Chapters Snuggles and Heavy Weapons
This Calls For a Toast
"A toast, to the fall of Borealis!" I said, lifting a glass of champagne in the air. No one around to partake the view. "The once greatest human conglomerate in Equestria."
It crushed me, like a roach.
Now I see why my father's intentions were widely regarded as a stupid move. You can't compete with unicorn magic.
Borealis was a bitch of a company anyway, working for both sides at the summit of its operations. That war, that freaking stupid war.
Ten thousand bullets per hour. Practically an arsenal per day.
I wonder how many ones we took. We preferred not to think about that - actually, my father pretended not to. I was just a kid, my worries were related to videogames, not the war.
What a life I had, In the suburbs of Canterlot, hiding like a nazi in a Jewish neighborhood.
Yeah, I meant that. I was everything but the good guy. What in this world is better than a blood stained fortune?
Caballero's Bar - 2:35 AM 02/10/19
"Say... What do you think of the two of us going to my place?" Fleur suggested with a smile. "It seems more cozy than... Well, than this." She looked around at the decrepit establishment.
"We both know you don't belong to this kind of life..."
"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to figure out that comment.
"I mean that a carriage is out there awaiting for me, and if you wish to, you can leave Caballero's with me." Fleur touched my hand, and never in my life a comment made more sense. "Naturally, that's up to you, Graff."
She stroked her pinkish mane, indifferently.
"You know what, I'm going. I'm freaking tired of this crap anyway." I chuckled, probably more than I'd have wanted. Standing up from that
As we walked outside, Fleur still carrying that empty bottle of Lilac for some reason, I couldn't help but think about how unlikely were those frames of reality.
It felt like the old times when I still had- well, it doesn't matter anymore. I was just marveled by the opportunity to leave Caballero's with something other than a hangover.
"Jesus, it's been a while since I saw one of these!" I stared at the dark pegasus powered carriage, gleaming under the foggy scattered lights of the street. Dense shadows followed our steps towards the carriage, as distant neon lights flickered in the night like radioactive fireflies.
"It was from my father." Fleur said with a hint of pride. "I think It's a little bit outdated, but I like the style."
"Are you kidding? That's a hell of a carriage, my father had a collection of those when-" I stopped.
"Your father had a collection of Trottingham carriages?" She asked as we climbed on the backseat. "Wow, he must have been pretty rich."
I coughed, biting my damned tongue.
"Oh- Ah, I mean, he had some... Miniatures" I smiled awkwardly. "He was an odd old man, living his life between my family on Earth, and his job in Equestria." That wasn't a lie by itself.
One of the pegasus closed the heavy door as we made ourselves comfortable in the wide insides of the cabin.
"Fetch, to the mansion." Fleur said to the chauffeur.
In a matter of seconds, the majestic carriage soared through the streets, its wheels delicately unchained from the grasp of earth. Six stallions flew ahead, pulling our cabin. We hovered over the building blocks, and the smog of lower Canterlot.
Fleur was silent, and for a moment I could swear she was more interested in observing my expressions than the view from the windows. Growing in the mountains above, extending its roots like a forest, was the royal city, glued together with the center of Canterlot.
My eyes shimmered at the sight, it had been a long, long time. Perched up in a distant corner of the cliffs, tall archways mostly covered by vines, a peculiar ruin that still stirred some memories inside of me.
"Tell me Daniel..." Fleur called back my attention. "What in this tricky mind of yours is troubling your soul?" Moving a seat closer to me, Fleur placed her hooves around my shoulders, as I still stared down at the city. I could feel her breath through my collar.
Three Decades Ago
My mother guided me through a large atrium, her hand tightly holding my thin wrist. I was six, maybe seven, and around my neck a thin synthetic necklace carried information I never managed to decode.
I knew it was there for my safety, and I should never, never take it out. It usually didn't bothered me. But it was a cold day, and the metallic
"Don't touch that Danny." Mom pulled my hand away. "You don't want to be contaminated, do you?" I didn't knew what contaminated meant, but by the tone of her voice I presumed it wasn't a good thing.
"Oh, a pleasure to see you, Mrs. Graff!" A man behind a counter smiled. I wasn't tall enough to reach the counter, but I tried my best. "Hey buddy, are you going to see your father today?" The man asked me, playing with my hair.
"Yes, he's going to." Said my mother, before I could formulate something else to say. In fact, I had no idea what I was doing there, or why my mother brought my baggage. I never slept at daddy's house. He was a very busy man.
As we walked into the elevator, I couldn't help but imagine myself in Manhattan, an actor of one of those old gangster movies.
"Listen Danny." She said as the doors closed, ruining my short lived fantasy. "You are going to stay with your father for a few days, I am going to talk to him now. You can play in the library."
