Permafrost

“That’s what it means?” Diamond blurted out in shock, poking lightly at his own scarf. Seeing Party Favor’s smirk made it obvious it was true, but the realization after the fact only made him feel all the embarrassment at once.

They’d stopped at Diamond’s favorite pony watching spot, the farmer’s market, at the unicorn’s behest. From the moment he heard the athlete talk about the rumors, Party was clearly hooked. Since the moment they arrived, it was clear where his eyes were, taking in the various details of all the ponies around them. It was also rather clear he’d found something of interest, as their conversation slowly ground to a halt. It was a few moments before Party began speaking again.

Whether he was familiar with it or had just cracked the code was irrelevant. Diamond’s mind began to process all his previous observations in the context of what Party was telling him.

“Yep, think of it like a pet and owner thing, you put a leash around your hoof so you can hold on, and the pet has a collar around their neck. So if you hide your hoof, that means you want to hold the leash, take control, and be on top when the fun starts.” The unicorn almost sounded too chipper in his explanation not to have some firsthoof experience.

“And… hiding your neck means…” Diamond didn’t want to say it, as if keeping the words from passing his lips would rectify the fact that he’d been sauntering around a hookup spot wearing an advertisement for his flank. He wondered for a moment how many stallions he’d accidentally shot down without even realizing it.

“Wearing a collar!” Party chirped to the athlete's further embarrassment. “Sometimes literally”

Diamond looked incredulously towards Party at the last statement. He could believe that he was oblivious to just where he was up to now, but wearing a collar in public? He’d thought about it in a rare dark fantasy, but he couldn’t think of anypony mustering the courage to go through with it.

“Actually, it’s easy to spot if you know what to look for… That stallion there,” Party gestured subtly towards a rather slight looking pegasus with a bandana around his neck waiting for an order of fried noodles. “See the back of his neck? No knot. That bandana is threaded into something solid enough to keep it in place. It’s also loose enough that the neckline can hang a bit.”

Diamond almost couldn’t believe it. But sure enough, no sooner did the pegasus depart with his order that a slightly more aggressive stallion with a bangle on his left hoof started to chat him up. Moments later, they disappeared into the crowd. His jaw was almost on the cobblestones below them, a quick look over to Party, who was glancing right back with a rather amused look on his face..

“Maybe I should put a little something on my hoof so nobody bugs you while we’re here” Party quipped, softly poking Diamond’s shoulder.

“Well… how much longer would you want to stay here? The sun’s not going to be up for too much longer, If you and Frostfire were so excited about this party, shouldn’t we try to show up on time? If there was somewhere else that you wanted to stop we can, but I don’t think we should spend more than an hour here with how far the slope is from here,” Diamond offered, reflexively shrinking back out of embarrassment.

“Well, I was actually hoping we might be able to catch a few partygoers here before we started heading over.” The idea was slightly confusing to the athlete at first, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. If this was a hookup spot, and they were going to a clandestine party, then it was just as likely they might be looking for somepony to go there with.

“So, what would let us know if somepony’s going?” Diamond queried, looking for more obvious signs in the crowd, like flashy clothes or unique accessories. Those things were uncommon, but he’d seen them before.

“Well, I might actually know some of them from other parties I’ve gone to. A few of them live here, and they’d want to bring someone along,” the unicorn started to trot, trying to index the crowd. Diamond figured he knew what he was looking for, so the athlete just settled for trotting alongside his friend.

A sudden burst of excitement (and momentum) from Party tipped the athlete off to the first guest they’d found. At first glance, Diamond thought the unicorn was a mare, but after some careful observation, some things stuck out. The muzzle slope contrasted a cute, fluffy mane. Some very minor mannerisms didn’t quite fit such an effeminate tan-coated form… Diamond had read about femcolts so many times, but this was the first one he’d ever seen in person. After a short bit of chatter, Party eagerly called him over to introduce them.

