The tavern is pretty cool, yes?

Kat yawned, strutting up to the counter.

"Heyo!" she called to the barmare, "Gimme your strongest drink." The attendant nodded, giving the mare an odd look. Still, she gave her a bottle of Whizbang. Kat beamed eagerly, chugging the drink. When she finished, she burped, and out of her mouth came a flaming dragon. Slowly, it turned into smoke then dissipated. Kat laughed, enjoying every minute.

Tya opened the tavern door slowly, glancing about the room. Nopony was staring, so she trotted up to the counter. She sat on a bar stool next to a strange mare, but ignored her. Her brother followed suite, taking the chair next to Tya. Both ordered cider, and the sipped it quietly next to the boisterous mare with a jolly roger cutie mark.

Kat was completely oblivious to everything that happened, and continued to order more drinks and food. She was hungry, so she was eating a lot.

Pale walked into the tavern, having done his mane up and combed his coat well. He looked around the tavern and saw a couple of mares sitting at the bar. Ring a ding ding! We have tonight's catch! Pale walked up to the bar and ordered himself a drink. He took inventory- one of them was gorging herself on food. Better start with the other one. She looked like the adventurous type. The blue mane and black coat were excellently contrasting. Why, she was beautiful~.

"Bartender? This lovely lady here doesn't have to pay I'm sure. Why, it would be a crime. I'll pay for her, if she's fine with that. Which I'm sure such a delightful mare such as this would be.~"

Pale was overdoing it a bit, but he decided to roll with it and see what happened.

Tya glanced up at the stallion who had walked in and offered to pay for her drink. She blushed at his words, her lips turned up in a tiny smile and nodding slightly. Calim looked up, studying the stallion. He seemed of no threat, but he decided to keep an eye on him.

Kat noticed the stallion too, he seemed like a strange one. A flirt, definitely. She laughed, finishing her plate. "Thanks!" she called to the barmare, who brought her a glass of water. Kat grinned. She was full, and happy. That was a good combination. Leaning over, she placed her elbows on the table and rested her head on her hooves.

Pale grinned at the two mares, while giving a more daring look at the stallion. He could tell the two were twins from their body language- loving, but platonic. Pale wished his brother was that close....

He shook his head, regaining his composure. The point was that the adventurous mare was looking nicely at him. Hooked. 

"So my dear, what brings you to this little bar? Surely somepony like yourself deserves to be somewhere better than this. Ah, but I'm being rude. My name's Pale Moonlight. And what's yours Darling?"

He looked to the other mare, who'd just finished her meal.

"I trust the meal was good? I can cook decently myself, but the food here is unbelievable. You made an excellent choice with this place my sweet."

"My name is Tya. My brother and I are here for a break, and a drink." the black mare said softly, shooing her brother away. Calim rolled his eyes, but consented and left the bar. He made his way to the back of the tavern, sitting at a secluded table. He kept an eye on them, not really trusting this flirtatious character.

"I do make great choices when it comes to food." Kat laughed, completely unfazed by his flirting. Unlike the unicorn sitting on the other side of him, who was blushing and smiling at him. She was clearly taken over, "I like your name, by the way." she smirked, swiveling around to face him. She noted his well-groomed look, a bit too fancy for Kat's tastes. She preferred the tough ones, and altogether the ones who would join her crew. If any.

Tya was batting her eyes and looking up at Moonlight. Her long eyelashes brushed her cheeks, much in the way her sister's did. Tya didn't have as long of eyelashes as Belle, but she was close.

Pale noticed the other pony wasn't really noticing his charms. Ah well. He still had Tya. Still, it would be courteous to at least reply.

"Thank you darling. I take pride in my mane after all. Those swords of yours look excellent as well! Surely the best for cutting up those who deserve it."

He then looked back to Tya, giving her a mischievous half smile to give him that sort of mysterious look.

"Tya. What a beautiful name, befitting it's owner of course. Care to dance?"

He looked around and realised the place didn't actually have a dance floor or music of any kind. Well bugger. He could have swept Tya away with his dancing. 'Your terrible dancing? Gimme a break.' Said a little voice in his head which sounded suspiciously like his brother. He shrugged internally. He'd just make do with what he had.

"So Tya, what do you do with your time? I'm sure it must be exotic. You seem very adventurous from my observations."

He drank a little pink rose. Nothing better for giving the right impression.

"Huh? Mane? I said name." Kat said under her breath. Shrugging, she turned back to the counter, and downed her glass of water.

"Dance?" Tya tilted her head, looking around the room. Brushing it off, she returned to the conversation, a dazed look in her eyes "In my time? Well..I, I mean we, travel around to find treasure and ancient artifacts." She beamed. She always loved telling her tales.