"Why?" I frowned. "I don't like this place, when are we going back to Waterbury?"
The doors went open, and my mother practically dragged me through the corridors of the mansion.
"Why don't you answer me??" I whined.
"We are going back to Waterbury as soon as your father fix the mess he started." She said sternly. "Now pick a book and stay quiet, your father doesn't like to be disturbed in his office."
With that, my mother dropped me in an armchair, and opened a large door at the other side of the room. For a glimpse of a second, I saw my
And the doors were closed, and in silence I remained.
Too much silence.
For a kid, every closed room is a temptation. It wasn't long until my ear was pinned against the massive wooden doors.
"...are you insane Alice?" It was my father's voice. Quite muffled, but it was him.
"I can't live in this hell anymore, I'm tired Richard, tired of this place." Every time the sound of the high heels of my mother approached the door, I dodged to the side like a secret agent.
"...how the hell am I supposed to take care of the kid? This company depends on me, the government depends on Borealis, the fucking army depends on Borealis." He argued, raising his voice for the first time.
"He's your son!" She shouted.
"And this is a war between two worlds dammit! Take care of your child, for God's sake!"
At this time, I sat on the floor, my back curved against my legs. I mix of anger and fear taking hold of me. The last sequence of events happened in a second, but they echoed forever.
A long silence followed by a sound of breaking glass, tables being dragged, words I never figured out.
"Alice- stop. W-what the hell are you doing?" My father muttered. I leaned too much against the door; to my misfortune it was open. My body crashed sideways over the glass shards.
I saw my mother there, in front of a destroyed glass cabinet. She had a gun, a gun pointed to her own head.
She never got a chance to see my pathetic body laying on the floor.
"A toast, to the success of Borealis!" She pushed it.
We never returned to Waterbury.
"Oh, it was nothing Fleur... I just remembered an old place on Earth." I whispered. "It was a nice city."
Author's Note
Short chapter, a lot to put together.
Snuggles and Heavy Weapons
Caballero's Building Three Months Ago
"I want to meet him." Said Fleur, ignoring the invasive smell of cigarettes and mold, already part of Nino's office. "And you know how to find that person."
Nino let out a deep sigh, fidgeting with the old portraits pilled up on top of his table.
"And why, Ms. De Lis, would I happen to know this Daniel Graff?" He asked, a hint of disdain on his face.
"Because you have the ways to find every lost soul wandering the dawns of lower Canterlot." She stated, moving aside a strand of hair from her face.
"The Graff family vanished from Equestria decades ago. After all the disgrace their company caused to this world, I hardly think one of them would show up again." Nino said.
"Not all of them. I have strong evidence that at least one, lives here, in your neighborhood." Fleur stood up, started to slowly pace around the room. "Think about it, the valley has been slowly dying after the war..." She pointed to the window. "Buildings are crumbling, business closing."
"I prefer to say it's maturing like casks of whiskey in a warehouse." The stallion said.
"Accept the fact Nino, the industries are dead, your streets are disgusting. Borealis acted like virus; it took all the riches this place once had, eroded the natural reserves, and the lives of their employees, in the end, they moved away, leaving nothing but the carcass."
"Then what's the damned point now? We can't go back in time: they are gone, Borealis is dead in Equestria." Nino shook his head, spinning on his chair.
"Daniel Graff still lives. And he carries with him, what remained of his father's plans. Borealis is not dead, it's merely hibernating." In a flashing spell, a small picture of Daniel materializing in thin air.
"Find him, Nino, and I'll make sure to put Lower Canterlot in the royal investment list again."
Swiftly, the picture rested on top of Nino's table.
"I can't promise anything. Go to the bar one night. You'll eventually find the person you're looking for." He said, a thin curtain of smoke rising from his cigarette. "Nothing is gonna hurt you, babe. But keep in mind that some things are better left untouched."
"I will."
Canterlot Hills - 2:55 AM 02/10/19
For the first time in ages, I walked through the golden lit and brightly polished streets of my old neighborhood. We had landed in a nearby square, specifically planned by some picky architect for this purpose.
Fleur's mansion wasn't very far, actually it was only a corner away from the wide courtyard where the carriages stayed. All the houses of this part of the town displayed their opulence with statuettes, towers, archways, and blooming gardens of exotic flowers.
Her mansion was no exception, In fact, the opulence was engraved on its own entrance - A golden Fleur de Lis sealed the coat of arms of her family.
"Come in!" She said, opening the massive front gates with a touch of her horn.
I followed her steps into the mansion where everything towered over our bodies, from the oak doors to the Persian tapestry hanging from the walls.
