Dagmire and Clearence sat there embracing each other as they waited for the rest of the elements to regain consciousness. In the centre of the room was Luna: free, pure and minty fresh! Clearance decided it was time to shove off and after getting up and throwing himself and Dagmire through the window they ended up back in their ol faithful bar: the debauchery. After making sure they were clean and safe Clearance decided to open up shop again... only to find it was a simple door at the front instead of a window. This was bad. It meant that the harmony in the world they just visited was so strong that it maneged to balance out and instead of having access to the multiverse they were stuck In Equestria until the chaos went off the charts again.
In short they were stuck indefinitely for the time being.
Dagmire sighed at this revelation and simply flipped the “FECK OFF” sign to it’s respectful “GET IN BITCHES, WE ARE GOING DRINKING” on the other side. A special enchantment allowed this message to only be seen by adults and the bar is completely invisible to anyone under the age of maturity. An hour passed and the door knocked, as Clearance went to let the customer’s in, Dagmire felt a sense of dread. A gut feeling that this would be a long night kicked off and Dagmire quickly began stocking the shelves with snakes and for this occasion, regular whisky for those who might not like snakes. This sparked an idea in Dagmire’s mind and he quickly noted down to at some point invent snake whisky. The door opened and there stood Luna trying to get away from the celebration outside.
“Greetings jester” Luna said wearily remembering how her final moments as nightmare moon ended with strangulation
“Hi...sorry about my uh outburst.”
“It is fine. We needed something like that anyway”
“What? Why?” Clearance said while pouring a glass of whiskey for the mare. She remained silent and as she quickly downs her drink, the door receives a hearty knock alerting Dagmire about new patrons to snake...-er serve. That’s right serve.
Clearance opens the floodgates and twenty ponys in party hats prance in the room with one harmonious and completely unified cause:
To all get absolutely obliterated.
“So what be your poison’s lads? Snakes? Whiskey? Adventure? We got all you need and more! Just try to avoid the stairs. That’s where the snake pit is.”
Most of them stared at the strange creature pouring princess Luna whisk but few pony’s laughed at this question until a quick demonstration showed that there was indeed a snake pit on the stairs.
The quiet yellow one that Dagmire remembered was a part of his and Clearance’s adventure a few hours ago seemed strangely interested in the snake pit. Dagmire was slinging drinks left and right as many of them decided to order. One of the glass snakes from the pit emerged and wrapped around Dagmire’s leg and looked into Dagmire’s eyes pleadingly.
“Sorry buddy. We gotta wait just a bit longer. We can start after hours ok?”
The snake nodded and uncoiled from Dagmire’s leg and returned to the side pocket of the stairs to return to the pit.
“Heh you know for snakes made of glass they sure are soft.” Dagmire said
“What?” The yellow pony asked
“Oh sorry. I got distracted. Welcome! What’s your poison?”
“Water.” She replied
“Ah the old classic. Mineral, magic or regular?”
“...?” The pony seemed confused
“Ok so the magic water isn’t actually magic. That’s just a title I use for the...”premium” water that someone requested before.”
“How could water be premium?”
“Hell if I know but it seems to keep a few people satisfied so I sell it.”
“I’ll have mineral water if that’s ok.”
“Oke-doke-Smokey! That’ll be two gold”
The pony handed Dagmire the gold and he in turn gave her the water. The pony remained secluded from the rest of the ponys and simply sat at the bar
Eventually Celestia took Luna home and the crowd thinned, only a few remained.
“Ok I think we should be fine now. Clearance could you help start the snake rave?” Dagmire asked
“It would be my pleasure”
“Snake rave?” The yellow pony asked
“It’s what Dagmire does for the glass snakes every other Tuesday” Clearance answered
If the yellow pony’s interest wasn’t already peaked it sure as hell was now
“Can...can I watch?”
“...”
Invisible to the pony, Dagmire smiled under his mask
“I would be delighted to have you!”
Dagmire set off to go and clear out the bar from all remaining ponys. After he finished closing up shop the only ones remaining were Dagmire, Clearance, and the mystery pony.
“Clearance...”
“Yes?” Clearance replys in anticipation
“RELEASE
THE
SNAKES!”
Clearance pulled the poll on the stairs down to expose a few gears and a glowing crystal gem. The pit on the stairs lowered and the small cupboard under the stairs was replaced with a shiny force field. Many snakes passed through the open hole and each one began taking on a new colour when it passed the field. When all 58 snakes made it out of the pit it looked as if the room was covered in long glowing see through gemstones. The yellow pony watched in awe as they traversed the room like a sea of serpents once Dagmire began playing music on that strange music box he always has. It was a soft and gentle melody.
“Hey. You know your the first person to ever ask If you could watch Dagmire. What’s your name?” Clearance asked
“Oh it’s Fluttershy.”
“That’s a nice name.” Dagmire said overhearing the conversation.
A few snakes had looked at the newcomer with a bit of curiosity. Some looked strangely familiar to Fluttershy.
“Oh hey! Newcomers! Uh hi... I’m sorry for what happened to you. This will be very strange for a bit but hey it’s not that bad. Besides. There’s a good chance you’re going to see them again before you all shove off. Enjoy the moment my friends.”
The snakes nodded and left one by one until only one ruby coloured snake remains
“Yes?”
The snake simply stared at Fluttershy as it began shifting colours rapidly and shaking uncontrollably. The music went silent and everything seemed to completely stop for Fluttershy. Dagmire gasped and Clearance quickly threw off the curtains blocking the moonlight. The moonlight rested on Dagmire’s music box as he took it out and began playing a very soft melody that Fluttershy immediately recognizes as a lullaby her grandpaw used to sing to her when she was a little filly.
The snake shattered and a bright light emitted and shifted until it took the form of an old and weathered stallion. The ghost pony simply smiled at Fluttershy as he handed her a note. It read: “don’t forget about me now. I won’t forget about you shy.”
Fluttershy read the note and managed to see her grandfather smash through the moonlit window. She ran over and saw her grandfather rise higher and higher until all she could see was a distant light in the sky. A new star had been born and after many years of waiting he finally got his wish.
Dagmire finished the lullaby on a soft high note.
“memento mori, sed etiam vita ... vita, quae est cum eo.” Dagmire said
“What?” Fluttershy asked
“Remember death...but also the life that comes with it.”
Dagmire’s scythe gaind a few more decals on it depicting a Pegasus mid flight.
“Alright three down...fifty five to go.”
Fluttershy fainted