Oak chuckled, taking his cap off for a moment, combing a hoof over his short, messy mane before slipping it back on. "What gave it away?" He asked jokingly, whacking his stomach with a hoof. Pretty solid guy, appropriate to his name.
"It was the beard," Maya joked. "Like any fruit in your jacks?" Dusty finally took off the outfit and approached the massive Oak, looking up at him with a slightly intrigued expression. "Quite the size difference."
"You should try the curry," Black said to Oak. "Especially if you're into spicy foods. Beats any other curry parlour I've ever visited."
"Oh hi... My name is Charming Snowstorm, I was sent here to gather lost Royal Guard supplies that were meant to be delivered to the Crystal Empire, however, my GPS seems to have run out of battery on my journey, this means I'm totally lost." Charming takes a sip of ale "Thanks Madam!"
"Charming. Cute name, dude. Don't get many positively studly stags around these parts." Maya extended her hoof out to him. "I'm Maya."
"Nice to meet you Maya. I was wondering if I could charge my GPS or if I could get some directions to the Crystal Empire?" he offered a friendly smile to Maya. "Something to eat would be nice as well. If I could ask for some pancakes please?" he followed up by putting some money down for the Ale.
"First drink's always free." She nudged the money back to him. "What, though, not gonna shake my hoof? Might have to take a little longer on the pancakes for that one." She giggled. "Yeah, there's outlets by the booths. Oak, pancakes, too, right?"
"Well, I'll remember to shake your hoof next time won't I? Heh.... It's funny, you don't find many Alicorns without a Royal Position. Yet again, you don't normally see a Snow based Reindeer working for the Royal Guard, so I guess we're on the same level when it comes to being out of place" he takes a second to think [I hope I don't regret saying that.]
She shrugged. "I just got made like this to survive childbirth. Talk to my husband about alicorn life. Alright, be back with the pancakes.~" As she trotted back into the kitchen, Dusty took her place as bartender.
"Since when does Equestria have GPS?" Nightshade wondered aloud. "Oh well. We already have cars and phones, what's one more bit of non-canon tech?"
Oak responded to the one suggesting curry. "Can't say I'm too fond of curry. Not so much the spice as simply the flavor. I'm more of a straight-up one thing kind of guy. Don't care for my bacon covered in egg yolk, you know? Sometimes I'll make exceptions, though." Oak looked around for a moment, then spoke to the smaller pony now handling the counter. "Neat little place you guys got here. There much of a story behind it?"
Dusty shrugged. "It symbolizes our long-awaited retirement. A chance to see a little less violence than before, meet new ponies daily, and overall relax. Of course, some ponies, not naming names, seem to attract blood and tears, but overall it's nice. I'm unsure whether that counts as a story."
"Yeah, some of us are totally dark and edgy and stuff." Nightshade finished her omelet and pulled her bitpurse out from under her wing. "Hey, Maya, I've gotta fly. What do I owe ya?"
Nightshade tossed a ten on the counter and headed out the door. Now that she was back to her normal life, she had a dojo to run and classes to teach.
Oak smiled towards the explanation. "I like that. Sounds like a pretty darn good goal." He paused for a moment. "By the way, if you don't mind me asking, what's wrong with your friend, their?" He asked, motioning towards Asmodeus.
Azrael finally regained his eyes and spotted Asmodeus creeping over to the corner table. "Skydust, should I..." "No." Dusty shook his head. "You know he won't stop." Asmodeus chuckled, morphed into a copy of Berrilyn, and slid into a chair to sit next to her.
