The Stranger in the Bar

It was already 10:30 when Piercing Whisper walked through the front door of Aged Berry’s tavern, the bell above the door ringing as it shut behind him. He surveyed the ponies scattered around the bar with relative disinterest, until somepony caught his eye. Usually the same stallions and mares were always in the bar, in their usual spots. This time however there was a lone mare that sat at the bar, a mare Piercing Whisper had never seen before.

“Good evening.” Piercing Whisper said, walking up and taking his usual spot which just so happened to be right next to the newcomer. “Never seen you here before. Something got you ticked off? come to the nearest bar to bury it?”

“Huh.” the mare let out, looking up to meet the Stallion’s gaze. “No, what would make you assume such a thing?”

There was an odd, naiveness to this mare. It wasn’t just the question either, something about the tone of her voice made her sound … inexperienced. This city was full of ponies, all of which knew how it worked. When you got mad or wanted to forget, you drank, it was just common practice here. Piercing Whisper chose to ignore it. “Most of the people who come here are trying to forget something. And the ones that aren’t are usually just looking for someone to spend the night with.”

“And which one are you?” the mare asked, giving Piercing Whisper a small grin.

“I guess you could say I fit into the first category. Although I don’t come here to forget, I come here to destress, and occasionally this is the only place with the tools to put me to sleep.”

“You sleep here? In this bar?” The mare now had a puzzled look on her face as she pointed to the counter in front of them both.

“Haha,” Piercing Whisper allowed a chuckle to escape him. “No, of course not. There are just some days where even at home I can’t fall asleep till I come here. I don’t know what Berry does, but no matter how much I drink at home, it doesn’t give me the same relief that coming here for a stiff one does.”

“Oh, I guess that makes more sense. But tell me, even though you said you fit into category one, does that mean you have no interest in the second?” The mare fluttered her eyelashes a little.

Piercing Whisper took a moment to look over the inviting mare. She was definitely pretty, her fur was a beautiful pure white, her hair was a dazzling light purple and silky smooth. But the thing he liked most about her, were her beautiful emerald eyes that almost seemed to glow with a light green blaze. She was perfect, a little too perfect. After a moment, a realization finally hit him and he responded. “I’d be lying if I said I never got a little lonely. Hey Berry, get me the usual, and a one for the mare as well.”

“Coming right up.” The bartender said, walking over and grabbing a large whisky bottle. He walked back over with two glasses, and a smirk on his face. “Here you are.” He placed a glass in front of each pony, dropped two large ice cubes in each and finally poured in the sweet nectar form the bottle into the waiting vessel.

The mare looked over at Piercing Whisper with a bit of confusion, but she still smiled and took the drink in her hooves. “So tell me.” Piercing Whisper started, picking up his own glass. “Who are you?” The mare nearly choked on her drink as she went to take a sip.

“W-what do you m-mean?” The mare’s eyes were shaken but focused as she stared at Piercing Whisper.

“Umm, what’s your name? What do you do? Etc. Etc.”

“Oh… right” A large blush came over the mare’s cheeks as she downed the contents of her glass. “M-my” she let out a long sigh before regaining her composure and turned to look at Piercing Whisper. “My name is Hidden Gem, but you can just call me Gem. I do restorations on old items. What about you?”

“My name is Piercing Whisper, but all my friends call me Wisp. I’m a lawyer, hence the stress and need to drink.” Wisp let out a small laugh at his own joke and looked up at Gem. “So tell me Gem, what brings you to the bar tonight?”

“Love.” she said simply, beckoning Berry to fill her glass.

“Love huh.” Wisp finished his glass and also waved to Berry to refill it. “Seems a bit out there, don't you think? How old are you anyway?

“I’m 23.” Gem said simply

“And you think you’re gonna find your prince in a bar like this?”

“I don’t know, you’re not too bad so far. I don’t think you’re my price yet, but you seem like good company for tonight. And who knows maybe we'll meet up again sometime.”

Wisp finished off his glass once again, but this time gestured for Berry to take it away. “Do you want to get out of here then?”

“I thought you’d never ask, Mr. Whisper.” Gem stood up and pushed her glass forward for Berry to take before following behind Wisp out the front door.

“So, my place or yours.” Wisp asked, giving her a sly grin.

“Umm, your place.” The mare looked down at her hooves.

“Very well then, follow me.”

* * *

Finally after about five minutes the couple arrived at the front door of Wisp’s apartment building. “You live here?” Gem asked, craning her neck to look up at the tall building.

“Yep, up in the penthouse to be exact. Come with me.” Wisp walked through the front door and led Gem over to the elevators. He pressed the button labeled 12 and the elevator began to ascend.

“So what does your place look like?” Gem asked, trying to fill the silence.

“It’s nothing special, an open living room attached to the kitchen, high ceilings, one bathroom, and one bedroom.” As Wisp finished his explanation the two heard a small ding and the elevator doors opened. They stepped out into a small hallway with only one door. Wisp enveloped the door in his magic to unlock it, a few clicks could be heard before he reached out and opened it with his hoof.

The couple walked into Wisp penthouse and Gem closed the door behind them. “Are you nervous?” Wisp asked, turning to look at the white mare.

“Why would I be?” Gem countered.

“Because you’ve never done this before.”

“Never done what?” Gem asked. “Drained a pony off all their love after luring them somewhere private.” Gem’s body was suddenly enveloped in a blaze of green fire. After the smoke settled Wisp could view her clearly. Her fur was now a menacing black, her hair matted and thick it almost looked like cobwebs, her perfect white horn now jagged and black. She had holes in her legs, a new pair of thin pretty blue transparent wings on her back, but still Gem had those same beautiful emerald eyes. “Trust me I’ve done this plenty of times.”

“Yeah, but you’ve never done this with me.” Wisp raised his hoof and placed it on Gem’s cheek, then moved it to the back of her neck, pulling her into a deep passionate kiss.

Gem pushed the stallion away and wiped her lip. “What the hell. You should be cowering in fear, or at least be yelling about how I tricked you.”

“Tricked me? Tricked me how?”

“Hellooo. I’m a changeling.” Gem stood on her hind hooves and gestured down with her front hooves.

“Oh, right, that. Sorry to ruin the surprise. You see your eyes gave it away, that and how perfect your disguise was, no mare looks that flawless. Also you forgot to give yourself a cutie mark.” Wisp tuned his rump to face Gem and pointed to the briefcase with papers sticking out of it on his flank.

“Wait so you brought me her, knowing that I was a changeling?”

“Yes.”

“You’re insane.” Gem faced hooved before getting angry again. “And another thing, Why Can’t I absorb any of your love? That little kiss of yours would have killed most ponies.”

“Oh that’s simple.” Wisp said, taking a few steps forward. “I’m not directing any love towards you, I don’t know you well enough for that. You see…” Wisp leaned in placing the tip of his muzzle right next to Gem’s ear. “You’re the object of my lust.”