1668915>>1668934

Chuckling himself, the stallion slammed the shot back, only to give a thoughtful look after setting his glass down. "Not bad," he admitted, "But not great either. Tastes like you took some '87 Griffon svedka, mixed in some seawater and... Lime? Yeah lime, and decided to call it a day. I'll be the first to admit that '87 svedka was a good brew, but that was underwhelming. I-" He stops as a secondary burn hits him, eyes widening, "No bucking way. thats... How the buck did you manage to replicate the Crystal Empire's famous afterburner effect with something that tastes like it came from the Griffon Kingdoms?!" Hoooo boy, looks like the kid knows his brews a little better than Terra mighta pegged him for. Especially since the excited grin he was toting lit up his entire freaking body. Seriously, it was almost like his color was returning or something...

Back down under the sea, Spiral's shoulders fell a little more upon seeing Driz's stunned responce, "I-Its alright... I uh... I sorta saw this coming..."

Cue awkward silence. Now.

1669029

The bartender gave Ginger a nod. "Glad you like it son. I'll show you how to mix it later. But for now, you might want to order another one. Your friend there has already finished her second."

Terra was just lowering her glass as the bartender finished his sentence. "What's wrong Red? Done after just one?" She winced slightly as the afterburn kicked in. She then placed a few more bits on the counter.

1669097

Ginger grinned widely at the mare, a glint in his eye. "Buck no, girl, that's weak compared to the Ragnarok. Speaking of which... You stock spectra here? I'd like to show her the brew that can black me out in just two shots."

1669167

The bartender raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, we got some of that. But we don't do much with it." He then invited Ginger behind the bar to demonstrate what he's got. Terra was sitting quietly as she waited to see what Ginger would mix up.

1669227

Ten minutes, a Taelic song about drinking booze, (Juodaan Viinaa (minus the filler at the beginning and end of course, that'd just be stupid to watch)) and a whole lotta flashy mixing and mashing of various spectra later, and the pegasus produces one full pint of his (potentially) deadly brew. "There we are, Straight, non-diluted, 100% pure Rainbow Ragnarok. Were the spectra fresher it'd be even more potent, but honestly who needs anything stronger?"

The stallion pours two shots out of the bottle before sliding it back to the barkeep. "Keep it secret, keep it safe. And for the love of Celestia, don't attempt to recreate it. If done wrong, that shit can seriously kill a pony with a half-shot. I was unlucky enough to loose a friend to it, and I won't stand for anyone else sharing his fate." Dark warnings out of the way, he turns to Terra as he mixes one of the shots with a glass of clear liquid and slides the other to her.

"As for you, that stuff burns hotter than stock rainbow-factory unprocessed rainbow. Don't expect to see straight after slamming one back. There's a reason I'm deluding my portion: One of us needs to be able to carry the other back, after all."

1669356

Terra chuckled a bit. "Whatever you say Red." She then slammed it back.

One Ragnorok and a couple of Blasts later, the two were having trouble sitting straight. "You know, Torch was always mom's favorite. That stick in the mud never did anything to get in trouble. I on the other hoof was to busy being an embarrassment to the family." She hiccuped a bit. "Ah, but who needs them when I got some alcohol in one hoof and a good chum in the other." She put a foreleg around Ginger's shoulder. "You're alright Red."

1671008

He throws his foreleg around Terra's shoulders in return, "Yer alright yerself, Terri." Hiccups before attempting to correct himself. "Terra. Tannis. Janette. Ah buck it, I forge' yer name... Nope, definitely not Hidi." Breaking out into a fit of giggles, he makes to stand, "Yep, that's 'nuff. Can' thin' strait. Nee sleep, er sun, er summat."

1671854

"Well you's in luck Red. We's be in a hotel. Let's go gets a room." She then fell face first off the bar stool as she tried to swim away. "Oh yea. No water."

1672117

"Yea, we's ashore," Ginger agreed with a giggle, helping her back to her hooves. "C'mon, Le's ge' sumplace safe." With that he starts to half-drag her off, his long since dried wings fluttering rather uselessly by his sides. Good thing he wasn't gonna try flying them anywhere, eh?

