//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: Just Dropping In // by Gunsmith //------------------------------// Dash thinks for a moment, probably a little confused. "Not very, I guess. I've been sleeping pretty good recently. Why'd you ask?" "Feel like staying up late? I have something in mind," I reply, still going about my idea in my head. She thinks for a few more seconds, glancing upward. "Yeah, okay. Whaddya wanna do?" I continue to grin, and say, "I don't think I'm going to tell you." "Aww, what? No way, tell me!" "Nope." "Tell me! "Uh-uh." This continues as we jump into the air, flying towards Rainbow's home. After a couple of minutes, we push into her kitchen. "Argh, why won't you tell me?!" "Because." "Because why?" "Because because." She growls in feigned anger at me, receiving a grin from me in return. I begin trotting towards the stairs. "I'm going to grab some bits, do what you need to do and we'll go, okay?" She smiles in reply, nodding and following me up the stairs. I go into the living room, and hear light hoofsteps continuing up the stairs behind me. I trot over to one side of the couch that had previously served as my bed; it continues to serve as a storage area for my money. I frown upon seeing a pile of coin bags that stacks up the side of the couch. I lean down, grabbing one of the jingly cloth bags in my teeth and setting it on the coffee table, then repeat the action, placing a total of two bags, twenty bits, on the small table. My eyebrows scrunch together as I stare at the money. How am I going to store this...? Maybe Rainbow can hold them for me. Hope she doesn't mind...I pick up the two small coin bags in my teeth, then trot towards the stairs, heading back down into the kitchen. Rainbow Dash trots into the kitchen a minute later. I notice something different about her; she seems to have brushed out her mane. It holds a nice combination of her usual tomboy look with a nicer, softer look. Her mane isn't done up in a style of any sort, but the usual tufts of hair that stick up in it are gone, making all six streaks of color fit perfectly with one another on her head. I smile as she makes her way farther into the kitchen towards me. "You look nice," I compliment, smiling warmly to her. Some pink makes its way to her cheeks. "Um...thanks," she says, pawing at the cloud floor a little and glancing down. "I figured you wanted to go somewhere, but I didn't know if I needed to look fancy or anything..." "No, you don't need to look fancy. I think you look perfect for where we're going." "And we're going...?" "Nice try," I reply, chuckling. "Rats." I'm pretty sure if ponies had fingers, she would snap hers right now. But ponies don't have fingers, so all she does is swing her foreleg to one side. "Think you could hold on to those for me?" I ask, moving a hoof towards the two bags of coins, which I had laid on the kitchen table earlier. She nods, scooping them both up in her mouth. I watch as she turns to one side, hiding the coins from my view, then turns back to me, without any coins. I had seen her do this a few times before, along with seeing other ponies do so. I have absolutely no idea how the system of hiding something from sight and magically storing it away works, and drop the idea of it quickly to avoid confusing myself too badly by thinking about it. I smile to her and she nods again, smiling as well, and we trot out her front door. Contrary to the usual, I lead our two-pony convoy tonight. The sun has almost completely disappeared from the sky, and the moon's light is beginning to take over. I take us down over Ponyville; the small town is lit by many lanterns and torches, giving a soft glow to the entire area. I scan my eyes over the village, searching for...right there. My sight has landed upon a brick building, the one that has caught my eye ever since seeing it when I came to Ponyville for the first time. It sticks out amidst wood and stone buildings of a much less modern design. I have a hunch as to what this building holds; tonight, I will find out what it is. I motion for Rainbow to follow me, and angle towards the building. We land in an alleyway partly created by the warehouse-like building. I think to myself that it probably was a warehouse at some point. As I trot along the side of the brick structure, I can hear a light pounding coming from it; my hypothesis is beginning to lead towards being correct. As we round one side of the building, I turn to my side, looking at Dash. "What kind of music do you like?" I ask her. She seems caught a little off-guard by the question, but thinks for a moment before answering. "I dunno. I like stuff that sounds cool, stuff I can dance to." I smile, replying, "I think you'll like this, then." We round another corner, and I spot what I'm looking for; an entrance. Outside of the lightly pounding building's door, I see a gruff-looking pony. A short line of ponies stands in front of