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!"

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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.