The Watering Hole (Open- Read Rules at Bottom)

[brianblackberry]

Martini Paradise smirked as Presteza commented on the similarities between her mom and the bar mare when it came to having foals young. “Your mother was a filly too? Unfortunately I was just a young filly when I had Sunrise, really wasn’t much older than she is right now. I guess I could say I made a lot of poor decisions and mistakes in my life, especially when I was young." The pink unicorn took a swig of her apple flavored drink, "still, I can’t call giving birth to her one though; she is the greatest joy in my life.” Martini took a final gulp of her cider and placed it down on a bar for a refill and chuckled, “I suppose every mom says that though, don’t they? Well, only because it’s true.” She threw a wink the cream colored unicorn’s way, knowing that Presteza too will likely truly understand, one day.

Martini never had anypony paint her portrait before, and since the offer was free, why not say yes? Even if she had no idea what Presteza’s skills with a brush were. “Well I’ll be staying at the local motel over the week. If you remember this conversation then; I’ll take you up on your artistic offer, ‘kay?”

Applejack was just as an enthusiastic conversationalist, especially when it came to her farm and its produce. One couldn’t blame her for having a small measure of exuberant pride, especially if the earth pony managed such notoriety with her apples. “Well I remember a few boxes from Sweet Apple back when I lived on the Gallopocus Islands, which some ponies consider overseas since they are not connected to the rest of Equestria by land. Although those weren’t regular apples, but those fancy rainbow colored Zap Apples! Always pretty expensive stuff, used only for specialty drinks and only for special events, as they were pretty rare and if we used them otherwise, we would run out long before the next shipment could ever come.”

Martini took another gulp of her cider and smiled out of curiosity, “so do you run the whole farm by yourself? Or do you have relatives maybe there? Or a family of your own? Husband? Foals? Sorry if I sound presumptuous in saying this, but you seem like the type who would be happy with a large family of her own.”

Speaking of family, Martini was indeed most grateful to Miss Twilight, well now PrincessTwilight for helping her daughter with boarding. It was because of Twilight’s new position, that Martini very rarely mentioned who was sponsoring her filly. “She is very kind, and now because of her.. Well, royal status, that fact she hasn’t at all reneged on helping us out is such a relief. Although I admit, I don’t like to say who; I don’t want ponies to think we are special or anything, as she did this when she was still just a librarian. Well I guess she still is? Is she?” Martini had no idea. It was certainly talked about that Twilight Sparkle chooses to stay in the library in Ponyville despite her status; most folks felt she would leave sooner rather than later, but as the curator still?

Then there was Trixie; Martini didn’t know why the other ponies disliked the azure colored unicorn, who stated she was just a stage performer. Applejack sure seemed hostile! Was this pony a grifter? A hustler? It was hard to tell in her current state; unless, it too was a con of some kind. Martini had no history with Trixie though, so for her, it was truly a clean slate, and she felt she should give any pony the benefit of the doubt; with a small touch of cautiouness. The barmare did catch one thing; Trixie was here for somepony and not just something. “Whatever is here must be pretty darn important to you to come all this way. Is there anyone in town you could check with about it? If you want to talk to somepony about it, perhaps I can lend an ear?”

Although Martini understood the griffon’s anger towards the azure unicorn’s disposition, and that such indignation may work well with another griffin, ponies were different. Martini always found it best that when it came to bars, offering an ear got the best results, at least for her. She sat down at the table and levitated some cold water towards the depressed blue unicorn, offering it with a sincere smile, "I have plenty of free time still, to listen."

[QuickLime]

After such a hard day's work there was nothing Rarity wanted more than a nice Cosmarepolitain and to unwind, she was here fairly often, so she just waved at one of the barkeeps on duty, Rarity liked her drink with grape juice instead of grape fruit, so instead of a blush pink, it was a lovely purple " Thank you Darling" She cooed, as she took her drink with her magic, holding it to her lips and taking a soft sip.

"Ahh..that is excellent " Rarity was already finding herself to unwind...She noticed AppleJack was here, as was a few other ponies, some faces she recognized, and others she did not, and for now she was content to leave them be, enjoying herself right now, she would socialize in a moment or two.

[Pretzelparty]

"Now now Missy Noble Hussle, we all hustle somethin'. You should see me out thar sellin' apples!"

The freckled unicorn gave a chuckle and rolled her eyes at that statement. It somehow felt a bit odd for the former bearer of the element of honesty to say she regularly hustled ponies with her prices... but pressy supposed that part of being honest did sort of imply that you don't sell yourself short of what you're good at. "Hearin' Equestria's most honest pony sayin' she regularly hustles ponies is sorta like a weird contradiction... but I suppose yer right. the ponies I sell portraits to probably have no idea how much those are gonna be in the future!"

she looked over at the noblepony and kept that small smile "I'm actually a stage magician" she said, her horn's glow even wobbly as she pulled one of her posters out and showed it to presteza, she laughed a half-hearted laugh "my first lesson was not to let rage and jealousy blind me, I made a lot of enemies..." she sighed "but I am learning from my mistakes"

It seemed that Pressy's good nature was doing the trick and slowly pulling Trixie out of her doldrums. The blue mare had even seen fit to tell her what exactly she did for a living, and hey she even had a poster with her! Grinning wide, Presteza's eyes almost lit up at the mention of Trixie's profession,"Yer a stage magician?! Ya mean like one o' those cool Illusionists and ponies who're good at prestidigitation? That's so cool!"

Presteza had only gotten to read about Magicians when she was a filly at the manor. Their mastery of magic that could mess with the heads of ponies always seemed so cool. all those fancy bits and acts like sawing a pony in half, how in Equestria was that even possible?! The silvery maned unicorn's thoughts about the amazement in regards to Trixie's job were halted as she investigated the poster that Trixie had brought out. Immediately the mare's look changed to that of amazement to intense thought as she looked at this advertisement, "No... No, no, no, no, and no." The mare took the poster in her magic aura and spread it out on a table nearby, "Trixie, This poster is nowhere near cool enough fer a magician! Mind if I spruce it up fer ya?"

It seems that Pressy's excitement got the best of her as she didn't wait for Trixie's answer before she got to work. A bright blue glow emanated from Presteza's horn as she levitated several supplies from her bag. The items she'd taken from her bags included, Seven different types of Paintbrushes, several small jars of paint, and a palette. With a peaceful smile the mare's many brushes began to practically dance over the poster and painter a beautiful as well as stylized picture of Trixie with some lovely fancy text along with it that advertised the information that the image below had already displayed. Presteza finished her work in time to see Trixie do a pretty good job with her turn on the dartboard,"Awesome shot, Trixie! When ya get a sec, check out yer new poster! she said proudly to her friend.

"That's it! I can't stand hearing that tone anymore! I'll say this once, and not again. Get off you flank, move over there to the dart board and play with us. I don't know what your problem is, but at this point I don't care, just stop the self pity! That constant beating down on yourself is driving me nuts! But that's your choice. Though if there is one thing I hate is somegriffon or somepony that continues to wallow in their own pity. But what do I know, I'm just a runty griffon."

Suddenly Razor started Yelling at depressed mare. Now, Presteza was aware of the differing cultural beliefs between the ponies and griffins but this was too much. If this was the way that griffins tried to help eachother out of a rut then she would have expected Razor to realize his methods may not work on a pony who was probably used to the more comforting methods practiced by Equestrians.

Scooting a bit closer to the griffin she smirked and decided that Razor was overdue for some more teasing,"Y'know... Razor that's the first time I've ever heard ya call -yerself- short. I guess the first step ta recovery is admitting ya've got a problem, shoooooooorty." she said with a playful smirk. Before Razor could take up his usual enraged state the mare scooted closer and invaded his space,getting really close up to his face. Hoping to put him on the defensive she put on her best and most charming smile,"Ya sure, ya don' care fer ponies? If I wasn't taken already I'd say you were my *hic* type... o' griffin" said the mare with a more noticeable blush on her cheeks and flirtatious glint in her eye.

