The hangover 2: pony edition

Lance quickly jumped and waved his hooves in the air when Star shapeshifted. in a mildly hushed tone, he exclaimed, "Star, keep the changeling-ness on the down low, you're forgetting ponies don't take kindly to changelings, and drunk ponies don't take 'kindly' as a word... He also somehow managed to miss the part about getting him drunk, thankfully for Star. but Scint then quickly Star a concerned look when she mentioned being able to make any amount of money, "Should I be concerned about you saying that? because I'm concerned about you saying that."

Ignoring the fact that Star is plotting something bad, he whispered, "For you boo in the graveyard, what does that even mean?" He said with confusion.

He went back to normal speaking levels and said, "It's not even surprising how you use your profession to give yourself some kind of edge in this argument." He said with a sigh as he decided on his verdict.

After a moment, he gave it. "As annoying as it is, fine. But only because you're gonna owe me, and that what you do is something everybody seems to pay anything for in this city." He said with a bored expression.

{Sterz}

In a hush voice, she said, "I mean Kestrel," and gave him a grin. When she received the bottle of booze, she stifled an overexcited giggle of joy that overcame her. She stared malevolently at the bottle, and said to herself, "The ponies I'll get drunk with this.... Heheheheh..." After she said this, she looked up innocently at everypony, "...Was that out loud? Ahhh screw it. LET'S GO!" and she frolicked into the tavern, giving everypony that she saw inside a huge grin.

Scinti side-leaned to Scrapper at his left, yet his eyes followed the hyperactive mare into the tavern, "You get a sudden bad feeling about this or is it just me?

"When your cousin buys some of the strongest stuff I have? Yeah, I'd say she plans on having some fun in her own way." Scrapper said in response.
"Well? Are we going or what? Waste of a good drink if I'm not drinking it." He said after a moment of silence.

{Starzie}

Star safeguarded her newly-gotten gains to the confines of her satchel, and waved to everypony within her peripheral vision with her usual cheery attitude. This'll be fun. Now to get him distracted. Hmm....  As she looked around, she looked for various different objects, and thought about either hitting him with a beer bottle until he was unconscious, or to get him in a bar fight.

Lance much less intentionally made way for the waving mare, "then you drink it, Scrapps, I'm not having any of it. at about a five foot (hoof?) distance from Star Lance slowed his approach, eyeing his surroundings as if he had suddenly lost his courage, wondering which she was looking around for. "um, y'all are the tavern dwellers, how do we get a sit-spot exactly? or is it no different from a fancy restaurant waiter coming to get us, 'table for three, please." he shifted into his Canterlot accent, joking on 'fancy talk.'

{Starzie} 

Star glared angrily at Lance, and slapped him across the face. In a hushed voice, she said, "Lawd Celestia, mind yo' manna's, son, you need to get out more. Watch." And with that, she gave the bar-settlers an indifferent stare, and with a mighty draw up, spat on the floor, and kept walking towards the counter. As she arrived, she put down twelve bit pieces. "I want two of the strongest stuff ya' got. And water for the shivering coward over there," she said with a glance at Lance to direct her meaning.

Scint was still trying to recover from getting slapped across the face with a solid bone hoof. He then raised a hoof of his own, "I guess I'd be the shivering coward. Question, was spitting on the floor necessary. threat, don't EVER blind-side me like that, it hurts SO bad. Lance started to rub his cheek, but quickly stopped with an 'EEP!' as if he had just prodded at burnt skin.

{Star}

Star rolled her eyes at Lance and shook her head. "See what I mean? Weeeniiie," she said to the bartender as she facehoof'd and gently massaged her forehead afterwards. "Sometimes I question how I'm related to him..."

Scint sighed, "You 'n me both. for different reasons, at least but let's not question genetics here." Lance then couldn't help feeling as if something was missing, and focused his attention back on Scrapper, "y'know I surprised you're not jumping in on this. no laughing or teasing me, Scraps?

