Oh, I have all my fingers...
Nighttime in Ponyville is a wonderful thing, especially for those old enough to truly enjoy it. Shortly before the sun sets over the small town, the local pubs open their doors and those who either need a place to forget their day or want somewhere to have fun with some friend find themselves drawn to promise of loss, loss of inhibition and worry, if all goes well. As those who reach legal age to join in these locales test the waters, the more active crowd will often make their way to The Clumsy Colt. This night, one of three close foalhood friends comes of age and they all make their way to this very establishment.
Scootaloo grimaced slightly as she knocked back her second shot of whiskey of the night, shivering slightly just after. Apple Bloom, however, seemed plenty content sipping at her mug of hard cider and snickering occasionally at the orange pegasus beside her.
“Ya okay, Scoots? Ain’t gone yet are ya?”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes, giving the farm pony a firm ‘tap’ on the shoulder. “Just cause I’m a pegasus doesn’t make me a fuckin’ lightweight, Bloom. Heck, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re waiting for me to just get blitzed so you don’t have ta come out.”
At that, Apple Bloom chuckled and shook her head with a smile. “You still get the craziest ideas sometimes, ya know that?”
“Hey, I only get the really crazy ones after a half a bottle o’ Daniel’s. ‘Sides, you know I’m trying to keep from getting too drunk tonight. I don’t wanna miss Sweetie’s first night.” Scootaloo chuckled a little before leaning back against the bar. She looked around briefly before turning back to Apple Bloom. “Speaking of that fluff butt, where’d she go? I don’t see her anywhere.”
“Fluff butt?”
Scootaloo shrugged. “Hey, the filly has somethin’ in back.”
“Were you really lookin’ at her like that?”
“Hey, I’m allowed to admire a good figure, drunk or not. I’m just being straight here.”
Apple Bloom smirked. “Oh really, now?”
“Fuck you. You know what I mean. Anyways, we should probably find Sweetie before she gets too many down. I’ve seen too many ponies decide they could handle their liquor on the first night out and wind up out like a light in the first hour.”
“Oh please. Anypony worth their weight in manure should know to watch their intake.” Scootaloo cringed at the sound of an unfortunately familiar voice, one that Apple Bloom silently elected to simply ignore. Scootaloo, however, turned to see that the music wasn’t making her hear things and that, indeed, Silver Spoon was approaching, alone.
Scootaloo smirked and relaxed against the counter once more. She stretched as she shot a grin at Silver Spoon. “Well, well, guess you finally got bold enough to make your own choices and live a little, huh? Oh, or is your mistress just waiting outside?”
Silver Spoon scoffed and sighed. “Still acting like a teenager, I see? And if you must know, Diamond is here too. She simply had other matters to attend to at the moment.”
That caught Apple Bloom’s attention. She set her mug down and turned to the grey earth pony. “Ya don’t say. Now jes what they hay d’ya mean by that?”
Silver Spoon opened her mouth to reply, but a very familiar voice beat her to it. “Hey! What was that for?” Silver Spoon stopped and smirked as she turned without a word and walked towards the voice. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom didn’t waste a moment following her and soon found Diamond leaning over Sweetie Belle, who now had her front torso covered in spilled alcohol.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I guess I didn’t see you there.” Diamond stood straight and sneered at Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo started towards the pink pony, but found herself halted behind Apple Bloom.
“What gives, AB? Are you just gonna let them--”
Scootaloo was promptly cut off as Sweetie Belle stood, slamming her hand on the table as she did. “The fuck you didn’t. You know what? I’m done putting up with this from you. I thought we’d left this behind us long ago.”
Diamond stepped forward aggressively, leaning in close to the unicorn. “Oh yeah? And just what are you gonna do about it?”
Sweetie Belle stepped back and took a deep breath. She composed herself quickly and gave Diamond Tiara a flat glare. “I’m going to handle this like a mature adult.”
At that, Diamond and Silver turned to each other and bursted into laughter. Scootaloo nearly tore free from Apple Bloom, but not quite. As Diamond Tiara slowly eased in her laughter, she looked to Sweetie Belle, fully expecting the mare to have left already, only to see her instead starting to lift her skirt.
“What are you--”
She stopped in her tracks along with everypony nearby, all wide-eyed as they watched Sweetie Belle pull a rather large knife from a sheath on her thigh before flipping the blade once and slamming it into the table beside her.
“Five Finger Filet.”
All nearby patrons went nearly dead silent, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom included. It took a moment, but Diamond Tiara soon found her voice.
“You can not be serious.”
Sweetie Belle leveled a glare at her.
“You wanna bet on that?”
Diamond wasted no more time responding, determined not to look weak.
“Yeah, I do.”
Sweetie Belle turned back to her glass on the table, still full. She looked back to Diamond before taking a seat and pulling the knife free.
“Fine by me. First one to wuss out is the other’s bitch for three days.” Diamond recoiled slightly, looking to Silver Spoon out of the corner of her eye. Sweetie wasted little time pushing the point. “If you’re as big a deal as you seem to think you are, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about, right? I’ll back down first and have to do whatever you say for three days. Unless you don’t think you can handle it.”
That lit a fire in the earth pony. She turned back to the unicorn at the table and sat opposite her. She smirked and sat back.
“You go first, then.”
Apple Bloom quickly stepped in, the sudden lack of an arm bracing Scootaloo nearly sending the pegasus to the floor.
“Whoa now, dontcha think this might be a bit much?”