“Double Diamond, this is Coco Cream! He’s a friend of mine that I met at a party back in Canterlot. I thought you two would get along well” the stallion nodded softly in response, smiling rather widely. Of course, the first thing the athlete's eyes magnetized to was the bandana tied around his neck.

“It’s great to meet you, Diamond. Your friend told me you were planning on coming later tonight. He also told me this was your first Underground party, and all I can say is you’ve picked a good one to start! CTS really pulled out all the stops for this one,” the femcolt trailed off with a rather distressed glance from the stallion next to him..

“CTS?” Diamond inquired, one eyebrow piqued. In all the discussions he’d had that day concerning their planned destination, that acronym had never come up once.

“They’re the planners for the event. Really clandestine group, It’s how they’re able to get this kind of venue when nopony would usually be allowed inside. I think the forepony for the project might be one of their contacts. They’re active in the San Franciscolt nightlife, but they thrive on secrecy.” Coco wilted back like he’d gotten a message. Party wasn’t telling him something, but he knew there was a good chance that he had a valid reason.

“So that’s why they use the acronym? Does anypony know what it stands for?” Diamond figured Party’s response to his question would give him some idea of what was going on.

“I’m pretty sure only the members know for sure. They need to stay this secret dude, if the crazies in the Solar church found out about the kind of get togethers they throw, they’d have a fit. They’d twist the hooves of the city guard until they took action,” Diamond’s stomach dropped. This kind of party was the sort of thing Solarist propaganda abused to illustrate why colt cuddlers were vile degenerates. He had an inkling they weren’t as bad as those bucked-up tracts solar evangelists left in public restrooms, but he wouldn’t know for sure until he laid his own eyes on it.

“Well that’s quite a way to kill the buzz. Remember, the Solarists don’t get a say where the sun doesn’t shine.” The voice sounded almost musical, cutting through the general thrum of the crowd with an air of sophistication markedly different than anypony else he could hear. However, there wasn’t a pony attached to that voice, but rather a dragon with blue and green scales, and a softly curved set of horns.

“Fridis!” The two of them seemed to magnetize to each other like long lost friends. Once the hugging and quick, friendly banter was over, the dragon glanced over to Diamond, realizing he hadn’t properly introduced himself.

“Terribly sorry, Introductions are in order. I’m Fridis, I’m a diplomat for the Dragonlands currently stationed at the San Fransiscolt Consulate.'' The dragon gave a small bow before rising to meet Diamond’s gaze. “I’m quite familiar with your friends Party Favor and Coco Cream, I believe we may have met as you seem familiar... but I’m terribly sorry. I can’t recall your name at the moment.” Diamond mulled over the query before realizing where exactly he’d be seen by a dragon he’d never laid eyes on.

“Oh, no, we haven’t met, but I have a feeling you may have seen my face before in the Canterlot Sun. It would’ve been in the article about the Elements’ raid on Starlight Glimmer’s village. I never picked up a copy myself, but I’ve been told I was rather prominent in one photo” Diamond felt a need to make as clear as he could he didn’t deserve whatever notoriety he had. Meanwhile, Fridis’ expression shifted from contemplation to understanding.

“Oh, yes. Terribly sorry for what happened, but I can see where the recognition came from. Your lovely visage was front page news, so ponies might recognize you even if they never picked up a copy of the paper that day.” The athlete glanced to the side; several encounters he’d had suddenly made a lot more sense.

“It’s not a problem, I’ve tried to move past it as much as I can. San Franciscolt has felt like a rather welcome change from the mountains.” Fridis nodded politely, considering a few ways to divert a conversation that visibly made his new acquaintance uncomfortable. Diamond meanwhile, was trying to think of a topic anywhere between past trauma, and the now extremely obvious scarf dangling from Fridis’ neck.

“Well then, I can only hope the little bash tonight is more than enough change for your liking. CTS parties are always something to look forward to, but this one seems like a rather special treat!” Coco took a few idle steps to turn and look at the crowd proper.