him; he speaks with them momentarily, then allows them to enter the building. I take a spot at the back of the line, watching as Rainbow Dash falls in beside me, looking a little puzzled. I look back to the entrance of the building; there is a sign above it. Club Pon-3, it reads. A pair of music notes decorate a side of the sign. I smile to myself, feeling pleased with the correctness of my guess as to the purpose of this building. The pony two spots ahead in the line steps into the nightclub. I turn to Dash. "Could you get one of those out?" I ask Dash, nodding to the area somewhere around her back where the coins magically disappeared to. She nods, turning to that same spot and returning with a bag of coins in her jaws. I carefully lean in towards her face, tilting my head to grasp the cloth bag. I pull away from her with the bits, nodding and smiling with them in my mouth as a thank-you. The pony ahead of us goes through the door and into the brick building, and we step forward. "You two together?" the tough pony guarding the door asks me. I glance over at Rainbow, who nods and smiles to me in reply. I nod once back to the door guard. "Five bits for couples," he states flatly. I lean down, setting the bag of coins in my teeth on the ground in front of his hooves. He paws open the bag, rapidly counting the coins. I see the pony about to start separating change, but cut him off. "Keep it," I say, motioning towards the bag of bits with a hoof. I think he smiles a little, I can't really tell. "Go on in," he says, nodding to the door. I turn back to look at my rainbow-maned companion, smiling when I see her doing the same. I push through the door, holding it open for Rainbow Dash. After she trots inside, I allow the door to swing closed, submerging us in a low level of light. We are in some sort of hallway, lit by a pair of lanterns. I see washrooms on either side of the hallway, along with corners leading to another location at each end of the corridor. I trot towards one, looking around the side. Figuring it to be the right way, I indicate for Dash to follow. As we trot down the somewhat dark hallway branching off of the first, I can hear the pounding I heard outside growing louder. The steady bass is soon joined by various hums and other noises, which I am starting to feel through my hooves. Eventually, we round another corner, and I find myself gazing out into a large room, which must compose most of the warehouse. The room is both dark and not. Shadows are everywhere, but disappear on and off quickly as flashing strobe lights and various laser lights glance over the areas where they lay. It's not quite to the point of inducing seizures, but it's close; and I don't even have epilepsy. The flashing lights are coupled with loud, yet clear, music. The bass drum throbs heavily, hitting my ear drums at a rate of around one-hundred-and-twenty beats per minute. A low bass line couples with the beat. Various synthesized trebles overlay it all, in total creating a song. An electro song; an electro-house song, to be precise. In fact, I recognize it well. It is the music of the one and only deadmau5; I even recognize the song as being A City in Florida, my most favorite of his songs. But how is that even possible? I look around, attempting to search for something to explain what I hear, I suppose. I notice the walls are covered in various pieces of triangle-shaped materials, which I know are placed to absorb and deflect sound. I see a multitude of dancing ponies covering a dance floor that is lit up with strobes and lasers. There appears to be some sort of bar on one side of the room, at which a few more ponies are seated at, upon stools. And finally, at the center back of the large room, there is a lone pony, standing behind a set of turntables built into a slightly raised platform. The pony is a mare, a unicorn, with a white-looking coat and a wild mane bearing a few shades of blue. She wears a pair of glasses with lens tinted a shade of hue of purple. She grins, nodding her head to the beat of the bass. I notice that she is using her magic to manipulate the turntables, as her horn and the tables glow with a light blue aura, hardly visible in the dark, flashing room. I recognize the pony as DJ Pon-3, also known as Vinyl Scratch by the fanbase of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Though recognition brings a smile to me, I still can't explain how she has retrieved, or maybe re-made, deadmau5's music. I stand confused for a moment, watching the pony work on the other side of the room. I decide I can find no possible way to explain it, and shake my head, returning my focus back to my environment. I remember the pony I have brought here, and turn around to face her. Rainbow is glancing around, taking in the mass of color and flashing light. I can see her head bobbing up and down to the beat of the song. I smile, pleased she seems to be enjoying the music. I had