1669029>>1672117

Driz, meanwhile, was having the most awkward moment of her life.

What was she supposed to say? What was she supposed to do in a situation like this? She had never had any experience like this, and the pain inside of her was just awful. She wanted it to go away, quite badly. And the only way to make that happen was to say something to Spiral, who looked downcast, like the pegasi had ordered a thunderstorm to rain on her and her alone.

She decided to try to keep up the conversation, not quite sure if this would work, but otherwise willing to give it a shot.

"Do you want to go look for your school now?"

1672280>>1673531

They took the ride up the elevator to the room with a missing door. "Damn. That hole reminds me of last years new years party." She commented with a giggle. "I brought the whole house down." She laid face first on the bed. "Hows you feelin Red? Cause I thinks my plan backfired."

1673531>>1674148

The question seemed to catch Spiral Shell off gaurd, but in a good way. So, she still wants to be around me? "I-uh, s-sure! W-we should get to the house soon enough.."

"Ahm drunk, that's wat ahm feelin," Ginger admitted with a grin as he divebombed Driz's couch, not having realized that they'd taken her room, "Wai? Wa plan?"

1674324>>1673531

"Elders say we needs to mate with you and yer blue friend. I was hopin to gets yous hammered enough ta make love. But I thinks Im more drunk than you." She then laughed some more. "To bad. Yous would of made a fun mate."

1674803

Ginger chuckles openly at that, "Shorry, I aint putten out drunk. Shtoo sloppeh. Mahbe afteh sober..." He blinks after his drunken mind can prosses the first part of her statment, the gears in his brain painfully trying to grind together and produce an answer, "Whait, Elhders..? Wha.. Wha deh do..?"

1674867>>1660123

"Sober? I'lls keep that in mind." She then registered his last comment. "Oh yeh. Theys wants mor..." She then drifted off to sleep.

"Damnit Theo, snap out of it." Sea Gem said as she continued to try and cancel the illusion.

(Hey Illusive. You still alive out there?)

1675174

"The' wants mores..?" Ginger repeated, not able to even ponder what she was going to say before he half-forgets it and snuggles into the couch, passing out soon afterwards.

1675207>>1675174

"A-Alright, then." Well, that was easier than I hoped. "Let's go." Driz got to her hooves and stretched out her wings, allowing a startled Spiral to take the lead as she followed after. There was little to no conversation, most of it being Driz opening her mouth, making strange guttural noises, and then closing her mouth again. After what had happened at the park, she just didn't have the heart to talk at all...but she had to soon enough, because they were almost there.

1675288

The building they were approaching seemed to be an apartment complex of sorts, at least by surface standards. It was big enough to house a couple families by the look of it, though that wasn't the case. In reality this house was set up to comfortably support your average sized school, probably capping out at ten residents before things started to get cramped. Like the surrounding buildings it seemed to follow the near-Cloudsdale architectural style, but what set this place apart from the others was the moss other natural things that had been allowed to grow on it, making the building look more like its actual age than its neighbors.

"So... Y-you sure you still want to come over?" Spiral finally asked as they reached the edge of the property, "I-I'd understand if it'd be too... Too awkward... after..."

1668149>>1675174>>1660123

(I'm assuming he kinda got overwhelmed with all the replies to that one post. Glad they got split up there's less to sift through per post myself.)

After Zeke was silent for a few minutes, presumably not having heard the question, Screwball poked her head out of her cap to try and answer for him, still overly timid compared to her usual exuberant self. "S-Sombra hasn't been in power for centuries, Torch."

1678608>>1660123

"Centuries?" Torch questioned while raising an eyebrow. "If he wasn't controlling the planet, then what could he have been doing this whole time? Sitting on ice?"

A small crowbar was now floating next to the jar, trying to pry off the lid. Somepony must of used super glue or something on that sucker.

1678782>>1675288>>1678608 Zeke raised an eyebrow in kind. "He's been in stone for like, a few thousand years. Princess Celestia petrified him or some shit."