“For once, it seems like they got enough room for everypony that might want to come,” the femcolt added, moving alongside his friend, which brought the group up to a slow trot through the sea of ponies. “Not to mention, Fire’s actually here this time! I think a decent portion of the herd’s along for the ride too. We’d probably have ponies bursting out of the walls at this rate if the place was smaller”

“Yeah, I think Frostfire may have helped score the venue too, he’s been talking to nearly everypony involved in the construction since day one. I think he’s gonna be the only pony in San Fran allowed to sell slope tickets outside the gate once it’s finished.” Diamond trailed off, noticing Coco’s look of confusion before his eyes widened, then shut for a short giggle.

“Oh, I didn’t know you knew Frostfire. He’s a real slope star, but he’s not who I’m talking about. My Master’s name is Firewire. He went off to grab some dumplings with Shutter, they should be somewhere around here,” Coco craned his neck, trying to peek over the crowd with a few prancing hops. The last one seemed to strike home, their speed increasing through the crowd to a point most of them couldn’t see, but Diamond knew as his favorite takeout spot in the entirety of the farmer’s market. If he knew they’d wanted dumplings, the athlete probably could’ve directed them by reflex, if not by the savory smell that always seemed to be wafting across the market.

The crowd began to thin as they drew closer to the collection of benches. A good number of the chess players and bridge clubs were familiar faces to Diamond, so the two newcomers sitting together would’ve stuck out even if they weren’t wearing a matched set of bandanas. Now that he knew they were in complementary positions, he couldn’t really shift his attention to much else.

The third pony with neckwear seemed to be a rather demure looking red stallion, his rear hooves crossed as he daintily picked up the dumplings piece by piece, a far cry from the usual “thoroughly apply muzzle to plate” methods used by most non-unicorns. He kept his glasses neatly perched, glancing over to the stallion sure to be their second guest.

He seemed like the first partygoer to have a full stallion’s build, which fit the grey bandana tied around his hoof. Not a single stain was seen on his dark blue coat, despite how idly he tossed the dumplings into his mouth, never breaking eye contact with the pony next to him. The banter between them seemed somewhat reserved, as if there were topics that they had to prevent the conversation from drifting to. But when they noticed Coco parting the crowd, the chatter ground to a halt as they both jumped to their hooves.

“Master!” Coco chirped, charging down the blue stallion and wrapping him in a tight hug. “I found some other ponies going to the party later tonight, and they want to go in a group! I hope you don’t mind a few extra sets of hooves on the walk to the place” Judging by the puppydog eyes the femcolt was making, it was clear that he’d not mentioned anything beforehand. Either those eyes were absolute kryptonite, or it wasn’t that big of a problem to begin with.

“Well, I knew Fridis was here so I was ready for that, but I didn’t think you’d want to bring along anypony else,” the stallion rubbed his pet’s head, confidently trotting up to Diamond and Party. Shutter fell in behind him, seeming to shrink back quietly against his master’s form.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Double Diamond, and this is my friend Party Favor. We were planning on going to the party at the slalom later… so we figured it might be a little bit more fun to have a bigger group on the way there. I hope it’s not too much trouble, but we found Coco, and he seemed pretty excited about the idea,” the athlete offered, along with his hoof. The stallion gingerly shook it, glancing back to the small herd behind him.

“Glad to meet you Diamond, I’m Firewire, and the darling little wallflower on my flank is Shutter Speed.” Fire smirked as if he knew the sheepish grin his comment would’ve elicited from the bespectacled stallion was on his face.

“It’s nice to meet you Diamond, and it’s nice to see you again, Party,” a soft murmur rose up from behind the stallion, Shutter’s head poking up just enough to be seen. Diamond was starting to sense a pattern forming. Most of these ponies knew Party, and he knew them well enough to know they’d be there. While he still felt there was a missing piece in the whole equation, the athlete felt rather flattered the unicorn was willing to introduce him to any part of his circle of friends.