"My grandfather had a peculiar tendency to exaggerate things." Fleur said with a chuckle. "It runs in our blood, I believe."
"Oh, believe me, I know how it is..." And how I knew.
To my own luck, Fleur's house seemed to be way more quieter than the place I used to live with my father, which was also the headquarters of his conglomerate.
I never got used to the noise of rubber bullets being fired to control the frequent riots outside. It was a fact; I was doomed to live under the roof of the most hated company in Equestria.
"So, you live alone?" I asked, as we walked upstairs. The second floor seemed to be smaller, and consequently warmer than the cavernous main hall.
"My mother lived with me, but since she married a stallion from Saddle Arabia I've been mostly by myself here." Fleur said. "Oh, and the twelve servants, the two chefs, and the butler." She added, rolling her eyes and chuckling.
"What about your bodyguards?" I joked.
"Well, I don't need them." She pushed my arm playfully. "I'm a dangerous mare, Daniel."
And I would soon understand why.
Lower Canterlot, Scovill Mining Complex Six Months Ago
Deep under the ruins of an old smelting plant , precisely - the Scovill industries - a subsidiary of Borealis responsible for extracting and refining rare materials, was the deepest mine of Equestria. Now abandoned and mostly filled by water and mining debris, there wasn't much to do or to see. The main entrance to the complex had been sealed two decades ago, leaving an ominous wall of concrete and rock in its place.
However, through an obscure emergency tunnel, I delved into the earth inside the only electrical train still on its tracks. Halfway to the mines, a small panel flashed up on the wall, as usual, I inserted the specific numerical code.
The empty train stopped with a long squeak, the lights inside flickered and for a second or so I was immersed in complete darkness. I hear something moving under the wagon, it sounded like a crane, a deep metallic noise as the platform started to rotate towards a side passage.
Lights flood the wagons again, and suddenly I am in a completely different place. There are no more mossy rock walls surrounding the train, only a long and faintly illuminated circular tunnel. Down here, It felt as if the years hadn't passed, this part of the complex was frozen in time.
"Welcome to Borealis Advanced Laboratories, make sure to present your identification card, or access code to the nearest-"
"Ah, shut the fuck up!" I groaned, ignoring the annoying speakers. It was the same thing, day after day, with or without the automated voice my mind repeated the protocol announcements.
After five minutes or so, the train slowed down, the final stop being a considerably small platform, 'Lab - 7' said the blue sign on the stainless steel wall. Home sweet home.
It may be quite absurd to live in such a place, but here, almost two miles under the city, it felt less like Equestria. Lab - 7 was my personal 'Earth Embassy', and no one really knew that such a placed existed, except maybe for the science team who worked here twenty years ago. I could have moved to Earth, yes I could. I could have started a new life somewhere else.
But I stayed behind. A coward, maybe, but it was not like I cared anymore. I fought the war with myself, but the war wouldn't stop, for the love of god.
The reinforced doors slid open as I made my way through the apartment-turned laboratory. Flasks of substances unknown to me were still displayed in most of the glass shelves and cabinets, as a memorabilia of questionable taste.
I threw my jacket over a counter, and with a sigh of relief, rested my body on the couch.
But there was something different in the decoration that day. Large flat screens covered a wall across the room, usually void and lifeless, except when I plugged my computer on it to work on something.
A green light blinked in the dark, eerily reflecting on the several mirrored surfaces nearby.
"What the hell..." I muttered, standing up almost against my will, and slowly making my way towards the screens, grabbing the control tablet halfway there.
I had a signal. The laboratory was receiving a transmission.
My eyes were dazzled by the white lights that flooded the room as I turned the equipment on. I moved an arm to cover my face, but lowered it down in shock as I saw the person on the screen.
"Briggs??" I said, staring at the old man.
"God, you are alive." He replied, pinching his glasses. "I knew you was alive."
"My heart keeps beating. It's not my fault."
"Daniel... What happened to you? Do you have any idea of how long we've been trying to find you?" He said, still not believing in my existence as much as I wasn't believing in his. "Fifteen years, Daniel."
"Why, Briggs? Give me a fucking reason to care about them." I threw the tablet aside, rubbing my face in frustration. "It's about Borealis, isn't it? It is always about it."
"The board members may keep this company running like a zombie, but it was always you - it runs in your blood."
"No, no it doesn't!" I shouted. My voice echoing through the endless corridors, and returning to my ears like ghosts.
"If there's someone in the world who can reignite Borealis, this person is you."
"Reignite Borealis?" I snorted, shaking my head. "You mean reigniting the war, isn't it? Without death we make no profit, right?" I said, pacing around adrift.
