You Can't Always Speakeasy

“The princess of hearts,” Note said in annoyance.

Knight flipped over the top card of the deck. True to the mare's words, a pink alicorn stared back at him. “Fine. That's twenty-five of twenty-five. But how about-”

“Seven of spades, pink joker, eight of clubs and I swear if you make me do this one more time I will club you in the head with it!” she snapped as she glared at him.

The stallion flipped the cards, each one exact. “Spoil sport. Come on, it's fun,” he said as he leaned back and adjusted his hand. The two were sitting in a cheap rickety old carriage, with Rook sitting outside in the seat. Note was wearing a dark blue dress that flowed along her back, with blue glass bracelets above her hooves.

“How long do we have to wait?” she asked as she glanced out the window. Even the nearby street lights had been broken long ago, leaving the candle in the carriage the only remaining source of light.

“She'll be here, relax. Bishop is one of the best.”

“Uh huh,” Note said with a hmph. “I bet you just like checking out her plot.”

“Oh?” Knight said as he reached out to take the unicorn's hoof in his own. “Are you jealous?” He softly stroked it.

“W-what? N-no! O-of course I'm not! I'm not even really a mare, why would-”

The stallion leaned in and hushed her with his hoof. “Oh now, dear. No need for that. I care not if you are mare or stallion. I see the beautiful maiden within your heart...” he said as he reached out and tapped her chest.

Note's face turned red as she shrieked, closed her eyes, grabbed him by the collar and shoved as hard as she could. He let out a startled yelp as he hit the door and a moment later the knob buckled under the pressure and popped open, dropping him on the ground outside. “Ow...” he groaned. Dirt covered the back of his coat.

“Oh by Luna's... I-I'm so sorry,” the unicorn mare said gently as she covered her mouth. “I-I didn't mean to, I just, I thought you were going to, I-I'm so sorry!”

“What? No, no no,” Knight said with a chuckle as he got up. He shook his body, trying to get off as much as he could. “Do not worry, my little mare. I could never be mad at you.”

“Will you two please knock it off?” Rooks gruff voice came from above. “You're making me retch.”

“Oh, I don't know,” a mare's voice said from the shadows. “I think it's adorable.”

Note shrieked as she looked about. “S-someponies here!”

The sound of three collective face hoofs pierced the night.

“She must be the new girl,” the voice said again as a dark green coated pegasus walked into the meager light from the carriage. She had a sack on her hip, hiding her cutie mark. She ran a hoof through her short, red mane as she gave Knight a wink. “I hope you've been taking good care of her?”

“Of course!” the stallion said proudly as he puffed out his chest. “Note, meet Bishop. One of the finest members of our group.”

“A pleasure to meet you d... hmmm?” the pegasus stopped as she gripped Note's hoof and nearly dragged her from the carriage. Bishop gazed into the unicorn's eyes as her own glowed green for a second.

“You... you're under some kinda enchantment, ain't yah?”

“Y-yes,” Note squeaked as she stared into those eyes. Those big, green, mesmerizing eyes. Her eyelids began to feel heavy as she struggled to keep them open.

“Oy!” Knight said as he got between the two of them, pushing Note back into the carriage. “None of that now.”

“Awww, I was just having a little fun,” Bishop said as she puffed out her lower lip.

“King doesn't want her drained,” Rook said from above.

“Ugh, fiiiine. I wasn't going to do too much,” the pegasus grumbled as she motioned to her hip. “Numbers are in there. Another big rig. One driver and three security personnel hiding in the back.”

“Heh, another truck?” Knight said as his magic opened the hip bag and pulled out the papers. “When will the companies learn, flaunting your wealth by using actual engines is just going to draw attention?”

“Yeah, just be careful you two,” Bishop said with a roll of her eyes. “These guys have real weapons. You take this too casually and not one of you will survive.”

“Relax,” the red unicorn said as he flipped through the papers. “Me and Rook can take care of a couple security ponies. We got our new secret look out, too.”

Note gulped. “I-I'm not going to have to shoot any pony, am I?”

“Nah, relax. Just leave the fighting to me and Rook. I take it you won't be joining us?” he asked Bishop as he wiggled his eyebrows. “If you'd like to catch a bite after this...”

