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Shala poked her head into the tavern cautiously. She was taking enough risks just being here. Being recognized and having her name thrown around would make life difficult. There were already enough ponies looking for her as it was.

Not waiting for her companion, she found a seat in the far off corner, doing what she could to use her mane to hide her face from any passerby.

"Hey, go order some Bacardi 151." She pointed at Vicky, avoiding interaction with the tavern staff.

Doodle Bug quickly locked the front door then launched herself into the air trying to fly above the storm so her wings wouldn't get too heavily soaked with water. She would hate having wet wings (making them too heavy to fly) and having to walk all the way out of the forest in this weather. She sighed as she spotted the two ponies enter the tavern. She then landed on top of the roof and waited for them to exit knowing that the smell of alcohol could make it hard for her to breathe.

Flame disk opened up the door to the tavern ad walked inside, looking around. He walked over to the bar and sat down, nearby Shala. He looked over at her, then ordered a hard cider.

By the time the two ponies entered, one of whom she could have recognized from earlier, Victoria was already exchanging warm words and delighted giggles with the bartender.

In time, she returned with two drinks balanced upon the elbows of her erect wings. With cautious steps, she mitigated any disturbances in transit.

"A very courteous gentlecolt operates the bar tonight. 'Zese, we may enjoy at his expense," she preluded, setting each of the glasses upon the table with a motion of the wing. Her gregariousness, in marked contrast to Shala's bitterness, was reflected in the contrast between her light wine and Shala's rather strong-scented beverage.

"Will 'zis indulgence cure us of our recent misunderstandings, my love?" Victoria inquired cajolingly.

She kept a subtle eye on the stallion who had settled near them but refrained from acting just yet.

Shala hardly heard what Vicky had to say. She glued her eyes to the glass being served to her. With a quick swipe of her magic, she swept up the glass and indulged herself with the liquid. She hardly gave herself a chance to breath until she could down no more and gasped for air.

"Yes! Finally!" She rested her head on the table, her nerves easing up. "You get to pay for the extra drinks then. And then maybe then I'll feel better about you. Maybe."

Doodle Bug tapped on the roof with her hooves as boredom overtook her. A few seconds later she glided down from the roof and landed on the soft earth with a light thud.

She took a deep breath and pushed open the heavy wooden door. The light from within the tavern engulfed her in it's light golden glow. She quietly sat at one of the nearest tables and thought This is okay... I guess. I'm far enough away from the bar where the smell won't bother me and there are no ponies anywhere near me with drinks. She breathed a sigh of relief as her eyes darted around the tavern.

Flame disk began to drink the cider, occasionally looking over at Shala, or around the bar. He seemed very nervous to be there, and he kept on looking around at everything there, as if trying to find something.

Victoria grinned impishly, sipping conservatively from her glass. "Fair enough," she rejoined with tasteful indifference. She sustained her sidelong glance at the rather shifty stallion, and Doodle too as she soon entered her peripherals.

"'Tis the pegasus from before, Doodle Bug," Victoria quietly murmured to Shala, actively smoothing her own rain-soaked mane with her hooves as if to distract anypony other than her dormant companion from her observations. Then, after ascertaining that her makeup was still properly set with a pocket mirror, she rose to her hooves and moved to join Flame Disk.

"Good evening, my love!" the mare greeted loftily and with a skillful facade of cheer. "You look as 'zough you might be in need of assistance -- is 'zat correct?"

"McDoodles? Good. She can drink with us." Shala said, taking another hefty chug. Her posture became more progressively relaxed and lazy as she imbibed more alcohol.

This was just what she needed. A release. A place where she could drink away her worries and forget about everything. It had been so long since her last chance to drink. A whole 5 days. Her longest in years.

Seeing her companion wonder off, she sighed and looked Doodle's way. True she didn't really know what to think of the mare, but she could at least tolerate them at the tavern.

"Hey, McDoodle, over here." She waved her over, pointing to her table.

Doodle Bug jumped as she heard her nickname. A hundred questions rushed through her mind at once almost tempting her to stay planted at that one table but she was not the type of pony to be rude so she casually let out a soft sigh and slowly got up and walked over to Shala's table. Anything was better than just sitting there all night. "Hello Shala."

Flame disk looked at Victoria. "Nah. I'll be fine, just that I perform here every night. Surprised nobody has recogniz me yet and started some kind of frenzy." He said, talking a long drink of cider.

ooc//

Just as a heads up, Doodle Bug+Shala and Flame Disk+Victoria are now in separate social spheres, meaning that the post order need only alternate between the two ponies in each pair. (:

bic//

The mare brought her hoof to her lip, for she could not recall ever noticing performers in the dreary atmosphere of the Ponyville tavern. To be fair, Victoria reasoned, she was far from a frequent client of the place. On times that she did indeed visit for a drink, the hour was invariably late, and perhaps she had simply missed his coming and going.

