There are many nighttime activities that occur in Canterlot, but overall, bars alone outnumber all the rest combined. At the mid-eastern area of Canterlot right outside of the rich districts lie a street completely lined with various bars. Each one with its own styles. This street is called Quail Trek and is where we find Mist Cloud.
"This is the place"
Mist sighed in irritation
"I have to at least check out the place he works at..."
She glared at the bar in front of her as she felt her wings give out from constant flying.
"Damn him! He could have worked for us but instead he decides to go to a shack like this!"
She got a pen and looked at the sign on the door.
"Owl's Nest huh?"
The Pegasus wrote down the name, noting to drop by sometime when she wasn't so busy.
----------Inside Owl's Nest----------
The one reason that the bars on Quail Trek don't go out of business from completion is that all the bars have a sort of unspoken truce. Bars all make their cocktails with different items, producing milder or more intense favors.
Owl's nest is one of the bars here on the street valued for having foreign cocktails and is where Citrus currently works. The bar was in preparation to open at 7-o-clock and the three bartenders were either cleaning or unloading drinks. The two other bartenders regarded citrus with friendly curiosity. Eventually, one of the bartenders, a dark green Pegasus made his way to him.
"Yo, new guy"
Citrus looked up and smiled at the pony.
"You told me at the interview that you were experienced, so why'd you come to work here?"
"I wanted to see the bars around Canterlot"
The Pegasus raised an eyebrow.
"Look at the new bars eh?"
The pony went back to his duties and left citrus alone. The bar was about to be opened before-
"Oh Buck! Today's the 22nd!"
The green Pegasus stared at the speaker, a bright yellow unicorn, with a panicked look. Drinks were hurriedly taken out and placed at the table as the two scurried to finish up duties, leaving Citrus standing there in confusion.
----------Owl's Nest, five seconds before 7-o-clock----------
The three bartenders stood in silence as the yellow unicorn from before looked at his watch.
"Five, four, three, two, one"
Exactly then when the clock reached 7, an old, light brown, male earth pony stepped into the bar. When the three bartenders saw him, they all smiled.
"Welcome!"
The green Pegasus from before leaned into Citrus and whispered.
"I'll leave this one for you"
Citrus nodded and stood readily as the customer was seated. He looked over Citrus with an amused smirk.
"A new guy eh? What can you make?"
"Name anything sir"
At this the pony's smile widened.
"In that case, make me the cocktail I'm think about wanting to drink"
Damn, he's a tough customer, he could of at least told me his preferences
Citrus' irritated thoughts never showed on his face, hidden with a kind smile.
"Sure"
He grabbed various drinks from the shelves and started to mix them, eventually setting the finished glass down.
"Here's a highball. It's getting hot so I thought that adding a little lemon would taste better"
The pony gave the glass a blank stare and took a small sip.
"...It's no good!"
He slammed the glass back on the table
"Was it not to your liking?"
"Not one bit!"
Hmmm... maybe he didn't like the whiskey base...
Citrus took the glass back and began preparing another glass, missing the sighs of the other two bartenders in the corner.
"Well then...."
Citrus finished the drink he was making and slid it to the pony.
"A Daiquiri for you"
The pony took a sip and slammed it down again,
"No good either"
A tick mark formed on Citrus' head.
Challenging me eh?
----------1 hour later----------
Over the course of an hour, Citrus served a variety of drinks to the old pony, each one getting the same treatment of the pony saying "disgusting!"
"Manhattan"
"Disgusting!"
"Alexander"
"Disgusting!"
The pony finally stopped and leaned back, smirking.
"Every single one of these is no good!"
The already large tick mark threatened to cover the entire back of Citrus' head.
Whats with this pony?
The earth pony stood up and sighed as he leaned on his cane.
"I've had enough. Your not honestly expecting I'm going to pay for drinks like these right?"
"U-Ummm..."
The pony threw his wallet on the table.
"I'm not going to pay until I get one I like! But don't worry, I'll leave my wallet here so that so you know I won't run.
Before he could turn to leave, Citrus threw the wallet back to him.
"No, that won't be necessary"
The pony raised an eyebrow and the two stared at each other before he turned around, an intrigued laugh coming from his mouth.
"I like you boy, instead of waiting another month, I'll stop by tomorrow"
And on that note, the pony turned and left, leaving Citrus to stare at the door..
----------Owl's Nest closing time----------
Citrus worked in relative silence as he cleaned tables.
"The old man that came first, what kind of customer was he"
The yellow unicorn shrugged.
"Beats me, I think he's been coming here every month since we opened"
"No, he was a regular of the deceased master of this bar, and that was only when the master was training in Vanhoover 30 years ago"
Both turned to the green Pegasus who looked rather annoyed.
"Since the master died, he's been coming once a month, but every time we make something, he says its no good. Celestia be dammed if the master wasn't his friend, we would have kicked him out a long time ago"
The Pegasus then went back to washing dishes, leaving Citrus in deep thought.
'So he's a customer of old times hm?'
He chuckled as he finished cleaning the last of the tables.
'I think I know what to serve him now..."
He packed up and said goodbye to his coworkers who introduced themselves to him before leaving. The pegasus was called Rain Zephyr and the unicorn Charming.
----------next day----------
"I've been waiting for you sir"
The old pony raised an eyebrow as he sat down.
"Humph. So what are you making today?"
"A Martini, to be orthodox"
The pony raised the drink only to recoil in surprise when the smell hit his nose.
"Hm? It's got a particular smell
Citrus smiled and help up a large bottle.
"Yes, it's from the Netherlands"
The pony stared at the glass, intrigued.
"Nowadays, Martinis are made with distilled London Gin. This Netherlands gin however, is made much stronger and aged for 15 years"
Citrus was going to continue but was interrupted by the pony yawning.
