Everfree Village

Barbara ended up following Rarity outside, but the relentless press ponies were there waiting. While they were fine to stay out of her way other times, Barbara was growing tired of them being everywhere she went. She was close to an outburst, but after taking a deep, calming breath, she looked at the small crowd.

"I will answer a few question, but then I would ask that you leave me in peace."

This of course immediately sent the press ponies into a near frenzy, each of them hoping their questions would be one of the precious few. A dozen voices called out simultaneously but as soon as the Chief spoke, everypony would fall deathly silent, too desperate for information to really care if it was their question or not.

"Are you of high rank or just sent here by your superiors?"

"Have you ever seen ponies before you came to Ponyville?"

"How has your people survived in the Everfree?"

"Is it true you actually hunt and kill wild animals in the forest?"

"Do you have any hostile intentions toward ponykind?"

There were so many overlapping voices, it was hard to focus on one face long enough to understand a full sentence.

"Quiet, everyone please!"

Once they had stopped, she tried to consider some of the questions that she caught and then just decided to explain as much as she could regardless.

"I am the chief of my village. I am considered its leader, though I do answer to others within my village as well. Recently, a couple of ponies stumbled upon our village and were attacked by a dire wolf. We saved them, brought them in, and they began to help us."

With them writing things down and relatively more calm, she was free to pick out a few of the reporters to get them to repeat certain questions.

"Yes, we hunt and kill wild animals in the forest in order to survive. Humans eat meat, but we would not hunt if we had more crops available. As you know, the forest is dangerous, which means both our land and what we can find are very limited. In order to keep ourselves safe, we built a stone barrier to keep most creatures out."

Finally, she got to the last question she heard. It shocked her that they asked such a question, given she had not harmed a pony as of yet.

"And no, we don't have any bad intentions with ponies. In fact, we wish to eventually establish trade ties with your kind. There is still much we have to learn from each other before we can get there though. Now, I've answered your questions, I ask only that you give me some peace."

Some of the ponies thanked her and backed away, but other reporters simply shoved into the spaces they left and tried to press the human for more information.

"Can you tell us more about the creatures of the forest?"

"What happened to the other one being treated here?"

"How long have you been here?"

"Where did your people come from?"

From the expressions on their muzzles it was obvious there were dozens of more questions waiting to be asked and it would take a long time to satisfy their curiosity.

"I will be giving your princess all of that information, which she can then give to you in detail. It would take too long to explain and I need to get things done for my village."

Rarity, who had been with her when they stepped out, was now lost to her. As she tried to step through the crowd, a couple pegasi flew into her face, causing her to shield herself as if being attacked. To anybody else, it would look like the chief would need a hand.

As the Chief struggled to make sense of the growing chaos around her, she eventually realized one of the pegasi was not behaving like the other reporters. Rather than shouting questions in her face, this pony was shoving the other pegasi away from her and calling to her. She tried to concentrate on this pony and saw a blue form zipping back and forth, shoving pegasi and earth ponies alike. The crowd was beginning to notice as well and was breaking apart under the constant impacts.

Suddenly a path became visible through the crowd and the Chief lunged forward, wasting no time. The crowd suddenly became a writhing mass of confused limbs as a dozen ponies tried to run through or even over the others to follow her, succeeding only in tripping up their fellows and ensuring nopony could follow at all.

"Phew!" A nearby voice suddenly said, "That was pretty crazy, huh? Good thing I noticed the crowd as I flew by."

With all those pesky reporters gone, the lady started to examine her savior. A small blue Pegasus with rainbow mane and tail stayed floating in front of her.

"Thank you, I'm getting so tired of those ponies! They've been hounding me since they heard about me being here."

Holding out a hand, she gave the pegasus a smile and ended up having to pull some of her blonde hair out of her eyes.

"I'm Barbara, thanks again for the help."

The pegasus gave her hand a quick tap with a hoof.

