Loyal Ace

The next days were rather uneventful. I had a few more surges during training, but none were as strong as the first one. Even Lightning Blitz was getting them now. Strafe would continue our training for now until my new instructor was ready.

The doctor was right in the end; Strafe could not teach me how to control my magic. Nothing he explained made any sense to me. To my frustration, Lightning Blitz had no problems at all. Strafe told me I had unbelievable magic reserves, and he did not know how to deal with it. My new instructor would do some tests to measure my strength and I was promised to break some pegasi magic records. I knew Lightning Blitz was getting annoyed by that, but she kept her mouth shut for now.

"Ensign Bolt!" somepony yelled, ripping me out of my daydreaming. I currently sat at a table in the training room taking a break. Constantly flaring took a lot out of me and I had to take many breaks and drink a lot of water during and after my training.

Turning towards the source of the shout, I could see Sky Dagger looking at me. I was about to get up to stand at attention, but he interrupted me with a hoof gesture. "You can stay seated. I know you're exhausted."

I straightened up in my seat and saluted him. "Thank you, Sir. What can I do for you?"

"Your Instructor is ready to begin your training. You'll get the schedule sent to your PDA." I gave him a nod. "As you were," he finished.

He said nothing else before turning around and leaving, letting me relax again. 'Finally, can't wait to meet her.'

Even though I had flared almost every day, it seemed I could recover from it faster than the doctor or Strafe thought possible. Yesterday, after another strong flare, they finally prohibited me from further simulator training. They were afraid I wouldn't be able to recover my magic before my new instructor could run her tests. Strafe didn't say it, but I could see he was worried I would hurt myself again if I continued. Finishing up my training routine, I took a shower and went to bed. I couldn't wait for the next day to arrive already.

The next morning, somepony knocking on my door startled me. I had woken up a few minutes ago and was still wet after my morning shower. Seeing Captain Spitfire after opening the door, I stood to attention. I remembered she didn't like to be saluted to when off duty and relaxed again.

"Morning, Ensign. Get dry and into your flight suit."

"Yes, Ma'am, one moment, please."

Getting dry took a bit of time, but putting on my flight suit was a routine by now. With that finished, I stepped outside my quarters.

"I have your assignments from your new instructor. She wants to meet you at exactly 0900 on the bridge. You better get moving or you'll be late," Spitfire said, putting some weird emphasis on being punctual.

"Yes, Ma'am," I replayed. Spitfire left again, leaving me alone to think about her phrasing. 'That was strange. Why is nopony telling me the name of my instructor? Is she going to be some sort of mysterious war hero or something? And why do I have to meet her on the bridge? Is this part of the training? I better make sure I'm on time.'

I stood in front of the door of the bridge, waiting for the precise time to enter. At precisely 0900, I stepped through the door. "Ah, Iridian, right on time. How long have you been waiting in front of the door?" came Admiral Twilight's voice as soon as I entered.

I blushed at that comment. That was when I realised I was just standing there in front of the Admiral like an idiot. "Just a few seconds, Ma'am," I stammered.

"Not bad. You'll have it down in no time. You familiarised yourself with my ship well enough, it seems."

"Of course, Ma'am. I intend to work here for quite some time, its normal to be familiar with my workplace."

"Good, follow me, Iridian. Star Bright, the bridge is yours." The blue unicorn in question saluted and took a seat in the captain's chair. From what I understood, she was the one in charge of this ship since alicorns, in theory, couldn't hold any military position according to the law. But this was the Admiral's personal ship, and it made sense to rely on the millennia-old alicorn to guide it. I didn't know the exact workings, nor was I interested in the politics behind it.

I followed the Admiral out of the door. It looked like we crossed the entire HAB section before we ended up in front of a nondescript door. I still did not know what was going on, following the Admiral through the ship like she was a simple massager. Upon entering the room, I found what appeared to be a laboratory and library combined. I looked around but couldn't see anypony else, only row after row of bookshelves with the occasioned strange-looking device in between.

"Ma'am, am I supposed to wait for my instructor here?" I asked her, confusion in my voice.

She shook her head and giggled. Turning around, she smiled at me. "No, Iridian, I'm going to be your instructor."

To say I was shocked was an understatement. The Admiral herself was going to teach me? I could only assume that this was some sort of prank. But then again, I was told back at the Academy that the Admiral herself wanted me here.