With a presumptuous attitude, she moved to sit by him; her piercing eyes, searching for his, even as they lay hidden behind red lenses. "'Zen you're a musician, yes? I do love music. Won't you tell me your name, dear?" she entreated, assuming a feminine posture.

"Flame disk." He said plainly. He then finished the bottle of cider and placed it off to the side, looking towards Victoria. "And you are?"

As she confidently maintained eye contact as well as a pleasant expression, it was not discernible that she had been taken aback by his disinterest.

"I am Victoria," she replied with a courteous dip of her snout. "Stallion of a few words, are you not?" she continued. "I would not mind if 'zat were so. I suppose a musician may be so talented at expressing him or herself through orchestration 'zat speech itself is obviated. Take, for example, Shostakovich; who, 'zough nervous as fragile, wrote some of the most brilliant music. Are you familiar with his work?"

Whereas she recognized that her verbose rhetoric might have overstepped boundaries, she was eager to encourage conversation. It was typical of her to overwhelm victims with her innate and perhaps sociopathic curiosity.

Flame disk shook his head. "No I am not. And your accent is kind of hard to understand." He said, looking over at the stage.

Shala looked at Doodle, as if considering what to say next to her. In her plain stare, she casually took her drink and drained the last of it. Slamming the glass down in a lazy fashion, she leaned toward Doodle, lowering her eye lids to a half closed alluring gaze.

"Get us some more?" She poked her empty glass toward her, smiling mischievously.

Doodle's ears shot back as she smiled nervously. "Oh, okay." She said walking over to the bar and ordered Shala's drink and gave the pony three bits.

She also ordered herself a vanilla soda and rushed back to the table when the drinks were ready hoping to avoid contact of the foul liquid. Just in case, she brought her allergy potion under her wing if any liquid got anywhere near her.

She quietly set the drinks on the table with a soft clink and reclaimed her seat.

Shala snatched up the glass and took a large chug out of it, visibly draining almost half the glass. With a loud gasp for air, she smacked the glass onto the table and rested her head on the counter.

"Oh, now this is the good old times. No ticking. No worries. I can hardly even tell what time it is...." She sighed and stretched her fore hooves out on the table.

Doodle Bug's ears perked up seeing Shala more relaxed. Maybe... just maybe I can get a little more out of her.

"Ticking?" She asked curiously. "When and why did that start?"

Shala groaned at the mention of 'ticking'. She apparently wasn't so keen on the subject, even in her relaxed state. Nonetheless, she poked at her glass and spoke after a silence.

"My cutie mark. I know time perfectly. All the time. All. The. Time. You know what that's like? Ever had a song stuck in your head? Imagine that. Only a clock that gets louder and louder. And. Louder." She sighed and took another sizable chug from her drink, setting it down loudly before her. "This stuff, it makes it go away. I forget the ticking. I forget time, and...other things that bother me." She grumbled and busied herself with her alcohol, avoiding the thoughts of what she sought to forget.

The mare was momentarily still for lack of an appropriate reaction. Being the cynical mare that she was, Victoria inwardly scoffed at what she perceived as an instance of social ineptitude.

And how she secretly detested those who made of themselves a model of stoicism.

Restoring a friendly smile, though not without an obscure wince, Victoria crossed her hind legs and turned to face the table adjacent to them.

"I do apologize, sweetie. We cannot all be perfect, try as we might," she answered casually, careful to obscure her sardonic attitude towards him. She chose not to follow up with anything more, for if he had nothing to contribute, she resolved not to expend effort in preserving the conversation.

Doodle just sat there in silence just putting herself in Shala's horseshoes wondering if there was a way to psychologically stop the ticking other than having to resort to drinks...

Any spell or potion... GAH! I wish I was a unicorn who understood enough about magic to be able to help. "Hey Shala, this might be a dumb question but is it possible for a unicorn to do magic on themselves?" Under the table she crossed her hooves hoping she had found the answer but then she slightly doubted herself. That can't be the answer or she might have done that a long time ago... Ah well, it's worth a shot.

Shala again resorted to drinking. Her gulps became more intense and less leisurely. The topic clearly bothered her to levels deeper than she described.

"N-*hic*no...Thish isn't just some irritating counting...I hate it cause it reminds me of...shtuuufff..." She leaned back and used a nearby chair to let her lay down on her back completely with an arm crossed over her face.

"I rans out of drinksh..." She pushed her empty glass at the table, knocking it off and let it shatter on the floor.

Doodle jumped as the glass hit the floor. She wanted to know more but clearly saw that the topic was really bothering Shala.

"Well... I don't know how much help I'd be but I'd like to try to help." She then quietly mumbled something under her breath in hopes she could come to some sort of conclusion in order stop the ticking and help her forget about the other 'stuff' that bothered her.

Flame disk ordered another cider, then looked over at victoria. "i said i wasn't familiar with the person. i didn't say that i never heard of them." He said, rolling his eyes.