"The conflicts that happened twenty, thirty years ago are pointless now, Graff. All those fundamentalists, the groups involved in the war - they are gone." Briggs said. "The worlds have been interacting peacefully for almost two decades, new treaties were made, unicorn technology is finally being explored again. New companies arise every day."
"There's no reason to hide anymore."
I stopped, turning back at the screen. Unbuttoning my shirt, and revealing the same necklace I had when I was a kid.
"You remember this?" I asked. "You remember when my father placed this damned thing around my neck? When he uploaded the activation codes of the thermonuclear warheads? What about the automatic response in case of death or removal?" I groaned. "No reason to hide, right?"
"When your father died, the project died with him. You've probably been carrying a piece of scrap metal around your neck for fifteen years!" The old man stated, a look of concern in his face.
"I don't believe in probabilities, I believe in facts." I said.
"Then believe in yourself! Find the access code to the necklace, disable it. No one lives forever after all" He said. "You define your own destiny, Daniel. The key to fix the all the mess your father has done lies in your hands. It's up to you to find a way, or rot together with the ruins of the greatest enterprise of humankind."
With my fingers around the necklace, I stared at the screen and at the man beyond.
"Sorry Briggs... But I don't believe in humankind"
Snuggles and Heavy Weapons
Canterlot Hills, Fleur's Mansion - 3:23 AM 02/10/19
"Make yourself at home, Danny." Fleur said with a smile, dropping her scarf over a large and ancient looking armchair.
Up in the second floor, in a cozy corner of the mansion, was Fleur's room. Her chambers were richly adorned with a multitude of artworks and statuettes, a private collection acquired over the centuries by her family.
The Lis dynasty was one of the oldest unicorn clans of Cantetlot, and maybe even Equestria. They were powerful in many ways, and weren't afraid of showing their influence when necessary.
Fleur was not your ordinary kind of pony; she was tallest than the average mares, and carried with her a very intelligent and observant mind, an unique personality, that's for sure.
Paintings of ponies I presumed were her parents hanged on the walls side by side. They looked like her in several aspects, in special the eyes; deep, entrancing violet oceans. There was some sort of blazonry stamped on each stripe of the wallpaper, crowns and lilies - those were everywhere.
The room itself was slightly circular, maybe octagonal, certainly inside one of the towers. Tall window panes surrounded the chamber, most of them hidden behind thick crimson and golden curtains. An equally opulent bed was placed right across the room, stained glass panels projecting the shapes of her cutie mark over the bed linen, light scattered around in diffuse pinkish tones.
She walked past the bed, opening some cabinets and doors, focused in doing god knows what, fixing another drink for us, I presumed. I sat down on a couch, my body being practically swallowed by the pillows.
Maybe it was the lilac wine, or maybe it was just ingenuity mixed with my human instincts acting over me. I couldn't say for sure why I accepted Fleur's offer - but now I was here, and the bizarre fact that a pony like her had invited me to an upscale neighborhood started to settle down in my brain, and the thoughts it stirred were quite unsettling.
Most of them ended up with trouble.
"So..." I said, accepting the floating glass of wine that Fleur carried with her magic. "Of all the-"
"First a toast - To the future of our friendship." She said, some odd memories regarding toasts and possible futures emerging in my mind.
"To the future of our... Friendship." I repeated. An uneasy smile in my face. Wine glasses tinkled as they touched, the sound was sharp and ripped the air like a bullet fired upwards during the start of a race.
"So, as I was saying." I resumed my line of thought, not paying too much attention to the wine. I don't think normal people are ever interested in the wine, anyway. "Of all the ponies in that bar, why choose the human at the corner?"
"Why not to choose the human?" She replied.
"That's not an answer." I said, chuckling to myself.
"Ask the right question, and you'll get the right answer." Fleur said, placing her glass aside and resting her head against a pillow. She looked dangerously cute.
"We both know I am not the sort of thing you'd bring home after drinking an entire bottle of lilac wine." I said. Fleur looked at me and smiled in a seemingly mischievous way.
"And we both know you are not the person you seem to be - or want the others to believe you are."
She was sharp like a razor blade, her words pierced and dodged all my questions. Even though I pushed, nothing would come out, at least not if I insisted in this back and forth strategy.
"Tell me, what do you want me to be?" I asked, turning to face her.
Softly, she straightened up, her muzzle dangerously close to my neck, brushing softly against my cheeks, she whispered.
"A dead man."
Before I could figure out what those words implied, Fleur kissed me, closing her kaleidoscope eyes, and pressing her chest against mine. Entranced like a moth in a lighthouse, I refused to struggle when the buttons of my shirt were ripped one by one, the light pink glow emanating from her horn doing all the job.
Tilting her head slightly to the side, she moved her lips away from mine.