She took a sip of her drink, brushing a strand of stray mane behind her ear. Another fell out of place, and she sighed. Setting the glass on the counter, she took the tie out of her mane and let it fall over her shoulders. "Man this can be bothersome." she pouted, tucking the tie into her saddle bag.

Pale nodded to the other pony.

"Apologies. The two words are rather similar sounding."

He then turned back to Tya.

"Darling, your mane looks perfect any way you do it. No need to adjust such raw beauty~. As for the treasure hunting, that sounds like an interesting topic. What's the best thing you've ever found?

Pale looked around the pub. Not as many ponies as usual. Normally there was a good 30-odd. Tonight it was more in the teens.

Kat shrugged, "Yeh, suppose so. Well, enjoy yourself." she waved as she strutted out of the pub, her red tail swishing and her katana up off the ground.

Tya blushed, speechless for a moment. "Um, well, normally it's just gold, jewels, and stuff like that. But this one time, while in Saddle Arabia, we uncovered a giant cavern beneath the sand. Upon exploring said cave, we found a mountain of treasure! It was overflowing with rubies, sapphires, diamonds, any kind of valuable item you can think of!" She grinned, enjoying the telling of her tale. "This is one of the jewels we found." she added, holding the pendant she wore around her neck.

It was a simple one, a gold chain with a large, green stone embedded in it. "It's real emerald." she stated, staring at her reflection in the shiny object.

Pale waved at that other pony as she was leaving. Well she might not have been the night's catch but at least she was something along the lines of a friend. He looked back to Tya, a much more desirable prospect.

"That is beautiful! I love it! And the emerald's lovely too."

Okay. That was cheesy, Pale had to admit. Still, at least it seemed to be working. Tya was blushing and playing with her mane, which suggested she was liking him back.

"Thanks." Tya said, looking down at the table in embarrassment. Her ears pricked, and she glanced up. The doors to the tavern opened, and a white mare with a long, silky black mane entered. Her sapphire eyes sweeping the pub in search of something. Her eyes came to rest on the black mare sitting at the bar, and she walked up to her.

"Ah, Tya. There you are." she said, approaching her sister, "I was looking for you. Where's Calim?"

"Oh, hey Belle. Calim is over there." she pointed to the corner table that Calim was sitting at, before returning to face the stallion.

"Oh? And who's your friend?" Belle asked, eyeing the light purple stallion.

Pale was feeling pretty happy. He was about to ask her to come with him for a walk when he saw another mare coming in. His jaw dropped- she looked like him if he was a mare, body language wise. Immediately, he kissed her hoof.

"I'm Pale Moonlight Darling. And may I have the pleasure of knowing your name?~"

He looked to Tya again.

"My dear, would you care to come for a walk? I must say your sister is delightful but you are magnificent my sweet!"

"My my what an interesting fellow you've found Tya." Belle laughed lightly, "My name is Belle."

"Well, I would love to you." Tya said sweetly, glancing at Belle apologetically. "I know we had planned to hang out Belle, but..." she nodded to Pale, giving Belle a sympathetic smile. Belle's lips turned up in a smile, and she dipped her head slightly,

"Of course Tya. It's not every day you find somepony like this. Or is it? I wouldn't know, you're the one who's always away."

Tya rolled her eyes, she may be off on adventures all the time, but Belle was too. For her writing. "Right, as if you don't have suitors falling to their knees at the site of you." the black mare scoffed, knowing full well that was what happened when Belle walked down the street. Even in the tavern, most of the stallions were staring at her, and some of the mares.

"Well, let's not dwell on that. It's your turn to go have some fun, now shoo you two!" she laughed, smiling at her sister.

Pale watched the sisters talking back and forth like it was a tennis match. H grinned happily when Tya actually gave up some time with her sister to spend with him. He was walking on air- he felt like he could do anything. He gently took Tya's hoof and led her out of the tavern, nodding at her sister. As they walked along the path outside the tavern, Pale looked at Tya.

"What a brilliant night it is. See the stars? They're beautiful. I remember as a colt they'd distract me fr-"

He stopped himself. Better not mention the family issues. Nothing killed the mood like talking about your problems after all.

"Hm?" Tya turned to look at Pale, why had he stopped half-way through his sentence? "Are you alright Pale?" she asked with concern, tilting her head curiously.

Belle chuckled a bit to herself before walking to Calim's table. "Don't worry Calim, she'll be fine."

Pale waved it off expertly. He didn't want to dash the otherwise perfect evening after all with something as little as his childhood.

"Oh, nothing. Just a little bad memory, that's all."

He looked up at the stars, lost for a moment. They'd always been his refuge from his brother. When he'd felt alone and unwanted, the star had been Pale's comfort. Before he made some friends of course, but even then they weren't always around. They looked the same all the way over in ponyville as back home in trottingham. He found a nice little patch of grass and lay down on it, looking to the stars.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Tya smiled sympathetically. She laid down next to Pale, sneaking quick glances at him. Honestly, she was curious about it, but didn't press him to tell her. She knew what it was like to have a secret.