"Has this something to do with why you wanted me on your ship, Ma'am?" I inquired.

"No, I didn't know about your magic ability at that point. Let's not talk about this; we are here to get you back flying. First thing first, you will call me by my first name. I'm not acting in any military capacity here, I'm just your teacher, as such any titles are unnecessary. Second, I want you to step on that platform over there." She pointed at a strange contraption in the middle of the room.

"Okay, Twilight," - I inwardly cringed - "what are you going to do with me?" I carefully stepped onto the platform and surveyed my surroundings. It had two metal rods on both sides, with small loops at the end. Otherwise, it looked unremarkable.

"I want you to put one of your wing's feathers inside those loops. It might be uncomfortable, but this will not take long. This device will measure the limit of your magic output. And don't worry about flaring; I will keep your magic flow steady with my own magic," she explained.

I placed a feather inside and the Admiral moved to each one of them to fixate my wings. It was uncomfortable, just as she said, but bearable.

"Now, I want you to feed your magic into it. It works the same way as the simulator."

I nodded and concentrated on my wings, the faint glow around them becoming brighter with every second. The feeling was similar to my first flare, and I feared it was about to happen again, causing my breath to become heavier and heavier. I was moments before hyperventilating at that point, but then another glow added itself to my own. Looking back at the Admiral showed that her horn was glowing a soft purple, and she had a reassuring smile on her face. 'Leave it to the millennia-old alicorn to make me feel safe.' During my last days of training, I somewhat developed a fear of my magic but her smile washed it all away.

"Iridian, you can stop now," she said after a short while, her voice as soothing as her smile. I must have drifted off somewhat because my mind blanked after watching her. I relaxed and the glow around my wings vanished, the familiar feeling of tiredness I had after my flares overcoming me again. "That was very good. Getting rid of your magic flares should be easy. We have to overcome your fear of your own magic first before we can do any real training, though." That was easier said than done. She didn't almost die the first time she consciously used her magic.

"Let me tell you a little secret." She moved close and whispered quietly into my ear. "When I first flared, I nearly destroyed an entire school. It took me days before I even dared to use my magic again. Being terrified of something like this is normal and you will overcome it,” she reassured me. My discomfort must have shown on my face for her to pick up on my fear so easily. 'Destroying an entire school? My flares are child's play compared to that. Maybe I could learn to use it properly.'

I looked back at her and nodded. "I think I can do that."

A loud beeping sound interrupted our quiet moment. "Sorry for that. The results are in. Let's see..." She locked over a sheet of paper before her eyes went wide. "Wow, Heart wasn't kidding when he told me about this," she said.

"Who is Heart?" I asked confused, never having met somepony with that name.

"Oh, he's the doctor that treated you after your first flare and filed the report," she answered, waving her hoof dismissively and reading of the sheet in her magic. "Your maximum stable power output is already in the upper percentile of pegasi. With dedicated training, you could become one of the most powerful pegasi in Equestria. Your Power Curve is amazingly stable as well for someone as young as you. They were not kidding when they told me you might be the most talented pegasi RENA has ever seen."

Lightning Blitz's words proved accurate; I was a good pilot because I was naturally talented. Did anything I have done even matter at this point? Being told I could become the strongest pegasi should have pleased me, but somehow it didn't. My conflict must have shown on my face again or the Admiral was psychic.

"Don't worry about it. Without true dedication, you would not have scored as high as you did at the Academy. You might be naturally talented, but that's only half of what makes a good pilot. Can you do me a favour and concentrate on your wings again?" I was still thinking about the Academy, but did as I was told. "And now look at your wings, please," she commanded.

I was just moving on autopilot at that point, but what I saw surprised me. My wings were glowing a bright magenta. This was the first time they took on any colour other than the generic white. I turned my head to the Admiral to see if she was casting any magic, but her horn was not glowing.

"See, it's that easy." She said with a smile on her face. I looked back at my wings, still glowing brightly. The small sliver of fear slowly vanished. "And now let it flow back inside of you. Don't let it go!" She emphasised the last part quite prominently. I did as I was told again, took a deep breath, and the glow vanished.

"We will continue this exercise the next time. I don't want you to use your magic outside this training with me. Nothing bad should happen, but I want to make sure you have full control over it before letting you use your magic. It was nice to see you again, Iridian. Our next session will be in two days, same time. I will meet you here." She held the door open for me and we left the Laboratory. "I will see you then."

