The bar is always open

The splashing of the sea,

The cheerful rustle of the foliage of strange trees

And the light of the golden sun

Dispersed the tormenting longing, won.

I couldn't help but smile when I saw the quatrain I had written. But after just a second, I frowned slightly and asked myself: "Do I really have a rhyme here? Hm. "

Well, considering that I didn't succeed at all before, the main thing is that at least some progress has occurred. Right?

I let out a happy sigh and looked up from my notebook. In front of me was warm white sand, which was washed by small waves of the sea. The waves of the sea that separates me and the collectors from Manhattan. I shook my head slightly and muttered: "It's better not to think about it. No one knows where I've gone anyway! Well, except for a strange pony in a raincoat who sold me a boat for almost free. "

Before I could fully calm myself down, I was suddenly blinded and instinctively closed my eyes. Oh, I stayed until dawn again and the sun blinded me again. I really don't know how to go to bed if no one drives me to bed. Ugh. . .

"Huh?" I was confused when I felt that there was almost no light falling on my closed eyelids. When my eyes opened, they found that the sun had still not risen and the world remained at a satisfactory brightness level. Along with my growing embarrassment, I began to scan the horizon, trying to find at least some explanation for the outbreak that had occurred.

Hey, eyes, wait! What is this purple mist over land?

I squinted into the distance, but I couldn't see anything better than a purple spot above the land. And I don't have binoculars, for obvious reasons. But for other obvious reasons, I have bottles filled with alcohol, which I brewed from local plants! Delicious!

"Wait, how is this supposed to help me? I muttered, glancing at the bar that I had built on my own. There were a lot of different drinks on it, which I made, definitely not in order not to go crazy from loneliness. I just need a lot of alcoholic and not-so-alcoholic drinks!

"I really need to do something about my habit of being distracted and making excuses. I muttered with a sigh, before opening a random bottle from the pile that stood on the bar counter. Don't ask me why I made it, I'm interested in it myself.

Relax, Amber. Just drink some mango beer and breathe. Well, I hope I chose the non-alcoholic mango beer. It's easy to confuse. I don't have any labels.

I took a deep breath and started drinking in big gulps, throwing my head back. As the cooling and delicious liquid poured down my throat, my eyes couldn't tear themselves away from the purple mist. Not only did he appear in a blinding flash, he also seems to be moving slowly! And some black spots begin to appear on the water. . .

"Wait, what!?" I spat, abruptly putting the bottle on the bar. Despite the distance, I could actually see a few black spots on the water that were slowly moving towards me. It happened in short leaps, as if someone were rowing with oars. Are these boats?

Collectors!?

I let out a startled sigh when this thought occurred to me. Of course, it's strange that suddenly a purple cloud appeared over a large land mass and collectors immediately began to float towards me. This is an absolute accident! Ha-ha.

"An accident . . ." I muttered as the calm face slowly turned into the purest frown. If these are collectors, then you need to prepare somehow. Hmm.

I nervously looked at the many bottles on the bar before excitedly voicing my idea: "If I offer them to drink all this, they will relax and will not touch me. Maybe we can even become friends!"

But I'll finish my mango beer myself. It seems to be non-alcoholic. It is rare to find such a drink among all my bottles.

I chuckled slightly before tilting my head back to finish my mango beer. When I was done with the drink, I put it on the bar before quickly adjusting the bottles. Of course, I could find glasses and pour drink into them.

"But I don't have glasses." I sighed as I watched the approaching boats. Despite the slowly rising blinding sun, my eyes were able to make out the outlines. In the first boat, I managed to make out the outline of something with large wings. A strangely seated bat pony? Yes, probably. Let's move on.

On the second boat, I noticed the distinct figure of a pony, with some kind of protrusion on its head. Oh, it's easy. Bat pony with a festive hat!

With a cheerful wave of my hoof, I turned my gaze to the third and last boat. In it, you could see the outline of a pony with very strange wings. It's like they're small and have a few holes. Um, a bat pony with a wound on its wings?

Is it just me or is it a little strange that only other bat ponies approach me on the boats?