After Razor replied to her she'd quickly pull back and look at Martini as she spoke up to continue their conversation about how much her new friend and her mother had in common...

“Your mother was a filly too? Unfortunately I was just a young filly when I had Sunrise, really wasn’t much older than she is right now. I guess I could say I made a lot of poor decisions and mistakes in my life, especially when I was young.

The young unicorn paused amoment, doing some math in her head,"Hmm... well... Mum said she married Dad when she was an older filly. But she said she had my big brother when she was slightly younger than that... so I guess ya kinda 'ave her beat." she said playfully. Hearing Martini admitting to mistakes made during her fillyhood she moved a bit closer and tried to offer some comforting words,"Well... It might be sorta foalish view on this, but I think that a mistake that leads ta new life can't be all that bad and from wot ya said about yer daughter she sounds like she's gonna grow up ta be awesome!"

still, I can’t call giving birth to her one though; she is the greatest joy in my life. I suppose every mom says that though, don’t they? Well, only because it’s true.”

“Well I’ll be staying at the local motel over the week. If you remember this conversation then; I’ll take you up on your artistic offer, ‘kay?”

"Seems I'm not too far off! Yer right about that... Mum told me my brother and I were the best thing ta happen to 'er!" Suddenly the mare froze up and giggled at something. "I was just thinkin' about wot any kids o' mine might look like... I can't really picture my Coltfriend as a fatha figure..." she admitted while imagining her coltfriend merlot looking like a mess as he bottle-fed a young foal. After snapping herself out of her vivid imagination she smiled at Martini,"And no need ta worry about me forgettin' ya, Mate. I never ferget a face,smell, or voice! So I'll make you and yer daughter a portrait ya won't ferget!"

[Ashton]

Trixie recoiled at Razor's rant, honestly she had no clue if this griffin was trying to be friendly or hostile, her well-marinated brain even considered *really* making him a runt of a griffin with a shrinking spell, but even now she rallied that was probably the worst thing she cold do at the moment given the situation she was already in with Applejack clearly wanting to cuff her a few times. She was lucky they had met here in public instead of someplace more private where the farm pony wouldn't have hesitated to give trixie the beating she deserved for what had happened...

She had to laugh a tiny bit at the comment about playing darts, clearly he had not seen that her magic let her hit a perfect bullseye every time, even when she was a little tipsy... well, a lot tipsy... ok, she was drunk, she was starting to realize that now as the room was starting to move on it's own, but at least she wasn't about to revisit all her drinks yet... she took a long pull on the glass of water though just to help ease the effects of the alcohol and hopefully prevent herself from making an embarrassing mess on the floor...

She was about to speak up when another pony came to her defense She smiled "It's alright" she said "don't start a fight on my account, I'm not worth it" she said but then she noticed the mare blushing and realized a fight probably wasn't what she had in mind and Trixie dropped the conversation, not really wanting to dive into talking about relationships...

Trixie looked over at Martini and smiled "well... yes and no..." she said, trying to choose her words carefully "What's here _is_ very important to me, but It's a bit of a sensitive subject, and one I don't really want to talk about in public" her eye drifted over to AJ and back... she REALLY didn't want to think what the farm-pony would say or do if she began talking about her... interest... in one of AJ's best friends... "Thank you though, maybe later we can talk, I certainly could use the help figuring out what I need to do about this..."

She looked back at the unicorn artist and actually smiled, one thing she loved, before, now, and forever, was performing, and even now while rather sloshed in a bar with a pony who she feared was more an enemy than a friend, it still brought a smile to her face "Yes, A little unicorn magic, a little slight-of-hoof, and a lot of misdirection, I've been performing since I was a foal, it's my passion" she explained "I'm not sure doing a show in town would be safe, but if you'd like maybe later we can stop by my wagon and I can show you a few tricks, I don't really have most of my props on me right now" she admitted a little awkwardly

When the artist began remaking the poster, trixie was at the least amused, and when she revealed her masterpiece Trixie's eyes were wide and she smiled "that is incredible" she said "I think I might just have to send it out and get more fliers made like it, if you don't mind"

Maybe things weren't as bad as they seemed to be, AJ was at least still being civil, and these other ponies were giving Trixie a chance to prove herself. Maybe her friends in Appleoosa were right, and she did have a shot at a fresh start, even here at ground-zero of her two biggest mistakes... of course it was going to be a long, hard road, and she still hadn't tackled the worst of it yet, but things were looking up, she was starting to see a light at the end of this long, dark, tunnel finally.

[ShadowWalking18]

If there was wanted thing he had a love/hate interest for, it was when other assumed. Curse my mind for being straight-forward and blunt and flat pencil tip.

Action around here huh. Keeping the Everfree away from a small town where a Princess is living doesn't exactly give a lot of room for me to fling fireballs and rain stone from the skies. Better the untamed wild than an nearby town. He though, knowing most of his stronger spells would cause a bit of chaos.

"Would now have been a good time to mention that you never... Never mind. Just give a shout whenever you're coming into game." Oh the perks of annoyance coursed through Warp Sign's head. Second was the Griffon. Though Warp Sign barely read up on their culture, he did remember reading about their tempers. Academia mentality asserting itself, the last thing he needed was to get into a bar-fight over cultural nuances he didn't understand. Illogical, unnecessary. "Sure, whatever you say Razor. I just figured finding good food would be harder to find around here for ya. Plus our ideologies don't exactly match."

All the while, he took longer with his next set of darts, now gauging distance, the environment, and the actual dart's characteristics to have the best chance of getting a bullseye. Slowing his breathing, everything came clear to him. Although unlike a bolt of magic, the process was the same. Breath, aim, fire. Breath, aim, fire. Breath, aim, fire. Were the only thoughts within Warp Sign's head right about now. And then with a sudden snap. He let loose the first dart, scoring a near perfect. Dangit.

The rest of the darts followed separately in a monotonic fashion.

*Plunk, plunk, plunk*.

All within the central area of the dartboard with uncanny accuracy. Yet he didn't smile. He was satisfied, not happy. Satisfied. Happy was for when he broke out a new spell that worked, or when he got free time, he slowly took his darts off the board.

"Bartender, give me another mug of cider" Warp Sign said, approaching the bar to wait for his turn on the board again.

Razor just grunted and lifted another drink up. How many was this now? Oh well who cared! NOT HIM!

"Sorry. I eat fine, I find plenty of places that cater to my kind and if not well, I figure you ponies won't miss a snake or bunny or two." He said.

He reached for a dart with a claw and lifted it up by the tip. He held it infront of his beak and took aim.

Carefully....carefully...he threw it and it flew off and landed on the wide circle of the board.

"Dang it....." He said,, before turning to Presteza.

Suddenly Razor started Yelling at depressed mare. Now, Presteza was aware of the differing cultural beliefs between the ponies and griffins but this was too much. If this was the way that griffins tried to help eachother out of a rut then she would have expected Razor to realize his methods may not work on a pony who was probably used to the more comforting methods practiced by Equestrians.

Scooting a bit closer to the griffin she smirked and decided that Razor was overdue for some more teasing,"Y'know... Razor that's the first time I've ever heard ya call -yerself- short. I guess the first step ta recovery is admitting ya've got a problem, shoooooooorty." she said with a playful smirk. Before Razor could take up his usual enraged state the mare scooted closer and invaded his space,getting really close up to his face. Hoping to put him on the defensive she put on her best and most charming smile,"Ya sure, ya don' care fer ponies? If I wasn't taken already I'd say you were my *hic* type... o' griffin" said the mare with a more noticeable blush on her cheeks and flirtatious glint in her eye.

After Razor replied to her she'd quickly pull back and look at Martini as she spoke up to continue their conversation about how much her new friend and her mother had in common...

"You don't have to bring it up again you know." He said with a glare, "And don't call me shorty!"

He took another drink, but nearly spat it out when Presteza got wwwwwwaaaaaaaaayyyyy too close. He swallowed his drink and pressed his back against the bar, "Wha-wha-wha....you...I...that...." He stammered, blushing.

