Chapters Prologue - I've won with worse
"Kojak, and there's my royal flush, hope you weren't too attached to your bits."
This was the proud announcement of a young pegasus stallion as he laid out his cards for the rest of the players at the table to see. High Rise was a 23 year old pegasus with a lean build under his steely grey coat and slightly ominous red mane, which looked to be the kind of red dried blood ended up as. The aforementioned mane was pulled up and back in as rebellious a style as he felt still looked good, leaving nothing to cover a pair of slightly hazy light blue eyes, now twinkling with happiness to go with his shit-eating grin as a substantial mound of poker chips was forked over to his place.
"Nah." A unicorn stallion four seats to his right said with a laugh, and yet High Rise noted he sounded less than happy, the amount he had bet on the last deal being reason enough. "Nah kid that's four big deals in a row and and I'm not giving my money away to a cheater." The tan brown unicorn proclaimed, his expression slowly becoming a hard stare that was directed at High Rise.
High Rise became neutral, his grin gone but his eyes still showing slight amusement, and spoke calmly "Cheater? Well for one that's the worst kind of insult to a fellow player. I'll also point out that your last four hooves have been very poor, like a three and a nine? Really? I'm a firm believer of any hoof can win but come on dude."
The tan unicorn however, was impartial to the semi-friendly pointer, and instead became slightly angrier "Can it kid! Nopony gets that lucky! You've had four top end deals straight, all raking in the big bucks, and I ain't buyin' it."
"Yeah? Well looks to me that you don't exactly have the bits left to buy much so I guess you ain't buyin' it no." High Rise responded with a quirked eyebrow and a well practiced 'get over it' smirk. "Maybe if you were playing decent deals I'd understand your frustration, even if I'd still not care, but you've been sloppier than Celestia on the shitter after a cake binge dude."
At that the unicorn stallion came even closer to a full on snarl despite the attention of six other ponies around the table and the dealer. "The only thing shit related is what you're talkin' right now kid!" He barked at the pegasus, his rising anger finally warranting the intervention of casino staff as the dealer turned his head to address the unicorn "Sir I'm afraid if you do not compose yourself then you will be asked to leave." Was the coolly delivered warning from the tuxedo wearing alabaster earth pony. The tan stallion aimed a disapproving glare at him, to which the dealer merely raised an eyebrow and glanced clearly at security.
"Whatever..." The stallion grumbled and after a short pause looked back to his chips while adjusting himself in his seat. "I'm sticking this out until I get the smug look of that idiot's face." With that the dealer, who had been moving cards and chips along with shuffling the deck to mark a new grouping, began whisking cards across the table with his hooves in a display of dexterity that only practice and talent allowed. "All players for this hoof ante up." He announced once everypony at the table had two cards each, standing dispassionately as all of the ponies bar one shifted 20 bits worth of chips into the center of the table, while the unfortunate pegasus mare immediately right of the dealer forked over 30 bits worth for the designated big blind amount.
"I patiently await face wiping." High Rise commented with a cheerful look to the the agitated unicorn stallion who was likely developing a bit of grudge, if he didn't have one already. All he got in response was the unicorn's sour expression and non-committal grunt, so High Rise merely smirked and brought his attention back to his cards, and began thinking on his game plan. 'Seven of spades and the king of hearts. Hm. Well I've definitely won with worse.' Given a light internal chuckle as he spared another quick glance at his new rival, the stallion currently scowling at his cards before glancing up at High Rise and wincing ever so slightly when he caught the pegasus' eyes on him. 'Tut, tut, tut my friend, you need to work on that poker face. See what we've got then it's time for me to really lay it on.' He mentally teased, and turned to watch the first three cards before the dealer be turned over for the river, but he hardly paid them any mind.
High Rise firmly declared "Raise 15" and watched with no small amount of pleasure as the tan stallion who he decided he was now truly competing with bared his teeth at him and muttered darkly "Think you're clever asshole? We'll see." To which High Rise smiled happily in the time the brown stallion took to call his raise, while three others followed suit, the remaining two still in the game folding with the classic 'stuff that' expression.
"Better to be a smart asshole than a broke asshole though, right?" High Rise countered fluidly, and the unicorn tried to add more menace to his glare before responding "Sucks to be you then, 'cause you're gonna be broke soon enough kid."
"Ooooh! Burned you there!" Hooted the pegasus mare next to the dealer.
High Rise was however, nothing if not quick, and quickly snarked back. "Only thing I'm breaking right now is your bank account nerd. Hah!"
The mare by the dealer seemed to like that even more, giving an even louder, longer "Ooooh!" before opening her mouth again, likely to say something else about getting 'burned', until High Rise cut in. "Yeah, uh, shut up." The stallion instructed flatly, causing the mare to make a face before the game carried on from the bout of banter.
With the chatter gone High Rise finally analysed the game's situation. 'Okay so we've got a queen of diamonds, a three of clubs, and a ten of clubs. Nice, that's a healthy dose of frikkin' nothing so far' . Keeping his ever stoic poker face for when reviewing his chances, High Rise quietly awaited the next card, The Turn. 'Ah, king of clubs, now we're getting somewhere. Gotta keep the pressure this hornhead nerd though.'
"Raise 20" The grey pegasus stated impassively. Everyone else still in play groaned, giving their thoughts on the matter rather clearly. 'Hmph, amateurs.' He thought, holding back a smirk with some effort, however the brown stallion around the table did a much worse job of taming his expression, giving another, slightly darker scowl to the ever cool pegasus.
"Gee buddy, are you an actor? You sure are pulling some faces over there. Or maybe you're in a comedy flick eh? 'Cause I tell you what the way you think you can win is hilarious my man and this is your last chance to back out." Came the relentless taunt from High Rise, his lips curling upward ever so slightly. The other stallion only gave an angry grunt while calling the raise from a now minuscule chip pile. 'That's right, you take that bait, try not to choke on it when you lose, heh.'
With the turn's bets placed and only High Rise and his unnamed rival left (the others having given in and folded), the moment of truth came when the final card was brought over for The Flop, and because he knew his opponent couldn't go anywhere, High Rise's muzzle split with a leery grin. 'Bingo, king of diamonds' he thought, cheering in his head 'Let's hope you cut it eh?'