I quickly shook my head and decided to channel my energy in another direction. For example, hmm. Should I give them a signal that someone is on the island? Well, so that they won't be scared when they see me.

"Uh-huh." I muttered to myself, nodding before grabbing one coconut that was lying on the bar with my wing. What was it doing there? Well, I wanted to make glasses for myself. But I got distracted.

"Ugh, remembering that I was distracted, I was distracted!" I exclaimed in displeasure before moving away from the bar and throwing the coconut right on the sand. Then, I grabbed the nearest bottle with my wing, opened it and lightly splashed it on the object.

"I hope I found what I think I found. I muttered before grabbing the flint carefully and tentatively trying to strike a spark. Unsuccessfully. The second attempt was also unsuccessful. The third attempt - hooray, I struck a small spark. But that's probably not enough. . .

Contrary to my thoughts, the coconut instantly burst into a bright flame, causing me to jump back. Uh, good news?

Apart from the fact that my heart hurts a little, everything is fine.

I sighed and carefully placed the lighter on the bar before looking back towards the approaching three boats. And I wish I hadn't done that. . .

"Ponies should not have blue scales. And strange wings similar to those of scary beetles. And there definitely shouldn't be horns!" I muttered to myself in fright as the distance narrowed enough for me to see the approaching creatures.

Oh no, wait. The latter actually happens to ponies, sort of. Uhh, it's hard to remember different types when I've lived all my life in a village where there are only bat ponies.

I took a few slow breaths before muttering thoughtfully: "Maybe they're not even collectors. And, well, um, I didn't come up with a sequel. Can someone come up with it for me, please?"

I looked around, hoping to at least see some bird that would cheer me up. This did not happen. Either the time is too early or the animals are more afraid of me than I am afraid of scaring them. Wait, there seems to be something wrong with that thought. But.. .

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" A sharp female voice asked from behind me.

Oh, one already seems to have sailed! I hope she wasn't too scared to see me.

I quickly turned around on the spot and took a moment to examine my interlocutor. It was a unicorn with pink-tinged fur and a dark sapphire mane with purple stripes. On her back were saddlebags from which some test tubes were peeking out. When I finished the inspection, I smiled and said, putting a hoof on my chest: "Hello! My name is Amber Fer. . ."

"Are you kidding? Ember is the dragon lord. You absolutely don't fit that description." The unicorn replied harshly when her horn began to glow slightly.

Wait, what? Did she hear my name wrong? But I seemed to be talking normally.

I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped when I noticed one of the unicorn's ears. It was damaged. It was as if he had almost been cut in half. Poor thing. I sighed and said a little louder, "I'm Amber! The full name is AMBER FERMENT, if anything."

The unicorn stared at me for a while before taking a deep breath and saying, "My name is Twilight. Now tell me, Amber. . ."

" What are you doing on a DESERT island!?"

I jumped slightly when I heard a sharp female voice. Looking up, I saw something that looked like a dragon standing behind Twilight. Although I'm not sure if they should stand on two legs and be not too taller than me.

Could she be a child? Although this does not make the situation better. Poor kid.

While I was looking at her and thinking, she put her right paw on her hip and asked harshly: "I will rephrase my question. What are ponies doing on a desert island that belongs to dragons!?"

My eyebrows shot up in surprise, and after a moment, Twilight took a step towards the dragon and said irritably, "Excuse me? This island belongs to Equestria! As one of the princesses, I demand an explanation and the return of the island with compensation. "

The dragon just grinned and said, raising his left paw: " As soon as we found out that a killer virus was roaming all over Equestria, which the unicorns released to enslave the neighbors. It's a good thing they didn't succeed and cut them out. Anyway, as soon as this happened, we decided to take under our wing the nearest territories that the virus simply cannot reach. "

I'm not sure it's okay to do that. And anyway, what is a virus? Wait, Princess!?

Twilight indignantly stamped her hoof on the white sand and said indignantly: "First of all, this is a violation of international law, which you must understand perfectly well, Dragon Lord Ember! Secondly, unicorns have absolutely nothing to do with it! According to my research, this virus was created by changeling magic."