"The stars are pretty." she noted, trying to change the subject. She gazed up at the twinkling diamonds, watching them sparkle. They were always the same, no matter where you are. Whether you're in Ponyville stargazing, or in an uncharted forest using the North Star for guidance. Always the same, dependable if you might.

Immediately, Pale snapped back into his usual persona, his sadness hidden behind his usual facade. He grinned mischievously at Tya.

"Well I know a certain mare lying next to me who's prettier than the stars~"

Behind this statement though was a real sense of longing. He felt really....alone for once. Normally Pale pushed these feelings away but he still felt them. He supposed that was why he went for mares. He needed something to fill that void where something should be. 

Still, moping wasn't gonna help. He rolled a little closer to Tya, making a very enticing face.

"So, what would you say about these stars then Tya? What do you see in them, my dear?"

"Well, stars are always there. They are the light in the darkness, the voice in the silence, the candle in the night. If you follow the stars, you'll never get lost." Tya replied, staring up at the brilliance. When she turned to look at Pale, he had a rather intriguing expression.

She bit her lip, blood rushing to her cheeks. "Um...that is to say..." she couldn't finish, losing her train of thought. "You have pretty eyes" she said absently, her eyes looking into his, but not really focused. More like she was staring into HIS SOUL!!! MUAHAHA (just kidding, you know I had to say it though)

Pale gently cusped Tya's cheek, looking into her eyes. 

"My eyes may be pretty, but yours are beautiful." (OH MY GOD THE CHEESINESS KILL ME ARRRGGGGHH)

He went in and kissed her, long and passionately. He had no idea how she would react, but hay he gave it a shot. He then broke off the kiss, happily looking at Tya. He held her close and looked up at the sky.

"That's an intriguing way of putting it darling. The stars are like a candle.... I'll be mulling that one over for a while."

Tya wasn't surprised, this guy did seem like somepony who would do that. She didn't pull away, but didn't exactly react-she'd never been in this kind of situation.

"Um...." she stuttered, not sure what to say. She stood without warning, her eyes frantic, "Um, I have to go." she said quickly, starting to trot away "S-sorry!" she called as she ran back to the tavern.

Pale watched Tya go. To most stallions, this would be a bad thing. Even Pale was unsure about that one. But on the plus side at least she'd left. He had the issue normally of the mare in question either getting attached, trying to go further or calling the guards. Still he felt kind of....iffy. It was like a mixture of guilt and disappointment. 

Pale thought a moment and decided he should at least apologise. He followed Tya into the tavern and caught up with her. Nervously scratching his head, he looked aplogetically at her.

"Look, I know that was a little sudden. Sorry about that. I'll just leave- clearly I've done a bit of damage."

He quickly left the tavern. Pale couldn't understand why he was suddenly so guilty. Normally he just brushed that sort of thing off.

"No, I'm sorry. I just," Tya nervously looked down, "I just....I dunno how to explain it...." she bit her lip, reaching out to stop Pale. Awhite unicorn appeared behind her.

"Tya, are you alright?" Belle asked, her face concerned, "What have you done?" she asked Pale sternly, and Calim walked up lazily behind her,

"See what I mean Belle? She's too fragile." he commented, and Tya shot him an angry look.

When Belle looked at Pale like that, the stallion felt something. It was like rejection. His brother was like that- the accusatory look that pierced your soul and just made you want to curl up and die. Pale stood his ground though.

"Look, I went a little too fast and kissed her. Most mares I've met just take it in their stride- you know, kissed some stallion. I didn't realise it'd be so harmful to her."

He then looked harshly at Calim.

"And you pal. Watch your mouth. She may be unfamiliar but she is anything but fragile. I may be a flirt but I know what ponies are like. Granted I went too far there, but I know that she can take it. Mares aren't like that. They don't just snap with one little thing."

Pale bit his tounge. Look at what he'd done. He was such an idiot. A creep. A weirdo. He had to really resist breaking down. Instead, he covered it with a different attitude to the usual one.

"Look, I didn't mean to cause trouble. I'll make it up to you. Just name it."

Belle's light laughter pealed through the air, "Don't mind Calim, he's just over protective and says the stupidest things." she explained sweetly, "He's like this with us, rash. He never thinks anything through."

Calim grumbled, glaring at Belle, "whatever." suddenly, he burst into laughter as well, "You ponies take things too seriously."

"You're one to talk." Tya giggled, "Pale, I'm sorry I ran off earlier. That's never happened to me before, so I was shocked. I didn't know what to do, so I left."

Belle smiled, taking out a piece of parchment and a blue quill.

"There she goes." Calim rolled his eyes.