Second Chances

Second Chances
By Hero541
Chapter 7: I’m Going Out

Josh, after leaving Twilight’s library, walked back to Rarity’s house for lunch, a slight bounce in his step at knowing that not only was someone looking into how to send him home, but, while he was here, he still had a few bumps left to entertain himself.

“How was she?” asked Rarity as he entered the door, gesturing for them to go downstairs.

“She’d been crying a lot.” he replied, thinking back to the look on Twilight’s face as she walked down the stairs, “But, she at least accepted my apology. She’s beginning to work on how to send me home as we speak.”

“That’s wonderful, dear!” exclaimed Rarity, levitating a large bowl of soup in front of Josh.

Josh looked at the metal bowl in his hands. It was a large mixing bowl, much like the ones his mom had used for making cookies and things of the like. He looked to Rarity, who had a small bowl of her own in front of her.

“Hehe, sorry.” she said, blushing a little, “The bowls I normally use are probably too small for you. That’s the largest one I had.”

“It’s okay.” replied Josh, sitting down at the small table, “I’ll just have to get used to the fact that everything in this world is smaller than in my world. I do have to admit though, having to duck through every doorway will probably get old after awhile…”

Rarity smiled and sat next to him. The two ate in a rather companionable silence for awhile, but eventually, Josh began to ask questions. It turned out that Rarity was a dress maker, to which Josh asked what that had to do with her cutie mark. She said that she had the ability to not only find gems, but also to incorporate them into her designs, one of the reasons her shop was so well known across Equestria.

“I’ve made ensembles for some of the highest of the high up in the Canterlot elite.” she said, beaming with pride.

“Canterlot?” inquired Josh, long finished with his lunch and now simply conversing with the white mare.

“It’s the capital city of Equestria.” she simply said, levitating both empty bowls from the table to the sink and washing them, “That’s where Princess Luna and Princess Celestia live.”

“So, you live under a monarchy?” he asked, standing up and walking towards her.

Rarity stopped washing and blinked.

“Why, yes. I suppose we do.” she said, unable to mask the surprise in her voice that Josh understood the differences in governmental rule.

“I studied history and government a lot when I was in school.” he said, leaning up against the wall closest to the staircase.

“So, how did you end up becoming a DJ?” she asked, finishing the dishes and turning to him.

“I’m not a DJ anymore.” he said, his voice rising a little, “I’m a producer.”

“There’s a difference?”

“Yes. There is. DJ’s just play the music. Producers make it so the DJ’s can play it. At least, that’s always what I’ve been told.”

“Interesting.” said Rarity, placing a hoof to her chin in contemplation over his words, “Wait! Where are you going?”

Josh had turned and begun walking up the stairs, headed for the front door. Rarity galloped up after him.

“I’m headed out for a little bit. You know where I can find a good bar around here?”

“Well, there’s the Frosty Mug near the outskirts of town.” replied Rarity, a confused look covering her face, “But, it’s only 2:40 in the afternoon!”

Josh just smiled at the mare as he headed for the door.

“It’s never too early to start drinking for me.” he said, ducking down and heading out, ready to look for the pub, and leaving behind a very confused and worried Rarity.

*****

Being as it was only late in the afternoon, the Frosty Mug wasn’t overly crowded. A few old codgers sat in a corner, complaining about whatever came to their minds (mostly how kids today are too lazy, or have it too easy). As they talked, the bar owner, Frosty Mug himself, sat at the counter, levitating a glass and using a rag to clean it out. It’s times like this that made Frosty wish something exciting would happed for once. Sadly, it seemed that his wish may not come true, and he had simply to wait till the afternoon and evening rush hit.

Just as he let out a wistful sigh, the bar door creaked open and in walked a tall creature with short hair on his head, wearing a dark shirt and pair of pants. Frosty simply stared at the creature as it walked up to the far end of the counter and sat down, looking around. As it spotted Frosty, a small smile crept onto it’s face.

“You the bartender?” it asked as Frosty trotted over to investigate.

“That I am.” replied the brown unicorn, one eyebrow turned up as he looked this strange thing up and down, “Can I get you anything?”

“What’ve you got?”

“Pretty much anything you want.” replied Frosty, gesturing behind him to all the bottles filled with different colored liquids.

“I’ll take a gin and tonic.” said the creature.

“One gin and tonic, coming up.”

Frosty mixed the drink and placed in front of the creature, who happily scooped it up and took a sip. As it lowered the glass, a disgusted look came across it’s face.

“You call that gin?” he said, setting the glass back down, “I’ve had water harder than that.”

