A Friendly Drinking Game
IC date: Summer 67, 1007
OOC date: August 26, 2012
PCs: Amber-Shot, Kludge, Ruby-Blossom, Rumble-Riot, Rusty-Gears, Wintergreen
NPCs: None
GM: None

Ruby-Blossom trots to a nice corner table to take a seat - sitting in the middle of the cushion to signify no lucky stallion will be sharing this side of the booth. She glances towards Amber with a smile and nod, she can be far more genuine with the supplier of drinks. "The usual. Strawberry Margarita.

The mare is tailed by two stallions - Kludge, and yet another new comer; it appears the trio are arriving and drinking together - even if Ruby doesn't wait to order.

The yellow stallion behind the bar lifts an eyebrow at Ruby. "Lady, you haven't been in here nearly enough to have a usual," he says incredulously even as he pulls out the appropriate glass for her cocktail of choice. "Is this going on your tab? Or should I open one for one of your coltfriends?"

Kludge stifles a surprised cough, but recovers adeptly. "I believe we're each paying our own way. What's your recommendation?"

The bartender shrugs. "My recommendation is that somepony pays me at the end of the night, doesn't matter too much who it is. Or do you mean what kind of drinks do I recommend for you?"

Kludge chuckles. "The latter."

Ruby-Blossom playfully bats her eyes towards the barkeep. "I haven't ordered anything else now have I, and if you're encouraging me to drink more - I'd be happy to oblige." She glances to Kludge who declines to buy her a drink, beautiful ruby eyes shifting to the new-comer - perhaps he's more of a gentlecolt?

Rumble, being the 'new pony' mentioned, is already looking around the bar's surroundings. "Heeey, this isn't all that different from the ones back home. Right down to the smell." He pauses just before getting to the table the others wandered off to, inhaling deeply. "Ahhh~ Hey barkeep! D'you carry any good beers?" He sidles up to the table. Completely oblivious to the eyes Ruby's making. Or the entire subject of paying for drinks at all.

The bartender frowns at Rumble's analysis of the bar's unique odor. "Hey, we clean this place nightly and kick out the lushes before they can puke," he says defensively. "We've got some good local drafts, depending on what kind of ale you're looking for. Not too many of the name brands, though, it's too expensive to import 'em and they're not THAT good." He rolls his eyes at Ruby's flirting as he begins shaking up her cocktail.

Kludge's request for recommendations is given some serious thought. "Depends what you're looking for. Do you like your drinks fruity? Something refined? Something macho-sounding to impress the lady with how quickly you get sloshed?" A confused expression crosses the bartender's face. "I never really understood why stallions think that'd be attractive, but eh, to each their own."

Ruby-Blossom was not flirting by any means. Teasing perhaps, hoping for a free drink - certainly, but flirting never! She glances sideways at the barkeep "In addition to the margarita, bring a bottle of whiskey, and three glasses." she reaches into her coin purse to withdraw what should be sufficient for the margarita and whiskey.

Kludge ponders the drink categories. "I'll go with fruity. I don't claim to be refined, and I see no need to be macho when I'll be awake early tomorrow to do carpentry."

"Huh? But..I like the smell." the orange pony says, confused at the barkeep's grousing about keeping things clean. In perfect oblivious manner, Rumble's ears don't perk up in Ruby's direction until the mare brings bits into play. He was just debating types of beer. Mmm. "Huh? So does that mean you're paying?" He wonders to the mare, then perks up and claps a hoof onto the tabletop. "I'll take whatever you think tastes good, barkeep!"

Ruby-Blossom glances across the table at Kludge and Rumble with a rather bored expression on her face. "Typically it's the colt who purchases drinks for a lady." setting her bits on the table. "Or" she nudges the coins forward "We drink for it." Now being a much smaller mare, one would assume she's sure to be at a disadvantage when it comes to alchohol; however holding one's liquor is crucial to a girl of her trade - valuable information is more readily given up when somepony has a few drinks under their collar.

The bartender considers Kludge's request. "Can't go wrong with a mojito, then, it's a pretty light drink if you've gotta be up in the morning." He pours Ruby's completed strawberry margarita, for he doesn't believe in making silly horse puns, into her glass and gets started on Kludge's rum cocktail next. "Maybe a weissbier for you," he says to the confused orange pony. "We get some good quality wheat from the nearby farms that makes for a great hefeweizen."

Kludge nods in acceptance, filing the information away for later reference. He also notes the conversation between Ruby and Rumble, but isn't paying full attention to it.

"Gazuntite." says the confused orange pony to the bartender's last suggestion of beer type. He's left scratching the back of his head with a hoof, glancing back at Ruby and her drinking game. "Really? I thought that was only for dates and stuff." When she mentions drinking for bits, Rumble gets a grin. "I'm game for that. Loser picks up the whole tab?"