"Of course, of course. Well, first of all, it's unclear why changelings would create a virus that does this to living beings. And secondly, my task as a lord is to ensure the safety of my people. So I'll ask you to leave the territory."

The princess, the lord, and the brewer. Someone is superfluous here.

I could see Twilight's wings twitching slightly, as if she couldn't control them. Perhaps because of anger. Ember stood calmly with her right hand on her hip. The morning breeze slightly fluttered her cloak, from under which the scratched armor glittered. And in that moment of tense silence, my ears caught the sound of someone rowing.

"It was worth expecting." A deep female voice grumbled in disappointment a little to the side of me. Everyone turned their heads to the source and at least I experienced a mixture of shock and horror. Mostly horror. She looked like a very strange mix of a beetle and a pony. Plus, even from a distance of a dozen hooves, you can tell that she is taller than me.

For some reason, the height difference with the dragon didn't scare me.

There was silence in the air for a while, as if no one here was happy about the presence of the pony beetle. It's like she's some kind of villain. Well, does she really look like that, I suppose?

No sooner had my thoughts started than Twilight abruptly spreads her wings and said taking a step forward: "Chrysalis! I am well aware that it is the Changelings who are involved in everything that is happening on the mainland right now. But you can see for yourself how things got out of control. So stop it now! "

Chrysalis stared at her and said baring her teeth: " Don't make baseless accusations against me, Twilight Sparkle. The virus is affecting my people too. The only enemy here is the dragon. "

" What did you say, bug? " Asked Ember slowly and clearly.

Uh, I really look out of place here. Maybe I should find out something about the topic to at least understand what they are talking about?

"Eh, girls?" I asked cautiously, but they didn't pay much attention to me. All three of them just continued to be intensely silent before the thread finally broke.

"Explain your words, bug, I'm waiting!" said Ember when there was a soft creak, as if something sharp had been pulled out of something. Uh, she doesn't have a gun, right?

Chrysalis slowly approached Ember and said, looking at her with contempt: "The beginning of the infection was first reported by the scouts in the southeastern part of Equestria. Exactly where the border with the lands of the dragons runs. How do you explain this? Did the ponies just decide to start self-destructing themselves? Or were the Changelings in the territory farthest from the hive able to gather enough strength to start an infection? ","Dragons don't use magic. Especially this one. In addition, the infection began far from our territories. Otherwise, I wouldn't have found out about her by the time most of Equestria was already devastated." Ember replied harshly, looking straight into Chrysalis' eyes.

"Besides, I've studied the virus enough to say that it's based on changeling magic. And I doubt very much that they did anything without your orders, Chrysalis. Twilight continued as her horn began to blink a little more actively.

"Take your time, pony. I'm still sure that you, or at least your kind, is involved in everything that's going on. Ember said slowly, glancing at Twilight.

"I've already told you that it has nothing to do with it!" She was indignant, hitting the white sand with her hoof.

Oh, my head hurts. I don't like it when my head hurts!

"Girls, shut up, please!" I said irritably, hitting the sand with my hoof, which caused a small cloud to rise into the air. And it almost got in my eyes.

To my own surprise, all three of them turned around with different shades of annoyance on their faces. Oh, I probably should have thought of something to say before I spoke. Yes, it would be worth it.

Suddenly a thought came to my mind and I quickly reared up before saying, pointing with my hoof at the bar: "Eh, the bar is always open! Look at how many different drinks I've brewed out of boredom! Can you sit down together and talk peacefully? Or at least explain to me what's going on? "

All three of them blinked for a few seconds before Twilight asked confusedly: " Wait, you really don't know what's going on? Like, you didn't come to the island to hide from danger? "

I opened my mouth to reply but was interrupted by a brief giggle from Chrysalis: "I knew that bat ponies sit in caves and don't see the light, but to be in such isolation? It's just ridiculous."

"Yeah," Ember sighed, seemingly unhappy that she was agreeing with someone.