Frosty simply picked up the glass and rag in his magic once more and smiled.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” he asked, continuing his usual habit.

“What gave it away?”

“Heh. Just a thought.”

The creature took another sip of his drink, then answered.

“No, I’m not from around here.”

“Where are you from, anyway?”

The creature stopped to think a minute, piecing together its response.

“Even if I were to explain it to you, you might not understand.”

“Fair enough.” replied Frosty, setting the one glass down and picking up another, smiling.

For the next hour or so, Frosty simply stayed near this strange creature, the two chatting idly. It turned out that the creature’s name was Josh, and he was a human music producer.

“What’s that, like a DJ or something?”

“No.” replied Josh, unable to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

Frosty was about to ask the difference when another mare burst in the doors, drifting over to the counter.

“Afternoon, Rainbow.” said Frosty, greeting the mare with a smile, “Hard day at work?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” said the polychromatic mare, plopping down in a seat next to Josh, “And it doesn’t help that Derpy can’t seem to stay out of our way when she’s delivering mail, messing up two hours worth of work!”

Rainbow had been so frustrated and was so focused on venting to the barkeep, that she didn’t immediately notice the human she was sitting next to. It wasn’t till she got her usual drink and began to relax that she even looked over to him.

“Hey,” she said, swiveling in his direction, a smile gracing her lips, “I remember you. You’re that guy we found in Applejack’s front yard this morning!”

Josh turned and immediately recognized that rainbow mane and tail. The pony held out her hoof.

“I’m Rainbow Dash.” she said, still smiling up at Josh.

“Josh.” he simply said, turning away and ignoring her attempt at friendliness.

Dash looked slightly taken aback. She simply stared at Josh for a minute, her head cocked in confusion.

“You okay?” she asked, taking a sip from her drink.

“Well, I would be if I weren’t sitting next to the pony who rushed me and made my head spin so badly that I passed out. Again.”

Dash gave a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of her head with a hoof.

“Yeah, hehe. Sorry about that.”

Again, Josh said nothing, instead continuing to stare at the bar or playing with his drink. Rainbow Dash looked towards Frosty, who had a rather nervous look on his own face. He looked to Josh once more, contemplating what to say next.

“So, Josh,” he began, hoping to end the awkward silence that existed between Rainbow and the human, “You were telling me that you’re a music producer.”

Josh looked up to the barkeep, well aware of what he was trying to do. Normally, he would have either told both of them to fuck off, or at least gotten up and left. However, he didn’t feel in the mood to do either of those, so he decided to humor him.

“Yes, I am.” he said, eliciting a rather shocked expression from Rainbow and a relieved one from Frosty.

“That’s really cool!” exclaimed Dash, restraining herself from jumping up out of her seat in excitement.

Over the next few hours, Dash and Josh ordered more drinks and talked. Josh explained what he did for a living, pulling out his dying iPod and playing some songs for her. She loved what he played, finding herself entranced by the heavy, toxic beat. She even squealed in delight when he played the song “Malevolent” by Invader! once the drop came and a mechanical growling issued forth from the device.

More and more patrons continued to enter the bar, causing the noise level to grow a little. Frosty was busy making sure everyone was taken care of, leaving Rainbow and Josh to their own.

“… so you have to move the clouds around in the sky to produce the weather?” asked Josh, taking a sip of his fourth gin and tonic.

“Yup.” replied Dash, looking towards the bar once again, “We get the order directly from Cloudsdale, then we move the clouds wherever they need to go. It’s not always the easiest of jobs, but it’s one of the most important. Not as important as raising and lowering the sun and moon, though.”

“You guys have to raise and lower the sun and moon too?” inquired Josh, genuinely fascinated by how the weather worked in this world as compared to his own.

“No, we pegasi don’t do that. That’s up to the Princesses. They’re the only ones with magic strong enough for something like that.”

Josh simply stared, open mouthed at the pegasus before him, barely comprehending what she’d said.

“What?” she inquired, “Doesn’t it work like that where you’re from?”

“Fuck no!” said Josh, finally able to find his words, “Where I’m from, the clouds and stuff just produce and move on their own. Same with the weather. And the sun and moon raise and lower on their own.”

Now it was Rainbow’s turn to gawk at Josh, unable to believe what he’d just said. The human smiled as he saw the pony’s jaw hang in amazement.

“That’s gotta make life a whole lot easier.” she said, leaning back a little, imagining life where everything moved on it’s own. However, that quickly brought her thoughts to the Everfree Forest, and she shuddered at the thought of that place.

