Second Chances: Between the Lines

Second Chances: Between the Lines
By Hero541
The Night Out, Part 1

Josh descended the stairs of the boutique, headed to the front entrance to wait for Rainbow Dash. He had been in Equestria a little less than a week now, and they were fulfilling their daily obligation to go to the bar. As per usual, they would sit and talk, Josh mostly about what life for him was like back home, and Rainbow about how she wanted to join the Wonderbolts. Josh liked the fact that he at least had someone here to talk to besides Rarity on a daily basis. It helped that he could also laugh a little as Rainbow got progressively more and more drunk.

As he reached the ground floor, he looked around and saw Twilight and Rarity standing around, the purple unicorn holding out a purple dress with her magic while the white one inspected it.

“You’re sure you just want me to fix this, dear?” asked Rarity, looking the garment over with slight disgust, “I think it could use a complete overhaul.”

“That’s alright, Rarity.” responded Twilight, trying not to sound too annoyed at the stab at her clothing choice, “I just need you to fix it a little. That’s all.”

“If you insist. Oh, Josh, darling.” called Rarity as the human came into view, “Be a dear and go fetch me my work glasses, would you please?”

Josh said nothing, instead walking over to the rack of fabrics and picking up Rarity’s tiny red work glasses.

“Thank you, darling.” said Rarity as she took them from him.

“Hey there, Josh.” said Twilight, smiling up at him, “How’re you adjusting to life here?”

“It’s not been easy.” he said, plopping down in a nearby chair to wait for the rainbow pegasus, “I’m still not used to the fact that everything here is smaller. Or that I still have to duck to go in and out of doorways. But, I think I’ve pretty much accepted the possibilities of talking ponies in another world.”

Twilight giggled at his last statement.

“Glad to see you’re doing alright then.”

Josh said nothing, instead smiling a little at Twilight as he awaited the arrival of Rainbow Dash.

“So,” continued Twilight, sidling closer to Josh, “What’re you up to now?”

“I’m waiting for Rainbow to get here.” he said, “We’re headed to the Frosty Mug.”

As he finished his sentence, a knock came from the front door.

“Speaking of which…” he said, standing up and heading to open the door.

As he did so, Rainbow floated in front of him, a smile on her face as she saw Josh in the doorway.

“You ready to go?” she asked.

Josh simply nodded and ducked out the door, taking his place next to Rainbow Dash.

“Wait!”

Josh and Rainbow looked back inside to see Twilight heading towards them.

“Can I come along?” she asked, her eyes wide and hopeful, “I promise I won’t be any trouble or anything.”

Rainbow bit her lip and looked to Josh. Human and pegasus locked eyes momentarily, both wondering about the purple unicorn.

“Uuhh… Would you excuse us a moment?” asked Josh, grabbing Rainbow’s foreleg and turning her around, both of them facing away from Twilight.

“Well, Rainbow.” said Josh in a hushed whisper, “should we let her tag along or what?”

“I don’t know… Twilight’s a bit of an egghead. She might manage to nerd up every word we say.”

“In all fairness, we could use a bit of that. We don’t always have the most intelligent conversations.”

“So?”

Josh stared at Rainbow skeptically. She smiled at him sheepishly, the squeaky noise sounding. Josh ignored it.

“Let’s just be nice and take her along this one time, okay? What’s the worst that could happen anyway?” he said.

Rainbow huffed a little, but said nothing. Josh and Dash turned back to Twilight, whose eyes were still hopeful.

“Sure. You can come with us, Twi.” said Josh.

Twilight proceeded to gleefully jump around and around the human and pegasus, the whole time shouting “Yes” over and over again. Rainbow glared at Josh, who took his turn to smile sheepishly at her.

“I’m so excited!” said the giddy unicorn, hopping in place like Pinkie when she just met a new friend, “I can’t wait to get there! Oh, wait.”

In a flash of purple light, Twilight vanished momentarily. Josh and Rainbow looked at each other for a minute, wondering where she could have gone. In another instant, the light flashed again, and she stood before them once more, her saddlebags on and a book poking out from one pocket.

“I knew I had a copy of this somewhere. It’ll come in handy for later!” she said, pulling the book out with her magic and handing it to Josh.

He took it and read the front cover. Bar Etiquette 101: Interacting with Other Ponies in Social Situations Involving Alcohol. Josh fought back the urge to laugh loudly as Rainbow facehoofed.

