few perks," Spitfire said, "I found the manager of the club and had him ask their manager if I could speak to them for a minute. He let me in and I asked it we could meet them and hang out for a bit. They agreed in exchange for a few backstage passes for our next season. I guess Skysong, that pegasus mare, is a big fan."

"That is so awesome!" Rainbow squealed.

Spitfire grinned and slipped her good wing over Rainbow's back. After winding their way through the dimly lit hallway for a few moments, the two came to an open room lined with posters of hundreds of bands. The posters completely covered the walls and ceiling forming unique, and nearly overwhelming, wallpaper. In the corner nearest the door that Spitfire and Rainbow were standing in was a refrigerator and a fake hibiscus tree.

In the opposite corner Rainbow spotted two griffons and the pegasus mare. The griffon she assumed was Kale had the acoustic guitar in his lap and was playing a blues groove by himself. Sky was leaning against his side, her eyes closed as she bobbed her head in time with the music. The other griffon, Niko, was sitting not too far away from them, sipping a hot cup of tea. It was Niko who spotted Spitfire and Rainbow first.

"Ah, there you are!" he said as set his teacup down. "Come in, come in! Make yourselves comfortable. Sorry it's only just the three of us for now, the others went to get some food."

"It's cool, thanks very much for letting us meet you guys," Spitfire said, leading Rainbow in. "It's very exciting."

"The feeling's mutual!" Sky chirped as she sat up, a fanfilly grin on her face.

"Easy there, Sky," Kale chuckled, setting his guitar down.

"Oh quiet you," Sky said, lightly bopping Kale's beak.

"Don't mind my little brother," Niko said, "he's thoroughly whipped. It'd be cute if it wasn't so sad."

Rainbow giggled, "S-so you're really married? It not just, like, some show act?"

Sky nodded. "We'll have been married for twelve years in a few weeks."

"Congratulations!" Spitfire exclaimed.

"Gaaaaaaag," Niko moaned loudly.

"Juuuuuust jealous," Kale replied with a chuckle. "Anyway, I'm Kale Grivridge, pleased to meet the both of you."

"And I'm Sky Grivridge, it's so cool to meet you Captain Spitfire." Sky said.

"Likewise Sky," Spitfire said before motioning to Rainbow. "This is my marefriend Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow's heart skipped a beat from being introduced as Spitfire's marefriend. It wasn't that she didn't like the term; in fact she quite liked it. However that was in the private company of just herself and Spitfire. To Rainbow's surprise Kale, Sky, and Niko didn't even bat an eyelash from the term. Instead Sky looked even more excited about something.

"Oh, oh, I've heard about you!" Sky said.

"Wh-really?" Rainbow balked, her face reflecting her surprise from the notion.

"Hay yeah, you're the mare who did the sonic rainboom! My family was at the Best Young Flyers competition when it happened. That is so awesome!"

Rainbow felt her cheeks burn again. She felt Spitfire's wing give her a light hug.

"Say," Spitfire began as she waved a hoof between Kale and Sky. "How did you two get together anyway? It's not exactly common for ponies and griffons to hook up."

"That was my fault, actually." Niko said with a laugh. "Kale and I were in our first band and doing a tour of eastern Equestrian seaboard."

"Well, that had been the plan at least," Kale added.

"Yeah," Niko nodded, "see, our keyboardist at the time was expecting his first kid. And the kid came right before we were supposed to go on the tour. He wanted to be there, and I was kind of a donkey about it and told him that his kid could wait a couple months while we did our tour."

"Mom tried to teach him tact," Kale added, jerking a thumb in his brother's direction. "It never took."

The mares in the room shared a chuckle while Niko made a lewd gesture in Kale's direction.

"As I was saying," Niko continued after a moment, "I acted like a donkey and he rightly told me off and quit. So there we were down a member and on our way to Baltimare. I talked to our agent and asked him to look around for a local musician we could use to fill in temporarily until we found a replacement back home."

"That's when I crashed the party." Sky interjected.

"Made quite the impression on me, after a while." Kale said with a laugh, wrapping his arm around his wife.

"Well, long story short, at the end of the tour I told her to take her money and bugger off." Niko explained, "Kale told me that he wanted her to stay on full time as our regular pianist. We had a big fight as the band kinda exploded in spectacular fashion."

"Kale and I started touring small clubs as a duet for a while, playing acoustic sets only." Sky said.

"Those were pretty good times," Kale nodded in agreement.

"So, uh, how'd you two become an item?" Spitfire asked.

"It just kinda happened really," Sky said with a shrug. "We got really close in the time we were together, and he made me happy. Took him a long time to work up the nerve to ask me out officially though."

Kale blushed a little as he laughed, pulling Sky into a tender nuzzle. "In fairness, I was scared of her for a while."

"What for?" Rainbow asked.

The question earned a loud laugh from Niko.

"That was my fault again." Niko admitted, "I was mad at her for something stupid during the early part of our tour. So one night when we were all eating dinner I told her that I wouldn't keep anyone in my band who refused to eat meat."

"Which is when I swiped a piece of steak from his plate and ate it right in front of him." Sky said. "I wish I had a picture of the looks on their faces."

"What exactly is steak?" Spitfire asked.

"It's the cooked muscle of cows," Rainbow answered, a pallor having spread over her face.

Sky's right eyebrow arched up curiously. "Now, how does a pony like you know something like that? Hang out with many griffons?"

Rainbow nodded. "When I was a filly I was best-friends with a griffon. She, uh, she dared me to try meat once."

Sky slipped free of her husband's grasp and flew over to Rainbow. Sky sat in front of the younger mare, her turquoise eyes full of understanding.

"Did you try it?" Sky asked, her voice soft and motherly.

Rainbow nodded.

"Swallow it?"

Rainbow nodded again, her hoof digging at the floor uncomfortably. Sky pulled her into a gentle hug. Spitfire's wind slipped free of Rainbow's back to allow the action.

"Were you able to keep it down?" Sky asked.

"Yeah," Rainbow answered quietly.

"You did better than me then. Later that night Kale found me puking my guts out and sobbing."

"Wasn't your most flattering look, hon." Kale said, smirking in amusement.

"Do you know what meat it was?" Sky asked.

"Chicken, I think." Rainbow answered after thinking for a minute.

Sky nodded. "Well if it makes you feel better, chicken's much easier to eat than cow is."

"You mean you've eaten it more than once?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, I did marry a griffon." Sky motioned to Kale. "I kinda got used to one or two things that ponies normally don't do."

"But chicken," Rainbow shook her head, "how can you eat it?"

Sky hummed and pursed her lips as she considered the question. Eventually she simply shrugged. "What can I say, I like cock."

Kale burst into gales of laughter while Niko buried his face in his palms.

"Too much information, Sky!" Niko moaned.

"…Maybe that's why I didn't like it," Rainbow mumbled.

The off-hoof comment sent Spitfire into a fit of giggles. Sky held out her hoof, which Rainbow was all too happy to bump.

"Say, how would you two like to hear a song?" Sky asked.

"Really, Sky, you wanna do this now?" Niko asked.

"What better time?" Sky replied. "We've been talking about an acoustic set for a while, might as well do some market research."

"We'd love to hear you guys play some more!" Rainbow said, her face split into a wide grin.

"Hey yeah." Spitfire agreed.

Kale picked his guitar up and wiped the tears from his eyes. "What song are we playing, Sky?"

"Hmm," Sky thought for a moment, turning to look at Rainbow and Spitfire, "how about Wind on the Water?"

"Works for me," Kale said as he quickly checked his tuning.

Sky returned to her seat, half snuggling up to Kale. Niko disappeared into a backroom for a moment before he returned with his own acoustic guitar.

"Mind if I help out?" he asked.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Sky said with a smile.

Kale began to play a soft melody with his talons. Niko soon joined him with an understated rhythm. Sky closed her eyes and ran a hoof through her mane as she got into the music. Spitfire turned to Rainbow, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth as she held out her hoof.

"May I have this dance?" she asked, her voice warm and gentle.

Rainbow smiled back and nodded, putting her hoof in Spitfire's. Together they held each other close as Sky began to sing.

"The wind on the water doesn't go very far

Just 'round this old world forever

And the way that I love you, it can't last long

Just until this life, this crazy life is over

I see myself in different ways today

I'm on the outside, I'm just looking in

Finding myself wanting nothing but to be with you again

Rainbow nuzzled against Spitfire's neck, her eyes closed as their bodies swayed in time with the song.

Rainbows come from the tears of the sun

And I've heard it said by some: rainbows chase the rain

And the wind on the water can make your dreams wander

Pictures in the sky come and take your mind away

This is just a short song to say: I hope to see you home again to stay - one day...

There was something Spitfire found more than a little creepy about being the only pony in a locker room. The cold air, dim lighting, and heavy walls inherent to earth pony design certainly had something to do with it. Then again the lingering potpourri of mildew and sweat didn't help much either.

Spitfire gave the nearest locker a half-hearted kick. She was reasonably sure that Arcus' note to wait in the locker room was his subtle way of telling Spitfire that he was mad about something. Exactly what had put his feathers in a twist Spitfire wasn't exactly sure, though she could probably hazard a guess.

According to Soarin', Arcus was now aware that Spitfire had been spending time with Rainbow Dash. In some ways that information simplified Spitfire's life. She no longer had to worry about coming clean to Arcus about that knowledge. On the other hoof, if Arcus thought she was dating Rainbow, the situation would become…problematic.

Unfortunately for Spitfire, Arcus seemed to enjoy assuming the worst in everything. Spitfire scoffed, Arcus probably assumed she was already sleeping with Rainbow. And while Spitfire wouldn't deny that she found the idea appealing, she had no plans of inviting Rainbow into her bed anytime soon. After all, sex rarely simplified things.

Spitfire shook her head free of those thoughts as the door creaked open. Arcus trotted into the room with several folders of paperwork tucked under his left wing. His face was expressionless, a trait Spitfire had long ago learned was a red flag. She hopped onto her hooves and snapped a crisp salute.

"Morning, Sir." She said.

"Spitfire," Arcus said, casually putting the folders on one of the benches.

"I was, uh, expecting to see Triage," Spitfire said after a moment's hesitation.

"Triage will see you in the main exam room after we've had a chance to talk," Arcus said.

'Great, trapped in a locker room with my pissed off boss,' Spitfire noted to herself, 'what could possibly go wrong next.'

"Is there something the matter, sir?" Spitfire asked.

"That depends," Acus began waving a hoof to the bench, "please, sit down."

Spitfire did as she was requested, though it gave the most peculiar feeling that she was a filly again. A filly about to get scolded by her parents for doing something very, very, stupid. Spitfire wondered if it was too late to run for the hills.

"So," Arcus began, "Soarin' tells me you've been seeing Rainbow Dash."

"Well uh, yeah I guess that's one way to put it. I mean I wouldn't say its, seeing, seeing each other, more like 'yeah I gotta look at you to hang out with you' seeing," Spitfire flubbed.

Arcus held up a hoof to silence her. "Spitfire, as your friend I'm asking you to be honest with me. As your boss, I'm asking you to tell me the truth so I can try to help you."

Spitfire did her best not to fidget, though she couldn't bring herself to look Arcus in the eyes.

"Spitfire," Arcus began, his voice taking a hard edge. "Are you dating Rainbow Dash?"

Spitfire's tried to answer, her mouth moving as if to speak though she wasn't able to form the words. She sucked a sharp breath through her lips and held it for a moment before slowly exhaling. She could feel Arcus' eyes boring into her, though she didn't dare meet his gaze.

"Captain Spitfire," Arcus said harshly, emphasizing every word, "are you romantically involved with Rainbow Dash?"

Spitfire wilted under Arcus' unyielding glare. He was one of a very small number of ponies that actually intimidated her. In the end, all she could do was nod her head, her ears folded back.

"You are a Wonderbolt and a Captain of the Royal Air Forces," Arcus reprimanded her, "use your words!"

"Yes," she managed to whisper.

"Speak up, Captain!" Arcus said, his hoof stomping hard against the cement floor.

"Sir, I am, sir!" Spitfire answered, her voice echoing off the cold walls.

Arcus allowed a few moments of silence to fill the air between them. His eyes focused on the top of Spitfire's head while Spitfire very intently studied the accumulated grime on the tile grout.

"How long has this relationship been romantic?" Arcus asked, his tone softening somewhat.

"About a week, sir," Spitfire answered, feeling defeated.

"Well, that should simplify things," Arcus noted aloud.

A look of confusion spread of Spitfire's face. "Simplify, sir?"

"You are going to break things off with Rainbow Dash as soon as possible," Arcus said, "it's what's best for the both of you."

"Break off?" Spitfire balked.

"Did I stutter, Captain?" Arcus asked, shooting Spitfire a glare. "You will break it off, end this dalliance immediately and cease contact until you have regained your perspective."

"My perspective is fine," Spitfire argued, her hackles rising from the order.

