The Multi-Dimensional OC Bar

Rain Splash chuckles sipping his drink, he mutters into the mug, "Never be sure..." He sets his mug down and pulls out the flask located behind his wing, "Too bad it isn't working, that would be fun to show you guys..." With a sad frown as he rubs his hoof against the scuffed and worn flask he re-straps it to his side looking at the new comer, "Hey there you! Pull up a seat!"

He leans over and looks at one of the waitresses, Martini was it? He smiles, "Can I get a tofu burger?" Martini frowns at his request oddly, as if it was something unnatural, so he puts a big pouty face on and adds, "Please?" She giggles and goes to get his order as he smiles returning to his drink.

"Thank you." Storm said sitting in the seat Griff had cleared for him. "I prefer to be called Storm." He added. Storm took a draft of his cider, smiling as the sweet taste of apples filled his mouth. "That's good stuff." he sighed happily.

Turning to Ician he smiled slightly, I spend most of my time as a blacksmith, as for what I do. A demonstration is probably best." Storm put his glass down on the table and closed his eyes, he allowed his anger to build. Across his shoulders ghostly flames appeared growing steadily more solid before he reigned himself in again and they disappeared, his tail also stopped smouldering.

He opened his eyes and grabbed his glass taking another draft. "'Troublemaker' couldn't be further from the truth I was a guard once but I got thrown out. I didn't always have this level of control." He downed the rest of his drink. "But that's the past, so you two are mercenaries eh? Never could understand how someone could fight for coin and not loyalty." He said glancing to Griff and Rain. "What about you, er I don't think I got your name, any of your names for that matter." he asked turning back to Ician.

"Ehh, I don't just fight for coin... I do numerous different jobs. Just whatever brings me money, really. As for fighting for loyalty, I have been betrayed way too many times to believe loyalty still exists." Griff answers. "Besides, I've tried being a part of Lunar guard once. ONCE." he adds.

I... never told you my name?" Ician blinked. "Huh. I could have sworn... never mind." He extended his hoof in greeting towards Storm. "The name's Tact Ician, officer and strategist of the Canterlot Guard. Pleased to meet you. And," he adds, "I must say that your powers are most... Intriguing." He shrugs. "Kind of makes me wish I had some ability myself."

"Pleased to meet you Ician." Storm said with a slight smile. "Trust me, you don't want anything like this ability. It's useful but it has it's costs." He added his face darkening, like a sky covered by his namesake.

Storm caught Tequila's attention and held up his empty glass. The server quickly exchanged it with a full glass of cider. "Thank you, most appreciated." He said as she left again. "You were betrayed by someone in the guard? How did that come about?" He asked turning to face Griff again.

Griff smiles. "First of all, I believe I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Griff." he begins as he looks at his empty glass. "Second of all, I wasn't really betrayed by someone in the guard, rather outside of it. Mission givers, contacts, etc. I just quit the lunar guard cause it was too boring in there and it sucked." he says as he drinks the last drop of the beer from his now completely empty glass.

"Costs, huh?" He nods. "Very well, I understand. With every benefit comes its downsides, after all." He turns to face Griff. "And... I'm sorry about those betrayals, but if you think that's boring you should see what I do every day."

Taking a sip from his glass, he continues, "Things like actual fighting are the stuff of dreams. Usually there's about two or three kilograms worth of paperwork on the desk every day. The last battle we had was Queen Chrysalis' invasion more than a year ago. And I wasn't even in the Guard back then!"

Griff waves with his empty glass "Hey, Martini, would you be so kind to bring me a glass of water? Please." he says at Martini and then turns to Ician. "Exactly. Not enough fighting. You gotta stay in shape, you know. Train your skills every day, either on home-made dummies or missions. Just sitting in there doing paperwork isn't really my cup of tea, nor is sitting around the castle all day long. I like being free, travel whenever I want, wherever I want. Not to be some guy who keeps taking orders on what exactly to do and especially HOW exactly to do it." Griff says and adds "Thank you very much," when Martini brings him his water.

"Eh." Ician shrugs. "I'm a strategist. I'm used to not being in the fray. My job is to command and conquer. I know what I have to accomplish, but how to get there is up to me." Taking another sip, he continues, "As for paperwork, well, as much as I dislike it it's still pretty important. Every now and then, sifting through the huge pile of nonsense, I stumble across something which is vitally important. The kind of document that could make or break the military."

He lifts his glass to his lips and, discovering it empty, turns to Martini and says, "Sorry, could you bring me a cup of water too? Thanks."