"No problem! There's been a lot of rumor around so I've been looking forward to meeting you. When I saw a chance to dive in and be a hero for you, naturally I couldn't resist."

She gave the Chief a playful grin then suddenly zipped around her head, leaving her signature rainbow trail in a wide circle and stopping just as quick.

"Name's Rainbow Dash. I'm a Wonderbolt, the Element of Loyalty, and all around an awesome pony to have on your side."

"A 'wonderbolt?' You'll have to tell me what that is some time. For now, uhh... I don't really know my way around town and I have to gather some things from your bazaar, market, or whatever name you have for it here."

Thankfully her new outfit had a pocket with which she had stuffed the note and her bit bag into. She couldn't read it, but maybe the pegasus could.

"I need these things, if you could point me in the right direction please!"

Rainbow Dash leaned close to look over the list, then met the Chief's gaze with a smirk.

"So all you wanna do is shop? Booooring. Word is you're not leaving until at least tomorrow, right? You got plenty of time! C'mon, lemme show you some cool stuff around town. I'll show you where the market is too, obviously, but I got a few ideas I think you'll enjoy."

She leaned close and lowered her voice conspiratorially.

"I can even show you a thing or two that even most ponies living here don't know about, if you're into that kinda stuff. Y'know, exotic foods from the griffons, some less... 'public' ways to have fun, that sorta thing."

"Sure, why not."

She wasn't sure what Dash was getting at exactly, but the pony had helped her out once and offered to help her out again, so she couldn't really complain. With the pegasus flying slightly above her, she was able to duck slightly and look her over.

"You've got more muscle than some of the ponies I've seen. Does being a "wonderbolt" have to do with that? You some sort of fighter or..."

"Nah, it's the other way around: me being so fast and fit is the reason I was able to become a Wonderbolt."

Before the Chief could even properly register what was happening, Dash exploded forward, leaving a long rainbow trail curving into the sky. Her gaze followed the line up, then she tried to step to the side when she saw the blue streak flying straight down at her from above, but before she'd taken more than a step, wings flared and a powerful blast of air buffeted straight down onto the Chief. There were little exclamations of dismay as the gust sprayed dust at some other ponies nearby, but at the center of the gale, Barbara was left unsullied.

The pegasus beamed at her.

"That's what being a Wonderbolt is about. Technically all we do is complex aerial maneuvers, but even if nopony says it out loud, everypony knows we're training for special air combat in the event it's ever needed. It never has so far, but... just in case, y'know?"

"Oooooh, I see. A bit of show and a bit of fight. Interesting, we never really had anything like that. Closest we had was maybe a pit fighter? People trained to fight in a showy way for amusement. Nobody really left severely injured though. Heh, maybe that's cuz I never stepped in to give them a real challenge."

She flexed her arms, showing off the powerful muscles in them and grinned up at the blue pony.

"I was told not to bring it, but my weapon of choice is a battleaxe."

"An axe just for fighting? How does that work? Isn't it all big and awkward?" Despite her description of the Wonderbolts, she had little concept of what combat was really like "If I had to choose a weapon it'd be something fast and nimble, like knives or darts. Play to my strengths, right?" She feinted at the chief's face, making as if to slash at her with a pretend knife in her hoof.

She could see that it was a feint and gave a small grin. "Most do, and you're not wrong, big weapons can be clunky. Really, it's all in how you use what you have. Reach, power, balance, sometimes you can throw an opponent off by intimidating them with a big weapon. Other times you back them into a corner with it."

She gave a shrug and tossed an arm over the shoulder of the floating pegasus.

"You ever want to see a fight, you can come down to the village. I'd love to show you how we spar. Maybe we could even get you in on a fight so you could show people what a pony has to offer."

"I just might take you up on that, but I doubt you got anypony that could keep up with me!" Dash chuckled and gave the Chief a friendly hoof to the shoulder. "But anyways, come on, let's get going. The closest place that's actually cool is this little bar reserved for the Wonderbolts and their friends. It'll be a little slow this early in the day, but it's still a good place to chill for a while."