"I don't exactly need to at the moment, besides, are you actually missing my jokes about bedding you? I mean, I can do better than joke. I can afford a room right now, ain't too hard to go upstairs now is it?" Scrapper said with a grin. However, he wasn't in much of a good mood. He somehow sense Star had some plan to cause trouble and at least one pony had to be sober to make sure things didn't go horribly later.

Scintillance seemed to ignore half of what Scrapper said. he waved his hoof as if to mutely tell Scrapper to stop talking. 'Missing? no not really, but I would rather them over Star's more physical approach."

{Starzie}

The bartender gave an exasperated sigh as he took the bits and went to work getting the beverages, grunting as he set the containers on the table, and went to serving the other visitors and regulars.

Starlight popped open the bottle of alcohol, and took a heart swig from it, downing half of it by the time she set it down on the counter. "Damn good stuff, that is," was her comment on the burning sensation in her through and stomach.

Scint took a sip of his water, " 'damned' is right, that stuff's way more trouble than it's worth." Lance suddenly looked pretty depressed as he felt the weight of the golden watch where his family heirloom rings used to be. "cost me a lot more than a few bits, that dreaded drink.

{Starbright}
Star walked into the bar, casting back her hood on her cloak so that she could let her mane free, and started forth to Barkeeper. As she trotted forth, she had attracted looks from the entire tavern. As she arrived at her destination, she exchanged a few words with the bartender, gave him two bits, and after a short waiting period, trotted off to the seat in the far corner with her glass of water.

{Starzie}
Star choked a little on her booze when she saw the changeling come into the tavern.
Not even a disguise? Either ballsy or dumb, that one. As she though this, she felt her mischevious itch that needed to be scratched. She waited for the mare to sit down, she shouted, "IT'S A CHANGELING! THEY WANT TO REPLACE US ALL WITH THEIR VILE KIND! GET HER!" as she said this, she was almost certain her friends were gonna smack her silly. It's gonna be totes worth it though.

not even a second passed before Scint smacked Starlight by he back of her head, "You are a disgrace to the entirety of the Changeling Kingdom." he said, nonchalantly. However Scint was taken by surprise to see a changeling boldly enter the bar like that. he wasn't alone in the matter, as the general talk of the bar changed course to muttering and whispers. He just hoped Starlight didn't spark any bad flames with her outrageous outburst.

"The heck are you thinking, Star, shouldn't you of all ponies be a little more considerate? Scint's been getting better at disguising important details in public.

[Starzie]

"Lance, first of all, I left them and I have NO allegiance with the hive anymore, and I plan to never go back and look for them. Secondly. I'm allowed some fun. You two are the only one that knows I'm a changeling. And this is ALSO called 'blending in with the crowd.' I act like them, so that they think I'm one of them." Star said to Lance in a hushed and angry tone. And with that, she took a sip of her drink, and watched the show.

[Starbright]

Starbright immediately felt every eye in the room fall upon her as the stranger shouted. Bloody hell. I'm going to strangle that mare when I get the chance.  As she thought this, however, she felt uneasy as the malice she saw in each stallion and mare's eye as she made every sip of her water. Finally, it was too great and she got up, and started off. That was, however, before a quite rude individual tripped her, and she landed on her face with a smack.

[rude stranger]

a dark blue stallion if an Elvis-esque mane cut stood over Starbright. his voiced sounded crooked, and every syllable was stretched far too long to sound sober, as if the stench of alcohol didn't give it away. "Thee haay doo yoou thiink YOOU'RE going, *hic* I haven't ev'n start'd to talk to ya'n you up 'n git ready to leave? 'Re all youu bugger'lings dis RUDE? Mayybe I sho'Disclipline ya!"

Lance loudly shot up from his seat, leaving his canteen behind. "Excuse me sir, you're causing a commotion that isn't going to end well, I'm gonna have to ask you lay off the Changeling before I'm right.