"See you later, Twilight."

After the training with the Admiral, I decided to take a break and eat something in the mess hall. I felt strangely good about everything that happened. Everything she told me just, I couldn't put it into words. She made me feel safe and nothing could change that fact. Was that the true power of the alicorns? Her presence made it so easy to call her just Twilight. I flailed my hoofs in annoyance. 'I can't believe I did that. Now that I'm alone here, it just feels all sorts of wrong.'

"Hey Iridian, got space for two more?"

To deep in my own thoughts, I replayed to the familiar voice without looking up. "Yea sure, Strafe." I subconsciously moved a bit to the side to make extra room for him.

"How's your 'private' training going?" I heard Lightning Blitz ask.

'Oh no, she is with him. This is going to suck.' It was obvious in hindsight that she was here; he was still training her, after all.

To my surprise, Strafe scolded her the moment she finished the sentence. "You cut that attitude out right now. You're supposed to be each other's Wingponie, not throwing veiled insults at each other."

"I'm sorry." She quickly added and visibly shrunk down, her ears pinned to her head.

Before anypony else could say anything, I spoke up, the calming presence of Twilight still affecting me somewhat. "It's fine. I can understand you, the Admiral opened my eyes to a few things. I did act like a spoiled brat in the Academy, and I'm sorry for rubbing it into your coat all the time back then."

Lightning just stared at me. Her look told me she knew my apology was sincere, but she couldn't quite believe it. It took her a few seconds to comprehend what had just happened. "Apology accepted. But I have to say, having this much magic is not what I would want for myself."

Strafe and I gave her a flat look. Why would she say something like that? She looked at us and shook her head, giving a small chuckle. She let out a long sigh and elaborated, "I haven't told you, but after the incident in the simulator, I was terrified of what happened. I could see your extreme acceleration. When it happened first, I was just angry at you that you naturally mastered everything in a matter of minutes again, but then the simulation suddenly stopped. I wasn't sure what was going on at that point, but seeing Strafe carry you off was unsettling."

It was easy to tell it still affected her somewhat. "The worst part was, shortly after you left, I was about to go back to practice, but a technician stormed in and shut everything down before I could get back to it. I asked him what was going on, and he had that horrified expression on his face. After explaining to him what happened, he sent me out, telling me you managed to fry the entire safety system. I saw him take a shattered crystal out of a small box next to the door. Had I gone back to training and flared myself, I could have landed in the infirmary with even worse injuries than yours."

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" Strafe yelled with a slight look of horror on his face. "I would have never allowed you back in there without some form of counselling."

"Captain Spitfire was waiting for me at the door, and we talked about it. She also told me about your ability, Iridian. Hearing it terrified me even more. I'm glad it is not my burden, but as your Wingpony, I need to support you as best as I can. We don't have to be friends, but I kind of miss the days competing with you. I would like to go back to these days; without the insults."

I was sitting there, slack-jawed, unable to say anything for the next few minutes, giving my best goldfish impression. The one who made my life at the Academy a living nightmare was telling me she would like us to be rivals again. Well, friendly rivals this time. I couldn't believe it, but it was the truth. I could see it in her eyes, and having someone who pushed me to my limits again would be nice.

"Sure, Lightning, I would like that. And addressing somepony by first name usually means they are friends." I told her, not able to hide my grin, and even Strafe was oohing at us.

Lightning's look of shock slowly faded into a grin. She composed herself and practically yelled at me, "Fine, you asked for it. You, me, simulator now. I will not give up my spot as top of our class so easily."

I just shook my head in amusement, even though I wanted to take her up on the challenge. "Sorry, Lightning, I'm still not allowed in there. Orders from the Admiral herself," I reluctantly told her.

"Not even with Strafe nearby, in case something happens?" She asked.

"While I should have the flares under control, the Admiral is not 100% sure it won't happen again. Me wrecking the simulator might have something to do with her decision, and I don't have any control over my magic output yet."

"Ha! Finally something I am better at than you," she said, striking a victory pose. "Did you get your magic tested?" I shot her a questioning look, not wanting to offend her again. "Oh, come on, I'm over it. I can deal with you being more magically gifted than me, and I asked, so don't worry about it."

