In The Money

A steely grey pegasus with a styled red mane strolled out of The Bit Drop casino and on to Las Pegasus' infamous Red Strip, whistling a small tune to himself and fluffing his wings after spending hours in a casino chair.

"Aah," he sighed contently "feel that rich city air in my lungs. So clean, so innocent... Or not really."

Turning languidly to face the south end, High Rise began to walk home at a sedate pace, taking in the sights despite having seen them countless times over the last year.

"Hey, Las Pegasus baby, it's nearly our first year anniversary. How we gonna celebrate huh?" Putting on a thoughtful expression, the stallion tilted his head slightly. "Well, now we've got plenty of bits to get something nice for each other!" He laughed while shaking his head slightly, deciding to stop 'talking' to the city and continue his journey while his black saddlebag hung heavy with fresh bits.

Finding his turn, the pegasus rounded the corner into a seemingly random side alley without hesitation, beginning to navigate the back street maze with only a slight subconscious effort. The bustle of the crowds that the strip always drew was left behind quickly, and things became increasingly quiet, with the city's clamor dropping to a background murmur. As he walked, he considered just what his newly acquired cash would go towards, minus a cut for the business of course.

"Hmm, I should get myself one of those sexy lookin' high collar jackets, maybe some shades. I got the moves, I just need to look... Oh wait, I forgot I'm already the best looking stallion in this city!" High Rise chortled to himself, rolling his shoulders and straightening his body out some more. 'Muscles are gettin' stiff these days, should go easy on the fights, but hey it's not like it's because I'm taking a beating. Maybe I should just do some stretches afterwards or something...' Distracted somewhat by his contemplative thoughts, he failed to notice the two stallions who stepped out from an overhang in the alley he was wandering.

"Woah!" High Rise exclaimed when his body met that of a large, faded green earth pony. He quickly hopped back from the obstruction and eyed the pair slowly.

The auburn pegasus on the left took a small step forward and sneered through the ratty dark brown mane that was pulled over his face slightly. "See Grind? Told you this was the place to be, all the high rollers are comin' home with money in their bags!" He told 'Grind' with a look in his direction, but he seemed to be careful to keep one eye trained on High Rise.

The eloquent green mass of muscle offered "Hah, yeah!" without dropping the sneer he had matched to his companion's expression, giving  a long roll to his neck that did in fact grind with the rotation, true to his name. 'Geez, classic pinkie and the brain duo.' High Rise thought to himself, now looking at the pair with noticeable caution.

"Well pal, how about we give you the run down?" The pegasus asked, turning to face High Rise fully "We're uh, business ponies! Yeah let's go with that. Our business is to make you as comfortable as possible, y'know." He said while trying to put on a considerate face. Combined with his grin it just looked creepy. "Say pal, you're lookin' a bit weighed down, those bags can't be too nice to lug around."

"Hah, yeah!" The green stallion helpfully supplied.

"We can relieve you of that inconvenience if you want though... Just a small fee of everything in the bags, good deal." The still grinning pegasus finished, before leering at High Rise's well laden saddlebags.

"Uhhh..." Was High Rise's response to the ridiculous pair. 'My god this is like some crappy gangster movie, who even are these clowns?'

"Hah, yeah!" Grind exclaimed yet again, his partner visibly wincing this time at his limited vocabulary, at which point High Rise decided he was done humoring the two.

"Holy fuck dude, buy a dictionary or something." He muttered while widening his stance slightly.

"Hey!" The unkempt pegasus called out "How about you drop the comedy act and then drop those bags asshole!" He yelled, trying to get High Rise to back down with a bit of aggression.

"Hmm... Okay." The grey pegasus stated, shrugging off his saddlebags which dropped to the floor with heavy, jingling thuds. "There you go, bags are dropped," He calmly told them  "why don't you come pick 'em up? Like you said, they are pretty heavy, I just couldn't get them over to you." He finished mockingly, shooting glances back and forth between the pair.

The auburn pegasus didn't seem to appreciate the statement, but soon smiled as he eyed the bags and saw a glint of gold within. "Yeah, great idea pal! Grind, get the bags then eh?" He instructed.