Scrapper was tired of sitting silent up to this point, now more so that he might get to hit something.
He got up and moved over to the smug bastard. "Somebody should teach you a lesson in manners, mate." he said in a very threatening tone.

[Starlight]
 Starlight looked at the commotion starting to form, and silently applauded herself. Job well done, if I do say so myself. she thought, and with that, she took another swig, and thought about how to butcher the night further. A light bulb went off in her head, and she threw her voice, with a little flicker of her horn. In a drunken slur, she said, "Giv' 'er da waat fur, beet the snooot out a da bugga! make a' screeeem!" and focused it to sound like it came from the tavern-goers on that side of the room.

[Starbright]
Star's eye twitched as she heard the word "Discipline" from the blue stallion, but instead of retaliating, she tried desperately to get up, which was futile, considering that the drunkard was standing on her cloak. "E-er, Sir? Please get off of my cloak before I say or do something that I will probably regret," she said in the sweetest voice she could manage at that point, which is to say, a cold, hard tone that could probably cut diamonds.

The drunkard stallion replied Starbright's request with a snarl, and returned his attention to the two ponies who seemed to dare stand against him "Wha'do YOU think yer doing, standing up for these, bugs? ERRYbody knows all they wanna do is screw up everything, if yous wanna fiight on it I'll fargin' GLADLY stand on  the winning side, AIN'T THAT RIGHT BOYS!?" and the tavern goes wild, a pair of ponies got up from their seats and trotted up to join the commotion

another tavern goer, drunk off his everything stepped up and stood in the pair's way, waving his orange furred hooves in the air and yelling proudly, "nuh uh I know for a FACT changelings aren't all bad, in fact my buddy right 'ere is a changeling! a unicorn in question leaped up and covered the orange pony's mouth, hovering in the air, changeling wings clearly showing through his disguise.

similar events proceeded all around the bar, changeling sympathizers here, anti-changelings there, and the elusive few would actually reveal to BE changelings. frequent shouts of "they're already among us!" and then some less respectful insults emminated, and before long fighting broke out, the sounds of glass breaking, hooves kicking, chairs flying...

speaking of chairs, one went right for the blue stallion that started it all, knocking him unconscious and lying atop starbright, mumbling something about carrots.

Scint, amazed how quickly all of this happened, just stared blankly at the chaos. "I, am at a loss for words. Scrapper?"

"Let's dance!" Scrapper shouted as he ran right towards the two that initially stood up, rushing in to take on both because he knew he could.

All the detail needed for when he gets there would be Paaaaiiiiin, for the other guys

[Starbright]
Star facehoofed at the commotion going on, and tried to get away yet again, only to feel the rabble-rouser himself fall on top of her. With a sigh, she tried to shake off the stallion, but to no avail. Calm down, Star. No need to start joining the madness myself... But that thought was immediately cut off as a broken chair leg smacked her in the face. With that, her horn sparked to life in a brilliant yellow hue, and light started to emanate in waves around herself, as she started to cast her Repel spell.

[Starlight]
Starlight giggled slightly to herself at the trouble she caused, and uncorked the mixture that Scrapper had given to her. With a giddy grin, she levitated Lance's cup to her, and all but dumped it in until it was 3/4th full, and gently set it back on the counter. Afterwards she took a swig from her beverage, nearly choking as she laughed at the mess, and ducking her head when a chair seat sailed above her. This is so worth it. The best show ever.

Scint couldn't decide whether to join scrapper or not, he never even imagined getting into a fight with drunk ponies on the night's menu. Lance couldn't allow himself to use his conjuration magic, and frankly his hoof fighting is... less than up to par.

Before he could react, some other random pony just punched him, square in the muzzle, and knocked him back to the counter next to Starlight. He grinned a quick, "Oh wassup Star?" before grabbing his canteen, pushing himself back towards the oppressor and knocked him out with a hard metal canteen to the head. looking ahead he noticed the earlier changeling squirming under the blue pony prior, and rushed over, levitating the might-as-well-be-a-carcass off of her, not noticing the glow of her horn, or that his moving the blue pony's body accross her face- and horn.

