Bar Talk

Celestia’s rising sun began to warm the fur on Spectre as he lounged about on the bench he sat at, somewhat mitigating the cool chill of the morning air. The weekend had come and gone before he knew it, and today was the start of yet another grudgingly slow week.

Just as he did at the bar a few days ago, he was out observing the ponies of Canterlot. His location allowed him access to nobles and commoners alike, all going about their blissful Sunday morning. Idle chatter was among them all, though Spectre couldn’t find himself latching onto any for very long without becoming somewhat confused.

As he watched a couple pass by, Spectre let out a sigh, watching as both gave ponies gave him equally scrutinizing looks before the stallion hurried the mare along. The couple had mostly reminded Spectre of just how foreign he was to these ponies. He looked himself over and felt a tinge of humiliation before moving from his seat and off towards another location. Upon feeling a rumbling sensation in his stomach, Spectre came to the conclusion that if he was going to do any kind of studying, he may as well have done it with a nice warm feeling in his belly.

It didn’t take much to find a small coffee shop not too far away from his previous location. With a few bits paid, a nice cup of coffee in one hoof and an equally warm donut in the other, Spectre took a seat near the window of the shop. It wasn’t a particularly comfortable chair, built from cheap wood with a worn cloth cushion, but it was serviceable. He took a small sip from his still warm cup before returning his gaze to the ponies wandering outside.

As he had done the night before, Spectre studied their movements, eyes, lips, everything and anything he could just to get a slight understanding of each pony. As the stallion continued to watch, he began to notice he could read a few words from the lips he saw moving. The small yet subtle details indicating emotions, some of frustration, others from happiness. A smile found itself upon his face as he began to wonder whether or not he had finally mastered it. He sighed and shook his head.

Just don’t get caught this time. Last thing you need is anymore bad attention...

Spectre gingerly sipped his coffee as he watched a group of mares pass by. A menagerie of unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies all giggling and excitedly chatting about some stallion or whatever mares talked about. Spectre simply chose to sit back and watch them just as he had the others, trying his best to pick up on any of the subtleties he had previously seen. That was until one of the ponies in the group, an earth pony mare with a cream colored coat and two toned red mane, caught him looking. He froze, unsure of what to do as her emerald eyes locked with his.

What she did next caught him completely off guard. She gave him a warm smile, lingering for a bit before joining the conversation with the rest of her friends. All the while the unicorn felt his heart trying to escape his chest with how vigorously it was beating from the encounter.

It took a few moments for him to calm himself, a few deep breaths managing to help. However, when he closed his eyes to help aid in the process, the image of the mare popped before him, starting the cycle over again.

Maybe he just imagined it. Instead of a smile it was more of a scowl. Maybe it was a smile of awkwardness to help ease the uncomfortable situation. The more he thought about it, the more he convinced himself that that was what indeed happened. Shaking his head at the notion that a pony of any sort would genuinely smile at him, he finished the rest of his coffee and donut, and decided to change venues.

Tossing the paper cup in a nearby trash bin, he moved up from his seat and left the shop, debating where to go next. Not wanting to be interrupted for lunch, Spectre decided to stop off at a local sandwich place and purchase a beet, lettuce and tomato sandwich along with a bag of chips. As he awaited his midmorning snack, Spectre took some time to gaze around the area. It was fairly damp, with a decor that looked outdated and a somewhat sour odor in the air making things all the harder to stomach being in their for long. With his food in hoof, Spectre quickly moved outside, glad to be exchanging the stale air from inside the restaurant for the fresh air outside.

That was probably one of the redeeming factors this forsaken city had. Being on a mountain allowed better air currents to pass through. While he also thought that the location allowed for easier strikings from the enemies of Equestria, Spectre paid little mind to this thought as he took a rather large bite of his sandwich.

Brushing aside the negative thoughts, the stallion decided to head to the castle, knowing that the Royal Gardens provided just as much beauty without all the extra attention. It thankfully didn’t take as long as he feared it may to reach the castle. Casting his identification spell for the guards posted at the gate, they allowed him to enter.