The pegasus burst into laughter as she spread her wings. “Nah, not this time. Maybe later though. Bye!” she took off into the air, disappearing over one of the buildings.

“She seems... nice,” Note mumbled as her cheeks flared. “She has pretty eyes.” Her eyes lingered where the green plot had been seen last.

“Yeah, I wouldn't look into them to much. Rook, you ready?” Knight asked as he hopped back into the carriage.

“Hmph, yeah. Where to?” Rook asked as he hopped down from the roof and latched into the shaft.

“Twenty-seventh street, corner of Silk avenue. We'll intercept it outside the abandoned Donut Joe's.” After a few moments they began moving. The unicorn glanced to Note and smiled, “You look nervous. What's wrong?”

“Is this all going to be okay?” the mare asked as she looked outside the window. “What if there's not enough room in the carriage?”

“Nah, don't worry. We've done this a dozen times. We take care of the driver and drive off in the truck.”

“What about the carriage? Won't they track it to your group?”

The stallion burst into laughter. “Nahhhh. That's stolen too. Nice little irony, we use their carriages to steal their booze.”

“You steal a lot of things,” Note grumbled before sighing. “Not like I can really object. I'm an accomplice...”

“It's fine. Not everypony is so quick to accept this line of work,” he let out a sigh as he gazed out the window. “Though, you'll eventually understand that most of these companies are criminals too. The only difference is, they have the power to make their actions legal.”

“... Trust me, I already know that,” she muttered as she glanced at him again. “So, how did yo-” The carriage suddenly came to a stop, whipping her head back into the wall. “Owwww... why does he have to always stop so quickly?”

“Heh. It's what he does. So, how does this work? Your ummm, future sight stuff?”

She sighed, “Well, it takes a second or so to cast the spell, and then I can see into the next minute or so. It's kinda like... dreaming? It all flashes by so rapidly, it only takes a few seconds, but it feels as if I took my time and know everything that's happening.”

“Wow, must be nice to have in a fight.”

“Not as nice as you'd think,” she grumbled. “I tried taking karate classes years ago. I only ever see the initial attack, if a pony realizes I'm moving aside, they'll readjust and I don't have nearly enough time to cast the spell again before I get pounded.” She instinctively rubbed her eye. “You never realize how long a few seconds are until you get hurtled into the mat about fifty times. It's good though when somepony tries to ambush me! It kinda... activates on itself when I'm in real danger. Saved my life quite a few... actually, before this week it had only saved me a few times.”

“Well, still nice,” the pony said with a smile as he patted her head. “Why didn't you try to win the lottery or something?”

“Even if I could, do you have any idea what might happen to me?” Note asked as she nibbled her lower lip. “This kind of magic isn't supposed to exist. I've heard the stories about ponies with contraband dark magics being picked up in the middle of the night, never to be seen again. What if my magic was deemed the same?”

“I see,” Knight got to his hooves. “You hear that? One of those big truck engines. They'll be here soon.” Far off in the distance she could hear a low rumble.

Note nodded as she looked out the window. Rook was standing on the nearby sidewalk, the only pony out. Most of the buildings were in the same state of repair as her apartment had been. A few ponies were hanging outside, hunched down and smoking some strange herb. The carriage was parked outside a one time diner, the windows now shattered and boarded up, the only remaining letters hanging over the door an O, Y and S. She closed her eyes as her horn glittered for a second. “It'll stop at the end of the street, best time to make your move.”

Rook nodded as he moved behind the carriage, hiding himself from view of the road. After a half minute a massive white semitruck, with a trailer, slowly drove down the street past the carriage. It had no emblems or signs, the only marks were a few spray painted tags from juvenile ponies.

The moment the brake lights came on Rook was on the move. Before the massive vehicle had fully stopped, he jumped up onto the side of the door, gripped the handle with one hoof and shattered the glass with the other. He held the gun in his mouth, aimed at the driver. “Move an ah shhoot,” he said around the metal weapon.

Note's horn crackled as she stared at the back of the truck. “They're going to come out from the back once the truck stops for a few seconds, two on the left, one on the right. It'll slide up. They... oh Luna. Y-you get shot, b-but you get them all in your explosion.”