1678554>>1678982>>1678782

"Of course I want too! I'd love to meet your friends that are sort of your family." Driz forced an awkward smile onto her face, not revealing the true reason she wanted to see it was for her research. In fact, things were too awkward for her to hang around Spiral, so she had decided she would try and talk to as many different seaponies as possible, not quite ignoring Spiral but not quite openly speaking with her either. Like she had realized long ago, she was no good with this romance business.

(Forgive me if I'm wrong, but are we going to need a clop tag at all? Because to one who just happened upon the roleplay it might look like it does.)

1679638

(I don't think so, considering out of the several RPs where with clop in them, only one of them is marked anything beyond NSFW... Though I could easily add it if you'd like.)

If Spiral happened to pick up on Driz's intentions, she didn't show it. Instead she smiles somewhat awkwardly back, "O-okay then..."

One brisk swim up the lawn to the door later, Driz finds herself in a seapony house for the first time. Not surprisingly, it looks pretty much like a lot of the other non-cloud homes Driz happened visit, just... Underwater. Huh.

Non-epicness aside, before Spiral can even say, "I'm home!" She's glomped to the ground by one of her roommates shouting "Welcome back!" Seems at least one of her 'family' is just a bit over affectionate.

1678782>>1678982

Screwball nods and adds, "And when he got out and tried to re-take the Crystal Empire he got beaten again. No idea what happened to him this time, though..."

1680356

"Hi?" Driz said, lifting one hoof tentatively and then shrinking backwards as the seapony's eyes turned to her. She really wasn't sure what to do or say, so she just looked around the room instead. It was a normal room, with signs of a lot of ponies living there together littered around in obscure hints such as items casually draped over underwater furniture or an item of clothing placed atop a table. It was really quite fascinating to see that all of this stuff could survive under the water. Was it made out of some sort of special material? The pegasus mare made a mental note to ask this later.

1681887

Oblivious to Driz's timidness, the seapony got right in her face, "Ohaithere! Are you a friend of Sh- OHMYGAWSHURAPEGASUS!" Upon this realization the mare started swimming back-flips underwater, excited far beyond what one would assume her right to be was. Spiral awkwardly chuckles at her friends antics and moves to Driz's side to explain. "Eheh... That's Sea Bound... She's... Well, she's kinda like you, actually: Upstart writer and all..."

1680371>>1678982

Torch bowed his head in sorrow. "Perhaps the All Father was just to ambitious. I just though for sure he would of had the land conquered in the same manner he had the sea."

A mini jackhammer was now pounding away at the lid. Somehow this goes unnoticed by the group.

1684578>>1678982

"Well," Screwball began, slipping back into her hat and sitting up so it was just her sitting on Zeke's head, the cap having released her fully, "He did have the Crystal Empire under his hoof at one point, enslaved the ponies there to mine for crystals for some reason. Then Celestia got involved and threw him out, since he was a cruel ruler and stuff. He may have been kind to his own kind, but he was kinda a flank to everypony else." She hops off of the zebra's head and floats her way over to Torch's, "And nopony wants to be ruled by a flank, right?"

1684823>>1678982

The forces trying to open the jar were getting desperate now. Their latest tactic was placing a sign next to the jar that said Free Cookie to Whoever Opens This! A small half sea-pony colt just happened to see this sign.

"A Flank!" Torch screamed at Screwball. "You will not speak so lowly of the All Father! He moved our kind from the dirt and into power in less than a lifetime! You shall show the respect he deserves!"

The colts eyes gleamed. "Free cookie! Oh boy!" With a quick twist and a pop, the lid of the jar came off with little effort. A sudden whirlpool emerged from the jar and started to head towards Screwball and Zeke. While this was happening, a cookie appeared in the colt's hoof and the sign changed to Well I loosened it >:(

1684974>>1678982

If Screwball noticed her impending doom, she didn't show it in the slightest.

"I refuse to show respect for somepony who murdered countless innocents and enslaved an entire race of ponies," The filly sneered, shoving her face right into Torch's, "Even Discord didn't kill, and he's a bucking demi-god!"

1685684>>1684974>>1681887 Zeke's eyes widened slightly, his ears perking up. "Screwy... Do you hear something?"