I feel kind of humiliated. I wonder if it was a verse, how would I write a sad sound? Whoo? No, probably in a different way. Uuu. It'll do.

I quickly shook my head and said slowly, "Well, you see, I took on a lot of debt to start my business. Well, it didn't work out and I'm here, kind of hiding from the collectors."

Twilight looked at me for a while before sighing: "In another situation, as a representative of the government, I would say that not paying off debts is wrong. But now. I appreciate your honesty. Okay, I'll sit down and explain everything to you. "

" Very clever, Twilight Sparkle. Do you want to tell her what's best for you? Do you want to have an ally on this island? " Chrysalis asked with a sinister smile. It's really creepy.

" You're not going to make it. " Ember firmly stated, taking a small step forward.

Enough!

"Stop swearing! Please just sit down and let's talk. Is it okay?" I asked almost pleadingly. At first, I was met with only silence.

However, after a few seconds, Twilight nodded and said, "That's right. Everything can be solved with conversation, kindness. Good way of thinking, Amber. "

" I didn't say anything at all. Ember said sheepishly as Twilight walked past me and moved towards the bar.

"No, no. I am Amber. And you're an Ember. We have, like, strangely similar names. Uh, nice to meet you, by the way. I said hesitantly, stretching out a hoof towards the dragon.

She stared at my gesture for a while before saying calmly: "I have little faith in your story about collectors. So no handshakes until the infection is eliminated."

Oh. I see.

I nodded reluctantly, and after that, Ember also started walking towards my bar. My gaze focused on the last participant in the conflict. And immediately moved it to the other side. Chrysalis looks too creepy with all those holes in the hooves.

She noticed my emotions and briefly chuckled before heading to the bar and whispering, "Don't worry, I'm not going to suck the love out of you. For now. "

" Did you have to say the last part? " I asked carefully as I followed Chrysalis to the bar. She only laughed briefly in response. In any case, the others were already sitting on chairs in front of the bar. Yeah, I didn't think my most successful day as a bartender would be under such circumstances.

It's even kind of awkward to demand money for drinks. Well, maybe I should demand friendship in return?

I sighed slightly as I stood at the bar, facing the three seated rulers. After briefly taking a look at them, I swallowed, already starting to feel sorry for them and asked: "Well, um, what do you want to drink? I have mango beer, non-alcoholic mango beer, multi-fruit beer, non-alcoholic multi-fruit beer as well..."

"Do you only have beer here?" Twilight asked, slightly worried.

"Well, yes, if you do not take into account the seawater that can be filtered and boiled." I replied, raising an eyebrow in embarrassment. Isn't it obvious?

"Why would a pony know how to handle water?" Ember asked, squinting.

I put a hoof on the back of my head and said laughing nervously: "Ha, funny story, ha. To save money, I went out to the Manehattan embankment and collected water in buckets. Well, then there were experiments with filtering."

"Hmm." Chrysalis mumbled, studying me with her eyes for a few seconds.

So we're getting off topic!

"Uh, I take it you're not going to drink anything, are you?" I asked with an awkward smile.

"Give me something non-alcoholic." Twilight said with a sigh.

"I can't promise, I don't have labels." I said when the awkward smile faltered slightly. I feel so stupid.

"Then I won't do anything. I don't want Chrysalis to suck the love out of me. " She replied by covering her face with her hooves.

" You don't have to be afraid of that yet, Twilight Sparkle. I'm interested in the dragon. " Chrysalis said, glaring at Ember.

" If you touch me for even a second, I will cut you into small pieces. " Ember replied so coldly that I shuddered slightly.

Which is ironic, considering that dragons breathe fire.

I shook my head and said rubbing my temples with my hooves: "Okay, okay. Now please answer my questions and don't swear. First of all, what is a virus?"

Twilight stared at me before asking, "What is the virus in general or this one specifically?"

"Uhh, how difficult it is. Let's do this one specifically." I said with a sigh. I don't know why, but I suddenly felt tired. Probably because of all this negativity.