She hovered slowly down the street, occasionally swooping in front of the Chief to alternate sides. She hadn't touched the ground even once since they met.

They continued in companionable silence for the most part as Dash led them into a residential area and then into an area that seemed to be the closest Ponyville ever got to shady. The buildings were a bit more shabby, the road was a bit narrower, and the ponies looked around with a bit more suspicion.

The pegasus flew over to what looked to be an abandoned house that had been boarded up and finally landed in the dirt patch that was once a lawn. She walked around to a door on the side of the house and knocked gently in several different places on the door, each spot producing a slightly different sound. It opened almost instantly and a burgundy earth stallion with a white mane smiled out at them.

"Well howdy, Dash, weren't expecting to see you here so early." He looked over at Barbara, then his eyes widened, "Oh Tartarus, y'actually got her! Come in, come in, let's have a proper greeting!"

The inside of the bar was far nicer than you would expect from the shabby exterior, which was now obviously just a cover. It was well lit and had quality furniture and flooring, a wide, well-stocked bar, two billiards tables, and a half dozen small tables much farther from each other than in most restaurants.

Dash kicked the door closed behind them and the stallion turned to give them a wide smile.

"Well this's it! Welcome human, to the Cloudy Grounds. I'm Cinder, owner of this 'ere fine establishment... an' usually the bartender, too. Only Wonderbolts are allowed free access - everypony else needs an escort or they're, ah... escorted from the premises. To tell the truth, I'm mighty pleased to see ya in here."

"To see... me? Why?"

Some of the things were unfamiliar to her, but the smell of alcohol and the sight of ponies sharing a drink made sense to her. She remembered many trade deals where a cup of wine was used to get things going.

"Wait, before that, I need a drink. I haven't had anything good in ages and my new friend here just dangled a big treat in front of my face."

He guided them over to the bar where another pony sat. Cinder started pouring some drink Barbara had never heard of before and she noticed that it came in a large, fancy glass. From what she could tell, it was some mixture of fruit and alcohol, not quite like wine, but still damned good.

Cinder was all smiles as he leaned across the bar toward Barbara, his hooves spread wide on the countertop.

"I been excited to have you here 'cause you've been the talk of the whole dang town since the second y'all ran up, screaming 'bout some medical emergency for some creature ain't nopony's ever seen before!"

Beside her, Rainbow Dash was slowly sipping a strong cider, and she tapped the human's chest with the back of her hoof.

"Yeah, you're the newest and coolest thing to enter this town since I moved in! We just wanted to meet you, see what you're made of. Hay, maybe help you out around town if you need it."

On the far side of the room, three ponies sat huddled close together at one of the small tables. They were watching with interest, but not enough to actually get up or say anything. One of them looked like he'd had enough to drink that simply standing would have posed a significant challenge.

"Well, here I am! I'll gladly take an invitation to any place selling a good drink!"

She chugged back her drink and gave a content sigh. She didn't just want to sip at it for hours, she wanted to feel a buzz and truly enjoy the good stuff while she was there to have it!

"This fruity stuff is nice, but how bout something with a bit more kick to it, hmm?"

With a bit of a smirk, the bartender started to whip up a house special, known to really take the edge off any wonderbolt, guaranteed!

"You wanna join her, Dash? I seem to remember you having a good time after one of these!"

Dash leaned forward, her wings spreading excitedly, then suddenly slumped back with a long sigh.

"I can't, I have practice in an hour. Spitfire'll buck my rump if I show up drunk again."

She glanced at the Chief and opened her mouth to say something, then looked past her to the far table. She half stood from her stool and gestured with a wing, raising her voice angrily.

"Go suck a storm cloud, Thunderlane! You know I'd drink you under the table if I could!"

Laughter rolled out from the table and Dash sunk back into her stool, but she was grinning. These were old jabs, worn smooth and familiar with frequent use.

Barbara chuckled, “Ha, I could do that for you now if you wanted. How bout it?! Think you can out drink me?”