1686008>>1685684>>1681887

Suddenly the whirlpool was right on top of them and was trying to pull Screwball in. Torch and Zeke grabbed onto each of Screwball's hooves to try to save her from it. While Screwball was not a believer, Torch wasn't about ready to let a filly get swallowed up by a whirlpool.

That was until he saw where the anomaly came from. Seeing the pickle jar trying to capture her, his mind finally pieced together the situation. "Zeke! Let Go! The work of our chaotic lord is being done!" He then let go, leaving Zeke to try and pull her out by himself.

1686151>>1685684>>1681887 "Nooo!"

As soon as he felt the whirlpool's pull, Zeke started pulling Screwball closer to him. Even as he was slowly sucked in alongside her, he clambered up her body and held her close, refusing to let go.

"No! You're not taking her!"

1686198>>1686151

For the first time since he had met her, Zeke was able to see a look of sheer terror plastered on his pseudo-daughter's face. Whatever this whirlpool was, it was blocking her abilities. All of them. Ever since the incident she had alwas been in touch with them, at least partially. That's why she didn't break down when Theo trapped her in that Ursa-fur net, because she knew she could get out of it. But now? She couldn't feel it. Any of it. For the first time since she could ever remember remembering anything, she was helpless. Words can't describe it any better than that.

This, of course, had a rather deadly side effect as well: She had been supporting a spell to allow both Zeke and herself to breathe and speak underwater without one of those silly shells... And now, that spell was failing. Unless somepony intervened, they would drown. And their deaths would be on Screwball's hooves.

Needless to say, this scared her even more than being cut off.

1686376>>1686151>>1681887 Zeke looked down at her, holding her closer.

"Don't worry. I'll proteglughglughglughglughglugh!"

As the spell wore off, the water began firing down into Zeke's mouth, filling him, and he held his pseudo-daughter closer while thrashing with his rear hooves. Not like this! No! He wasn't going to die like this!

1686583>>1686376>>1681887

Zeke struggled against both the pull of the whirlpool as well as the lack of oxygen he was now facing. Torch saw Zeke's face begin to turn blue and broke the glass on the emergency breath shell box. Again, he would not like to see anypony die if he had a say in it. He quickly placed the shell on Zeke's face. "Zeke! Let go! Or else, it will take you too!" Torch shouted as he tried to pry the filly from his arms. Meanwhile, the jar and it's lid were now starting to hover closer to Screwball.

1688313>>1686583>>1684443

Driz leapt backwards, wings flaring defensively on automatic. "Hi, Sea Bound...I'm Drizzle Quill," she introduced herself, still quite a bit intimidated by the way the seapony had just come right up to her. "You like to write too?" A fellow writer was often rare to find, and Driz was impressed she had actually found one.

1688575>>1688313>>1686583

Despite the lack of air and chaotic abilities, Screwball clung to Zeke for dear life... Right up until the point she lost used the last of her oxygen and blacked out, going limp in the Zebra's arms...

Meanwhile, Bound ceased her flipping and refocused back on Driz, her eyes going even wider. "Y-you write?! BESTDAYOFMYLIFE!" She did swam in a complicated system of tight loops around Driz and Spiral before somehow stopping dead in front of them again. "What do you write about?"

1688751>>1688575>>1686583

The jar was now very close, and the suction of the whirlpool seemed to be stronger than ever. Torch was still trying to release Screwball from Zeke's vice like grip. "Damnit Zeke! If you won't do it for the sake of the chaotic lord, then do it for her!" He pointed a hoof at the passed out filly in Zeke's forelegs. "She will drown if you don't let go now!"

1689225>>1688751>>1686583

"What do I write? Well, it really depends...right now I'm not really writing about anything, I'm generating ideas," Driz explained, feeling herself loosen up despite Bound's endless energy. It was nice talking with someone that had the same passion as her. "I'm thinking about writing...something about a resort. A resort where things go completely and utterly wrong...there will be seaponies in it too. Trust me, lots and lots of seaponies."

