Having confirmed that Petina and Carousel were not in any immediate danger of perishing
it was time for me to find some breakfast in my Equestria dreamscape.
Fortunately Double Boiler’s crew was on the job, and soon I had food. The special this morning was an egg scramble of crispy sauteed potatoes, grilled onions, grilled garlic shrimp, minced parsley, and shredded sharp cheddar cheese. As side condiments there was a small dish with garlic confit another with fiery but sweet mango salsa along with a little bowl of sour cream. I also had a fruit bowl of sliced strawberries and blueberries swimming in heavy cream that was flavored with a Cointreau-like orange liquor then dusted with powder sugar. Along with a side of cornbread I washed it all down with orange juice, sparkling water, and a cafe au lait.
Since I hadn’t indulged in such excessive ethanol consumption I wasn’t as bad off as Petina and Carousel were. Still I appreciated the relatively quiet of the dining hall. However this moment of solitude was abruptly interrupted when suddenly 2 crimson red front legs wrapped around me and I felt the weight of Sundown pressing against my back. In a sultry voice she growled in my ear.
“Hey there! How ya doing Brick?” She then proceeded to rub a cheek of hers against mine filling my nostrils with the smell of pony, brandy, sandalwood, allspice, and salt air. “Last night was lots of fun!”

I turned my head and looked at her out of the corner of my eye. “Yyyeeaahhh. If I’d had any more fun I probably wouldn’t have survived it.” I pointed at one of the many bite marks around my neck with a front hoof.
Sundown lifted her head away from mine and stared nonchalantly at the bite marks of her own making and then returned to snuggling against me. “Souvenirs!” She chirped happily. “Mementos of our evening of passionate fun!”
She detached herself and plopped herself down in a chair next to me. Then she flagged down kitchen staff member. “Excuse me are there any beignets left? If so can I get a couple? Yes. Excellent! Oh and are their any of those chocolate croissants around? If so one of those. And coffee! Must have coffee! With a shot of rum in it please and sweetened whipped cream! Got that?”
The staff repeated back the bat pony’s wandering order. “Excellent!” Exclaimed the bat pony. “Thank you very much!” Then she turned her attention back to me. “Sssoooo. Apparently your two marefriends were the worse for wear this morning. Fortunately I know just thing for that! Been there myself. So I whipped up a couple of cure-alls them for them! They’ll be themselves again in a couple hours. Unless they’re allergic to Dragonsbane. Are they allergic to it?”
My eyes narrowed. “What’s Dragonsbane? I found them downstairs in one of the bars drinking something awhile ago”
The mare waved a dismissive front hoof. “I wouldn’t worry. If they were conscious when you found them that’s proof they’re not allergic to it.”
She shifted her chair over closer to me. “Nnnnooowww. I am hoping that you can confirm a thing or 2 I’ve heard on the grapevine. The scuttlebutt says your 2 mares came up with, and taught the Element of Loyalty that totally revolutionary, and very hot if I may so, dance technique that she used to set Cloudsdale on fire during this year’s Best Young Fliers Competition.
Of which I am kicking myself for not being there! I totally fucked up there! This is the same dance technique Scratch will be employing in her upcoming tour. Is this true?”
“Um yeah, or an variant of it.” I replied in response to the bat pony’s rapid-fire series of questions.
“Excellent!” Sundown exclaimed. As she said this the kitchen staff member came back with her order and set the tray down next to the bat pony. “Hey! Thanks for that!” The crimson mare said as the staff member trotted away. The mare snatched up one of the beignets off of its plate and took bite of it followed by a gulp of her coffee. She made a face at the cup and proceeded to pull a personal flask from the front pocket of her light harness. In a motion that implied much practice she poured a healthy slug of something that hit my nostrils like an explosion in a distillery. With a quick swirl she tried her coffee again and smiled.
“Yyyyeeeaaahhh! That’s the ticket!” She looked at me and offered the flask. “Want some?” I shook my head.
“Uuuhhh, no. I’m going to flying in a bit and I had enough last night.”
Sundown shrugged and tossed the flask back into her harness. She then proceeded to finish off the first beignet and started in on the croissant. “I am so looking forward to seeing those 2 mares of yours in action. Where did they learn that technique? Scratch can’t stop talking about it. She thinks this dance style is going to be the next hot thing, and she’s rarely wrong about shit like this.”
I stared out a nearby window at one of the gardens outside and remembered the story that all of us in our household had rehearsed over and over again. “Not entirely sure. Petina claims it came from several dreams she had a few years ago. Almost like visions for her. She dabbled off and on with it for awhile, but when Carousel moved in the mare convinced her to start refining it. It was at that time that Rainbow Dash approached them asking for assistance with coming up with a new routine for her final participation in the Best Young Fliers. The 2 mares immediately saw the potential of using the corner pylons for this new technique.”
I look over at the Sundown. “ So they agreed to start teaching Rainbow Dash. RD proved to be a good student and took to it quickly.” I shrugged. “The rest you could say is history.”
At some point the bat pony had demolished croissant. She downed the rest of her coffee and then scooped up the last beignet. “Yeah it is, and I want to be there when those 2 hot mares make more history. They’re going to help Scratch’s troupe blow Equestria’s collective mind!”
She flashed me a big grin showing off her fine collection of bitey teeth. Then she ripped off a chunk of beignet creating a small cloud of powdered sugar in process.

To be continued.