He shook his head, trying to think, "I...that..you...taken...that..." He slapped himself before saying, "Of course I don't like ponies! You're weak and soft! You're a prey species, and a predatory species like myself has more pride then to feel anything for something considered food. You're all too nice.....too...too darn accepting! It's...it's really....really annoying....you're all just annoying to me." He puffed out his chest, but his words like the usual spite in them.

He took another drink, "And don't insult me by giving me that line! You obviously don't mean it! Nogriffons tells another they would be with them if they weren't taken if they already have a mate. You're just rubbing it in my face and doing to make me angry!"

He growled and looked away. Everyone was always trying to make him angry! From the griffons back home who tormented him over his size, to all these ponies and their accepting behavior and their lovely dovey lives! They were all just trying to me him jealous and that made him mad! So they were obviously all trying to make him MAD!

He looked down at his mug and clenched his talon tight, dragging it across the wood and peeling sheds of it off. One might expect tears in his eyes, if such a motion was the sign of emotional pain. But his were long since shed, now...now he just had hate burning in his eyes.

[tacobob]

Typical.

Fire Walker had one day off this month, and she spent it doing all sorts of chores for her family. She had to buy some school supplies for her sister. While pencils and paper were easy to come across, there was one thing little Wind Walker needed or she surely would fail her arts and crafts class. She needed a packet of SUPER DUPER ARTY PONY stickers. Not the Super Arty Pony, or the version that smelled rather horrible, but the variety that was both SUPER and DUPER. Wind could not take any substitutes! After traveling through two towns and ten stores, she ended up finding one packet over at the local Cantermart. Once finished there, she stopped her friend’s forge to pick up her suit of ‘Adventure’ armor which the griffon had patched up and properly re-sized along with a beautiful, but utterly useless for combat sword, meant for hanging in her parent's new home in Ponyville. Not having time to simply fly back all the way back to he home in Fillydelphia, the mare decided to wear her armor for the rest of her trip. Thankfully, it was pretty light for steel-based armor.

Her next stop had her retrieving both a box of old paperwork for her mother and what felt like a hundred pounds of ancient scripts for her brother Moon Walker. An few more jobs that seemed to take forever followed, and before she knew it, she was flying to Ponyville. The red coated mare had planned on simply taking the 'Friendship Express', but had missed the last call, and after she decided against waiting for the next train, Fire decided she would make use of her wings and fly all the way. After dropping off her 'shipment'. her father recommended that she visit this 'little hole in the wall' that he had only just learned about. She could relax, meet some new friends and enjoy a fine cider close to its source.

It took the young mare a good half hour before she could find the place, and behold! This place sure did look like an 'hole', a homey one, but still a hole. It was hardly as fine of a place like Canterlot's 'Ponyland', or it probably lacked the super obscure stuff that her ol pal Muggo would keep at the 'Prancing Pony' in Fillydelphia. But as her father would tell her, it had drinks, nice chairs, tables and a whole bunch of ponies for her to chat with, which was good enough for her!

She recognized two of Princess Celestia's champions as soon as she entered the establishment, both Applejack and Rarity were there. She also spotted two old friends of hers, both the brave griffon Razor, and her adventuresome pal, Presteza. After nodding politely towards the well respected heroes of Ponyville, Fire Walker scampered over to greet her friends. "Razor!", she gave the size-challenged griffon a hug, "Haven't seen you in ages!", she turned to the mare, "I've seen you...Er.", maybe she was tired, but it took her a moment to realize her griffon friend was rather upset, "Er, Razor, you okay? You might want to take it easy on that poor mug. You're about to snap its handle..Raz?"

[QueenChrysalis747]

A butter colored mare slowly inched into the bar, quickly sliding past the elaborate wood doors and into the bar and she froze, this place was crowded bad tonight! The pegasus mare looked around, her pink mane swished a bit as her head and eyes darted side to side, usually it was quieter here. She always came to the bar to get a quick bit of feed, the wheat they carried did well and she would always ask them to order more and pay them handsomely for it. She didn't realize how crowded it could become, it made her nervous, scared out of her mind. She slowly inched her way toward the bar, staying to the far left of the building, it seemed less crowded there, she wasn't sure why, but it was, good for her.

It took her forever to get to the bar, mainly as she was practically tiptoeing to get there, but finally the sweet little pegasus arrived, her blue eyes looked down the counter. It was rotten luck, the barkeep was over on the otherside with...APPLEJACK! Fluttershy froze, AJ was here, and so was Rarity, oh no good, no good at all. She loved her friends, oh she loved them so dearly, but they had a tendency to..push her a bit. Knowing them, especially Rarity, they would coaxes her into having a drink, or staying a bit..or worse..talking to another pony!

Fluttershy gulped and quickly held up a paper and her wing slowly inched over and pressed down on the bell, so light, so gentle, if it made any noise it was unheard. She sighed, trying to think what to do as she hid behind the paper, though any pony with half a brain would know it was her by the pink mane sticking out of the top. She shivered and waited, not knowing what to do, or how to act, with so many ponies around her it was like a small ticking timebomb of panic waiting to happen!

[SteelEagle]

Ah, so Martini was well-acquainted with at least the specialist side of the Apple family produce line. No doubt that it proved to be one of their best sellers, the Zap Apples being the single largest batch they sold when it was time. Sure a lot of iot was harvested for zap apple jam but you could drown in the zap apples if you put your mind to it- which come to think of it if you drowned in apples likely meant you weren't putting your mind to much of anything. It didn't shock her in the slightest to know that it was famous even all the way down in the fancy schmancy islands where ponies spent all day sipping fancy drinks and going to beach parties and never inviting the Ponyvillian who had travelled all the way down there with a haul of apples as a delivery, covered in aggressive crabs and dogged by dangerous diamond dogs. No, she didn't really have a good memory of the islands but she was happy they liked her apples!

"Hehe, Zap Apples are pretty dang rare! We don't really know when they'll be ready for harvest again. Strange Everfree magic an' all. Luckily, we tend ta get a super large harvest of 'em every time, enough for dozens of barrels of zap apple jam and thousands of bushels of apples. Ah think Granny knows a bit more than she is lettin' on 'bout the timin' of the zap apples but Ah reckon she'll tell me when she thinks it'd be useful. Happy ta see yer fancy islander types appreciate a high quality apple when you see one! You should see some of the Stranders Ah deal with tryin' ta pass off some local rotted waste as a good apple. Enough ta make yer stomach turn an' mind melt. Oh well, can't account fer taste. So, tha Gallopocus Islands? Been there before. Nice place, Ah guess. Were ya born thar or just passin' by?" Applejack finished another glass of cider, this time waving off the bartender as he went to refill it. She then pointed wordlessly down and he nodded, taking her mug. The good stuff was on its way for them both, which would give her time to answer the next one.

"Well, Ah do for tha most part. Ah have plenty of help, mind you. Mah brother Big Mac- huge red stallion! His haunches are the size of ponies, Ah swear it- is a real workhorse. Mah little sister Apple Bloom helps out as best she can, but she's still a growin' filly. She helps with tha animals and household chores as well as buckets for the buckin'. Granny Smith doesn't do much anymore, so Ah guess that puts the real onus on me. Ah do a lot pf th physical work with Big Mac, all of tha business arrangements, sellin' them, farm upkeep, book-keeping...woo-eeee! Lemme tell you, thar ain't a more time consuming job than farm book-keepin!" she sighed wistfully, "as for a family of mah own, not yet. Have a fine colt-friend though. Name's Carrot Fields, farmer nearby. Good stallion," she smiled naturally, considering what he was to her, "so Ah'd like ta have a few foals of my own someday," a smile crept on, "would make tha division of labor a lot better for me!" she finished with a heart laugh. Ahhh, plans.

Twilight Sparkle really was somepony special, and not just for all the obvious reasons. The fact that anypony could retain the humility she had despite her position was mind-blowing to Applejack. She didn't know if she could do it or if she would fall for the lie that seemed so sweet, that she really was so very much better than everypony else because of who she was as opposed to what she did. Twilight didn't fall for it though- she was a pony driven by merit. And that was what made her special beyond everything else, and it was the best reason Applejack could think of why she was the perfect role model for any filly. Great hooves to be in. Even if they were still librarian hooves.