"Okay, but I warned you." I took a deep breath. "The admiral put me on some weird contraption, strapped my wings in and told me to use my magic." Lightning giggled at the image. I rolled my eyes and continued, "Haha, laugh it up. After that, she told me my stable output is already one of the best she had ever seen before, and my power curve was surprisingly stable for my age. She told me that's the reason I have an easier time learning all the stuff to be a pilot." Lightning just flailed her legs about, and Strafe stared at me. "The Admiral also told me that with enough training, I would easily be the strongest pegasus in Equestria."

"I can't believe it. I never stood a chance against you, did I?"

She didn't sound offended, but she was clearly not thrilled about it, either. I tried to comfort her a bit. "A lot of the time during practice, you were able to defeat me."

"Yeah, that was because you were a lousy team player. Now I'm not sure I can keep up."

Strafe was just observing us at first, but a confident smirk started to creep up. After Lightning and I exchanged a little more banter, he interjected, "Looks like I have to pull out a few Strafe Run originals for your training, Lightning. Can't have the Admiral outshine me as a flight Instructor now, can I."

I was about to reply when a familiar voice startled us. “Is that a challenge?”

We all just stopped. Everything went deathly silent as the Admiral appeared out of nowhere. Strafe started giggling like a madmare, and shortly after, we all burst out laughing. Here it was again, Twilight's talent to make everypony around her feel at ease.

"Two weeks from now, Lightning and Iridian will have a simulated competition. We will put you in the lead of your own Wing and see who comes out on top. And as a little bonus incentive for you, Strafe, if Lightning wins, I will make you an official flight instructor. I will count this as your test for your license," Twilight said.

I could see Strafe's shocked look morph into the biggest grin I had ever seen. He jumped to his hoofs, enveloped Lightning in his magic and ran off, dragging her behind him. "Come on, Lightning, we have training to do."

Twilight and I laughed at his antics. Every pony in the mess hall was grinning or laughing at this point. After watching them leave, Twilight leaned closer and whispered in my ear. "Don't tell him, but I am going to grant him his license, no matter who wins. So don't go easy on them. And it's nice seeing you make friends."

I turned to her with my best deadpan look I could muster. "Twilight, was that your plan all along? Forcing me to make friends?"

She smirked and left without a word. Of course, that was her plan. From what information I could gather about her, she used to be the Princess of Friendship when alicorns used to rule. I had to ask her about that sometimes. 'Wait, why is it getting easier to call her by her name?'

"Focus on your wings and let your magic flow through them," Twilight said. It was our next training session, and I was slowly getting the hang of my magic by now. I didn't flare once and the fear of this much power was almost nonexistent at this point.

"Now, for something new. I hope you will never need to use it, but I will teach you, anyway." I was a bit surprised by that. Why would she teach me something I wouldn't need? A purple magic shield formed around me. "Flap your wings forward and release your magic," she said after making sure the shield was stable.

I forced the magic in my wings outwards with a strong flap. My jaw dropped at what I saw. The flap of my wings created a massive magic stream in front of me. The effect was comparable to my firearm, but much bigger. I also felt exhausted after just one blast. My magic slammed into Twilight's shield, but it held without failing and it didn't seem to phase her at all. 'Is my magic that weak compared to a unicorn's?

"Well done. As I said earlier, I hope you never have to use this skill. It will allow you to defend yourself in emergencies."

"Why isn't that taught to every pegasi if it's that useful?" I asked.

"Because it requires a certain amount of magic. You probably noticed that your wings glow magenta when you gather your magic in them." I nodded and Twilight continued, "There are only five ponies on the Harmony who are capable of gathering enough magic in their wings to make them glow in a colour other than the generic white." She tapped her chin, thinking about how to phrase her explanation. "You can think of it as a threshold. If it is crossed, it allows the pony to use their magic for other things than just enhancements of their body, like strength or flight. In other words, it allows you rudimentary use of spells."

Could I use magic like unicorns do? That sounded amazing and like a lot more work. "For now, what I taught you will be enough. I need you to promise me you won't pursue spell-casting until you make it into the elite Wing. You need to focus on your instinctual magic control first and that will take time to master."

"I promise, Twilight. But Why did you teach me that one spell?" I asked her.

"Call it insurance. Your firearm is strong enough to defend yourself most of the time, but the spell I taught you is a lot more powerful. If your firearm is not enough, you have my permission to use the spell, but only then," Twilight answered.