“So do you all live in San Franciscolt? I’m not the biggest for the party scene… Okay, I’ve never gone to one, but I’m surprised I’ve never just seen you guys somewhere like Next Chapter bookstore.” It may have came off as a bit invasive, but it was something the stallion honestly wanted to know. Fridis chuckled before responding.

“We might as well. And as for why you haven’t seen us... Well I suppose you may not have been looking. You might be wearing a scarf, but you’ve seemed rather transfixed by my own this whole time. Maybe we have crossed paths, it’s just that this time, your friend was here to point some things out.” Diamond flushed, not really sure how to address the comment, or what he’d been doing. He’d been fixated on what he figured was minutia to these ponies.

“I guess you’re right. This place really was a mystery to me before. I’d heard rumors, but I never put anything together. I guess I just got distracted seeing the place with a pair of new eyes… sorry.” Fridis chuckled, trotting up and putting a claw on Diamond’s shoulder.

“No, I apologize. Perhaps I came off as a bit harsh, but you have been making yourself a bit obvious. A lot of ponies at this party are going to have a rather similar motif to their attire. Just do your best to think of it like a particularly good mane style, or a unique cutie mark. It’s great to remember somepony by, but it’s nothing worth obsessing over,” The dragon seemed just as pleasant as ever, his head perking up when the market’s bell struck the hour.

“Buck me sideways, I didn’t realize how late it was getting. If we don't want to run, we’ll need to get heading!” Party’s exclamation helped both to break whatever mild tension had formed, and served to get everypony moving again. “I still think Diamond planned on a little bit more sightseeing before we actually got to the slalom, if that’s alright with you guys. I hope you don’t mind the company D?”

In a way, he did. More eyes on him meant that he felt a bit more nervous trying to get close to Party, no matter how ridiculous the assertion seemed with present company taken into account. But, he supposed he’d want to get used to it. If he couldn’t even bring himself to a platonic distance in such a supportive group, what would that say to his friend?

“Not at all. I didn’t really have that big of a plan though. There’s just this dumb little arcade by the boardwalk that I wanted to show off-” the stallion had barely started to explain himself before being cut off.

“Ooh, I love arcades! Do you know if they have Fighting is Magic? The one machine by my place got taken down,” Coco chirped, prancing in place.

“Well now even if I didn’t want to go in the first place, then I’d certainly be going now. Once Coco hears that an arcade might be involved, he’s all in.” Firewire glanced towards Diamond to lead the way, which finally had them headed out towards the boardwalk. Once they were free of the crowd, it was a clear shot all the way to their first waypoint.

The shimmering lights of the arcade’s facade made it grab more eyes than anything on the strip, the sounds of the cabinets becoming clearer the closer they got. Almost immediately, Coco and Shutter hopped onto one of the fighting games, and Party was pulling Diamond towards a part of the arcade he hadn’t checked in quite some time. As the athlete glanced back, he noticed Fridis and Firewire, both seeming content to just watch things unfold.

“Did you see a game you like?” Diamond questioned, turning his attention back to Party, who was still dragging him along by the scarf.

“Buck yeah! They’ve got a Dance Locomotion setup! It’s not exactly real dancing, but it’s a good way to get your heart beating before we actually get to the party. Think of it like a warm-up,” the unicorn started to swing his flanks slightly, the pair slowly approached the machine.

“I think I tried it once… you like it? My hooves didn’t really want to match up with my eyes when I played,” intentionally leaving out the part where he had stumbled flank over teakettle and got chewed out by a regular player whom he had bumped into.

“You probably picked a difficulty you weren’t ready for. It’s not all that uncommon for ponies to mistake “Standard” as a jumping on point. You’re definitely in good company if you did that.” The unicorn tossed a few bits into the machine from a distance, seemingly just so he could swagger up to the beat of the Vinyl Scratch song that started to play. “Just do a few rounds on light, and you’ll get the hang of it really quick”

Party smiled over to him as the actual menu popped up, seemingly more than happy to pay for the privilege of having a dance partner. The athlete was quick enough to pick out a song they both liked, and it was time to move their hooves. The eight arrows seemed easy enough for Diamond to navigate on a lower difficulty, even though he felt thoroughly shown up by the deft movements of the unicorn next to him. By the end of the song the earth pony actually felt like he was having fun.

