Bar Talk

The cold air cut into Spectre as he left the seedy establishment, nothing that hadn’t proven to be standard affairby this point. Placing a warming spell over himself, he proceeded outside, finding himself in combat against the cold as he headed home. The alcohol proved to be both a blessing and curse, as it helped add to his warmth, while also making him slightly less guarded. A very slight buzz had begun to work it’s way towards the side of his head, impairing his sight slightly and causing him to stumble every so often.

As he made his way down the alleyways of Canterlot, he looked at the crestfallen ponies. They all huddled together, some around burning garbage cans, some in cardboard boxes, and some giggling madly to themselves. He shook his head, not in disgust but rather pity. While he had a lot to complain about, Spectre thanked Celestia above that he wasn’t as downtrodden as these poor souls. Using more of his magic and concentration, he sparked the fire they were huddled around to life. This spooked the ponies around it, but seeing who cast it, they simply nodded and muttered some thanks before continuing about their business.

Spectre moved on, leaving the slums and approaching the more wealthy side of the city. A few more blocks travelled and he found himself in front of a decently sized highrise. Finally, he arrived at his destination... partly. There was still the long climb up the apartment stairs, but knowing how long the elevator took and his impatience at just getting home, he saw no other alternative.

The stairwell was well lit and rather well kept, a complete contrast to the ghetto he had previously been in. Some would question why a stallion of his “position” would even consider visiting such a place other than for carnal desires, but as his encounter for the night put it, he had his own reasons.

Speaking of the stallion, this “Rift” character seemed oddly familiar. While by no means actually being “in the know”, the name and the appearance of the pegasus was all too recognizable. The pondering of the stallion’s identity proved good concentration material as Spectre stumbles up the stairs. He tried his hardest to recall where he had seen him before, but the exhaustion of that day’s events mixed with the inhibiting liquid running through his blood was a concoction for failure.

Caught up in this mini mystery, the stallion continued to think on this as he arrived at his home. He stared at the door for a few seconds before he began to stumble around with his belongings. Eventually, Spectre managed to find the keys to his home. With a bit more concentration, he used his magic and finally managed to unlock his apartment’s door.

When he opened the door to the apartment, he was both relieved to be home, and unsurprised nothing had changed since he left it this morning. What greeted him was essentially the same apartment he found when he moved in. Blank walls and emptiness greeted him as he stepped into the living room. He sighed, accustomed to the sight and heading straight to his bedroom. Aside from a single bed, desk and chair, it was just as homely as the rest of the apartment. Settling his saddlebags down by the foot of the bed, he travelled to his kitchen.

Following the spartan motif, he moved to the refrigerator, grabbing some leftovers and heating them up in the microwave. While the radiation heated his food, Spectre watched the little piece of tupperware rotate in place, nothing else better to do. The ding of the device brought him back from his stupor and he floated his dinner to a nearby counter.

He proceeded to eat his meal, the food providing a physical second wind to him. As he bit into a mushy piece of broccoli, his thoughts traveled again, the subject this time being what tomorrow would bring. It would be Friday and he had no plans for the weekend. As he thought of what he should do, his thoughts couldn’t help but return to the memory of what his fellow coworkers had planned. Some decided upon dates, others on simply spending time with their respective families… and some who had plans to see some new talent at the local sports arena.

New talent…

It finally dawned on him why he recognized this Rift character, or as he could now recall, Shadow. He had seen the stallion on posters throughout the city, advertising himself as a show pony with a few set dates for performances.

Spectre’s realization came with a mixture of awe and self lamentation. He had met somepony of some celebrity status, at a seedy bar no less, and went on about how he felt like he could relate to him. Of course he did look the way he did, though it was probably that way for publicity. Shadow probably thought he was some kind of poser or fan colt.

He shook his head. The damage had already been done. It’s not like he’d ever see the stallion again. Although if the Prancing Pony was his favorite bar to visit as well, he may have to look at other avenues.

Deciding to think nothing more of it, he cleaned up after himself, setting the plastic container to the side to dry. Heading to the shower, he let the water run a bit, waiting for it to warm up. As he waited, he looked at himself in the mirror.