"Welp, I've got nothin' too hot by the looks of things." High Rise said with false dejection "What about you big guy?" 'Sweet Celestia he actually looks confident, oh this'll be rich.'
The tan unicorn looked to High Rise with a cocky smile, and flipped his cards to reveal a ten of spades and ace of hearts "Two pairs, where's that ugly grin of yours now kid?" He responded with unrestrained glee, making an obvious move to take the main pot, before he was interrupted.
High Rise couldn't help but snort derisively when he saw the unicorn's cards. 'Pfft, holy shit, does he seriously think that's some kind of top end hoof he's got there? Oh I'm gonna burst your bubble so hard dude, and it'll rain gold bits all over meee~'
The steely pegasus cleared his throat quickly before making his move "Well I'll admit this much rookie, you came pretty close. Sadly it's still game to me." He voiced with an ever growing sneer before turning over his own cards and nearly shivering with satisfaction as his rival's eyes widened.
"Three of a kind."
"..."
'Wait for it...'
"Oh you cheating dick-riding fuck! I'll beat every last bit you conned from me right out of your stupid ass!" The now irate unicorn yelled as he threw back his seat, toppling it over with a loud clattering. High Rise eyed him calmly as the fuming stallion marched around the table with murder in his eyes, quickly reaching his target's seat and pulling back a hoof to strike at the pegasus.
However the hoof was promptly grabbed by the fast acting earth pony security guard who'd ran over the moment he saw the escalation. Said hoof was neatly and fluidly folded behind the enraged stallion's back, earning a cry of pain before the bulky security member began escorting the stallion out of the casino with forceful, but well practiced ease, an angry tirade following in his wake.
"You think you can get away with thi s! I'll have you arrested by the end of the week if I..."
High Rise sat there, chuckling quietly to himself while his winnings were hoofed to him. He turned to the dealer with a cheerful smile "Thanks, I'd like to cash in my chips please." Earning a small smile followed by an "Of course sir, I'll be back shortly" in response.
"Heh, that's why we're called the Flash Cards baby, we make your money disappear before your eyes."
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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Number 13 - Flash Cards safehouse and HQ 8 months ago
Walking in through what he hoped was the last door he'd see in a while, High Rise took in his surroundings as quickly as possible. A rather drab office with sparsely populated bookshelves lining the wall on his left, on his right... 'Why is there a bed there? Talk about addicted to work.' Following the right wall along, there was a moderately sized dresser, and a waste bin was tucked into the corner next to him with a few balls of paper littering the surrounding floor, likely missed shots from the desk in the opposite corner. 'Could always move it closer...'
Sat behind the cheap looking desk was, much to the stallion's surprise, a thestral mare leaning back in a padded folding chair. The bat-pony sported a rich purple coat that was on the darker side, paired with a navy blue mane. Her face showed a noticeable interest in High Rise's arrival, yellow cat-like eyes assessing him quickly while the pegasus' did the same, picking up on how the other pony seemed to have a small snippet of flesh missing from the side of her right ear. High Rise then caught sight of the mare's cutie mark, a white grid with a red 'X' filling the top right box, and a black one in the bottom left. The pegasus reached his conclusion soon enough all-in-all.
'That is one good looking mare, I can see business being smooth with a face like that around. Never would of thought I'd have a thing for fangs though...'
Said mare had apparently finished her analysis around the same time, and opened her mouth to speak. "Good too see you made it over here, wouldn't have been surprised if you made to bail when Lockpick led you into the first alley. Two things you should know already, but I'll recap for you: My name is Switchboard and this little back-alley bunker is my business. That, and I've asked for you to be brought here because I have an offer to make."
High Rise moved into the 'office' properly, heading to sit in the chair that was placed on his side of the desk, although it was suspiciously identical to the chairs he'd seen downstairs.
"Yeah, though I don't know much else other than that I'd like to point out. I walk out of a casino and end up being led here, that's a rather odd turn of events if you ask me." He finished by eyeing the pony in front of him with suspicion.
Switchboard nodded in agreement. "That's true enough, but you actually drew a crowd in that casino, to a poker table . Seeing how a member of my group was in said crowd, you got my attention. You tell me then, just what did you leave that betting house with?" She asked.
High Rise's expression went flat. "Money," He informed her bluntly. "my money."
"That you did, and that it is." Switchboard said with slight defensiveness. "But how much money?"
The pegasus didn't immediately respond, wondering just where this line of questioning would lead. "In profit? Around 2300 bits." He told the thestral neutrally.
"Well I was told it was a lot but bloody Tartarus." She muttered to herself, causing the stallion to smirk for a moment. "And that, is why you're here, uh, High Rise?" A nod. "Right, that's a ridiculous amount to win in one game of poker. That takes not only a lot of skill in the game, but a keen eye for the situation and the nerve to not just back off after winning a few good deals. By now I think I should explain what it is we do here. Answer me this, you're evidently an avid gambler-"
"Meh, I prefer fortune-hunter." High Rise interrupted.
"Either way." The mare continued dismissively. "Answer me this; have you heard of a group called 'The Flash Cards'?" She inquisitively asked.
High Rise narrowed his eyes when he heard the name, admittedly curious, but all the more suspicious of where this was headed. "Yeah, more than once. They run the show on the Red Strip, have roots planted in all the casinos, clubs, and bars, but don't say so openly. In fact, as far as I could tell, they're a quiet bunch in the first place, and the common opinion is that the group is nothing more than a rumor, or legend really."
Switchboard smiled sadly as the pegasus recounted what he knew. "That's pretty much all true, except it's changed now. We don't run the show so much anymore, but we definitely used to." Was her affirmation.
The stallion took those words into consideration before his eyes widened. "What do you mean we? You've gotta be joking right?"
"Well," Switchboard began with a small laugh. "it's good to see you can put two and two together quickly enough. Otherwise it's no joke High Rise, welcome to Number 13 , Flash Cards base of operations and my little piece of work!" She finished with a grin, gesturing with hooves spread wide to their surroundings.