"I don't need your lecture on this. You made me something old just because of my age? You have the thought process of a first grader. Besides, this stuff is best when chilled and drank straight out the bottle"
The pony looked away, an obvious expression of disappointment on his face.
"The master would never allow something like this to be served"
Citrus flinched, feeling the piercing gaze of the pony as he tried not to meet his gaze.
"All well, I will commend you on your knowledge though. And besides, there's something specific I want today"
At this, Citrus lunged over the bar with an eager face.
"What is it?! I'll make anything!"
The pony smirked and held out some bits.
"There's a vending machine down the street the sells Japonese Sake. Get me some"
A large sweat drop formed on Citrus' head, causing him to lean slightly. With a sigh he took the bill.
"Yes sir..."
----------Club Left Bank: Midnight----------
Citrus sat at the bar with a highball cocktail in his hoof.
"Seriously! If he doesn't like it why does he even come?"
Citrus took a swig of his drink a sighed.
"No good... a no good drink huh?"
Citrus' thoughts were interrupted by the glaring bartender.
"We'll excuse me if it's not good!"
Citrus looked at the bartender in surprise.
"If you don't like it then leave! I'll have you know that customers find this 32 bit highball delicious!"
Citrus sweat dropped at the misunderstanding and tried to defuse the situation
"W-What? N-No! This Highball is delicious!"
The bartender looked away in a huff.
"Hmph, I bet you think your cocktails are great don't you? Heh, they call you Celestia's Bartender just because you won some stupid contest!"
"U-Um... C-Can I have a refill?"
Citrus smiled meekly, trying not to anger the bartender further.
"Tch, here's your no good highball!"
The bartender moved away, leaving Citrus to star at his glass.
No good....
----------FLASHBACK----------
If the master was still alive, he would never make something like this!
----------FLASHBACK END----------
Wait a minuet
Citrus' eyes widened as he stared at the bartender.
I got it!
"If you died, I would never be able to drink this highball again!"
The bartender spun around with a panicked expression from the sudden outburst.
"W-What?! Are you tryin to kill be or something?!"
Citrus smiled in satisfaction as he stared at the highball.
"This taste is only acquirable at this bar! Because its your cocktail! Your version of the highball!"
Citrus quickly paid his bill and left, leaving behind a rather paranoid bartender.
----------Owl's Nest: the next day----------
Much against his fellow bartenders' wishes. Citrus decided to find where the old pony lived and invited him to visit again the next day right before closing, thus the two were at the bar counter chatting as Citrus mixed a cocktail.
"Would you like to listen to the old story of this cocktail?"
The old pony had an interested look.
"Oh? How old is it?"
"Way back when the Lunar Rebellion had just ended, at Baltimare"
Citrus finished pouring and began mixing the drink,
"Did you know that the first bar was created at the beach over there? Before bars, ponies often didn't drink cocktails and many of the popular ones today were only known by no more than ten ponies back then. The first time the bar opened, customers thought the drinks were spectacular due to their complex flavor and ability to glimmer in the light."
Citrus placed a small dark red cocktail on the table.
"This is called old pal, one of the many drinks invented at that bar"
The pony looked at the glass in thought.
"Old pal... that means old friends huh?"
Citrus pulled an old photograph out from the shelf that showed the master of Owl's Den.
"The reason you come here on the 22nd of every month is because that's when the master died isn't it?"
Citrus smiled as he put the photo next to the pony.
"You come here to visit the dead master don't you?"
"Tch! What about it?! You think a youngster like you can wrap me up in words?!"
The pony grabbed the glass with a huff.
"The only reason I drink his cocktails are because everyone else's are bad"
He took a small sip from the glass and almost choked.
"Wha... T-This spicy and tropical taste... I've had it so many times, yet it's so different!"
He looked at the glass in amazement, which gradually turned into joy.
"T-This is it! This is the master's cocktails!"
"If someone of this generation were to drink that, they would say it was warm and that it doesn't taste good"
The pony looked at Citrus with wide eyes.
"W-Warm?! N-Not good?!"
"Back then, when refrigerators and even ice were rare, without being able to chill the glass, drinks were much warmer than they are today. But that was a time when air conditioning didn't even exist, so even though drinks weren't ice cold, customers still enjoyed it."
Citrus smiled and took the finished glass away.
"I'm guessing that the master made this drink without ice for you, and only you, to give you this special taste. For an old pal"
Realization dawned on the pony's face.
So that's what he's been doing all this time?
The old pony stared at the picture, showing him with a male, blue unicorn bartender.
"A good drink isn't just derived from its taste, but also who made it, and who they drank it with. That is where ponies remember ones important to them, and no matter how much time passes by, the taste of the drink is never forgotten"
The pony looked at Citrus, sighing at his words.
"I never drank anywhere else after he died, as a way to pay my respect. I never thought the drinks were good, but in reality, I was probably looking for someone like you"
He stood up and placed a card on the table.
"From now on, your my new pal. Feel free to visit me whenever you need anything"
The pony looked back as he opened the door and smirked.
"Celestia's Bartender eh? You certainly lives up to that name"
Citrus bowed as the pony left. After cleaning up, he looked at the card.
-Rough Hooves, CEO of Canterlot Hotel
-1384 Lysander St.
C-CEO OF CANTERLOT HOTEL?!
----------Outside of Owl's Nest----------
Two figures walked away from Owl's Nest
"So how did it go?"
"He was absolutely amazing. His cocktail reminded me of the old days when I was young..."
The two figures stayed quiet for a small moment.
"Mist Cloud!"
"Yes?"
"I want you to get him to work for the hotel no matter what! Got it?!"
"Yes sir!"