“Even going to a bar for the night you manage to make it nerdy!” she said to the unicorn as she took back the book.

“I just want to make sure I avoid any awkward situations that could arise in such a setting.” replied Twilight, levitating the book back into her saddlebags, “This book covers all that could possibly arise in a bar. I need to be prepared!”

Josh got a huge smile on his face as he continued to ignore the urge to laugh. He turned around and began to make for the bar.

“Come on. Let’s go.”

Rainbow quickly joined him at his side as Twilight trotted behind, a contented smile on her little purple face.

“Still think this is a good idea?” asked Rainbow, peeking back at Twilight.

“It could be an interesting night.” he replied, still smiling at the thought that a book like that could even exist.

*****

Josh, Rainbow, and Frosty all sat at the bar, each one staring at Twilight. She had her face buried in her book and was reading feverishly. Not one of them had even ordered a drink yet because of it. Twilight had wanted to understand the proper protocol for doing so.

“Is she gonna be alright?” asked Frosty finally, looking to Josh.

“I think so.” replied the human, turning away from Twilight once more as Rainbow facehoofed.

“What can I get you guys then?” asked Frosty, levitating out a few glasses.

“I’ll have a boilermaker. What about you Rainbow?”

“I’ll have a… martini. Extra dry.”

“Got it.” said Frosty, grabbing out the vodka for the martini, “What about her?”

Josh looked to Twilight once more, seeing her still buried in the book. It looked like she wasn’t going to surface any time soon, so he pushed the tome down a little and addressed her.

“What’re you gonna drink, Twi?” he asked, smiling at her and resisting the urge to laugh.

“Huh?” she asked, seemingly forgetting where she was.

“Frosty here wants to know what you want to drink.” said Josh, gesturing to Frosty who had just finished making Rainbow’s drink and was now starting on the boilermaker.

“I haven’t even read what kinds of drinks there are yet!” she said, diving back into her book, “I’ve gotta pick up the pace if I’m gonna be prepared for this!”

“Slow down there, Junior.” said Josh, grabbing the book before she could continue reading, “I don’t think you’ll need this for that.”

“Josh!” she whined, attempting to focus her magic on the book once more to grab it from him, “I need that! It’ll help me understand what I need to do right now!”

“For fucks sake, Twi! You don’t need a book to understand what to do in a bar!”

Eventually, Twilight gave up trying to get the book from Josh, instead choosing to cross her forelegs and pout. Josh handed the book to Frosty over the counter.

“Keep this safe.” he said as the barkeep levitated it behind the bar, “Don’t let me forget to grab it before I leave.”

Frosty nodded and placed the book behind some liquor bottles. He then looked towards the pouting purple unicorn.

“You like orange juice, sweetheart?” he asked, smiling sweetly at her.

Twilight didn’t say anything to that, instead simply nodding her head.

“Well then,” said Frosty, levitating a bottle of orange juice, a glass, and a bottle of tequila towards himself, “I’ll make you a drink I know you’ll like. It’s called a tequila sunrise.”

“Frosty,” Josh whispered, leaning in close to whisper to the unicorn as he prepared the drink, “do you really think it’s a good idea to give her tequila as her first drink? She probably couldn’t take it very well.”

“I’ll only put a little in.” said Frosty, carefully measuring out the alcohol before pouring it into the glass.

Josh shrugged, instead turning back to his own drink. Rainbow stared at him, as if to say “I told you so” before taking a sip of her martini. Frosty soon finished making Twilight’s drink, adding a slice of orange on the rim as well as a little umbrella.

“Here you go, sweetheart.” he said, levitating the drink in front of her.

She eyed it a little cautiously, unsure of what to do first. She glanced at Rainbow who was sipping on her martini, then to Josh who had just dropped his whiskey shot into the glass of beer before him and began to drink. Slowly, she levitated the drink up and took a sip. A slight bitter taste quickly followed the orange juice, as well as a burning sensation.

“This isn’t too bad.” she finally said, smacking her lips a little as feeling returned to her tongue, “In fact, it’s really good!”

She quickly downed the drink before turning back to Frosty.

“Want another one of those?” he asked, preparing the orange juice.

“No. I think I wanna try something else!” she said excitedly, nearly bouncing up and down in her seat.

Josh and Rainbow exchanged worried glances. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all thought Josh. Once again, Rainbow glared at him in a gloating way. This was gonna be a long night for the two of them. They could feel it.