High Rise felt his jaw slackening, and tried to school his expression, but failed for the first time in a while. "W-what? You're telling me I'm sat in the main office of the most talked about, if not necessarily believed in, underground group in Las Pegasus? Okay, come on, that's a leg pull if I ever heard one." He stated in denial.
The thestral raised a brow. "Really? Can you tell me of any other organizations that would try to recruit you because of skills with gambling?" She challenged. The grey stallion shook his head, trying to rein in his now wild thoughts.
"Okay, so what, why I am here? You guys are the most lucrative unofficial business in the city, shit, maybe just the most lucrative business. What do you want from me?" He asked disbelievingly. This time the mare's laugh was louder.
"Oh, and I thought you could put two and two together." Switchboard joked. "Think about it Rise, come on. You pulled a haul from one three hour poker game that the Cards would be happy to make in a day! You were already told that you were invited here because a business wanted to make a proposal, what's there left to question?"
High Rise sat still for a while as his mind blurred with possibilities of being in the best place he could ever hope to be, visions of just how well off he could end up forming clearly in his head. After a minute of sitting there with an expression that made it look like he was broken, he merely smiled wide.
"Sounds like this is one proposal I'm really gonna like, but I do actually have more more question..." The smile became a grin.
"When do I start?"
Number 13 - Switchboard's Office 23:45
High Rise's eyes refocused, and looked to the mare sat across from him.
"I won't lie, you really turned this place around Rise. We're closing in on how things were here originally." Switchboard told him, and for once, jokes were on hold and she sounded the most sincere he'd heard her in a long time.
Giving her a look, the stallion developed a wan smile. "Still not sure if I've forgiven you for making me think I was getting a better deal, never mentioned how you wanted me to pick this place out from the dirt."
The immediate response was a small snort. "All your flirting seems like enough proof of forgiveness to me, unless your constant pestering is some kind of payback. Besides, what better way to get in you in than make it seem like a golden opportunity?" Switch asked honestly.
"Well if you look at it now, it kinda was." High Rise responded, laughing warmly. "Anyway, I'm still lugging 563 bits around, well 565 I guess." He added the second figure with a chuckle.
The thestral raised an eyebrow at the change. "565? When'd the extra two get in there?"
"When I plucked two bits off of this pair of clowns who tried to jump me on the way back here." The pegasus answered.
Giving a contemplative hum as she looked the stallion over again, Switchboard mulled over the information. "You don't look like you've just come back from a two on one fight, who were they? Do we know them?"
"Haha, well of course I don't, I'm just that good aren't I?" Another snort with an accompanying eye roll from across the desk. "But in all seriousness, I don't have a damn clue Switch. I've never seen them before, but it sounded like they'd planned their little 'outing'. More still, if the way one was talking is anything to go by, I'd say they belong to some kind of gang." High Rise explained.
"Pff, Las Pegasus doesn't do gangs Rise. That's a Manehattan thing in any case. What made you jump to that conclusion?" The mare asked, her tone suggesting she found the idea silly.
"I understand that much." The stallion replied. "But one of 'em made to do a runner after I knocked his buddy out cold. Went on about how I 'would've been fine' if I'd given him my bags before he ran off. Thing is, he said that someone called 'Blacklight' wouldn't be happy with me, that the guy didn't like it when his patrols came back without any goods."
Now the mare just looked confused, shaking her head before responding. "'Patrol' is a funny term for organized mugging, but that's not what's weird. Well... Blacklight is, funnily enough, the name of the pony who runs Blacklights, a company that deals in industrial and domestic electronics, they've been on the rise over the last month. Their influence has been expanding, but nopony knows where the company suddenly got all the extra bits to fund the growth." She explained with an increasing frown.
"Well let's be honest." High Rise began. "If the guy is sending out ponies to rob whoever they can find, it would explain his raise in income."
Switchboard let out a sigh and nodded slightly. "That it would, but if that's true, then it's also true that Blacklights is actually a gang organization, and if you've interrupted his 'patrol' then he might come after you." She warned.
Rising from his seat, the stallion smiled reassuringly. "You know I can handle myself." Then glancing back to his packs. "So is this going to be the usual split? It's still 35 right?"
"Yup, 35 percent for the Cards, rest goes to you. Unless you owe 'Zix anything?"
"When do I ever get into trouble?" High Rise grinned. "But I'll leave this with you, you can drop my stack by my room when you're done. I've got more than one set of bags so don't worry about taking too long to get these back." Sliding his saddlebags onto the floor as he spoke, the pegasus nudged them to rest at the side of the desk before making a move for the exit.
Switchboard's voice made the stallion stop at the door. "I feel like I should say High Rise, I do know you can handle yourself, but if this does turn out to be a real deal, you can only take care of so much and I don't really want to lose you because you got into a fight with twenty gangsters. At that point it's a problem for you and me, so... Try and be careful yeah?" She asked softly.
"Gee Switch, I didn't think you cared so much. I joke around I know, but I can be careful too. Later." With that High Rise left the thestral alone once more.
"If I ever told you how much I cared..." The mare sighed, looking away from the door sadly and getting up from her position behind the desk.
"I need to hit the gym." She muttered on the way out of the office.
Quincy East Warehouse - Striker Gang HQ 00:09
Kicking the basement window closed, Flint Strike shuddered from more than the nighttime air. When it came down to it, Blacklight may not seem big or much of a fighter, but the stallion was scary . The unicorn showed up a month ago, waltzing into the bar that Flint's gang had taken over like he owned the place. One gang member confronted him on being somewhere he shouldn't, and while Flint Strike wasn't there at the time, he knew the story all too well. Apparently the argument had gotten more and more heated before the gang member's head lurched sideways with his neck giving a sudden crack, a sickly black aura surrounding the unicorn's horn. Afterwards Blacklight asked again to see the gang's leader, and stated "I'll wait as long as I need to." when told Flint wasn't around. The auburn pegasus had returned some time later to find a corpse in the middle of the floor, while Blacklight waited at a nearby table, everyone else sat nervously at as large a distance as possible.
