Short: Whisking Away...
I stop to stretch my wings as I land in front of my workplace, Whiskey’s Bay. Quite honestly, one of the best places in my book. Granted, I own it, but it’s home to me. I keep a small smile on my face as I unlock the door and head inside. It’s almost six in the morning, the perfect time to set up for the day. Most bars would only open around noon, but mine doubles as a small restaurant. I originally didn’t like the idea, but it grew on me quickly. I didn’t know how much I liked cooking until I had to do it when the bar’s original revenue wasn’t cutting it. I walk in the dark heading to the bar counter. I hop over it with the help of my wings and walk to a door on the far left. I unlock it and head inside. The room’s darker since there aren’t any windows, but I know exactly where everything is. I reach towards my right and flip on a switch, which turns the lights in the small office on. The room’s cozy, with a nice dark carpet and cream-colored walls. In the middle of the room sits a wooden desk with a lamp on it. The desk is neat and orderly, with a stack of papers in a tray on one corner of the table. I walk around and sit on the cushioned chair that sits behind the desk.
I scoot in, placing my saddlebag on top of the desk. I sort through its contents, rummaging through smaller bags, papers, and candy bars. I’ve developed a bad habit of stress eating a couple months ago. Anon’s been trying to help me cut back on sugar, but I still sneak a few bits of candy or bars away from him when he’s not looking. Though, knowing Anon, he probably knows and just isn’t bothering me about it. I look at one particular candy bar and freeze. It’s not really a bar, per se, it’s more like a packet of two pieces of chocolate and peanut butter. I frown as I look at it, remembering that I already ate a lot of sweets yesterday... Buuuut, I haven’t eaten a lot of breakfast. With a bit of hesitation, I grab the packet and carefully open it. I take one and bite into it quickly, stopping myself from eating to quickly to enjoy it. The peanut butter just tastes too good! I smile dreamily to myself, popping the other end of the piece into my mouth. Simply delicious! I do the same for the second piece as I get up and start walking out of my office. I walk to the middle of the counter and reach down to find the light switch for this room. I find it and flip it on. In rows, the lights above me turn on. Now, I can clearly see everything. I smile as I see my workplace, proud of the progress I’ve made for it. After I hop over the counter again, I start taking various chairs and stools down from the tables and setting them up one at a time. I also make sure to take a rag and wipe the tables to make sure they’re clean.
As I do this, the door opens. I look up from my work to see a happy-looking pony walking in. “Hey Chipper!” I call, going back to cleaning.
“Hi Miss Whiskey!” She replies, walking up. Chipper’s been working here for at least a year or two. She’s always on time, if not early. Although, she’s not particularly the best at cooking, she’s great at waiting tables. “Bumble’s probably going to come in late today,” Chipper warns as she walks past me and towards the kitchen, which is behind the bar counter. Bumble’s another pony, who I had hired about two months ago. He’s clumsy as all get out, but really good at keeping track of orders. He’s technically a good waiter, but there’s a chance he might spill drinks, slip, or drop food. But hey, at least he has a really good memory.
“What is it this time?” I ask. Bumble’s normally a little late, but he makes up for it by sweeping and help cleaning tables after hours. He’s a good kid, always ready to help.
“He got stuck in his apartment-building’s elevator,” Chipper explains before heading into the kitchen. I snicker to myself as I clean.
“That sounds about right,” I say to myself. As I move on to another table, the door opens again and a small group of creatures come in. I look up to see four more workers of mine, all chatting with each other. Quadruplet griffons, all brothers. They’re all some form of orange, but there’s a black mark on a different part of their body, like a wing tip, edge of their head-feathers, their tail, all of which helps me identify which is which.
“-and I says to her, ‘meh bro’s a spot kinky, but I’m better!’” To this non-contexted joke, the brothers all laugh. “And that’s why I didn’t like her mum!”
“Boys, remember to actually have a chef’s special today! No more surprises!” I call to them as they walk to the kitchen.
“Oi, Boss-lady, no need to worry ‘bout us, we’ll be cookin’ up quite a treat today! Ain’t that right lads?” A different brother says, earning a whoop of agreement from the other three brothers.
“You better, I don’t want a repeat of the ‘Shrimp-Pranks’,” I say, recalling the time that they had decided to spice up the method of cooking seafood. "You're lucky your cooking doesn't taste like garbage, otherwise I would've-"
"Yeah yeah boss lady, you would've thrown us for the wolves!" One brother says before disappearing into the kitchen. I roll my eyes and finish up cleaning the table.
"Ms Whiskey!" A voice calls as the front door swings open, allowing a female hippogriff to fly in and crash into a table almost immediately. I sigh, looking at the scene of impact. The table's knocked over, the chairs seemed to slide away from her, and the hippogriff in question is stumbling towards me. "Free Spirit, are you alright?" I ask. Free Spirit kind of doubles as a cook and waitress. She's good at mixing drinks, and especially good at customer service. However, she's a bit odd when it comes to personal talk.