"Really?" Arcus asked, sarcasm lacing his tone. "Then please tell me, Spitfire, exactly how do you see this "relationship" turning out?"

Spitfire faltered, "I… I don't know…"

"Exactly, you don't. But I do, Spitfire. I know exactly how this will play out. Let's say, just for the sake of argument, that you and Ms. Dash hit it off and have a good thing. That would be quite nice, wouldn't it?"

Spitfire nodded a little, not sure where Arcus was going with his speech.

"Now then, lets also pretend, that you two even manage to conceal this relationship from the press, the other Wonderbolts, and even Princess Celestia. Then the day arrives that Rainbow Dash applies for a position in the Wonderbolts.

You would of course recuse yourself from judgment, perhaps make up some cute excuse that you're taking a sick day or going on vacation. We all know that Rainbow Dash would likely pass all of our tests with ease, so then what happens when she's a Wonderbolt cadet?" Arcus asked.

"W-what do you mean?" Spitfire asked.

"Say that Rainbow Dash is now a Wonderbolt Cadet, what happens with you two then?" Arcus asked again. "Do you come out with the relationship at that point?"

"Uh… y-yeah, I-I guess," Spitfire answered.

Arcus sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "And just how do you think that will look, hm? Not even to the press, but to the rest of the Wonderbolts. Celestia knows Rapidfire had a hay of a time after he joined."

"I never gave Rapid any special treatment!" Spitfire argued, "the fact he's my brother is why I was harder on him than anypony else!"

"I know," Arcus said, "but he is still your brother, which makes it impossible for others not to think you would lack impartiality with him. And to be fair, you should be biased towards him. Family is the most important thing in the world. Rainbow Dash would be a far worse problem."

"How do you figure that?" Spitfire snapped, immediately regretting her tone.

"Spitfire, sometimes you amaze me with your naiveté." Arcus commented with a sigh, rubbing his forehead with a hoof.

"It's a gift," Spitfire mumbled.

"The problem, Spitfire, will be that Rainbow will be perceived as having slept her way into the Wonderbolts."

Spitfire's temper sparked to life from Arcus' comment. Her good wing flared out while her bad wing extended as far as she could make it move, which was only half way out.

"I would never do something like that, nor would Rainbow!" She spat.

"Of course you wouldn't," Arcus said, "I know that, you know that, Soarin and Rapid know it, but the press don't. They don't care about the truth, they only care about headlines that sell more issues. And what about the support staff, the backup squads, the trainees? What are they supposed to think when they find out that the Captain's marefriend became a Wonderbolt?"

"That would have nothing to do with it!" Spitfire argued. "Anypony who's seen her fly would know she's got the skills!"

"Unfortunately, Spitfire, they won't. They'll see only what they want to see, which in this case will be Captain Spitfire and the floozy who got in on her back."

"Don't. Call. Her. That." Spitfire hissed, her anger almost tangible in the air of the locker room.

Arcus kept a stoic look on his face. "What will you do when it's a media pony and not me? What will you do if it's Fleetfoot or Blaze? You gonna hit them, like you want to hit me right now? What would you do if I was Red Top?"

"I…" Spitfire's posture deflated, she had no answer for Arcus.

"And now you're starting to get it," Arcus said, his tone losing the cruel edge he had carried mere moments earlier. "As long as you are a Wonderbolt and she aspires to be one, then you cannot be with this mare. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it has to be."

Spitfire sank, her ears folding back. Arcus sat beside her and wrapped his foreleg around her in a reassuring embrace.

"I know its not much comfort, but better this be done now, before one of you has time to develop feelings. Besides, things will be better this way for the both of you. Your career is safe, her future will be safe, everypony will be happy."

"I… I understand," Spitfire said, her voice quiet.

"Good," Arcus nodded, standing back up and gathering his things and leaving one manila folder next to Spitfire. "Now then, that folder contains your booking information. You current hotel suite is ours for the next few weeks and I've left a stipend for you during the vacation. Should be plenty for you to have some fun and relax, you've earned the vacation anyway."

"Thanks," Spitfire replied.

"All the team members who have Manehattan apartments will still be in here until we gather for the preseason schedule meeting. I'll be heading back to Cloudsdale along with the support staff, so if you need anything go to Rapid, Soarin', Misty, or Fleetfoot. They've got your back if you need them." Arcus said.

"I understand," Spitfire acknowledged.

"Good." Arcus said with a nod, "Triage will see you in exam room two. After that you're free to enjoy your vacation. Just make sure you end things with Rainbow Dash immediately, it's for both of your best interests."

Spitfire answered with a salute, which Arcus returned before trotted out the door. Spitfire waited over a minute before a snarl overtook her face and the punched the nearest locker with all her might. The hard strike of her hoof against the unyielding metal echoed off the walls.

"Stupid," Spitfire hissed, "stupid, stupid, stupid."

Spitfire sat down and closed her eyes. She forced herself to take deep, calming breaths for several minutes. Once she was confidant that she wouldn't kill the first pony she saw, she tucked the manila folder under her good wing and made her way out of the locker room.

Spitfire's walk to the exam room was—thankfully—quiet. With Arcus and the support staff having cleared out for their vacations and the active team members already gone the stadium was almost devoid of life. Spitfire mulled over Arcus' words as she walked, her anger still simmering the whole way.

To a degree, Arcus was right. Perhaps that was why Spitfire found it so aggravating. Rapidfire had spent months after he joined the Wonderbolts fighting off the claims that he had done so on his sister's good graces. Even to this day whenever Rapid was in hot water the popular joke was that his sister would save his tail.

Spitfire couldn't exactly deny that claim either. Sure she expected nothing short of excellence from Rapidfire's performance. In fact, Spitfire made a point to push Rapid harder than any other Wonderbolt, a practice that had caused a lot of friction between them at one time. But Spitfire did also allow Rapidfire to get away with a lot.

Rapidfire was the only Wonderbolt who had the gall to sass Spitfire in front of the others. And he was generally the only one Spitfire put up with it from. It wasn't that she didn't want the other Wonderbolt's to be friendly with her; it was just that she and Rapid grew up together, so they had a certain chemistry that they were used to. It just so happened that most of that chemistry involved a lot of playful teasing.

The situation with Rainbow Dash had every likelihood of being even more complicated. Spitfire liked Rainbow that much was undeniable. She liked Rainbow quite a lot actually. They were two of a kind in many ways. They both loved to fly, they loved the Wonderbolts as an organization, and Rainbow was one of the few ponies that Spitfire felt she could be herself around. She hadn't considered how that would change if Rainbow became her subordinate.

Spitfire bit down on her lip in frustration. The more she thought about it, the more problems she could think of with her and Rainbow being an item. Still, she also hadn't met a mare in a long time that she had enjoyed her time with quite so much. Zephyr had been the last, and while Spitfire had loved Zephyr, they had been very different ponies in many ways.

Spitfire sighed as she came to the exam rooms. She closed her eyes, her forehead pressing against the cool metal door. She took a deep breath and waited a moment before she pushed her way in. As promised, Triage was already there and waiting for her.

Triage as an average pegasus by most definitions. His coat was a sky blue color and his short-cropped mane was a gold color. His cutie mark was a red cross flanked by white wings. Triage was also, in Spitfire's humble opinion, a stallion of questionable sanity. However he was also one of the only ponies that Arcus seemed to legitimately like. Why that was the case, Spitfire had no idea.

"Ahh, Spitfire," Triage greeted her with a lopsided smile, "welcome, welcome! I've been waiting for you."

"Good to see you, Triage." She responded with a smile of her own.

Triage motioned her to the exam table, which Spitfire obediently sat on. Triage skimmed through a stack of papers that Spitfire assumed was her medical file before he made his way to her side.

"So, I leave you alone for a couple of weeks and you go and tear up your wing, huh?" Triage asked.

"Well you know, Tree, I just get so bored without you around." Spitfire answered.

Triage chuckled, his hooves gently holding her injured wing as he examined it. "Was it worth it?"

"Kinda, sorta, almost, maybe." Spitfire said.

"Fair enough," he said, "okay, stretch your wing as far as you can."

Spitfire did as he asked, getting her wing to an almost full extension before she stopped. Her face tensed in discomfort, her wing aching from the light stretch.

"Hm, can't go any further?" Triage asked.

"Not without a lot of pain," Spitfire answered.

"Okay," Triage said, "have you been doing any stretches since you tore it, or just keeping it still?"

"When it wasn't bandaged I kept it folded," Spitfire answered.

"All right," Triage hummed thoughtfully for a moment, "okay, up on your hooves. We're gonna start stretching this wing until you can at least get full extension again."

"That sounds painful," Spitfire noted.

"Pain is such a loaded word, I prefer 'intense sensation'." Triage replied with a smile.

Spitfire stared at Triage with the flattest expression she could manage. Triage held his hooves up in a conciliatory manner.

"Don't worry, Spitfire, I'll take good care of your wing. Besides it looks very bad on my report if I cripple more than three pegasi in a year."

"Triage, has anypony ever told you that you're insane?" Spitfire asked.

"Today, or this year?" He shot back.

Spitfire laughed and got to her hooves. "Okay, let's do this."

Soarin' hummed a merry tune as he unlocked the door to his Manehattan flat, saddlebags filled to the brim with fresh groceries. It wasn't enough to last him more than a few days, but it was enough for starters. Every unmarried Wonderbolt had to deal with the particular annoyance of restocking their fridges when they were on vacations, still, Soarin' didn't mind. A wide smile grew on his lips as he pushed open the door and trotted into his apartment.

"Home sweet home," he said to the empty apartment.

Soarin' preferred to avoid pulling his so-called celebrity card whenever possible, it tended to draw more attention that he liked when not in a uniform. His one notable exception had been to get the suite he called home. It was a two-bedroom corner suite on the top floor of his Oceanside apartment complex. From the comfort of his living room, Soarin' could watch the sun rise over the ocean every morning. He even had a small patio that had just enough room for a pair of yard chairs and a small charcoal grill.

The interior walls were painted a warm cream color with burgundy red accent walls in the kitchen. The floors were actual wood as opposed to the cheap carpet or veneer found in most apartments. Along the walls, Soarin' had hung many pictures. The living room had oil paintings varying in size from small to quite large, almost all of them had been works his grandmother had done when she was younger.

The hallway leading to the bedrooms and bathroom was lined with dozens of photographs. Most were of Soarin' with his family, though a few were photographs of the team in their more private moments. His personal favorite was a photograph from Hearths Warming Eve, with the entire active roster wearing matching sweaters.

The sweaters had been Spitfire's idea of a funny gift: probably because they were crimes against fashion, and possibly violated several international treaties against torture. Soarin' still wasn't sure how she had convinced Arcus to wear one and be photographed in it.

With a quick shake of his head, Soarin' refocused his attention in the task at hoof. The groceries wouldn't unpack themselves, no matter how nicely he asked them. He hopped onto his hind legs and struck a martial art pose at the half-dozen eggs sitting at the top of the pile.

"Bring it, poultry!" he challenged bravely, making a chopping motion with his right hoof.

The eggs seemed unimpressed.

Soarin' gave the eggs his most intimidating stare for a moment before he plucked them from the bag and placed them in the fridge. He hummed as he put the rest of his groceries away; vacations always left him in a good mood. Finishing that task quickly enough he trotted over to his record collection and perused for an album to listen to. Before he could make his selection a sharp knock on the door stole his attention away.

Soarin's right eyebrow arched up; he hadn't been expecting anypony tonight. The Wonderbolts had all gone their separate ways for vacation. His family always wrote before visiting so he could ensure he was actually home when they showed up, and he was currently single without any real prospects.

Soarin' waited a moment, wondering if whoever it was had simply knocked on the wrong door. Sure enough, after several moments of silence, the deliberate knocking returned. With a sigh, Soarin' abandoned his record collection to deal with his unexpected, and undesired, visitor.

Pulling the door open, he was very surprised to see Spitfire standing in the hallway. The former captain had a look of stress on her face and a brown paper bag gripped in her teeth. Soarin' stared at her dumbly for a moment before he spoke.

"Uh, heya boss, what's up?" he said.

"I 'ought your ooze" Spitfire said through the bag.

"You ought my ooze?" Soarin' repeated her, an amused smirk on his face. "What the hay is that supposed to mean?"

Spitfire rolled her eyes and set the bag down. "I said; I brought your booze."

Soarin' quirked an eyebrow at her, his lips pursed. Spitfire pressed her hoof against her forehead and groaned.

"Last night, dancing with Rapid, remember?" Spitfire said.

The lightbulb in Soarin's head clicked on as the specific information was dislodged from the metaphorical gears. Soarin's cheeks flushed a slight shade of pink as he chuckled in spite of himself.

"Oh yeah!" he said with an embarrassed laugh, "kinda forgot about that."

"Noticed," Spitfire said, a friendly smile on her lips. "Can I come in?"

