Ever been beaten in a game of pool by a pony?

Yeah, me neither.

“Eight ball, side pocket,” I said before making my shot. Tapping the cue ball, I sent it rolling across the table. A second later and the eight ball was tipping over into the pocket.

Sergeant Peytral groaned and set his twenty bits on the table. “I can’t believe you hustled me in pool.”

Sipping at my drink, I took his money. “I can’t believe a species without thumbs plays this game. I’m not even that good at this.”

Key Peg leaned back from his chair to turn my direction. “It’s a game of skill for unicorns. Started as a way to hone your spear work.”

Gold Lance nodded. “It became a point of pride for the other tribes to be able to play it too.”

Turns out Lance had been the guard at the warehouse. He’d taken up my offer, and joined Key and I for a night out. Stepping up to the bar, I patted him on the back. “What’s your favorite beer?”

Lance scratched at his chin. “Probably Dragon’s Hoard Stout.”

Setting the my winnings on the bartop, I pushed them towards the pony with a stein for a cutie mark. “Barkeep, the good Sergeant Peytral has offered to buy me whisky, and everyone else Dragon’s Hoard Stout.”

The burly earth pony eyed the coins for a heartbeat, before nodding and pulling out a fleet of tankards.

Waking up on a pile of moaning ponies should have struck me as strange, but it didn’t. I had drank too much. Not blackout drank too much. Just good old-fashioned, grab-the-grass-to-keep-from-falling-off-the-earth drunk, and I had a nice little hangover as a souvenir to prove it.

“I’m too old for this,” I moaned, scraping the crust off my eyes. Looking around, I tried to figure out where I was. There were a half dozen stallions and myself laid out on the floor, each using the next as a cushion. Key Peg’s flank had been my pillow, and my legs made a bed for Plowshare. I spotted Gold Lance in the pile of sleeping ponies too.

The memory of bringing the guys back to my place echoed in the back of my mind. The bar had closed, and we weren’t read to go home yet, so I volunteered to host for another hour or two. I also remembered convincing them sleep here, because they were too drunk to drive home.

It’s the thought that counts, right?

Wiggling a bit, I tried to pull free of the hulking stallion, but I was completely pinned. I recalled him and a few other studs joining our party as we circled the property, trying to find my room.

“Wake up,” I said, tapping him on the shoulder. “I have to pee.”

The muscled pony groaned, then slowly sat up. “What time is it?”

“I don’t know. I gave the princess my phone.”

“What?” asked another pony. I think it was the guy I hustled for twenty bits at the pool table.

Not bothering to answer, I forced myself to stand up and looked for a clock. “It’s eight.”

Those words had more effect than a bucket of ice water. Amongst mumbling and cursing about clients in an hour or reporting for duty, the room quickly emptied down to just Plowshare, myself, and a still-sleeping Key Peg.

“He okay?” Plowshare asked, poking Key with a hoof. “He looks dead.”

“He’s off today. He’ll wake up when he wants to, and not a moment earlier.”

“Huh...” Plowshare looked around my apartment for a moment. “Well, I don’t have a client till three, and I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a hangover. Care to get some fried eggs and coffee from the diner down the road?”

“That sound awesome.” Carefully moving, so as to not aggravate my headache, I shoved a pillow under Key’s head, then threw a blanket over him. “Let me use the bathroom first though. Feel free to use the guest bathroom. There’s fresh toothbrushes under the sink.”

Plowshare nodded, only to wince at the motion. “Thanks...” he said, slowly moving towards the guest bathroom.

A few minutes later, and I was feeling decidedly more human. My head still throbbed, but at least I could see, and my breath wasn’t so bad I could smell it myself.

Stepping into the bustling morning streets, Plowshare and I moved in the smooth steps of one in a hurry, but not wanting to run. The dawn light and noisy traffic where an aggravation, but running to avoid them would have turned the dull ache into a crippling pain.

“How far is this place?”

Plowshare grunted, and pointed to down the road. I took that to mean it was on this block, so I just kept walking. I let him take the lead as we passed a doughnut shop and it’s sickeningly sweet smells, then turned the corner to find a stairwell leading down below the road.

No bell rang as we opened the door. The underground diner was dimly lit, and hummed with the tired voices of night shift coming off duty, and morning shift getting read to go in. The place was a dive in the best sense of the word. Clean, if not a little ragged, with high-backed booths lining the walls. An immaculate kitchen stretching along the back wall filled the place with the sounds and smells of cooking breakfast.

“Sit where ya like,” a mare called out to us, with a voice like liquor and cigarettes. Looking from us to the stallion manning the cook line, she barked out a laundry list of short-order slang.

This was wonderfully familiar. Ignoring the ponies, I could easily pretend I was in my favorite breakfast place back home. Turning towards the line of booths, we walked towards one in the dim corner. We had both thought it was empty, but the last pony I had expected running into was already taking advantage of the obscure spot.

With coffee in her magic, and a half-eaten omelet sat aside, Luna was hoofing through the morning paper.