wondered if she would like the genre, being its odd, almost robotic style of sound. "Like the music?" I half-ask, half-shout over the volume of the song. Her eyes stop looking around and look at me upon hearing my question. "Yeah, it sounds awesome!" she says cheerfully. I smile wider, agreeing with her silently. I listen to the song for a moment more, feeling the change in the vibrations running through my bones as the music changes, bass and treble increasing and decreasing in tone, pauses in the drum line, all forming the song I not only hear, but feel. I have never experienced a nightclub before, not even a concert, so this feeling is a new one, the feeling of the song reverberating throughout my entire body; it's...intoxicating. I focus on Rainbow Dash again. "Well, want to dance?" I ask loudly, nodding towards the dance floor. "I'm...I'm not that great at dancing..." she replies, glancing down in embarrassment. Her statement is quiet enough so that I almost don't hear it. I don't want her to repeat it, in case she is embarrassed, so I quietly hope I heard her right. "That makes two of us," I say, smiling to her. She looks back up at me, smiling and looking into my eyes. After a moment, she nods and grins, mouthing the word "okay". Maybe she says "okay", I can't really tell. I trot with her on to the dance floor, finding a semi-open spot for us to dance. Her head continues to nod along with the beat, and I notice mine has been unconsciously doing so as well. I watch her for a few seconds; she stands there, smooth, multicolored mane bouncing a little as she nods up and down. I draw her attention to me, watching as she looks up at me. I begin bringing my right hoof up and down, lightly tapping the ground with the bass. She stares at my hoof intently, and I smile at her. "Just go with it!" I tell Rainbow. She moves her gaze to her own right foreleg, then begins tapping it against the ground as well. She does so for a few seconds, smiling at her accomplishment. Then, she looks over at her other foreleg, and back to the one tapping along. She begins alternating her hooves on the ground, tapping one after the other to the beat. I smile as well, and start to mimic her actions. Dash looks back up at me, grinning. I watch as she starts moving her head around in a swaying motion, one that continues to match the beat of the loud bass. I grin back to her, watching her dance along to the song and dancing with her. We continue to dance throughout the rest of the song, eyes locked on each other and grinning happily. The song progresses into the next, another I recognize from another artist I enjoyed listening to. The music feels amazing, almost like it's coursing through my veins. Rainbow Dash seems to be enjoying it just as much, dancing her heart out as she stares into my eyes. Her magenta eyes sparkle with merriment. The second song goes into the third, but by the time the third song (yet another I recognize and listened to often on Earth; it seems like DJ Pon-3 hit "shuffle" on my old iPod) is a few minutes in, I see Dash beginning to get worn out. I am feeling physically tired as well, and though I have no desire to stop dancing, I feel like I ought to or else I'll die of exhaustion. "Want to take a break?" I ask Rainbow, smiling. "Yeah," she replies, panting a little. We make our way through the sea of dancing ponies, arriving at the bar I had spotted earlier. We sit down atop a pair of empty stools, joined by a couple of other ponies. Dash and I wait patiently until a bartender trots over, smiling at us. "Can I get you two anything?" he asks over the music. I look at Rainbow Dash, who seems to be thinking. A look of realization mixed with giddiness crosses her face after a few seconds. "Do you have any cider?" she asks the bartender. I smile, thinking about Rainbow's intense love of cider. "Yes, authentic Apple family cider, in fact. It's very fresh, only came in a few days ago." Dash glances over at me, looking overjoyed. I smile at her, chuckling to myself. "We'll take two mugs of it, please," I tell the bartender. He smiles and nods, trotting off to get the drinks. He returns a moment later, depositing two wood-and-metal mugs filled with foamy cider on the bar in front of us. "That'll be two bits," he states. Rainbow Dash almost flings the two coins at him, then scoops up her mug, looking at it like it's the Holy Grail. She downs the mug without coming up for air, licking the foam off her lips and giving a satisfied sigh. I watch, amused, before picking up my own mug of cider. I look at it for a moment, then take a drink, letting the liquid glide around my mouth before swallowing it. The cider obviously tastes of apples, and is a nice, sweet taste. The texture of it is very smooth, and I can tell it is well-made. After a short pause, I take another drink, savoring its flavor again. Then, I finish off the drink, wiping off the foam one my face that I can't reach with my