The following discussion had been interesting to say the least, Blacklight had explained how he wanted a partnership with the gang. When Flint Strike had pointed out that he had a funny way of requesting an alliance, he could swear the gaze aimed at him was cold enough to freeze Tartarus over... Twice probably. By the end of it all, Blacklight had put forward a new base of operations at the warehouse, arranged for the gang to act as his companies' thug group, and scared the pegasus shitless. Now Flint Strike was out of a leading position, and instead stuck doing grunt work.
"Grind better not be lost somewhere." He muttered, turning to the north before taking off with a pump of his wings. 'It's too late to be doing this crap, I should be in bed with Ruby right now' .
The flight back to 49th only took the disgruntled pegasus twenty minutes, but finding the right alley took another five, the easiest way of identifying it being Meat Grinder's inanimate form in the middle of the floor. 'Well I can't really complain that he's still here, knowing him he probably woke up having forgotten where he was, then fell asleep.' Flint thought with a laugh at the likelihood of that being the case. Landing beside the green earth pony and checking him over, he spotted the opened shoulder pouch and discarded wallet.
"Great, you went and got yourself filched too." He groused, giving Grinder's ribs a kick to wake him. The downed stallion made a few lamenting noises as he blinked his eyes, before lifting his head to spot Flint Strike stood over him.
"Did ya get 'im?" The larger stallion rumbled.
"Oh sure," Flint answered disparagingly. "left him out cold a few ways back... Of course I didn't get the bloody prick, he knocked you clean right through your thick skull, you think I'm gonna stick around to fight him on my own?"
Grinder slowly rose to his hooves and shrugged leisurely. "Dunno, did you?" He asked while he tried to loosen his stiff muscles.
"I stuck around long enough for him to try and break my ribs, after that I was outta here." The pegasus answered, leaning back to show his now bruised stomach.
If Grinder felt any sympathy upon seeing the bluish-yellow hoofprint on Flint's stomach, the earth pony didn't show it. "Huh... So what are we s'posed to do now? Go after him?"
Swiftly facehoofing, the other stallion shook his head before offering a reply. "My god you've been out for nearly forty minutes you idiot." He muttered irritably. Deciding he'd had enough, Flint Strike removed the hoof from his face and passed his green companion to head down the street, speaking over his shoulder. "The Boss wants us back at Quincy to get all the information from us, whoever that colt was, he wants to know. I can only guess a certain pegasus is goin' to be in the Boss' cross-hairs pretty soon, poor kid won't know what hit 'im."
Grind used a hoof to gently rub the back of his head, mumbling while he picked up his wallet and dropped it back into his pouch. "Bastard deserves wha'ever he gets..." With that he moved to follow the auburn pegasus.
Flint Strike however, had retreated to his thoughts as his legs did the work of navigating the way back to the warehouse. Just who was the pegasus that they ran into? There aren't that many ponies who can take out two opponents without breaking a sweat, and the kid sure was carrying a lot of money with him. Does he work for some kind of group? Or was he an independent criminal on his way back from a successful heist?
'Oh well, Boss'll find out I guess. That crazy stallion's got as many connections as bits in his account... Or something like that. Meh, metaphors are a waste of time anyway.'
Quincy East Warehouse - Striker Gang HQ 10:17
"So you let him get away?" Blacklight asked, his tone menacing.
"Well Boss there wasn't much I co-"
"Enough! This is one failure too many Flint Strike, and yet another poor excuse!" His horn gaining a black aura, the unicorn rose to glare at Flint Strike, who now clutched helplessly at his throat.
"You have become beyond useless to me, this other pegasus needs to be caught, and you're getting in..."
The horn's glow intensified
"...My..."
Flint Strike's face was a deep purple, his eyes lolling back into his skull as he spluttered for air.
"...WAY!" The pegasus' neck gave a crack, body limply falling to the floor with a-
Flint Strike snapped his eyes open with a gasp, his body lurching forward in response to a motion it wasn't really experiencing, in just the right way for the stallion's forehead to impact his bedside table.
"Gah!" He recoiled with a cry, hooves held to the injury, while a quiet shuffling sounded beside him.
"Hey, what's up? Are you alright?" Was the tired voice of Ruby Shine, now looking over concernedly from her side of the bed.
The stallion craned his neck to glance over at her with a hoof still held to his head. "S'fine, I'm good." Although his hoof had moved to uneasily massage his windpipe. Feeling nothing out of place except a level of worry he wasn't used to, Flint rolled over to face his bed mate fully.
A pair of crimson eyes inspected him closely, their light red maned owner preparing to speak again. "What was that all about? Did you get drunk last night with Grinder?" She questioned slowly.
"Nah... No it's, uh, it was a bad dream." The stallion whispered back.
"Since when do you get bad dreams?" She looked at him oddly, sounding a little unsure.
Flint Strike closed his eyes with a sigh. "Had a not so good talk with the Boss, he wasn't too happy that he lost money to some nameless stallion. When me an' Grind gave him everything we had about what happened, he seemed to get even more ticked off. I'm no detective hon', but it was still easy enough to tell that Blacklight doesn't plan on talking nicely with that kid if he ever gets his hooves on 'im." Explanation finished, the stallion shifted onto his back before he thought to point out another detail. "And without the cause of his problems in front of him, he was startin' to use me as an outlet, and, well... You know what he did back in the Freshwater." The image of that corpse on the bar floor still hadn't left the stallion's head.
Ruby moved to lay on top of her colt-friend, resting her chin on his chest before kissing him gently as her wings hugged his barrel. "I know that this isn't how things were supposed to turn out." She started. "When you asked me out you said you were going to ditch the gang, that that part of your life had run its course. Then that unicorn shows up and drags you into his sorry excuse for a business arrangement, and a month later we're here, still stuck doing dirty jobs under the impression we'll get something good out of it." Here she stopped to focus intently on the stallion's eyes, before speaking firmly. "I stuck around for plenty of things Flint, quite a few of them not so good. But there's one thing I'll keep sticking by, because it makes those things worth going through... You." She finished with a smile.
