Turning loose

Shala always had to have a place where she could be away form home but be comfortable. A place she could just turn loose and not care about anything. Upon finding out the place had a small tavern, she was immediately in love with it.

Shala contemplated what what to drink. They had the usual swill, then the higher grade items. She only regretted they did not have her most beloved whisky, Bookers. "Ill take what i can get." She said to no one as she ordered the next best thing, Colt Creek.

The current owner was kind enough to take her odd request of hiding away the clock in the place before she took a seat in the far corner. The slower pace of this place was very welcome relative to the bustle of her old home town.

A horse walks into a tavern, and the bartender says...

As of this moment, the pony known as as Intelligent Design does not completely know what he is doing here. Perhaps it looked like a good place to rest. Perhaps he just gravitated towards this place. Perhaps, as the law of narritivium stated, 'things just happen'.

Walking up to the bar, he asks, "Excuse me, sir, what drinks do you have?"

The reply comes in a gesture towards the cabinet.

...bartenders move in mysterious ways.

---

Intel didn't know what half of those drinks were. No, scratch that. What most of those drinks were. However, he was savvy enough to know that said unknown drink X would probably result in major silliness that he would probably regret with a vengence. As long as it wasn't too early...

Glancing around, Intel noted that silliness had not completely taken hold of this place. That was good. He also noted a distinct lack of clock. He thought it was only casinos that did that sort of thing.

Either way, it definitely wouldn't hurt to ask. "By the the way, do you know what time it is?"

"23 minted and 17 seconds past 7." Said a rather irritated voice. Shala thanked the whisky or she might have had a rant to follow that. Great way to start the evening She partially kid her face in a slow sip of her glass. She didn't look to the newcomer's until she details her glass down. Glasses...hmm...bet he is an egg head.

She leaned back on herhaunches, staring at the ceiling as she let the thoughts of a ticking clock fade from her mind.

An answer Intel wasn't expecting came from the corner of the bar. He gave the bartender a questioning look that revealed no answers. If he was anywhere near sane, Intel would have not then ordered water (he wanted his brains functioning for the moment), decide to walk over to the mare, completely miss on said mare's expression of irritation, and ask, "I'm sorry, can you please say that again?" in a very polite tone that invited two hooves to said pony's face.

The sad fact was, Intel was not a sane pony.

Shala felt her return to tranquility suddenly come to a crashing halt as her eyes met the spectacled pony. Gears in her head began to turn again as the clock resumed its ticking. She stared down the pony, making an uneasy silence. "...I said its 23 minutes and 17 seconds past seven...and now its 24 minutes past on the dot." Her irritation was even more obvious. Her face was a mix of aggravation and indifference. "Did you need something? Usually I see ponies at bars looking for anything but water."

Intel clapped his hooves together in amazement. "Wow, that's a wonderful ability! Such potential with experiments and measuring purposes! Just went here looking for a place to stay the night, but I never thought..."

Yes, said pony did not have a clue what he was doing. To be fair, he had never met a pony not proud of their ability, but really this behaviour was him at his worst. Which was unfortunate for all ponies involved.

"How accurately can you measure time? A second? A fraction of a second? Have you tried to measure the speed of light using that ability? Or the speed of incanting? Can I shout you a drink?"

Shala wasn't sure if drinking a bunch it ranting would be the best way to 'aleviate' this situation. Perhaps a bit of both. She slugged down a fair amount of liquid before double facehoofing on the table.

Definently an egg head.


Suddenly she held a hoof up to get his silence, glaring at him like he was about to get hit. "...Thousandths of a second if I think about it too much...As a matter of fact I don't have to think about it. Its always happy to just TICK away in my head nonstop. Never to go away. And to even try thinking about it makes it louder and louder! Like a woodpecker drilling into you head. And if you notice it, it only pecks harder." She was leaning over the table now, staring deep into the ponies eyes. She held herself there for a few moments before backing off and muttering the time to herself. She definently needed another drink. Her head was pounding.

Indigo walks in with splotches of dirt covering his white body, particularly on his front legs and hooves. He notices Shala and sits with a space between them, ordering a few shots of rum as he walks to the table. "Hey Shala, looks like you made a new friend."

"...I feel as if I said something wrong," Intel said weakly. He turned to face the newcomer. "Hello, um. I don't really think she regards me as a friend right as of this moment. I may have done something very very stupid."