1689368

"So," Bound began, flipping so she was upsidedown from Driz's upright perspective and visa-versa, "It's going to be based off of what happened up there, then?" She pointed 'down' towards the surface of the sea. "I heard tell of explosions and fights and things happening up there... Where you a part of that?!" Cue a couple more excited loops. "Ohmygoshyouwere, weren't you?!"

1689424

"Well...you could say I was. I kind of got wrapped up in the whole business once I made friends with Ginger and Screwball and Zeke..." Driz started, ecstatic that somepony actually wanted to listen to her rambling nonsense. "I do want to write something based off of that, though. That's a definite yes." She fluttered her wings excitedly. Are all of the seaponies in Spiral's school like this? They're great!

1689443

Sea Bound practically squee'd in excitement before swimming roughly seven laps around the property and stopping in front of Driz once more. "That'll be so awesome! I-I personally have been trying to find lore on pegasi, so you've got no idea how amazing it is to actually meet one that not only writes, but wants to write about us."

1693239

Driz nodded, adrenaline pumping through her veins now, a dull buzz of excitement in her ears, blocking all other sound out. "Do you two think you could show me around here?" she asked Bound and then Spiral, looking from one to the other curiously. "I'd love to see more, this seems like a very interesting place."

Indeed it did. Driz had heard of the underwater civilizations but to actually be among them and see where they live...the museum was different. It seemed like it could have been built above ground. But what about a regular home for seaponies? Was it any different than the homes above ground? She was about to find out.

Putting on a genuine grin, Driz waited for Bound's answer.

1705767

Bound saw Driz's grin and raised her one semi-psychotic smile, "Two bit tour coming right up!"

Before the pegasus could even begin to flinch her new seapony friend had grabbed her by the arm and begun dragging her thought the building, which was lightly furnished with various furnishings of both the old and new variety. Not that the two clashed in any way, however, somepony had set the place up so that the old and the new achieved a form of symbiosis with both one another and the clutter of living a with six or seven other ponies. Probably the most unusual thing that Driz noticed, however, was the fact there was both a kitchen and a den on both floors, yet only one bathroom (situated on the ground floor). Other than that and some odd decor choices here and there, along with the fact the floor was made of stone for some reason, there wasn't all that much different from a surface house.

The most surprising thing, however, was the fact that nopony else seemed to be home.

1705987

This was noted very quickly; Driz blinked and looked around, pricking her ears to make sure she hadn't been mistaken. Apparently not. There appeared to be no other resident in the house other than Bound, Spiral, and herself. "Bound?" she asked cautiously, still quiet but not nearly as quiet as she had been before. "Where are all the others in your school?"

1706041

"Oh? Them?" Bound asked from her place near the ceiling, "Lets see... I'm here, Razor's probably darting around about town, Blink and Slip went up to the surface for a performance, Spiral's right next to you, Scale's probably at work still, Copper's either asleep or off at the market, and I'm here!" The sea-mare blinks, "Wait, I counted me twice, didn't I?"

1706101

Driz's head spun, trying to keep up with it all. "Yeah, I think you did," she remarked slowly, still trying to make sure she had their names clear and not mixed up. "Wait a minute, so there's..." She counted in her mind, very slowly, making sure she hadn't missed one. "Eight? No, seven of you. I forgot that you counted yourself twice." She sighed, relief flooding throughout her body as she realized she had gotten them all.

1706142

"Yep, seven deadly sins and all that," Bound chirped, swimming around with not a care in the world or really understanding the gravity of what she just said.

"U-uh, Sea? We've been over that," Spiral pointed out, sounding mildly annoyed behind her usual timidness, "We're not the sins, no matter how many times you try and call our school that."

"But why nooooooooooooooooot?"
"Do you really want to introduce your family as 'the sins'?"
"Yep."

Spiral facehoofed at her friend.

1706169

Driz stifled a laugh. "You consider yourself one of the seven deadly sins?" she asked incredulously. It was kind of a pointless question, as she had just heard Bound say just that. "Which one are you, then?" She really wasn't trying to make fun of the sea-mare, she was just curious that one could have such a fun loving personality they would play with a heavy topic like this, and hoped it didn't seem like she was making fun. Bound seemed like the kind of mare who wouldn't notice this anyways.