The stormhoof chronicles: Tragic Elegance

by Stormhoof

Consequences and cocktails

Rarity stood there, face still red in anger but now twisted into a look of shock, pressed against her wall was the pegasus who just moments ago had slapped her flank, the only thing she could make out was a bluish glow about his neck, Looking around she seen Cobalt glaring at him, horn glowing, it was he keeping the soldier pinned to the wall.

"This young mare is going out of her way to work on a project she knows little about for less then a tenth of the bits a professional blacksmith would charge and you have the audacity the gall to slap her flank as if she was a run of the mill tavern hussy!?" Cobalt said, his voice firm,loud, and angry.

"I...hng...ah...c-can't...b..." the deep orange stallion tried to choke out but to no avail, the magical telekinesis felt like a rope pull taut around his throat. He kicked his hooves struggling wildly before Cobalt continued.

"Respect,Honor,Dignity, and justice is what we are sworn to uphold and here you think that just because we are outside of canterlot that the rules no longer apply to you?" he continued growing angrier, allowing the Sergeant just enough air to keep him conscious but nothing more.

Rarity stood in awe having no clue what could resolve the situation, sure she was mad, but was this Unicorn going to kill the pegasus now pinned to her wall over something so simple?

Blaze continued his struggle his eyes flitting as he now felt light headed.

"You will apologize to Miss Rarity this instant!" Cobalt barked out the order,his voice willed with malice and venom as he forces the Pegasus into a bowing position in front of the shocked mare "Now!".

Blaze hasped for air, his vision bleary,he felt the pull of magic on him as he looked up to Rarity "I-I a-am..." he started but was cut off by Cobalt ramming his hoof into Blazes' side

"Louder!" He barked out fully aware of a crowd gathering outside the boutique

"I a-am Sorry M-miss Rarity, I....S-should not have done what I d-did and m-my actions were foolish...p-please f-forgive me" blaze finished his body shaking and he went limp as he passed out.

"I-I ddont know what to say Mr...erm...Commander Cobalt, it was far from necessary, but I thank you for um...assisting me, could we possibly finish the fitting in measurements later? In all honesty this whole ordeal has me rather shaken up" Rarity said, poking out her bottom lip after finishing, her eyes pleading fir her to have a mental break from all the drama of the day.

Cobalt breathed deeply collecting his thoughts before he started to speak "That would not be any problem at all, I am truly sorry for the commotion this all caused, I usually just make a point to issue a punishment the instant I witness any foul play, and I am furthermore sorry you were at the receiving end of crude antics" He finished giving his head a quick bow adding on "Take all the time you need, me and my troops will not need this finished for a few months, a small break will not eat into either of our time." he turned to the door stepping out magically dragging the unconscious soldier behind him.

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Having left the boutique Cobalt ordered an earthpony among his troops to return blazes unconcious body to the chariot and made for sugarcube corner.

"Commander Strikes should I have Rarity finish those other measurements later?" Came the voice of Dusk Wing from behind

Cobalt chuckled before saying "You owe me one drink, and yes we will do it later". Dusk shrank back with a nervous laugh saying "Oh sorry si...I mean Cobalt...wont happen again sir...oh oops...I.." Dusk struggled with his words and then found Cobalts hoof over his mouth.

"Come on kid I said lighten up a bit. We are around people who rarely see importance in rank... come on, we shouldn't return to the boutique till tomorrow and you owe me some drinks" he finished again with a laugh adding "With todays incident I think I will ask the young mare to maybe make Blazes armor bright pink"

Dusk managed a small chuckle and they started walking towards the bar from sugarcube corner. Cobalt stepped through the doors and looked around to see a plum colored mare behind the bar who flashed them a smile.

"Hey Boys, I'm Berry Punch, what can I get for you?"

"Hello ma'am I am Cobalt, and this here is Dusk, is there anything you could recommend?"Cobalt said looking at various bottles behind her.

She smiled and said without missing a beat "Well my personal favorite is the raspberry blackberry daiquiri. but if your looking for something with a little more buck to it then I would go with a glass of Celestia-royal" she smiles holding up a clear bottle with dark liquid.

Cobalt thought for a moment "Alright i'll have it on the rocks, Get Private dusk here a glass of hard cider" He smiles at the mare who quickly got there drinks.

