Raise the Bar [Open]

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow Dash, still incredibly bored with nothing to do in this place, was spending her time wandering around everywhere she could find. It was a lot slower than flying everywhere, but she was still managing to find a lot of cool places. Today she was in town, checking out every open door that she passed.

When she wandered into the Basement, Rainbow Dash didn't really know what to expect. They didn't exactly have bars in Ponyville, and nobody that she knew worked out of a basement. She pushed open the door to the dimly-lit location and walked up to the counter. The place was almost deserted, since it was only 3 in the afternoon and there weren't many people in the area anyway.

"Can I see some ID?" the bartender asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh..." Rainbow Dash fished around in the back pocket of her jeans until she pulled out a wad of things that the people at Tenebrae had given her, including all the cash she had left and an ID card. The bartender took it all in at a glance, checked the ID, and smiled.

"What can I get you?"

"I don't know. Whatever is coolest?"

"Coming up." The bartender proceeded to pull out bottles and glasses, flipping them behind his back and turning open bottles upside down before pouring. Rainbow Dash watched with awe as her drink was mixed before her, her eyes widening with every new trick. When he was done, he pushed the glass in front of her with a grin, sweeping up the correct amount of change from the pile of cash still on the counter. "Enjoy."

"Woah, that was so cool!" she said, standing up and putting her hands flat on the counter. "Can you teach me to do that?" She took a large drink from the glass in front of her, then slammed it back down on the counter with a large gasp. "Wha--what is in that?!" she said hoarsely, her eyes beginning to water. She sniffed the glass and her eyes widened again. "I've never had anything like that!"

Already beginning to lose some control of herself, she turned to the nearest person. "Have you ever...I mean...what sort of place is this?!" she asked, excited, confused, and already a little tipsy.

[Deleted]

Jiro suppressed the urge to sigh as he stepped into the room, pleased by the dark setting and lack of natural light. He closed his umbrella and stepped up to the bar, peering out from under the brim of his witch like hat.

With all the recent sun (and water) related chaos Jiro was suffering. Normally the old blood was well in control of his vampiric thirst, but with constant injuries and weakened abilities he had been hard pressed for a drink. Luckily he had managed to find one of those who had brought him. They had been quite curteous as to point him here, as one of the few establishments that handled 'special needs'. Unfortunantly he had neglected to question them about the whereabouts of his brother.

Well at least this was better then wandering up to strangers asking for a donation, and he doubted those in charge would appreciate him simply taking (especially as his hypnosis seemed to be... lacking its usual ability).

Jiro sidled up to the bar, placing his umbrella and sword aside. He immediatly felt self concious under the bartenders scrutinizing gaze. "Er.. I was told you handle... special needs?" Jiro prompted with a fanged smile. The bartender continued to study the vampire, and Jiro could only respond with a small, polite smile. The bartender relaxed. "Anything specific?" Jiro sagged in relief. "Virgin if you please.." Normally he would not have cared but he needed thd extra power an innocents blood held. The bartender seemed to take no notice and Jiro was situated with his third wine glass of crimson gold by the time Twilight entered.

Jiro glanced out of the corner of his eye as the obviously inexperienced young woman sat next to him, looking out of place. He tried not to smile too much as she nearly downed the whole glass. He himself was uneffected by substances, but he did know a touch about the flavors, thanks to a certain Zelman Clock who had thought it quite humorous to have a vampire drinking contest when neither patron could become intoxicated.

Jiro was broken from his memories with pleasant surprise when the woman directed her now hazy attention to himself. He tried to keep the humor from his voice and failed miserably. "This is a bar miss... a place that serves alcoholic beverages. I would.. be careful how many you consume. Judging from the slur in your tone your already quite intoxicated" he advised gently, taking a sip of his own specialty drink.

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow ran her hands over the countertop, feeling the woodgrain pattern under her fingers. "It doesn't look like a bar," she said, slightly confused. "It looks like a counter." Glancing around the room, she still didn't really see anything that looked like a bar of any sort. What an odd name for a type of location.

"What is an... alco-alkaholic?" she asked, stumbling over the word. "And what is intox...toxi...toxic lated?" She was vaguely aware that she was having more trouble with words than normal, but it didn't seem that unusual. What she did know was that she was feeling rather excited, and she thought she wanted another one of those really cool drinks.

"Excuse me," she said to the bartender, "Can I have another one? One of the...um...but different! Do you have more of those?" Looking at what the man next to her had, she pointed. "What about one of those?" The bartender, however, looked askance at the drink in the vampire's hands and grabbed a bottle of tomato juice and began to mix a Bloody Mary. Rainbow Dash watched in awe as the complex drink came together with plenty of flourish. When it slid to a stop in front of her, she took a sip with glee, then almost coughed it back up.

"Woah," she said, looking at the drink again. "That's...that's...it's delicious!" She took another drink, then turned to the person next to her. "Is this what you have? Because it is amazing! I can see why you would want to drink this."

Realizing her rudeness, her eyes widened and she suddenly sat up straight in the chair. "I'm sorry, you don't even know who I am yet! My name is Rainbow Dash." She thrust her hand out toward him. "It's really nice to meet you!"