"I'm so sorry."
In a split of a second, pleasure turned into pain, as Fleur grasped my neck with a strangling spell.
"What remained of Borealis dies with you, Graff."
Fleur's Mansion Six Months Ago
"I must admit Fleur, never an agent of mine had been so successful in a planned career before" Said a tall white stallion, a dark suit covering his chest, in front of him a table pilled up with documents, pictures, objects, and all sorts of evidence he needed.
"I know, I'm one of the best..." She said with sarcastic pride.
"Even though the whole operation has been an outstanding victory, I can't help but feel sorry for your model self. I mean - what a pristine reputation you've managed to build along these years in the fashion industry." He said, pacing around the table and all the things scattered, glancing through the windows as if inspecting the neighborhood for the first time. It wasn't the case, naturally.
"Indeed, It's a shame." Fleur said. "But that's life, isn't it? I knew the consequences when I accepted the opportunity. We need to move on, after all."
"Yes, yes... We need to move on." The stallion nodded in complacency.
It was a warm afternoon, and the windows were half-opened to let the air in. The mansion itself was always slightly dark, being day or night, but the skies were clear outside and the sun low at the horizon, casting shadows and long patches of light on the floor and walls.
Fleur sat down on a sun bathed part of the couch, her white fur reflecting the shining yellowish tones.
"Say Fancy Pants, what do you have for me today? I don't suppose it involves more elite ponies." She chuckled.
"Not at all!" He replied enthusiastically, his body partially engulfed in shadows. A faint monochromatic sunset slowly setting on the back of his eyes. "I presume that by this time, you already know something about the new assignment?"
"You presumed right" She assured. "Living human 'relics' from the war times, considerable possibility of heavy weapons, agonizing corporations..." Fleur said, as if making a groceries check list.
"It's not as simple as it may seem, I'm afraid." Fancy Pants said, pouring himself a glass of whiskey. "Someone out there is almost literally a time bomb. Someone who has been in standby for a long, long time. A psychological limbo, it seems"
"Psychological limbo?" She repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"The heir of Borealis - Daniel Alexander Graff. A paranoid mid-thirties human raised right here in this same neighborhood of yours, now living in Lower Canterlot, doing Celestia knows what. The last of his family still in this world. " He said, laying on an armchair across the living room. " He's a mix of fear, regret, and a little bit of repressed anger."
"And why should we worry about someone like him?" Fleur asked.
"Because this 'someone' carries the access codes to the most destructive thing ever built in Equestria. The major problem is not him, but the three thermonuclear warheads he has access to."
Silence filled the room at the mention of nuclear weapons. It was an ominous word, no matter how hard they tried to ignore the feeling.
"And where are those things?"
"That's your job to find out... What we do know is that he has a necklace with the coordinates. Find Daniel Graff, get the necklace." The stallion said, resting his empty glass aside.
"What about him?" Fleur inquired.
"He's disposable. The guy knows too much for his own good." He sighed coldly. "Eliminate him"
"Get off me!" I growled, feeling my face getting numb.
Something happened when her spell surrounded the necklace, something odd. As I struggled to set myself free, a bizarre light repelled her magic, as if an invisible shield had just been placed between me and Fleur. That thing pushed her away in a sudden jolt of energy, throwing the mare on the floor. I breathed heavily, my lungs aching as air filled them up again.
"What-what the fuck are you doing?" I said, crawling away from her.
She never answered me. In a second, Fleur was standing again, her horn was lit, and with heavy thuds the doors started to close. To hell with that, I turned around and started to run. There were no more cozy spots, no safe heaven, only one corridor leading out, and its mirrored walls towering over me.
I looked back, and couldn't believe in my eyes when Fleur lifted a grotesque gun from a cabinet. Even more grotesque was the fact I had seen that kind of stuff before - it was manufactured by Borealis, although Fleur's one was clearly enhanced somehow, that thing fired crystal rounds. My heart pounded like a train as I dodged from the imminent shots.
The first explosion sent hundreds of shards all over the corridor, the windows being knocked over by the blast wave. A violet fire quickly consumed the wallpaper and furniture, burning everything on its way - including me.
"I'll kill you Graff!" Her voice echoed through the hallway, I couldn't see her, but I felt the heat emanating from the smoke. Fleur was completely unaffected by it.
When I finally reached the stairways, my head throbbed painfully, and I could hear blood flowing in and out. The hair on the back of my neck stood up with static.
"You are making a huge mistake, Fleur. You have absolutely no idea of what you're trying to do." I said as I stopped to breath, pressing my chest with an arm. I couldn't have a heart attack - not there - not yet.
"You are the mistaken."
