The Woozy Mantis (Private)

[Stonetribe]

[colour=#FF0000]"That'll be 8 bits for the carriage ride fare sir"[/colour]

[colour=#696969]"8 bits? What kind of scam you running here? I've gotten rides from little colts in the park in their toy red wagons for cheaper than that!"[/colour]

[colour=#000000]​The stallion pulling the carriage stared blankly at Ruth for a second.[/colour]

[colour=#FF0000]"Excuse me?"[/colour]

[colour=#696969]"Ah forget it" [/colour]Ruth said as he forked over the money and stepped out of the transport. As much as He would love to heckle anypony he thought was overcharging him for something, he had work to do. The carriage pony decided not to press the issue any further, and consequently, decided he might want to start accompanying his daughter whenever she went to the park. As he drove off, Ruth stood outside of his latest conquest, a Nightclub.

[colour=#696969]"And so begins another exciting chapter in the living Tartarus that is my career history" [/colour][colour=#000000]The 50 year old stallion said to himself in his ever raspy voice.[/colour]

[colour=#000000]He walked inside and flipped on the lights and set about to see if he couldn't clean up the place a little more before his few employees arrive. On the outside of the club above the entrance, big neon letters lit up illuminating the words "The Woozy Mantis"[/colour]

[colour=#000000]EDIT: This thread now has a theme song! Check it out.[/colour]

[colour=#000000]https://soundcloud.com/dj8tomixs-alt-account/the-woozy-mantis[/colour]

[SonicRainboomGirl]

Boxy trotted into her new job, a city club called "The Woozy Mantis". The young country mare just couldn't believe how wonderfully chic and stylish the place looked- and she was just thrilled to soon be bar-tending She had a lot of experience in the area, and had just left Dodge Junction to set up shop in a new city. Just before appearing at the new job Boxy had dropped a ton of suitcases off at her brand new apartment.

Miss Box had a lot of hopes for this city. Romance, money, reputation. She wanted set up a shop in Canterlot in the future, but she was as poor as the dirt city she'd just arrived from. Town, more like. She sighed on the carriage ride over, thinking about the two bits she'd just spent. Two less bits for her boutique. Boxy wore her usual attire- striped mane swept away in an updo with thick bangs. Her tail hung loose and was tipped off with a large, puffy bow. Her makeup was done with precision, thick eyeliner and mascara to compliment her naturally long lashes.

Boxy smiled as she stepped out of the carriage and wished the driver a good rest of his day. There it was- her new job. Huge, bright neon letters hung above a big heavy door, smiling at the small-town mare as she stepped inside. She took a deep breath and looked around her surroundings. The lights were on, but the place seemed totally vacant except for an old stallion walking across an apparent dance-floor.

[colour=#660033]"'Scuse me there, sir? Mah name's Heart-Shaped Box, Ah'm new. Do ya run this here establishment?"[/colour]

[Stonetribe]

[colour=#696969]"Huh?" [/colour]Ruth muttered as he looked up from his sweeping at Heart-Shaped Box.

[colour=#696969]"Sorry kid, the place don't open for another 15 minutes. I have to wait for my employees to show up before I can let anypony in"[/colour]

[WhiteSlash]

Pale trotted through the streets of the city making his way to his latest place of work. Having originally planned to take a break from the bar game Pale quickly realized that finding work in a different field for the time being would be a mountain of task rather than a short climb up from where he was. Admittedly however he couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved of this placement as he assumed that working in a nightclub in the big city would be a vastly different gig than working the bar in a pub in a small little town like Ponyville. One of the benefits he was sure that he would enjoy here was not having to take a carriage to get to his work anymore, the club was little more than a few blocks away from his apartment.

As the large incandescent sign blasted out across the street and into Pale's field of vision he managed to decipher the words from glare, the sign read "The Woozy Mantis". A single thought now danced around inside Pale's head. He found himself suddenly reminded of his fear of bugs, he was never quite sure what the fear stemmed from but they just got to him. It wasn't bad though, Pale started to toy with the thought that clearly the owner wasn't going to be some sort of bug or something, at least he hoped so.

Pale stepped out onto the cobbles and made his way across the street letting the breeze cast upon on him by the now leaving carriage play with his messy mane. The mare who had just made her way into the club seemed to be one of the employes for this new establishment. Pale based this assumption on how empty the club seemed to be and he knew that the owner was already there. Bar-staff perhaps?