Ruby-Blossom motions to Amber-Shot "I don't you should waste good beer on our new friend, he's going to have his hooves full with the whiskey." the ruby-eyed mare seeming in rather high spirits at the prospect of the little drinking game. "Don't think this will be easy just because I'm mare.

The bartender chooses to remain silent as he brings over the cocktails, beer, and whiskey. Never trust a mare challenging you to a drinking contest, he ought to warn, she likely knows her limits better than you know yours. That's a lesson stallions really ought to learn the hard way for it to stick properly. "Here you are," he says as he slides the tray from his flank to the table and pushes the drinks in front of their respective patrons. "Too late, I already poured it. Maybe let him start with it so that he can enjoy it proper before you three drain that bottle."

Rusty-Gears trots into the bar, saddlebag loaded up with rolled papers and schematics, pencil behind one ear. She casts a glance around, and a quick nod and smile to the bartender, before heading for an empty table. The saddlebag is set beside the seat, and she plunks down in said seat, situating herself before tugging a rolled schematic out of the saddlebag and unrolling it onto the table, shaking the pencil loose with a twitch of the ear and catching it nimbly — she's done that a lot! Pencil in teeth, she bends over the schematic. Sometimes, you just have to get out of the workshop to work effectively!

Ruby-Blossom waves a hoof dismissively "I suppose Amber-Shot's right, you should enjoy your beer before trying the hard stuff." She proceeds to pour some whiskey, and kick it back. Her eyes light up "hooo, that's strong." shooting an appreciative grin back to the barkeep before reaching for the margarita for a small sip of the fruity drink.

Kludge raises a glass in toast. "To Miss Ruby's new place - may it stand sturdy."

"Hah!" barks the yellow stallion behind the counter. A house standing sturdy in Horseshoe Harbor, hoohoo, that's a good one. He busies himself preparing another cocktail in a short glass.

With the beer in front of him, and all the silly taunts being flown about, Rumble quietly gets a hoof around his beermug, raises it to Kludge's toast, and proceeds to tip it back to get his first drink.

Glug!
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The mug's set back down on the table, a satisfied 'ahh' coming from the orange one's mouth. "Hey, that wasn't bad at all." he notes, already leaning over the table to sniff at the bottle of whiskey. "Now I'm not usually one for the harder stuff, but… I'll try anything once."

Ruby-Blossom lifts her Margarita to Kludge's toast. A soft little 'oh' in response to Rumble; pouring him an equal amount to what she just downed. "You heard what I ordered before accepting the challenge." another sip of her margarita - obviously enjoying the fruity concoction. "How about Kludge, whiskey for what ales you?

Kludge gives it a thought, then gives an accepting shrug. "A shot or two wouldn't hurt," he admits, saluting Ruby with the shot glass before downing the whiskey.

The bartender, thankfully, is not around to notice Ruby's terrible pun. He is instead at Rusty's table, pushing the small glass off his tray and in front of the mare. "An Old Fashioned for you, Rusty," he says with a nod before heading back to the bar to let the mare work on her diagrams and blueprints in peace.

Rumble sniffs at the shotglass Ruby pours, hefting it carefully in his hooves so as not to spill. His ears splay. Bottoms up! He kicks the glass back, drains the whiskey shot, and claps it back down onto the tabletop, making a priceless 'ohgoditburns' face all the way down. "Hoo!" He gives his head a quick shake.

Rusty-Gears smiles and gives the bartender a nod of thanks, setting her pencil aside for a moment to take a sip. Perfect as always! She sets it back down to snag the pencil again, looking back to the schematic. Hm. Now if you stuck a couple gears over here, and repositioned that lever, and maybe… no no, that wouldn't work. BUT, tweak those wires over there, and wind it all with a crank… hmmmm.

Ruby-Blossom is quick to pour another glass herself, Rumble, and Kludge; downing her second glass without hesitation, and clearly enjoying the burn. A rowdy little howl signifying she is in fact enjoying the delightful burn of the whiskey, savoring for a moment before taking another sip of her margarita, looking across the table at Kludge and Rumble. She can hardly wait for their reactions.

Kludge's eyebrows are raised, but he's not exactly surprised given what he's seen of Ruby's can-do attitude. He decides to savor this shot of whiskey, followed by drinking more of his mojito as he watches what promises to be the big showdown between Rumble and Ruby.

Rumble eyes this second shot. His third drink in, right? But only second of the hard stuff. Well… He plucks up the shotglass a second time, and stares at it, squinting. "…I don't get this stuff. Why make drinks that get you drunk quicker when it's the drinking that's the fun part?"