Two of the stallions with Thunderlane both “ooo’d” at the challenge and nudged him over. Since he actually finished his drink and stood up, the bartender started working on three more of the same drink he had just handed to the chief.

“Two of these should be a good start." Thunderlane said, "Who do you put your bits on, boss?”

He looked to Cinder as both he and woman sucked down their drinks.

The stallion rubbed his muzzle thoughtfully, staring at Barbara for a long moment. Finally, he nodded and turned away to pour more drinks.

"Pardon me Lane, but I'm a gonna bet on the newbie this time. This here's a lot of mare an' she's got the look of somepony that can hold a cider."

He placed two small whiskey glasses in front of them, half-filled with a dark brown liquid that seemed to keep swirling long after the liquid had settled. He held a hoof up before the Chief could pick hers up.

"Now this 'ere's zap apple cider. Ain't hardly ever made an' it's expensive as all get out, but it's somethin' special, alright? Take it slow. Enjoy it. This ain't a shot to just throw back an' grimace at, y'hear?"

Rainbow Dash let out a low groan and flopped sideways onto the counter.

"Ciiiinderrr, why do you gotta torture me like this? You know I'd kill for a glass of that stuff."

He just chuckled and shook his head, watching Barbara expectantly.

"Hardly a drinking contest if we can't chug 'em, right?"

She didn't do it, but she wondered if this stuff would be far stronger than what she was anticipating. She ended up taking in about a quarter of the shot glass on her first sip. It was... indescribable. Incredibly sweet, with a hint of that sourness green apples had. It was a smooth drink, but the aftertaste told Barbara that this wasn't your run of the mill drink. Two shots of this would put any lightweight in a blackout. But her? Never.

"Damn that's good! Makes ya feel warm inside! How you doing over there?"

She saw the pace that Thunderlane was taking the shot, much slower and much more steady, so she figured she would match him in that aspect to keep things fair.

Thunderlane grinned at her and raised his glass in a toast.

"I'm always doing well with a glass of Zap Cider. Ponyfeathers, with a glass of this stuff, I wouldn't even mind losing to a beaut like you."

Dash, still slumped over on the counter, suddenly focused her eyes into a sharp glare at Thunderlane, but his eyes were back on his drink and he paid her no notice. She huffed dejectedly and sat up, taking another sip of her cider and seeming disappointed by it now. Cinder had watched the whole thing and burst out laughing at her expression.

"Aw, don't be like that, Dashie. C'mon, if'n ya cheer up, I'll buy you a shot of Zap Cider tonight, fair?"

She brightened almost immediately, "Aw, hay yeah! Cinder, you're the best, y'know that?"

He casually waved the compliment away and turned back to the human.

"How ya feeling, darlin'? That stuff goes down like water I know, but it's got more'n a kick to it than anythin' else ya see here, an' it hits fast. Y'all alright?"

"Hah, I feel it, but it'll take more to get me good and gone!"

She pounded her chest and the pair continued to nurse their drinks. The pony kept an eye on them, even as he moved away to go serve others. Soon enough both shot glasses were empty and put on the table.

"I would have killed to have something like that back home! God, couple'a these would have made any trade go down sooth as silk."

Patting Dash on the back, Barbara barked out a laugh.

"You'll have to escort me in whenever I come back to this town, next time'll be my treat though."

Thunderlane chuckled and looked down at his empty shot glass.

"Mare, you know how long it's been since I had me some of that? Reminds me of the good ol' days."

He was about to continue when somepony knocked on the door. It wasn't the complex pattern Dash had used earlier, but just three loud knocks. Everypony in the room looked up expectantly and after a couple seconds there was one more knock.

Instantly there was a subtle shift in the room as the atmosphere changed. Dash and Thunderlane straightened in their seats, ears perked forward. There was a shuffle from the far table as the sober one knocked the drunk one hard over the head and mumbled something, and he attempted to bolt upright and almost fell from his seat. Cinder caught Barbara's eye and winked before he stepped to the door and opened it.

