It was always the same for him and it always started in his chest and when it hit the young zebra knew he was set for failure. The tremors started in his chest and surged through his body making his fore legs tremble as he brought the microphone to his lips in his shaking hoof. His eyes darted around the room and as his throat released only brief mumbles of sound instead of the words he so desperately needed. As the heavy bass vibrated in his body and the speakers played a tune he couldn't perform over, reality exploded around him.
He was getting booed. The crowd was livid. And he had made some powerful Griffons very angry. He looked across the stage at his opponent. She was a light green pegasus mare with an orange mane her lips were turned up into a smirk and her cream colored eyes were full of delight. He looked out into the crowd and saw a brown unicorn frowning at him. The unicorn was wearing a green hoodie and he had a spiky white mane that was tipped with black at the end of his locks. Then he glanced behind him where a griffon stood behind the curtains. The Griffon was glaring at him his claws were digging into the floorboards leaving long thin scratches in them.
“Are you done choking? I’d like to destroy you now if you’re done being a bitch.” Announced a happy voice.
The zebra turned around to face his opponent. She was holding a microphone in her hoof and her words had electrified the crowd. They were screaming and it seemed like the the entire audience had turned against him and they began chanting.
“KILL HIM!”
“KILL HIM!”
“KILL HIM!”
The zebra managed stop his shaking long enough to look his opponent in the eye and accept his punishment with some small amount of dignity and he waited as she began.
“Look at you. Your trembling and shaking your whole body is quaking you picked up the mike and had us all waiting. Your silence was debilitating and now you've subjected yourself to this lyrical slaying.”
The zebra continued to stare into the eyes of his opponent. He kept up his stony visage but, his knees had a slight tremble and his eyes were slowly growing wider as the pegasus mare continued.
“Give it up man you’re a disgrace you think you can come into this place show your face and win this here rap race? You ain’t even worthy of last place! Whatever happened to those rumors about your race?”
The zebra’s knees stop shaking and his eyes narrowed. He already knew where this was going.
“Zebras are supposed to be able to drop rhymes on a dime and spit an ill verse at any time and this is what I find? Your a shame to your own kind!”
The crowd was thoroughly enjoying the show and were all laughing at the zebra’s expense. Well all except for the brown unicorn. He was still frowning. On the stage the pegasus mare was was walking closer to the zebra until her face was inches away from his. Her cream colored eyes showed only glee as they looked into his yellow ones.
“Face it this is your devastation my bars took you apart that sensation you're feeling? It’s called lyrical penetration. You've disgraced yourself and your race now please get the buck out my face.”
The audience went wild. The zebra winced from the sheer volume of their applause. The zebra dropped his microphone and proceeded to walk off the stage in the direction of the angry griffin. He knew he was utterly defeated.
“You bucked up zebra” Stated the surprisingly calm lion bird.”I hope you got a way to pay back Blade Beak.”
The zebra walked right past him and continued walking all the way to the bathroom.
He stood in front of a mirror gazing into it and taking in his reflection as he pushed his long dreadlocked mane out of his eyes. Sweat drops rolled down his head, his chest was heaving, and his white stripes had taken a green tint.
“Damn man that was rough to watch.” The zebra looked up to find the brown unicorn from the audience walking over to him. “Well it could’ve been worse at least you actually managed to get on stage this time.”
The zebra looked at his friend and sighed.
“Lyrical I seriously just bucked up. I borrowed five hundred bits from Blade Beak to pay the entry fee.”
Lyrical’s reaction was exactly what the zebra expected it to be.
“What the buck is wrong with you Rhythmic!? If you needed the bits you could’ve asked me. Why would you even borrow money from Blade Beak of all ponies!?”
“Lyrical”
“ I mean seriously you are way too bucking calm right now”
“Lyrical”
“That griffon makes ponies disappear! What if he eats them!? If he eats ponies he’ll probably eat a zebra!”
“Lyrical”
“What!?”
“You need to leave.”
Rhythmic pointed his hoof towards the bathroom door. Lyrical turned and saw a griffon flanked by two massive minotaurs. The minotaurs were brown and like most of their kind were extremely muscular. Veins crossed their forearms like road maps. They stared down at Rhythmic and Lyrical while snorting.
“Pony if I were you I’d take the Zebra’s advice” The griffon’s voice was smooth yet it had a sharp edge to it like it could cut through glass.
“I’m not leaving you alone man,” Lyrical said as his horn was surrounded by a black aura.
“Lyrical. This is my buck up not yours. I appreciate the help but i don’t want you involved with this. Now go,” Commanded Rhythmic.
Lyrical let out a sigh and glared at the griffon and his minotaurs charging his horn as he walked past them and out the door.