"This ones on the house sweetie" She said sliding the cider to dusk who proceeded to blush. Cobalt smiles as he took a drink of the Celestia royal, it burned his lips and sent chills through his body as it went down. He could see Dusk fighting to swallow the cider, gasping a bit and slapping his lips.

"I am gonna guess you have never had anything with more kick then water eh?" Cobalt teased.

"Well when I was sworn into the guard I had wine but that was really it" Dusk said taking a small sip this time. Cobalt took his time with his drink, but not so much that the ice would completely dilute it.

As time passed and they drank a few more ponies entered the bar, Blaze had looked for them and told Cobalt that he apologized to rarity and was willing to accept the consequences of what he did. Eventual more joined as the evening rush hit, Cobalt even noticed Rarity and 6 other friends sitting at a small table, among them was a small purple dragon.

"excuse me berry punch? send those ladies a glass on me, Preferably something you might know they like" Cobalt said, now on his third glass.

"Yeah they come in every week or so I know what to get them, and I will send it right over." she giggled a bit, cobalt couldn't tell what for.

He turned to Dusk and said "now I am pretty sure we are up to 13 drinks you still owe me."

"Yes cobalt...maybe you should do shots?" dusk suggested, the 4 glasses of hard cider seemed to help him relax quite a bit. Cobalt was even starting to buzz from his CR on the rocks, It had been a long time since he indulged himself in any spirits. So long in fact that he was getting a buzz off a mere three glasses. He ordered the rest of his drinks not as shots but full glasses straight, He wanted to finish the night with a bit of a bang.

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He was through his eighth drink and the group of Rarity and her friends wandered over, by this time he was thoroughly sauced. He took his last drink and berry Punch refilled the glass before he could even look up, taking the drink of his now ninth glass he said "Alright...only five more to go...woohoooo." he looked up to see rarity looking at him and Dusk.

"Darling I wanted to thank you once again for handling that...Blaze earlier, He even seen fit to apologize to me on a more personal note." Said the white unicorn, Cobalt smiled and spoke up before his thoughts eluded him "He is a good soldier he just forgets his boundaries some times." taking another drink he looked up at her friends "Would you care to introduce me to your friends?" He asked managing to keep his words from slurring.

"Oh but of course! Mr.Strikes I would Like you to meet Twilight sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, And Spike. Spike, Girls, This is Commander Cobalt strikes, He is the one who contracted me for the Armor fitting that kept me busy earlier." She said naming them left to right, They had all dressed up a bit for the get-together, Rarity in a dark sweater, Twilight in a stylish lavender saddle, Dash wore a short jacket, Applejack her signature hat and a jacket like Dash's, Pinkiepie was sporting a multicolored umbrella hat, and Fluttershy had a saddle like Twilight's only with a leaf print. He gave them all a nod before shotgunning then next four of his drinks in rather quick succession.

"Woah pal aren't you worried about a hangover with all your drinking?" Came the voice of the Cyan pegasus Rainbow dash.

"Oh no, I have never really gotten them, dull twinge in my head is the worse its ever been." He replied taking a drink of his final glass "Plus This is the first time in months I don't have to act all official around anypony, feels great", Another drink, his eyes went a bit bleary as he looked about the bar.

Dusk in the meantime had struck up a conversation with the yellow pegasus in the leaf print saddle, Though Cobalt was not really able to make out anything but the saddle so he gave dusk a quick knock on the arm.

"Hey Private, what are you doing talking to a TREE...I didn't even know this bar had any trees, you should socialize with other ponies...not trees..." Cobalt said, now slurring slightly.

"Uh..s-I mean Cobalt,you oughta go get some sleep, your drinks are addling your brain" Dusk said as he and the others fought back laughter.

"You are probably right...Ima go to those *hic* quarters the mayor was kind enough to lends...remember, the reast of the fitting is at...um...11 AM sharp...yeah...be there Private!" Cobalt said, getting up and stepping out of the pub, after he left the rest of them could be heard cracking up.

"Well fluttershy you did say you wanted to be a tree! all we have to do is get everypony drunk hahaha" Came the voice of rainbow dash. This prompted another wave of giggles from the group of mares.

The rest of the night was rather uneventful all that really went on was dusk talking to them and spike eventually falling asleep, he had to go anyways, didn't wanna be late for the fitting.

"Well ladies im off,enjoy the rest of the night" he said as he went to find his quarters.