"Hehehe, yep. She still is. Ah reckon she wouldn't have given that up for all the duchies in all the lands of the whole world. She loves that libarary!" Applejack finished as the new drunk arrived in a new mug, accompanied by a merry band of six shot glasses.

"Now here we go. This'res a new, high-content cider! Should taste just fine but Ah'll admit it, Ah'm so biased Ah couldn't give a cider of my own that Ah've sold already below a ten outta ten. But yer a professional barkeep- Ah'm sure yer opinion's more on tha dot than mine is," Applejack stated as she poured the shots. Truth be told she was always tinkering with some of the old family recipes. You never knew when a sliver of creativity long since lost to tradition could break through and inspire a whole new world of creative possibilities.

Speaking of having the ability to inspire a whole new world of creative possibilities, Rarity made her slightly not grand appearance. A bit of a shock seeing her here, if only because it wasn't Stallion's Night and she wasn't looking for a bit of mischief. It probably shocked some ponies knowing just how often Rarity slipped out into the night to be lit by the pale moonlight seductively, but Applejack knew her friend all too well that tonight didn't have that same ring to it. Usually she looked a bit fancier if her plan was to coil over somepony's drunken little heart for the evening. Just relaxing, which was the best type of fun to have on a night like tonight. Applejack tipped her hat to Rarity and waved at her.

"Howdy, Rarity! Heh, didn't think tonight was yer night. How was yer day?" Applejack asked simply, motioning for her to take a seat next to the islander and the farner. If only Fluttershy was here! Then they could break the hearts and minds of any lovestruck colt. It would b a terrible waste of life.

And then that disaster struck. Fluttershy arrived, a real shocker if such a thing could still exist. Applejack was immediately on edge for her friend. Fluttershy wasn't used to this type of rather loud and raucous environment, nor seasoned at all to handle any advances or games. She was a timid little thing and as a good friend Applejack wanted to make sure that if anything happened, it was over the farmer's dead body. Or because she was drunk and passed out, whichever came first. The paper thing was cute, though. Applejack waved her over as well and emphasized it with a whistle.

"Fluttershy! Getcherself over here and relax. Got some nice ponies for ya ta meet! Maybe they have pets," Applejack cooed, hoping to lure her friend out of her timidity and into some fun. She could do with it, though Applejack had her reservations about what was going on. A new pony joined, this one a red pegasus with armor on. Adventurer or military, either way she was buddy buddy with the griffon who was too busy being an angry little run to be any fun. An energetic game of darts was taking place as Trixie was pulled into coherency by Presteza and the Griffon, all the whole the REA pony from earlier went about playing his own brand of mean darts. But the most important thing in history was happening right then.

"So Martini, whatcha think of tha new cider?!"

[Solaria]

Sun Drop yawned, covering her wide-open mouth with the back of a hoof before shaking her head and smiling. It had been a long day of training, whipping through the sky near Ponyville. After looking for several hours, she had finally found a sweet cloud field and spent most of the afternoon surfing on cumulonimbi that were smoother than silk. Someday soon she'd manage to perfect that Triple Blaze Twist, but that wasn't today apparently. The strain from spinning that quickly and landing was still something she'd need to get used to, but for all the work she deserved a good rest before going at it again tomorrow.

She'd checked with a local weather pony and had been told that there weren't any scheduled sky clearings for a few days, so if the unicorn was lucky those dreamy airborne swells would still be there in the morning. Her gleaming board strapped across her back, the mare upped her pace until she finally broke into sight of her target: The Watering Hole, a tavern and inn.

"Finally," she huffed, adjusting her gear over her shoulder and trotting forward. "Didn't think this place existed after a while."

She'd check in, drop her gear in her room, and maybe slip in a drink or two before hitting the hay. Nothing to it! With a smile the pony tossed the door open, her eyes widening a bit at the sight that clamored before her. The place was just this side of a rambunctious bar! It was fine by her anyway. Maybe make a few friends, sing a few songs, trade some banter... those clouds would still be there if she woke up a bit late.

With an eager look the white-coated mare hustled over to the counter, dropping some bits to grab a room before hurrying upstairs. Her cloudboard caught a few times starting up the stairwell, but with a dazzling smile back at the innkeeper Sun Drop managed to get it turned and fitting. When she reached her room she unceremoniously dumped her gear onto the bed, turning to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror on the wall.

Blonde mane was fine, still tied back from training. Her blue eyes dropped to the fitted black shirt that covered the upper half of her body, all the way up her neck to her chin and down her forelegs to just above her hooves. Signature look, she supposed. It wasn't cold enough to wear her insulated vest anyway. With a nod to no pony in particular, she jetted back down the stairs and threw herself into the chaos.

"Fireball Cider!" she called out to the bartender as she slid by, her gaze roving until she found was she was looking for: competition. There seemed to be some dart games going on, and plenty of patrons playing.

"Room for one more?" she asked brightly, moving right up to the group.

[brianblackberry]

Martini Paradise smiled at Presteza's kind words about the birth of her daughter, Sunrise Beach. "Well I certainly don't consider having Sunrise a mistake, and no I guess it wasn't all that bad becoming pregnant with her, although I was far too young to be truly ready for such a responsibility. I had to grow up very fast, too fast. Thing was, my folks, they are the beach bum hippie types and weren't very good at raising foals, so I left before I was even a mare, and found work wherever I could with a foal in tow." Marttini quickly drank the rest of the cider, her second mug, and signaled the bartender for a third. "It wasn't easy, losing one's filyhood like that; I want to be sure Sunrise has it better than I, that's all."

Martini's curiosity piqued when the white maned unicorn mentioned she had a coltfriend, and by the fact she also mentioned foals in the same sentence, it sounded like something serious. "So this stallion you mentioned? Someone serious, as in marriage, or just more of a 'just met and we'll see how it works out' sort of deal? Of course, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine too." Martini loved conversation, and she loved listening, but one of the top rules she developed as a bartender was to never push a pony, or anyone really, into talking about something they are not comfortable speaking about.

Not pushing others into talking about something they don't want to was the exact reason Martini decided not to pry further with the azure colored unicorn, Trixie. At least the other unicorn was open to possibly talking about whatever reason she came to Ponyville later, despite the hostility of others to her presence, "that's alright hon, you don't have to tell me. I understand wanting to keep some things private, but if you ever change your mind, I'll be around this bar for a couple more hours, 'kay?" Hopefully whatever, or whoever she was here for would work out.

Fortunately the other pony, Applejack, she was having an informal conversation with, appeared to be about as gregarious as Martini herself. She had to laugh out loud at the "fancy island type" comment though, "oh I think you are mixing the more touristy places with the rest of the isles, most ponies there are no different then here really, other than accents, love of water, and disliking the cold. I'm sorry some you met didn't like your apples; they're probably not used to them since we can't grow apples on the isles, the soil and weather isn't quite right after all, too tropical." Martini was determined; it was up to her to salvage the reputation of the isles in the eyes of Applejack, after all she loved her home and certainly didn't want anypony to think poorly of them.

Of course the best way to start was to generously accept the orange earth pony's offer of the shots of her best cider. "Why thank you hon, and yes, I am born and raised on the isles. I only left after Sunrise was born, to find more steady work, hasn't worked as well as I hoped so far, but I have worked up quite a resume in the meanwhile! In fact I have a good chance at a permanent well paying gig in Canterlot!"

Martini took a shot of the cider, it was hot and smooth, definitely the good stuff, and she could easily had more, but figure to let Applejack take the next one. "Delicious! As for the islands or anything, ask away!"

[QueenChrysalis747]

Fluttershy jumped when Applejack called to her and looked around nervously but slowly creeped over to the mare and all the other ponies. The many other ponies, watching her, judging her, waiting for her to slip up, just once. She shivered as she arrived to her friend and spotted Rarity as well, "Oh, um hi, R..Rairty, H..Hi Ap..Applejack" She said in a soft squeak as she looked around a bit scared, "Q..Quite c..crowded..busy, um here..now..tonight" she responded. Each response was quick and short as she could be.