"Huh, uh—oh yeah! Sure." Soarin' acquiesced, motioning her inside with a hoof.

Spitfire took the bag in her teeth again before trotting inside. Soarin' closed the door and followed her to the kitchen counter. Spitfire set the bag down carefully before turning to Soarin' with a grin.

"It's all yours, buddy," she said, "you've earned it."

Soarin' tilted his head, unsure exactly what she meant. He watched as her golden hooves separated the bag from its contents, his breath hitching in his throat as he got a look at the bottle.

"J-Johnnie Trotter Blue Label," he said reverently.

"Took me all afternoon to find a place that sold it," Spitfire commented.

"Y-you really shouldn't have got this, Spitfire," Soarin' managed to sputter, his eyes fixated on the bottle, "the Black Label was just fine."

"It's also your promotion gift," Spitfire said.

Soarin's ears folded back as he bit his lower lip. Johnnie Trotter was by far his favorite scotch, and the Blue Label was one of the finest scotches in the world. A quality reflected in its heavy price tag. Soarin's frugal nature usually restricted him to the more affordable Black Label.

"Thank you so much, Boss!" Soarin' exclaimed as he pulled Spitfire into a tight hug.

Spitfire laughed, her hooves patting the stallions back. "Easy on the wing there, buddy."

"Sorry," Soarin' apologized as he released her, "it's still weird not having you running the show."

"Yeah," Spitfire agreed, her posture sagging.

Soarin' didn't miss the subtle shift in her demeanor. "What's up, Boss? You look like something's eating you."

Spitfire let loose a puff of air through her lips. "Yeah… yeah I guess you could say that."

Soarin's lips formed a concerned frown. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Actually, I'd like that," Spitfire answered with a tired sigh.

"Go make yourself comfortable on the patio. I'll get a couple glasses for the scotch," Soarin' instructed her.

Spitfire chuckled and nodded, easily making her way to the glass patio door. Pulling it open, she felt a rush of sea wind wash over her face; the smell of the ocean salt filling her sinuses as she stepped onto the patio. Spitfire felt a small pang of regret for not visiting Soarin's place more often, if for no other reason than the fantastic view.

She made herself comfortable in one of the chairs, her eyes focused on the distant tides. Spitfire didn't have a Manehattan flat, she much preferred to live in Cloudsdale whenever possible. Still, the view Soarin' had was almost enough to make her reconsider. Almost.

Soarin' walked out onto the patio soon after Spitfire, a pair of glasses tucked under his left foreleg and the bottle of scotch under his wing. With great care and practiced ease, he set the both down on a small metal table between the two chairs. Pouring an equal portion into both glasses, Soarin' offered her the first one.

"Sorry I don't have anything to mix it with," he said.

"Don't worry about it," Spitfire replied, carefully accepting the glass in her hooves.

Soarin' sat in his chair and relaxed with a loud sigh. Silence settled between the two, only the wind and the distant sounds of the ocean filled the air. Spitfire giggled softly, earning a confused look from Soarin'.

"You know what's funny?" Spitfire asked.

"A comedian," Soarin' answered.

"Oh, haha," Spitfire said with a roll of her eyes, "no, what's funny is that you, a pegasus who won't even fly over an ocean, springs for the apartment with the nicest Oceanside view possible."

Soarin' shrugged, taking a sip of his scotch before he answered. "I can appreciate the view much better from over here."

"Why are you afraid of deep water anyway?" Spitfire asked.

Soarin' was quiet for a moment as he considered the question. He swirled the amber liquid in his glass, the cubes of ice gently clinking against their confines.

"A long time ago, back when I was first learning to fly, my family went to visit my mom's parents in Germaneigh." Soarin' paused for a drink of his scotch, savoring the smooth burn and rich flavors as they ran down his throat. "Well, we went to the beach one day, lovely place with white sands and a steady breeze. Grandpa wanted to go for a flight, I wanted to go with him, so I hopped up on his back and we took off.

We got a little ways over the ocean, and I decided I was gonna try to fly again. So I spread my wings and got a feel for the air, then I let go of Grandpa, and for a couple minutes I was flying."

Spitfire nodded, her expression serious. "What happened?"

"We ran into a crosswind," Soarin' said with a small shrug, "not a problem for anypony really, but it surprised me and I lost control. Went right into the drink, sploosh!" He emphasized the motion with a slap of his hoof against his thigh. "Grandpa and Dad got me out really quick, but I managed to get a good drink of saltwater first. Was sick to my stomach for a while."

"Well all things considered you turned out reasonably okay," Spitfire said.

Soarin' chuckled and took another sip. "So boss, what brings you here?"

"I'm not allowed to hang out with my favorite stallion?" she countered.

"Well you did bring me booze," Soarin' said, feigning a contemplative look and rubbing his chin with a fetlock.

"The good stuff too!" Spitfire said, raising her glass.

"In all seriousness though, Boss, what's up?" Soarin' asked, his concern all but written on his face. "You really do look strung out about something."

Spitfire was silent for a few moments, absently swirling the drink in her glass. "I… I, uh, I find myself in a situation where I don't know what to do."

Soarin's right eyebrow arched upward. "What happened?"

"Arcus cornered me this morning," Spitfire said.

"Ah," Soarin' replied, "force you to admit you were seeing Rainbow in a 'more-than-friends' way?"

"Pretty much," Spitfire answered with a tired nod.

"How'd he take it?" Soarin' asked, taking another sip of his drink.

"He told me to break up with her immediately," she answered.

Soarin' flinched as though the words had struck him. "Dang, Spits, that's…well I don't even know what to tell you."

"It's alright," Spitfire said, downing the last of her drink. The alcohol filled her gut with a sense of warmth she had been missing all day. Yet it could do nothing to loosen the knot in her stomach. "I just… I don't know what to do, Soarin'."

"Well, what'd Arcus say?" Soarin' asked, even though he was sure he didn't want to know.

Spitfire's frown turned to an angry scowl. "He said as long as I'm a Wonderbolt, and she wants to be a Wonderbolt, then we can't have a relationship. That she'd be seen as the mare that got in on her back."

Soarin' nodded as he listened. "Cause she'd be dating the boss?"

"Yeah," Spitfire sighed, "Arcus is worried about media perception, and the team politics."

"I can understand that," Soarin' said, the comment earning a disheartened glare from Spitfire. "C'mon Boss, you remember how it was with Rapid when we brought him on."

"I remember riding his ass," Spitfire said.

Soarin' snorted and did his best to keep a serious look on his face. It was several moments before Spitfire realized what she said.

"Wait, that came out wrong…" she noted glibly.

"That's not the only thing," Soarin' giggled.

"Anyway!" Spitfire continued, her cheeks flushed pink, "I didn't show Rapid any favoritism."

"I don't know, Spits, you did let him get away with a lot of stuff nopony else could." Soarin' commented.

"Like what?" Spitfire challenged.

"The rampant pranks on almost everypony, the lack of total military discipline, the—"

"Okay, okay," Spitfire held up her hooves in surrender, "when it was just us, then yes I let Rapid be Rapid, but you can't deny that when it came to practice, press, and performance, I made him work as hard as anyone else."

"I agree, but to be fair, the rest of the team won't care about that. They'll care about what they see in the rec room."

"It's not like I'd make out with her on the pool table," Spitfire said as she crossed her forelegs over her chest. "Though that does sound kinda fun."

"Spits, I trust you with my life, you know that. And the team all trusts you too, if they didn't they wouldn't follow your orders," Soarin' said, setting his empty glass on the table. "But we're all just normal ponies, and frankly, on Friday when we were at the Café Amaréicain, and again on Sunday when we saw the Bad Seeds, you two were pretty close. It would be hard for the rest of us to see past that."

Spitfire's posture sank and her ears folded back. As much as she wanted to argue with Soarin', she couldn't refute his point.

"I don't know what to do, Soarin'," she began, her voice quiet. "On one hoof, I like Rainbow, and I wanna see how this goes. On the other hoof, it's only a matter of time until she's a Wonderbolt as well, and then she would be my subordinate. The media really would have a field day with that headline."

"Have you talked to Rainbow yet?" Soarin' asked.

Spitfire shook her head. "No, we didn't have plans to see each other again until Wednesday."

"She seemed like a smart girl to me," Soarin' said, "why not talk to her about it. Lay out the whole thing and figure out a plan with her."

Spitfire stared at Soarin' for a moment before a small smile formed on her lips. "Soarin', if you were a mare I'd kiss you."

"I'm sure you could use your imagination," he suggested with a laugh.

"Oh, just make out with Rapid, he's close enough," Spitfire said, giving Soarin' a flippant wave of her hoof.

"Keep dreaming, Boss." Soarin' said, his cheeks flushing slightly pink as he feigned interest in the ice cubes in his cup.

"Hey, uh, you mind if I crash here tonight? It's a long walk back to my place and I don't really wanna be in that hotel anymore," Spitfire asked.

"You're always welcome here, Boss." Soarin' said with a smile.

"Okay everypony, that's all for today!" Rainbow shouted to her (mostly) unharmed lightning wrangler trainees. "Remember what we went over today, and be ready for tomorrow. We're gonna practice handling these lightning clouds 'til your primaries fall off."

Landing on the cloud platform that she had turned into a training ground, Rainbow took a deep breath and smiled. So far, her plan to train Manehattans new lightning wranglers had been going splendidly. After some natural trepidation on Monday and Tuesday, the former cloud pushers were slowly starting to warm up to their new task. There were also plenty of singed feathers to go around, but that was why Rainbow had them working with very small clouds to start.

Despite the occasional zaps and Rainbow's admittedly stringent demands, some ponies even seemed to be enjoying their new duties. Rainbow made a mental note to have their team leaders keep a close eye on them whenever she wasn't around. Lightning wrangling was a bit of a catch-twenty two for pegasi. Lightning wranglers had to love their work, but they couldn't let that passion override the fear they had for Thunderheads.

Without that fear of the power held in those ominous grey clouds, a weather pony was more likely to take shortcuts with them. The more shortcuts they took, the more they risked themselves or others. Rainbow had to catch herself on occasion when she started to forget her fear.

Rainbow brushed those thoughts aside as Flash Cloud approached. He was smiling, likely as pleased with the day's progress as Rainbow was.

"So far, so good. Right, boss lady?" Flash asked.

"Yup," Rainbow began, "if we keep on at this rate, we'll get all these ponies ready in time for the storm."

"Even if we only get half of them ready, the extra help would be amazing," Flash commented, his eyes looking over the pegasi that hadn't flown off yet."

"Tomorrow, during the lunch break, you and I are gonna sit down and go over the cities storm procedure," Rainbow told Flash. "I need to know how Downburst ran things, and I want you to come up with a set of pros and cons for it. We'll improve on what's good and cut what's bad."

"Sounds good to me," Flash agreed. "Oh, the senior managers are still meeting you for breakfast tomorrow morning, right?"

"That's the plan," Rainbow said.

"Kay, I'll remind Dewdrop and Headwind when I see them." Flash said, smiling pleasantly at Rainbow.

"Awesome, thanks," Rainbow said, grinning brightly as she outstretched her wings and took to the skies. She had some time before she and Spitfire had planned to meet, and Rainbow intended to make the most of it.

It took Rainbow the better part of an hour to get everything set up right. Mostly because she had to keep at sub-rainboom speeds and certain shops were busier than others. Still, Rainbow didn't consider herself the fastest mare alive for nothing, and fittingly, she was still a little ahead of schedule when she arrived at Spitfire's hotel.

Rainbow flew around the building once, trying to recall which window was Spitfire's. After getting her bearings she flew to the window in question and peered inside. She spotted Spitfire easily enough; the Wonderbolt was lying on her bed with a book in her hooves and a rather bored look on her face. Rainbow could sympathize with that feeling rather well.

Lifting her hoof to the glass, she gave it a gentle knock to draw Spitfire's attention. The Wonderbolt jumped at first, the book fumbling out of her hooves and onto her face. Rainbow snorted and quickly moved to hide her smirk behind her hoof. Spitfire soon made her way over to the window, opening it wide enough for Rainbow to fly in.

"Hey Rainbow," Spitfire greeted her with a hug, "have a good day at work?"

"Yeah, it was pretty good," Rainbow answered quickly. "Hey, are you free, like right now?"

"Um, yeah, but—"

"Great!" Rainbow turned around so she was facing the open window. "Hop on my back, I wanna show you something."

Spitfire stared at Rainbow dubiously. "You're not gonna pull a rainboom again are you? Cause I think that might break a few windows right here."

"Nah, not this time. I got something else in mind." Rainbow promised.

Spitfire hesitated; she had been hoping to talk to Rainbow first. At the same time, she was curious what Rainbow had in mind. She mentally cursed herself; she couldn't resist a good surprise.

"Okay, Rainbow," Spitfire relented, carefully climbing onto Rainbow's back.

