//------------------------------// // The Night Mayor and Luna Left an Impression, Part 2 // Story: Old-Fashioned Bar Hoppers // by Tired Old Man //------------------------------// "Oh gods, WHY did I do that?!" Mayor braced a large sack on her forehead brimming with ice, not moving from her spot in the booth next to Luna, with Granny and Celestia on the other side of the table. The table now played host to four mugs of hard cider, offered on the house as a result of Luna and Mayor's additions to the wall. Nopony mentioned that bonus to either of them, but once Copper explained, they didn't complain one darn bit. "Only you know the answer to that, Mayor. You angled yourself to hit the wall face first," Celestia responded before taking a sip from her hard cider mug. Luna finished a swig of her mug. "Not even I did that." "But why didn't any of you discourage it?!" "Well, ye seemed pretty sure of yourself," Granny stated before taking a few sips from her mug. "Granny, I wasn't sure a minute before that! Both of you saw my fa--ow!" Mayor clutched the ice bag even tighter to her head. "This hurts so much, you know. Can't even sip mine at all--" Suddenly, Mayor's mug bathed in a warm yellow glow as Celestia lifted the mug up to Mayor's lips. It was... weird. Definitely weird, but given her hooves were occupied trying to make her head hurt less, this weird thing was welcome as she took a few sips while Celestia was offering. "Thanks," she said after taking a good sip, letting the tangy cider slide down her throat with ease as Celestia sat the mug on the table. "Of course. Just let me know when you can handle the mug yourself." Mayor nodded her head, then turned her head back to glance at her impression on the mat. Unlike every other imprint which showed a rough outline of a pony shape, Mayor's head had imprinted so cleanly it even got the outline of her mane, and a wrinkle or two beneath her eyes. Further, it left the mark very deep in the mat, and according to Copper, it was likely going to stay for a long time. It would definitely make the rounds as the tale of a mare who took the Bull Horn challenge headfirst and lived. Mayor groaned at the thought. "So, Mayor, how are things in Ponyville?" Celestia asked. "Is now really a good time to ask me that while my head's throbbing like a jackhammer?" "Fair point." Celestia turned to Granny. "Granny, how are things?" "Oh, they're just fine. Orchard's still operatin' at peak efficiency thanks to my grandkids, and the trees are still going strong. We're in the middle of a harvest right now, actually." "Ah. So Little Mac couldn't make it, then?" "Big Mac now, Celly. And no, he couldn't. Too exhausted after today's harvest--that boy went to bed early, and wouldn't have it otherwise. Turned me down when I asked." "Aw, that's a shame. I wanted to see how big he was." Luna spat out a bit of cider. "Sister, you don't mean..." Celestia's eyes widened, and frantically waved her hooves. "NOT in that way!" Granny blinked, then cackled, rolling back and forth in her seat. "Ha ha ha hee hee hoo... hah, you... you really meant--" "I DID NOT!" The laughter from the old mare merely escalated as Celestia's face turned a shade of red that would make tomatoes jealous. It refused to fade as Granny's infectious laughter had spread across the table, with Mayor biting her lip to keep from bursting, and Luna covering her mouth with a hoof. Celestia had sunk into the booth and covered her head with her hooves, intent on drowning out the laughter as much as possible. Then after a moment, she'd felt a hoof slap on her back a few times. "It's alright, Celly. We're just givin ye a bit of a hard time," Granny reassured. "I know ye didn't mean that, but I tell you what, your sister has a mighty dirty mind," she added as she casted a glance at Luna. "Guilty as charged!" Luna proudly declared before returning to her mug. "Anyhoot, the orchard's fine, Celly. Cider ought to roll in right on time this year." "Good. It would be an awful shame if we had a repeat of one of 'those' years," Celestia replied, adding a small shudder at the end of her statement. Granny and Mayor mimicked the reaction, while Luna was still nursing her mug, unsure of what they were referring to. "Drink to forget?" Granny quickly raised her mug. Celestia raised hers in response while lifting Mayor's mug. "To forget!" They both replied before taking some well-needed gulps. Luna shrugged, and added a "To forget" to their round of forgetfulness as well before topping off her mug of cider. Even if she didn't know what they were forgetting, she had some things to forget of her own accord. A few hearty chugs later, and all four had finished their cider. Although hardly any of them were truly blitzed to high heaven, Mayor and Celestia were the first to bear a light rosy tint on their faces. Luna and Granny had yet to show any signs, but that wasn't likely to stay true for long. "Need another round, girls?" Copper strolled by almost as soon as their mugs hit the table, balancing a round plate of cider in one hoof. All of them nodded, and Copper went to work, swapping the empty mugs with fresh ones in seconds. As he did so, he glanced at Mayor Mare, who braced the ice pack on her head with a vice-like grip that didn't seem to quit. "Head still hurts, Miss Mare?" Copper asked. "In more ways than one, Copper." Copper laughed. "I should think so! Nopony's done what you did before since... well, never!" Mayor groaned even louder. "You're making this sound worse." "Worse? Worse?! Mayor, I'm indebted to you at this point. Your face will be the talk of the bar for years! Decades, even! You should hardly be ashamed of this! "And, well, I really want to give you something for making such an impression on this place. Hang on." Copper rushed back to the bar for a moment to set down the tray of empty mugs, then walked over to the wall of liquor bottles and plucked one off the shelf. As he came back, the bottle's familiar label came into view, and Mayor gasped. Copper set the bottle of Shakey Bones Brandy on the table. "I'd like you to have this for your collection." "What? But you travelled ten towns to find that!" "I can travel ten more to find another. But even if I don't find one, you should still keep this. If anything, I'd like this to do something for you as much as you've done for my bar. Please, take it." Any rebuttal to Copper's gift died on her tongue. "I... don't know what to say." "You don't have to, Miss Mare. Your actions have spoken more than enough. Now then, I won't keep you ladies from enjoying your night." As Copper turned around, Mayor muttered a few words he didn't quite catch. Yet even so, he knew what they were, and a smile formed. "Thank you." And with that, the four mares at the booth spent the rest of their evening, drinking away the night until it became but a blur in their minds. For three of them, it would remain a foggy instance of happy memories and good times. One, however, would leave that bar, carrying a memento that ensured she would clearly remember this trip for a long, long time.