Knight nodded as he jumped from the carriage. His horn glowed as the lighter in his fedora shot into the air. The flame was tiny as he held out his hoof. It slowly began to grow as the fire pulled free from the lighter and circle around him in a ring of flame. He held out his hoofs as the now raging blaze shot out and seared across the bottom of the gate, melding the metal together. After a few seconds the flame died, though the metal glowed bright red.

Within seconds Note heard a yowl of pain from the back of the truck, followed by pounding on the door. “Welp, that should do it,” the inferno-gifted stallion said as he motioned to her. “Shall we?”

“I... right, yes,” Note said as she hopped out from the carriage and followed him to the truck cabin, glancing back at the trailer. The passenger door opened as Knight helped her inside. “Where's the driver?”

“Tied up in the carriage,” Rook said as he turned the key. “He'll be fine.”

“... How do you know how to drive something like this?” the mare asked as she slid into the back, glancing at the poor tied up pony besides her. Rook didn't answer so she just glanced out the window as the world raced by. “Do you think those ponies are okay in the back?”

“Probably,” Knight said with a shrug. “They'll try to kill us as soon as we let them out, though. It's gonna be a fun time.” The pony chuckled as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a cigar and slid it in his mouth.

“Please don't,” Note said quickly.

“Hmmm?”

“It's not good for the lungs or... anything,” she mumbled.

“Ah, fine. Guess yah gotta keep that voice of yours in tip top shape, eh? Don't think yah ever told me, why did a mare like you come to Manehatten and get mixed up with ol' Goldenshot's boys anyway?”

Note closed her eyes as she leaned against the wall. “It's a boring story.”

“We got time. This old rig doesn't even have a radio,” Knight said. Rook gave a grunt, making the unicorn sigh. “Right, fine, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to.”

“I thought there would be job opportunities here,” the mare finally said as she chewed on her tongue for a moment. “You know, one of the big cities. Sing, get my voice out there. I used to hear all these great stories about how beautiful the city was. I even got a job accepted at Bitsmart before I came. I really should have read the contract closer...”

“Oh?” Knight asked as he rummaged through the glove box. “Score, gum! Want some? It's spearmint.”

“No,” Note said quickly. “It was a pretty crummy job. Most the 'benefits' that were mentioned turned out to be nowhere near as good as they said. Job hours were crap and I was constantly getting yelled at. Most my coworkers were nice though. Probably the only good thing about it. Bosses were complete asses.”

“Mmmm hmmm?” Knight said as he popped two pieces of gum in his mouth before offering one to Rook, who took a slice.

“Yeah. Got that crummy little apartment. Was cheap, not a lot of questions asked and I made enough I could probably move out after a while. I sent my tapes out, but didn't get many responses,” she grunted. “Then I got hit by the poison joke. I thought my boss was intolerable before, always making crude comments even when I was a... well... it got worse then. He tried to outright rape me in one of the closets. Only reason he didn't succeed was because one of my coworkers barged inside.”

Knight froze in his seat, his hoof moving to rub his lighter. “I see... did he try a second time?”

“I didn't give him a chance to. I went straight to the boss over him. Next day I was fired. I tried going to a lawyer but... court day comes up, turns out the contract I signed specifically said I wasn't allowed to sue. I had to go into something they called arbitration. They got to chose the third party to... settle,” the mare said as she made air-quotes with her hooves, “our disagreement. In the end I lost all my savings to the lawyer who refused to do anything, said it wasn't worth the time and effort fighting against the contract. I then got hit by the fees for the arbitrator, apparently the contract stipulated I had to pay it, not them. They just got to choose it,” she growled as she banged her head back. “It wasn't until a week later that I found out I wasn't the first time this had happened. Ironback apparently did some extra things for the bosses, so he was untouchable.”

“Noponies untouchable,” the stallion mumbled as he glanced out the window, lightly stroking the lighter. “He won't be botherin' you any more. As far as he knows, you're dead.”

“... Probably not,” she mumbled. “I think he set me up to be... kidnapped. Just, the way he was talking to me last time... I think he gave those ponies my address and told him about my singing. After wards he was talking to me like... so I dropped boiling hot coffee in his lap and ran.”

“W-what?” Knight asked as he tried not to laugh. “That's hilarious! Think you burned his junk?”

“I hope so, he deserved it,” Note mumbled with a smile. “Actually, it was probably the best part of that day. Shame I was too afraid and panicked to enjoy it.”