Rainbow suppressed a shiver when Spitfire's strong forelegs slid around her. The warmth of Spitfire's breath washed over the back of her neck as she made herself comfortable. Rainbow let a slow breath out of her mouth and waited, eventually Spitfire's lips ghosted over her ear.

"Giddy up little pony," Spitfire whispered playfully.

Rainbow's cheeks burned and her heart fluttered. She cleared her throat and managed a nod before she leapt out of the open window. Her wings spread, catching the air and holding the two mares aloft. With a series of powerful flaps Rainbow quickly gained altitude.

Spitfire closed her eyes and savored the feel of the wind over her coat again. She resisted the temptation to stretch her wings. As much as Spitfire longed to feel the wind beneath her wings again, she knew very well how much that act would mess up Rainbow's flying.

Rainbow flew at a casual speed, giving Spitfire ample time to enjoy the facsimile of flying as well as the Manehattan skyline. Spitfire noticed that Rainbow was flying higher than the weather ponies to keep from being spotted, a fact that Spitfire was very appreciative of. They didn't talk during the flight; there wasn't much of a point to it at any rate. They would have had to yell awkwardly to hear each other over the wind rushing over their ears.

Eventually, Rainbow began her descent towards the hills outside of the city. Spitfire peered over Rainbow's shoulder, spotting a red and white blanket laid out under a large maple tree. Spitfire waited until they landed before she spoke.

"What's all this, Dash?" Spitfire asked, sliding off of Rainbow's back and onto her hooves.

"One sec," Rainbow answered, taking back off and disappearing into the dense tree for a moment. She returned with a wicker picnic basket held firmly in her teeth.

Spitfire could see the shy smile at the corners of Rainbow's mouth and the faint blush of pink in her cheeks as she landed on the blanket. Setting the basket down, she opened the lid and pulled out a bottle of cider, two glasses, several sandwiches, and a small fruit tray. Rainbow's blush seemed to deepen with every passing second, Spitfire tried not to giggle.

"Sorry it's kinda lame," Rainbow said with a sheepish smile, her hoof rubbing the back of her head.

Spitfire felt a familiar heat fill her cheeks again. She found the simple gesture oddly flattering. It had been years since a date had done something like this for her. It reminded her of the good days with Zephyr, before the Wonderbolts and before the responsibilities.

Spitfire almost flinched thinking about her responsibilities. Rainbow noticed the Wonderbolt's turmoil.

"Don't like it?" Rainbow asked, her ears flattening slightly as she tried not to be disappointed in herself.

"No! I-I mean, yes, yes I do like it! Its—uuggh," Spitfire sat down and pressed a hoof to her forehead. "I'm sorry Rainbow, I'm havin' kind of a rough week."

Rainbow let out a relieved sigh; glad she hadn't bucked anything up. She walked over to Spitfire and sat down beside her. After a moment of psyching herself up to it, Rainbow put her wing around Spitfire's back.

"Wanna talk about it?" Rainbow asked.

Spitfire gave Rainbow a tired smile. "It involves you anyway."

"Should I be nervous?" Rainbow asked, half in jest and half serious.

"Well, truth be told, I am," Spitfire answered.

The statement caught Rainbow's attention. She scooted closer to Spitfire and pulled her into a sidelong hug. "Well, what's up?"

"Well, Rainbow," Spitfire began letting a long sigh out as she spoke, "I find myself in an awkward postion, and I honestly don't know the best way to proceed.

Rainbow nodded, giving Spitfire her undivided attention.

"You remember what I told you about Arcus?" Spitfire asked.

"He's the pony who told you to keep things with your marefriend secret, right?"

"Pretty much," Spitfire confirmed with a nod. "I'll spare you the grisly details, but he found out that you and I were a thing."

Rainbow's brow furrowed, thin lines forming across her face as she started putting the pieces together in her head. "I'm guessing he wasn't too thrilled?"

"That would be putting it mildly," Spitfire answered with a weary laugh. "He ordered me to break it off with you and cease all contact."

Spitfire couldn't blame Rainbow Dash for the shocked gasp or the way she recoiled as though the words physically struck her. "That is such a pile of donkey—"

"I know, I know!" Spitfire interrupted, taking Rainbow's hoof in hers. "I don't want to do that to you, Dash."

The words seemed to settle Rainbow down, slightly. Though Spitfire could tell the weather manager was still on edge, not that she could blame Dash for that.

"I'm sorry I got angry," Rainbow apologized, her hoof tracing small circles on the blanket.

Spitfire held up a hoof to Rainbow's lips. "It's fine, Dash. I'd be ticked too. Hay, I am. But Arcus did have a few legitimate points that I think you should know first."

Rainbow took a deep breath before she nodded. "Okay, okay, lets hear 'em."

Spitfire leaned her weight against Rainbow, just for once, letting another pony bear the weight on their shoulders. She was quiet for several minutes as she considered how to say things. Rainbow didn't seem to mind, her wing slightly adjusting so both mares were comfortable.

"Being a Wonderbolt… it's, um… no, no let me start again," Spitfire said with a sigh, running her hoof through her mane. "Arcus is really concerned about what the, um, implications would be if we stayed together. He's concerned that the media will slander us, what the team would think, and how it could hurt everypony in the long term."

"I don't see how us hanging out would be anypony else's problem," Rainbow said.

"I'm sure you've noticed by now, Rainbow, but Wonderbolts are just normal ponies too. We get jealous, we get mad, we get sick, we act dumb, and the list goes on. There's some ponies on the team who would see us and think that because we're dating I'd be going easy on you or giving you special privileges."

"I'd never forgive you if you did," Rainbow said, giving Spitfire a playful nudge.

Spitfire snorted in amusement and tousled Dash's mane with her hoof. "That's my girl."

Rainbow batted Spitfire's hoof away with a giggle. "So, what happens if we keep doing this?

"Absolute worst case scenario," Spitfire began, rubbing her chin with a fetlock, "the media makes a scandal that I'm taking advantage of an Element of Harmony, Celestia sends me to the moon, and you're out a marefriend."

"Maybe if I was Twilight she'd send you to the moon," Rainbow said, her mouth a lopsided smirk.

"Realistically speaking, I don't know. I could be fired or you could be blacklisted. Honestly, Dash; I don't know what would happen. And to be frank, I'm afraid to find out." Spitfire said, her posture sagging as she put her head in her hooves. "I don't know what to do, Rainbow. I mean, I've loved spending this time with you and I don't want to stop, but at the same time I don't want to see you get hurt by office politics or media smear campaigns. Those fights get ugly fast, and some ponies aren't afraid to fight dirty."

Silence again settled between the two. Spitfire's thoughts sullen, Rainbow's contemplative. After a few moments, it was Rainbow who broke the silence first.

"Hey, Spitfire?" She began, her voice soft as she looked up at the setting sun.

"Yeah?"

"When I got this assignment to run the Manhattan weather team, I was convinced it was gonna be a two month long borefest," Rainbow began with an amused grin, "then you trotted up and tried to kill me with a sandwich."

"Hey it's not my fault you inhaled your lunch," Spitfire chided with a smirk, "besides I knew you were too cool to let a sandwich beat you."

Rainbow smiled and chuckled. "Anyway, last week was the most fun I've had in long time. And I really don't want that feeling to end, but I don't wanna hurt your career either."

Spitfire nodded, her left foreleg sliding around Rainbow's waist. "So what do you want us to do, Rainbow?"

"I… I want us to be an "us" until we decide to end it, not because some old pony told us too. " Rainbow said, turning so her eyes locked with Spitfire's. "I'm not gonna be told by anypony how I should live my life or who I can or can't be with. I don't care what the press says or what other ponies say. I'll just work harder and prove them all wrong."

"What if those other ponies are Wonderbolts who think you made the cut by being with me?" Spitfire asked.

The question sparked a fire in Rainbow's eyes. "Then I'll prove 'em all wrong. I'll prove to them that I got the team because I earned it. No matter how long it takes."

Spitfire nodded, a warmth filling her chest from the younger mare's determination. "So, you want to stay marefriends? Even knowing things could get nasty in a hurry?"

"Promise me one thing?" Rainbow asked.

"Yeah?"

Rainbow pulled Spitfire close, her head resting on Spitfire's shoulder. "Promise me that no matter how this ends, we can stay friends?"

Spitfire smiled, pressing her lips to the top of Rainbow's head in a gentle kiss. "I swear on my pinions, Rainbow Dash."

For a few minutes, Rainbow and Spitfire remained still, content to merely hold, and be held in kind. Together they watched Celestia's sun dip beneath the city skyline, the last rays of light filtering between the buildings in crepuscular beams that danced through the evening air. A gentle breeze washed over them and rustled the leaves in the trees. They held each other closer still.

As the twilight faded, and Luna's stars began to fill the sky, both mares felt themselves relax. For on that insignificant hilltop, under the shade of an old maple tree overlooking the urban sprawl of Manehattan, they were safe. They were safe from the petty squabbles, safe from the politics, pressures, and scandals. They were safe from the prejudices, jealousies, and spite. From their spot on that little hill, none of it mattered.

Then Spitfire's stomach growled loud enough to make them both jump. Apparently hunger was something they were anything but safe from. They stared at each other for a moment before they slowly broke into a fit of laughter. Rainbow reached for the nearest sandwich.

"Hungry?" Rainbow asked with a knowing grin.

"I guess so," Spitfire answered, taking the sandwich in a hoof. "Thanks,"

The two mares made short work of the sandwiches, not bothering with conversation as they ate. Spitfire's silence was owed to the flood of things racing through her mind. Rainbow owed her silence due to her last sandwich trying to choke her to death when she tried to speak and chew.

After finishing the food, Rainbow poured them each a glass of cider. It wasn't as good as the liquid gold that Applejack's family made, but it worked in a pinch. Rainbow absently wondered if she could persuade Spitfire to visit Ponyville during cider season.

"Hey, Rainbow?" Spitfire asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"What's your favorite time of the day to fly?" Spitfire asked, her eyes watching the horizon.

Rainbow considered the question for a moment before she answered. "Early morning, right as the sun starts to rise."

"Why's that?" Spitfire asked, shifting her attention to Rainbow.

"The ground and the air are still cool, so I can't rely on thermals to keep me in the sky. I gotta use more energy on flapping to get the same results for trick flying. It makes me work harder until after the sun's been up for a while, then I can cool down by hopping from thermal to thermal for a while." Rainbow explained.

"I never would've pegged you as a morning pony, Dash," Spitfire commented, raising her brows.

"I'm not," Rainbow admitted with a laugh, "there's nothing I hate like waking up that early and getting out of my comfy bed to exercise. But there's really no better time for it, and in Ponyville I can always take a few naps during the day. What about you?"

Spitfire sucked in a deep breath, letting it out with a thoughtful hum as she considered the question. "I'd say I love to fly most over a city or town right as the sun goes down."

"Yeah?" Rainbow said with an arched eyebrow.

"There's something… I don't know, something magical in it." Spitfire began, her voice soft and her gaze distant. "As a Wonderbolt, we spend so many days training, travelling, or performing. When there is free time, we usually end up doing something as a team, or resting for the next event. Honestly, we really don't get a lot of time to be feathers in the breeze."

Rainbow nodded, smiling at the old metaphor. "So what did you do when you did have the time?"

"When I did," Spitfire continued, a nostalgic smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, "I would fly up nice and high, catch a good thermal and just glide over the city. If you keep right in front of the edge of night you can watch as the street lamps are lit, one by one. From up high, it's like watching hundreds of tiny stars spring to life. And you look up above you and see the night sky with countless points of light slowly coming to life before your eyes. And then I just let the wind take me for a while."

"Like a feather in the breeze," Rainbow concluded.

"Exactly," Spitfire said, her foreleg giving Rainbow's waist a gentle squeeze. "It's easy to forget, when you're a Wonderbolt, but sometimes it's nice to slow down and let the wind take you."

Rainbow nodded in agreement. "I've always found it helps me appreciate the speed more when I spend some time just gliding."

Spitfire turned to face Rainbow, her heart fluttering as their eyes met. The words on her tongue vanished into the ether, the evening light bathed them in an orange glow. A gentle breeze brushed strands of Rainbow's mane across her eyes. Her magenta eyes watched Spitfire, full of earnest affection, respect, and trust.

Spitfire didn't think as she leaned close to the younger mare. Their lips ghosted over each other's, the warmth of their breath melting together in a moment of mutual hesitation. Together, they leaned forward, lips meeting in a brief kiss. Their lips parted for only a moment before Spitfire leaned in again; she barely heard Rainbow's gentle gasp.

Her tongue slid into Rainbow's mouth, eliciting a shiver from the younger mare. Spitfire wrapped her hooves around Rainbow, sliding her forward until their bodies pressed together. Spitfire couldn't emphasize how much she had missed the warmth of another pony's body pressed against hers. To feel the pounding of Rainbow's heart, the subtle tremble of her flesh.