"So what now? I feel extremely tired after that and we still have time in our session."

"Anything you want to discuss, any questions?" Twilight asked.

I sat down on a cushion and took a large gulp of my water. "I have some questions, but they are not related to the training. It's about you personally."

She looked at me, trying to understand my question. "Are you trying to get to know me? It's been a long time since anypony tried that."

"Why? Aren't you the one encouraging everypony to be friends?" I asked her.

She let out a heavy sigh before answering. "It's not that simple for other ponies. I am an alicorn and an admiral. They act friendly, and that is enough for me, but they don't try to be my friend; they are afraid of offending me somehow."

Seeing her so down on herself stirred something in me. "We could be friends," I blurted out, immediately followed by me sticking my hoof into my mouth. 'What am I thinking? Sure she is a nice pony, but being friends with an alicorn? That is going too far.'

She must have sensed the conflict inside me. "It's nice of you to say that, but you're just doing that because I used to be the Princess of Friendship. I have this 'aura' around me that makes everypony act more friendly around me. I know you don't mean what you said."

She was right. I didn't mean it, did I? Now that I thought about it, why couldn't we be friends? If I ignored the fact she was an alicorn and admiral, I would consider her a friend. Heck, If I could be friends with Lightning, then why not her too? "I did mean it, Twilight. I want to try being your friend."

I was shocked when she launched herself at me and embraced me in a tight hug. She let go of me after noticing how uncomfortable I was. "I'm sorry, Iridian, I forgot that ponies these days are much less open about their feelings." She was looking away from me to hide a small blush on her face. "So what now? I'm not used to modern friendship customs."

'Oh boy, this is awkward. What should I do?' "Let's start with the questions I had. You already know so much about me. I want to learn some things about you." She turned back to me, her blush still on her face, and nodded. "You already answered a few, but I still don't know what you mean by 'Princess of Friendship'. It sounds kinda lame."

She giggled before answering, "Back in those days, a lot of the most powerful magical artefacts were powered by actual friendship. My friends and I could use a set of gems to fire giant rainbow lasers and cleans evil back then. That is how I earned my wings." She slightly ruffled her wings to emphasise.

"Seriously? That sounds like one of those fairytales you would read to foals," I said, not able to hide my disbelieving tone.

"Where do you think they got the idea from." She added, giving me a conspiratorial wink.

"So what happened? Why is nopony calling you that any more?"

She let out a melancholic sigh before answering, "We weren't needed. Equus united under one banner around five hundred years after I became a princess and with that, we had to hold elections because the other races wanted to be represented. It was a fair compromise, so we stepped down and took on the roles of advisors. With the creation of more and more powerful magical devices, the power of friendship lost most of its charm. Why find friends to stop the bad guy when you can just shoot him?" She shot me a quick smile after seeing my ears droop a little.

"It's not as bad as it sounds. I was at the forefront of this magic development and I welcomed it. Celestia and Luna relinquished their hold of the sun and moon soon after that. Our magic was no longer needed to keep Equestria safe. Only after the war with the machines started were we forced to take up arms again. Maybe it's time to bring some of that magic of friendship back."

This time I was the one tackle hugging her. The way she told her story made it sound so sad. I was sure I wanted to be her friend, and what can I say; shooting rainbow lasers sounded awesome.

"Thank you, Iridian," she said with a small sniff. We stood there embracing each other for I don't know how long. I didn't want to let go of her.

"Twilight, your meeting with Spitfire is..." We turned our heads toward the voice of the new arrival. In the door stood Vice Admiral Star Bright with her mouth agape. "I... I will tell her you will be a bit late," she said after watching us for a few seconds. She spun around and vanished through the door as fast as she appeared.

'Was that a tear I saw in her eyes?' I looked back at Twilight and found myself staring back into her purple eyes. I'm sure I blushed as hard as she did after we broke the hug. "Just to make this clear, I'm only into stallions. I like to be your friend, but there will never be anything more." I hastily blurted out, not wanting her to get the wrong impression.

She was still blushing furiously, and I could see the small amount of disappointment on her face. 'Wait, is she actually into me? Gosh, that's awkward.'

She got herself under control again after shaking her head a bit. "Sorry about that. I told you it's been a long time since I had an actual friend. I just... overcompensated." Yeah, I didn't believe that for a second and by the look on her face, neither did she. She got up and moved towards the door. "I have to go now. Spitfire is waiting for me. See you tomorrow."