“Oh? But what about meeting me? Wasn't that better?”

“... Nope, definitely dumping the coffee in his lap,” the mare said quickly. For the first time she heard Rook let out a little snort of laughter. “So, you never told me. What brought you into this line of work?”

“Easy. I used to be a firefighter, didn't work out,” Knight mumbled as he stroked his cigarette.

“You? But you're so good at making them! How would you be able to put them out?”

“Heh. I'm an expert at making them and putting them out,” he let out a low whistle. “Making it's a hell of a lot easier, though. But, maybe one day I'll show you what I can do.”

“So, why'd you stop?”

“It just wasn't the job for me,” he mumbled. “Now, if you wanna know a real fun story, Rook joined by- GAH!” the stallion let out a cry of pain as the earth pony smacked him in the jaw. “W-what did you do that for?!”

“None of her business, or yours, why I'm here,” the stallion muttered. “Besides, we're almost there. Enough talking.”

“B-but you hit me... i-it really hurt...”

Note smiled as she reached up and rubbed his back. “There there, when we get out maybe Rook will kiss it better?”

Knight whipped about and shook his head. “I think I'd rather have my jaw torn off. However, if you want to kiss it better...”

“If you two are going to make out,” Rook growled, “wait until we're done with the job.”

“You're just jealous because you want her to kiss you better,” Knight said with a smirk. “OW! Stop hitting me!”

The earth pony shook his hoof a few moments before driving through an open gate and into a large, run down warehouse. Outside it had the words 'Condemned' painted on the side. The once polished metal that made up up the structure was now old and rusty, with a number of holes through the side. As they came closer, the large metal doors slowly grinded open and the truck drove in. Even with the lights of the truck on, Note couldn't see anything, just the concrete ground. She nervously hunched down in the back seat.

“W-why aren't the lights on? Is something wrong?” she asked softly.

“No. If you're worried, why didn't you just look in the future?” Knight asked as he turned back.

“Because I... oh... I hadn't actually... thought of that. Hold on,” she mumbled as she closed her eyes. Her horn glowed for a moment. As soon as they opened she quickly covered them. Lights suddenly turned on, blinding them as Knight let out a curse.

“Every Luna damned time!” he yelled as he kicked the door open. “King, turn those off!”

“Just making sure everything went according to plan,” the stallions gravely voice responded. As Note uncovered her eyes she saw a large tower of lights, most of which were aimed at the cab window. King was standing with half a dozen ponies, all wearing suits and fedora's. The warehouse was almost completely empty, aside from stacks of rubble pushed to the side and three rather large carriages. “It did go according to plan, correct?”

“Mostly. We have three ponies locked in the back. Need to unseal it, I flash fired the door,” Knight said proudly.

“... Of course you did,” The pony growled as he walked towards the back. “Come along.”

It took a few moments for the door to be opened and, thanks to Note's spell, nopony was hurt as the security ponies tried to shoot wildly at them. Faced with the superior numbers they quickly gave up. Before long the four were in the back of a carriage and heading through the city, the hollow compartments filled with alcohol.

“So, who were those other ponies?” Note asked softly. She was sitting besides Rook, across from Knight and King.

“We have many friends,” their boss said with a shrug. “They help us out and we give them a share. They also pay us a hefty sum depending on the size.” He lightly patted his side, though even sitting his entire body was shrouded in the cloak.

“Oh... what about the truck? Won't they get caught with it?” the mare asked softly.

“No,” Knight said with a snicker. “Most of them are plain like that these days. Makes it harder to identify who they belong to if there is an accident and suddenly a few hundred gallons of booze gets dumped in the middle of town square. Chances are by the time any pony even starts looking for it, the thing will be little more than scrap.”

“So then, how did the new blood do?” King asked as the hood opening moved towards the mare. She instinctively shivered.

“She did fine,” Knight said quickly as he gave her a confident grin.

“I wasn't asking you,” King growled.

“She was fine,” Rook mumbled. “Inexperienced and not the best lookout yet, but she didn't panic or run screaming into the night. I really expected she would.”

“And her spell?”

“Did okay, stopped Knight from getting shot. Would have been nicer if he had.”