[Deleted]

Jiro inwardly grimaced. Oh dear.. this had the makings of a bad situation. At least the bartender had the sense to cover that whole little.. drink detail. No need to get into complexities.

He would have answered her questions but everytime he opened his mouth she barreled on into another, so he simply sat back with a bemused smile and a faint nod, content to listen. When it finally seemed she was finished he eyed the outstretched hand before sliding his own gloved on over hers.

"Mochizuki, Jiro," he replied with a slight squeeze. "Its a pleasure to meet you as well." He let go quickly and sipped his drink again as he did his best to answer her question. "A bar is a location to order alchohol, which are types of drinks that effect the body and mind. In small controlled quantities they cause what people call a 'buzz' which is what you are experiencing now. The giddiness, slight dizzyness.. all enjoyable as long as you dont drink too much.."

He looked at the row of drinks casually. "Drinking too much dulls the senses and you become unable to think coherantly. Also the more you drink the more of a hangover you will have once the alcohol leaves your system."

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow Dash tried to remember the name. It was unusual, but not completely impossible. Mochizuki Jiro, Mochizuki Jiro... She giggled slightly. It sounded really funny once you said it a couple times. Maybe it would make a good song, like a rap or something.

She realized belatedly that her mind had sidetracked itself, and she tried to pay attention again to what Jiro was saying. She caught the part about affecting the body and mind, creating giddiness and dizziness. So that's what was going on. She looked at the drink in her hand with wide eyes. This was making her feel so...so...how did she feel? Happy? Yes, that must be it.

"I don't know what a hangover is," she said slowly. Then she leaned forward and took a drink of her Bloody Mary, this time prepared for the spiciness. "Are you going to have one? How many drinks have you had so far?"

She waited for his response, then looked over at the bartender, who was busy mixing another drink. "Doesn't he look so cool?" she said. She took another large drink. "I think I want to do that someday. Wouldn't that be so cool? I could make these...these amazing drinks, and I would flip all the bottles and fly--no, I wouldn't fly. I can't fly anymore." She frowned at the counter, took another drink, and looked over at Jiro. "Do you know how to fly? I miss flying."

[Deleted]

Jiro rubbed the back of his head. "A hangover can be as mild as a headache and as extreme as violent nausia, migrains, so on..." he eyed his own drink before smiling pleasantly. "Ive had... two so far..." he shrugged, smiling again. "Well why dont you apply for a job? You might very well enjoy it. And Ive never erm.. flown... although Ive been told it looks like I am when I run..." he trailed off.

[Rainbow Dash]

"Well that hangover doesn't sound fun." She pouted slightly. "Are you going to have one? Can you stop from getting one?" She hadn't experienced a lot of serious pain since arriving here, but she had generally noticed that simple things like papercuts and stubbed toes tended to happen rather a lot and be quite painful. She assumed headaches would similarly be more painful in this world. But she would feel better about it if she wasn't the only one who would get one, or if she could avoid it altogether.

"Really? You can run that fast?!" Rainbow got excited, leaning on the countertop and grinning at the man. "I used to be able to go really fast. That's why they called me Rainbow Dash. I'm the fastest pony in Ponyville, actually. I perfected the Sonic Rainboom. Not everyone can do that, you know. You have to be going wicked fast. Isn't it so great to be able to just zip around everywhere? Man, I miss it." This wave of nostalgia left her crashing against the counter, sighing with self-pity.

She allowed herself to wallow in sadness for a while, listening to the world around her. Then she perked up at one of Jiro's former ideas. "You're right! I should get a job here! I should be like that guy. How do you get a job here? Hey, bartender!" She began to wave over the bartender, who was busy down at the other end. Then she turned back to Jiro. "Hey, thanks for all the help. You're a really great guy."

[Deleted]

Jiro smiled slightly and nodded. "Well you can lessen the likeliness of getting on by not mixing drinks for example not drinking a rum and then vodka. Eating helps as well and if you do get a hangover bread helps your stomach settle."

He noticed her sadness and felt a similar pang. He too missed some of his earlier life. Well really only his brother.

Her thanks surprised him. He wasnt used to that. "Er.... your welcome... really..." he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "You just speak with the bartender. Youll just give an interview and such. I think you will most certainly get the job though. It requires a certain energy that you most certainly have."

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow didn't understand quite what it meant not to mix drinks, but she nodded firmly, as though she was getting it. She tried to remember the thing about eating--when was the last time she had eaten, anyway? The food here was hard to get used to, so it had been a little while. Maybe that was part of her problem. "Bread sounds nice," she said. And she was sincere; bread was one of the few foods that seemed pretty much the same here as it did in Ponyville.

The poor man looked a little confused by her thanks, but Rainbow hardly even noticed. People were much harder to read than ponies, anyway. "Thanks, I know," she said, bouncing up and down in her seat. "It looks like fun, too, and I love fun. What sort of work do you do?"

The bartender was busy filling drinks at the far end. Since Rainbow had wandered in a large group of younger people had come in and were placing orders, so she would have to wait to have her interview. And good conversation was an excellent way to pass the time.