Yep. Grand philosopher is he. Then he shrugs, kicks the shotglass back again, and clops it down with another swift shake of his head. "Ahhh! I can'p pheel my pongue…"

Ruby-Blossom shakes the bottle enticingly in front of Rumble; sporting a massive semi-fiendish grin while threatening him with another shot. "I'll let you throw in the towel now, if you pony up for the drinks." brilliant Ruby eyes watching the new arrival from across the table, awaiting his reply while taking a sip of her margarita.

The bartender watches and waits. If that orange pony is asking questions like that, he's probably going to be the first one that'll need to be pushed out the door before he can ralph all over the floor.

Kludge chuckles, a bemused grin on his face. He knows his limits, and he's currently toeing the line… but having some food should help put some more blood into his alcohol system. Looking to the bartender, he asks "Got any sandwiches?"

Wintergreen Looks over to the three ponies intoxicating themselves over the bottle of whisky. Just drinking to get drunk, not even enjoying the liquor. She walks up to the bar to get a proper drink for herself. "I'll have a glass of scotch please. Don't worry, I won't be wasting it like those three. Actually, make it a double."

"I can whip something up," the bartender says. "Is daisy good for you, or do you want something special?" He nods as Wintergreen orders her drink. "Right away, ma'am," he replies as he pulls up a glass from under the counter and grabs a bottle from the shelves behind him with his teeth. "On the rocks?" he asks around the bottle.

The orange pony squints at Ruby, shaking that bottle around. So smug! So taunting! "Oh yeah? I'll show you! If I'm going to lose, I'm going to lose on my terms!" With that, he reaches for the bottle, and makes like he's going to poor himself another shot.

…But at the last moment, he instead leans back and just tips the bottle into his mouth! At least three solid gulps ensue before the orange one pulls the bottle away, onto the tabletop, and promptly starts fanning his face, tears welling up in his eyes. Rasping for some kind of breath that he no longer has. But to his benefit, he doesn't retch it all back up again!

"H..haaaaaah! Take…that!"

Kludge says "Daisy's good, thanks."

"No, just the scotch thank you," why would anyone ruin a good drink by diluting it with ice? Wintergreen scoffed at the orange pony taking big gulps from the bottle and turned back to the bar.

Rusty-Gears settles back in her chair with a thoughtful hmph. Okay, so that might work, but then, what to do with the power mechanism? Could overload the entire thing if one isn't careful. Which would be bad. Grrr.

Ruby's howl, followed by the orange pony's exclamation, gets her attention, and she casts a glance over at their table. Well… huh. This has potential to be an interesting show! She crosses her hooves in front of her, sipping idly at her drink.

The unfamiliar pony who just judged Ruby's drinking habit might feel Ruby's gaze burning into the back of her head about now; the colts across the table privy to the rather cold glare from a far less menacing angle. She almost misses the fact that Rumble just snagged the bottle, and downed several large gulps. She glances at the bottle then at Rumble; feeling that was a perfectly good waste of whiskey. She sighs and lifts the bottle, glancing to Rumble "Goooo ahead and pull out your bits now, I don't want to have fish through your personal belongings." she downs pours herself a shot, and downs it, then another all while gauging Rumble's constitution - no need to go too far unless things call for it.

The bartender catches sight of Rumble being a dang fool and sighs. "I've gotta clean up a mess before it happens," he says to Wintergreen as he pours the double for her and puts the bottle back on the shelf. A pitcher is drawn out from under the counter and filled with tap water, then placed on a tray along with three glasses. "Alright, you three," he says as he trots around the bar and to their table, pushing the tray onto it. "I want y'all to have a glass of water a pop before you keep up your drinking game. We pride ourselves here at the Champagne Bay of not having a floor caked in an inch of vomit like the Rusty Bucket does."

Dustdevil has apparently wandered into view of a drinking contest, he remembers watching the royal guards mix it up with the auxiliary Wonderbolts (in training wannabe's more like) off duty. He remembers the results with a bit of disgust, nose upturned just a bit in 'aw yuck, this ain't going to end well' all the same he finds himself a place to at least watch.

Kludge nods in approval. "Sounds good to me; hence the sandwich," he comments before downing a glass of water and pouring himself another.

Rumble leans back, watching Ruby down one shot, then two. But before she can get a third down, glasses of water come! This seems to confuse the orange pony for a moment, though the extreme burning of so much whiskey without any chasers just screams for something cooling. So he takes up a glass, and downs it like he's been downing all the liquor!

He doesn't really look all that tipsy. For that matter, the way he's still looking at Ruby and the bottle shows just how intent he is on this contest after so much taunting. "Are you done taking shots, or is it my turn again?" Impatient pony!