"Y-yeah," she says as she shakes her head to get rid of her dizzyness. "I just saw what today is and I really need to ask for a day off." I quirk an eyebrow at that. "I sorry it's on short notice, but my boyfriend just told me yesterday that he made reservations and-"
"It's fine," I cut in, giggling a little. "Go on, have some fun. I'm just glad you told me before the day starts," I say.
"Thank you so much!" She says, giving me a quick hug before starting her walk out.
"Hey, what's the occasion for anyway?" I ask her. She opens the door to leave and looks back with a twinkle in her eyes.
"It's Hearts and Hooves Day!" She says excitedly. As she leaves, my face goes pale. Damn, is it today!? I run to my office, hopping over the counter. I throw open the door and wildly look around until I find the calendar. Yep, it's Hearts and Hooves Day. I start biting my claws as I realize I forgot to even plan to do something for Anon today. I sigh and massage my head in frustration. Well, Anon normally doesn't come home until much later, so I'll just get something on the way home. I quickly grab some candy from my desk and eat the with nervousness. I feel a bit better, but I'm still anxious. I sigh to myself again and walk back out. Today's going to be a long day...
I hand a shot of whiskey to the stallion in front of me as he tries to hold back tears. "Every gal I look at is taken I tell you. Taken!" He throws his head back to quickly down the shot. He grunts as he places the glass back down. He looks at me slowly. "Hey, do you wanna-"
"Sorry, taken," I say. The stallion sighs.
"Figures," he mutters. Honestly, this guy has some crappy luck.
"I'm sure you'll find someone one day," I reassure, taking his glass.
"... Can I get another?" He mumbles.
"No, you're at your limit," I say.
"Alright, uh-" he stops to take out some bits. "I think this covers it." I looks at the coins and sigh. I take about half of them and smile up at him.
"I'll give you a discount today, alright?" I ask. The stallion smiles weakly and gives a nod of thanks before walking away.
Today, the bar is about half full. It's almost five, so things are slowing down. It's been mostly quiet, surprisingly.
"Hey Whiskey!" A nervous voice calls. I spoke too soon. I look over to see Chipper with a frown.
"What happened?" I ask.
"One of the, uh, patrons wants to talk to you," she says.
"Which one?"
"A uh, a unicorn. She has a complaint about uh-“
“Excuse me!” I look over to find a rather well dressed unicorn. Her coat's a sort of pale blue, and her mane is a dull brown with green streaks. She wears a black dress and hat. It's obvious she's not from around here. "My drink tastes stale!" She calls. "Could I get a new one?"
"Uh, sure, but I'll have to taste it as well," I say. I mean, alcohol kills germs, so I'd think it'd be fine. The mare turns her nose up and pushes the glass towards me. Oh yeah, she's from Canterlot, not many other ponies have that kind of behavior. I can see Chipper tense up at that as I sigh. I walk out of the booth normally, grabbing a pitcher of whatever was close. I bet five bits that this chick thinks alcohol tastes like bucking candy. I walk up, ignoring the chuckles and snickers from the other patrons who know me well enough to read my expression. I grab the glass and down it. I smack my lips as I look up in thought and pour another into the glass. "Tasted fine to me," I say. The mare sips her glass and makes a face.
"This is stale too!" She says.
"No, it isn't," I say. "I'm gonna guess that you aren't a big drinker." To this, the mare blushes and glares at me.
"... No, I'm not," she says, pushing the glass to me. Huh, she didn't go nuts. Normally rich ponies would 'lose their shit' as Anon says. I shrug and down the glass. I'm not wasting good beer.
"That's fine, I think I have something you might like," I say. I whistle towards Chipper and make a gesture for her to get a menu. She nods and runs off. Almost instantly, she comes back with the list of drinks. The mare in front of me looks at me in confusion as I show it to her. "We do other drinks too, like water or milk. However, if you still want some alcohol for some sort of celebration, I suggest getting a milkshake. We can pour in some brandy, it tends to go well with it."
"But, doesn't it ruin the milkshake?" The mare asks.
"Nope, it keeps its sweet taste," I explain. The mare looks at the menu, reading the various names and prices, before nodding.
"Alright, I'll try the milkshake," she says. I smile and nod. I turn to Chipper, but she's already walking away with a notepad, jotting the order down.
"Alright, I think you'll get your order in a couple minutes. If you still don't like it, you know where to find me," I say, starting my short walk back.
"Erm, thank you, miss," the mare calls, unsure of how to take my calm attitude.
I inspect another glass I finished wiping down as I finish up a conversation with another patron. “... And Anon says, ‘Them, dude turns himself into a pickle. Funniest shit I’ve ever seen!’” To this, the creatures sitting around the bar laugh and raise their glasses before taking a big sip. Suddenly, a crash sounds in the crowd. I sigh as I hear a couple glasses shattering. “I swear to Celestia, if it’s what I think it is,” I mutter.
“I think you’re just compensating for something!” One voice yells.
“Oh, it doesn’t take a genius to know what you’re compensating for!”
“Every day,” I say to myself. “There’s always one fight like this, everyday.”
“Excuse me!?”