Fluttershy figured, the less she spoke, the less she would mess up, the less she would mess up the more she would be forgotten. Now she didn't want to totally be forgotten, but most ponies were strange to her, new, not a friend she was normally around. She was terrible at introductions and if Applejack and Rarity tried to get her to make a friend, well it would be very stressful!

[StaticPinks]

Rusty "Copper" Tones

A stallion walks into the Watering Hole like how one might enter a home or other place where you might be most comfortable in. A place that takes care of you whether you're on the height of the world or in the lowest of lows. This inn and tavern was definitely something the stallion would call a "home" because he had been here many times when he stopped into Ponyville.

He always liked Ponyville, the residents were always so caring and friendly, the environment peaceful and tranquil, just a place where one might go to get away from it all. He had seen much in his years traveling Equestria, sharing his harmonica with the world and being a guide or problem solver for whoever needed it. He had witnessed terror and ponies down on their luck in places like Las Pegasus or Manehatten, but for some strange reason, none of that happened here. Nopony who wants to take advantage of another, just a place where friends gather and live their lives to the fullest. He adored it here.

The stallion known only as Copper enters the inn, carrying only his harmonica around his neck and the brown duster and black rimmed Desperado cowboy hat on his horned head. He glances around at the area, taking in account who was here this time. He spotted a couple of ponies and a griffin playing darts, a small group of ponies talking near the far corner at a table and a few individuals scattered near the bar table. Copper has seen some of these ponies, either around town or right where they were now, and others he had no clue.

He could go greet them, find out what they were all about, make friends, but it had been a long trek to Ponyville from Canterlot, and all he wanted was a cold drink, a seat, and maybe some time to play his best friend.

Copper walked down to the bar table and sat down on one of the stools, with nopony around him but not too far away from the eyes of the other patrons. Copper took off his hat and lay it on the table in front of him and struck the same table with one of his hooves twice, calling the bar pony who Copper had seen a few times in the past.

"I'll have the usual, thanks"

The pony running the place nodded and proceeded to grab a bottle of hard apple cider and a glass filled with ice, and passed it to Copper. Copper nodded to the pony and threw a few bits his way to cover the bill and tip and activated his magic to pop the cork and pour himself his glass, like it was second nature to him. Like he had done the same thing for years, with no stop in sight. Copper sat back and smiled while he took a sip of his drink and watched the other patrons mill about, waiting to see if anything interesting would happen. He wouldn't change this life for anything in the world.

[xXDashieXx]

Flamewing was coming down from Cloudsdale as she spotted the watering hole. I need a break anyways. Flamewing thought to herself. She walked over and sat down next to a stallion. Flamewing didn't know what to get so she just pointed to the pony's drink beside her. "Um, hi there." Flamewing said a little shy. She had never talked to people except back at Cloudsdale. She smiled at the stallion and tried to look her nicest when she saw a couple ponies having a conversation. It looks like everyone knows each other. Flamewing thought. Ignoring that her drink came. "Thank you." She said to the pony who delivered her drink. She popped the top with her mouth and atempted to get a glass when cider spilled all over her. "Shoot!" Flamewing said as she grabed a napkin to clean the mess up.

[Pretzelparty]

Martini Paradise smiled at Presteza's kind words about the birth of her daughter, Sunrise Beach. "Well I certainly don't consider having Sunrise a mistake, and no I guess it wasn't all that bad becoming pregnant with her, although I was far too young to be truly ready for such a responsibility. I had to grow up very fast, too fast. Thing was, my folks, they are the beach bum hippie types and weren't very good at raising foals, so I left before I was even a mare, and found work wherever I could with a foal in tow. It wasn't easy, losing one's filyhood like that; I want to be sure Sunrise has it better than I, that's all. So this stallion you mentioned? Someone serious, as in marriage, or just more of a 'just met and we'll see how it works out' sort of deal? Of course, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine too."

The young mare made sure to take Martini's words to heart. This mare seemed to have had quite a rough life, quite a stark contrast to the freckled painter she was speaking to. Presteza's life wasn't without it's trial's but living the sheltered life of a rich pony in an extravagant manor with the occasional doubts in self confidence and feelings of loneliness was nothing compared to Martini's life. These details about Martini ere actually rather important for her to make the painting later.

Once Martini posed her question about Presteza's coltfriend she had to think for a moment,"Well... it's more like the second one. I'm rather surprised We wound up datin' myself cause 'e seemed so snooty." The silver maned pony took another sip of her tea and hiccuped again before she continued,"Anyway, I can't help but see some good in 'im... I still can't see 'im as becomin' a father though. or at least I couldn't see 'im as takin care of a foal unless I wouldn't stop buggin' 'im about it."

"Wha-wha-wha....you...I...that.... I...that..you...taken...that..." He slapped himself before saying, "Of course I don't like ponies! You're weak and soft! You're a prey species, and a predatory species like myself has more pride then to feel anything for something considered food. You're all too nice.....too...too darn accepting! It's...it's really....really annoying....you're all just annoying to me." He puffed out his chest, but his words like the usual spite in them. He took another drink, "And don't insult me by giving me that line! You obviously don't mean it! Nogriffons tells another they would be with them if they weren't taken if they already have a mate. You're just rubbing it in my face and doing to make me angry!"

"Razor!", she gave the size-challenged griffon a hug, "Haven't seen you in ages!", she turned to the mare, "I've seen you...Er.", maybe she was tired, but it took her a moment to realize her griffon friend was rather upset, "Er, Razor, you okay? You might want to take it easy on that poor mug. You're about to snap its handle..Raz?"

It seemed that the alcohol was still getting to the young painter as once she heard the voice of her old friend, Fire she immediately grabbed the armor clad mare and pulled her into a really tight hug with a surprising amount of strength,"Faiya!" she said in a palyful yet slurred voice before she set the mare down and chuckled in Razor's direction,"Ah don't mind mister sourfeathers over there. 'e's just mad that a member of a 'prey species' managed ta get his feathers ruffled... and make 'im blush too!" With a playful smirk in Razor's direction she stuck her tongue out at the griffin who at the moment seemed to be stewing in his own anger. "Also Mista Razah... Yer arguement's still got some holes in it... some hippogriff shaped holes in it ta be honest. Apparently yer predatory species isnt too proud ta fall fer the charms of a lovely mare or a handsome stallion I suppose... And by the way, Maybe I was serious before." she gave him a teasing wink, honestly enjoy messing with the diminutive griffin's head.

"Fluttershy! Getcherself over here and relax. Got some nice ponies for ya ta meet! Maybe they have pets,"

Applejack had apparently been joined by one of her friends, a pink maned mare. None other than ponyville's fluttershy. Another member of The six mares that had saved Equestria on several occasions? this was turning out to be an awesome day! With a surprising burst of speed the cream coated pony offered her hoof towards the yellow pegasus, "Nice ta meetcha, Fluttershy! I'm Presteza! Equestria's Next greatest artist and future famous figure ta be recorded in history books." she said with her usual boisterous voice, loud enough for the fellow patrons to hear her. "Sorry ta say I don' have a pet... I wish I did have one though... it gets really lonely travelin' all the time."

"Yes, A little unicorn magic, a little slight-of-hoof, and a lot of misdirection, I've been performing since I was a foal, it's my passion" she explained "I'm not sure doing a show in town would be safe, but if you'd like maybe later we can stop by my wagon and I can show you a few tricks, I don't really have most of my props on me right now" she admitted a little awkwardly

When the artist began remaking the poster, trixie was at the least amused, and when she revealed her masterpiece Trixie's eyes were wide and she smiled "that is incredible" she said "I think I might just have to send it out and get more fliers made like it, if you don't mind"

The idea of learning some slight of hoof tricks and fancy tricks was rather appealing to this impressionable young artist. She did find the typical unicorn magic spells to be occasionally boring but after spending some time with a certain student in canterlot she'd gained a new appreciation for it, "I'm glad ya like yer poster! The price o' that new design is gonna be... a trip or two ta yer wagon later!" she said with a smile and sidelong hug of the formerly downtrodden blue mare.

