//------------------------------// // Batu (OC; Slice Of Life) // Story: Anthology of Graybles // by Str8aura //------------------------------// In an isolated part of a town running along the length of a river, a wooden sign advertised the services of the adjacent tavern; occasionally magically flickering to 'pub' or 'bar' for the purpose of sewing utter despair in a mildly annoying way. To make matters even more despicable, the arrow on the sign pointed in the completely wrong direction from the large building it stuck out from. Inside that building, a large ungulate awkwardly pushed through the crowd of regulars, blissfully ignoring the glares pointed in her direction as she bustled through them, occasionally toppling or stepping on smaller patrons before finally coming up to the pleasantly lit table and plopping down on the floor, crushing a barstool under her mass. Her head flopped down onto the table, and she smiled at the pony behind it. "What do you drink here?" He raised an eyebrow. "Alcohol." "I'll have some of that." He moved the cup he had been cleaning under a spigot and filled it with apple cider, not taking his eyes off her. When he was done, he delicately placed it in front of her, rubbing off a small stain on the side and retracting. She sniffed the cup experimentally. "Would you like to pay for that?" The barkeep commented in a tone dryer than most of the liquids he sold. "Oh.... With that?" "Bits." She thought his addition over, churning mental gears that hadn't moved in a good while. "Can I have some of those?" She brilliantly deducted her solution. The barkeep's eyes narrowed. "I- I'll pay." The two turned to a tired looking unicorn patron sitting at the end with a baseball bat strapped to her back, scooting next to the new girl and generously passing over some bits. The barkeep took them, and the new girl happily picked up the entire glass in her jaws, crunching down on it and swallowing. The patron winced, shakily extending a hoof. "Finch." "Hmm?" "Finch! Finch Chirm. That's my name." "Oh!" She took his hoof, shaking it vigorously. "I'm Batu! Pleasure to meet you!" She turned back to the wooden table, licking off stray drops, and Finch got her best profile view. Batu's head closely resembled that of certain chimera heads, adorned with two corkscrew horns and long flowing silver hair that made her seem a lot wiser than she clearly was. Two intricately woven pillows sat resting on her back, holding up a wooden piece that appeared to be a fancy six-pack beer holder. groups of potions sat stuffed into each wooden pouch, many of which were leaking trails out the door, and quite a few had been dropped off and lay depressingly on the floor behind them. Some were even expelling purple gases, contaminating the air in yet to be seen ways. "You're... certainly interesting. What brings you here?" "Ponies!" "None of those here, sorry." Batu didn't seem to notice his deadpan, happily continuing on. "I've constantly heard stories of you guys! And you're everywhere here! I don't get up to much back home, but things are always happening here! Just look around! So many interesting faces!" Every face in the building was either lying on the table, lying on the floor, or far bypassing their interestingness with their intimidatingness. Quite a few had masks. "When things happen too often, they sort of lose their charm." "Don't worry, I won't be here long! But still, if you've been here longer, maybe you could.... Guide me around? Give me some pointers and whatnot?" Her eyes lit up as she turned to him, gushing nearly an inch away from his muzzle. He gave his best expression of disinterestedness, but it appeared her range of consciousness was a very short one. "Urgh.... Alright. I'll show you around, for...?" "Three days!" "Thr- Three days? Yeah, alright. Of course." She squealed happily, pulling Finch into a tight and hairy hug. Several more bottles toppled out, a few shattering on the floor. The barkeep grumbled. One bottle lasted, continuing to roll far across the table, dodging bodies and hooves with all the skill of a mindless potion bottle, finally coming to a stop at the leg of a wooden table in the corner. For a peaceful, hot second it sat there, undisturbed by the movement in waves around it, until being unceremoniously shattered by a collapsing patron, face drenched in various forms of alcohol. "I hear you guys can do magic!" Batu gleefully pointed out, eyes wandering to the bat atop Finch's back. "Is that your wand?" "It is. It's not a very good one, unfortunately. Its only spell is Break Rib." Finch sipped from her drink, already tired of the ungulate next to her. "That sounds good! I can't do anything magical, I just have-" "Oh, not again." The barkeep and Finch spoke at once, both simultaneously noticing the commotion at the back of the tavern. Patrons began quickly getting up, and fire spread rapidly from its source of a drunken, flailing face. "Potions! She's the girl with the-" A nosy patron's accusation was subtly suppressed as her head connected with the wooden table in Finch's magic, and he calmly levitated his bat out, nudging Batu. "We should probably leave." Her eyes were wide with amazement as carnage began bustling around them, already violent drinkers taking their opportunity to help their hapless buddies find a more literal definition of smashed. Batu and Finch quietly moved around them, stepping over fallen comrades and dodging stray spell shots in their lazily general direction. Batu's wooden pack jiggled, more potions falling out of their stacks and shattering onto the floor, turning the liquor on the stone floor fascinating shades of colors yet unknown to equinity, and terrorizing poor future janitors and doctors arriving at the site. Outside, the pair turned to the flaming pub, watching it quickly light in beautiful colors and spread to the wooden buildings besides it, stunned into silence as escaping ponies shoved past them. Batu seemed no less put off at the spreading flames and destruction than she had eating glass shards. "I told you things were already happening! Oh, I'm so excited! Do you think we'll see a dragon? Do those exist? I don't know which of the creatures I've heard of are fairy tails and which ones are real! Do you have orcs? Humans? Mongeese?" Finch rubbed his eyes as fire began lighting the alcohol puddles on the street around them, groaning. "Celestia..."