"Yeah, on it." With that Grind began to move forward, his muscles shifting clearly under his coat, while High Rise looked him over from his unchanged position by his bags. The grey pegasus' eyes took in the way the earth pony moved, where he placed his weight, how well he balanced, and where his eyes were. Grind kept his eyes on the bags, while High Rise glanced to the other pegasus, who was watching closely from under his mane. 'Yeah you just stay there and relax buddy, let me deal with this block head first.'

Grind brought himself to a stop in front of the bit laden bags, along with High Rise stood in between them, and flashed his teeth at the pegasus. "Thanks for the business." He rumbled, and reached out a hoof for the bag on the right, leaving himself balancing on the other three.

'And plan kick your sorry flank is a go.' Without any visible warning, High Rise's right hoof shot out and hooked behind Grind's still placed foreleg, before giving a sharp pull which required the aid of a single wing flap. 'Damn, he's a fat bastard.'

With no forelegs supporting his weight and High Rise still pulling one of them down, the over sized earth pony met the ground chin first, giving off a stiff grunt. High Rise took the short moment he was stunned to pivot rapidly and bring up a hind leg, flapping once again to get himself off the ground. Then with the combination of gravity and his own trained muscles behind it the hoof was brought down onto Grind's forehead, driving his muzzle into the hard ground with a crunch. Phew. Well, the bigger they are...' High Rise thought with a mental pat on the back, before turning to the other pegasus and-

High Rise quickly ducked under the mouth held knife, diving to the left as his attacker flew past him until the pegasus turned sharply while landing to face him.

"Coulda just given us the bags y'know! Would've been a lot less painful for ya!" He shouted around the knife's handle. The grungy stallion then geared up to make another charge while adjusting the grip on his blade to the side High Rise was now on, before taking off again to tackle the grey pegasus.

"But giving you a beating is so much easier! Cheaper too!" High Rise returned. The attacking pegasus twisted his head back in preparation for a slash at High Rise's face, giving a hard final flap to close the distance. High Rise crouched low to evade the swing, then using his now coiled muscles to fire himself up with a sharp turn to add momentum to the right hoof which connected harshly with the stomach of his airborne opponent.

The still in-air stallion gave a pained yell with the contact, losing control among the pain in his barrel and colliding with a steel trash bin. High Rise on the other hoof, followed his rotation until he was upside-down, then flew from that position with his wing tips grazing the ground, until he brought himself forward and up so he was the right way around once more in an impressive display of  high level control. He looked down on the situation while hovering a few feet off the ground, watching his two assailants for their next move. Unfortunately, Grind was shakily attempting to rise to his hooves while the crash-landed pegasus rolled over with a groan, a hoof clutched to his belly and his knife lost somewhere on the alley floor. After spotting Grind trying to stand, High Rise groaned and readied himself to move.

"Ugh, of course, he's as easy to knock out as a pumped mule." He grumbled, then proceeded to make a dive for the stumbling earth pony from behind. Once he was within range, his right hoof came back yet again and powered forward to connect with the back of Grind's skull, the green stallion not even grunting as his face plowed into the dirt again, this time with him unconscious. "Fortunately for me I've knocked out several mules in my lifetime, I think your mom was one of 'em." High Rise pointed out in triumphant mockery.

"You messed up kid." Came a strained call from down the alley-way, the auburn pegasus having picked himself up and retreated slightly. "If you'd played nice, you'd of been fine, *cough* now Blacklight is gonna know you, and he doesn't like it when his patrols come back beat." With that, the pegasus turned and hastily withdrew from the alley, leaving High Rise and his unconscious 'friend' behind.

"Huh, and here I thought we were just getting started." High Rise spoke aloud "Well, guess I can be satisfied with that result." He said as he turned to examine an out cold Grind still on the floor. Upon inspection, he discovered a small satchel slung over the stallion's shoulder, it's already small size seeming silly on the hefty pony. High Rise unashamedly patted the earth pony down for anything else he might have, before unbuttoning the pouch and fishing through it.