[Ashton]

Trixie looked around at the huge crowd of ponies around her, including two of the Element Bearers, one of whome made it clear she still hated her. Then there was all the other general activity. Trixie was a showmare, true, but her shows were done solo or with one assistant, which she was no twilight sparkle, she still was not good with huge crowds bearing down upon her like this... in fact little did she know it but she actually had this as common ground with that certain yellow pegasus she was fearful of right now...

Trixie looked over at the artist and smiled awkwardly, clearly taking that as a request to go back to her wagon and make... well they couldn't make babies since they were mares, but... and while Trixie would like to take her mind off what had happened, she wasn't all that comfortable with the idea of casual encounters, especially when the one she really cared about was so close - even if trixie was sure Twilight would reject her on the simple grounds that twilight was a mighty alicorn and Trixie was a commoner and a former villain... heck, Twilight might just smite her then and there... though that would be one of Trixie's prefered methods of demise - to die at the hooves of the mare she loved... She tought about her friends back in aaaaaapleoosa though, they'd be devistated, especially the foal, if she died that way... if she died at all...

Trixie turned back to look at the artist-pony "you know, that sounds like a good idea" she said "it's getting crowded in here" she smiled a smile that appeared to be completely and totally smashed, purposefully to make the artist think she had won and would bed trixie that night... The unicorn stood, falling to the ground dramatically, her horn glowing as she stood up, apparently using it to steady herself somehow - though it was all for show now, trixie hadn't drunk nearly as much as it looked like she had, and what little she did drink had mostly worn off, but it provided a good cover right now as she stumbled towards the door...

[QueenChrysalis747]

Fluttershy froze as a mare talked to her, a strange, unknown mare, talking to her! She froze and looked around, beginning to breathe heavy and eventually ducked behind Applejack, the only mare she felt safe ducking behind. Oh she trusted Miss Rarity with her life she did indeed, but if somepony approached her, well Rarity wasn't one to get dirty! She cowered behind her orange pelted Tan maned friend and squeaked, "H...hi" she said no louder then a breeze of wind. In this loud bar it was lucky if Applejack heard her, she was getting terrified, maybe she would leave, come back tomorrow to get the wheat?

[sorry about super short post I am not sure what to say ]

[xXDashieXx]

After Flamewing finished cleaning up her mess she sat there for a while looking at the copper pony. After the pony didn't respond to her she gave up. Flamewign rested for a while before deciding to start her journey into the everfree forest. Flamewing looked over at the group of ponies and decided to go over. She was walking over as she heard someone say the name of one of the ponies. She did need directions to the everfree forest so she decided to ask that pony hoping they would know. "Um, excuse me but do any of you know the path that leads to the everfree forest?" She asked a pony she heard by the name of Applejack. She smiled and was polite. She crossed her hooves and looked down.

[SteelEagle]

(OOC- For future reference, please allow for everyone to have the opportunity to post before you post again.)

Well, it stood to reason that Martini would say she met a poor example of the islands and Applejack figured that was pretty close to reason and reality. Applejack was admittedly highly prejudicial against any region that didn't seem to send back favorable reports about her apples as for the most part any pony that didn't like a good Apple family apple was as strange as a three-headed cow dancing on six hooves with a one-legged cyclops pony. And that was mighty weird, if you had any doubt. Still though, she guessed she'd have to settle for allowing the ponies of the islands to have their weird little fancies and not hold it against them. It was hard though. Apples were just clearly the best and other opinions were incorrect and scary.

"Well, Ah suppose that's true. Still though, apples are better than a bundle of bits fallin' from the skies! Tell yer friends on tha island to get their heads straight," She said with a knowing wink, laughing heartily as she drank her cider alongside the islander. She was a nice sort and more importantly a smart sort when it came to what went on at a bar. getting her outside's opinion on the quality of the new brew meant a lot, even if she had only known this Martini for all a few minutes. For Applejack it had a lick of barley on top of the apples that was distinctly different from the others, a nice musky aroma translated into taste that was warm and inviting alongside the richness of the drink. After a bit the barpony responded positively, and Applejack tapped her shot glass to hers, success!

"Now that's tha ticket! Hehe, now Ah knew Ah wasn't a weirdo makin' Carrot Fields help me make it for two days straight in our dank, cold cellar, alone wiith nothing but the smell of apples and barley to accompany us!" She remembered wistfully. It had been just a few months ago but may as well have been a lifetime with everything that had transpired since then, but the one thing that remained true was that hard work and love put into a good product always paid off in the end. It was a good drink and would see them to blurry vision soon enough! Applejack beckoned for a few more shots to be delivered and they were as the farmer tapped the table with anticipation, wondering where and how she was gonna start sending it. Manehattan. They loved a good drink there. She shook her head and smiled, tipping her hat to the barpony.

"Well, now that ya mention it, Ah do. If ya could get a job in Canterlot, or at least a chance, stands ta reason ya could get a job anywhere. Are the islands just a tough market or was there somethin' more ta it?" Applejack asked, the cider finally making a small dent in her character as she felt no compulsion to shy away from personal questions. Besides, she'd asked about family and love and didn't even follow up with Applejack, so it was time to even the scales!

Speaking of scales, Fluttershy was moving slowly and lightly enough to not tip one. Poor mare wasn't fit for social situations even after all this time? Applejack could have sworn she had been stadily improving, but just like teaching a filly how to applebuck, sometimes it was one step forward and two steps back before it could be two steps forward and one back. In the end she was sure that Fluttershy would be able to handle crowds like this but until then Applejack would have to try unconventional means to loosen her friend up. She offered Fluttershy a shot of the new cider, several of which had shown up next to Martini and Applejack.

"Just sit down an' relax, Fluttershy. Here, take this. You'll feel better than a butterfly," Applejack assured the mare, not really sure how it would take but confident that Fluttershy was lightweight enough to not need much encouragement past the first shot or two. Applejack had never seen the pegasus without her faculties in order but heck, it couldn't be any less awkward than it was now, right?

Awkward, well, the name was Presteza. The noblepony was far more lightweight than Applejack would have ever guessed. She was hitting on low-lifes like Trixie who herself could hardly stand up and geez louise, didn't she have a coltfriend? Well, Applejack wasn't for lies of omission if it went too far. It made a lump grow in her throat as she realized that bringing Presteza to a bar was right off the list of any future plans for the two. Hopefully it wouldn't go any further. Luckily, she also made her way over to Fluttershy and mentioned the lack of a pet. There was something to think about and not think about putting your future at risk, yeah?

"That's right! Pressy here is a noblepony from Trottingham an' has a whole slew of paintin's to show for herself. Fluttershy, you have pets that could be adopted, yeah? Go on ahead an' tell Pressy all 'bout 'em!" Applejack offered up gently, hoping that the two would converse while she decided what to do about Trixie.

As her mane-brained schemes shot through her rattled skull, a few new entrants made their appearance. One was a pegasus who looked almost as nervous as Fluttershy and somehow managed to cause an accident long before Fluttershy had, spilling her drink. Well, that wasn't a good way to start a night! She just needed to relax. Applejack tipped her cat in her direction and waved, and the barkeep replaced her drink- another on the Apple tab. "Just relax, Sugarcube. As for the Everfree, it's about fifteen seconds away! See the woods 'cross the walkin' path? The first few rows are planted and fine but bam, then you're in the Everfree. 'Course, be a silly thing ta do, no point in it," Applejack whispered across the way, also nodding towards the stallion that the mare had sat next to. He looked a bit more familiar, a regular if her memory served her right. "Rusty...Pones?" Applejack wondered aloud, pointing at the stallion to get his attention. He seemed a nice enough sort. She also liked ponies that had good taste in hats, even if her stetson would wallop his desperado ten times out of five.

