//------------------------------// // Old Friends, New Stories // Story: In the Silver Lining // by Tower of 0 //------------------------------// A pegasus stallion has found himself hunched over in his barstool, slowly drinking his night away. The ball cap adorned on his head positioned so his eyes were hidden from anypony else. Of course, that didn't stop the unicorn that just walked in from noticing him. The unicorn made his way from the front door to the bar quickly and quietly, hitting the pegasus' hat off. "Hey! What's the jo-" He stopped mid sentence after he spun himself around, noticing the cream-coated unicorn. "Well if my eyes do deceive me! Ain't it the infamous Ivory Dreams!" "Nice to see you again too, Swifty." Ivory replied with a grin as he picked up Swifty's hat from the ground. "How have ya been bud?" Swifty asked, gladly taking his hat back, but leaving it off his head. "I've been great, thanks for the concern. I see you keep your main and tail short, I thought you stopped racing?" Ivory observed his friend's familiar mane style. "I still enter myself in the Cloudsdale races, as the famous Silver Streak, mind you." Switfy exclaimed with a lot of pride in his voice. "Why not go with your real name, as the Swift Storm?" Ivory asked as he took a seat next to his friend. "'Cause everypony loves Silver Streak, and I ain't just about to retire my nickname just yet!" Swift chuckled to himself. Ivory just chuckled along with good ol' Swifty. Swift swears that he'll become a racing legend one day. "'Ey barkeep!" Slurs came from a back corner, "How 'bout another *hic* drink?" Ivory slapped his hoof on the bar jokingly and turn to the drunk, Ponyville's drunk. "I don't think you need anymore to drink there, Berry Punch." Ivory stated with the widest grin Swift's ever seen on him. "Says *hic* you!" Berry retorted back from across the pub. "All righty then! I bet you can't even walk up here without falling on your ass." Ivory challenged the drunk with glee. "If you can, I'll buy your drinks til you leave." Berry certainly couldn't resist a challenge like that, especially when booze was involved! "You're *hic* on!" She slammed her hoof on the table and attempted to get up. A loud thump followed by the two stallions laughing their asses soon filled the building. Ivory wiped the tears from his eyes as he turned back around. "Hey, Tap Feat, how about passing a regular his usual?" Tap just nodded and slid a mug of cider, plain ol' cider. "That's one's on the house." Tap smiled, "For putting on a good show with the town drunk." "Cider? Is it spiked?" Swoft was looking at his friend who just chugged half the mug before putting it down. "Of course not, you know i don't drink." Ivory thought for a moment. "Unlike some ponies!" He raised his voice towards the end. "Blah blah *hic* blah!" Berry waved a hoof from where she was laying before falling into a drunken slumber. "Besides," Ivory looked over to his friend, "I don't need to drink since I have an amazing marefriend." "OH yeah, I remember you writing to me about the fight you had months earlier." Swift slightly had a smile as he remembered. "Let me tell you, she has one hell of a kick!" Ivory chuckled before downing the rest of his cider. "You don't say?" Swift sarcastically asked. "Oh ya, she nearly broke my ribs. My house got it worse than I did." Ivory was serious all right, too serious. "But the make-up sex was worth it." Swift spit his drink all over the counter. "What?!" "You heard me." Ivory smirked to himself as he lifted the mug to his lips. Swifty saw the smugness in the stallion next to him, kinda scary to him. "She nearly broke your ribs, possibly trashed your house, but you didn't freak out about or anything?" "That shoudn't come as a surprise to ya Swifty. You know me all too well to know that I barely get mad." Ivory looked over his empty mug. "True, but still, she must've been one crazy mare to nearly break your ribs and trash your place." Swifty had a point there, but Ivory also knew how Applejack was since growing up around her and Swift at the same time. "She wasn't crazy, first of all, she was in heat. Her cycle was so out of whack that she got angry at me over an accident I didn't see coming." "Just be glad it's summer here, Ivory." "True that." Ivory agreed with his friend as he paced two bits on the table. "Found a good mare to be with yet?" Swift groaned a bit before answering. "No, I don't even know where to start, better yet, what to look for in a mare." "You'll find you're special somepony one day." Ivory patted Swift on the back before attending to his drink. "You have any advice?" Swift turned to Ivory, hopeful that he would have an answer. "Find a mare worth while. Not too fancy. Not too simple either." Ivory replied, setting the mug down. "I'm surprised you haven't even taken a drink yet, or told me about one of you race stories." Swift looked down towards the counter where he still had his hoof wrapped around a shot glass and quickly downed it. "Well, I'll tell you one story I should be quite proud of." "I'm all ears buddy." "So I enter myself in a race the year before, ya see? And the competetion...."