As he trotted through the large doors he managed to catch the tail end of another ponies sentence. It was the voice of a stallion, an older one at that and he seemed to be waiting for his employees.

[colour=#000080]"I 'hink you mean us eh? Sorry tae interrupt. Pale Ale" [/colour][colour=#000000]Pale nodded at both ponies and revealed his name almost as a question with the hopes the others would speak their names as well.[/colour]

[Stonetribe]

[colour=#696969]"Oh, oh okay then. My name's Ruth nice to meet ya. Now if you two are going to be working for me, I'll have to lay down some ground rules. Firstly, no yo-yo's in the building alright? Those things are bad news. Secondly, if you find me sleeping on the job, wait five minutes before waking my up. I periodically take short powernaps, it's what I do. Now thirldy and most importantly, if you see any tarantulas, scorpions, centipedes or mantises, don't be alarmed. I put them there to keep the rats in check"[/colour]

He paused a bit to yawn.

[colour=#696969]"Alright then, Box go on over to that turn table over there and and get some songs ready. Something the youth of today will enjoy ya? As for you Ale, go ahead and get the bar set up. We're opening in about ten minutes so don't dawdle"[/colour]

(OOC: I feel compelled to remind anyone who is reading this that Ruth speaks in a rather raspy voice, so when your reading his dialog, do it like how the don of the mafia would say it. It's very amusing. )

[SonicRainboomGirl]

Boxy waved in a friendly fashion at her new co-worker. He looked like a pretty decent stallion, and she hoped they would get along nicely. She listened carefully as her boss, Ruth, talked about rules. They seemed a little crazy, she thought. No yo-yos, no waking up the boss, don't freak out if she saw bugs. Boxy's legs shook a little. Bugs? That was kinda strange. Not that Boxy minded, bugs, there were a lot of scorpions around where she came from. She still had one question though.

[colour=#660033]"Got it, Boss. One question, though, what's a mantis?"[/colour]

[Stonetribe]

[colour=#696969]"A mantis as a green insect about yay big"[/colour]

He held up is hoof to indicate size.

[colour=#696969]"If your still curious, look to your left. You got one sitting on your shoulder"[/colour]

[SonicRainboomGirl]

Boxy quickly turned to look at her shoulder and giggled at the sight. It was a weird looking thing, big eyes, dainty antenna, and a long torso. It looked kind of wise, yet very sweet. Boxy smiled and raised a hoof for the little mantis. It climbed on. She put the mantis down on the floor and giggled aloud.

[colour=#660033]"Well, that's mahty cute!"[/colour]

She said, watching the little mantis skulk away like a ninja.

[WhiteSlash]

Pale's face turned sour as soon as the mention of bus and arachnids (a notion that was forced in to his head after years of being reminded of the difference by his friends) hit the air. At first Pale thought to voice his concerns and speak out in protest but the thoughts were quickly put out of mind as the glimpse of a register in the distance flared up the sentiment of being out of work. He swallowed the concoction rushing up his throat, turning his cheeks physically green and let out some strangely exhausted sounding words, after returning a weak wave to his fellow employee.

[colour=#000080]"Uhm...eyuh, aye ah'll get right on it." [/colour]

[colour=#000000]Pale's mind was now well away from the conversation happening behind him and he wearily made put one hoof in front of the other[/colour] as he stumbled to his destination. Suddenly out of the corner of his eye something green and very small scuttled off into the distance causing Pale to seize up and freeze. For Pale the room went quiet, all except for the beat of his heart ringing out loudly and proudly in his chest.

[Stonetribe]

Ruth didn't need a PHD to see that Pale Ale had a thing with bugs. [colour=#696969]'[/colour][colour=#696969]Ah great' [/colour]He thought, [colour=#696969]'I should of known something like this would happen...'[/colour]

He walked over to Ale and nudged his side. [colour=#696969]"You gonna be okay kid? If your scared of the bugs, don't worry. Soon as the club opens and the customers come in, the bugs will clear out and hide in the walls. Lots of ponies mean lots of hooves, and they aren't gonna stick around to be stepped on"[/colour]

He paused for a bit trying to remember.