“Good Job!” the unicorn panted, a good degree of hoof crossing and jumping had noticeably made his heart rate spike.

The scores had rolled over on the screen, and Diamond scored one letter grade higher than his dance partner. “Looks like you won this round.”

“Dude, that’s like ceding to a perfect hoof stand because you didn’t quite stick the landing on a triple backflip.” Party chuckled in response to Diamond’s comment, his attention snapping back to the song selection when it came up.

“Hey, you still earned it. Besides, if you can keep up a groove on this set up, you shouldn’t have a problem when we’re dancing to the same song later tonight,” Party added.

The songs scrolled past in rapid succession, and Diamond couldn’t find the space to respond between the loud chittering of a hundred songs beginning for a split second before being cut off by the next. He’d noticed they’d attracted at least one pony, a spindly white unicorn with a blue mane and a rather colorful hoodie that Diamond swore he’d seen somewhere before.

The loud punch of the selection noise tore his attention back to the screen. Maybe it was intentional, but Party had gone from a song from one DJ appearing that night to another. The intensity of the song quickly built up, so he had to focus on it, as opposed to the questions that he was thinking about asking. It was certainly a step up from the last one, to the point that he couldn’t take his eyes off the screen long enough to see what kind of moves Party was pulling to keep up with the flurry of arrows.

Both of the routines ended with a four-hooved jump, to the sound of adulation. This time though, it wasn’t coming from the machine. The athlete looked over his shoulder to see one pony had turned into a good half-dozen, in a whole rainbow of exotic styles. Even though most of them had bandanas in one place or another, Diamond did his best not to dwell, turning back to Party as the scores rolled over.

“Looks like we’ve got an audience, still nervous about numbers?” Party jibed between pants. Diamond scoffed, leaning against the machine.

“Seems like numbers don’t matter when you’re having a good enough time. We might have to give up the machine after this round though” the stallion smirked. Even though he knew he was being outshone, it still felt good to get a B to Party’s C.

“I will, but you might not have to. I don’t know how it works in San Franciscolt, but Canterlot rules are that you don’t have to get off if you get a B or above,” the unicorn announced.

“We’ll honor that, White and Frosty probably needs another round to get ready for the party, if that’s where you’re headed too.” Diamond turned to see who was speaking, and saw the pink femcolt hanging over the bars.

Then he laid eyes on the collar.

This one wasn’t hidden behind a bandana or scarf, and the mesh shirt the stallion was wearing did absolutely nothing to hide it either. It was fine black leather, buckled below its tightest notch so it hung ever so slightly off his neck. A warm gold and orange band around the center reflected the neon glow of the machine, and the gold, heart shaped tag dangling from a sturdy looking D-ring caught that light as well. To Diamond, it was as elegant as it was depraved. It was transfixing.

“What’s wrong snow bunny, never seen a pony in a collar before? You’ll need to get used to it!” the femcolt chided jovially, seeming infinitely more playful than harsh in his observations.

“Not fully exposed at least. I guess you’re a real first, party boy.” It didn’t come out as eloquently, but Diamond wanted to try matching his enthusiasm.

“If I was gonna use party boy to describe anypony, it would be your friend over there. I don’t think I’ve seen somepony throw a gig half as crazy as he has. He’s the only stallion I can think of that made staying in Canterlot worth it,” the pony responded.

“Sounds about right, and he knows how to find a party too. He wanted a warm-up before our little group got there.” The earth pony glanced back to find the unicorn looking right back towards him.