"Ooh! Free wallet!" He said excitedly after pulling out the satchel's sole contents and examining it "Okay, let's see... ID, here we go. 'Meat Grinder'? Wow, cheery..." He said flatly, at the same time looking incredulously at the heap before him. "21 years old, membership to his local gym, couple bits thank you very much, aaand that's it. Well, you suck." With two extra bits obtained, High Rise flung the wallet, which gave a soft slap as it impacted Grinder's face, before moving back over to his dropped saddlebags. Hefting them back over his withers and letting them slide down past his wings before securing them. 'All in all this is lookin' to be a real good day.' He thought to himself, feeling that notable weight in his bags again before setting off the way he had been going pre-interruption.

High Rise only had to walk a short distance more, taking a few turns here and there before stopping in front of a heavy set dull metal door and looking around, checking for any potential witnesses within the muggy (pun not intended... probably) back street. With the area clear as far as his eyes and alert ears could tell, he swiveled his gaze back to the door before raising a hoof to engage in the most secret of secret entrance codes.

*Tap-pause-tap-pause-tap-tap*

The grey door offered no response as High Rise watched the sliding panel at his eye level, his eyes flicking to the messily spray-painted white number thirteen next to the spot where the handle should be.

"Oh com-" He started until the panel slid open to reveal a pair of dark red eyes, a snout covered in ginger fur, and a patch of dirty blonde mane. "Ah! Breaks! Did ya miss me?" High Rise questioned in an upbeat tone.

The red eyes stared indifferently back at him for a moment before a deep voice was emitted from the gap in the door "What's the big deal?"

High Rise blinked once before frowning back "Oh buck off Breaks, you tellin' me you don't recognize this handso-"

"What's the big deal?" The voice inquired again before he could finish, the tone still flat. High Rise sighed and rolled his eyes before glaring slightly at the pony behind the door.

"Pocket pair aces." He responded with mild annoyance, the panel sliding closed the moment he finished before heavy tumblers clunked around, the door swinging open with surprising smoothness. Once the full body of the voice behind the door was revealed with a grin now evident on his face, the orange stallion moved to the side slightly to let High Rise through. "Rise! Fancy meeting you here!" He said with a chipper tone.

High Rise rolled his eyes yet again as he walked through the doorway and into a plain brick alcove. "Kay then Breaks, y'know, all you accomplished was making me stand out here for ponies to see longer right?"

"Hmm, it occurred to me yeah, but I got a bit of satisfaction out of it too so there's that." The stallion shot back with a smile.

"Oh don't make me kick your flank Breaks, I'm already warmed up." High Rise threatened in response.

"Ch'yea, whatever you say Rise."

"You should know when I'm not bluffing man..." The pegasus warned with a level look.

"That's why I'm not worried isn't it? I can tell too easy." Came the reply with a smirk.

"Nah, you just know that I like you too much, no homo though, don't get excited." High Rise sniped with a cheeky grin as the other stallion closed the door after him, locking it once it was in place. Tough Break was the Flash Cards' long standing door-colt, standing just under an inch taller than High Rise with a dusty orange coat that sported a padlock with a gold star behind it for a cutie mark. His mane was drawn around the front then flicked to the side to give him a slightly dapper look that some ponies liked to laugh at. Those ponies usually ended up too inert to continue doing so. Break's red eyes were now openly showing amusement and he opened his mouth to reply.

"Dunno what you're on about Rise, plenty of stallions turn gay once they see me." He said smoothly. High Rise simply raised a brow.

"Dude that's weird. I'm so using it when I get the chance." He responded bluntly, finishing with a grin.

Tough Break chuckled and shook his head slightly. "Hah, well you might want to save it for a bit, Switchboard needs to see you once you get in. Good work on your run by the way, if those full bags are anything to judge by."

"I'm just that good, and I'll be sure to check in with her once I'm inside. I'll see you around Breaks, try not to fall asleep again." High Rise joked, turning to leave.

"That only happened once jackass!" The earth pony laughed "Later Rise."

The pegasus approached a red door at the other side of the alcove, a lone bulb at the center of the arched ceiling lighting it for him. Chuckling quietly at his friends expense, he lifted a hoof to push the door open and reveal a low light metal staircase that descended into the building, the sound of many faint voices rising up to meet him.

"Ah," he sighed "home sweet shit hole." Before starting down the steps.