The door opened and a green stallion staggered in, dressed in a thick leather-esk smock. He didn't appear to be armed, and his gait indicated he was already tipsy. He blinked in surprise as he beheld the room and proceeded to chuckle to himself. Walking up to the counter, he shook his head once, as if clearing it, "So... This is that bar eh? Barkeep, if you could, a glass of vodka." He glanced at Griff and Ician. "Hello," he nodded curtly to both of them, whilst knowing neither of them.

"Uh..." Ician blinks in confusion. "... hello. I'm Tact Ician, officer and strategist of the Royal Guard." He pauses and shakes his head. "I've already said that three times today..."

"Cute title." The stallion remarked. "I'm Gem Factorem." He turned back to the bar, waiting patiently for his drink. "Three times today? That's not that much, though I suppose that's an unusual occurance?"

"For me, it's unprecedented." Icna's horn glows softly, and both his glass and Griff's float out of Martini's grip and into theirs. "I hardly ever meet anyone for a normal conversation. Most ponies I talk to know exactly who I am." He takes a sip and continues, "Either a negotiating representative from the Royal Guard, their would-be torturer, or their chess partner." He nods. "Depending on the circumstances."

"Dawwww." Gem smiles sarcastically. "You sound like you lead an interesting life." Shaking his head slowly, his expression become serious. "So, what do you actually do in the guard? You torture, negotiate of play chess with ponies, depending on their degree of tratorness?"

Ician chuckled. "Interesting? I've never heard that descriptor applied to my job before." His smile disappears. "No, mostly it's just paperwork. Chess is off-duty. And really, there's never any torturing to be done nowadays. It's usually just subtle interrogation." He gestures at Griff. "If you'd been here a few minutes earlier you would have seen me fail spectacularly at it."

Gem chuckled. "Everyone fails once in a while." He nodded his thanks to Martini when she placed his glass on the bar. He skulled a mouthfuls and smiled. "Though my mistakes can be a little more costly than others."

"A strategist's mistakes are some of the weightiest." Ician sets down his glass gently. "The last pony in my position almost lost all of Canterlot to an invasion just a year ago, because of a stupid mistake."

Gem deadpans. "That's cute mate, it really is. I understand you have some tough decisions, but if I make a mistake..." He chuckled at the thought. "The princesses may warp out of reality, or spotaniouslu combust, or, turn bright pink." He tapped Ician's shoulder. "And besides, that invasion wasn't too bad. I got to crack plenty of changeling carapace. That stuff is great for armour."

"Hold on..." He frowns. "You know which invasion I was talking about?" He blinks. "Huh. And you participated in it, too... You're not from my universe, are you?"

Griff slightly chuckles "And that's why I choose to work alone. No responsibility or stuff like that. Unless you care about your cla.. ahem, sword getting bent or something." He then turns to Gem "...And my name's Griff, by the way."

"Nice to meet you Griff." Gem turned to Ician. "Well, I might be. Dunno. Describe it to me And yes, given that the invasion occurred in my workplace, I am aware of it. Speaking of which..." He pulled out a familiar golden crown. "I was supposed to fix this hours ago... Time stops when we enter here, right?"

Ician blinks. "Right... no, I don't think you're in my continuity. Perhaps best exemplified by the fact that I'd probably know if you'd been in that battle." His face darkens. "And if you were there, the Guard might not have gone down as fast as it did."

"Sorry for this, Ician, but to be honest, I don't even care if Royal Guard falls or whatever happens. I'd probably be okay even if changelings or dragons gave me jobs to do. As long as there's money, I'm okay with it." Griff says as he leans back, drinking his water. "And yes, I was thinking of participating against the invasion, but then I remembered it's none of my business and walked away. Sorry yet again." he adds.

Ician's mouth falls open, ever so slightly. "But... but... then... what?!" He splutters. "What about the new government? Changelings or dragons or whatever would inevitably come into control if they took over Canterlot. I don't mean to imply," he adds hastily, "that their governments are inherently wrong or corrupt in any way, but surely it is in the hands of Equestrians to decide Equestria's fate!"

He blinks once, twice, and then his neutral expression returned. "I'm... sorry, for that outburst. It's just something I feel rather strongly about."

"I understand you completely, Ician, but I believe it's Royal Guard's job to protect Canterlot, your government and Equestria, not mine." Griff sips his water again. "And I have already taken missions from dragons and changelings alike. Everything worked out fine in the end. I got my payment, they were happy. I would probably think otherwise if I was a part of the Royal Guard who wants to protect the kingdom, but I'm not. That's one of the great things of being a mercenary. You don't have to take part in some wars the government got you into if you don't feel like it."