"That... was kinda cheesy." The stallion said awkwardly. "But there's no question it's nicest thing ever aimed at me." He quickly added when Ruby gave a pouting frown. "And then there's the part where I realise... I'm sticking around for you too. I got it in my head before that starting up the only gang in LP would make me happy, to have people on my side and had my back y'know? But it's not the same... Now I just wanna get out of this Blacklight mess, but what can I do!? He said it himself, he won't let ponies who know about him out from under his hoof, and I want us to be able to get away from this. You looked past the thing that always put people off of me, made them turn the other way, I want to give you somethin' back now, but I can't here." Flint lamented, ears drooping and expression looking overall defeated.
"You're a goof." Ruby giggled as she beeped his nose. "We can play this out, we do just what we need to, that's it. Then we can drop it all, slip away while Blacklight's distracted with finally getting whatever he's after, leave the city if we have to." She reassured, giving Flint another peck on the lips and supportive smile. "Don't worry about that crazy 'corn, worry about the end of this road, and getting to it in one piece."
The brown pegasus smiled dryly and shook his head. "How are you always so right huh?" He chuckled.
"Well... Maybe I just get good ideas because I care about you?" The mare grinned.
"You know, I really like the sounds of that." Flint replied warmly, and ran his hooves down his partner's white fur, before giving her a deeper kiss.
"Hmm~" She leaned her forehead against his, and skimmed their lips over each other briefly. "Love you..." She whispered.
The stallion paused momentarily to look at nothing before he turned his eyes back to Ruby, wearing a smile that seemed almost too gentle for one with his lifestyle.
"Love you too." He affirmed. The pair had nowhere to be for a while, but would receive a noise complaint from the room next door within the hour.
Not his fault Flint snores so when he naps, Ruby got earplugs, why doesn't anypony else?
The skies of Las Pegasus - Southeastern quarter 11:29
This was a good day, the weather schedule had put the skies with very low cloud coverage, and a cheerful amount of sunshine that made the city seem deceptively innocent. In no rush to be anywhere specific, was High Rise who's casual wing beats were the only cause of noise for the most part, the occasional fellow winged creature that passed by aside. The common sound of construction work in the southwestern quarter being more of a white noise than anything noticeable to those having spent more than a couple of months in the city, and the general smell in the air was the same as always.
'Ah yes, so this is why I don't do many unnecessary flights. City air up here stinks of... City air, bleugh.'
Opting to find some sort of destination as an excuse to land, High Rise sent his gaze downward to search the buildings below. After a few seconds of his eyes roaming what was beneath him, the pegasus spotted something he could distract himself with, the quarter's shopping district.
"I could grab those clothes I was thinkin' about before, I need to keep my look fresh after all." He hummed, angling his wings to begin his decent. Thinking on some of the more important things he needed to consider as he did so.
'But do I go with a showy landing or not...? I think it's gonna be a slow day, better get my kicks where I can.'
With the decision made, High Rise's incline quickly steepened along with his speed, and he aimed himself at the center of the shopping district's main street. Giving several powerful flaps to up his momentum a bit more, he closed in on the heads of those going about their midday lives on the ground with a smile steadily creeping onto his muzzle.
At a distance of around three feet above everypony else, High Rise leveled out while twisting sharply so he was flying inverted. To the sounds of a few gasps just underneath him, the stallion crossed his forelegs behind his head and hummed a tune to himself, his head angled forward enough to see the surprised looks of those he passed, including the scolding face of a mother who's overzealous colt had been reaching up a hoof to try and touch the fancy pegasus. Turning his head to see if there was a space before landing, he added a bit more flair by flapping his wings at an angle which sent his hind-hooves over his head. With his wings now tucked to his sides, he dropped with the rotation and his hooves soon met the floor along which he skidded several feet.
Looking up with a grin, High Rise's performance was met with mixed responses - Some ponies had stopped to look at him, a couple of approving cheers were heard from likely younger ponies, others rolled their eyes at his recklessness and one mare was-
"This isn't the Wonderbolts academy jackass! Some of us are with little colts and fillies here!" Came an irritated voice behind High Rise, along with the hoof which had shoved him forward.
Turning around resulted in the pegasus seeing an unamused earth pony, whose young colt was trying to get a look at High Rise past his father's yellow foreleg.
High Rise dropped his grin for a small smirk, then leaned to wave a hoof at the slightly wide-eyed colt. "Enjoy that kid?" He asked the colt with a fun lilt to his voice.
Instead of a verbal reply, the pegasus was instead met with the sight of said child being pushed behind the stallion who had aimed a glare his way. Although the colt soon shuffled gingerly between his parent's legs to keep staring up at him.
With his smirk still present, High Rise shrugged noncommittally before walking past the pair, his attention towards them leaving with him.
The earth pony huffed in annoyance as he watched him leave, before carrying on in the opposite direction, with those who had stopped to see the confrontation also going back to what they were doing.
"Pegasi are cool dad! Can we have one at home?" The question of a childish voice just reached High Rise as he wandered the street, though it made him have an odd thought.
'That's... kinda weird to hear from a kid, makes me sound like some sort of pet.'
The stallion shook the thought from his head before starting the search for a store which would have what he was after. Shops that stipulated in clothing were dotted on either side of the way, and it took a while before one caught his eye, making a noise of approval as he read the sign above the entrance.
Teenage Kicks was a single story building he'd passed before yet never bothered with, but with what was in his mind, the name seemed appropriate.
Walking into the store led High Rise to be greeted with an assortment of attitudinal clothing hung on circular racks, collections from the same designers lining different walls while a few other ponies milled around. Smiling at the sound of upbeat modern music coming through the building's speakers, the pegasus headed over to the side of the room which held the store's range of jackets, and started to sift through the displayed items.
Reaching the end of the first rail having yielded no results, High Rise frowned slightly before spotting one of the round racks to his side. After swiping past a few more jackets that were closer to filly's outfits, the stallion beamed triumphantly at the object of his admittedly short hunt.
What he pulled off the stand was a heavy black coat that would come down to somewhere around the top and middle of his stomach. It sported a very high collar, and was made with a material that appeared to be manticore hide, otherwise known as seriously tough leather.
