A Cold Wind Blows

Chapter 2
Second Cup

The first trip to the Fresh Brew Café proved to be fruitless, as Glacier had not even spoken to but one stallion. And the stallion he had spoken to was most certainly not into other stallions. Such was proven by the way the stallion spoke about his mare-friend almost the entire time they conversed. All the while, Ice sat back, face-hoofing herself as she watched the bumbling stallion “work his magic”. And let’s just say: even if the other stallion was interested…and not attached, Glacier still wouldn’t have had a chance. Clearly he can write out the words of love and wooing, but was lackluster in projecting them conversation-wise. At least, when he was trying to do so.

However how bad the first day seemed to be harping on the stallion, Ice was there to try and make him feel better. She even stayed the night, sleeping over with him and snuggling up with him on the couch as he mulled over the things that he had done wrong during the visit to the café. The whole time he stayed on the topic of his incompetence when it came to speaking to an attractive stallion. He always found it hard. Always. But Ice was sure she could cheer her friend up.

“Hey!” Ice beamed, silencing her friend abruptly. “You know what would help cheer you up?” Glacier deadpanned, clearly not impressed in his friend. Though the voice in the back of his mind ached for him to hear her out. She was truly his only real friend that wasn’t family after all.

“What could possibly cheer me up?” Glacier rolled his eyes in questioning, looking away from his friend thereafter. He then hung his head over the hoof-rest of the moderately-sized red couch they sat upon. He huffed out of a puff of exaggerated air. An air his friend could pick up on from a mile away.

The mare frowned slightly now. “I know that sigh,” Ice said, a heavy weight present in her tone. Her usually bubbly, soft voice, had turned into something far deeper and sadder. “That’s the same sigh I heard all the time after—“

“Stop right there,” Glacier interrupted. He looked over to his friend, a furrow in his brow now, and a slant in his eyes. “Please don’t. You know how I get when ponies bring…that up.” There was then a creak as Glacier took to rising off of the couch, his hooves touching down softly on a black woolen carpet. It softened the blow of his steps as he slowly trudged from the centre of the common-room, to the threshold of the dining-room.

“Glacier…”

The stallion stopped.

“I’m sorry… You know that, don’t you?” Ice asked.

The stallion turned about face the dining-room and looked back to his friend. There was something in the way she was sitting on the couch just then. The look on her muzzle, and the slight look of tears in her eyes. She knew she had brought up a demon that was better left off buried. But it was just so hard when this demon was just so influential to Glacier.

“I know that you didn’t do it on purpose…” The stallion hung his head, looking up to the mare from its slightly lower orientation. “I forgive you.” He began to walk back over to the couch, creeping up rather slowly. And once he was there, he pulled himself back up on the couch, this time closer to Ice Stream. And, extending his right wing, Glacier wrapped it around his friend, pulling her close.

“You’re such a suck, Glacier Wind,” Ice teased playfully, sticking her tongue out.

“No I’m not,” he retorted, pulling her closer. He then placed his head upon her own—minding her horn—humming as he held her in his embrace of friendship. “You’re my best friend, you know that, right?”

Ice giggled and looked up to him with a subtle brightness returning to her demeanor. “I’m your only friend Glacier.” She then pushed him away from her with what was a considerable amount of force, before the stallion fell back with a giggle.

“You know what?” He asked, sitting back up. He scuttled on his flanks back to the other side of the couch, and rested back against the hoof-rest. Shooting Ice one of the slyest smiles he could, Glacier continued. “You’re right.”

2…

“Glacier?” Ice said with a flick of her mane, standing on her hind-legs at his stove, spoon in her maw. The stallion turned to look at her from the counter next to her, a smile on his muzzle. Ice placed the spoon down on the counter before speaking again. “How many carrots should we put in the soup?”

“About two or free should be ghood,” Glacier said through the handle of a vegetable knife. He placed the knife down on the counter next to the cutting board totting various chopped up vegetables. Carrots just so happened to be one. “Sorry, force of habit.” His smile turned sheepishly. “Two or three should be good.”

Ice giggled and poked the stallion in the shoulder with a hoof. “Then you got to start remembering to not speak when your mouth is full.”

Glacier smiled wickedly now. “What if I like talking with my mouth full?” He poked the mare back and she smacked his hoof away with a shriek of a giggle, yelling at him for his obscenity.