A certain auburn pegasus flew over the night life of Las Pegasus, his wings giving slightly strained flaps while one hoof occasionally rubbed his now bruised stomach. Flint Strike watched as the buildings below slowly drifted past and winced a little when a hoof yet again went to check on his stomach, which gave of a small twinge. "Bucking hotshot colt" He muttered grimly "Can't remember the last time Grind dropped that fast..."

The pegasus flicked his gaze downward when a glint caught his eye, barely recognizable among the lights of the city as light being reflected off dull metal. With his marker identified he stopped flapping his wings and angled into a glide, slowly spiraling down into another seemingly random back alley, then turned to face his destination. The Quincy East warehouse had been abandoned for about two years... Officially. It was a relatively inane looking building with its checkered brick design, from which the colour was now fading rather badly. Sure the front and sides were completely sealed, with locks on locks and metal sheet welded onto the window frames, but the back entrance from the alley in which Flint Strike now stood just needed the right attention to detail and knowledge in order to spot.

Approaching the blacked out window that sat at ground level, the stallion checked his surroundings warily before pressing what at first glance appeared to be any other brick, only to for it to slide into the wall with a clunk and the window to pop open slightly. Opening it all the way, Flint Strike climbed in and onto the stairs leading into the basement, closing the window behind him with another heavy clunk as the brick on the outside wall slid back into place to reset the mechanism.

The tan brown unicorn on watch spared him a short glance as he walked past the small table he was sat at, but otherwise offered no greeting, which did not go unnoticed.

"Not even a 'hello' Balance? You sat on a stick there or somethin'?" Flint questioned. The brown unicorn known as Balance only glanced at his again before letting out an upset grunt and going back to staring at his drink on the table. "Pff, alright then. Told you you gotta be careful in the casinos here." Flint added, to which Balance grunted again, sounding no less agitated. The pegasus continued through the small basement room and out the doorway on the other side, eager to get out of the dusty air and into the building proper, as nice as low light basements with sparse supplies and one way conversations with peeved unicorns were, he had a report to give.

Reaching the top of the stairs the auburn pegasus pushed open the door with a wing and cringed as his core muscles protested slightly, that grey colt had hit him hard, and the kid wasn't even that big. Walking in to the main building and closing the door behind him, the first thing that Flint was greeted with was a lightly populated makeshift bar and every pair of eyes turning to him, some lingering longer than others until eventually everyone went back to what they were doing and the ambient conversation slowly picked up volume again. Flint walked past the tables of ponies, the odd griffon, and a pair of changelings. The only pair of eyes to keep following were that of the mare behind the bar, a grape purple unicorn with a spilled wine glass cutie mark and warm black mane. The stallion wasn't planning on stopping for a drink, but the mare called out to him none the less.

"Hey Flint, good to see you back, where's that lout Meat Grinder?" She asked him from over the bar whilst smiling lightly, making him pause and angle his head to meet the unicorn's oddly yellow eyes.

"Hey Primrose, that's why I'm just passing through right now actually. The Boss up in his office?" He asked while trying to sound pleasant over the pain in his gut.

Primrose looked him over slowly before responding in a curious tone. "Uh, yeah. Are you alright there Strike?" 'Ugh, she's using my second name. Great, that means she's concerned.' The stallion thought sourly.

"Yeah I'm good, I gotta go drop a report in though, so I'll talk later." He said with slight curtness behind his voice, walking away without awaiting a response. "Alright! I'll see you later!" The barmare called after him, before he rounded a corner to the stairs leading to the main office. "O...kay. Something's bitten him on the flank today." She sighed, turning back to her work.

Flint Strike climbed the stairs to the main office, the wood paneled walls either side of him letting him know he was getting to the part of the warehouse that was meant for business, and rolled his neck quickly as he began to feel slightly uneasy about his situation. Coming onto a deep red carpeted hallway the stallion turned to his right and walked towards the thick oaken door that loomed at its end.

The pegasus adjusted his mane unnecessarily as he stopped before the door, glancing over his shoulders before lifting a foreleg and knocking on the door hesitantly.

"If you're gonna knock like a prissy, I'll assume it's just this place creaking some more. Actually let me know you're there." Came a bored sounding voice, muffled by the woodwork, prompting Flint to knock again with actual firmness.