Ozone, magic had a smell, and it smelled like ozone. Like old bumper cars is amusement parks.
I came to realize that soon after the second explosion hit my back. The bumper cars of Waterbury Park, when I was five or six years old, a few years before I moved to Canterlot. They were the only thing in mind, as my body fell down the stairs, there was no pain, no anger, only energy and ozone.
I was supposed to be dead at the spot, carbonized, just like the rest of this world would be in less than ten minutes. But again, I guess it wasn't supposed to be this way.
Somehow, for reasons I never figured out completely, that necklace immunized me. An odd irony, considering its purpose.
Even more shocked than me, was Fleur, by the moment I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling, still too weak to move, but conscious enough to be aware of my situation. I coughed, chuckling at the tough nature of this life of mine that refused to go away.
"That's not possible..." She muttered, walking through the vivid fire as if it was nothing. "How?"
Fleur stopped in front of me, my clothes had turned into dark ashes, surrounding my silhouette like a meteor landing site. I was intact. And so was the necklace.
Silently, she touched it. Her eyes reflecting the chaos around us.
"No..." I said, holding her hoof. "Do anything you want, but don't take this thing out." My voice sounded oddly raspy and shattered.
"And what happens if I do?" She pushed my chest against the floor, the necklace surrounded by her magical grasp again.
"Your world dies." I replied with crude honesty. "There are three ballistic missiles in an underground silo-" I coughed, dust making shapes in the air. "Near the coast of Manehattan... The system is activated in case of death, or removal of this necklace." Fleur finally backed away, shaking her head in denial. "What's the matter now? Afraid to get burned? I have this shit around my neck since I was five. Do you think I had a choice?" I growled.
"Someone must know how to remove it, why didn't you never-"
"This someone is dead." I said. "The system may have been deactivated over two decades ago when my father stepped down from the company directory. But that's not enough!" Resting my back against a tapestry covered floor, I sighed. The sound of royal police sirens and the whole fuss on the streets crept in the mansion halls through the cracked windows.
"I've been trying, Fleur... God knows how far I went to look for these damned codes. But nothing... I can't access the necklace, I can't change the program. I'm living in a fucking abandoned mine only to keep your stupid race safe for another year."
"Royal Police!" Someone shouted, a sound of hurried hoofsteps making their way inside the house. "Drop your weapons and lay down!"
"I can't fix this mess alone. Not anymore." I muttered, rolling on the floor with my arms behind my back.
I heard something being dropped on the ground, as I presumed, Fleur was forced to lay down as well. No one had special privileges when the royal police stepped in.
It was late, my eyes were heavy and burning like a pair of brass lanterns, Fleur was in no better situation; with dark chunks of burnt fur tarnishing her once pristine coat, and her mane standing in the most random shapes, she definitely would've exterminated me if it weren't for the missiles.
That was such a beautiful night.
Snuggles and Heavy Weapons
Alone in a bar again.
The smell of cheap scotch was in the air, and the distant sound of laughter. A fairly worn out stool in front of a polished hardwood counter, a group of mares sharing a shitty cigarette around a table next to me. That was the standard picture of the nightlife - the nightlife of the decadent folks - in lower Canterlot district.
Central heating was never enough when most of the tables went empty by the end of the night, and the freezing wind from the outside crept into the building through the cracks between the window panes.
Quiet on my own corner, drinking from a whiskey bottle that for my misfortune tasted more like drenched timber, I silently observed life as it unfolded, noticing actions and orchestrated movements like scenes from a living motion film. There was no better movie for me; reality was my favorite author, director and editor.
I noticed when a shy unicorn mare accidentally tripped over some stallion's hoof, I noticed when her ears pinned down showing submission, and when she muttered something. Presumably apologizing, without knowing she had just made that stallion's day. Or night...
I wiped the haze from the window with my sleeve, to look at the street life, instead of watching the pathetic game of fancy words and unconscious expressions played around by the mare and the stallion, now sitting together. It would end up in sex, expectations and disappointments.
Now the streets - they were interesting - unlike the upscale glamour of postcard Canterlot, here in the downs of the valley, life flowed in a quite less expressive way, if you can say that. There were no flower beds under every window, and no marble sidewalks - and here I'm telling a lie; there was indeed some marble, although decades of dust made the tiles look more like shit stained floor behind a public toilet.
Here at the bottom line ponies weren't that rich, and those who had some money were very secretive about the source of their fortunes. Lower Canterlot was surrounded by a rusting belt of old brick buildings and abandoned warehouses. Tall chimneys protruded from a brass smelting facility and some adjacent factories; those monuments made up the foggy skyline of a tar pit we all called home.