As a leader, Barbara would instantly recognize the air of command around the yellow pegasus as she entered and whipped her sunglasses off with a wing. She stepped inside, swung the door shut behind her, and immediately locked eyes with the human. She showed not a flicker of surprise and wordlessly nodded in an acknowledgement of respect.

Barbara gave a nod back, acknowledging the authority that she brought with her. After mulling it over for a moment, she stood up to go and greet the pegasus properly.

"I take it you lead these 'wonderbolts' I've been hearing about. I'm Barbara, chief of the human village in the forest." Barbara had to kneel slightly to shake her hoof properly, since she was so tall compared to them.

The pegasus watched Barbara shake her hoof curiously, then gave her a small smile.

"Yep, Spitfire, head of the Wonderbolts, that's me. Though I'm closer to a wrangler than a leader, most days."

She walked past the Chief and eyed Dash's cup suspiciously, "That had better be your first and last glass, Crash."

She nodded, "Yep, sure is ma'am. I'll be ready for practice, promise."

Spitfire passed Barbara's spot and slid into the stool beside Thunderlane, giving him a wry smile before turning to Cinder for a mug of honey mead.

Barbara grinned as she took her seat again. "Ha, that's always what it's like being leader. Someone has to keep the knuckleheads from doing something stupid... or from slacking off when they shouldn't be."

She had the bartender pour another drink, though this was a lighter one than the zap apple whiskey, something he called a screwdriver.

"So if you're the top of the wonderbolts, that must mean you're a pretty mean flyer and fighter, hmm?"

Spitfire took a small sip of mead then responded without turning her head.

"Obviously. Contrary to common belief though, I'm not the best flyer we have... I'm just best at keeping these foals in line."

That much was obvious from the subtle show of respect from everypony in the room. She sipped her mead again, then gave Barbara a sidelong glance and smirked.

"So you gonna show this colt what holding a drink looks like or what?"

Thunderlane let out a deep sigh, his wings flopping partway down his back, "Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Cap."

"Hah! I guess he had enough of a break to let that earlier shot go through him! Let's get some more going. Oh, get him one of these to chug down so we're even first."

Barbara gulped down her drink and watched as Thunderlane did the same. Only once his was down did the bartender set up a series of nine shot glasses. Three different whiskeys, vodkas, and sake's were poured into them.

"Ahhh, now this is more like it! Toss 'em back and see how far we can go!"

They started with a honey whiskey. Not quite as smooth as the zap apple, but still sweet with a bit of burn to it.

Getting back into the spirit of competition, Thunderlane chuckled and tossed back the first whiskey with a satisfied sigh.

"Damn Cinder, you're just spoiling us now."

The stallion glanced up from the glass he was drying and smiled, "Ah, I'm just tryin' to show the human what Ponyville has to offer, is all. I'd be mighty pleased to see her back again."

The pegasus laughed and raised one of the shots of vodka, "I'll toast to that!" He threw the glass back and immediately chased it with two shots of sake, then turned to the Chief with an expectant grin.

"There ya go short stack!"

She matched him, then quickly went for the third and tastiest sake of the group. The sour of the green apple sake contrasted the other two sweeter ones, but she had no problem with that. By now, her cheeks were starting to show a little red, but that would only tell Thunder that she was starting to feel the effects of all the drinks.

The next thirty minutes were spent much the same, though they slowed down somewhat after they finished the line of shots. Thunderlane held his ground well, but after a dozen shots and a hoofful of glasses, even Rainbow Dash would have been wobbling. Thunderlane screwed up his eyes and twisted to stare at the human, glanced back at the latest glass of wine, then groaned and reluctantly tapped the counter with a hoof.

"Alright, alright, you win, ya buckin' maniac. Luna blast me down if you don't look like you've hardly started."

He attempted to bow where he sat and almost fell right out of the seat, flailing wildly to catch himself and nearly smacking Spitfire with a wing.

