It was another one of those dark and cold nights here in the city. The Winter's howl swept through the streets; the cold would make anypony's teeth chatter. Two ponies stood guard in front of a steel door, both bearing a standard winter coat and caps. One of the two ponies, a stallion blew a puff of smoke from the cigar in his mouth. The other one, a younger mare, coughed as the smoke entered her lungs.
"Do ya have to smoke that right next to me?" the mare asked, still slightly coughing.
"Boss says I gotta stand near the door, so I'm stayin' near the door. If you got a problem with it then move."
"Like you, I don't feel like fucking with the boss." The two stood in silent for a few minutes, before another ring of smoke entered the two's air space. The mare continued to cough again, her lungs becoming filled.
"Really? Can you please stop with the cigar? I'm dying over here!" the mare snarled, irritated by all of the smoke.
"Ya don't scare me missie, but I'll put out the cigar since your makin' yourself look cute for me." The stallion crushed the tip of the cigar against the building's wall, ashes spread to the concrete beneath their feet.
"Shu.. Shutup!" she stuttered, feeling a bit embarrassed by the stallion's comment. The stallion let out a hardy chuckle, which did not help with the mare's embarrassment. The two stood in silent for another three minutes.
"Do you know what's going on in there anyway?" the mare asks the stallion.
"Don't know, I never ask; never want a chance of gettin' a revolver bullet lodged in my throat."
"Point taken... any-who I'm pretty sure the boss said she'd be done around 11, so now we wait." With that, the two ponies went off to being silent.
Meanwhile two ponies sat at a small table, perfect for a one on one conversation. One of the ponies, who was dressed in a nice tuxedo and fancy black stetson sat in a fancy leather chair, her legs reclined on the table. She snapped her figures and out of the shadows walked another stallion, who brought out a pricey cigar. She gave him a stare, he lit the cigar and handed it over to her. In the other chair sat another mare, wearing a suit with a purple bow-tie. Her eyes locked with the smoking pony.
"Alright, Octavia my friend; y'all have been one of my greatest crew members for a long time now. I think its time for ya to get a promotion." Octavia sat silently in her seat, a simple nod was her only reaction.
"Ya get the drift, good. I want y'all to take charge of a squad, find yerself some of the lower ranked members and raise them to the top."
"It will be done, I am quite thankful for your choice of action."
"That's what I like about ya Octavia, yer so polite, so classy."
"Manners are an important part, it helps keeps the ponies on your good side. If you show them that you have class you can get them to think that you aren't so bad." Before the conversation could advance, the boss blew a ring of smoke into the air.
"Yer quite right Octy, you don't mind that I call ya Octy?"
"Not at all, please, continue."
"See, ponies know to fear me, they no that I'm not to mess with. Its why I get ponies like yerself to help me with my "business." And you Octy, you're one of the best I've been able to ever find. I would even say I may never be able to find someone as good as yerself. I'm gettin' off track again. I need ya to find yerself a crew, once you get 'em head over to Fillydelphia, we've got some of them sellers wantin' to make a deal of some extra special cider ingredients. Those ingredients and that extra flavor to the stuff, gives it a great big kick."
"It will be done, expect those ingredients in a week." Octavia rose from her chair and headed for the steel door.
"Take as much time as ya need Octy, I know you will be the last pony on this damned planet to fail me."
The steel door opened with a soft creek. The mare sighed in relief, knowing that any minute now she would be able to sit in front of a nice fireplace and would get the chance to drink some nice tea. The stallion on the other hand made no movement, and continued to stand guard. The stallion was like a statue, the only reason a pony could even tell he was alive was due to his cold breath leaving a small mark in the air. Out of the doorway walked Octavia, a ski cap rested on top of her head.
"Great to see you ma'am, are we dismissed from are position?" the mare asked, praying in her mind for the release of standing in the cold.
"I have no say in the matter, the boss is the one who will make the call for you to take your leave," Octavia replied as she left the ally.
"Just my luck, I've got to stay outside in this damn cold," the mare whispered under her breath. The stallion scoffed and continued to guard.
Before she chose to begin her mission, Octavia needed a refreshment. The local coffee shop was close by, and a nice cup of Joe was right up her alley. She entered the small corner shop to receive a toothy smile.
"Welcome to the Coffee Block ma'am, do you know what your wanting, or would you like a few minutes?"
"Thank you, I would like just a regular coffee with a bit of sugar, no milk please." The cashier nodded and started to brew the drink.
"How's your night been ma'am?"
"Its been splendid, how has yours been?"