'Must be a griffon made piece.' He mused, lifting it a bit higher to look over it, showing a two bulky zips running slightly off center down the front along with shorter versions at the ends of the sleeves towards the back. Turning it slightly revealed lined pads on the elbows and straps at the bottom which could be used to tighten the fit around one's midsection. It even had buttoned flaps for wing holes, this thing was the ultimate find!
'Looks like it was designed around those biker jackets that some minotaurs wear... I like it. Nah, I love it.' With a satisfied smile, High Rise slung the clothing over his back and walked through the store to the cash register.
A turquoise unicorn stallion with a styled orange mane looked up from his magazine as High Rise approached. The pegasus brought the jacket onto the counter as the unicorn looking to be in his early thirties, name tagged 'Color Clash', set his reading material to the side.
Color spent an uncomfortable few moments looking at High Rise strangely for no apparent reason, before leveling his expression to speak.
"Just this?" He questioned, sounding bored.
'Nooo. I've got some happy pills I was gonna buy stuck up my ass, want one?'
"Yeah, but I wanted to check. Can I get my cutie mark put on this?" The pegasus said with strained pleasantness.
The other stallion let out a breath through his nose prerequisite to speaking again in dull tones. "Mhmm, I can add that for an extra eight bits. It's spellwork so it'll take about ten minutes if you can wait. Where did you want it?" He finished with only mild expectancy.
"There'd be awesome." High Rise told him as he pointed to a patch of material, turning in case the unicorn was yet to see the magical tattoo on his flanks.
"Can I get your name so I can call you back when it's done?"
The pegasus shrugged a little. "High Rise, but I was gonna wait by here for you anyway." He pointed out.
Lifting the jacket in his telekinesis and giving a nod, Color Clash turned to head through the curtain behind the counter as he talked over his shoulder. "Like I said, ten minutes and I'll have this out for you, so it'd be better to stick around."
"Gotcha." High Rise replied even as the till worker's tail vanished behind the curtain. "What a freakin' spaz..." He muttered, then caught sight of the mare that had been walking past him who was now staring at him, surprised by his condemnation of the store worker.
"Eh, no regrets." The stallion stated, and the mare blinked once then carried on as High Rise quickly eyed her flanks. Though he concluded she was no Switchboard, he did let his eyes wander a moment longer before looking around for a way to kill the time.
"Aha!" The pegasus had spotted the other item on his short shopping list, in the form of two rotating sunglasses racks stood next to the side of the counter. He proceeded to flick over most of the display, spinning the stand when necessary. High Rise had something particular in mind, and that something was-
"Yeeeheheaah." He drawled as he spun the second rack once and spotted what he was after.
"Aviators baby." High Rise remarked as he plucked a pair of wide lensed, reflective black sunglasses from their place. "Now ah be bitchin'." The pegasus twirled his prize around a hoof, staring intently as they went round.
Color Clash dropped his neutral mask the moment he was out of sight, along with the jacket he was carrying onto the chair behind a ledger desk just next to the doorway. The unicorn snatched a pen from the small desk and the first scrap of paper he could get his magic on. After scribbling a hasty note onto it, he trotted over to one of the ponies working the stock shelves - a chartreuse pegasus mare with an umber mane, and nudged her with an elbow to get her attention.
"This needs to be flown out to Blacklight at his office right now, tell him we've spotted who he's looking for if he starts asking you why you're barging into his office. Go out through the back." Was his stern order.
The mare hesitated only slightly until she took the note in her teeth and gave a sharp nod, running off through the shelving area towards the back of the building.
Color Clash turned and walked in less of a rush back to the jacket he'd discarded, shifting it up onto the desk to work on while he took his place on the chair that was placed there. The spell he needed to use would only take just over five minutes to do in reality, despite being a little technical the 'Temporal Image Transfer' spell was relatively low caliber, and simply took some concentration more than anything else. So with a few minutes of a lit horn and otherwise seeming to halfheartedly gaze at the material, the replicated ace of spades which stood on its corner with smoke rising from it was imprinted on the right shoulder.
After giving the finished product a quick look over, the unicorn rose from his admittedly uncomfortable folding steel perch and headed back into the front of the store, putting a placid expression back on his face.
High Rise leaned against the store counter already getting bored, the Aviators he'd picked up still spinning, though lazily, around his hoof. The moment before his thoughts could turn into a series of internal complaints about the situation was thankfully brought to a close when Color Clash reappeared, carrying his now customized item of choice.
"Noice." The pegasus commented with fading disinterest once he spotted his cutie mark in place on the coat. "I'll take these now that I found 'em though." He said hoofing over the sunglasses.
Color Clash's response was flat as ever as he checked over the eye wear. "Right. Well that brings this to forty-eight bits, please."
'Ouch, I should check price tags before I pay for stuff.' Rise mentally cringed as he opened his saddlebag with a wing, counting out the required amount of bits as he passed them over.
The other stallion seemed a little irritated that he hadn't opted to pay with a card, but would make no complaint about making a sale as he hoofed both the jacket and glasses back to High Rise, who once again basked in the gratification he got from just looking at a piece of leather. Sure, some ponies found such materials off-putting, but damn if it didn't look good.
"Thanks." High Rise said plainly, smiling wide and heading off with nothing more to add. The stallion stopped himself next to Teenage Kicks front entrance, folding up the wing flaps on the jacket before slipping it on with no small amount of satisfaction.
"Okay, this was so worth paying for." He spoke aloud once he felt the microfiber lining settle over his fur. Griffons really knew what they were doing with this stuff, the jacket might have had notable weight but it was apparent that it wouldn't cause the wearer to overheat in warm weather, nor freeze in the cold. Paired with the manticore hide on the outside which would keep out strong winds, it was the perfect fliers' cover that had looks.
Doing up the double zips and each sides' sleeve closer, High Rise stepped back outside. Looking up to the sky with a grin as he secured his Aviators on top of his muzzle, the pegasus who now more or less resembled a greaser given his mane-style, took the air once more.
