Stan wasn’t really sure what a magic blast felt like, he heard from his siblings that it was like getting hit by something that was thrown by magic, which made no sense to him, but in about a few seconds, he was gonna see just what it was like. So, to make sure the magic wouldn’t blind him in the process, he closed his eyes and prepared for the worse.
His ear gave a slight twitch as he heard the magic blast, though he was a bit concerned that he didn’t feel any pain, he was wondering if the blast was so strong that it killed him. With this going through his mind, he decided to open his eyes and probably see his dead body on...the now unconscious bartender behind the counter?
“What?” Stan said out loud, he then felt pain on his back as a pony a bit bigger than him sat next to him and laughed.
“That was awesome!” He yelled while looking over his shoulder. “Did you see the look on his face, Lift?”
Another pony that looked just like the other, minus the fedora, sat on the other side of Stan. “I don’t know, it was pretty hard with the magic commin’ at him.”
Another roar of strange laughter made Stan shield his ears. He looked at both the stallions, both were practically identical to each other. Making him wonder…
“Shift? Lift?” Stan asked.
The stallion on his right rubbed Stan’s head. “Brave and smart, don’t really see many of those around here, huh Lift?”
“Nope, I don’t think-”
Lift was interrupted by Carl’s gasping. “I-It’s the DJ twins!”
Both of the stallions dropped their disguises and gave gave a deadpan face to Carl. “No…” Shift said while adjusting his fedora. “We’re just random changelings with wub-eyetis.”
“Wub what?” Mike stood up from his knock back and started at the pair of changelings. “What kind of disorder is called that?”
Shift and Lift both scratched the back of their heads in unison. Stan just rolled his eyes and faced Mike. “When Shift talks, his eyes get all wavy and stuff, and when Lift talks, bars rise up and down in his eyes. That’s what it does, as for the name...Well, the rest of us couldn’t really think of anything else.”
“Talk about originality.” One of the ponies in the bar whispered sarcastically to one of his friends.
Shift and Lift turned around and said, “You try commin’ up-”
“with a better one ground-walker.” Lift finished his brothers sentence and continued, “Do you even know how hard it is to see with bars goin’ up and down in your line of sight?”
“Or a wave constantly in between your eyes.” They both ignored the crowd and looked back at Mike. “Look Mr. Light, we just want our friends here Stan and...uh...um…”
“Carl.” Carl said with a smile on his face.
“Yeah, yeah, and Stan’s friend here, to have a drink. You let us have one anyway.” He finished with a smirk.
“That’s because you snuck in here, you insect.”
“Hey now,” Shift said while both of them put their hooves in the air in defense. “No need for such discrimination pal, we just wanted-”
“To suck the life out of one of my customers!”
All most every pony in the bar gasped at Mikes false information, making the four changelings turn around and see their shocked faces.
“Hey now!” Shift yelled. “Come on, you heard your princess say how we don’t do things like that, we feed on love which is nothing but energy that comes from all of ya.”
“Yeah.” Lift said. “And like our queen said, we ain’t evil. We never even intended to capture you guys.”
Mike sneered. “But you did intend to live among us in complete secrecy.”
Stan slammed the counter. “But we weren’t gonna hurt your kind!”
“Who’s to say that’s not true? Besides, the way you get love is probably the sickest thing I’ve ever heard of.”
Carl walked next to Stan and said, “Mike, the cool DJ’s already told you that we get love by finding someling we can have a relationship with.”
“What? Last time I remember, your queen had to brainwashed one of us to get love.”
Stan twitched. “Our queen had no choice, I’m sure your princess needs to make tough decisions too!”
“Well at least our ruler doesn’t need to sleep with other colts to rule over her so called ‘subjects’”
Carl immediately held Stan back once he tried to launch across the counter toward the pony. “Let me go Carl! Let me rip this guy apart for even thinking about disrespecting our queen!”
“Feisty too” Shift whispered to his twin. Lift grinned and grabbed Stan.
“Listen here little guy, if you really want to show this guy how much you hate him, then try beating him at his own games.”
Stan calmed down a bit and shacked the both their grips off of him. “What ‘games’?”
Carl leaned over his shoulder. “I think he’s talking about drinking games, one’s that require alcohol to play.”
Shift came over “Whoa now bro, before you even begin, how about you get a taste for things? Mike! Give our little hero here a drink.”
Mike crossed his hooves. “The plaque…”
The Shift and Lift booth looked at it and shrugged. “Okay…” Shift scratched his head. “how about this, if Stan here can chug an entire glass, then we get to play the games.”
Stan glared at Carl. “What, so I’m a train now…”
“No Stan, chug. Chug as in drinking an entire glass of cider without stopping.”
“Then why didn’t he just say drink instead of chug? That’s confusing!”
Mike slammed a full mug of cider on the table and grinned. “I bet the bug can’t even handle a drink like this without puking.”
Stan snapped, he had been puking all the way along this journey to get here, and he wasn’t gonna be reminded of it. He grabbed the mug and said, “Oh yeah, well watch this sorcerer.” He pressed his lips against the tip of the mug and tilted it, drinking the cider as his mind was bent on showing the pony he’s not getting talked down by him.
Some of the ponies in the bar started standing and looking at Stan in astonishment. “Look at him go.” One of them whispered.
Carl grabbed him by the arm. “Stan, take a breath.” But Stan continued drinking the beverage until it was empty. The entire crowd gasped as he slammed the now empty mug on the counter. Mike was surprised at first, until he saw Stan start to shake.
“Bleah...ugh...hehe...heahsh.” Stan was starting to wobble a bit before clutching his stomach.
Shift and Lift looked at each other while Carl tried holding his friend up. “Stan? Tell me you’re okay...please. H-how many hooves am I holding up?”
Stan was now groaning as he started sliding off the counter. Mike only grinned at the twins as Stan landed on the floor. “Looks like the little guy can’t handle a-”
A loud belch from Stan interrupted Mike. The crowd continued to look at Stan in astonishment as he got back up and threw his hooves in the air. “WHOO...Now that...Was one *hick* of a drink,” He shook his head and walked past Carl, whose jaw continued to hang open.
“H-how in Tia’s mane…” Mike couldn’t think of anything to say as the changeling looked at him with a smirk.
“So, what are these so called ‘games?’”