Twilight nodded slowly before clearing her throat and saying, "So, from what I've observed, this virus should almost completely paralyze the musculoskeletal system and greatly slow down metabolism, but at the same time keep the victim alive. Obviously, this is necessary in order for the changelings to use other creatures as living tanks with love. "

" Nonsense. Even if the virus were harmless to Changelings, such paralyzed ponies would die out without leaving offspring. It's a dead-end path that a queen like me would never choose. Chrysalis hissed, looking into the distance.

Oh, the negativity again.

Twilight was silent for a moment before magically pulling a photo out of her saddlebag and placing it on the bar. There was a picture of a rabbit lying on its side, which looked like a toy. Wide-open eyes, slightly open mouth and a completely neutral face. Almost not alive.

I swallowed briefly when I saw this and Twilight continued, putting the photo in her bag: "But this way the virus only works on creatures with a low amount of magic. Rabbits, for example. But for creatures like ponies, the virus works differently. He, as it were, goes further than just disabling the musculoskeletal system."

Twilight took a deep breath and pulled out another photo from her saddlebag. There was something visible on it. No matter how hard I looked, it looked like a puddle of some strange material. Maybe if the photo had been in color, I would have been able to see something.

Twilight stared blankly at the photo for a while before shaking her head and saying, removing the photo: "Somehow, the virus completely dilutes the musculoskeletal system in a matter of days. As a result, only such puddles remain of ponies, in which, surprisingly, magic is well preserved."

I swallowed back and tried to cheer up, "Well, doesn't that sound too terrible? No, no, I sound like a villain! I mean, well, you can just leave the victims alone and the virus won't go any further, right? "

Twilight sighed and said slowly shaking her head: " When there are quite a lot of such bodies with stored magic in one place, well, an explosion occurs. Which throws the virus in all directions. You've probably seen one in Manehattan."

Oh . . .

Sighing, I asked cautiously, "Uh, a little question. How long has this been going on?"

Twilight initially raised her eyebrows in embarrassment before sighing and saying, "Oh, yes, you came here to hide from collectors. Uh, I received the first information about the infection a month ago. So let's assume that it all started a month ago. "" Hmm, I thought it started less than a week ago. " Ember sighed, lifting her head up. I looked up with her for a moment, but I didn't see anything interesting. Well, okay.

Chrysalis snorted and said with a glance towards the dragon, " I also found out about this about a month ago. So I have a feeling that someone is lying."

No, no, that's enough!

I hit the table with my hoof and said when my wings instinctively lifted: "Can you not swear, please!? Bad things are happening now and we need to do something good so that the world doesn't collapse, right?"

Damn, I feel stupid again. Before the shame could show on my face, Twilight sighed and said, gently placing a hoof on my shoulder, "Amber, the world has already collapsed. There is practically nothing and no one to save. "

I opened my mouth slightly, but Twilight continued with a forced smile: " But on the other hand, the virus no longer has food. Sooner or later, the magic will wear off from the corpses and Equestria will become a safe place again. We just need to wait here. "

Ember took a deep breath and said, " Okay. I will ignore the fact that you are in the legitimate territory of the dragons. "

Chrysalis bared her teeth and asked: " Are you serious? This virus has killed all my subjects, or almost all of them! I will not rest until I find out who did this and until this someone learns the most terrible punishment."

Uhhh.

"Chrysalis, revenge won't solve anything right now. In addition, all our versions of the origin of the virus are different. Although mine is backed up by science." Twilight muttered the last part.

I pointed my hoof forward into the sky and asked trembling, "Is this cloud supposed to be like this?"

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, quickly turning around in her chair and then froze. The Lord and queen turned a little more slowly, but they also froze. The purple cloud that appeared over Manehattan has not disappeared anywhere. On the contrary, it seemed to expand to the sides. One of which is us.

It's not going to get here, right?

For a while, an anxious silence continued to hang in the air, which no one dared to interrupt. The purple cloud in the sky continued to spread very slowly in all directions, showing no signs of slowing down.