Another benefit of living in Canterlot. The guards, despite the fact that Spectre knew they gave him just as much scrutiny, never showed it. They always had the remarkable ability of hiding their emotions, something that he couldn’t help but admire them for. It was a sign of strength in his point of view, showing that they couldn’t be left vulnerable to emotions. That they were just as strong, sturdy, and fortified as the walls they protected.

As Spectre passed the guards, as well as the maids and butlers of the castle, he found that while they all appeared uniform, each was not as pristine white as they seemed. It was brilliant actually, a simple illusion spell cast on their armor that gave off their signature appearance. There was strength in numbers and with them all appearing exactly alike, there was no discrimination, no special treatment. Often times he’d wonder if any were similar to him, what it would be like to wear that armor and become one of them.

He chuckled at the thought when it came to him. While Spectre thought he was rather skilled in his magical abilities, he couldn’t see himself in a combat situation at all. Still, it didn’t keep him from thinking of what could be. Among those thoughts were a few of him standing proudly over the corpses of his enemies, with two beautiful mares at his sides while he lifted a great sword into the air. Spectre huffed a smile at this. As he did, he quickly found himself at the entrance to the gardens. Passing another security checkpoint, he stepped into the green paradise.

Spectre made a beeline to his favorite spot, the main fountain near the center of the labyrinth like gardens. It depicted the two princesses he indirectly worked for, Celestia and Luna, facing outwards opposite of each other, acting as sentinels. Sitting on Luna’s side he unwrapped his sandwich and proceeded to take another bite of it, surveying the area around him. The sound of the water cascading behind the stallion soothed him as he enjoyed his lunch. Birdsong joined in and he could feel himself completely relax.

As he continued to eat, Spectre realized he was no longer alone. Turning his head to the left, the stallion spotted a small filly. The filly appeared to be alone, and her expression was that of fear as she looked around frantically, Spectre assuming for her parents. While he wasn’t all too fond of foals, seeing her worried like that could only make him sympathize for her. He knew her situation all too well.

“Hi there,” he tried to sound as nice and gentle as possible. Hearing his voice scared the foal, causing her to let out a gasp and turn to face him. Seeing as she was still frightened, he smiled softly to her, raising his hooves in the air. “It’s ok, I won’t hurt you. Did you lose your parents?”

The mare backed down a bit, her legs going limp as she fell to the floor, eyes full of dread. “P-p-please….” She began, speaking in an accent that was reflective of her regal upbringing, “I-I-I-I don’t know where my M-M-M-Mommy and D-D-Daddy are…”

“Shhhhh, don’t cry,” Spectre could feel himself completely empathizing with her. He moved up and kneeled down so he was eye level with her. “I’ll help you find them. My name is Astral, what’s yours?”

“My…” The filly sniffled a few times before continuing on, “My name is…. Is Mary Gold.”

Spectre smiled at her. “That’s a nice name you have, Mary. Do you remember where you last saw your parents?”

The filly began to look around frantically, her pupils turning to pinpricks as she continued. “I…I don’t…” She was on the verge of tears again.

Poor thing. I should at least bring her to the royal guards.

“Hey, it’s ok Mary,” he cooed, trying to calm her down. It was all to no avail as the filly fell to the ground, her small tail hugging her side. As Spectre tried to think of ways to calm her, a light bulb flickered within his head. The stallion remembered what he used to do when he was scared and immediately, his horn began to glow. Closing his eyes, he began to hum a tune from his foalhood and as he did, his magic began to flow.

A cascade of bright colors circled around the mare, representing each color of the rainbow. The mare stopped a bit as she was brought to her hooves, looking beneath her with just the slightest bit of dread. Just as she had begun to wish she were back on the ground, the small filly watched as a small herd of tiny elephants began to encircle her, marching in unison and blowing their tiny trunks.