Blacklights Office Complex - Half a mile north of Quincy East 11:36
A pegasus mare with a note fixed between her teeth burst through the doors of a multistory building, which so happened to be the office complex of Blacklights Electronics, a structure which had swiftly and suddenly grown alongside the company. Behind the desk in the ground floor lobby was a somewhat surprised receptionist mare: A cream earth pony with a pink mane that was pulled into a neatly done ponytail, with a pair of blue rimmed reading glasses resting on what was a slightly short snout for a mare. These are merely descriptive details of course, as our pegasus messenger wasn't stopping for long to take in the desk worker's features.
"Which floor is Blacklight's office?" She blurted as she ran across the foyer to the desk.
The earth pony managed some professionalism despite her bewilderment "Uh, have you made an appointment wi-"
"Which floor!?" The pegasus demanded, over exaggerating the urgency of her task.
Now a little taken aback, the receptionist became hesitant. "Uh... Fourth?" The answer sounding like a question, as if to ask whether or not the mare was happy now.
The aforementioned mare simply took off however, on a rapid course for the elevator that was aside the main desk, punching at the floor button for a moment before the doors closed and the device began its ascent. The earth pony gave a slow blink, and gradually turned back to the papers before her.
Elevator doors opening on the fourth floor was the only warning before a green mare rushed out from them, only to stop in the middle of the hallway and frantically look around with her mane whipping about, before she set off again for the door straight in front of her. Blacklight's company office did sport a protruding viewpoint for the city beyond it, it made sense for it to be at the front of the building.
Not knocking before entering was a pet peeve of the business-stallion, and everypony in his offices knew it, so his raised eyebrow and irritated undertones were relatively tame for one with his temperament.
"Can't say I recognize you, but that's not the point if we consider your method of entry. What do you want?" He curtly asked the mare who'd just barged into his office.
The pegasus finished taking deep breaths, before speaking with a level calm that suggested she may not understand just who she was talking to. "I have a note. 'We've seen who you're looking for'."
With the last statement, Blacklight became far more attentive, and gestured the mare over. "You saw him? Let me see it." He told her.
The pegasus dropped her charge onto the desk, although it was snatched up in a black aura before it could land, Blacklight already eating up what was written on the scrap of paper before he remembered the room's other occupant.
"Hm? Oh, yes, good work getting this to me. You can tell whoever sent you that I will be making putting extra into their business's charge break." Waving the mare off before turning back to the note suspended in front of him, Blacklight read it eagerly.
The pegasus you put out a notice for came in to us, matching cutie mark so it was definitely him. He bought a griffon made leather jacket, so that's another way you can identify him in the future. We also got a name: High Rise
- CC:TK
Setting the piece of paper down as he lent back in his chair, the stallion placed the tips of his hooves together as he thought on the new information.
'Buying out or threatening multiple businesses throughout the city has already payed off in yet another way.' He noted as he looked back to the slip on in front of him. 'And now I know who you are colt. Be careful, because it will not take me long to get my own hooves on you now. You owe me money. Nopony owes me money, I have it all already.'
Smiling darkly as he turned his chair to look out through the windows behind him, Blacklight nodded to himself slowly. "Wouldn't think an electronics company was the way to go would you? But when we are getting holds on the suppliers of the electricity itself, you could say we sit in a position of power." The stallion told no-one, seemingly content to monologue to himself.
"Yes, and I will have the power over this city, I'll run the show here by the time this is over."
2 - ...Not like you could tell
Number 13 - Flash Cards safe house and HQ 23:23
High Rise stepped off the last length of the poorly lit metal staircase, coming up to the third door before even getting inside the building proper. A dissonance of voices was now much louder than before, clearly just on the other side. 'Argh, who made this system anyway? Strip clubs don't have this many closed doors...' The pegasus complained internally, practically headbutting the wooden door that was painted a soft red and pushing it open. Only creaking slightly, the door swung to allow High Rise entry before he stepped through, and the door closed itself behind him. The pegasus sighed happily at the sight he was greeted with 'Finally, the place were it's all at. That feeling will never get old' .
The room he had entered was a simple square, about 40 feet either way and holding close to 25 ponies, griffons, thestrals, and changelings. The Flash Cards certainly weren't fussy in regards to race or species, if you had skills they wanted you were invited, there was no other way in. The room itself was just one big bar/restaurant/social area, tastefully designed with vertical wood paneling, well spread wooden tables of good quality, and a wooden divider that ran the perimeter, leaving clear floor space for people to move easily without bumping into tables and breaks in the wood in places to allow access to the middle of the room. This was of course, all before even getting to the bar, sweet Celestia the bar . The thing ran the full width of the room inside the divider, making it an approximately 30 ft long hardwood topped work of art, lined with expensive stools with seats that were wrapped in Saddle Arabia import faux leather. Behind the bar was a plethora of taps, bottles, glasses, and brands. The whole system was what High Rise repeatedly labelled as 'the way the world should be'.
High Rise strode up to the gap in the divider, a few club members already watching him, before rising to his hind legs, flaring his wings for balance, and spreading his forelegs wide.
"Guess who's back with hauuuul!" He cried over the noise in the bar area, soon the center of attention as all eyes lifted and turned to him. His fellow Flash Cards made short work of spotting his bulging black saddlebags and erupting into cheers.
"Holy shit he's robbed a bank!"
"Who's credit card did you steal to get that!?"
"Great! You can buy the next round of drinks for everyone!"
Everyone in the room including High Rise laughed at the last comment, coming from none other than the barkeep himself, before the grey pegasus spoke up.
"See peeps? I told you poker is the way to go, this is all from one good game." Several of the rooms occupants fixed him with disbelieving looks after that proclamation, but no-one moved to argue, High Rise really built a reputation during his 8 months with the Cards after all.
'I know it, they know it, I know they know it, and they know I know they know it... I think?' While he mentally struggled with grammar, the pegasus started his way towards the bar itself, giving nods in response to congratulations or simple greetings from those he passed. Once he reached the bar he rose up to rest his crossed forelegs on it and gave a holler.
"Kha'Zix! Did you miss me? Yes or yes!?"
"I'm stood right here you damn feather-brain." The changeling bartender quipped from his position in front of High Rise, trying and failing to suppress his smile, so he settled for just letting his fangs show.
"I know right?" High Rise responded with obvious mirth "But after that last time I gotta be sure around you."