“Oh, you dirty colt!” the mare yelled, picking up a nearby tea towel in her mouth and smacking the stallion on the wing and then on the flank. He yipped but giggled as he too picked up a tea towel in his mouth, smacking her flank a lot lighter than she was smacking him.

“You’re just as bad, silly little filly,” Glacier laughed as he jumped over Ice, dropping his towel on the poor, unsuspecting mare’s head. He flew into the common-room next, landing square next to a small coffee table. Standing there triumphantly as his friend ran into the room after him, he said, “You want to be with a mare so badly, you get all huffy and puffy when they pay you no attention. You must wanna get a mouth—“

Ice charged Glacier down before he could finish his rather lewd statement, and she tackled him to the ground, tea towel still held tightly in-between her teeth. She laughed as the colt fell to the ground under her quickly. She then tossed the tea towel to the side, it landing on the coffee table and hanging off of the edge.

“So easy,” she chuckled to herself as her friend covered his face with his hooves sheepishly. “Time to man-up Glacier.” She stepped off of her friend and sat on her haunches next to coffee table, Glacier looking to her the entire time.

“Yeah…” he giggled, looking to the floor with a heavy breath, before peering back up to her with another wide yet sheepish smile. “That was fun.”

Ice Stream looked to him with a very similar smile to that of his own. “Of course it was fun, silly colt.” She swatted him with a hoof, resulting in a comical ‘oof’ from the stallion. “I’m you’re bestest friend. What are friends for, if not to have fun?”

The mare stood on her hooves once more, and began to stride towards the kitchen. Once upon the threshold, she looked back over her withers to Glacier. “Come, silly colt. We still have some soup to make. After lunch we are going to your favourite store.”

3…

The time had come and gone for Glacier and Ice to eat, and they had finally finished their soup. It was a rather delicious affair. And the time had now come for the duo to make their way to the very special store that Ice had been promising the pegasus they would go.

“Now,” Ice began as she hopped down the dirt path leading away from Glacier’s home, “we are going to The Beat Goes On for a reason.”

“And why is that?” Glacier asked, brows quirked as he watched his friend bounce so jubilantly.

“Duh,” she said exaggeratedly, smacking the colt in the foreleg. “Because you love music. It always helps you out of a funk. Regardless what kind it is. It’s always helped.”

“Sounds like you want me to empty my already rather light bag of bits, and make it even lighter.” Glacier smiled to his friend, smacking her in the foreleg as well, laughing a little to himself as he did so. “I figure you’re actually bringing me there so that I can buy you a new record that you can’t really buy for yourself right now.”

The mare smiled rather wildly, giggling all the while like a crazy mare. “How did you know?” she questioned, extending the ‘know’ to go on seemingly forever.

“Countess Coloratura has a new album out, doesn’t she?” he deadpanned.

The look on Ice’s face fell and it turned from one of gleeful giddiness, to one of shock and surprise. “Oh goddesses, no…” She looked away bashfully and back with a slight recovery of her smile. “Does she now? I had no clue.”

Finally making it into town it didn’t take the friends very long to get to The Beat Goes On. The smaller than average store boasted a rather large sign of a 78RPM record, with the name of the shop in the centre sticker. The words were a neon white, blue, green, and red respectively. It hung there, placed directly against the wall of the establishment.

Walking up to the front door, the two continued to debate over why Ice had been dragging Glacier out to this store in particular. Sure, just like the mare had said, this was the stallion’s favourite store to go to. It had wonderful staff, wonderful music playing on the phonograph, and a wonderful selection of music to boot. But he was confused, to say the least.

“Why are we here again exactly?” Glacier asked, eyeing the store around them both further. “I mean, I’ve been here with you before, bought you and I music, and have also perused the occasional stud that walks through the door. What gives?”

She furrowed her brow and looked to him with an arduously overemphasised look of displeasure. “Oh, you know why we are here,” the mare then giggled. Glacier smirked and smacked his friend in the back of her head with a wing. Though it was rather lightly.

“Yeah, I do. Buy Ice Stream a new album of music, that’s what I’m here doing.” He rolled his eyes, laughing internally as he then began to walk away, flicking his tail into the mare’s chest as he went on.