There was brief silence as the door to the bathroom swung back and forth. The griffon snapped his claws and the minotaurs at his sides each produced a lighter and a cigar respectively
“Rhythmic Flow, just what am I gonna do with you?” The griffon said between puffs of his cigar. “I had such high hopes for you. I know you have the ability to rap, I’ve heard your CD. So as I watched you completely choke out there on the stage I must say I felt a little foolish. I payed your entry fee and placed a sizable bet on you making it pass the first round at least, I thought you were a good investment.”
He took another pull of his cigar
“Rhythmic I hate bad investments. Bad investments cost me money and usually I dispose of bad investments. Lucky for you Rhythmic I like you. You’ve got honor anyone can tell by the way you treated your friend and I respect that. Unfortunately though I can’t just let you go. You owe me money Rhythmic and I intend to collect. I know you’re dirt broke otherwise you wouldn’t have came to me for bits, so that just means we have to follow the old griffon traditions. You’ll have to pay in blood. Boys if you would.”
The minotaurs charged Rhythmic with their arms raised and simultaneously they brought their fist down towards Rhythmic’s skull and their fists passed through empty space and cracked the tiled floor. Rhythmic had already broken into a gallop for the door the moment the minotaurs raised their arms. Rhythmic’s trot to freedom was stopped when his mane was grabbed by a griffon claw and his head bounced off the ground.
“I’m even more disappointed Rhythmic,” said the griffon as he took another pull of his cigar. “I thought you’d take your punishment like a stallion but it looks like I was wrong.”
The griffon grabbed Rhythmic by his mane and slammed his skull into the floor again.
“You”
SMACK!
“Do”
SMACK!
“Not”
SMACK!
“Run”
SMACK!
“From”
SMACK!
“Me.”
The white stripes on the zebra’s head were painted red. His legs had gone limp and his eyes were glazed over and emotionless.
“Rhythmic” said the griffon as he leaned down toward the zebra’s ear. “You still owe me blood.”
The griffon took one last pull of his cigar before he flicked it away and left the bathroom with his Minotaurs.
It started with a beep. Then another and another until Rhythmic opened his eyes. He quickly shut them again the sudden burst of light caused his eyes pain. He opened his eyes again slowly this time to let them adjust to the light. Rhythmic realized he was laying down in a very comfortable bed and the room he was in was entirely white. He stretched his forelegs and found tubes running out of his arms and into complex medical machinery.
“Rhythmic you really bucked up” Rhythmic looked up to find Lyrical walking through the door with a full duffel bag hanging from his neck. “Lucky for you you’ve got an awesome friend watching your flank.”
“Lyrical I appreciate you and all that but I’m not really comfortable with you watching my flank” Chuckled the zebra.
“ Ha motherbucking ha.” Said Lyrical as he looked the zebra directly in his eyes.
“Now is not the time for jokes Rhythmic! You were lucky to survive that beatdown in the bathroom bro.” Rhythmic let out a low sigh.
“Yeah well I got worse news. The last thing I remember before losing consciousness was Blade Beak saying I owed him more blood, he’s not done with me.”
Lyrical was laughing. He was laughing directly in Rhythmic’s face. Who looked at his friend with a single eyebrow raised.
“I knew it! Damn I’m good!” said lyrical between burst laughter “Don’t worry Rhythmic like always I got your flank... don’t make a joke about that.”
“Lyrical what the buck are you talking about?” asked Rhythmic.
Lyrical’s horn began to glow as he levitated his duffel bag over Rhythmic.
“That bag contains your personal possessions. While you were sleeping I went to your apartment and collected some of your stuff and I got you a train a ticket.”
“Wait” said Rhythmic incredulously, “You just knew I was gonna need to leave town? Lyrical I can’t just up and leave what about my job and my family?” Lyrical lowered his head slightly.
“Rhythmic listen. You’ve been out for about three days and a lot has happened. Word got around about what happened with Blade Beak and now you’re a marked zebra. Everypony knows that you owe him either blood or bits and everypony is scared. You actually got fired when Blade Beak’s minotaurs showed up at your job. They busted the place up pretty badly. They said Blade Beak wants all the ponies to know he is not to be bucked with. Oh and Blade Beak showed up at your parents house.”
“What! Lyrical what did he do!? Tell me!” Screamed Rhythmic.
“Calm down.” Said Lyrical, “He told them that he doesn’t believe in touching family, apparently he thinks its dishonorable. Oh and I spoke to your folks they think it’s best if you disappear for awhile.”
Rhythmic down at his sheets as he listened to all Lyrical had to say. He had lost his job, his family would be fine without him, and pretty much everyone knew he was a dead zebra walking. He officially had nothing to lose. He raised his head and looked at lyrical.
“So where are you sending me? Trottingham? Las Pegasus? Manehattan?”
Lyrical was grinning wildly.
“Nope none of those places. I’m sending you to the last place Blade Beak would ever think to look for you. Ponyville.”