Spitfire pressed forward, her weight gently pushing Rainbow down until her back rested against the ground. Rainbow shivered against Spitfire as the Wonderbolt settled on top of her, their lips locked the whole time. The kiss only ended when both mares needed a full breath of air.

"Who," Rainbow paused for a gasp, "who said you got to be on top?"

"Oh?" Spitfire chuckled, her lips kissing Rainbow's nose, "think you could push me off?"

"I totally could, if I wanted to." Rainbow defended, her cheeks burning fiercely.

"Could you, really?" Spitfire asked, her hoof gently brushing wayward strands of mane from Rainbow's face.

She couldn't really.

"You're a beautiful mare, Rainbow Dash," Spitfire said, the comment making rainbow's entire face heat up. Try as she might, Rainbow couldn't find the words to respond to the compliment. Spitfire smiled affectionately as she leaned down and pressed her lips to Rainbow's.

The world around them melted away; time seemed inconsequential. Their bodies all but inseparable even after their lips broke apart. Spitfire nuzzled along Rainbow's neck, planting gentle kisses where she could. Rainbow reciprocated the gestures, nuzzling and kissing Spitfire where she could.

As darkness claimed the sky and stars filled the void above them, Spitfire rolled off of Rainbow to lie beside her. The two mares caught their breath as they watched the stars together. After a few minutes of quiet, Rainbow rolled onto her left side and draped her foreleg across Spitfire's chest. Spitfire smiled, leaning over and kissing the top of Rainbow's head. Rainbow nuzzled into the crook of Spitfire's neck, a contented sigh escaping her as she did.

"This is nice," Rainbow said softly.

"Yeah it is," Spitfire agreed.

"I know I should probably fly us back, but then this would end. And… and I don't want this to end," Rainbow said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"But tomorrow could be even better than today," Spitfire said, "we'd never find out if we just stayed here."

"Or it could be a total mess," Rainbow suggested.

"True, very true." Spitfire agreed with a slight nod. "But we'll find out together."

"Promise?"

Spitfire's hoof slipped under Rainbow's chin, guiding the weather manager's gaze up. Spitfire gave Rainbow a gentle kiss that was all too brief. "On my pinions."

The two were content to remain there, snuggled together on their little hill for nearly an hour before forcing themselves to get up. Spitfire climbed onto Rainbow's back again so the weather manager could take them home. Rainbow took her time flying back to Spitfire's hotel, a fact that the Wonderbolt was grateful for. It gave Spitfire time to consider things: where her relationship with Rainbow was going, what the risks were, and how she was going to deal with Arcus.

She sighed and nuzzled into Rainbow's mane. The weather mare didn't smell like any other pony Spitfire had dated. There was no smell of perfume or overwhelming shampoos and conditioners. Instead she could only smell a utilitarian conditioner and Rainbow's natural scent; like spring rain and static.

Arriving back at Spitfire's hotel, Rainbow carefully flew into the open window, landing just inside. Spitfire slid off her marefriend's back, slowly making her way in front of Rainbow and stealing a gentle kiss.

"Thanks for everything, Rainbow. It was a great evening," Spitfire said.

"Y-yeah it was," Rainbow said breathily, her cheeks still flushed.

"When's your shift over tomorrow?" Spitfire asked.

"Uhh," Rainbow's eyes drifted up and to the left as she thought about the question for a minute, "five? Yeah, Five-ish."

"Cool," Spitfire smiled, "wanna catch a movie and grab some dinner? It'll be my treat."

"I'd love to!" Rainbow chirped.

Spitfire smiled, kissing Rainbow once more. "Then I'll see you tomorrow, Dash."

Rainbow and Spitfire shared a close embrace and one final kiss, before Rainbow climbed out the window and leapt into the skies. Spitfire watched as her marefriend vanished into the city night, a pang of loneliness in her chest. With a sigh, she made her way to the bathroom, a hot shower would do her good.

For Rainbow Dash, sleep proved to be an elusive thing that night. Her head buzzed, her cheeks burned, and she could still taste Spitfire's kiss. She brought a hoof to her lips, it had been so intense, so passionate. Rainbow couldn't think of anything like it that she had experienced before. With a groan, she pressed her hooves over her eyes and tried to force herself to sleep.

What little rest she managed to get was rudely interrupted by the alarm clock. Rainbow's hoof slammed down on the poor contraption to silence it's shrill ring. Forcing herself out of bed, she showered, brushed her teeth, and went through her morning stretches to warm up her wings. After ensuring she was ready, and still on schedule, she took a flying leap out of her window and into the warm morning air. Without the additional weight of a passenger on her back, nor the worry of said passenger falling off, Rainbow was able to fly at a much faster pace. A smile spread over her face as she made for the diner where her weather managers were waiting.

She spotted them easily enough, all three having found an outdoor table in the sun. Dewdrop had her wings partially open, allowing the warm rays to seep into her feathers; Flash and Headwind were each thanking an earth pony waitress who delivered their drinks.

Rainbow landed a few feet away from them and took a breath before she trotted over, a friendly smile on her face. "Morning guys!"

"There she is," Flash snickered, "told you she didn't forget."

"I didn't say she forgot," Headwind grumbled.

"Morning, Rainbow!" Dewdrop chimed over her coworker.

"So," Rainbow began, taking the open seat beside Dewdrop, "how are you all doing?"

"Pretty good, thanks," Dewdrop answered.

"Good enough for government work," Flash said.

"Well enough," Headwind said. "I'm curious why you wanted to meet us here, though."

"Well, one of the objectives for this whole management exchange program was exposing other weather teams to different styles of management," Rainbow explained patiently, "back in ponyville, we're a small weather team. Our formal weather office is a glorified closet in the town hall. All we keep in there are the file cabinets and paperwork. The meeting halls are usually occupied and the town doesn't have the discretionary funds to give us our own building. So I improvised, and started hosting the morning meetings at a local coffee shop we all like. Just a nice friendly breakfast, no business till later."

"It's certainly a nice change of pace," Dewdrop commented.

"Yeah," Flash agreed, "all business with Downburst."

"So," Rainbow began, "tell me a little about yourselves."

For over an hour the four weather ponies discussed anything they could think of, beginning with complaints about the bureaucracy of the Weather Factory and the almost comical mountains of paperwork. They shared stories of their favorite moments at work, like Flash Cloud's first day where he accidentally started a grassfire below the cloud staging area, or how Dewdrop parked a rain cloud over an ex-coltfriend's house for weeks until he returned her record collection.

Headwind talked about his family, particularly his youngest child, a colt who was nearing three years old. Rainbow noticed the grouchy stallion soften a bit as he spoke of them, his posture eventually relaxing as the conversation progressed. Rainbow told him about Scootaloo, the little filly who had taken a shine to her back home. The information seemed to click something in Headwind that made him seem notably friendlier.

Eventually Rainbow was forced to begin steering the conversation toward the day's work schedule. After confirming that they would meet again the following Monday, Rainbow gave them all the day's assignments. Dewdrop had an easy day, with sunny skies all across the city, Headwind had to keep approximately thirty percent cloud coverage for the day with less shade over the parks, and Flash would continue training the new lightning wranglers with Rainbow's oversight.

Going their separate ways, the four weather ponies went to work. For Rainbow, the day went by at a pleasantly brisk pace. Little by little, her new lightning wranglers were starting to get the hang of things. Most of them were now capable of basic static manipulation to safely charge and discharge small lightning clouds. Rainbow allowed herself a bit of pride in their progress, and as the day ended and she flew to Spitfire's hotel, she felt almost giddy.

Rainbow was able to quickly traverse the distance quickly enough. She noticed that Spitfire had left the window open for her, a silent invitation. Rainbow flew to the window, knocking on the trim and hooking a foreleg over the sill.

Spitfire, who had been reading a book in bed, sat up and smiled. "Hey there stranger."

"Hey, Spitfire!" Rainbow greeted with a bright smile, "can I come in?"

"Of course you can," Spitfire said, trotting closer to the window.

No sooner had Rainbow gotten all four hooves on the floor before Spitfire pulled her into a tight hug and pressed their lips together. Rainbow felt that familiar shiver run through her body as her cheeks flushed red. As soon as it began, the kiss ended, leaving Rainbow slightly dazed.

"Have a good day?" Spitfire asked.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah!" Rainbow answered, her mind finally rebooting. "What about you?"

"Kinda dull, to be honest," Spitfire answered, getting her saddlebags on. "Think you could fly us to the ground? It's quicker than the stairs."

"Sure thing," Rainbow answered.

Climbing onto Rainbow's back, Spitfire made herself comfortable, nuzzling into Rainbow's mane and squeezing her forelegs around the younger mare's torso. Rainbow waited until she was sure her passenger was ready before she flew out the window and glided down to the street. Spitfire efficiently slipped off of Rainbow's back and took up beside her as they began their walk.

"Thanks for the lift," she said with a smile.

"My pleasure!" Rainbow answered, flashing Spitfire another bright grin.

As the two began their walk, Spitfire noticed a reflection in the corner of her eye. Instinctively she turned her head, looking for the source. She saw a few ponies on the other side of the street, mostly earth ponies keeping to themselves as they went about their business, as well as a few unicorns and a tan pegasus sitting on a bench.

Spitfire's eyes narrowed warily. Years of training and experience telling her something wasn't right with this picture. Still, she couldn't quite put her hoof on what... yet.

"Something wrong?" Rainbow asked, noticing Spitfire's slow in pace.

"Huh? Oh, no. Sorry Rainbow, just thought I saw something. Nevermind, it's fine." Spitfire smiled to her date.

"Okay, if you say so," Rainbow said, a concerned frown at the corner of her mouth.

The longer the two walked, the more Spitfire felt something wasn't right. Occasionally, she kept catching reflections of light that would draw her attention. Each time she looked she didn't see anything notable. It wasn't until they were trotting through the merchant's district that Spitfire noticed him. The same tan pegasus she had spotted outside of her hotel sitting on a bench, only now she noticed the camera around his neck.

Her temper flared, a fire lighting in her eyes. She tolerated the paparazzi in Cloudsdale as much as she possibly could, but this was a different situation, and far more delicate. Spitfire glanced at Rainbow and took a breath to calm herself down. She had a plan, she just hoped Rainbow would play along.

"Hey, Rainbow?" She began, her cold tone instantly catching Rainbow's attention.

"Yeah?"

"I need you to keep walking and make no reaction to what I'm about to tell you, okay?"

"Um, okay?" Rainbow said, trying very hard not to look at Spitfire.

"We're being tailed by a pony with a camera," Spitfire said, noting the slight hitch in Rainbow's step. "I think he's been following us since we left the hotel."

"Do you think he's gotten our picture?" Rainbow asked.

"I think he's gotten several." Spitfire answered.

"Great," Rainbow groaned, "what do we do?"

"If he does have pictures, I can't let him keep them." Spitfire said, her tone cold.

"So what do we do?" Rainbow asked again.

"Follow me and act natural," Spitfire said.

Across the street, Quick Snap frowned as Spitfire and the sky-blue mare casually turned down an ally. He paused for a moment, his eyes drifting to the camera around his neck. Just a few more pictures, and Red Top would no longer be a concern. He only had a half dozen pictures left on his current film strip anyway.

"Sorry, grandpa," he whispered to the camera as he trotted towards the alley. Out of habit, he checked over his shoulder to make sure nopony was following him before he darted around the corner. He spotted Spitfire and her friend at the end of the ally, turning right onto an adjacent street. He gave them a couple minutes head start before he followed.

"I swear," he mumbled, trotting towards the turn, "when this mess is finally over I'm gonna find work in Cloudsdale if it's the last thing I-AHH!"

Quick's screamed as he was pulled off his hooves, his grandfather's camera ripped from his neck shortly before he was pinned face down in the dirt. Panic overwhelmed him; his scrawny body struggled for all it was worth against the pony holding him down, yet all he did was seem to annoy his captor. Spitfire's golden hoof stepped into his line of sight, Quick's eyes followed her foreleg up. His heart froze in his chest when he spotted his grandpa's camera in her hoof.

"Why are you tailing us?" Spitfire demanded, glaring down at the helpless photographer with unveiled disgust.

"I'm sorry!" Quick cried, "I-I'm just doing my job!"

Spitfire's eyes bored into him for a long moment. She shifted her gaze to the camera in her hoof. "I can't let you have these pictures." she concluded, hefting the camera over her head.

Quick's eyes went wide. "No! No, please, please-please-please-please, I'm begging you, just-please, please don't smash my camera!" he pleaded, tears welling up in his eyes. "Beat me up, break my wings, I don't care! Just please not that camera!"

Spitfire and Rainbow Dash exchanged an uncomfortable look.

"Is this, you know, normal?" Rainbow asked, her eyes shifting from Spitfire to the nearly-hysterical photographer..

"Not even a little," Spitfire answered, finding the whole display somewhat unnerving.