“Well well,” they heard Frosty say over the now growing din all around, “That’s somepony you don’t see around here very often.”

Both Josh and Rainbow turned to see a cream colored unicorn with a shaggy, yet flowing blue mane and tail standing in the doorway, a nervous look on her face. Her crimson-magenta eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets, and her knees were shaking slightly. In her magical grip were some flyers, which she began handing out to everypony she approached.

“Huh.” remarked Rainbow, turning back to her drink, “I don’t’ think I’ve ever seen Vinyl in here before.”

“Who’s that?” Josh asked, not taking his eyes off the unicorn, who had just been turned down by someone at a table.

“Vinyl Scratch.” said Frosty, returning to where Rainbow and Josh were seated, “She’s a local music producer, much like yourself. However…”

“However what?” Josh pressed.

“Her shows she puts on aren’t known to be all that good." finished Rainbow, taking a sip from her drink,"She tries her hardest, but…”

Rainbow trailed off, but Josh didn’t notice. He looked at Vinyl’s flank and saw her cutie mark: two connected eighth notes. Surely, that must mean she has some kind of musical talent, and if she was a producer, that could mean she knows something about electronic music. Josh’s heart leapt at the thought, and he got up from the bar.

“… Octavia says she’s well on her way though… Hey. Where are you going?”

Josh barely heard Rainbow call after him as he approached the unicorn mare still handing out her flyers.

“You there.” he said, walking up to her as Rainbow floated behind him, nearly crashing into him as he stopped, “You’re name’s Vinyl Scratch, right?”

The unicorn turned and looked up into Josh’s face.

“That’s me. Can I help you with something?”

“Yes. You can. My name’s Xploshun.” he said, referring to his stage name for the first time since he arrived in Equestria.

“Xploshun? I thought you said your name was-woah!”

A small crash echoed through the bar as Josh pushed Rainbow away, causing her to fly into a shelf.

“I’ve heard you’re a music producer and you’ve been putting on some shows.” he continued as if nothing happened.

“Well, yeah. I kinda have…” said Vinyl, looking down and away from Josh.

“I’m a producer myself, and I’d love to come see you sometime.” he said, trying his best to smile warmly at her.

Vinyl looked up to Josh, a look of surprise painting her face.

“You would?” she asked, cocking her head to the side while her eyes shone with excitement.

“Of course.” said Josh, continuing to smile at the obviously nervous pony, “Are those flyers for your next show?”

“Yeah, they are.” said Vinyl, levitating one in front of Josh, who took it and examined it.

“… This all sounds good. Tomorrow at 9?” he said finishing reading the flyer and looking to the unicorn once more.

“Yeah!” she said eagerly, nearly bouncing in the air at the prospect of having another producer see her perform.

“I’ll be there then. And Rainbow here’ll join me.”

Josh heard a loud “WHAT?!” from beside him as Rainbow finally got up from the mess on the floor.

“That sounds awesome!” said Vinyl, beaming at Josh, the squeaky noise sounding again, “See you tomorrow then!”

Vinyl bounced away as Rainbow flew up and rejoined Josh, punching him in the shoulder.

“Did you just say I’m going to that show with you?!” she yelled, glaring daggers at the tall human.

“Yes, I did.” he replied simply, massaging his shoulder, “And you’re going. You owe me after you made me pass out this morning.”

Dash just grumbled and crossed her forelegs over her chest. As she did so, Josh turned to leave.

“Aren’t you gonna pay for your drinks?” she called after him.

Josh almost forgot. He turned back to the bar and reached in his back pocket for his wallet, happy to find it still there and with money in it. He pulled out a 10 dollar bill and handed it to Frosty.

“That should cover it.” he said, preparing to turn back once more.

“I can’t accept this.”

Josh winced. He hadn’t even thought about what they use for currency here. He turned back to Frosty, a nervous smile painting his face.

“I need bits.” said Frosty, handing back the bill.

“I don’t have any of those.”

“Hmm… Well, I suppose I could allow you to open a tab. Just so long as you pay it back eventually.”

Josh nodded happily, figuring he’d be long gone by the time he needed to pay back the bill. Frosty took out a notebook from his pocket and began scrawling something on the page as Josh turned to leave.

“Come by Rarity’s at 8. I need to go and get ready.” said Josh to Rainbow, passing by the pegasus without a single glance.

“How’re you gonna do that?”

Rainbow never got her answer as Josh exited the pub, a smile on his face at the prospect of the next night. He was gonna make good use of that bump he had left in the baggie.