[Starlight]

Starlight gave the most innocent grin to Lance as he was knocked back next to her. "I'll leave this to you. Don't want to get my hoovsies dirty," was all she said. When Lance took his canteen, she stifled hearty laughter, as her plan was coming to fruition. 

[Starbright]

Starbright shuddered as the body nudged and rubbed her horn as she cast Repel, botching it up in the process and causing zero gravity at her point in the battle. She felt herself rise slowly, and spin rapidly, nearly causing herself to hurl, so she tried to hold on to something to stop her, which happened to be the table that was surprisingly still intact and not floating. As she regained her sense of direction and steadied herself, she pushed herself off towards the stairs towards the second level of the tavern, where the rooms were held.

Scint was dealing with mixed reactions, including "oh dear Celestia gravity whai." and "Changeling saved, problem sol-"

-He was cut off to see a tavern-goer wielding a broken glass of whatever-alcohol-that-was hovering his way after her. He sighed, and used his magic to pull a table behind him, and pushed his hooves against it, shooting himself in the direction of the stairs Star was heading for, noticing a pile of bodies hovering gently nearby Scrapper, who was still doing his own thing. "Glad you're having fun , Scraps!" he cheered as he flew past him.

Just as Lance said that, Scrapper had a chair smashed over the back of his head. Causing him to fall over, but bitch, that ain't stopping him!
He got back up and turned to the offender, "Hahahah! That one hurt!" He shouted as he then went to beating up the pony and then everybody else.

[Starbright]

Starbright screamed as she felt some hooves wrap around her leg, and was pulled into the forearms of a yellow pegasus with blue streaks in his mane. "U gon be mien furevur, letl bugge," he said, hugging her tightly and assailing her nostrils with his awful beer breath's stench. She struggled and fought, but his intoxication acted as a painkiller, and he was physically much stronger many times so than her, so all she could do was scream. "HEEELP!"

[Starlight]
Starlight sat and watched the action, beer in hoof, and a grin across her face.

Gravity would finally start fixing itself, and Scint found himself faceplanting the floor, then do an odd front-roll onto his hooves as Starbright called for help, and rushed forward, and grabbed a chair-only to realize it was kinda heavy, forcing him to question is stallionly-ness for about a second before levitating it with his much stronger magic, and bring it down onto the offending drunk, breaking the chair in on itself, and possibly a skull with it.

the pony would loosen his grip on Starbright, but not his weight. "Right, this is the second unconscious stallion you had on top of you." He started, and gruned moving the pony off of the 'ling, "Fun fact, the exit out of the tavern is the other way, might wanna head that way before you'll have a third on top of you. Lance offered a hoof to help the changeling up.

[Starbright]
"Well, there WERE a large number of drunks in that direction, and there ARE windows I can jump out of much more safely, so it seemed like a good plan of action at the time, sorry." Starbright stood up and continued on her way, and looked back at Lance, saying, "You coming?"

{Flashback ends}
[Starlight]
"Aaaand that's all I know, didn't really feel like following, so I trusted in the power of powerful booze to get my work done. Sorry for the mess I caused, I guess. it was worth it and funny, though... " With that, she yawned, and said, "Can I go back to my 'holiday cheer' now?"

Scint looked rather awestruck, "No, I'm not done yet. big question here, Scint put both hooves on Starlight's shoulders, and gave a very, very serious look into her eyes. he then proceed to shake her violently, yelling, "DID I HONESTLY KILL A PONY WITH A CHAIR!?"

[Starbright]
Starbright wasn't quite satisfied. "So? Do you know what happened to Lance and I after? ....How we woke up next to each other?" she asked, her face lined with anger.