Ruby-Blossom takes the glass of water with a small nod to Amber-Shot, a light flush upon her cheeks. "I wouldn't disrespect your establishment. After all, I enjoy" a rather pointed emphasized "a good drink." taking a big sip of water before following Kludge's lead and downing the entire glass. She glances across the table at Rumble and emphasizes "What do you say, lets finish this." downing a pair of shots before nudging the quickly-emptying bottle back to Rumble - her plan to take a mostly full bottle home now nothing but a lost dream.

Well at least the bartender is making an effort to make this place bearable for the other patrons with the hooligans around, thinks Wintergreen as she takes her drink, doing her best to ignore what is happening across the room. She takes a few, slow sips. Not bad. It certainly isn't the best scotch she's ever had but it will do quite nicely to make a pleasant evening.

Rumble makes a stern face! "What, we already at the end of the bottle? C'mon! I'm just getting started!" Oooh such bold boasting. He impatiently fidgets, waiting for the mare to push the bottle back his way, just so he can get a hoof around it again, and kick back for another hard swig at the remaining liquid inside! One more drink, for great justice!

When he's done, he sets the bottle down, pushes it back towards Ruby, and crosses his arms over the tabletop, looking all too contemplative about having just had somewhere around half a bottle of whiskey introduced to his system. "…i wonder how many beers I could've had instead."

If Wintergreen wants the best scotch she'll need to ask for the best scotch. The bartender isn't going to waste the high end stuff on a pony he doesn't recognize, Celestia only knows if she could afford it or not. "Let me know if you guys need another pitcher of water before you leave tonight," he tells the trio of heavy drinkers before going over to Rusty's table to check in on the inventor. "Everything good tonight, Rusty? You look like you've got your, uh, drive train jammed." That's an appropriate euphemism, right? Right?

Kludge has another glass of water and is waiting for his daisy sandwich, his eyes on the two competitors.

Ruby-Blossom is less than enthusiastic at this point after all she didn't plan on the new comer having an iron liver. Another shot, then another doubling down in hopes to put this behind her, and head home. Clearly she's holding her liquor, but she'll need to call it quits if this goes any longer.

Rusty-Gears blinks and glances up at Amber. "Huh? Oh. Yeah, little bit." She frowns down at the schematic. "I just can't figure out how to get this to work without turning… explosive." She tilts an ear, shrugging a bit. "Gotta have power to run it, but…"

Rumble's grinning by this point. He pours the last shot from the bottle into his shotglass, and then leans over to dig around in his dufflebag, pulling out a small coinpurse in his teeth. He plunks it onto the table and gives a wave to the barkeep.

"You're a pretty good drinker, lady. So how about we call it even?" Then he turns to the barkeep. "I got this table's tab tonight! But next time she's payin'!" Then? He lifts the last whiskeyshot, all cheers-style to Ruby, and kicks it back! With a prompt scrunch of his nose. "Eh. Next time, let's do beers. Or at least something that doesn't taste so bad."

As much as he is loath to admit, Kludge is impressed by Rumble's fortitude. A quick thought of Rumble's possible hangover in the morning comes to mind, eliciting a small chuckle.

Ruby-Blossom glances towards Kludge "I assume I'll be needing a little help to my door step after that this" she huhs at Rumble's offer, and lets out a small sigh of relief before offering Rumble a small grin "Sweet of you." she slips out of the booth and to her hooves albiet a bit shakily. She gathers her bits, heads to the bar where she promptly deposits half of the bits she had intended to originally pay - as a generous tip for the barkeep; always keep the barkeep happy as bars are a prime source for information. "Thanks." she smiles perhaps a tad too friendly like compared to her usual demeanor. She waves a hoof to Kludge and Rumble, and everypony else before heading on her way.

"Maybe cut the gunpowder out?" the bartender offers unhelpfully. "If there's anything else you need, just give a holler, alright?" He heads back to the bar to assemble Kludge's daisy sandwich and deliver it— and pick up Rumble's bits, to boot! "The water's free, remember," he says to the two stallions still at the table. He watches Ruby head for the door. "You sure you don't want one of your buddies to walk you home, lady? The port's got some pretty unsavory types."

"Yes I think you should try something a bit more palatable" Wintergreen says under her breath, but loud enough so the trio can hear. She then takes the last sip of her scotch and lets it roll down her tongue into her throat. Now this is a proper drink, she thinks to herself. Giving a disappointed look at the mare now trying to stumble out of the bar.

Kludge adds some bits of his own to the tip pile, gathering up his sandwich and nods to the bartender before heading out to make sure Ruby gets to her door safely.