He looked back at the beleaguered pony. "Um, sorry? ...Wait, are you alright?"

...Does she look alright?

Concern did the impossible and managed to rein in Intel's curiousity. "Um, is she usually like this?" he asked with a hint of panic.

"Always how? Moody? Like she's going to kick somepony's teeth in? Has been since she got off the train."

Intel shook his head. "No, not that! Muttering the time. The exact time. And hating it." He looked again at said muttering pony with great concern.

He nods. "Yeah, that too. Don't bring it up."

Intel's eyes widened. "...Whoops."

He started tracing shapes on the table.

"What would be a good drink to forget that you've made a really bad mistake?"

Shala rubbed her temples with her hooves. She only seemed to hear half of what was said. She mumbled a bit more quietly until she was silent.

"...I need more to drink." She said with a big sigh. Even that was one of her more worse reactions...Nonviolent at least.

Making friends at the speed of light....

"Whisky is a tasteful poison for that.." She answered Intel.

He downs a shot. "Don't start drinking to forget every little thing, then you'll become an alcoholic. Besides, you have to get blackout drunk to forget memories."

"Huh, maybe a machine to extract memories..."

Intel shook his head. "Not my field. Not my field of study."

"I'll just stick with my water. Alcohol and I have a bit of a love-hate relationship."

After taking a gulp, he then commented, "I don't think I've introduced myself. I'm Intelligent Design. Intelligent by name, but not by nature, so call me Intel instead."

"Indigo Surprise. My eye color was a surprise to both my parents, and I was born 11 months after my dad's birthday. Surprise." He grins half heartedly, not fond of being a mistake.

Love hate relationship? Guess he never called back the next night She grinned a litlle. But that grin had nothing on what came next.

"Your named...?" Shala scanned the table and counted only one empty glass. She was hardly that drunk so she must have heard him right.

"...Intelligent...Design?" She looked at him like he was crazy, which she totally believed. "You..." She failed to stifle a laugh as a squeal escaped her.

"Intelligent Design?! They find you in a pile of schematics? Did your parents hate you or something?" She giggled to herself nonstop. "I was thinking of calling you egghead but Smarty Pants McFly sounds WAY better."

Fir being so angry and irritable earlier, she sure was rolling in laughs now.

I hope I'm not becoming bipolar.

Intel glared. "Smarty...pants...McFly?"

He never really liked his parents calling him 'Intelligent' because it kind of brought on a lot of expectation. In fact, mentioning his parents was a bit of a sore topic since they essentially cut ties with him.

A very small part of him was glad that she wasn't as irritable as before, but a whole lot of him was screaming for vengeance. Fortunately, fate decided that he would not go and ask "By the way, do you know what time it is?" in retaliation.

He was the better pony.

Yeah.

He was definitely not tapping the table as regularly as he could to emulate a clock. It was just an impulse.

He looks between the two, feeling like he's the odd one out for not currently being insane. "Alright you two, let's ease up a bit here..."

Shala giggled a little more before she brought herself back to awareness of the situation. Her laughs stopped soon enough as she could see she may have caused a little...trauma.

Her smile vanished soon enough. "Umm. Anyhow...I just...had to laugh. Its just so....cute." She winced at the use of that word. It was the least she could for offending him....aside from apologising. That was drastic.

"Shalaska Woods...the new town alcoholic..." She never gave out her full name much, nor her self appointed title. She hoped it might lighten the blow.

"Town alcoholic?...New?"

Intel hoped to change the subject. So he did. "That would imply there's an old town alcoholic. Do towns usually have an appointed town alcoholic? It doesn't seem like a desirable position."

Indigo looked at the eggheaded pony curiously. "It's not like a pony is proclaimed 'town drunk' and given an award. It's just something that happens. She's a drunk and moved here, now she's the town drunk. Simple."

Shala was tempted to laugh again but instead gave them a stink eye. "You colts and your technicalities. Is everypony here a brianiac nutter? I just...like to drink." She eyed a dusty round silhouette on the wall where something was previously until her arrival. "Shouldn't need an excuse." She waved a hoof and pointed down at the table with a stoic expression . Soon enough another drink was brought and she smiled on the inside. Shala loved this place.

"Well, I don't know much about life outside Canterlot," Intel sighed, as he gazed to the ceiling, "And as you can probably guess, the stuff they serve there are fancy things with foreign names and high prices."

He stared at the drinks of his companions, wondering how much they cost.