Her face was a deeper red by then, but she held a wide grin as she watched the stallion almost fall out of the seat.

"I'd be lying if I said I was! I could hold more, but I think that's enough while I'm here. Loser pays for the drinks, right?"

She watched his face as it turned to shock and then horror. All of those shots and drinks for the game, plus the other three drinks she had before? That was going to be a nice chunk out of his bits.

"Hoooo, I'm gonna need to start drinking some water before I head out to shop. Don't want the whole town thinking that humans are just drunkards!"

Rainbow Dash laughed and leaned over to pat Thunderlane's shoulder with a wing.

"Don't worry champ, you'll outdrink somepony one of these days."

He laughed, hiccupped, then slowly slid from his stool, seeming as if he wanted to look amused but couldn't quite get his muzzle to work right.

"Note to self... humans aren't just drunkards... they're really buckin' good drunkards."

He shuffled slowly to the restroom and Spitfire chuckled ruefully.

"Poor colt's gonna fly like shit tomorrow. Anyways... Dash, Blaze, get in gear. Practice in ten minutes."

Spitfire hadn't raised her voice even a bit, but the sober pegasus at the far table where Thunderlane had been sitting saluted with a wing, then trotted quickly out the door. Dash also straightened in her seat and saluted as well, then turned to Barbara.

"You wanna just hang out here and sober up? I'll be back in about an hour and a half."

"If they'll let me, then yeah I'll wait here and put some water and food in me."

That raised a question for her, she'd had time for her breakfast to digest and now it was getting close to lunch time. Turning back towards Cinder, she took a few sips of her water and waited for him to finish with another patron.

"'Scuse me, what do you have for food here? I uhh... I assume you have it written, but we don't really have a similar way of writing to you so I can't read it..."

Cinder nodded at Dash and she zipped out the door, then he turned to the Chief, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Not a problem, miss. It's a wonder we can even talk the same language, nevermind writin' the same. How's about I just start ya off with some eggs an' toast? It's a little late for breakfast but some bread an' protein'll do ya good."

He didn't wait for a response and disappeared into the back. Spitfire threw back her last dregs of mead, tossed a couple bits on the counter, then turned to give Barbara a wide, friendly smile - a sight rarely seen on her stern face.

"You're an interesting mare, Barbara, and I think you're a fine Chief. I'll be glad to see you again."

It was unclear how Spitfire had determined her skill as a leader from this short, casual encounter.

"I'll look forward to it." Barbara now faced the bar fully and kept taking slow sips of her water to enjoy it. She tried to hide it, but she was still fascinated that ponies could make cold drinks, despite the temperature of the room. With Spitfire gone, the atmosphere of the place relaxed and one of the other drunk stallions did his best to walk in a straight line towards Barbara.

"Hey there, I-I been wonderin' shince ya got 'ere h-hic how a human mare feels. Care to show me?"

He went into a giggling fit and the lady simply turned her head just enough to look at him out of the corner of her eye.

"You're drunk and I'm gonna have to pass."

For a moment, he looked as if he were getting angry that she said no.

Cinder returned and handed her a large plate of eggs with two slices of toast, then nodded to the other pegasus.

"Now Soarin, I know ya didn't come over here to pester this here mare, right?"

He leaned casually onto the counter, his grin warm and friendly.

"Cause unless I miss my mark, she's a gonna be havin' a long chat with Spitfire later, an' a leader always values the opinion of a newcomer."

A pristine, white rag appeared from nowhere and Cinder began methodically wiping down the counter.

"Y'see, newcomers can see all sorts a things that get overlooked by ponies accustomed to the ways 'round here, an' Spitfire'll be mighty curious if Barbara here notices anythin' unsavory about the way her Bolts behave... especially if they happen to be officers."

He shuffled further down the counter, hardly even paying attention to Soarin anymore.

“Oh come off it shindy! I’m jusht tellin’ her she looksh pretty!”

