So, What's Your Story?

MAC (EPILOGUE)

“I’m full of ENERGY! I’ve got ADRENALINE! I’m feeling PSYCHED! I just wanna go out and PUNCH SOMETHING, but I’m a royal guard so I’m gonna do it while DEFENDING THE LAW!”

Mac tried to ignore the loud, armored earth pony on the other side of the bar. Perhaps if he looked busy, the crazy guy would get distracted and go away. Mac sighed as he cleaned another glass. I don’t need this. Maybe I should have listened to my mother and moved to Manehatten…

“AWWWWWWW YEAAAAAAAAAH!” Mac flattened his ears against his head. Once upon a time, he would have been able to add additional aural protection in the form of his voluminous mane, but those days were far behind him.

The crazy pony slammed a metal-shod hoof into the floor to emphasize his enthusiasm, which rang loudly despite the red carpeting. Mac shot him a glare as he moved to deliver a food order that had been completed.

On his way back to the bar, Mac walked up to the armored stallion, who was now shouting loudly at another patron; either the newcomer had the patience of Celestia, or the two were already well-acquainted. “…This thing was built in SECOPOLIS, world capital of TECHNOLOGY! Its drugs are even BETTER! Far from UNHEALTHY, these are guaranteed to DOUBLE my lifespan if I get a constant SUPPLY!”

Okay, now he was just picking random words in each sentence to scream at the top of his lungs. Mac cleared his throat and said, “Sir, could you please stop that shouting? It’s making everypony nervous.” Especially me.

“I APOLOGISE, my GOOD SIR.” Mac staggered backward and wandered off to find something to comb what remained of his mane back into place.

Eventually the pony in the black suit of armor stopped shouting, and his little yellow friend dragged him away to play poker with Remus and Easy Eight. Mac breathed a sigh of relief and returned to work.

Soon enough, Mac could hear Remus grilling the two newcomers, trying to learn what they were all about. Apparently, the shouty one was one of the Elements of Harmony, and had recently tangled with Lord Second. That might explain his reference to a place called “Secopolis,” which Mac had never heard of; if Lord Second was behind it, logic and reason were long gone. So the rumors held, and Mac was good at rumors – you had to be, if you wanted to be a successful bartender.

Remus’ new plaything seemed to disbelieve the stories some of the other card sharks had to say, and the ponies at the next table over piped up to give their own opinions on the matter. Oh dear, here we go again, Mac thought.

Remus certainly had a gift for getting ponies to talk about themselves, and soon nearly every pony in the bar had described some interesting factoid or shared a snippet of a story from their exciting life. The ponies all stared at the armored earth pony who had set everything off, every face wearing an expression of deadly sincerity.

As one, the ponies all turned to look at Mac.

He shrugged.

“I serve drinks to you freaks and get paid for it. That’s about it.”