Twilight puts her hooves on her temples and said, breathing deeply, "Okay, okay. Our boats are too small to sail to more distant islands. The current will be too strong. I can say for sure that we are in the affected area of the virus. But judging by the speed of the spread, we have a few days. "

I swallowed nervously and asked carefully: " Are you sure there aren't any islands close enough? Any at all? "

Ember sighed loudly and said, shaking her head, " No, there are no such places. The closest island is the island part of the dragon lands. And it is already ravaged by the disease. "

Chrysalis's ear twitched slightly before she grinned and asked, crossing her hooves, " Oh, oh, oh. Did your animals start to suffer because of the infection they developed? How sad."

"I repeat once again, beetle." - hissed Ember gritting her teeth - "Dragons have neither the ability nor the desire to arrange anything like this."

And now they're fighting again. We need to distract them for at least a couple of seconds. So that I can fall asleep before the sun gets blinding.

I swallowed a lump in my throat and said, raising my voice slightly, "Guys, we don't have time to argue! Can we just have a drink and forget about what's going on for at least a couple of seconds? "

All three of them slowly turned around in their chairs and all stared at me. In response, I hesitantly grabbed my notebook and tried to cover at least part of my face with it. But I was stopped by Twilight's tired sigh, followed by the words: " Give me something. "" I thought you weren't going to drink because I wouldn't be able to tell non-alcoholic from alcoholic. I said with a little surprise in my voice.

"I've changed my mind. I have a lot of things that need to be flooded." Twilight replied instantly.

Uh, on the one hoof, it can have bad consequences. On the other hoof, I've been dreaming of serving at least one customer in a bar for too long.

I smiled slightly and took one of the many bottles with my wing without looking at it. However, before I could properly put it on the table, Twilight activated her horn and snatched the drink from me. In just a moment, she took off the lid and immediately started drinking. Uh, well, okay.

I couldn't help but smile excitedly and asked, turning to Ember, "What about you? Are you thirsty?"

In response, she snorted, letting out some smoke from her mouth and said reluctantly, "Okay, give me something. I'll take a couple of sips."

Hurray!

I seemed to grab the bottle even faster than last time without looking at it and put it firmly on the bar. So much so that the bottom of the bottle broke into many pieces. Beer splashed on the bar as we both looked at the situation. In the end, I laughed awkwardly and said, turning around, "Hehe, I'm sorry? Don't worry, I'll give you something now. "

" No, no. Everything is fine. " Ember said, which made me turn my head to her in embarrassment. She took the top of the bottle and lightly sipped the remaining drink there, as if drinking from a glass.

Even more surprisingly, after taking a sip, she grinned a little and said, " This is satisfactory. Quite. I'm surprised, to be honest.

Should I be offended or not?

I shook my head briefly and grabbed two bottles from the shelf before putting both on the table. Then I smiled toothily and asked, "Well, Chrissy, do you want to join in the fun?"

To my surprise, Chrysalis glared at me and said slowly: "First of all, you will call me Queen Chrysalis. And secondly, how can I be sure that you didn't put poison in the drink? "

I pulled away from her slightly before rubbing my neck with a hoof and asking, " Well, will it make you feel better if I drink first before giving it to you?"

Chrysalis continued to stare at me for a while before nodding slowly. I sighed and slammed the edge of the bottle against the table to remove the lid. After that, I took a short sip and sighed with satisfaction: "M, mango beer warmed by the sun."

So delicious~

Chrysalis rolled her eyes and said, taking the bottle from my grasp with magic: "Okay, I believe it. But I'm still watching you."

In response, I just smiled and opened the last bottle. No one swears. Everyone drinks drinks. Everyone drinks drinks prepared by me. In my bar. I need to consolidate this success!

I cleared my throat briefly and said, holding the bottle up, "Uh, a toast! A toast to a bright future and, uh, a successful bar!? "

For just a moment, I thought I'd made another mistake, but suddenly Twilight slammed her bottle against mine and said, " Yes, to a bright future. "

Ember very carefully tapped her improvised glass and said slowly, " And for you to continue making delicious drinks. "

Surprisingly, even Chrysalis reluctantly lifted the bottle and said, " Yes, yes, to getting everything back to normal."

How can anything go wrong after such a toast?