Between a noisy coal-fired power plant and a parking lot, there was Caballero's street. He was the owner of this bar, and practically the whole block. He was an odd colt, not bigger than an average stallion, not different from other colts of his age, but with an ego largest than the own block of squeaky buildings he owned. Nino Caballero had a funny Italian accent, but the last guy who mocked his speech disappeared for a week, and returned without a tongue.
Well, I guess the cat ate that too.
Ponies from the upper neighborhoods looked at Lower Canterlot with an expression of fear, disgust, and morbid curiosity. They were afraid of the place's insalubrious atmosphere, but I dare to say that some of them silently urged for the freedom that only this part of the city could provide.
One day I heard Nino talking on the phone, which wasn't hard to do so, considering he practically screamed to the whole bar. There was a mare on the other side of the line, I presume, as he insistently repeated 'C'mon, nothing's gonna hurt you babe' with his phony voice.
Back to the present, a bartender complained about that pack of mares who were smoking their shit in the lounge area, while two grumpy stallions argued about a blackjack game. It was just another typical family night at Caballero's. Particularly, I thought it was annoying as fuck to hear such a cacophony of noises, when I just wanted to intoxicate myself alone. With alcohol, not pony weed or whatever.
Sighing, I slid my glass over the table, rolling my tongue and trying to discern the taste of my last dose. In the meantime, something rare happened to walk past the window, making me cough at the sight.
For some heavenly reason I was still to know, a magnificent unicorn mare had just decided to step into Caballero's Bar and Hotel.
Being on the last table, I had to tilt my head a little bit to have a better look at the sequence of events. Firstly her eyes seemed to scan the whole place, passing by the lobby and the front desk, not paying too much attention to the regulars around. She had a powerful aura of nobility following her steps, and wasn't giving a single fuck about the perverted stares she was receiving.
Whoever that mare was, she was very decided. Adjusting an embroidered scarf around her neck, she walked past every single table, eliciting mixed reactions from absolutely everyone. Nino wasn't around, and that was a good thing, because his ego would collapse like a barn under such circumstances.
As the failed attempt to become a painter I was, I didn't knew much about composition, I could however still notice when something was way too contrasting to be inserted in the painting. And that was the best thing I could formulate. It was not like the white mare didn't belonged to the bar - the bar was the thing 'not belonging'. Still, she seemed not to care, and took a seat on an empty table, right beside mine. A waiter came by almost instantly, and she motioned to a sealed glass cabinet behind the counter.
It was locked and dusty, because all the expensive liquors and drinks were stored there, and no one really had enough money to convince the barman to open it.
Obviously, it wasn't her case.
In a few minutes or so, the waiter returned with a bottle I had never seen before, and poured her some kind of lilac beverage. With a polite nod, and a few words, she convinced him to left bottle at her expense.
I honestly thought she would dive into her exquisite drink and finish that bottle all by herself, perhaps to forget another unfortunate relationship, or maybe just for the sake of doing it. To my surprise, she stayed as calm and sober as possible, slowly tasting that thing, not saying a word, despite all the creepy looks she was getting, including mine.
Personally, I was used to creepy stares, considering I was literally an otherworldly person. Let's not delve into boring details about wars, biased looks, dimensions and things that happened half a century ago or so; such details are unnecessary these days. As you already presumed, I am not a pony, and not anything from Equestria as well.
My father brought me here when things still mattered for both sides, and we've been living in Canterlot since then. Well, I can't speak for him, but I'm still alive, I guess.
I turned my attention back to the mucky table, the same old shit day after day. I wasn't quite fond of that place, or the city, or even the pony culture in general. I've always felt unwanted. When I was a kid, my mother frequently visited her sister, and even though she always said 'make yourself at home', I could never feel at home in such a disgusting place.
Caballero's bar was not as bad as auntie Ginny, but hell; I don't even know why I keep coming here. I think it became a personal tradition of sorts, one of those small things your mind gets used to, when there's nothing else to do.
"Ever tasted lilac wine?"
Something stopped inside of me when I heard that voice, and for a moment I thought I was imagining things. But no, it was just the white mare looking at me, and asking a seemingly simple question. I looked back at her in disbelief, kinda hiding behind my leather coat, moving a little bit closer to the edge of my seat. She was only a table or so away from me, and now that I had an excuse to turn around, I could see her face in detail.
"No, never." I said hesitatingly, not knowing how to proceed. I rubbed my neck like an idiot between the sentences. "Actually, I never thought we'd have this thing here in Caballero's" I added, staring for a moment at my cheap whiskey bottle.