King chuckled before leaning back. “Well, I guess that works then. I suppose we'll need a name for you...”

“Let me guess, Pawn?” Note asked sarcastically.

“I was thinking Queen.”

“W-what? Queen? But, you said your King and... and...” her cheeks turned bright red. “It's because of those outfits I ordered, isn't it? I-I told you they were for a friend!”

“Don't be upset, Queen,” Knight said with a chuckle as he reached out to take her hoof and bring it to his lips. “No matter what happens, know you'll always have a knight here to protect you.”

Note turned bright red as she tugged her hoof back. “F-fine, w-whatever. Not like I care... oh! Does this mean I get to see under the hood now?” the mare asked as she reached forward to try and grab King's hood.

The stallion's horn glowed and she was shoved back so hard the carriage shook. “No pony. Touches. The hood. Understand?”

“Y-yes sir,” the mare squeaked, a small glow around her chest pinning her to the seat. “I-I'll never touch it again, please don't kill me...” The magic finally let her go as she crumbled in the chair, gasping for air. “S-sorry.”

“Which brings me to our next point of business. You wish to sing, do you not?”

“Well, yes. Not that I can do it now,” Note grumbled as she poked her hooves together.

“Not necessarily. We have most of the equipment set up at the bar for a band, adding a singer would be easy. If you wa-”

“I'll do it!” Note shrieked as she sat up. “When?”

“Heh, tomorrow. We have some decent supplies so we'll be opening the bar tomorrow. It's only a few nights a week, but if people like it you can keep singing.”

“Eeeeeee!” the mare squealed as she lunged forward and... hugged Knight. “Thank you thank you thank you!”

“W-what? Why are you hugging me?” the stallion asked before smiling and hugging her back. “Not that I mind.”

“Because I'm really happy and I have to hug somepony or I'm going to burst! Also, because I was afraid King would throw me out of the carriage if I tried to hug him,” Note let out another squeal of delight, so high pitched the three stallions were forced to cover their ears.

“By Luna's over spanked flank, don't do that again!” Rook snapped once he could hear again. Every pony turned to stare at him. “What?”

“I've... never heard of that expression before,” the pink mare said softly.

“He does it from time to time,” Knight said with a sigh. “You should have heard him the time he dropped a glass jar of pickles on his feet. I'm pretty sure the string of colorful words he used involving our fair princesses would have gotten him incarcerated.”

“Screams and curses aside,” King growled, “just choose some songs for tomorrow and do what you can. I don't expect much aside from not driving our customers off.”

“I'll get right on it! I'll have a bunch of really good songs ready by tomorrow!” the giddy unicorn squealed before looking up at Knight. “Oh, right, ummm... you can stop hugging me now.”

Note trotted back and forth through her room, nervously chewing on her lower lip. The room was new, with light brown carpeting and flower wall paper. A small bed and desk were the only furniture. On top of the desk was a small sheet of paper and a pen. A light tap on her door made her turn around as the door opened.

“Hey, Queen. Ready for tonight?” the stallion asked.

“Yes! No! I don't know! I-I don't know how I should do this,” Note squealed. “What if they hate me? I-I mean, what if I'm not good? What if I suck?” she whimpered as she gripped the paper in her magic. “I have five in mind. I-I thought I could start off with some old classics, then one of Sweetie Belle's softer love songs such as 'My heart belongs to a horse' and then end with one of my own.”

“You'll do fine,” the stallion said with a smile. “Worse comes to worse, you start a riot and we start shooting ponies.”

“WHAT?!” her head whipped up so fast she felt a twinge in her neck.

“Relax, I was joking. I have a surprise for you,” he moved to her bed and pulled out a small black package from behind him. He lightly put it on the bed. “Think of it as a good luck gift.”

Note gulped as she moved over to the parcel and slowly began unwrapping it. She let out a shrill shriek as the paper moved away and revealed a beautiful red dress, sparkling with sequins. Around the lower hem rubies, cut like roses, were lined in in rotation, one high then one low. “This... is...”

“Yup, a Rarity original,” the stallion said with a smile. “I thought if you're going to go out on stage, you best look dazzling. Right?”

“Knight!” she shrieked as she dashed over and hugged him. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you! T-this must have cost a fortune!”