The final new entrant Applejack actually knew. Now, cloudsurfing wasn't one of her favorite sports as hoofball dominated that subject but anypony who wasn't thrilled by cloudsurfing to some extent was a bit of a loon. And Applejack always had a love for ponies that could compete in that sport that weren't pegasi. Depending on how one read the family tree one of Applejack's distant cousins had been a successful cloud surfer in ages past, though that wasn't much of a shock. If you looked deep enough into the branches of that seemingly infinite family tree you could find just about whatever it was you were searching for. In any case, Sun Drop- one of Applejack's favorites- was here and it made Applejack giddy. A good part of her wanted to stand up and say hi and get an autograph and generally be a bother, but she immediately went to involve herself in a game of darts. She wanted to have fun and relax, and it would have been rude to interrupt. In any case, Applejack had a drunk unicorn to fry in the flames of her piercing morality, or at least in her desire to head off drama.

Applejack got up and trotted next to the stumbling, falling, and all together incompetent Trixie and took her gently by the fetlocks as she nodded towards the barkeep.

"Ah'll make sure she gets back ta her cart all safe'n sound. Keep mah drinks cold or thar'll be Tartarus ta pay!" She waved before pushing open the door, "alright Trixie, 'ere we go. Keep yer wits 'bout ya. Ah don't wanna have ta carry you on mah back, 'cause Ah WILL make you pay."

[StaticPinks]

Copper took another swig of his cider, savoring the taste of the cool liquid draining down his throat, before he noticed a charcoal-black pony with a flaming red sit down next to him and offered a shy greeting his way, and ordered the same thing the stallion got, which could only tell him that she was either really nervous coming down here and not knowing what to drink, or it was the most awkward way to get a chance to talk with Copper.

"Nice choice, the hard cider they have is mighty fine around here, miss. Have it every time I swing by."

The mare seemed pretty nice, as was all the ponies from around here, friendly and warm. Copper returned her hospitality by throwing a few more bits towards the barkeep, offering to pay for her drink.

Copper took his last gulp of his glass, frowning slightly when the last drop had reached his mouth before levitating his bottle back towards the glass and welcoming its contents to the glass with open arms. Before he could, however, he heard the familiar sound of a cork popping besides him and turned just to see the mare cover herself with the fruity liquid. Copper lightly chuckled to himself, remembering his first time with a bottle. He had tried to pry open it with his magic and added just a little too much power, sending the cork ricocheting across the room before smacking him in the forehead with a fair bit of impact. He had a welt the size of a bit under his horn for about a week.

Copper aided the mare by levitating some more napkins her way, not too sure he should be helping her wipe of the sticky substance off her coat as he didn't know her at all. Still, he wiped the table and stool the best he could before he turned to address her, she got up and walked towards the group of ponies in the back, talking about going into the Everfree, something that even Copper wouldn't trek through unless he knew he was prepared.

Copper left the mare to her own devices, and returned to his apple-flavoured alcoholic beverage. Picking it up yet again and attempting to pour his glass yet again before he heard a very familiar, southern voice call out to him.

"Rusty...Pones?"

The stallion hesitated slightly before putting his drink back down on the table with a sigh, and turned to see a stetson-wearing mare named Applejack wave him over, which made his heart skip a beat. He knew her from around Ponyville, either from here or around the town when he looked hard enough. He had even managed to chat a bit with her a couple of times in the past, trusting her enough to properly introduce himself without his self-appointed name. It was a shame that it had been a while, as he hadn't seen her in quite some time.

He sort of liked her, to be honest. Her hard-working ethic and down-to-earth attitude made him appreciate her more, although he wasn't the one get smitten with a mare he hardly knew, even more so that he didn't stay in one place too long, depending on the situation. Nevertheless, he sure would love to chat with her any time he could, as it was the most he was going to get.

Copper smiled to the southern pony before lifting his desperado back on his head, and walked over to where she was seated. He tipped his hat to all of the ponies who had joined at her table before turning to address Applejack.

"Ah, it's been too long, Applejack, you've forgotten my name already? Switch the "Pones" with "Tones" and you're just about there! How've you been? Still wearing that dusty old stetson, are ya? Ya gotta get a real hat like this here beauty!"

Copper patted his faithful desperado with a hoof before giving a playful wink towards the farm pony, simply poking fun at her and enjoying the small amount of time he gets to see her. She was really one of a hoofful of ponies in Equestria he could really call somewhat a "friend".

[brianblackberry]

Martini Paradise smiled and laughed merrily as Presteza revealed the details of her current relationship. “So it is like that is it? Well that’s good, best to just get out there and casually date and see if he is the right stallion for you. You are a young mare so go and test those waters! I wouldn’t even think about foals yet if were you, and certainly not with this fella if you are just seeing if it works.” Martini wasn’t much older herself, but here she was, again dispensing relationship advice as if she had decades of experience or something. It was just she was so used to it with her bartending job; one would be surprised how many ponies told bartenders all about their relationship worries and woes and asked for advice as if the pony behind the counter was some sort of love sage.

What worried Martini weren’t the beige unicorn’s liaisons, but her increasing state of inebriation. There was no doubt in the pink mare’s mind that this painter was a novice when it came to the sauce. Presteza was already openly flirting with the blue unicorn, which normally wasn’t an issue, save for the impaired state the white maned mare found herself in. Martini knew all too well the poor decisions that came from a tipsy mind, decisions one wouldn’t normally make, decisions contrary to one’s best interest. She couldn’t say if that was the case here, but felt it was important to at least bring it up, so at least Presteza could think twice over what she was about to do. “Hon, are you sure you rather not just go to bed here at the inn and sleep off what you’ve drank so far? You had an awful lot of ciders; I just don’t want you to go and do something you’ll regret in the morning.”

Applejack on the other hoof was a pony that appeared to be in control at all times. It was nice to chat with somepony that didn’t quickly become impaired and couldn’t put two words together without it sounding slurred. She couldn’t help but give a huge smile listening to the earth mare’s dedication to her signature fruit though. It definitely was an earth pony thing; Martini has heard similar from strawberry, pear, orange, and cherry farmers over the years, all earth pony stock. She laughed merrily, “fair enough, who am I to argue the high value and wonderful taste of the apple; especially with such a fine connoisseur of the fruit such as yourself!”

Martini floated another one of the barley apple drinks and clanked it to Applejack’s, “here is to the wonderful beauty of the islands, and to the delectable taste of the apple, cheers!” She quickly downed the special homebrew blend, smooth and fiery, this orange earth mare knew something about creating fine drink, there was no doubt.

Just as good was the conversation. Martini rarely got any questions herself, other than the occasional flirtatious overtures by buzzed customers; it was actually nice to field some real inquires of interest in her life for once. “there just wasn’t many opportunities on the islands for someone just starting out like myself, especially at my age. Tourism is the driving force of the economy there, so as you can imagine, there were all sorts of beverage stands and tiki lounges crowding anywhere the tourists were likely to go, so competition was very fierce. Of course as a filly, not many ponies were that interested in hiring me anyway, especially not with having a foal and all obviously dividing my time. “ Martini looked down at the empty glass in introspection, “I guess I could easily go back now, but Canterlot has always been kind to be in opportunities, and I would love to bring a little bit of the islands there, you know what I mean?”

She looked back up at the apple mare with some curiosity of her own, “so mind if I ask you a question? You kept mentioning a Carrot Fields; totally doesn’t sound like an Apple name, that is for sure, so somepony special then or just a friend?”

[tacobob]

As she tried her best to comfort her old friend, Fire Walker noticed yet another one of Celestia’s champions had entered the little drinking establishment. This one was Lady Fluttershy, a mare who had an special touch when it came to commanding the local animal population. Along with being a ranger of sorts, she had spent a relativity short time as a super-model. One could assume she had her hooves already filled with her near weekly job of saving the day and her keeping tabs on the creatures that haunt the Ponyville woods, that the extra job was just too much. Knowing she probably would prefer to chat with her companions, the armored mare politely nodded her head and smiled at the young heroine as she passed by.