He puffed out his chest to look extra fluffy, spread his wings, and stepped closer to the human. The others in the bar barely contained their laughter as the very, very drunk stallion tried to do a mating show on the human. For her part, she at least looked over and grinned at the display.

“How bout this, Soarin’ next time I’m in town I’ll let you buy me a drink. This time, you’ll have to wait.”

He listened to the woman and switched between elated, angry, and finally a dopey giggly mood.

“Thash not a no, sho I’ll take it!”

As he spun back around, he found himself making a face first arrangement with the floor.

“Poor fella is way beyond his limit” Barbara muttered with a wry grin.

Soarin had been too drunk to care about Cinder's warning, but everypony else in the building had heard and several other eager muzzles suddenly became significantly less interested in the human. Cinder seemed not to have noticed or cared about the effects his words had had on the room, but when Barbara caught his eye he gave her a sly grin and winked.

She spent the next hour and a half slowly enjoying her meal and trying non-alcoholic drinks. In the end she paid him quite a few bits, though it was bits well spent in her opinion. There were, however, a few trips to the bathroom in which Barbara simply had to figure things out on her own. The toilet itself made enough sense, and fortunately they were cleaned well. The toilet paper was an odd experience, but given its softness and availability, she figured it was probably to clean herself up down there. Lastly, a sign on the wall reminded her to clean her hands and even came with little pictures that helped her figure the sink out.

Other ponies slowly trickled in and while many had shown a curious interest in Barbara, Cinder subtly deflected them all, allowing her to enjoy her meal in peace. Eventually Rainbow Dash returned, sat in the same seat as before, and waved Cinder over.

"Hey, gimme the hayburger special and just a water for now."

He poured her a tall glass of iced water and she immediately took a long drink, then turned to grin at Barbara.

"So, did Soarin try and hit on you?"

Cinder, who had just been walking into the back to give the chef her order, barked out a short laugh at her words.

"So that's normal for him, huh? Or is it just when he's so drunk he can't walk straight?" Barbara snickered at the memory of how he fell on his face when trying to simply turn around. "I turned him down, he was too drunk for anything to have been enjoyable anyway."

"Pfft, he's probably too drunk to even get it up!" Dash shrugged her shoulders and took another long drink before she answered. "He's actually not like that most of the time, but somepony bet him he couldn't get under your tail before you left, and he's a damn fool for bets." She shook her head ruefully. "Poor colt had no idea you weren't a pony until just a few hours ago. That's why he's so drunk... word is it was a pretty hefty bet."

"Ouch, had I known I probably would have tossed him a bone." As she took a sip of her tea, she looked over at Dash.
"Say, what about you? Got a umm... "stallion" that's caught your eye?"

The pegasus suddenly looked away, her wings shuffling awkwardly. "Well... uh... no, no stallion. Not as such."

She rocked slightly in her chair and glanced nervously at the Chief. It looked like she was about to say more when Cinder returned with an unusually short and wide hayburger. Dash practically snatched it from his hooves and hardly had time to mumble thanks before she was stuffing her muzzle like she hadn't eaten in days.

"Really? Kinda figured as a skilled show pony that you'd have snagged at least one, but then I'm one to speak. I haven't got anyone vying after me, well... not till I came to ponyville at least."

She laughed a bit as she thought about soarin' and the potential other ponies that might have looked at her that way.

"Is it that none of them fit your interests or...?" She swallowed her bite and flicked a hoof dismissively. "Well plenty have tried, especially once I became a Wonderbolt, but uh... yeah, I just wasn't interested." Again she glanced sidelong at Barbara and sort of wiggled in her seat a bit. "It's just... I've been busy, y'know? A-And it's not really my thing. Uh, the lovey-dovey sappy stuff, I mean."

She could see something was up with the way the mare acted and decided to lean into the bar and look at her more closely. "What, really? Busy I get, but you don't want someone to love? Someone who's just there to make your day a little bit better?"