“Well I hope you wouldn’t mind, but something tells me your little group isn’t so little any more.” As the stallion hopped down from the bar, the gathered partygoers nodded almost in unison. “But I should let you get back to your warm-up. Maybe try to impress us if you’d be up for it?”

Diamond kept eye contact, one of his rear hooves moving back and kicking the button to start the round to an audible gasp of surprise from Party Favor. He turned around, wondering just what he could do in a video game that would surprise his friend that much.

“Hope you didn’t get too attached to your B, hitting random on the last song tosses in some crazy hard songs from a hidden pool. I might actually lose on this one...” The unicorn took up his stance on the arrows, glancing back to the screen. The splash screen proudly read “Flurry (Axxelerated remix)- Vinyl Scratch.” As he was informed by the murmuring of the crowd behind them, it was the song with the hardest step chart on the machine.

“Well then, if I am attached to it, then maybe I need to give it my all!” The comment was met with a few cheers from behind them, which only made Diamond double down. He wanted to know if he could show off.

That small burst of confidence was something Party certainly didn’t want to quash. Despite himself, he shifted the concern in his expression to confidence. They were still probably going to lose. If the unicorn had anything to say about it though, it was at least going to be a fun loss .

The song started out normally enough, but then the namesake of the remix kicked in. Diamond almost tripped over himself as the BPM of the song shot up, but managed to save himself at the last second. He’d cribbed a trick from his dance partner, shifting his stance before his hoof hit the pad and using that as a launching point. That could only save him so many times though. Another BPM shift, and the arrows started to get overwhelming. His meter bottomed out, and Party’s was hanging by a thread.

It seemed like the song was about to reach some sort of critical mass, but the tempo instead decided to cut itself in half. Diamond got his chance to stabilize, but to his dismay, he watched his friend dip below the threshold during a series of tricky jumps. But only after he missed one and they didn’t immediately lose did it finally click.

They’d saved each other. They would have both lost if they’d gone it alone, but because they partnered up, they became one another’s lifeline. Diamond took the chance to get back into the groove long enough to give Party some time to build up his meter. He had a plan.

Frostfire had taught Diamond how to do a front hoofstand, and he used one to nail a hold arrow. The related ones didn’t matter, he knew he could drop low, because Party had his back. The cheer from the crowd was for his maneuver, but in Diamond’s head, it was for his partner too, setting up so he could make it.

For the rest of the song, the pair took it by ear. It was a pendulum swing of showboating and support. Each swing brought some virtual chiding, but it was worth it for real applause. It didn’t even take a single word to make the switch, just the smile and a nod. They were dance partners. They were in sync.

One last blast of bass, and the song was over. Diamond couldn’t even hear the machine complain about their respective performances. He could barely even focus on the burning in his muscles. The sounds of celebration filled his ears, and his mind. He nodded towards Party, who nodded right back, and both of them turned around in synch. Diamond was even bold enough to take a bow.

When he raised his head, he noticed a few familiar faces in the crowd. Namely, Fire, Fridis, and Shutter were in the dozen plus ponies that were there cheering for them. He didn’t even glance back to see if he kept his rank by some small miracle. He simply walked into the crowd alongside his friend, soaking in all the energy the atmosphere would offer. For the first time since he knew he was going, the athlete almost felt ready to party.

The two stallions sauntered off the pad and joined up with the crowd. It only felt natural to take up a spot right next to the ponies they knew, even if everypony else was giving them plenty of attention. The newly formed mass of ponies spent a decent amount of time conversing and joking amongst themselves, shifting amongst various games.

The last to join the assembly was Coco. The small line of stallions whose collective flanks he’d kicked across the arcade followed soon after, all clearly partygoers by their attire. Scanning across the crowd, Diamond counted more than two dozen ponies, all dressed in styles he’d only read about. It was a wild menagerie of socks and collars, mesh and Lycra, and somehow, with a simple scarf, he actually felt like part of the crowd. So after everypony was done with gaming for the night, it only felt natural for him to follow along.