The mare nearly leaped out of her horse-shoes when her old pal Presteza gave her a near-Pinky-Pie-Sized hug, “Oh! Sorry Pressy.”, she gave the unicorn a friendly hug of her own, and as she did, the R.E.A guard couldn’t help but smell the alcohol on her breath. “Ho-Boy, looks like one little pony has already hit her nightly limit.”. While the red Pegasi really wanted to sample some of the greatest apple cider to be found in Equestria, she decided she would go easy at the bar tonight and maybe just have a mug, knowing that she would need to be mostly sober to look after her old friend. She needed to make sure the mare found her way home, or wherever she was staying for the night, and to make sure no pony of a prurient mindset tried to take advantage of the very tipsy pony.

Her ears nearly popped off the side of her head as she heard the normally very polite pony speak to Razor. Had she actually hit on the griffon? Her jaw nearly hit the ground as she proceeded to offer to visit a unicorn mare's wagon in a way that was obvious that she had less interest in the cart's wheels or contents, but was more into the pony that might be pulling the said cart. And it then dawned on her. While she had known Presteza for some time now, and had worked with her brother from time to time, there was still so little she knew about the unicorn, and while she had filled her friend's ears with stories of colt-friends, past and present, she did not know a single thing about the girl's love-life.

As she pondered this all, Fire caught sight of the blue unicorn as she stumbled about the bar. Knowing that there would be a good chance that the cornflower blue haired mare would hurt herself stumbling off to her 'cart'. Being the honorable sort, she motioned to give the girl a hoof, but was beaten to the punch by another one of Celestia's champions, the heroically able Applejack! Making sure things went smoothly for the pair, she excused herself and held the door open for the country pony, "Excuse me Lady Applejack.". The armored mare spoke with great reverence. She was not talking to a simple country-girl, but an actual hero of the realm, and bearer of one of the elements of harmony, "If you don't mind me asking, do you know how much my friend there.", she nodded at Presteza as she whispered, "Has had to drink? I've never seen her this way before."

[QuickLime]

Both hearing and spotting AppleJack, Rarity waved to her, levitating her pretty, froo-froo drink and moved over to take the gestured seat "AppleJack! How good to see you, I know it's not my usual day, but TODAY was so hectic, I had five or six high maintenance customers come in and all demand custom orders, and I managed to get them all done within the span of a few hours and I honestly just need to kick my hooves up" She said and took a sip of her drink.

She did notice Fluttershy, but she was acting so bizzare, from the way she was acting you would think Rarity was going to pimp her out to every single person there, and shove herself atop of her to boot! Which would simply be out of character for Rarity to do so! She was of course above all a LADY!

"It's good to see you Fluttershy but why are you cowarding from me like I am some sort of horrid beast..?" She asked with a raised brow, after all they both went to the spa regularly together, Fluttershy should know her well enough to know she'd never try to purposefully make the shy buttermare uncomfortable! So the way the other hid behind AppleJack and shook like a leaf due to Rarity's presence was just..odd

Rather hurtful actually...perhaps their friendship wasn't as strong as she thought...

[Solaria]

Sun Drop stared blankly ahead at the dart board, a deadpan look on her face while her Fireball Cider levitated innocently in the air next to her head. A beat went by... two. Incidentally, she had been standing like this for the past ten minutes or so. An eye twitched ever so slightly, but that was the only sign of movement from the white unicorn until slowly, ever so slowly, she slid her eyes into a boring gaze at those gathered around the darts. They weren't doing anything. Why weren't they doing anything?

Had she misjudged? Were they simply doing some other unintelligibly arcane thing beyond her understanding, and they just happened to be near the game?

"Oh well," she muttered good-naturedly under her breath, using her magic to lift three darts in addition to her floating tumbler.

Thok, thok thok!

Without so much as a glance backward, the mare left the trio of bolts pinned close together in the cork, dead center. A testament to the razor-fine telekinetic control her sport required of her. If they'd asked nicely and actually played, she would have used her hooves instead.

Another glance around the tavern revealed several faces Sun Drop had at least heard about, though she didn't know them personally. Three of Celestia's hoof-chosen heroes stood off in one area: Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy, she believed. Other sights included those much more commonly found in places such as this, like drunken patrons hitting on each other, shouting, and generally being sloppy.

The cloudsurfer grinned, shook her head, and drained her cider in one go before sighing as the hot drink sent pleasant shivers down her spine. Well, everyone seemed occupied, but her drinking had just begun. Thankfully she wasn't much of a lightweight. With a confident trot she moved right up to the counter between the two main throngs of patrons, this time calling for a whiskey and thunking her forelegs on the polished wood.

"Good night to relax and have some fun, isn't it?" she intoned toward the group of famous Ponyville natives et al, "and careful there, hangovers are murder," she added without missing a beat to the intoxicated ponies and griffon on her left.

Ah, Ponyville. Who knew it had such a lively nightlife? She could drink to that. With a raised hoof and a floating glass of her recently-arrived whiskey, she silently toasted those around her and drained the alcohol in one go before dropping the empty tumbler to the counter.

[QueenChrysalis747]

Fluttershy looked back to Rarity as Applejack went to assist..Trixie! Fluttershy sighed, this place was getting way to crowded with familiar and strange ponies alike, not an ideal place for Fluttershy to be. She turned to Rarity and noticed how the mare looked and thought of what she had thought about her just a second ago, she must have just been so paniced to think Rarity wouldn't help her when needed, though AJ was closer then Rarity so ducking behind the mare had been a better choice at the time. She turned to Rarity, "Oh, s..sorry R..rarity, i..it was j..just Applejack w..was closer" she s..said, "I..I am h..hiding f..from all these ponies. Oh R..rarity there are s..so many ponies here t..today,"

Fluttershy slowly stood and went onto the seat beside Rarity, she smiled at the mare, "S..So wh..what have you b..been up to Rarity" She asked softly slowly scannign the room but didn't recognize to many other ponies here, "I..I'm j..just trying to g..get the few b..bags of wheat I o..ordered" she said looking back to the bar, "Though that m..may take a little while," she laughed shyly

[Mojo]

Tex Critter

"Oh I can't git along little dough-gy! I can't even git one that's small! No I can't git along little dough-gy! Cause I can't git a dough-gy at all!" sang Tex Critter, the travelling cowpony who was known far and wide for his folky singing as well as his love for animals. Feeling a bit parched at the moment, the singing unicorn stallion spotted the sign above the Watering Hole.

"Now thar's a stroke of good luck! Think I'll go in an' git somethin' ta drink, maybe mix and mingle a little bit," Tex said as he looked down at all of the small animals who had been following him. There were three rabbits, a beaver, two stray cats and several squirrels. "Ok little fellers, I can't be takin' y'all inside the Waterin' Hole with me. Reckon yur gonna have ta stay outside an' wait fer me."

This news caused the animals to chatter among themselves, looking sad, disappointed and in the case of the beaver, very upset.

"Well now, can't have y'all git'n all rowd up like this. Tell ya what, why don't ya go on up ta the winders an' look inside while I'm in thar. If'n they let me bring ya in, I'll signal y'all to come right in, ok?"

This compromise satisfied all Tex's animal companions. Casually, Tex Critter entered the Watering Hole's swinging doors as all his animal friends raced to the windows to watch what their unicorn friend would do next. To his complete joy, Tex noticed quite a few mares were there. Delighted, the cowpony unicorn walked up to the bar, ordered a water and salt, and then turned to survey the crowd. He wanted to mingle with the mares, but wasn't sure how to do it without coming on too strong or making himself an annoyance. He recognized AppleJack, the pillar of Honesty for all Equestria as well as Rarity. Though Tex wasn't all that fashion forward, Miss Rarity was one of the most famous fashionistas in the realm. Then, Tex spotted Fluttershy, whom he had heard had a love and empathy for animals that was far superior to his own. What could he do to 'break the ice' so to speak with this crowd?

As he pondered this question further, Tex Critter's animals friends, running out of patience, rushed into the Watering Hole and soon gathered around their unicorn stallion friend.

"Whoa Nelly!" Tex muttered, "I didn't say y'all could come in, ya could git me thrown outta here. Now what am I gonna do?"