"Until tomorrow," I said while she left.

The next days went by quickly. My physical training and the training with Twilight took up almost all of my day. I could understand now why she wanted me to wait with spell training as well. There was just not enough time in one day to do it all.

I was doing a little CQC training when Strafe entered the training room. "There you are, Iridian."

"Hi, Strafe, haven't seen you in a while."

He nodded and continued the conversation. "Been pushing Lightning pretty hard lately. And from what I heard, you're training nonstop as well. I was afraid you would go easy on me because my licence is on the line."

"Never! That would be the biggest insult I could throw at you." True, it crossed my mind briefly, but Twilight quickly averted that thought.

"Thanks. Lightning and I are taking a break tomorrow. How about you join us in the evening?"

An idea formed in my mind. "Yeah, sure. Do you mind if I bring a friend?"

"Making new friends already?" he asked, faking a look of surprise. I punched him in the shoulder for that remark. "It's nice that you start to fit in. I know Captain Spitfire was worried about you, but it seems it's working out for you."

"Now I only need to stop blowing up the simulator," I said, slightly disgruntled.

Strafe smiled, doing his best to hold back his laughter. "We'll meet you at the bar at 1600, sounds good?"

"We have a bar on board?" I asked.

"Yep, it's registered on the main lift. Can't miss it."

"Okay, see you tomorrow then." I was done with my training, anyway. Time to surprise Twilight.

Standing in front of the bar, Twilight and I both looked at the door hesitantly. Funnily enough, it was just called 'The Bar'. Guess you don't need a name if it's the only one on the ship. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I wouldn't want to intrude on your friends," Twilight asked, clearly nervous. She was fidgeting with her wings and shuffling her hoofs a bit.

I quickly tried to calm her. "It's fine, Twilight. Strafe told me I could bring a friend."

"You didn't tell them it was me, did you?" She said with a deadpan look, and I grinned at her, giving her a single "Nope" as an answer. She sighed and shook her head disapprovingly. "Fine. But if it isn't working out, I will leave. I had Star Bright draw up some plans to give me an excuse to leave."

"Seriously? Come on, let's go, don't wanna be late."

We entered the Bar; it was a nice little thing, not too large or crowded. I was wondering if they sold alcohol here or if it was just for the atmosphere. Most of the tables were already taken, with only a few being empty. Taking a quick look around, I noticed a few ponies were staring at us. Some of the younger crewmembers tried to get up and salute but were quickly stopped by the more senior crew.

I spotted Strafe and Lightning at a table in the far corner; they hadn't noticed us. A wicked look and a pointed hoof in their direction got Twilight to move. I made sure to be as quiet as possible, and she apparently did the same, catching on to my plan.

"Hey Gals, I'm here." I tried to sound as overly happy as I could.

They both turned to me. Strafe just looked happy I made it. Lightning, on the other hoof, completely froze when she saw Twilight. "M... Ma'am."

That wouldn't do at all, and I had to step in. "Drop it, Lightning. We are off duty, no need for that crap."

"Wow, since when did you get so protective? Are the rumours true?" Strafe interjected.

Lightning managed to get herself under control and looked confused at Strafe. "What rumours?"

I shoot Strafe the most menacing stare I could. He grinned and turned back towards Lightning. "There is a rumour going around of Iridian and the Admiral making out when they thought they were alone. They say you were about to get very intimate with each other."

"Wow, wow, wow. Hold on, it was just a hug, nothing more." I corrected.

"Thanks for confirming. I was just making it up," He smirked.

"Why you sneaky little..."

I was about to launch myself at Strafe when Lightning spoke up. "So, are you marefriends already?"

I was too distracted wrestling with Strafe to answer. A still fiercely blushing Twilight answered with a shake of her head. "No, I was just hugging her as a friend. I am used to the old times when it was common for ponies. You could think of it as a friendly hoof bump."

The rest of the evening went without anything of interest happening. I don't know if Strafe and Lightning considered Twilight a friend already, but they could at least talk normally with her. It turned out the bar did sell alcohol; they ran this place like a business in the city, and it was extremely pricy, but there wasn't much else to spend one's bits on. I was glad I had the next day off because the rest of the night was just a blur to me.