tongue. "Do you like it?" asks Rainbow, who has been watching me try the cider. "It's really good, I can see why you like it," I reply, smiling. "Do you want another?" "Yeah!" she replies enthusiastically. I nod to her and continue smiling, giving her the go-ahead to buy herself another round. "Do you want one, too?" she asks me as the bartender approaches again. "Nah, I'm good." I do enjoy the cider, but am not one much for alcohol. I could never really get around the taste, and I had seen enough hangovers to know they sucked. I watch as Dash orders another mug of cider. She gulps this one down with the speed of the first. The cyan mare looks back to me, smiling a little hopefully. "Just...one more?" she asks, and I nod, chuckling. The bartender looks a little worried as he brings back her third mug of cider. Rainbow Dash chugs this mug as well; I wonder if she has a separate area designed to hold cider. She removes the foam from her face, then looks at me cheerfully. "Come on, let's dance!" she exclaims, hopping off the stool and pulling me with her hoof back onto the dance floor. I continue to shake quietly with laughter at her antics, but get back into the groove of the music as well. A small voice in my head informs me that the current song is Some Chords, another by deadmau5. We quickly regain our rhythm with renewed energy, dancing and grinning at each other. Her dancing is a little more wild, her mane and tail flinging about wildly as she loses herself in the music. I do the same, closing my eyes and absorbing the beat. I can see color behind my eyelids, glancing off their outsides and creating a light show within my head. The music is relaxing yet energizing, and I love every second of it. The seconds seem to pass quickly, though, and the song traverses into the next, and the next. I think around four songs have come and gone before I re-open my eyes. I blink a few times to adjust to the poorly-lit, flashing environment. Rainbow continues to dance in front of me, and ponies continue to party all around us. I notice that her movements seem to have more sway to them, as if she's getting off balance. Suddenly she stumbles forward, tripping on her own legs. I quickly dart down, catching her against my shoulder. I feel the light blue mare continue to sway against my shoulder. "Whoa, why's the floor moving?" Dash asks no one in particular. Being that the floor is not moving, save for from the vibration created by the bass drum, I get the feeling the alcohol is kicking in in her system; I note her voice also sounds slightly slurred. She steps backwards, off my shoulder, trying to right herself again. She stands for a moment, continuing to nod her head slightly off of the beat, swaying a little on her legs. Rainbow begins leaning too far in one direction again, and I put out my right foreleg beside her to prevent her from falling. She leans against my leg, then rebounds in the other direction, balancing for another moment. I can't help but smile while watching her move about in a drunken state. I wonder for a moment how she could possibly wasted on cider, then remember the fact she is a female and her small, light frame don't help counter the effects of alcohol very well. "I think it's time to go," I tell her just loud enough for her to hear. She nods in reply, probably too disoriented to even comprehend what I just said. I bring up my left foreleg and wrap it over her shoulders, then begin pulling her through the crowd. It's fairly challenging, actually, considering that I am walking on three legs, Rainbow Dash is half-incapacitated, and there are ponies everywhere, serving as excellent obstacles. Eventually we push out off of the dance floor, and I lead her towards the hallway leading to the exit. I glance back into the flashing room, smiling at the environment, then head on through the passage with Rainbow at my side. I push open the door leading outside with my head; I smile at the door guard, who returns a sympathetic-looking smile in return. "That..." Dash starts, hiccuping. "...was fun..." "Yes it was," I reply softly, smiling at her. I look away from her, looking around. The night sky is clear and bright, lit by a bright half-moon and the stars, all of which I can see. The air is cool and refreshing. A few lanterns glow dimly on streets nearby. I squint into the sky, searching for the home of the drunken pegasus beside me. I spot the small-looking cloud high up, hovering near Ponyville. I frown, wondering if Rainbow Dash will be able to fly. "Think you can fly?" I ask her, stating my thoughts. She turns and looks up at me, grinning. Her magenta eyes are half-lidded, and look unfocused. She sways back and forth, stumbling a little every so often. "Well...duh! I'm, like..." Another hiccup. "...the best flier...in all of Equestria!" I eye her suspiciously, not doubting her statement but not believing she is fit to fly. What else can I do, though? I look up into the