[Starlight]
Star used her magic to remove Lance from her. "Naaah, they only had concussions. Not sure about Scrapper's victims, however. Should I check with my sweetie?" Star said, giggling towards the end, at the possible chance of meeting with him again. "Now as for your question, Sissie, I don't know a thing. Decided not to follow you two because I felt the booze would work its magic if not hampered with. So I can't really say for sure. Scrappie may know something, but that's beyond me," Star responded, yawning and stretching.

Scint paralyzed himself, his hooves still in position to shake a poor ghost's shoulders; once his magic grip faded he re-positioned himself with four hooves on the ground. oddly, Star's mention of her "Sweetie" caught his curiosity. "You found yourself a colt-friend in the bar?"

[Starbright]

Star gave an exasperated sigh as she put a hoof to her head and muttered to herself, but otherwise gave no other form of communication of her thoughts. I'm gonna kill her, one day. I swear.


[Starlight]

Star laughed at Lance. "What do you think I do? fall for anyone who compliments me? Nah. I'm talking about Kessie, the grave-keeper griffon down in the cemetery.  He's my boo-face and I lurv him to itty bitty pieces," she said, recalling her last encounter with the griffon and giggled and sighed quietly.

"gravekeeper...griffon..." Lance mulled over that for a second, shook his head and tilted it at Starlight, "anyone who compliments you, right. Scint had a lot more to say but at this point he realized things like these should stop surprising him by now. won't do him any good giving himself gray hairs so quickly anyway. "We're going to have a long family talk about your habits, missy. eventually. urgent matters are urgent. Bright, any questions on your end?" I'm talking to my long lost cousin with my other long lost cousin who I just realized I had a second one like ten minutes ago, and apparently woke up next to her in the morn, he thought, I've grown used to this nonsense but, what about her?

[Starbright]

"I'm just going to say, you haven't changed a bit, Starlight Phantique Charmer, to prevent the innocent-" She nodded to Lance, "-I'm Still gonna bust a couple of teeth out of your mouth one of these days. That's a promise," Starbright said, gritting her teeth and giving Star a malevolent glare.

[Starlight]

"Oh, I know. But if I can face a serial killer and somehow survive, I'll find a way out of it. Annnyway, I don't think you two actually did anything, but maybe Scrappie has answers there. Go ask him," she said, fluttering her eyelashes at the two. "Noooow can I go to my babe?"

Lance's eyes popped wide open, and was about to scorn his sister at the top of his voice, but he wasn't the only pony alarmed at the words "serial killer," and he hear the quiet "gasp" from somepony in the street bellow. He kept his voice to a whisper, though rushed and more than audible, "A SERIAL KILLER!? That talk is on the verge of being urgent! he took a deep breath, and just as deep an exhale, calming himself. he turned, and head for the stairs out. "We're leaving."

[Starbright]

"Seriously? You're not telling tall tales, are you?" Star said before she left with Lance, a bit intrigued and amused by Star's happenings.

[Starlight]

Star followed them, regaling them of the story. "Yep yep, she called herself 'Wind,' but she was actually the Windego that I heard the griffons talking about. She was like, pure albino and had a strange affinity for knives and other sharp objects. ANNNND she gave me this scar-" Star gestured to her shoulder, which was still healing from the occurrence of events, and thus had a scab on it, "-But luckily I was saved before being torn to pieces by someone or something, I don't quite recall, honestly." Star finished, shrugging her shoulders. "Wind said she'd 'come for me one day and rip me to pieces,' but I hope that's just empty threats. I hope." Star shivered at the thought of possibly dying for reals this time.

Lance left with Starbright to leave Starlight talking to herself. he was trying to piece together what he's figured out. a gust of air left his nostrils as they reached the bottom of the stairs, and he turned to smile at Starbright, his jaw fidgeting as if it wanted to laugh without his consent, "...cousins, huh?"

[Starbright]

"By the Goddesses, whatever do you mean by that? We're a....Perfectly average family. Withoouuut a doubt," Said Star, drawing out the vowels to emphasize sarcasm. She then used her magic to levitate and place Star next to them. "Talk and walk, sissie."