Sweetie Belle simply ignored her friend, staring down the still smirking Diamond Tiara. She was quiet for a moment before grabbing her drink, knocking back the whole glass, and nearly slamming it down. She then placed her left hand on the table and spread her fingers as she gripped the knife firmly in her right.
“Fifteen jabs, take it as slow as you want.”
With that, Sweetie Belle began jabbing the knife at the spaces between her fingers at a fairly casual pace, just barely missing the digits a few times until she finished all fifteen jabs. On the sixteenth, she pulled her hand back and sunk the tip of the blade once more into the tabletop.
“Your turn, princess.”
Whatever traces of Diamond’s smirk or cockiness remained when Sweetie had started were all but gone now. She stared at the knife for a moment before shaking herself out of her slight daze. She growled at the bartender before calling out, “Seven shots over here. Strongest thing you’ve got.”
The bartender was caught a little off guard, but figured this would be settled soon as he quickly set seven shot glasses on a small tray, filling each with a strong spirit before taking the tray to the now crowded table. Once they were set, Diamond grabbed one of the glasses and wasted no time knocking the strong liquid back, grimacing harshly at the taste. She grabbed the knife as soon as she recovered and followed Sweetie’s example, placing her left hand on the table and spreading her fingers. She hesitated briefly before beginning her own set of fifteen, just narrowly managing to avoid her fingers nearly every time, despite going noticeably slower than Sweetie.
Diamond stuck the knife in the table top as well after her set, Sweetie removing it and taking a shot as well, nearly gagging at the unexpectedness of it, but recovering before long. With a slight scratch to her voice as she eased back down, she stated the next round.
“Twenty-five jabs, try to keep up a little this time.”
Sweetie once more placed her hand and spread her fingers, only this time to start hammering away at the spaces considerably faster, though still slowly enough that onlookers could quite easily keep count with her. This time, however, she got to the thirteenth jab before the blade nicked her index finger. She flinched as it began to bleed, but didn’t stop until she reached twenty-five, promptly slamming the knife into the table as she finished. She shook her hand briefly before sucking on the cut for a moment.
Diamond saw an opportunity to get out of this early, one she didn’t give a second thought before trying.
“That looks kind of bad. You sure you don’t just wanna give up now?”
Sweetie narrowed her eyes before slamming her left hand on the table.
“I did my turn. Now take the shot and get to it. Remember to speed up this time.”
Diamond simply glared before pulling the knife free once more and grabbing a glass, knocking it back quickly and with much less reaction this time. She put the glass down and placed her hand on the table, spreading her fingers. She hesitated for a split second before taking a breath and jabbing between her fingers. She managed eight before she nicked the end of her ring finger, wincing and stopping. She glanced up to Sweetie Belle. Sweetie wore a satisfied smirk, one that made Diamond Tiara growl before continuing her round, despite nicking her hand twice more. After twenty-five, she slammed the knife down.
“Your turn,” Diamond barked before shaking her hand and gripping it in a nearby napkin.
Sweetie smiled and took the knife.
“I’m honestly impressed. I expected you to bitch out the first time you cut yourself.”
“Sh-shut up and take your fucking turn.”
With another smirk, Sweetie took a glass and knocked back the drink, grimacing at the taste, but shaking it off quickly. She placed her hand down once more and spread her fingers.
“Fifty jabs. Keep up if you can.”
With that said, Sweetie Belle flipped the knife once in her right hand before pausing momentarily. Just as Diamond began to grin with the thought of victory, Sweetie began her turn, jabbing almost furiously between her fingers, making it to twenty with only a few close calls before slipping up and slicing the small webbing between her thumb and index finger. Whether it was the alcohol taking effect or some odd resolve, she barely flinched before continuing. She managed to thirty-nine before nicking her pinkie, wincing and hitting her index finger immediately after. She stopped and gritted her teeth.
Sweetie took a second to steady her breath before jumping back in and finishing the last ten jabs. She slammed the knife into the table, panting lightly. She wiped a single tear from her eye with her right hand before staring at Diamond across from her.
“Your turn.”
Diamond stared, slack-jawed, for a moment. If there was anything she was expecting out of the mare before her, it was certainly not what she’d just seen. After she tuned back into the world around her, she looked to the knife, already glistening red slightly near the end. She shook her head and took the knife. She wordlessly knocked back another shot. She placed her left hand on the table once more, pausing as she tried to steady herself, the alcohol already making her vision slightly fuzzy. She looked to the knife and noticed the blood still gleaming lightly.
“Uh, one moment. I need to clean this. I-I don’t want to chance your blood touching mine.”
Without waiting on response, Diamond wiped most of the blood off with a napkin before setting it aside and gripping the knife firmly once more. She set her hand back down and again spread her fingers. She looked at her hand as blood still lightly trickled from her fingers. She tried to take a few deep breaths as her right hand began shaking, but soon pulled her hand back and dropped the knife.
“No. I can’t do it. I can’t.”
As the crowd that had gathered went nearly into an uproar at the conclusion to the game, Sweetie sat back in the booth as her mouth drew into a slightly drunken grin.
“Good. We’ll finish up what you bought for us and take things to my house. Hope you don’t have any big plans for the next three days.”
Diamond looked up, her expression giving a mild hint of fear.
“Y-you’re kidding, right? You’re not really going to hold me to that silly bet, are you?”
Sweetie Belle raised her brow and retrieved her knife. She brought it to her mouth and slowly licked off what blood remained before smirking.
“You lost. Now you’re going to pay up.”