"Please," Quick choked out, tears rolling down his cheeks as he went limp in Rainbow's gasp. "please... I'm begging you... please," he whimpered

Spitfire looked to the camera in her hoof, then back down at the stallion pinned under Rainbow. Shaking her head she sighed and shook her head.

"Let him up," she told Rainbow as she opened the camera and pulled out the film.

Rainbow nodded, climbing off of Quick and helping him back to his hooves. Part of her felt bad for what they had done, particularly how she had pulled him down hard enough to knock his saddlebags off his back. Still, it wasn't enough to overwhelm her anger with being followed and photographed; it reminded her too much of the Gabby Gums incident.

After she had the film safely tucked away in her saddlebag, Spitfire tossed the camera to Quick Snap. The stallion gasped in fright, almost fumbling over himself to catch the camera safely. A fresh wave of tears slid down his cheeks once the camera was safe in his hooves. He gasped for air in an attempt to calm down as he reached for his fallen saddlebag.

Rainbow stepped on the bag, preventing him from getting what he was after.

"What are you looking for?" she asked with a wary glare.

"P-please, my inhaler, please... " Quick said through strained breaths.

Rainbow pushed the bag towards Quick and leapt away like it had bitten her. Quick fumbled in the back with one hoof, cradling his camera in the other. Retrieving his inhaler, he took a deep puff from it, holding his breath for a minute before slowly exhaling. He sat back heavily, his back pressing against a cold brick wall. Spitfire waited for a moment before she spoke again, her tone less forceful than before... barely.

"Now, why were you following us?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't have a choice," Quick answered.

"There's always a choice," Rainbow countered.

"Not for me!" Quick shouted, his face contorting in anguish. "Not from him."

"Who?" Spitfire asked, putting her hoof on his shoulder, "who's got you so scared?"

"Red... Red Top," he answered.

Spitfire took a step back and forced herself to take a calming breath.

"I should've known," she growled, pressing a hoof to her forehead.

"I'm sorry," Quick repeated, clutching his camera like a foal with a stuffed toy.

"Alright," Spitfire began, "my friend and I are gonna leave now. If I ever see you again though, If I even think you're tailing us, then I'm gonna find you and smash that camera into a million little pieces," Spitfire promised, her hoof delicately tapping on the camera. "Are we clear?"

Quick nodded, his jaw trembling, ears flat, and eyes wide, "C-crystal, ma'am."

Spitfire and Rainbow trotted out of the alley and disappeared around the corner, leaving Quick Snap alone with his thoughts. He looked to his grandfather's camera; he could see his reflection in the lens. It stared at him like an unblinking eye; ashamed. Quick squeezed his eyes shut and held the camera close. He didn't try to stop the tears that flowed down his cheeks.

"Oh I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts dee de lee dee de lee, I really, really hate this stupid song," Spitfire sang to herself as she rummaged for something to eat. One of the perks of having a celebrity calibur hotel suite was having a small kitchenette where she could prepare food.

This, of course, implied that Spitfire was capable of cooking anything more complicated than a sandwich.

It was a stark contrast to how she had spent the previous Friday, dining at what was probablythe fanciest restaurant in Manehattan with Rainbow, Soarin', and Rapid. Sadly, the Wonderbolts didn't pay well enough for her to do that sort of thing very often. Finding just enough to make a simple sandwich, Spitfire laid out the ingredients on the small countertop and went to turn on the radio. After all, cooking without music was just a chore she had to eat at the end.

Surfing through the channels for a moment, she stopped when a familiar tune caught her ear. The catchy guitar riff underlying a seemingly soft spoken singer, Spitfire bobbed her head in time with the music, swinging her hips in time with the song.

"Ooh yeah!" Spitfire cheered, dancing her way back to the kitchenette.

Hopping up to her hind legs, Spitfire spun in a tight circle while stretching out a foreleg in a sloppy ballet dance toward her unassembled lunch. Planting her front hooves on the counter, Spitfire shook her flank left and right to the beat as she began making her sandwich.

Bread was sliced, lettuce savaged, and innocent tomatoes bisected in Spitfire's quest for satisfaction. She took hold of a zucchini in her fetlock and held it to her lips like a microphone.

"The things you said and did to me, they seemed to come so easily, the love I thought I'd won you give for freeeeee!" she sang loudly, imagining herself under the spotlight and being cheered for by thousands of captivated mares and stallions.

"I found out about you-oo, I found out about you-oo-oo!" She sang, leaning back as far as she could before arching forward and dropping the zucchini back to the counter.

With the shake of her plot she resumed the careful and highly scientific assembly her sandwich. A few shakes of oregano, salt, pepper, a mess of this, a pile of that, so on and so forth until an (allegedly) edible mound of produce and seasonings sat betwixt two pieces of bread.

That qualified as a sandwich, right?

Spitfire scooped up the so-called sandwich in her hooves and took a big bite. Chewing thoughtfully for a minute she pondered the deeper questions of existence. Why was cucumber spelled with a c instead of a q? Why was it impossible to sneeze while peeing? How did she manage to ruin perfectly good lettuce, tomatoes, onions, zucchini, and bread in a seemingly simple attempt to combine them into a sandwich?

With a shudder, Spitfire tossed the... culinary misadventure into the trash and popped a chunk of lettuce into her mouth. Resting her elbow on the counter, she leaned her cheek against her hoof and let out a bored sigh. Her free hoof rested on the remaining half of the zucchini which she rolled over the countertop as she contemplated ways to pass the time.

The song on the radio faded as a second song took its place. A pair of guitars played a reserved pattern, an understated strings section calling out in the back of the mix. Spitfire smiled, the song feeling like a warm fire on a cold day.

A series of sharp knocks on the window caught Spitfire's attention as the singer began. Turning so she could see, Spitfire smiled as she saw Rainbow Dash hovering outside her window. Rainbow gave a weary smile and a little wave to Spitfire as their eyes met. Spitfire quickly trotted over and pulled the window open. No sooner had Rainbow flown into the window than Spitfire pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Hey, good looking," Spitfire said, her voice quiet.

"Hey yourself," Rainbow answered with a soft smile.

Spitfire smiled, closing her eyes and leaning forward for a light kiss. She felt the familiar shiver down her back when their lips met, a shiver accompanied by Rainbow's soft gasp. All too soon, their lips parted. Spitfire's nose bumped Rainbow's in an eskimo kiss, the gesture earning a little giggle from her marefriend.

"You okay, Rainbow? You look dead on your hooves," Spitfire noted, draping her good wing over Rainbow's back and ushering her towards the kitchenette.

"I feel dead on my hooves," Rainbow agreed, her posture sagging.

"Rough day?" Spitfire asked.

Rainbow Dash answered with a mute nod, leaning her weight against Spitfire's side.

"Feelin' a bit pent-up?" Spitfire asked.

"Yeah," Rainbow answered, her gaze meeting Spitfire's. "Know a good cure for it?"

Spitfire thought for a moment, rubbing her chin with her foreleg. Her eyes shifted from Rainbow, to the bed, to the half of a zucchini sitting on the counter. Looking back at Rainbow, Spitfire smiled and planted a gentle kiss on the weather manager's nose.

"Go sit on the bed, I'll be there in a minute," Spitfire said with a wink.

Rainbow's face scrunched, her right eyebrow slowly arching upward. "Uh, okay... "

Spitfire gave Rainbow a reassuring smile and a kiss on the cheek before gently nudging her towards the bedroom. As Rainbow left, Spitfire took the zucchini in her teeth and smiled. As she made her way towards the bedroom, she turned up the music on the radio.

---

"Nnnh… Ohh, ow-ow-ow! Easy!" Rainbow groaned.

"It's not my fault you're so tight," Spitfire grunted, applying more pressure with her hooves.

Rainbow cried out loudly, her left hoof frantically tapping the mattress in surrender. "Do you have to use two at once?"

"It's good for you, it builds character." Spitfire answered.

"I—Ouch!" Rainbow yelped, "I'll live without anymore character!"

"You can never have enough character," Spitfire grunted, adjusting herself into a better position. "Okay, I think I got it, this might hurt a bit, but better you than me!"

"Wait... what?" Rainbow balked, looking over her shoulder.

"Hold still," Spitfire commanded, pressing her hooves harder than before, lightly twisting them against Rainbow's unyielding flesh.

"Wait-wait-waiiiiiiieeeee—" Rainbow squealed, her back arching as Spitfire's hooves accomplished their goal. The momentary spike of pain replaced by a sense of relief and pleasure Rainbow had never quite experienced. With a satisfied moan, she flopped face down onto the soft mattress, limp.

Spitfire chuckled, her hooves gently rubbing Rainbow's back. "I don't think I've ever seen a pony with so much tension in their shoulders. You really should see a professional masseur sometime, Dash."

Rainbow made a noncommittal groan and gave Spitfire a flippant wave of her hoof.

Spitfire smiled and continued her work. She was by no means the best masseur around, but that hadn't stopped her from learning a few things from the physical therapists that the team kept on staff over the years. Her hooves worked in small concentric circles, seeking the myriad of knots and working them out as gently as she could.

Rainbow hissed when Spitfire pressed on a particularly sore spot and moaned in relief once Spitfire dealt with the problem. "Rough day at work?"

Rainbow made a slight nod. After Wednesday's... adventure with the photographer, the two had gone to their movie, a decent—if forgettable—action film. After sharing a simple dinner Rainbow had flown Spitfire to her hotel. They hadn't seen each other at all on Thursday.

The day off had been a mutual agreement. For Spitfire she had learned that a healthy relationship occasionally necessitated some time off, so to speak. For Rainbow, she had a lot of work to do, including a formal introduction to the mayor of Manehattan after her regular shift was over. Spitfire sympathized with her worn out marefriend; she hated meeting politicians. Well... most politicians. Some still had some semblance of a soul left, if a pony were inclined to be generous in their definitions.

Spitfire shook her head, clearing it of the errant thoughts. "What happened?"

"Headwind, the lead cloud pusher, had to take the day off. I guess one of his kids has a nasty case of feather flu," Rainbow said.

Spitfire winced; feather flu was rough, even for adult pegasi. For young fillies and colts it could be very dangerous. "Any idea how bad it is?"

"Didn't ask, I just told him to take all the time he needed," Rainbow answered, hissing for a moment as Spitfire worked out another knot.

"That was nice of you, Rainbow," Spitfire said, smiling down at the weather manager.

"It's just the right thing to do, but it happened at just about the worst time possible."

"How so? I don't think there's really a convenient time to be sick," Spitfire said.

"No, it's not him or his kids," Rainbow answered quickly, "it's just that—well, we've got a big storm coming up in a couple weeks, and on weather teams, that means that half the team take their vacations before the storm, and the other half take vacations after."

"So you're down half your crew?" Spitfire guessed.

"More than half," Rainbow said with a weary sigh. "Over half my cloud pushers and rain ponies have taken their vacations now. I'm down about sixty percent right now. And it'd probably be more if I wasn't holding the lightning wranglers hostage!"

Spitfire chuckled, slipping off of Rainbow's back and laying beside her. She waited until Rainbow rolled to her side so they could face each other before wrapping her hooves around the weather manager's waist. Spitfire pulled Rainbow close, stopping once their noses bumped together.

"So I'm guessing you've been picking up the slack?" Spitfire asked.

"A bit, yeah," Rainbow said.

Spitfire's right eyebrow arched up slightly, her lips pulling into a curious frown. "So besides training the new lightning ponies, how much work are you doing?"

"It's nothing I can't handle," Rainbow answered.

"I know, I know. You are a very exceptional mare, Rainbow," Spitfire began, again noticing the subtle flinch that the complement triggered.

"I guess," Rainbow said with a shrug.

Spitfire rubbed Rainbow's back lightly with a hoof, the curiosity becoming unbearable for her. "Can I ask you something personal?"

"Well, I'm kinda laying in your bed," Rainbow answered, an amused grin on her lips.

Spitfire laughed. "True enough."

Rainbow scooted herself into a more comfortable position, her left foreleg slipping around Spitfire. "What's on your mind?"

"Well," Spitfire began, hesitating for a moment, "Has um, has something been eating at you?"

"What do you mean?" Rainbow said, blinking several times in confusion.

"I've noticed that something seems to make you look really uncomfortable whenever somepony talks you up."

"I, uh, I don't think—"

"Rainbow Dash, you are the most awesome pony in Equestria," Spitfire interrupted.

Rainbow's ears fell back slightly and a small wince flashed over her face. Before she could speak, Spitfire spoke again.

"That! Right there!"

"What right where?" Rainbow asked.

"I call you the most awesome mare in Equestria, and it makes you flinch like I kicked you in the gut," Spitfire said.

"I-I don't think I flinched..." Rainbow mumbled, her cheeks flushing red.

"Hey now, it's okay," Spitfire said, planting a soft kiss on Rainbow's lips. "I'm just... well, worried about you."

