The Multi-Dimensional OC Bar

"Heck if I know." Griff says. "But they hired me and I did what they wanted" he adds. "I didn't ask any further questions, though."

"This is still troubling. Where was this desert roughly? We may be from different universes but I would still like to make sure there is nothing going on in mine." Storm said with a frown.

"Across the eastern sea." Griff says. "I am currently on the boat on my way back to Equestria. Should be there in a bit. Equestria was already seen when I entered this bar again."

"It's probably fine then. The Equestria I come from is mostly separate from other countries, we don't have any colonies or holdings anywhere other than our island." Storm said relaxing a little. "Could be a problem for the centaurs or Minotaur's though. I think I've just decided the next time and location of my holiday." He finished.

"Well we could check if we're from the same dimension or universe when I arrive. Before I enter this bar from Canterlot, I will put a sign of some sort, a colored horseshoe or something on the floor in front of the Canterlot's bar." Griff suggests as he sips his rum again.

"It would take me a while to confirm that considering I'm in the crystal empire." Storm said. "It's unlikely we're from the same place. There would be no reason for the guard or any other military division to be outside of Equestria unless they were asked there to help deal with something." He said, holding his hoof out he started heating the air above it unevenly forcing the air to swirl around and making a small, weak tornado in the palm of his hand.

"Crystal Empire, eh? Will take me a bit longer to get there, perhaps half an hour of flight." Griff says and then adds "As for military across the eastern sea, it COULD be some undercover operation noone knows about. I never know what those royal forces are on about." He takes a big sip of rum.

"Good point, if you want to fly all the way up you can." Storm said, not taking his eyes off the small tornado. "The possibility of a secret operation is much more worrying, that implies for some reason it can't be made public knowledge. I'll take a look soon. I need to head out there at some point anyway they have some forging techniques out there I would love to learn." He snuffed out the tornado by cutting of the magic and waving his hoof to dispel the air quicker.

"Speaking of flying..." Griff says and looks at the door. "I think it's almost time for me to leave the boat and start flying towards the Crystal Empire." He drinks the last few drops of rum from his bottle and places it on the bar. "I'll be back in a minute or two, considering how slow time goes in here." After that, he calmly walked outside to the ship's deck and closed the doors behind him.

The door flies open with a loud slam. Ician, his eyes half-lidded and swaying unsteadily on his hooves, stumbles into the bar.

"Hey, Storm." He slurs, lifting a shivering leg towards Storm. "I see you're... still... here..."

Looking at the floor, he murmurs, "... regret to inform you that your son has been... ah..."

The muttering degenerates into incoherence, and with a final sway Ician topples onto the floor, face-first. "Ugh..."

The door swings open behind Ician, Paladin swaggering in with a smile. Blinking at the sight of the collapsed stallion, he waves over Martini, ordering some beer, before propping up Ician and carrying him to the table. "Hey bud, you okay?"

"Sure, yeah... Okay... Right..." Ician says shakily, propping himself up on his unsteady legs. "Where was I? Uh, regret to inform you that... that..." He breathes in deeply. "your son has been killed in the line of... duty..." Stumbling over to the table, he rests his head on the table. "Martini... Water... Please..."

"I... Don't have a son. I think. Pretty sure... It has only been a few days, it's not like you can-" he coughed. "Probably not talking about me. What happened Ician?"

"Lake... Frozen over... Griff... Arianwyn..." Ician's horn ignites with a flickering aura, carrying the glass of water over to him shakily. "Crystal Empire... Royal Guard... Dead! Mercenaries..."

Rolling his eyes, Paladin sighed, before slapping Ician hard. "Get a hold of yourself man."

Harmony steps in, her violin floating along behind her, just as the crack of the slap echoed through the bar.

Her eyes widen. "What's going on?"

Ician reels backwards slightly, his eyes spinning wildly. All of a sudden, the irises snap back into sharp focus, the bleariness disappearing instantly. He stands up straight.

"Dead." He repeats, one last time. He stares at Paladin. "Hello, Paladin. Harmony. Storm." He looks around the bar, as if seeing it for the first time. "Where. Is. Griff."

"No idea." Paladin facehoofs, before walking over to Harmony, hugging her and pecking her quickly on the lips. "Sorry you had to see that dear, but Ician was rambling about this and that and all manner of random things." Turning to Ician, he raised an eyebrow. "You done being crazy? And would you care to explain what's going on?"

"Not crazy." Ician retorts. "Just... drunk. And now hungover." He rubs his head tenderly. "Harmony, could you play some music?"

"... Sure." With concern in her eyes, Harmony trots back to her corner, brings her violin to bear, and begins to play.

Ician turns back to Paladin. "Sergeant, you have new orders from the Captain." Producing a sheaf of papers, he levitates it over to him. "You are to make sure the families of each and every deceased receive their notice of condolences."

Paladin glanced at the list. "When did we lose them?" He twitched. "And how?"

"Recently." Ician glances briefly at Storm. "Under classified circumstances, but..." He leans in closer, and whispers under his voice, "Across the Eastern Sea. According to the situation report, signs of a struggle were noted, but no culprits have been identified." His eyes narrow, and he mutters 'Griff' under his breath. "Yet."

He nodded, folding up the paper and placing it in his pocket. Sighing, he walked to the door, making a strange gesture, before walking through it. "I'll be back soon."

"Goodbye." Ician says, in a flat tone.

"Bye!" Harmony breaks briefly from her song, waving at Paladin as the door shuts. For a few moments, she stares at the door, and then at Ician.

Briefly, silence reigns supreme.

"So..." Ician begins. "How's life?"

Harmony rolls her eyes and facehooves.

The door swung in, Paladin staggering in, holding a golden flask. Closing the door behind him, he sat down at the table, taking another swig of the flask. "Immmm a combat mmmedic, but I tells yah, it never gets any easier..."

Ician raises an eyebrow at him, pointedly ignoring the flask. "I trust that all the notices have reached their intended recipients?"

"Of courssssseee I do my job perfectly..." He took another swig of the flask.