sky again. There are no clouds in sight, else I would just find one nearby for us to sleep on. I don't know where any inns are, if any exist in Ponyville. My frown deepens as I watch the uncoordinated pony wobble around. I take a deep breath, then jump into the air, hovering above Rainbow and waiting for her to follow me. She looks up, then shakily jumps up, flapping her wings. She manages to keep herself aloft so far, so I steadily begin flying upward, angled towards her home. I keep my eyes on her the entire time, watching her trail slightly behind me. About halfway between her house and the ground, I see Dash starting to tilt in various directions, like an airplane with a broken rudder. I slow my already sluggish pace, watching her closely and moving closer to her in the air. As I move towards her, I see her wing flaps becoming uncoordinated, the right and left wings not beating in synchronization. She begins losing altitude, then starts to free-fall. Shit! I tilt myself downwards, quickly pressing my wings into my sides. I begin a dive in the air, forelegs outstretched, vision focused solely on the quickly plummeting rainbow-maned pegasus. She tumbles wildly, seemingly unable to right herself. I think she's screaming...no, wait...she's...laughing? Rainbow Dash laughs cries out with glee as she falls, seemingly enjoying the experience. I try to force myself down faster in the air; I can see the ground approaching rapidly, and feel some panic. I finally dive just below her, getting where I want to. I move my forelegs under her back, pulling her into me. I flare my wings outward, feeling a huge pull on them from the rapid stop. I pump them hard, making sure we're going to stay in the air. I glance downward, seeing the ground only twenty feet below me. Too close. I heave a sigh of relief, then look back at the pony I carry in my forelegs. Rainbow lays atop them, her four legs above her; I can feel one of her wings pressing into my chest, stiff with excitement. She continues to giggle absent-mindedly, acting as if she didn't just free-fall for a few hundred feet. I sigh in some exasperation, then begin flapping my wings and slowly lifting the two of us upward. Good thing she doesn't weigh much. Dash feels light and warm in my forelegs. She fidgets some, twisting so that she rests on her side as I carry her. She wraps her cyan forelegs around my neck, hugging loosely and placing her head on my shoulder, still facing me. I feel her press her face into my neck, then inhale. "You smell good," she comments. This evokes a snort of laughter from me. Another minute of flying upwards at a slow rate passes before she speaks again. "I want some more cider...do we have any cider?" "No, I don't think so." You don't need any more, anyways. She lets out an exaggerated groan of despair, pressing her face into my neck again. I chuckle, and continuing flying us up. I see that we are nearing her house now, and flap my wings a little harder. I lift us over and onto the cloud holding and making up her three-story tower home. I set Rainbow Dash down as gently as I can on the surface of the cloud, placing her upright to save her the trouble of standing up. I settle down beside her; I feel the light impact of her head as she rests it on my shoulder. I guide her to and into her house. It is dark inside, and I nearly bump a leg on the little cloud table in the kitchen. Coming upon the stairs, I frown, wondering how hard climbing stairs will be with a drunk pony leaning on me. It turns out, not that hard. We climb the stairs slowly; she stumbles on every other step, making our pace slow enough that Tank could probably ascend the stairs faster. On the way up, a stream of words flows from Dash's mouth, most coming out half distorted. "Y'know...you're awesome...kinda lame...but, I like it...smell really good, too..." I'm quietly shaking with controlled laughter as we approach the top floor, entering her room. I leave her side, going over to one side of the bed and pulling back the covers with my teeth. I move back over to her, then guide her into the open bed, pulling the covers over her as she continues mumbling unintelligibly. I trot around to the other side of the bed, sliding underneath the blankets next to the intoxicated mare. When I am fully into the bed, Rainbow turns over to face me. She clumsily wraps her legs around me, pressing her head into my chest. I feel my face contort in some surprise as she hugs me tightly. Her warmth instantly starts flowing throughout me, and I feel relaxed. I smile, looking down at the top of her multicolored mane. "Good night, Rainbow Dash," I say quietly. The rainbow-maned pegasus looks up at me, eyes half-lidded, a weary smile on her face. I can smell a mixture of alcohol, apples, and the familiar spicy smell on her breath when she speaks. "G'night, Ferrum." I wrap my forelegs over her, hugging her close to me. I close my eyes, feeling tired, warm, and happy.