"Its been slow, but so far its been nice," the cashier says as she proceeds to make her way to Octavia, "Here's your coffee ma'am, enjoy." She gives the cashier a smile and begins to drink. The coffee had a lovely flavor to it, the delectable flavor tickled her taste buds. She has been a regular to this shop for a while now, usually visits after a confrontation with the boss. It was nice to relax after those meetings; the boss' actions were always unpredictable, which would always give Octavia a bit of anxiety flooding the back of her mind. She worries about the boss, as loyal as Octavia is, the boss sometimes could get a bit dangerous to be around. Octavia knew that being the leader of one of the biggest criminal organizations must be stressful. These thoughts usually came up at random moments, but it always was the most nerve racking when in public. In the back of her mind she worried as if one simple mistake could give away her true intentions. She takes one more swig before heading out the door.
"Uh ma'am, you didn't pay for the coffee..."
"Sorry about that, I've had a lot going in my mind tonight, here are the bits." She tosses 14 bits over to the cashier. She smiles and waves goodbye to Octavia as she proceeds out of the shop.
The first member that came to head was an obvious choice for her. The mare in mind has been a foalhood friend all of her life, she knew that their was no doubt that this mare would be eager to join. She always was a rowdy one; she was known for starting a fight for many different reasons. If Octavia was correct, she would be at the Righteous Records Club. The title of that place being "righteous" was one of the biggest lies Octavia ever heard. Righteous Records was a very popular club for many of the lowlifes that live in the city. The building itself was run down; broken glass, random bits of rocks, and random foliage littered the insides of the building. The employees there only had one purpose, to make sure nothing goes down. RR was in one of the "rougher" districts of the city. The district RR resided in is the center for mediocre crimes. Drug deals, mugging, and assault are commonplace. The district earned the title of being the most avoided part of Manehattan. Some ponies even consider that district as its own territory now, which has been dubbed "Scumville".
After walking for some time, Octavia made her way to Righteous Records. As she approached the club, two stallions walked out from the shadows. Octavia spotted that both of the shady figures were armed with Switchblades, this situation was clear to her. These two were two filthy muggers.
"Ey there missie, what's a cutie like you doin' out here at this time of day?"
"I'm on a simple stroll, nothing that concerns you."
"Ya know that these parts of town are dangerous for a little miss like you to be wanderin' around alone, right?"
"I know the risks."
"Well then, I guess ya are one on of those "risk" takers... As you can say lil missie, your gettin' mugged. Just drop you valuables down and you'll leave unharmed. If ya resist, my friend and I won't hesitate to gut ya like a fish."
Octavia grinned at the two muggers attempt to be threatening. She could tell by their act that the two had no clue on what they were truly doing. You gain that kind of instinct from doing business in this city for as long as she has. After a minute of silence the muggers began to approach Octavia, their knives at the ready. She moved her hand slowly and quietly into her coat. As she pulled her hand out of the coat, the muggers noticed she was now holding a peculiar object; an object that struck fear into their hearts. Octavia was now pointing a Mauser C96 at the two.
"I'm sure you two gents know this type of firearm?" she questioned.
"Uh... Tha.. That's a Mauser..." one of the muggers replied as the two backed away from her.
"I assume you know why I hold this?"
"Yes ma'am..."
"I'll give you two lowlifes to the count of five to flee. If you ever pull this again, you won't be so lucky."
"Yes ma'am!" one shouted as he sprinted towards a nearby corner alley.
After Octavia's encounter with the two amateurs, she made her way to the entrance of the Righteous Records. As she walked up a stallion in a black vest blocked her entry.
"Who are ya?"
"My name is Octavia, I'm here to see an old friend."
"Your not on the list, which means no entry." She sighed to his response. This part of her routine always got irritating.
"Fine, if you need convincing, here." Octavia proceeded to hand the bouncer a sack. He pulled off the string holding the opening of the bag together to see a collection of bits.
"There are about 250 bits in that bag. May I enter now?"
"Right this way ma'am. I'll put your name on the list just in case anyone questions your presence." the bouncer says, continuing to ogle at the "generous" gift the mare in front of him bestowed upon himself. She walked passed the now dazed bouncer and entered the club. Octavia's nostrils were met by the smell of cheap booze. It wasn't the most pleasant of smells, but nothing that she couldn't handle. She approached the center of the club to see both stallions and mares. Everyone of those ponies seemed to be more lowlifes, alcoholics, and hookers. It wasn't a surprise, those were the regular occupants of the Righteous Records.
After making her way through the crowd Octavia finally got to find what she has been looking for. The mare she needed was the club's disc jockey tonight. The mare was easy to pick out due to her white coat, electric blue hair, and purple shades that emitted a glow when the rave lights shined on them. The mare she needed was managing the sound of the club, the mare named Vinyl Scratch.
Author's Note
Hey, thanks for reading my new story! I've always been a fan of mafia stories, so I thought I would give it a try. I'm hoping to stick around this story mainly, as I plan to write many chapters in the future. If you have any criticism it would be appreciated, just please make it polite. Once again, thanks for reading, and have a nice day/night.