Mary Gold was immediately enamored with the creatures and found herself watching amazedly at the small parade. One particular elephant, perhaps the tiniest of them all, gave her a smile as it marched towards her, blowing it’s trunk all around and causing her to cheer. However, it stopped for a brief moment, causing Mary Gold to return to her senses for a bit. With three sharp breaths, the tiny elephant sneezed, a tiny air horn sound audibly coming from it’s trunk, causing the filly to giggle.

While Spectre had calmed her down with his show, he had placed her on his back and made his way to the entrance. Stopping just before the doors, he placed her back on the ground. “Did you enjoy the show Mary Gold?” he asked, chuckling at the expression on her face.

The filly giggled a few times before shaking her head up and down. “It was amazing…” She smiled, “That was so wonderful, Astral. Thank you!”

“Of course. Now, I want you to talk with one of the guards and describe your parents to them ok? They’ll be able to find them.”

“Yes, Astral!”

Bringing her with him to one of the stoic guards, he explained the situation before allowing Mary to describe her parents, spouting out names that confirmed to Spectre she was indeed nobility. When the guard assured him that they would go in search of the parents, Spectre recognized she was in good hooves and began to leave, before a small hoof on his foreleg stopped him.

“Wait, Astral…” The filly began, “Does this mean I won’t see you again?”

Spectre looked down at her and thought about it. He knew that the parents would definitely not be happy when meeting him in the flesh, so the sooner he could leave the better. He sighed and simply smiled to the filly.

“There’s a good chance we may, but for now, I have to go. It was nice meeting you Mary Gold.”

The filly was visibly distraught by the idea of not seeing her new found friend again. With a sad expression, she simply said, “Oh… okay. Goodbye for now, Astral,” with an obviously fake smile.

Hating to see or leave her so sad about his departure, the stallion closed his eyes and his horn glowed once more. Using a bit more concentration, he resummoned the tiny elephant that had appeared before her and floated it to the foal. “You can play with him until your parents arrive,” he whispered to her with a wink.

With a gasp and a “Yay!”, Mary Gold embraced her tiny Elephant friend and thanked Spectre, following the tiny creature as best she could around and around. The two played games such as tag, guess the song, and simon says. Mary Gold’s tiny smile never ceased as she followed the creature.

Seeing as the mare was alright, he thanked the guard who swore he’d look after her until her parents arrived.

“Thank you, Mister Astral, for bringing her to us. I’m certain that her parents will appreciate it.”

Spectre nodded. “It may be best that they didn’t know who brought their daughter back. You can simply tell them a patrol found her in the gardens.”

“Will do, sir. Enjoy the rest of your weekend,” the guard saluted before returning to the filly in his care.

Satisfied that everything was in order, Spectre adjusted his saddlebags, making sure the other half of his sandwich was secured, and went about moving back home.

With a small sigh, the red and gray Pegasus finished his final lap around Canterlot’s premier track. The area was mostly vacant for the day, allowing Shadow to have plenty of room to practice a few of his free flight maneuvers and stunts. He took a seat over on one of the bleachers and reached deep into his saddlebag for his last bottle of water. Downing half of the bottle, Shadow used the remaining content to throw over his shoulder and down his back, cooling his exhausted wing muscles.

As the cool water trailed down his back and now folded wings, Shadow placed his arms out and watched the sunset in the horizon. Today was good day in his eyes. Zero distractions, no fear of work or the endless harassment of local nobles. Just him and his sky, his stunts and his wings. He closed his eyes and rested his head against a bleacher behind him, smiling all the way.

Shadow wasn’t able to stay this way for long, however, when a soft voice called his name. When he opened his eyes, Shadow’s smile grew. The sight of a mare with a pure white coat and blond mane and tail filled his vision. Seeing her carry two extra bottles of water made him all the more excited.