“For a good cause,” the stallion said as he hugged her back. “Does this earn me a rub of the ol' cutie mark? Oy!” Knight keeled over as she jabbed him in the stomach.

“Bad. It does however earn you a kiss,” Note said as she leaned up and... kissed him on the cheek. A moment later he let out a happy sigh. “Heh, you're easily satisfied. Wait outside and I'll change, okay?”

“Sure, madam Queen,” the red stallion said as he turned and trotted out the door.

The pink mare sighed as she stroked a hoof along the dress. “Best. Friend. Ever,” she whispered as she slowly unfolded the dress. With another happy squeal she slid it on over her head. The soft fabric came up to just below her neck and had a few holes for her hooves to slide through. It went down to chest level at the front and went lower as it moved back, nearly touching the ground near the back. The light gleamed off the dress, sparkling like jewels.

“I-I can't believe this...” Note squeaked as she looked down. “K-Knight, how do I look? Do I look good?!” she shrieked as she couldn't stand still, trotting in place.

The fire caster popped his head through the door and let out a soft whistle. “You look beautiful... come along now,” he said as he motioned her forward. “It's time for your debut.”

She nodded as she trotted out with him and headed down the hall. Before long they came out to the bar. Soft sound filled her ears, over on the stage she saw a small band playing the violin, a clarinet, a small portable piano and finally a saxophone. The bar only had three ponies in it aside from King and Rook. “Where is everypony?” she squeaked.

“They'll be here, just relax,” Knight said with a grin. “I'm going to go help the others, you get on stage and knock them dead.” He reached out and gave her a little push. As she trotted off he moved behind the bar and glanced to King. “Still wearing the cloak, huh? You know we'd probably get more guests if you didn't constantly hide yourself like that.”

“That's not going to happen,” the pony's gravely voice answered.

“Fine, fine,” the red stallion glanced to the stage as the music stopped, with Note chatting to the band. “So... did you find out what I asked?”

“Yes. Bishop did a little investigating,” King mumbled. “This Ironback definitely takes care of a number of jobs for his bosses. Hitting them won't be too hard. However, I think you're taking this a bit too personal.”

“You know we'll have to deal with him eventually,” Knight mumbled as he took out one of his cigarettes and lit it. “Can't risk him finding out about Queen over there.”

“No, we can't,” the cloaked stallion grumbled. “But that's because of business. I don't like you taking pleasure out of it. It makes you too sloppy.”

“Relax, it'll be fine. I've never let you down before, King. Me and Rook can handle anything needed, and with Note keeping look out-”

“Note won't be there,” the stallion said firmly.

“W-what?” Knight asked, nearly dropping the cigarette from his mouth.

“Too risky. I'm going to try developing her spell here, having her go with you might get her identified. She did use to work for them. Bishop will be your look out.”

“What? Why Bishop? She-”

“Already knows how to resist your charms and will be able to keep you focused on the job,” King growled. “At the end of the day, Knight, this is a job. The only difference is, we get paid better but if we mess up, we die. So start taking it seriously.”

Soft music began filling the air as the two looked to the stage for a moment. Note had begun, her gentle notes floating through the air. Sadly, most the current guests were too drunk to notice. “I am taking this seriously,” Knight mumbled as he glanced back to the cloaked stallion. “It's not just about payback. We can make a lot of money off these.”

“Yes, we can,” King agreed. “Only if we take this seriously. If you see the guy vulnerable, feel free to kill him. But don't go out of your way to get to him. Understand?”

“Yes sir, I understand...” The red stallion glanced up to the stage. “She does have a nice voice though. A bit sorrowful, but gentle on the ears.”

“Good. Ponies drink more when they're sad. I'll be in the back, working on some things. Come get me if you need me.” The stallion turned and walked down the hall, leaving the two behind to serve drinks.

Note tried her best to keep her voice steady as she lightly swayed from side to side. The music flowed around her and at times she felt as if she couldn't breath. The words flowed out like water, though midway through the song she felt her mouth dry out. She began to shake as her first note was missed. She struggled to get by, though in the chorus she missed another note. As the final word came from her lips her entire body was shaking and sweat coated the inside of her dress, though fortunately the fabric seemed amazing at whisking it away.