By now her face was pretty close to Dash and she was squinting at her in disbelief."Shit, not even someone to come home and just have fun with?"

Dash's muzzle began to color slightly and she leaned forward over her plate, trying to focus on eating her hayburger, but she was eating slowly now as if her appetite had left her. After a moment, she glanced to her side and saw Barbara was still leaning close, an expectant look on her face. Dash dropped her burger and threw up her hooves.

"Fine, I like mares, alright! Yeesh!"

She hadn't said it very loudly, but her exclaimation still carried well in the small, quiet room, and Dash realized this immediately. There was a sudden lull in the conversation, a couple of curious glances, and the poor mare could only hunch over her burger again, blushing furiously.

Barbara was a bit taken aback by that. Some of what she had done before, as well as how she was regarded by the small blue pony clicked in ways that were probably not true in the slightest. The end result was a grinning blonde human sitting next to an embarrassed mare.

"Ooooooohhhhh, I see. So then, let me fix my earlier mistake. Are there any "mares" you've been interested in? Or Maybe you have a particular type?"

Her only reply was to hunch her shoulders and lower her head to take another bite of her burger. If either of them had looked up, they would notice Cinder leaning casually against the wall nearby, a curious half-smile on his muzzle.

"Hmmm, alright, fine. We'll do it this way. I'll arm wrestle you for the information."

Barbara had a feeling she was looking at a very competitive pony and, if her guess was right, there's no way she'd turn down a challenge like that. She also knew that ponies were excessively strong, at least if what she saw of Lodestone and Granite meant anything. Even then, she had a bit of her magic and some muscles to even that score, or so she'd hoped.

"We'll do it over at that empty table. I win, you tell all, you win... well, I'll let you decide."

Though she tried to resist, an ear perked up at this, betraying her interest. Without any fur, anypony could easily see the lean muscles on the Chief's body, and Dash had been wondering just how well a human would stand up to Equestria's fastest pony. Her wings rustled excitedly and her muzzle curled into a grin that was almost a grimace.

Her burger plopped to the plate and she glared at the human.

"Fine. If I win, you have to tell me somepony you're crushing on."

She beat her wings twice and was suddenly standing beside the table Barbara had indicated.

"Now come on and get ready to have your plot handed to you!"

“Yeah right! I’m gonna take you down!”

Barbara gabbed her hoof and waited for Cinder to come over and be the official judge. As soon as he gave a signal, both she and the pony started to try and overpower the other. At first, it seemed like Barbara had the upper hand. Her powerful muscles were just too much for the little Pegasus, though she was clearly straining herself to gain every little inch towards the table.

Dash's face scrunched up in effort as her hoof was forced back. She looked up from their shaking limbs and met Barbara's eye and saw the look of triumph already peeking through her strain. Dash just grinned.

Then she bore down with all her strength - until then, she had only been testing the human to see what she was capable of. Barbara's eyes widened as her hand suddenly switched directions and her face contorted with effort as she struggled against the gale that was Rainbow Dash's Hoof.

Unable to hold back the pony, her fist slammed against the table, announcing her defeat. Had she not relaxed her arm at the end, it’s very likely she would have broke it from the strain.

“Well damn, that’s a hell of a... leg you have there. Alright, it’s my loss and your terms were that I’d have to tell you “somepony” I’m crushing on?”

She smirked and looked at the Pegasus, then down at her arm.

“Anyone that can beat me in a contest of strength has officially woo’d me. Plus I don’t know many ponies yet and you are quite possibly my favorite so far.”

The pegasus whooped and reared in triumph, then flew up and began strutting in the air, but froze mid-strut when she heard the Barbara's words. She relaxed and stared down at the seated Chief.

"Wait, what? You mean... huh. That was... straightforward."

She slowly lowered back into her seat and just stared across the table at her, her muzzle beginning to redden once more. As if on cue, Cinder stepped over and wordlessly set out a bottle of wine and glasses for each of them. It seemed Dash and Barbara had a lot to talk about.