“You and your stupid ‘big brain’ is obviously waaay bigger than your-“
“Will the people yelling please shut up!” I yell into the crowd. “For buck’s sake, if you wanna talk about who’s bigger, go get a room!” To this, everyone snicker or laughs drunkenly. Anon taught me a valuable lesson, if someone’s doing stuff that no one wants to deal with or see, embarrass the troublemakers. I turn my attention back to the crowd around my bar, but suddenly, two stallions come up fuming. One has glasses. Oh boy.
“Hey! Bird lady! That was a good idea! Do you know any motels or something close by!?” One stallion yells.
“Yeah! We need to settle this!” The other yells.
“... Down the street, turn right and go a couple blocks,” I say. Just my luck, they took it seriously.
“Thanks!” They both says before starting an argument between themselves as they walk out. The patrons around me stare after the duo before turning to me.
“Is it me, or do they sound... gay?” One asks.
“Don’t want to know, and I don’t want to care,” I say, taking out a bottle of whiskey and pouring a shot for myself. I quickly down it and sigh. “At least nothing else got broken,” I mutter. I turn to the kitchen. “Hey Bumble- wait, no. Chipper! Can you please come over and take my spot as I clean up the mess?!”
“Yes ma’am!” Chipper replies from somewhere.
“Thanks!” I quickly look under the bar and find the broom and dustpan I keep hidden. I always keep a broom around just in case. I hop over the bar with it and head over to where I think the mess is. As I come up, sliding past drunkards and patrons, I fins a turned-over table with broken glass everywhere. I sigh, placing the dustpan a bit to the side. I start sweeping it all up into the dustpan, when a voice calls out.
“Excuse me? Miss Whiskey, was it?” I stop and turn to see the Canterlot pony from earlier. “I’m sorry for bothering you, but the milkshake I received was just so delicious! I just had to tell you my thanks!”
“No problem, come again,” I say, giving a smile. I go back to sweeping as the pony leaves.
I yawn as I finish up wiping a table. I look at the clock to see it’s almost ten. Anon’s probably gonna work late tonight, he’s been working harder recently. I giggle to myself as I remember how he was mad at Sergui for mixing something up. I have to admit, Anon’s funny when he’s angry sometimes. Of course, I try to calm him down when I can, but I’ve learned that he calms down by venting more than anything else. I quickly finish up what I’m doing and hear the boys in the kitchen start laughing. I turn to their general direction. “Hey! Can you guys close up for me?! I kind of want to get home early tonight!”
“Will do boss!” One says from the kitchen.
“You better lock up the bar right! I’m counting on you four!” I yell, snickering as I hear clattering pots and pans.
“Oi! Watch it Garry!”
“You watch it Wingnut!”
“If I could, I’d stick around for the free entertainment,” I say jokingly to myself. I head into my office and gather up my things. After that’s done, I lock up my office and trust the brothers to lock up the rest. I know they’re responsible enough to do that at the very least. I open the front doors of the bar and leave. The night air greets me with a chill, making me shiver a bit. I forgot that it’s not spring yet, I guess I should’ve brought a scarf or something. I stretch my wings and decide to just fly home tonight. I jump into the air, using my wings to help my lift off. I start going through the air, past building and posts. It feels good to use my wings every once and a while. I slowly shift to the left and to the right, enjoying the feeling of the momentum shifting with me. After a couple minutes, I spot my home on the ground and I tilt forward to get there quickly. I flap my wings forward to slow down and come to a stop in front of the front door. I sigh and open the door, promptly walk in and plopping onto the couch. Today was a long day... I think I’ll take a nap...
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Glad you’re back! And with such a nice slice of Whiskey’s life! I am glad you avoided the Canterlot noble is a horrible pony cliche. Making her compliment the “milkshake” was a wonderful bonus!
Hail! HaiL!! HAIL!!! HAIIIILLL!!!1!1 HAAAAAIIIILLLLL!!!
Anyways welcome back ^_^
I imagine anyone who has worked in a bar long probably has a story that weird or weirder.
this made my day :)
having whiskey's view of a day was a nice piece ^^
and she promptly forgot its hearth's and hove's day again xD
10142501
Yep. I also forgot.... Eh, I’ll just mention it in the next short.
Wow, finally, my craving for more of this has been satisfied.... for now....
Keep up the great work!
10142344
When I was in my 20s, we used to buy a bottle of whiskey, go to a McDonald's (where some of our friends worked), & get an unflavored milkshake. Take it outside, throw about 1/3 into the bushes, & fill it back up with whiskey. Go back inside & have our friend run it on the milkshake blender. IIRC, Seagram's 7 works best
I turned myself into pickle, Anon! I'M PICKLE DISCOOOOOOOOOORD!
All hail Dr. Pepper.
10143357
an update? finally? inconcievable! thank you!
Dr pepper for the win
10142830
HAIL HAIL THE GLORIOUS DR.PEPPER
ALL HAIL OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, HIS HOLINESS, DR PEPPER!
To Dr. Pepper, the cause of, and solution to, all life's problems.