[Starlight]

"Aaaaand theeeen I ate a cheese sandwich-Hey HEY! AI AI AI AI BUDDY, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE PUTTIN' THE VALUABLE MERCH, YO!" Star said as she was promptly levitated to their position. "Whaaat do you waaaant. DOES UPTOWN FUNK GIVE IT TO YA?" Star asked, and rubbed her cheek against Lance. "Is my sister being a not very nice word again, honeybunches?" she asked with a baby voice.

Scint nudged Starlight aside, "something like that. But Star, um... Starbright... Starbie... I'm calling you Bea now, he addressed Starbright, "walk and talk for what? I think we got what we need from 'light, but we still have the rest of that night to have figured out."

[Starbright]

"Please, address me as Bright," Star said to Lance, and then turned to Starlight. "You can....Run off now, your services are no longer required. Go do what it is you do for fun," Star said to her sister, and watched her squee and hop away happily. "So, this 'Scrapper' fellow, he might have answers?" she asked, tilting her head.

[Starlight]

"Oki doki! See you later, honeybunches!" Star said to her sister, giggling and bounding away up the building, before taking flight in the direction of the Graveyard.

Lance planned his words as per usual, he had to avoid saying anything important like he tends to; at the end of the day, he wasn't sure how much he could trust Starbright either. "Scrapper's a good friend, he was there when I had my first taste of alcohol. Hated it, mind you. but more importantly, he was with us at the tavern last night. if anything there's the chance that he followed us, me at at least, if he's run out of stallions to punch in that bar."

[Starbright]

"So where do we find this Scrapper? Or are we going to have to search all over town in the off chance that we might find him?" she asked in a condescending tone.

Scint stepped out the building's doorway and into the streets, some eyes still followed him, surely after that prior "assassin" outburst from just upstairs; and his wearing a cloak doesn't make him look any less suspicious. the same issue can be said about his companion wearing a cloak, worse that she's a changeling at that.

Scint took a look at his watch, still uneasy about having it, "It's Scrapp's turn to go grocery shopping today, so we might catch him in the marketplace if we get lucky. With that, Lance changed course for the best route he knew towards the marketplace.

[Starbright]

"So I guess we're off to the marketplace, then," Said Star, as she started off in the direction of the marketplace. She turned her head while walking, saying, "You coming? We're not the oddest of companies. A half-changeling and a unicorn with the power of making my eyes hurt. Best companions, right?"

"You have a sense of humor after all." Scint seemed nonchalant about it. really, he found himself at odds being the killjoy of the moment. He sought to mend that, yup, only the most un-suspicious ponies around!" there was something he needed to straighten out with Starbright, though, before anything unnecessary comes out of it. he said in a much quieter tone, "I need you to refrain from mentioning my magic in public, though; the griphons have a bad taste in their mouths about powerful unicorns. you should do yourself a favor and avoid showing them you've that that crazy magic yourself."

Little did the two ponies know that they were being trailed by a griphon patrol from behind.

[Starbright]

Star was starting to get a feeling of defiance, and to fuel this, she said, "Liiike THIS?" as she cast an anti-gravity spell, and sprang off the ground, floating upwards in a slow, easygoing manner. 

She still, even from the height of a two-story apartment building, did not see the griffon patrols.

That's because they weren't being followed by the rooftops, but from the crowd.

Scint was about to call Starbright to come back down, but did a startled jump when he felt a talon tap his shoulder. He turned to find two lightly armored gryphons standing behind him. He sighed, starting to play his part, "Oh that's a relief, I almost thought you were somepony else!"

The gryphons shared a suspicious look at each other, the larger one then spoke in a surprisingly feminine voice, "We're going to have to ask you some questions. You, and your flighty companion."

Scint turned his head back to the skies, completely ignorant of the midday sun, and called out to the changeling, "Yo, Bea! Uh, we have a little something something down here, could you come back down here before we get arrested for uncooperative behavior?" He offered the gryphons a Cheshire grin. They were less than impressed.