“Aww, don’t be like that, Glacier.” Ice groaned in frustration and looked to the stallion at the counter, whom smiled to her warmly. He looked to her almost as if this was a natural and continuous occurrence of theirs. And he wouldn’t be wrong.

“Well, I’m going over here,” Glacier yelled from across the store, almost hiding out behind all the shelves of seemingly endless LP’s. “I’m going to look for something that isn’t that.” He then motioned a wing over towards a display of Countess Coloratura’s new album on the far end of the store. “I’m looking for something with a little more texture this time.”

Finding a shelf of LP’s the stallion thought to be interesting, he settled in and took to looking. Syphoning through the works of Beethooven, The Beach Colts, Stone Temple Pegasi, The Backalley Colts, and Smash Muzzle, Glacier noticed the name of a group he had never seen there before. They had a particularly interesting name: Neighvana.

The colt mused over the idea of what this band could truly be about. What their sound was like, and just why they called themselves ‘Neighvana’. It was all very peculiar to the colt. He even cocked his head to the side and stuck out his tongue as he thought about just what the album would sound like. Then the stallion looked at the actual art on the cover. The art was black and white, and showed the ponies of this band playing music with electric guitars and elaborate drum kits.

Next was the title.

He looked over the jacket, scanning it with his eyes almost ceremoniously. He was looking for it without properly touching the thing. And in finding nothing, the stallion took to lifting the album off of the shelf, and looked it over in his hooves. He looked over the cover again and found the name of the album on the bottom of the cover art. The title read: “Bleach”.

Interesting… A thing used for cleaning clothes (that Glacier and every other pony wore so infrequently) used as the title. It was certainly intriguing enough though, that Glacier took to walking up to the stallion at the front counter for question.

“Hello,” Glacier called out as he approached the counter. The stallion looked over to him as Glacier placed the record on the countertop. He slid it over to the stallion unceremoniously, the plastic shrink wrap skidding slightly on the surface.

“How are you today, Sir?” The brown unicorn stallion smiled to Glacier with a rather warm and friendly smile. He quirked an eyebrow and looked down to the cover of the album and then looked back up to Glacier. The smile was still very much there, but there seemed to be a different air behind it. Glacier could tell.

“I’m doing well,” Glacier said rather happily. Extending a hoof, he placed it on the low-riding countertop and tapped it next to the album he had placed there. He then continued to speak to the cashier stallion about the album in question. “I am curious about this one here… Would you, perhaps, be able to explain it a little?”

The unicorn stallion brushed the back of his black and white streaked mane (it was a medium length) with a hoof, and almost looked away with a rather transformed smile about his muzzle. It looked almost as if it had turned sheepish, the corners of his lips playing little waves on his features and his teeth completely sealed behind his lips. He hummed out a little something that sounded much like uncertainty in sound form, and looked Glacier directly in the eyes.

There was a sparkle there.

Glacier smiled back a little harder and a heat grew in his cheeks. He was sure that the cashier stallion could see, but he couldn’t be sure. It didn’t look like he was reacting to it. Or perhaps, he just didn’t care.

On the other side of the shop, Ice could be found rummaging through other various albums that she would most likely try and get Glacier to buy for here. I mean, why buy your own albums when you have a friend that will buy them all for you? Am I right? However, once she heard the tone of not only Glacier’s voice but that of another stallion’s as well, she turned to find him deep in conversation. She smiled.

“Atta colt, Glacier,” the mare whispered under her breath. She then turned to look back over the few albums that were in front of her; all variously pop related in sound, and continued her self-shopping on Glacier’s behalf.

Back on the other side of the shop, Glacier was still talking to the stallion in question.

“Well,” the stallion began, placing his hoof slightly closer to Glacier’s own, “the name comes from the frontman of the group wanting something that played on the word ‘nirvana’.”

Glacier giggled giddily, without really realizing it. “Seems simple enough. But effective.”

“Exactly,” the cashier stallion said, laughing a little himself. He leaned over the countertop further, sliding his hoof a little closer to Glacier’s own, looking him right in the eyes. “As for the title of the album. I wouldn’t be able to tell you in the slightest. I’m not too sure myself.”