“T-thank you,” she squeaked as she walked off the stage and made a bee line for the bar. Behind her she heard the band start again. “I-I can't do this!” she said to Knight as she put her trembling hooves on the counter. “I-I've never sung in front of a crowd before!”

“Huh?” the pony asked as he smiled at her. “Come now, you sounded wonderful.”

“B-but I can't! I've just never... I've only ever done recordings! No pony has ever responded! I can't do this! I-I'm shaking so bad I just... I just can't!”

“Easy girl, easy,” he patted her hoof and smiled. “You look beautiful and sound majestic. In fact, I've already had two ponies come up and ask me who the amazing new talent is.”

“R-really?” she asked as she looked around. “But there are only like... five ponies here now.”

“I know. They just loved your singing so much. You sound amazing. Go on, you can do it.”

“... You're lying,” she mumbled as she hung her head. “Just to make me feel better, aren't you?”

“What? No! I'd never!” Knight said quickly.

“I appreciate it, really I do. But I'm terrible, I know it...”

“Nah, he's telling the truth,” Rook said as he washed a few glasses with his rag.

“R-really?” Note asked as she looked to the large earth pony. After a moment she shook her head and giggled. “Wait, no. You wouldn't... w-wow... I... I'm getting fans! Ponies like my singing! I'll go right back up as soon as they finish this set.”

After she left Knight let out a soft sigh and smiled to Rook. “Thanks for covering me back there. I knew you cared.”

“Hmph. Don't read too much into it. If I hadn't I knew I'd be listening to both of you whine and mope for the next few hours,” the pony said gruffly as he poured four mugs of thick sweet apple cider. “Take these to the corner table. Greenback and her husband just walked in.”

“On it!” the stallion said as he scooped up the drinks and trotted towards the table.

Note wobbled to the bar and sat down with a groan. “S-something c-cold,” she croaked out. Hours had passed as the bar had filled up finally and was only now beginning to die down again.

“Your throat okay?” Rook asked as he poured her a mug of cider and plopped it in front of her.

“Y-yes...” she managed to choke out. “I-I've just never sung like that before. How long was I up there?”

“Three, maybe four hours, including the breaks. Might want to add a few more songs to your repertoire,” the pony said with a chuckle. “But nopony threw any bottles of booze at yah, so it didn't go too bad.”

“Thanks,” she grumbled as she took a gulp of the drink. Her cheeks turned red as the icy cold beverage cascaded down her sore throat, the sweet nectar stroking her tongue and the fizzy bubbles tickling her nose. “W-what... what is this... this amazing drink?”

“Sweet apple cider,” Knight said as he popped up behind her. “Best drink you'll ever touch in all of Equestria. You sounded great up there. Best take good care of your voice before we open again.”

“Open again?” she squeaked pathetically. “H-how often does this place open?”

“We only have one of these speakeasys about twice a week. One early in the week, one near the end. Keeps us from drawing undue attention to ourselves. Rotate locations sometimes as well. You'll get used to it as we go.” Knight reached up to pat her head. “Gives you time to rest that beautiful voice and for us to make sure our supply isn't too dented.”

“Oh, well, that's good then,” she said with a smile before taking another deep drink. “Does that mean we have another job tomorrow?”

“Me and Rook do. Boss wants you to wait here and work on your spell,” the stallion said as he reached over the counter to grab himself a mug of cider.

“What? Why? Did I do something wrong? Was I a bad look out?” she squeaked as she put her drink down and looked to him, chewing on her lower lip.

“What? Nooo! You were an amazing look out. The best! Stopped me from getting shot.”

“You coulda done a better job. Next time just let him get shot,” Rook added.

“Shut up,” Knight said before smiling to Note. “It's just a few minor jobs, don't worry. Just keep practicing that beautiful voice of yours and everything will be fine. I know looking forward to your next little concert will make me want to come home all the faster.” He reached out and gently brushed her mane behind her ear. “Okay?”

Note blushed as she nodded slowly. “O-okay... T-thanks. I... I'll do my best.” She looked up and then reached up and gave the stallion a tight hug. “Thanks for everything,” she whispered before letting go and trotting off to her room.

“She's gonna hit you pretty hard when she finds out what you talked the boss into doing,” Rook grumbled.

“Nah, she'll never find out,” Knight said with a confident smirk. “Besides, what's the worst that can happen?”