"I'm fine!" Rainbow said far too quickly.

Spitfire frowned and allowed the worry to show on her face. "Rainbow, you can talk to me. Thats what marefriends do."

Rainbow sighed, shaking her head subtly as she considered Spitfire's case. "It's nothing, really. Just me being stupid."

"Well everypony is guilty of that from time to time," Spitfire said.

Rainbow scoffed, rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling. "I seem to be pretty good at it."

"Hey," Spitfire began, resting her hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "Don't put yourself down like that. Now come on, tell me what's eating you?"

Rainbow took a slow, deep breath through her nose, holding it for a moment before slowly puffing it out through her lips. "It's stupid."

"Well tell me about it anyway," Spitfire said, adjusting herself into a more comfortable position.

Rainbow sighed again, subtly shaking her head. "It was last summer. I was flying around, just having some fun, when I heard a filly shouting for help. She had fallen into an open well. So I flew down and pulled her out. A couple days later, I saved a runaway baby carriage."

"Thats awesome, Rainbow Dash!" Spitfire praised.

Rainbow shook her head side to side, the corners of her mouth turned down in a small frown. "If I would've left it there then yeah, I guess."

"What happened?"

"Everypony in town started calling me a hero, taking my picture, that sort of thing. I... I let it get to my head."

"What do you mean?"

"I acted like a donkey, I gloated, I preened, and I was stupid. My friends... my friends set me straight and... and showed me that I was being an idiot." Rainbow said, her voice trembling slightly as she nodded her head as if she was trying to fully convince herself.

Concern filled Spitfire's expression, her brows knitting together and a frown pulling at her lips. "What did they do?"

"It's no big deal," Rainbow said.

"Rainbow,"

"It really wasn't a big—"

"From over here it looks like it was kind of a big deal." Spitfire interrupted, causing Rainbow to flinch. Spitfire lifted a hoof to Rainbow's cheek and gently turned the younger mare to face her. "What happened?"

"It's in the past now, what does it matter?" Rainbow asked.

"Cause its something that seems to bother you, and as your marefriend I think I'm allowed to care about you."

Rainbow chuckled from the comment, a hoof rubbing at her tired eyes. "I let the glory get to me. I strutted, I bragged, and I acted like I was some big shot. And I, uh... I went too far."

Spitfire nodded slowly, keeping her gaze on Rainbow and her hooves around the younger mare's waist.

"I loved being in the spotlight like that, ponies looking up to me, praising me, it was the best feeling ever, you know? It just made me feel like a million bits! I mean, I love weather work too, but nopony ever comes up to a weather pony and says "Hey, thanks for the nice cloud cover so I can have that picnic in the shade!". No, they just take it for granted until there's a rainstorm. Then they can't stop telling me how we're ruining this, that, or the other thing!

"Hay, the farm ponies are even worse. One day it's too dry, then we make it rain and they yell that its too wet! Okay fine; we leave it for a few days and then give it a light shower, now it's not wet enough! And thats nothing compared to when we're in a dry spell and Cloudsdale is rationing the rain clouds. Then I've got every farmer in town yelling at me why their crops deserve the most of the water ration and the mare telling me I need to get water into the public parks so the damn flowers don't wilt!" Rainbow shouted, throwing her hooves above her in frustration. After a deep breath and a heavy sigh, Rainbow continued.

"So when ponies started calling me a hero, I began wondering if that was what it was like to be a Wonderbolt. My friends... my friends saw I had my head stuck in the clouds and they pulled me back to the ground."

"How did they pull you down?" Spitfire asked, her voice gentle.

Rainbow shook her head. "They put their heads together and created a mystery pony. That pony would show up to a problem around the same time I did, then they'd fix it and disappear. Everything I thought I was good at, they were better. Then, before I knew it, everypony in town was talking about this mare. I was back to being the lowly weather mare, and nopony cared what I did so long as the rain didn't inconvenience them. So I... I got angry.

"I interrupted a town ceremony where everypony was honoring this pony and demanded she take her mask off. She took off and led me on a chase through the town. I managed to catch her and pull her mask off which was when I found out it was one of my friends wearing it. Then the others showed up wearing their costumes too."

"Why did they do that?" Spitfire asked in veiled disappointment.

"Because I was being a puffed up bragger, and they—"

"They couldn't have just said, 'Hey Rainbow, you're acting like a donkey'?" Spitfire asked.

"They did what they thought was best," Rainbow argued.

"From over here it looks more like they did their best to mock you."

"They're my friends!" Rainbow snapped as she sat up. "They wouldn't do that to me!"

"I didn't phrase that right, and I'm sorry." Spitfire apologized, sitting up next to Rainbow and holding her hooves up in surrender. "I'm not saying they meant it to insult you or hurt you, but from where I'm sitting it does look like it hurt you a bit."

"Well you're wrong," Rainbow angrily said.

"Am I?" Spitfire asked, "you just told me how much you loved getting the all the attention that came from being a hero. Now when anypony tells you that you're an awesome pony you flinch like they slapped you upside the head!"

The comment caused a flush of red to spread over Rainbow's cheeks, her ears folding slightly back. "I do not!"

"You're doing it right now," Spitfire said.

"It's not your problem," Rainbow argued.

"As long as we're marefriends then yeah, it is kinda my problem."

Rainbow took a deep breath, allowing silence to settle over them for a time. "What do you want me to say? It was a bad time, I'm embarrassed about it, and I don't like to bring it up."

Spitfire wrapped a hoof around Rainbow's shoulders, pulling her over until Rainbow was leaning against Spitfire. "I want you to be happy, Dash. I want you to take pride in your accomplishments and not feel like you're being judged all the time. And I want there to be an us at least for a little while longer."

Rainbow was quiet for a moment. With a gentle sigh, she nodded her head against Spitfire's shoulder. "I want there to be an us too."

"Well, if we just had our first fight we must really be a couple," Spitfire joked, earning a small smile from Rainbow.

"Hey," Rainbow began, her voice quiet. "Can I... can I stay here tonight?"

Spitfire smiled and kissed the top of Rainbow's head while her hooves tightened their embrace. "Of course you can, Dash."

Music and soft giggling filled Spitfire's suite. The two mares had remained snuggled together on the bed for nearly forty minutes before their mutual hunger had forced them to take action. Half an hour and a call to room service later, they had relocated to the couch in the suite's living area. Their meal: a freshly delivered pizza with a multitude of toppings that was absolutely guaranteed to make their morning breath an internationally banned weapon of war. Both Spitfire and Rainbow Dash dug in with gusto.

They savored every decadent bite, the crispy exterior of the crust that yielded to a soft, chewy center. The rich tomato sauce with hints of garlic, basil, oregano, and alcohol, the succulent blend of cheeses, sweet, salty, rich, and creamy, had all melted to the perfect consistency. The toppings, mushrooms, onions, olives, and green peppers had all been cut to the perfect sizes. There had been a brief conversation for the theoretical addition of pineapples, but both Rainbow and Spitfire agreed in the end: pineapples had no place on a pizza.

After downing the pizza like a pair of starved mares, Spitfire sprawled across the couch on her back, her left foreleg tucked behind her head. Rainbow followed her lead, lying beside Spitfire with a content smile on her lips. Spitfire smirked and draped a hoof over Rainbow's waist.

"Hey there, stranger," Spitfire said, stealing a light nuzzle.

Rainbow giggled and snuggled into the warmth of Spitfire's body. "Hey yourself. Thanks for buying dinner, by the way."

"Happy to do it, Rainbow," Spitfire replied, planting a wet kiss on the weather manager's cheek.

Rainbow giggled and stuck her tongue out at the Wonderbolt. "Eeeew!"

Spitfire shot a mischievous look at the smaller pegasus and sucked in a quick breath before blowing a very loud raspberry on Rainbow's cheek.

"Ahh!" Rainbow squealed as she flailed against Spitfire's iron grip, "No-noooo-nooooo! Ahahaha! Stop-stop-stop, staaahahahahaaap!"

Spitfire did not stop, at least not until she laughed so hard she snorted. Rainbow Dash seized on the opportunity, slipping free of Spitfire's grasp and bounding into the bedroom. Spitfire sat up, still giggling and wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. The moment she lowered her hoof, a fluffy white pillow hit her right in the face with a loud fwomp.

Spitfire yelped, her limbs flailing wildly as she fell over from the dastardly sneak attack. The sound of Rainbow's boisterous laughter filled Spitfire's ears. Pulling the pillow off her face, Spitfire glared at Rainbow. The weather manager stuck her tongue out before grabbing a second pillow in her teeth.

"Oh, it is so on!" Spitfire declared.

Biting the corner of the pillow, she gave a muffled war cry as she leapt off the couch and chased Rainbow into the bedroom. Rainbow darted around the corner before Spitfire got there. The Wonderbolt was greeted to the bedroom with another pillow strike to the face.

"Oh I'm gonna kick your flank!" Spitfire promised.

Rainbow waggled her eyebrows up and down. "Catch me if you can, slow poke!"

With a gleeful howl, Spitfire charged. Her first swing went high, the pillow whiffing several inches over Rainbow's head. Rainbow's strike caught spitfire in the legs, nearly tripping her as she inelegantly stumbled out of the way. Spitfire's second strike was more successful, the pillow striking Rainbow's backside with a fwomp.

Rainbow made a satisfying yelp; the noise was like fine wine to Spitfire's ears. She savored it, at least until a pillow slapped her right in the face. Spitfire recoiled and struck back, her pillow coming down on Rainbow's head. A few downy feathers, almost too small to see, were forcibly ejected from the pillow. Rainbow countered by sweeping low, her pillow nearly taking Spitfire's legs out from under her.

A grim realization settled over Spitfire as the battle progressed: she sucked at pillow fighting. Logic told her to retreat or surrender. Spitfire quickly concluded that logic could go suck a rock. She was the captain of the Wonderbolts! A proud member of the Royal Equestrian Air Force! She didn't know the meaning of the word retreat!

At least, that's what she told herself as she advanced rapidly in the opposite direction.

Rainbow chased after Spitfire, her pillow giving a satisfying fwomp as it struck the Wonderbolt's backside. Spitfire gave an indignant squeal which caused Rainbow to laugh and nearly lose her grip on her weapon. Quickly collecting herself, she reaffirmed her grasp on her pillow and pressed her advantage. Today, the weather manager would conquer the Wonderbolt!

Spitfire led Rainbow on a merry chase through the suite. The two darted from room to room, around tables, behind chairs and leapt over the furniture, their laughter only occasionally interrupted by the the occasional fwomp, yelp, and taunt. Finally, a plan formed in Spitfire's mind.

Turning sharply, Spitfire darted back into the bedroom, Rainbow hot on her tail. Spitfire turned quickly, realizing she only had one shot to make her plan work. With a grunt, she threw her pillow at Rainbow's face. The weather manager was taken off guard by Spitfire voluntarily relinquishing her weapon and found her vision obscured by the fluffy white mass. Spitfire took full advantage of Rainbow's loss in momentum.

She sprang forward, her hooves outstretched and tackled Rainbow to the ground. Wrapping all four limbs around Rainbow's body, she pinned the smaller mare and prepared to declare her victory. It was at that point Spitfire realized a key flaw in her plan: Rainbow Dash was stronger than she was.

"Thats cheating!" Rainbow said with mock disdain, her lips spread into a bright smile.

"All's fair in love and war!" Spitfire shot back, doing her best to keep hold of Rainbow.

"Oh yeah? How's about this then!"

Without delay, Rainbow began leaping and bucking around the room like a possessed mare. It was all Spitfire could do to keep her grip and not take an unscheduled flight across the room. Spitfire wracked her brain for a plan, Rainbow had speed and strength on her side, but Spitfire had training.

Waiting for Rainbow's lasting bout of thrashing to slow down, Spitfire quickly hooked her left foreleg around Rainbow's elbow. With a hard tug, Rainbow's footing was suddenly out of balance. Rainbow let out a surprised squeak shortly before she found herself face down in the carpet.

Rainbow tried a different tactic, rolling to the side in an attempt to pry Spitfire off of her the hard way. Spitfire obliged, slipping off of Rainbow's back only to hop back on top of Rainbow once the weather manager was on her back. Spitfire spread her wings as much as she could, her hooves pinning Rainbow's shoulders.

"Haha! Surrender o' worthy foe!" Spitfire declared.

"You'll never take me alive!"

"Oh yeeaaah?"

"Yeah!"

"Well how about this!" Spitfire shouted just before pressing her lips to Rainbow's, her tongue slipping into Rainbow's mouth.

The jeers, cheers, and laughter turned to silence, replaced by the heavy breathing of the two mares engaged in a duel of the tongues. Spitfire pulled back, their lips parting as Spitfire gazed into Rainbow's eyes. Rainbow reached up with a hoof, running it through Spitfire's mane. Spitfire mirrored the gesture and smiled happily down to her marefriend. Rainbow smiled back, the familiar spark burning in her eyes.

