Chapter 74
Rainbow Dash went to the library to see Twilight once more. There were some contracts to sign which Dash did willingly. If not for her line of credit, she would be getting short of funds. She told Twilight that she would be by in the morning and went in search of supper. She was not really hungry so she settled for a sandwich and returned home where she had a few apples while answering some mail. After about an hour she grew bored and fell asleep by the window.
An hour or so later she was awakened by an incessant knocking at her door. Startled and confused, she fell off the window ledge and stumbled to the door. She shook her head and opened the door to find Frost standing on her porch.
“Is this the Dash residence?” asked Frost.
Rainbow Dash laughed. “Hiya Frosty,” she said, “c'mon in.”
Frost entered and Dash told her to follow her upstairs. “You're here first so I guess you get the spare bedroom. Right this way.”
“What were you doing?” asked Frost. “I was knocking for a couple minutes.”
“Napping,” said Dash. “I was following Mr. Immelmane's orders to rest.”
“Oh sure,” said Frost, “you always follow orders.”
“I'll follow that one,” replied Dash, “no problem.”
The pair shared a laugh and Dash entered the spare room. It was nearly a mirror image of Dash's own room but slightly smaller.
“Make yourself at home,” said Dash. “Shelves will support your stuff but the floor won't except for along the inner wall. That door goes to the bathroom and that one's a closet.”
“This is a nice place,” said Frost. “I'm surprised you didn't just buy this one.”
“It wouldn't have made sense,” said Dash. “I would've had to pay the difference for a new one for the next weather team leader and pay to rent a place for the leader until it was built. I will miss this place. I've lived here almost the whole time I've been in Ponyville.”
“So what now?” said Frost, as she shrugged off her bags. “I did manage to get dinner before I left and I picked up some snacks for later. What were your plans for the evening?”
“I didn't really make any,” admitted Dash. “Let's go down to the library and I'll introduce you to Twilight Sparkle and Spike. After that we can do a fly over of Ponyville so you can get an idea of where things are.”
“Let's skip meeting your friends until tomorrow,” said Frost, “I'm a little tired. I had a great practice today but it was tough flying and then I had to fly all the way here.”
“You got to fly all three positions?” asked Dash.
“Yes,” said Frost, proudly, “I did pretty well too. I got a little fast when I flew lead but they all said I did well. It felt so good to hear that. It made all the practice work seem worth it.”
“Even the sky dancing?” asked Dash.
“Yeah, even that,” said Frost with a laugh. “Don't forget our bet. I've gotten a lot better and I'm going to make you work for that free dinner.”
“Yeah, yeah,” said Dash, “we'll see. I've been working out too you know.”
“Just don't say you weren't warned,” said Frost. “It'll be good to hang out together again, Dashie. I really mean that.”
“You too, Frosty,” said Dash. “This should be a great week. I got another bottle of Barleyfields too. We can have a little nip later. Let's take your snacks down to the kitchen and then we can relax for a while.”
The relaxing didn't last. Neither pegasus could stay still for very long. The sun was almost set when the pair left Rainbow's home and glided over Ponyville. There were few ponies about but here and there a few earth ponies could be seen going home from the market. The cafe was busy and several ponies looked up to see the pegasi fly by. Most of the town knew that some of Rainbow Dash's Wonderbolt friends were staying in their town for the week and were eager to catch a glimpse of them. Frost and Rainbow Dash circled the town slowly as Dash pointed out the more important places. They flew out to Sweet Apple Acres and then Fluttershy's cottage. Frost found it amusing that all the pegasi but Rainbow Dash lived on the ground. She wasn't as impressed by the Everfree Forest as Firewing had been since there was still a lot of wild country near Cloudsdale.
It was a leisurely flight but Rainbow Dash was well rested and couldn't resist going past her house and doing a few tricks. Frost was less inclined to force her aching muscles to do more and settled on a cloud to watch. After about fifteen minutes of flying, Rainbow Dash landed beside her.
“Not up for any tricks tonight?” asked Dash.
“Not really,” said Frost. “Let's go back to your place and have a little of that drink. Maybe we could dilute it with something this time.”
“I don't have anything but a little apple juice and water,” said Dash. “Hey! Remember that time we got that bottle of something, I don't remember what it was, but we took it out to the woods and couldn't drink it because it was so bad? We didn't have anything else so we got a cloud and poured the drink through the cloud into glasses to dilute it. Maybe we could try that.”
