“Hey Denise, are you going to sleep all day?”
My eyes slid open, revealing Rainbow’s nose inches from mine as she hovered over me. I should have jerked in surprise, but the cloud bed beneath me was so comfortable that I felt as relaxed as a wet noodle.
“Yeah, I’m awake.” I yawned and sat up. I really, really didn’t want to leave that bed. The Cloudsdale hotel wasn’t super luxurious, but it was the best night’s sleep I could remember. The relatively mild drinking the night before probably contributed to that. With the thin air at higher altitudes, it took less.
I frowned in memory. “Where were you last night, Rainbow?”
“I was trying to meet up with you guys, but Fluttershy never goes out on the town and I wasn’t sure where she would take you. I was searching all the hangouts, and it seems like I met up with some old friends in each one.”
“You could have called,” I pointed out.
“I didn’t have my phone.”
I frowned. Now that Rainbow mentioned it, I hadn’t seen her wearing a cell phone holder or in fact much of anything that she usually carried around with her at school, such as a coin purse or ID. She usually had pockets that strapped to her fetlocks to carry everything she needed.
The lack of accessories was more fitting with the residents of Equestria. Most of them rarely carried anything. I supposed if Rainbow was on vacation from college, it made sense to shed some weight.
I reluctantly got out of bed and made for the bathroom. Rainbow was headed for the door, but paused. “Everypony else left Cloudsdale this morning. You slept late, and I volunteered to wait for you. The two of us haven’t really gotten to hang out much so far on spring break.”
I nodded. “Okay, just hanging out today sounds cool. Let me get ready.”
After getting myself presentable, I checked out of the hotel and went to breakfast with Rainbow. I had grown slightly more confident in the cloud walking spell, but still kept to the fortified sidewalks as much as possible.
While I was doing my morning freshening up in the bathroom, Rainbow had put a black velcro cell phone holder band around her ankle and a Bluetooth piece in her ear so she didn’t have to go to the trouble of pulling the phone out if she got a call.
Rainbow recommended a place to eat. The way she knew Cloudsdale like the back of her hoof while I was in the dark reminded me a little bit of the beginning of the school year, when Rainbow was still a college newbie and I was the experienced regular.
The turnabout was interesting. Since I’d known Rainbow, it wasn’t often that she was the one giving me lessons. Based on her attitude, I think she enjoyed it. It didn’t surprise me. Her attitude pegged her as a somepony who wanted to be in charge.
We sat down and looked through the menus. The selection looked quite good. I was just about to ask Rainbow what she was considering when a male voice interrupted me. “Hey Rainbow Crash!”
A brown stallion with mane in his eyes and basketballs for a cutie mark came over to the table. “Well, well, I didn’t think I’d ever see you in Cloudsdale again. I heard you moved to Earth.”
“Hello Hoops,” said Rainbow. It sounded like she was fighting to keep her tone neutral. I saw her eyes flick to me and then back to our visitor. She edged slightly, trying to slide in her seat to get between me and him.
Hoops glanced over her at me, or at least I think he did. I couldn’t see his eyes behind his mane. “Oh, is this your human friend? Somepony said you were living together.”
“College roommates,” Rainbow confirmed.
Chuckling, Hoops asked, “What, Canterlot University not good enough for you?”
I think Rainbow may have been playing at civil just because I was there, but now she began to lose her patience. My earlier assumption of her trying to appear in charge may have been proving true. “At least I’m actually going to college. I'm also seeing a little bit more of the two worlds.”
Rainbow must have touched a nerve. Hoops lost the fake friendly attitude he had been playing at. “At least I know my place. Look at you, with that fancy human stuff you’re wearing. Gonna turn into a monkey?”
Rainbow stiffened, her teeth gritting. She was about to do something stupid, I could just see it. I touched her front leg where it lay on the table and she glanced at me. I gave her a slight shake of the head.
I turned my attention to Hoops. “On Earth, do you know what we do to stallions who get a little too full of themselves?” I smiled. “We geld them.”
Hoops’ mouth turned down and he snorted, spinning around and marching away. I heard Rainbow let out a breath and she visibly relaxed as I looked at her. “Remind me never to piss you off.”
"That's me, the big bad veterinarian." I sat back in my chair and shrugged modestly. “I would be lying if I said I hadn’t put some thought into how to go about insulting a different species. It’s human nature.”
That last comment seemed to put a damper on Rainbow’s mood. She glanced down at her cell phone as if considering whether that was more human nature than pony. “Yeah, I see where you’re coming from. People and ponies have a lot in common, but there’s still a big gap.”
I shrugged. “It’s the differences that make things fun.”
“Well…I hate to admit it, but Hoops was kind of right. Living on Earth, I’ve changed so much that even I noticed it. I’m not human obviously, but I’m starting to pick up little habits and words that I never would have otherwise.”
I snickered. “I’m still trying to teach you how to say ‘pop’ like a proper midwesterner.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Soda.”
Her mood turned a little more serious. “I’m still thinking about this, though. My friends here in Equestria have known me longer, and a few of them told me they’re surprised at how much I’ve changed.”
“Are they worried about you?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, none of them have said that. I think…it’s just a change. Not bad or good, just different than I used to be.”
“You also didn’t used to be a college student studying aeronautical engineering,” I pointed out. “If you never changed, you’d never accomplish anything.”
“I guess. I’m just a little worried about who I am.”
I paused for a moment and then threw out in a sappy voice, “You’re my friend and that’s all that matters.”
Rainbow chuckled and adopted a snarky tone. “That’s nice. Of course, it would be nicer if it mattered a little more, like if you were somebody important.”
“Important…” I smacked myself in the forehead. “Ohmygosh, I can’t believe I forgot. I met Spitfire last night.”
“What?! Where?”
“Well, right after your awards ceremony I visited the restroom and she came in while I was there. Actually, it was a really amazing coincidence that Twilight called just then.”
Rainbow had been listening with rapt attention but now her brows furrowed. “Um, what?”
“It was really weird,” I replied. Twilight was shouting something about Russian antiaircraft missiles. There was a lot of background noise in her call. It was hard to hear her, and I didn’t really understand what she was talking about anyway. Luckily, Spitfire was there and apparently she’s in the Equestrian Air Force?”
“Right,” Rainbow nodded earnestly. “Her special talent is pyrotechnics. She’s the most highly regarded weapons officer in the Air Force.”
I shrugged. “Anyway, Spitfire was able to tell Twilight whatever it was that she wanted to know. After that little conversation starter, I talked to Spitfire for a while.”
“What did you talk about?” Rainbow was hanging on my every word. She must really, really like this Spitfire.
“Just stuff. I told her who I was and what I study. When she found out about my schooling, she asked a few questions about her tortoise—”
“Spitfire has a tortoise?!” Rainbow practically shouted. Several other restaurant patrons looked at her.
“Uh, yeah, she does. I think I remember you once saying that you had a pet tortoise. What was his name?”
“Tank. When I left for college, I left him with Scootaloo. You met her yesterday, right?”
I nodded. “Right. She was saying how cool it would be to hang out with you.”
Rainbow ducked her head a little and looked away. “Yeah. Um, I guess I should go do that.”
“Well, it’s been a fun little trip to Cloudsdale, but I wasn’t planning on spending much more time here. After breakfast, do you want to head back to Ponyville?”
Rainbow nodded, her head coming up. “Yeah. I have a few ponies to see there.”