[colour=#696969]"Oh yeah, and they wont bite you or anything. Probably should of said that first"[/colour]

[WhiteSlash]

Pale swallowed his pride and owned up to his fears. There wasn't much point in him bottling it all up if they were going to be part of his daily life from now on and he couldn't stress how much he needed the work right now. [colour=#000080]"Alright, ye caught me." [/colour][colour=#000000]Despite Ruth's voice he was actually quite calming and reassuring. The revelation that the bugs would soon disperse with the appearance of ponies made sense to Pale and this helped him come to terms with his job, which he knew like most things could not be perfect.[/colour]

Pale quickly tried to find the little insect again but it was far out of site now, he had hoped that one last peek at what was too come would help relieve him of the stress but he would have to deal with their next encounter as it came. [colour=#000080]"Yeah, that's good tae hear, ahm sure it willnae be a problem. Ahll get the bar up and goin'."[/colour]

[Stonetribe]

[colour=#696969]"Okay then" [/colour]Ruth said satisfied.

[colour=#696969]"Now let's get back to business I'm gonna head into the back room and see if I can't find the dance floor light switch. When I turn it on, shout to let me know I found the right switch"[/colour]

Ruth disappeared into a door labeled "employees only" just to the side of the bar which led to a hallway. After finding the control room, he sized up the huge panel of buttons, switches, and dials before him. [colour=#696969]"This might take just a bit longer then I thought" [/colour]He said to himself. He skimmed the panel for any sign of what switches did what, before coming across a section of switches labeled lights. [colour=#696969]"Or maybe not" [/colour]​He flipped the left most switch. Back in the main room, strobe lights attached to the ceiling began flashing a bright white light. Ruth waited for an indication from Boxy and Ale that he found the dance floor lights.

[Stonetribe]

After hearing nothing for quite some time, Ruth decided to investigate himself. He made his way back to the dance floor.

[colour=#696969]"Hey are you kids still here? If you got up and quit already then I'll have you know that I've worked 6 pony shifts by myself easily. I will be just-"[/colour]

Just then, one of the many flashing strobe lights blinked directly into Ruth's face.

[colour=#696969]"DandiiiAAAAGGGHHH!!!"[/colour]

Ruth dropped to the floor in pain and shock, shielding his eyes from the bright spectral assault.

[colour=#696969]"Oh for the love of Celestia MY EYES! That smarts something bad! Kids, if your still there and have a soul and then please get over here and help an old stallion who's fallen and can't get up."[/colour]

[SonicRainboomGirl]

Boxy saw the old stallion fall and rushed over when he spoke, her hooves making loud noises on the dance floor. She thought suddenly about how loud it would be when lots of hooves clattered on the floor.

[colour=#660000]"Are ya alraht, sir?"[/colour]

She asked, lifting the old stallion up to his hooves again.

[WhiteSlash]

Ale pulled himself away from the bar-stock and taps, with which he was quite accustomed to, and dashed over to Ruth who seemed to have collapsed at something. As Ale slid out onto the slick panels of the dance floor he too was almost blinded by the sheer incandescence of the strobe lights. He pulled one hoof up to cover his eyes and made his way over to Boxy and Ruth where he then attempted to block out the lights gaze towards them using himself.

[colour=#0000cd]"Well ah reckon that means they're workin' pretty well then eh?"[/colour]

[Stonetribe]

It took a moment until Ruth could fight off the blinding of his eyes.

[colour=#808080]"Isn't that just my luck. I've already stared at the sun one too many times in my youth, and I did not need that. I think my eyes were just starting to get better too"[/colour]

He tried standing on his own and with a bit of staggering, succeeded.

[colour=#808080]"Thanks kids, you're alright. Go ahead and get back to, to whatever it is I asked you to do. I'm going to go back and turn off this blasted thing, and turn on the actual dance floor lights" [/colour]He paused a bit. [colour=#808080]"For real this time, I hope"[/colour]

Shielding his eyes, he walked back into the "employees only" hallway once more.

[WhiteSlash]

Pale shifted his gaze towards his fellow employee whom was also sporting quite a thick accent. [colour=#0000ff]"He's a character int' eh?". [/colour][colour=#000000]The elderly stallion, now seeming to be quite stable by himself wandered off away from the pair after asking them to return to their duties, and with the place opening soon that was some fairly obvious advice.[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Upon barely hearing Boxy's reply, Pale had already set off straight back to the bar. Truth be told it had been quite some time before he had [/colour]graced an establishment with his accomplished bartender techniques, and his equipment, he thought. The bar was modern and aesthetically pleasing and far superior to his set up in Ponyville but that was a given as this bar would have to cater to a lot more than just craft beer.

Once again Pale checked the bottles and arranged the glasses. Opening night was most likely going to be a busy night in a town like this.