“Yeah,” said Frost, “that sort of worked but it still tasted bad. The Barleyfields is a lot better so it might work. Fly up and grab one of those clouds up there. They should be colder.”
“Good idea,” said Dash and sped off.
Dash returned with the cloud and together they pushed it back to Dash's house. Dash went inside and returned with a small pitcher and the remains of the first bottle of Barleyfields. Between the two of them they managed to pour the liqueur through the cold cloud and into the pitcher. It almost doubled the amount of liquid. The pair grinned at each other and hurried back inside.
Frost made herself comfortable in Dash's living room while Dash went to get some glasses. She soon returned and poured them each a half a glass of the concoction.
“Well, here goes,” said Frost. She took a mouthful of the drink and swallowed. “Pretty good,” said Frost. “It's still kind of strong though.”
Dash took a drink. It was much weaker than the first time she tasted it but Frost was right, the potency was still apparent. She swished a small amount in her mouth before swallowing. It was cool but not cold and still had the flavor she liked. “I think we're onto something here,” she said.
Frost agreed and took another sip. They spent the next hour talking and laughing as they reminisced about old times. By then they had finished the original bottle and were considering opening the full bottle. Rainbow Dash suggested they go on a little moonlight flight.
Neither pegasus was, by this point, very intoxicated and Frost had recovered from her flying to some extent so she followed Dash out and they flew away from Ponyville. Before long they were doing tricks and showing off for one another. The serious tricks devolved into parodies of real maneuvers and soon they were laughing so hard that they could barely fly.
Frost landed on a cloud followed closely by Rainbow Dash. Dash was going slowly and giggling as she prepared to land. Just for fun, Rainbow did a single flat spin and landed on the cloud so that she lay on her side facing Frost.
“Wow, Dash,” said Frost, “is that move going to be in your routine?”
Dash got the better of her laughing. “What?” she answered, “What are you talking about?”
“That landing you just did,” said Frost. “That looked pretty cool.”
“Aw, I was just messing around,” said Dash. “I just sort of... did it.”
“I'm telling you Dashie, that could be a really cool way to end a show,” insisted Frost. “How fast and how many spins do you think you could do?”
“Probably just a couple since I was going so slow,” said Dash. “Of course I could spin a couple of times on the cloud after I land. It wouldn't last long though because I'd bore right through it if I did very many.”
“Oh yeah,” said Frost and fell silent for a second as she thought about the move. “I have a great idea. Why don't you do this; get a nice flat thin cloud and put it on the ground. Then you come in and do your moves to slow down. Do your flat spin on top of the cloud and disperse it and then end up facing the crowd in a pose of some kind.”
Rainbow Dash smiled. “Yeah! I could picture doing something like that,” she said. “We can work on it tomorrow. Imagine doing that at night with a spotlight shining on the cloud. That would look so awesome.”
“Yeah,” said Frost, “that would. Look, I'm about ready for bed. Let's have a another drink and call it a night.”
“Okay, let me grab another cloud,” said Dash. “I guess it is about time to call it a night. Firewing and Windy will be here tomorrow and there's still a little stuff to clean up at my place.”
Frost watched Dash fly upwards until she disappeared into the dark sky. The moon shone on the white puffs here and there in the sky. It was another lovely night in Equestria and Frost laid back to take it all in. She was more of a night pony than almost any pony she knew but lately she had been up for most of the day. When she was younger, it was nothing for her to stay up all night and sleep in the depths of Cloudsdale until the moon was up. She chuckled to herself. Maybe Windyday was right when she said she was more in touch with Luna than Celestia. A flicker of light caught her eye high up in the sky. As she watched, it grew as it descended. Rainbow Dash was returning with a tuft of cloud.
Frost lifted off and flew to meet Dash who altered her course to head to her home. “We'll have to hurry,” said Dash, “this little cloud is going to disperse pretty quick. It's really cold too.”
“You went so high that I couldn't see you,” said Frost. “You must have really been up there.”
They flew quickly to Rainbow's home and brought out the pitcher and the second bottle of Barleyfields. Working as before, Dash poured the liqueur through the cloud and Frost caught it in the pitcher. They made enough for a couple of small glasses for themselves. Retreating to the living room they talked and drank this colder version of the beverage.
It was starting to get late now and both ponies were feeling the effects of the drink. At last Dash staggered upstairs and into her bed. She left Frost in the living room. Frost was looking through an issue of the Ponyville paper when Dash left but waved her sleepy friend goodnight as she finished her drink.