Part of his mane covered one of his eyes, leaving one sea blue iris staring back at him. He tried a smile, immediately shaking his head at how forced it looked. He tilted his head in different directions, seeing which angle looked better. After a minute or two, he sighed. No matter how he presented himself, he’d always get the same reception he had come to known. He was a unicorn with dark fur, only one other stallion like him that caused him to receive the glances or hushed comments that he did.

Steam began to waft from the shower, bringing Spectre out of his thoughts. As he stepped in, he felt another sigh, this one of relief as the warm water flowed over him. It provided him comfort, slowly easing away the stress and relaxing his muscles. It also helped sober him up slightly, although he knew that he’d have a mild hangover nonetheless the following morning.

Rinsing himself of all the filth he had accumulated that day, Spectre turned off the water and began to dry off with a nearby towel. Removing most of the moisture from his body, he then proceeded to blow dry the rest, along with the help of his magic. What resulted was a nice, fluffy coat and his mane becoming poofy. He chuckled a bit at his appearance in the mirror, thinking if he went out looking like this, maybe ponies would warm up to him. It was wishful thinking, and his brain protested at him to just go to bed.

Finishing off with brushing his teeth, he flopped on his bed, the springs whining in agony at the added weight. Shifting a bit until he found a comfortable spot, he laid his head on the pillow, looking up at the ceiling.

“Goodnight Spec. See you in the morning.”

When Shadow Rift had finally returned to his own apartment, Luna’s bright orb in the sky had began to glow a pristine white light against the dead of night sky. Various stars had begun to twinkle high above, making a smile come to the Stallion’s face. Though his time at the bar was rather lackluster, he could hardly say it was entirely miserable. Stallions such as the one he met tonight seemed to be just about everywhere Shadow went. Recluses who wanted absolutely nothing to do with the world simply because of the fact that they believed it was that world that wanted nothing to do with them.

He couldn’t blame the Stallion too much, in all fairness. After all, he used to be exactly one of those Stallions. It was just something he grew out of when he realized that crap always happened to ponies no matter who they were.

When Shadow finally arrived at his small apartment, he knocked on the door a few times before unlocking it and entering his small abode. “Any pony home?” He called out, half way expecting to hear the voice of his marefriend from the back of the apartment, which only yielded a small kitchen, a hallway, and two doors at the far end for the bedroom and bathroom respectively.

“Huh…” Shadow thought to himself, shrugging his shoulders and continuing inside. Making his way into the kitchen, Shadow pulled open the fridge and smiled as he saw a small yogurt cup acting as a paper weight for a note with his name on it, a small heart just next to it. Taking the treat and note up in his hooves, Shadow used a wing to close the fridge. As he made his way into the living room of the apartment, he unfolded the paper and began to read.

“Shadow,

“I am terribly sorry, but I will not be returning to the apartment tonight. An incident has occurred that requires my utmost of attention. No need to concern yourself over said matter, I plan to have it resolved by the morning. Until then, please do not do anything that will harm yourself physically. I will know…

“Sincerely yours-”

“Oh dammit…!” Shadow said as a small glob of yogurt smeared the ending of the letter. He sighed before crumbling the paper up in his hooves, moving to the garbage can with both the disgraced letter and his empty cup of yogurt in tow. Throwing them out, he immediately returned to his spot on the couch and lazily sat against the piece of furniture, a hoof on his stomach and a bored expression on his face.

Shadow couldn’t help but slightly chuckle to himself after finishing the note. He knew that the pony who wrote it meant well when she said she didn’t want him to do anything to hurt himself. Still, the fact that she had such little faith in him as to assume he’d go out of his way for danger like that was all too funny to Shadow. After recent events, Shadow mostly gave up on the idea of getting himself into trouble like that. It was more than he had bargained for, and the Pegasus was done with trouble for the next millenia.

Looking over to a small clock by his side, Shadow sighed. It was extremely late into the night, and he had begun to doubt that his marefriend would be returning. With a yawn and a stretch, Shadow flapped his wings and floated towards the door, locking it before retreating back to the hallway and into the bedroom. He laid himself against the bed before wrapping himself in covers, yawning one last time before nodding and falling asleep