“Oh, morning Princess,” Plow said, completely ruining my attempt to back away in silence.

Looking up from her paper, Luna gave Plowshare an honest smile, which faltered a bit when she saw me. “Plowshare, Shane, you are welcome to share my table.”

There was a casual air to Luna that seemed strange to me. I couldn’t spot any guards, and her crown sat on the table’s edge. It didn’t seem to bother Plow though. With nothing more than a nod, he took a seat across from her.

Following his lead, I scooted in, and grabbed up a menu. Perhaps princesses went off duty sometimes too.

“Are you two unwell?” Luna asked, giving us both a scrutinizing eye.

“We, umm...” I paused a moment, it really felt like I was confessing something to my mother. “We drank a bit too much last night.”

Luna half snickered. “Do not be embarrassed by a hangover. We have had our fair share of them... Speaking of which. Plowshare, I have reserved you for card night later this week.”

“Card night?” I wasn’t sure if I should be looking at Luna or Plow.

“What do ya want?” the waitress asked, appearing out of nowhere. Ignoring Luna altogether, she looked at us like we were already taking to long to order.

“Coffee, hash browns with cheese, and three fried eggs,” Plow answered.

Scribbling the order down, the mare then looked to me. “And you?”

Clutching the back of my neck, I tried to ease some of the tension. “Same, but I want a orange juice.” Coffee could come later, I needed to hydrate first. I really wanted some bacon too, but I was out of luck there.

With a shrug, the mare turned to bark out our order to the cook, then wandered off to fill someone’s drink.

“So, card night?” I asked, returning to the topic.

Luna nodded. “Plowshare has a wonderful voice. He sings for us on card night. Barley Mash used to tend the bar, but he retired a few months ago.”

“Barley Mash is the pony you replaced at The House,” Plow said, answering my question preemptively. “He saved up enough bits to buy a bar in manehattan.”

“Doing quite well, We hear,” Luna added.

“You know,” Plow pointed a hoof towards me, and suddenly I felt my life complicating. “Shane here is pretty good at mixing drinks.”

Luna gave me a skeptical look. “He is?”

“Yeah, he made some pretty tasty drinks for us last night. Couple of guards were on the floor before they knew what hit them.”

Apparently ponies aren’t familiar with long island ice tea. I had to shake my head at the memory of three guards sucking down most of a pitcher I had made.

Taking a bite of her omelette, Luna hummed to herself for a moment. “Would you mind playing barkeep for my friends and I later in the week? It is a casual thing.”

“I certainly wouldn’t mind, but I’ll have to see about my schedule. It doesn't finalize till tonight.”

Luna and Plowshare both laughed. “We’re studs at the royal stable,” Plow said. “The princesses always get first dibs on us.”

Before I could say anything stupid, our drinks were unceremoniously pushed in front of us, and Luna’s coffee topped off.

It occurred to me that dinners must be some universal constant. From princess to construction worker to alien, everyone received the same curt service. I’d been around Celestia long enough to know she reveled any chance to blend into a crowd. Perhaps this was Luna’s place to go be anonymous.

“Thank you Carol,” Luna said, giving the mare a nod of thanks before taking a sip of the fresh coffee. “Have you seen to your flying machine yet?”

Change of subject; I’ll take it. “Yesterday actually, and thank you very much for cleaning the engine,” I said before turning up my orange juice.

Shifting in her seat, Luna folded her newspaper, and tucked it away. “It was a fun puzzle, and We... Celestia and I are interested in seeing you fly it.”

“I just hope I can get fuel.”

Luna scratched at her chin, thinking as she joined us in watching our meals being carried towards our table. “I could have it enchanted, so that it did not need fuel.”

Hmm... Magic. I hadn’t really thought about that. “Thank you, but I’d rather find a way to get it running myself.”

“It would be no trouble,” Luna protested.

I had to squirm a bit. This was difficult to say to the Princess.

“Speak freely. I am not acting as a princess here,” Luna said, seeing my reluctance.

Closing my eyes, I thought back to the early days of assembling that frame together. My hands moved on their own, mimicking the uncounted hours they had spent with the welder. “Well, it’s just that I don’t like others working on Baron. He’s my baby.” I could feel a sappy smile spread across my face as I remembered the the first time the engine had turned the propeller. “I made every inch of him myself; I want to keep it that way.”

Silence answered me, which worried me a bit. Opening my eyes, I found Plow giving me a rather weary look, while Luna had a sappy smile.

“Ahh... A labor of love. I understand completely,” she said, pulling out a little note pad and scribbling something in it. “I think I know just what you need. I will have some books sent to your room.” Tucking the note away, Luna then tidied her plates before standing and planting her crown crooked on her head. “Now, If you will forgive me, it is near my bed time. We wish you both well, and will see you in a few days.”

Plow and I stood, giving her a bow as she left. “She’s a very different mare, when she’s off duty,” I said, sitting down to finally enjoy my meal.

Plow snickered. “You have no idea.”