Happy Hour, Under Protest

[notyetwritten]

"You must be joking," says Atrus.

A napkin appears. I'm NEVER joking.

He grimaces. "First you kidnap me and take me away from my writing and now you expect me to...serve drinks! It's absurd!"

Another napkin appears.

"You'll do that? That's a promise?"

He sighs. "Very well, I suppose I'll do it."

And so it came to pass that this slightly miffed-looking quarter-D'ni intellectual came to be standing behind Bar. He posts a notice above the Bar.

I have no experience whatsoever at this sort of thing. Consequently, any drink with two ingredients or fewer shall be discounted by ten per cent.

Pleasant conversation is always appreciated.

Comments

[knightoftheswan]

"Did she get you, too?"

So asks the Knight, taking a seat at the bar.

[notyetwritten]

"If by 'get me,' you mean 'keep me here for over a month and condition my release on serving drinks,' then yes," he says.

"Now, what would you like?"

[knightoftheswan]

"My sympathies," he says with a slight wince. "And coffee is fine."

[notyetwritten]

Atrus reaches for a pot and pours the knight a cup.

"Well, I suppose it could be worse," he says. "My time here has given me time to rest. I liked it well enough to give myself a way back."

He gestures toward a small bound book with "Milliways" written on the cover.

[knightoftheswan]

"Give yourself a way back?" Lohengrin asks, looking at the book.

Though he doesn't forget to say, "Thank you," when he gets his cup of coffee.

[notyetwritten]

"Yes," he says. "That is a linking book. Touching the back panel will bring me to the center of this room."

[knightoftheswan]

"You can link places together with books?"

And why does this sound not only strange but somehow...uncomfortable to the Knight?

[notyetwritten]

"Yes," he says. "Provided you have the materials and you know how. And then you either have to write it in the spot you want the book to link to or include phrases from the world's master descriptive book."

[knightoftheswan]

"I've not heard of such a power before. But I've picked up that there's a lot I've not heard of before coming to this place."

[notyetwritten]

"It's not an art known to many people," he says. "At least not anymore. But I suppose if there's any place in all the Ages where you could find someone who does know it, Milliways might be it."

[knightoftheswan]

"Is this something you learned as part of your family? Or is the nature of this power secret in detail?" he asks before taking a sip of coffee.

[notyetwritten]

"I first learned the Art from my father," he says. "Though he holds many beliefs about the Art that I now know to be...misguided."

[knightoftheswan]

The Knight nods.

"I have seen how ugly family conflict can be, especially if it should escalate to physical confrontation. My job is currently rife with it."

[no_vampires_plz]

"There's a big book of mixed drink recipes under the counter, if that helps?" offers the four-foot-tall purple unicorn who just trotted up to the bar.

[notyetwritten]

Fortunately, Atrus is good at trying not to stare.

"...I'll keep that in mind," he says. "What would you like?"

[no_vampires_plz]

"Just some cocoa with marshmallows, please." The pony hops up onto the nearest barstool and rests her forehooves on the front counter. "Let me guess, you've never seen a unicorn before?"

[notyetwritten]

Atrus begins digging around for the ingredients (as he's not entirely certain what marshmallows are).

"I've seen a great number of things in many different Ages," he says as he somehow locates a bag of Jet-Puffed marshmallows from underneath the hot drinks dispensers. "But a talking unicorn is a first, yes."

[no_vampires_plz]

"Well, I'd never seen a human before I came here, so we'll call it even."

A beat.

"You are a human, right?"

[notyetwritten]

"Mostly," he says. "Three-quarters human, to be precise."

He drops the marshmallows into the mug (that's where they go, right?) and slides the mug in front of Twilight.

[no_vampires_plz]

"Oh? What's the other quarter, if that's not too personal a question to ask?"

[notyetwritten]

"My paternal grandfather was a member of a race called the D'ni," he says. "We'd probably look very similar to you, except perhaps for the eyes."

[no_vampires_plz]

"It's kind of strange how many of the people here are... human-shaped," the unicorn remarks. "I haven't met any other ponies here except for my friends from back home."

[notyetwritten]

"I suppose that is a little strange," Atrus says. "Especially seeing as how there are an infinite number of Ages, with an infinite variety of intelligent people in them."

[no_vampires_plz]

Twilight takes a sip of her cocoa before speaking again. (The way she levitates the mug to her muzzle must be quite interesting to Atrus.)

"What do you mean by 'Ages', exactly?"

[notyetwritten]

"Most people I've met here would call an age a 'universe,'" he says. "'Age' is the rough translation of the D'ni word for it."