"That's better, come on in Flint Strike, tell me what you've got." The baritone voice responded to the knocking. Swallowing his nervousness at how the Boss new it was him, Flint pushed the door open and entered a tastefully decorated office. The room was full of rich hardwood furniture, comfortable looking high back chairs, and an ornate mahogany desk above which sat a well done portrait of an unknown noble posing on a curved stairwell. The office smelled faintly of cigars, but the main scent seemed to be of wood polish and cologne.

"Take a seat then Strike, let's see what you've brought in." The voice drew the pegasus' attention back to the reason he was in the room, the unicorn stallion behind the desk with a pair of rather old looking glasses on his contrasting younger snout. The stallion looked to be moving into his mid-thirties, sporting a clean and tidy white mane resting atop a cyan furred head, making his eerie obsidian eyes quite clear. Flint Strike mentally noted that he looked as though he only had pupils. The seated stallion's cutie mark of a bent bit coin was cut off from Flint's line of sight as he sat at the seat on the opposite side of the desk.

"W-well Boss, we encountered a problem on the patrol." Flint began nervously. The Boss remained placid but quirked an eyebrow.

"We? Ah yes, you took Meat Grinder with you didn't you?" At the other stallion's nod he continued. "Where is he then? And what problem?"

Swallowing dryly, Flint Strike began to recount the night's events. "Well, we went out to 49th back way on the red strip, I thought that the high rollers from the casinos would make for ripe pickings see?"

"A decent enough idea." The unicorn commented with an emotionless voice that put Flint off slightly.

"Y-yeah, exactly... Um, well it worked, we cut off this pegasus colt who was loaded, kid was walkin' down dark alleys without a care. We kind of found out why after that..." He trailed off.

"Go on." The Boss said, still neutral. "Why?"

"Uh, y-y'see, he kinda kicked our asses. I got Grind to grab the bags the kid dropped, but the moment he reached for 'em this kid pulls all this kung fu bullshit and Grind ends up eating the dirt, not moving." The stallion continued.

By now the unicorn sat opposite looked curious, but remained silent, which Flint Strike took as reason to carry on.

"So, I moved on him with a knife, tried to catch him while he gloated over Grind's sorry flank. Kid was snappy though, dodged me, then got me real good when I came around for another pass, sent me right into the side of the alley." By now the stallion was getting embarrassed as well as nervous, not quite meeting his boss' eyes.

"So...?" The unicorn prompted, although he was starting to look slightly annoyed, likely having made the connection.

"S-so, um, we didn't get any haul, the kid knocked Grind out cold and I fell back, so he got away with his bits." Flint finished with a slight cringe.

The unicorn across from him was silent however, but soon spoke. "And Meat Grinder?" He asked.

"Still back at 49th Boss, probably awake by now but I left to get a report back to you." The pegasus quietly replied.

"You didn't think to tail this other pegasus then?"

"U-uh, n-no Boss..." The pegasus stammered in a subdued tone. The unicorn sighed in quiet exasperation, took of his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose with a hoof.

"Right of course, and you're the smart one out of the pair..." He groaned, before placing his glasses back in front of his eyes and frowning at Flint Strike, his eyes hardening. "Get back out there, work from 49th and bring that idiot Grinder back. I want a full run down from the two of you on just who this colt is, he will come to realise who he has meddled with. I can't have hopeless workers Flint Strike, and I definitely can't have people who know about this place anywhere except on my side. You know where that puts you should you continue to fail me, correct?" The unicorn asked firmly, black eyes boring into the room's other occupant, who returned the gaze with his own wide-eyed stare, starting to shake slightly.

"Y-y-yes. Uh, I mean, y-yes Boss!" He replied fearfully.

The unicorn eyed him harshly, then looked to the door. "Well then get to it, or do you want to stay and chat some more, hm?"

The pegasus only shook his head quickly and rose from his chair, moving to leave he stopped short to push his seat back into place with a shaky hoof, then walked briskly out the door.

"Close the damn door Strike!" The unicorn shouted after him, said door closing immediately afterward with a slight slam.

'You will pay me what is owed colt, I'll see to that myself once you're found, if I must' The unicorn thought darkly, leaning back into his overpriced chair.

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