"Oh well." She chuckled. "It's a quite rare find these days. My father brought two of them from Bulgaria, but that was decades ago. I knew Mr. Caballero had one of them somewhere, because his parents were good friends of my family. Unfortunately, they are not in this world anymore to tell the whole story." Touching the tip of her crystal glass with a hoof, she seemed to lost herself for a moment in her own memories. "Luckily, the lilac wine remains the same" She smiled.
That conversation was simply unreal. A nostalgic upper class mare comes to the underworld of Canterlot, to find a bottle of wine.
"Do you want some?" She asked with genuine intent. My brain overreacted for a second, and I tried not to ruin the moment with a nonsensical reply, like a shriek or some other awkward noise.
"Oh, I... I... I'm sorry Ms-"
"Fleur." She said, extending one of her white hooves to me. "Fleur de Lis"
For a few seconds or so, I held her delicate hoof in the palm of my hand, the whole bar stared at us, and even the smoke-covered mares dropped their cigarettes to contemplate that short, but unbelievable moment. When the weird guy from the last table, finally interacted with something else aside of his whiskey bottle.
"I'm Daniel Graff, I can't say my life is relevant enough for a talk, but I can try." I chuckled, Fleur chuckled, I sat on her table, we tasted lilac wine, we chuckled even more, the lilac wine was almost gone, it would be a beautiful night.
Canterlot Hills - 3:40 AM 02/10/19
My ears ringed like a bell, as another violet explosion burst through the wall, throwing pieces of furniture and glass shards all over my body.
I crawled through the endless corridors of the marble mansion, as Fleur hoofsteps clanged on the floor, echoing room after room. I ran as if my life depended on it - which in fact - depended.
I knew too much , she repeated, lifting dozens of absurdly large weapons from a hidden cabinet.
Another explosion, and the press was already out there, their flashing lights assaulting the broken windows like vultures surrounding a dying body.
"I'll kill you, Graff!"
Caballero's Bar - 2:27 AM 02/10/19
"Say, Graff-"
"Oh please, just Daniel... Not even my professors called me Graff." I giggled, as she poured more wine in my glass.
"Very well, Daniel ." She said with heavy emphasis there. "What someone like you is doing in such a... Distinct place?" Fleur asked, moving a strand of her light-pinkish mane away from her face.
"You know, I was about to ask you the same question." It was sheer truth, fortunately or not. I was still perplexed.
"Well, I have my reasons; I was trying to find an important part of my father's collection. I had to come here. But you... An apparently healthy guy, by human standards." I felt a hint of disdain in that sentence, but since she was the hottest non-human being I had ever talked to, I pretended to ignore it.
"I like here." I lied. "You see, the atmosphere reminds me of my old city, back on Earth. I just, ah- love this magnificent... romantic... urban decadence feeling."
"You definitely have some peculiar tastes." She smirked. "I like this 'feeling' too. It's ironic because I was born and raised in quite traditional neighborhoods. But that was no fun." She waved dismissively. "I had many disappointments in my career, it's hard to believe-"
As I looked through a blurred window for a second, a large outdoor planted on top of a building, displayed none other than the mare by my side, in a red sparkling dress.
"Yeah, really hard to believe." I said.
"But fame can be frustrating, Daniel. Maybe one day you'll understand..." She filled our glasses again, nearly emptying the lilac bottle.
Canterlot Hills - Three Days Later
"Mr. Graff! Is it true that Ms. De Lis tried to kill you?" A microphone was pushed through the fence. "What about the magical thermonuclear gun, is it a reality?" He insisted.
"I have nothing to declare, leave me alone!" I pushed the reporters away as I made my way to the front door, rubbing my temples, trying to escape that hell, a flock of attorneys following my steps into the building.
"Right now we are in front of the Lis Mansion, where a scandal without precedent took place, the international police is investigating an alleged case of industrial espionage involving Daniel Graff, president of Borealis, a massive arms industry conglomerate, headquartered on Earth."
"Get out!" Something pink exploded in front of the massive group of reporters, as Fleur stared at me with an expression of pure rage.
"It's all your fault, Daniel, and you know that! To think I wanted to share a stupid drink with you..." She shook her head disappointingly. "Two explosions- two ridiculous explosions, and the royal guards appear." She sighed. "I just wanted to eliminate you, Danny- It wasn't supposed to be this hard."
Caballero's Bar - 2:30 AM 02/10/19
"Honestly Fleur, I doubt someone will ever notice me." I snorted. "It's not like I have any significance in the international community" As she looked at me from across the table, her eyes gazing at mine and somewhere beyond, an odd feeling took hold of me - like when you find something you wasn't supposed to find, and even though it means trouble, you keep going further.
"Well..." Fleur whispered "I noticed."
Author's Note
This story follows a slightly nonlinear aesthetic.
Not everything will make sense at this first stage.