“Well, that certainly was a help regardless. But,” Glacier tapped the cover of the album, moving his hoof away from where the other stallion’s had been, “what is their sound like?” This got another chuckle from the cashier pony, which made Glacier quirk his head to the side in a cute manner, the purple stripe of his mane falling over his right eye. He looked on past it to the other pony with intrigue.

“Their sound is a little interesting,” the stallion said with another slight chortle. He scratched the back of his mane yet again. “They are a mix of really hard rock and punk music at the moment, though I’m sure their music will evolve like with just about any group really. But it really is something you need to experience for yourself.” The stallion then winked at Glacier. “Like with other things too.”

Glacier’s blushed only burned ever brighter and he looked away sheepishly before eventually returning his gaze to the stallion. He looked back rather slowly, wanting not to look too pushy and desperate. He could clearly tell now that this stallion was trying to hit on him. Not like the hoof nearly brushing against his own again was any sign of that as well.

“Well,” the cashier pony began again, “would you—“

“Hey-a Glacier!” Ice interjected, bouncing up next to her friend. He looked over at her. “I got the albums I wanted.” The mare threw down a few albums from various pop groups that Glacier was sure he had never heard of before. He cocked his head to the side as he watched the mare trot in place next to him and practically beam with child-like excitement.

“Perfect. I think I found a rather interesting one to listen to while I write.”

The cashier stallion’s face fell. He looked a little rough around the edges now. “Is this your mare-friend?” the stallion asked.

Glacier looked to him, and he could see the confusion settling in on the stallion’s gradually changing features. “No,” he retorted. “This is my friend.” He jabbed Ice in the side with a hoof. Luckily it was covered up by the counter being in the way of the cashier’s sightline.

“Yeah,” Ice giggled, I’m just his friend.” The jab didn’t hurt. In fact, it was so light, that one might have through the strike had come from that of a little filly.

“Oh,” the stallion said with a raised brow now.

Glacier giggled, a little nervously now. “Yes…” He pulled over Ice Stream’s albums and placed them atop his own before asking the cashier how much he owned him for the purchase. The cashier almost reluctantly gave him a total and cashed both the stallion and his intervening friend out.

Ice and Glacier bid the stallion a rather rocky good day as he placed the newly purchased albums in his saddlebag, and then they left the record store. Upon leaving, Glacier took to chastising his friend from how she blocked him from talking to the stallion some more, and how she stopped the cashier stallion from asking him a question.

Glacier was very sure what that question was going to be, but the unlikelihood was still there. And it scared the stallion. Made it difficult for him to return to the store and face that cute stallion himself and ask him what he was going to ask him before Ice had interrupted. But he couldn’t. It would be too awkward now.

“You could always go back inside and ask the stallion what he was going to ask you. You know that, right?” Ice asked as they made their way back through the Ponyville market.

“I know that, Ice,” Glacier said, sounding a bit stressed by the whole situation. “It would be nice to be able to just walk back in there and ask the stallion what he was going to ask me, but I can’t.” He sigh and looked to the ground with an air of regret in the way he hung his head. He looked ashamed of himself now.

“Hey,” Ice began, nuzzling up against his side as they then cleared the marketplace and started on the road toward Glacier’s home, “you could always go back some other time and ask that stallion when you work up the courage…”
She paused for a second and Glacier didn’t say anything. Ice then took it upon herself to try and convince Glacier that it wasn’t going to be all too bad after all. “Remember Glacier…” She nudged into his side to try and get his attention better. “It would be nice to get a colt-friend, but let’s not push too hard. Perhaps you should step back and think about this one. He seems nice, you both got along, and he’s very handsome.”

“You know what?” Glacier rose his head and looked back to his friend, a slight smile on his now wavy-looking muzzle. “You’re right, Ice. I’ll listen to the album I bought and write a little tomorrow and just really think about it. Perhaps that is the best thing for me to do right now. Because, if I push too hard, the stallion might get the wrong idea; especially if he actually likes me. I don’t want to scare him away.”

“Exactly!” Ice exclaimed in a rather chipper tone as they both finally reached Glacier’s abode.
The two stepped up the short stairs to his front door. The stallion then pulled the key free from a little pouch in the side of his saddlebag and unlocked the door. Ice and Glacier then entered the house together, their new music and thoughts for the night in tow. Tomorrow was definitely going to be a little interesting.