“Hey sweetheart!” Shadow called to the mare, flapping his wings a few times and catching the mare in his arms. He held her against him for a small while, floating just above the ground with the mare wrapped in a tight embrace. She cleared her throat a bit and caused the stallion to shyly smile and place her back on the ground. “Sorry,” He began, rubbing the back of his neck, “Forgot about that…”

The mare dusted herself off a bit before placing the bottles of water on the bleacher and next to Shadow’s equipment. “Shadow, it hardly has to do with any disliking of flying. Rather it has so much to do with the fact that I don’t relish the idea of you hurting yourself…”

“How would I hurt myself?” Shadow asked, tilting his head a bit and trotting alongside his marefriend to the spot on the bleachers.

“How long have you been practicing today?” The mare asked. Shadow placed a hoof to his chin and made a small humming sound as he squinted his eyes.

“Ehh, give’er take about six hours, why?”

“Six hours?!”

“Hey! I took breaks,” Shadow responded. The mare gave him a deadpan expression. “Okay, I took half hour breaks in between, but still! I’ve had worse. Besides…” He smiled, wrapping his arms around his marefriend, “you’re as light as the feathers on my back, sweetie.”

The mare shook her head, but leaned back into the embrace, closing her eyes as a small smile appeared on her face. The two sat upon the bleachers like this for some time, simply enjoying the warmth of one another’s company. At least, until, the mare caught scent of Shadow Rift.

“Dear Celestia, Shadow!” She shouted, moving out of the stallion’s arms and practically gagging as she waved away his scent, “You smell atrocious!”

“Workout for that long, what do you expect?”

“How about a shower as soon as we get home?” The mare said, holding her nose as she attempted to recover from her coltfriend’s horrific odor.

“Fine…” Shadow said dejectedly, rolling his eyes. Grabbing one of the water bottles his marefriend had brought with her, the stallion was quick to open this one and, once again, down half of it’s content. Rather than throw any of the water down his back, however, the stallion simply chose to save the remaining half for later.

Once he set aside the bottle, Shadow’s gaze returned to his marefriend, smiling as the sun beautifully enveloped her, it’s orange hue turning her white coat a slight vanilla color, and making her eyes practically sparkle against the rays of the sun. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” He heard the mare ask.

“You look better,” Shadow smiled. The mare blinked a few times and redirected her attention to him. He gave her the same smile from before and winked, causing the mare to smile back at him before looking back to the sun.

“There exist rumor that if you watch the sunset at just the correct position, you will see a green flash as it disappears under the horizon.”

“Do you know if it’s true?” He asked her.

She shook her head. “I haven’t seen it before from Canterlot.”

“Well, let’s see if we can then,” Shadow sighed, floating down next to his marefriend and wrapping a wing around her body, bringing her closer to him. This time, she had no objections as the two kept their attention at the sun. For a few moments, it actually seemed like it was travelling faster down the horizon. Shadow grinned as he looked to his marefriend one last time before returning his attention to the sun. They watched it travel all the way down, until eventually it disappeared beneath the horizon.

Not a single green flash in sight.

Shadow’s marefriend sighed and turned her attention back to Shadow. “Suppose today just was not the right day.”

“That sucks,” Shadow said, “I was actually hoping to see it with you.”

The mare smiled and leaned in to Shadow, placing a kiss on his lips before resting her head against his left shoulder. Shadow grinned and kissed the top of her head, looking back out to the sky. “You still smell dreadfully,” The mare commented.

Shadow chuckled, “I get it, I get it. Take a shower or you’ll throw my ass out of the apartment tonight.”

“Good boy…” She smiled while moving her head from his shoulder. She placed a hoof on his cheek and turned his head to face her, her fierce blue eyes meeting his ruby reds, “And, if you do… maybe later on… we can take a shower together…” She concluded in a sultry tone.

Shadow’s wings couldn’t help but spring up slight from the thought alone. He smiled and leaned forward to her, his eyes full of confidence, “Oh really?”

The mare nodded her head.

“Well alright then…” Shadow said, “Consider it done, Aryanne.”