"And who in Tartarus said you could stop?" Rainbow asked.

Spitfire giggled and leaned back down, her lips hungrily mashing with Rainbow's. There, on the bedroom floor, they lost themselves to each other's company.

She was flying.

Soaring through the skies on golden wings. The wind rushed through her mane, the delicate, ginger strands whipping back and forth. She was the master of the skies; the winds were her roads, the clouds her playthings. Spitfire let out a jubilant howl. Nothing compared to soaring through the skies.

Yet all was not well in the world. Storm clouds, wild, thick, and black roiled angrily on the horizon. They spread through the skies like ink flowing through clear waters. Lightning arced out at her, blinding her to the world. When Spitfire's sight returned, she saw her wings were gone and in an instant she was falling towards the earth.

The winds, once her servants, now buffeted her body like a thousands of small punches. She screamed for help, but the roar of thunder drowned out her voice. Her hooves flailed in vain at the empty skies, reaching for clouds that weren't there to save her.

The ground grew closer and closer, and Spitfire could do nothing to stop it. Then, just before she could hit the ground, strong hooves caught her and carried her away to safety. The impact startled Spitfire out of her dream.

She awoke with a sharp gasp, letting a trembling breath escape from her lips. She blinked rapidly until the room returned to focus. Spitfire was in bed, laying on her right side. Rainbow's sleeping form was facing away from Spitfire, her back spooned up against Spitfire's front. Spitfire took a moment to find the clock on the nightstand to check the time: five twenty-three in the morning.

Spitfire sighed heavily, pressing her face into the back of Rainbow's mane. She took comfort in the smell—like spring rain and static. Careful not to wake the younger mare, Spitfire draped her left hoof over Rainbow's side and scooted closer until her chest was flush with Rainbow's back.

Rainbow shifted in her sleep, taking a deep breath before she settled back down. Spitfire allowed herself a small nuzzle against the back of Rainbow's neck. She cherished the moment, savored the warmth where their bodies touched.

'It's been so long... I've missed this,' Spitfire thought, closing her eyes and allowing herself a satisfied moan.

Her mind drifted to the events of the previous night. The fun she had experienced being chased around the suite by Rainbow. The pleasure she had found in the hours they had spent kissing and cuddling on the floor. Spitfire couldn't recall the exact time they had moved to the bed, though she was pretty sure she had copped a feel or two before they had.

A rush of concern flooded her mind, causing Spitfire's heart to skip a beat. If she had gotten a little bit... grabby, then she was pretty sure Rainbow hadn't been offended. At least Rainbow hadn't slapped her and stormed out, and given that the weather manager was still sleeping comfortably‚ Spitfire was fairly sure it was safe to assume Rainbow had enjoyed herself too.

Banishing those thoughts from her mind, Spitfire refocused her attention of the mare snuggled up against her. Rainbow's wing was splayed out across the bed, her sky blue feathers tousled from sleep. Spitfire gave her wing a cautious stretch, flexing the stiff muscles for a moment before she draped her wing over Rainbow's. The feathers of blue and gold brushing together and sending a tingle through the Wonderbolt.

Spitfire lifted her head from the pillows just enough so she could take stock of her own feathers. Unsurprisingly, they were just as ruffled from the night as Rainbow's were. Laying her head back down, Spitfire filed that problem to the back of her mind. As far as she was concerned, the world could wait for a little longer.

Just for once, Spitfire wanted to sleep in with her marefriend.

Burying her nose into Rainbow's mane, Spitfire closed her eyes and dozed. Soon enough she had returned to a light sleep, happily free of dreams. When she was roused again, it was from Rainbow's semiconscious stretching.

Rainbow's back arched, her forelegs and rear legs pulling in opposite directions as she yawned. The warmth of Rainbow's body pulled away from Spitfire who, in a semiconscious daze herself, reacted by dragging Rainbow back to her. The surprised squeak that interrupted Rainbow's yawn brought an amused smirk to Spitfire's face.

"Morning," Spitfire mumbled, quite comfortable in her position.

"Mornin'," Rainbow replied, still groggy.

"Sleep good?" Spitfire asked.

"Mmhmm," Rainbow gave a nod, "these beds are really comfy."

"That they are."

The two stayed in bed a little longer, enjoying the warmth and comfort while it lasted. Inevitably though, all things must come to an end. Even so, Spitfire didn't let Rainbow squirm out of her grasp without at least a token fight.

"Lemme goooo," Rainbow whined.

"Nah, you're nice and warm," Spitfire said, snuggling into Rainbow's back.

"Come on," Rainbow said as she squirmed in Spitfire's grasp, "I gotta pee!"

Spitfire leaned over Rainbow, planting a kiss on her cheek before releasing the squirming weather mare. With a stretch, Rainbow hopped off the bed and made for the restroom. Spitfire lingered under the sheets for a moment, her eyes drifting to the long, multi colored hairs on Rainbow's pillow.

With one last yawn, Spitfire pulled herself upright and out of bed. Taking a moment to stretch out, she groaned in satisfaction as a series of cracks went down her spine. That need satisfied, she trotted to the living room and made herself comfortable on the couch. Extending her wings she inspected her feathers in preparation for her morning preening. Before she could begin, Rainbow trotted out of the restroom with a satisfied sigh and a spring in her step.

"Have fun?" Spitfire asked, shooting a warm smile to Rainbow.

"Meh, I've had better," Rainbow answered, shrugging as she sat beside Spitfire.

The wonderbolt shook her head as she chuckled. "Anything you wanna do today?"

"Wanna go flying?"

"More than anything, not that I can yet." Spitfire said, her voice laced with sadness at the truth of her situation.

"You can ride on my back!" Rainbow said quickly, a bright smile on her lips. "We can just pack sandwiches and some drinks and we'll just spend the day in the sky."

Spitfire considered the offer, her hoof rubbing the back of her head. On one hoof, she hated the idea of making another pony carry her weight, on the other hoof, this wasn't just any other pony. It was Rainbow Dash, her marefriend. Further still, she desperately missed flying. It was like an earth pony being unable to walk or a unicorn that couldn't use their magic. No, perhaps it was even more than that for Spitfire.

She was a Wonderbolt. She loved to fly, no, love wasn't a strong enough word. Flying to a Wonderbolt, flying to Spitfire, was everything. Zephyr had never understood that.

Rainbow's offer; a day in the skies, was simply too good to pass up.

"That sound's like fun to me, Dash." Spitfire said

"Great!" Rainbow exclaimed, her grin stretching from ear to ear. "Let my just get preened up first and then we'll get going."

Spitfire smiled as she observed Rainbow stretch out her left wing and begin the delicate process of preening. Spitfire glanced at her own feathers, in dire need of attention after another nights sleep. Still, as she watched Rainbow pick at her own feathers, meticulously straightening them out and pulling them into place, an idea came to her mind.

For the first time in years, Spitfire felt skittish as a schoolyard filly. Reaching out with a hoof, she very lightly touched the base of Rainbow's right wing. The action quickly drew the weather manager's attention.

"Mind if I help?" Spitfire asked, her tone gentile and her smile earnest.

Rainbow's cheeks flushed red. A pegasi's wings were the most sensitive parts of their body. Preening was considered one of the most intimate acts two pegasi could do together. It was something done in between immediate family members or couples only. Rainbow remembered when she was little and her pinfeathers had just grown in that her father would sit her in his lap while he preened her wings.

It was perhaps the only time he ever gotten her to hold still and keep quiet.

The question left Rainbow facing a choice she hadn't thought of before that morning. Just how close did she want to be with Spitfire? Rainbow's hesitation faded as her eyes met Spitfire's. She saw the trust, the understanding, and with a simple nod, Rainbow extended her right wing for Spitfire.

A shiver ran through Rainbow as Spitfire began to preen her. Aside from when her father had helped her as a filly, Rainbow had never let another pony touch her wings like that. The good feelings that it gave her were enough to make Rainbow lose focus on the wing she had been preening. Instead she sat there in a half-lidded glassy eyed stare.

Spitfire noticed the effect her ministrations had, and allowed a self-satisfied smile. It was good to know her partner preening skills hadn't atrophied over the years. Spitfire took her time working over Rainbow's feathers. She had always found feathers up close to be a fascinating sight. The way the covert feathers overlapped with the pinfeathers, the individual barbs melded together to form the vane itself. To Spitfire, feathers were masterworks of natural artistry, and Rainbow's in particular were a sight to behold.

Rainbow shivered as Spitfire plucked out a loose feather. She reached out with her left foreleg to the armrest of the couch to steady herself. Spitfire chuckled softly as she spat the feather out.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Mmhmm," Rainbow nodded, her eyes closed and her cheeks red.

"I'm almost finished with this wing."

"Kay..."

Spitfire took her time with her work, partially because she wanted to do a good job, and also because she was very much enjoying herself. Some of her favorite times with Zephyr had been when they preened together in the morning before work. So far at least, Spitfire was quite enjoying preening Rainbow as well.

Finishing the right wing, Spitfire gave Rainbow a moment to collect herself. She gently rubbed her hoof over Rainbow's back, never taking her eyes off the younger mare. Slowly, Rainbow's gaze met hers again, silent gratitude and more conveyed without so much as a sound. Spitfire simply smiled, understanding perfectly.

With deliberate slowness, Spitfire leaned forward. Rainbow matched the motion, their lips meeting in the middle in a gentle kiss.

"Thank you," Rainbow whispered as their lips parted.

"Anytime, Dash. Want me to do the other one too?"

"I-if you want to."

Spitfire kissed Rainbow's nose. "Switch spots with me so I can get to your wing."

Rainbow nodded, and after a bit of shuffling, the two mares had switched places on the couch. Spitfire took Rainbow's wing in her hooves and inspected it with a practiced eye. Setting to work, she worked through Rainbow's feathers one by one. She savored the satisfied grunts and moans that came with most of her work. Spitfire couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when she inevitably finished her task.

After a moment to return to her senses, Rainbow turned to face Spitfire, a sheepish smile tugging at her lips. "Want me to do yours?"

Spitfire caught herself blushing. "If you want to."

Rainbow's smile grew ever so slightly as she reached out and carefully unfolded Spitfire's wing. With equal care, she began the fastidious process of preening Spitfire's wings. Spitfire shivered from the effort and did her best to fight the blush that was spreading over her face.

Spitfire was suddenly very glad she wasn't a stallion.

Rainbow took her time, making sure every feather was clean and in perfect alignment before she moved to Spitfire's injured wing. Making sure not to stretch the recovering wing too far, she continued her work with silent dedication. Unbeknownst to her, Spitfire spent the entire time trying her best to control her body. Just before Rainbow finished her work, a hoof began knocking fervently on the suite door. Both Spitfire and Rainbow jumped slightly in surprise before exchanging a confused look.

"Were we expecting somepony?" Rainbow asked.

"Not that I know of," Spitfire answered. "Give it a minute, maybe they've got the wrong door and they'll go away."

Rainbow nodded, keeping her mouth shut as they waited. For several long seconds, silence filled the room. Both Rainbow and Spitfire began to hope that whoever it was had decided to move on. Their hopes were dashed as the knocking returned.

With a disappointed sigh, Spitfire got to her hooves. "I'll be right back, Dash."

"Kay."

Trotting to the door, Spitfire put on her best scowl. Unless somepony had died, she didn't particularly care what the problem was today. Pulling the door open, Spitfire's planned rant evaporated when she saw the pony on the other side.

"Misty?" she balked, "what are you doing here?"

"We got a problem, boss," Misty began, pausing when something in the room caught her eye.

"Hey," Spitfire moved to block Misty's view, "focus on me, Misty. What's the problem?"

"Do you have somepony else in there?" Misty asked.

"That's not your concern, Misty." Spitfire said.

"Oh my gosh, you do!" Misty squealed, her original mission momentarily forgotten.

"Misty, oof—" Spitfire grunted as the smaller mare pushed past her in a rush, "NO!"

Spitfire's heart skipped a beat as she righted herself and turned around. She saw Misty standing at the edge of the kitchenette, staring slack jawed into the living room.

"Um... hi there!" Rainbow Dash said with a sheepish wave to Misty.

"You... But... I—" Misty flubbed for the words, her eyes shifting from Rainbow to Spitfire.

"Misty, take it easy... "Spitfire said as she approached the speechless mare. Both Spitfire and Rainbow Dash winced at the impressive thud Misty made as she keeled over in shock.

After a moment of silence, Rainbow looked over to Spitfire.

"Well, that could have gone better."

Spitfire sighed, rubbing her forehead in exasperation. "Sorry, Rainbow, looks like we'll have to take a raincheck on that flight."

"It's cool," Rainbow said with a shrug.

"Do me a favor and get her on the couch, I'll get an ice bag."

Rainbow saluted. "You got it, boss!"