The forest green changeling raised a brow 'Hey I didn't think they could do that.' then shook his head slowly. "I was ignoring you on purpose because the first time we met you were just so buzzing annoying!" He exclaimed, then sighed because he knew what was coming next.
"Haha, yeah... Hey 'Zix, I heard you guys 'taste' people based on their emotions, so is it true? 'Cause you still haven't told me. Do I taste as good as I look?"
The changeling sighed again and closed his slitted emerald eyes, when he opened them again the stallion before him wore a perfectly serious face. 'How anything can leave his mouth while he keeps a straight face is beyond me." The shapeshifter thought with a unvoiced groan before taking a deep breath.
"No. " Came his simple rebuttal.
"Is that a 'no you don't taste that way' or a 'no I can't taste you'?" High Rise queried with apparent honesty. Kha'Zix groaned aloud this time while the pegasus laughed and made to leave.
"Don't worry 'Zix, we all know just how good I am - I mean, how much of a great guy you are. You know I love you right?"
"You do?" The changeling asked "If you do then you should've got a job as a hive infiltrator, because that's something I can't taste at all." He called after the pegasus with no small amount of snark.
High Rise just laughed some more as he made his way through a gap in the dividers. The stallion had a lot of respect for Kha'Zix, everyone does. Kha'Zix was the Flash Cards' jail break; whenever a member got into trouble with the authorities, the changeling would fill their place in a cell so that the member could keep working to bring bits in, although a large cut of their next haul always went straight into the shapeshifter's funds as was only fair given what he was doing. The fact that he provided the drinks in Number 13 was good incentive for people to avoid needing his jail breaking services. That line of work was what got him invited to the Cards in the first place, he was well known as a unicorn alias that broke out of a super tight prison just outside of Las Pegasus, simply called 'The Hole', because once you fell in, you only got out if someone let you out. Kha'Zix was the exception to the rule.
The steely pegasus proceeded to follow the divider wall around before coming to the area behind the bar, glancing to the sign above the doorway as he walked through it.
'Switchboard's Office Room Office'
'Time for a nice chat with one sexy bat mare.' High Rise thought with a smile as he began the ascent up a gently curving set of stairs. At the top stood a simple, brown wood door, one of very few of it's kind within Number 13 seeing how most were either painted or metal. Stopping before the door High Rise lifted a hoof to knock, then placed it back on the ground with a smirk on his lips.
"Knock-knock!" He called through the door.
Silence...
A muffled sigh...
"Get in here already Rise." Responded a slightly tired female voice which, although dampened by the wood, was still the sweetest sound the stallion believed he had ever heard.
High Rise couldn't help the grin that he found on his face as he pushed the door and walked through into a supposed office.
"Say," He started, his smile trying to somehow grow. "have you been on the cigarettes again? Or is that smoke in the air just you Switch?"
The mare behind a modest desk in the corner of the room gave an easy smile, tilting her chair back. "Can't it be both?" She asked. "I have had a pretty stressful night."
"Aww," High Rise cooed sympathetically. "can I help relieve that stress at all?" He asked while waggling his eyebrows at her, or maybe he didn't, he never was very good at doing that.
The thestral only smiled cheekily. "Depends, are you going to leave now?" She questioned coolly.
"Switch I thought you'd already figured this much out; if that's what you want, well, when it comes to winning you over, I can't think of a price too high to pay." The pegasus provided, sounding quite proud of his response.
"Well aren't you just the nicest little stallion?" Switchboard asked sweetly, High Rise nodded with a smile. "What if the price is my own life?" She challenged, and the stallion pouted.
"Spoilsport..." He grouched, folding his forelegs in front of himself and his ears back for a moment while slouching in his chair, though he soon enough shrugged and sat back up with a small smile seeing the mare stifling giggles at his expense.
"Okay, so you're the cause of all the noise downstairs I'm guessing?" Switchboard said while gesturing to the door, she tilted her head to get a look at the stallion's saddlebags when they caught her eye. "Huh, and I can see why. Is that the haul from your run tonight?"
"Yup." High Rise affirmed with a nod. "One two hour game and I walk away with 563 bits profit, no too bad." He stated casually, and took a seat on the chair in front of the desk.
Switchboard nodded appreciatively at the amount. "'Not too bad' huh? So what, I can expect better in the future can I?"
"You know you can, that's the reason I'm here in the first place remember?"
"Yeah, i know, you turned this place around..." The mare answered quietly, looking reflective.
"Uh-huh, I remember it too." High Rise pointed out
Number 13 - Flash Cards safe house and HQ 8 months ago
High Rise followed the unicorn in front of him closely, hanging just to the leading stallion's left side as they approached a dull grey door made of steel, a number thirteen messily sprayed in white paint next to where the handle should be.
"So what did you say it was your company does again?" The pegasus asked, adjusting the black saddlebag over his left flank, his cutie mark of an ace of spades with wisps of smoke rising from it adorning the material. His recent memory was a little blurry after all, he'd walked out of The Bit Drop casino with a fortune and a grin on his face and so much new money to his name that he had to ask for a check as opposed to bits when he cashed his chips in. After that this unicorn with a name he couldn't recall had come up to him and claimed High Rise was invited to join some high-end business. Considering the amount of alleys he'd been led down from there, he was beginning to lose the ability to believe the unicorn.
"We're here actually, so you can ask all that when you meet who you're going to be discussing your 'work' with" The unicorn responded evenly before knocking on the door.
*Tap-pause-tap-pause-tap-tap*
'Secret knock and everything? Why does this keep seeming less of a working business and more bad business?' High Rise mused to himself. While he did so, he perked his ears as he noticed the unicorn was having a hushed conversation with a slot in the door, and caught some of what was being said as the unicorn glanced back towards him. "...yeah Switch wanted me to find him and bring him over."
The door offered no response but the slot was closed, followed by a clunk and the door swinging inward, a well built orange earth pony appearing behind it who beckoned the two in.
"Yeah, okay, definitely bad frikkin' business." He muttered to himself as he followed the unicorn inside, through a second door, and down a flight of metal stairs until they stopped before yet another door.
"You guys like these things huh?" High Rise asked sarcastically while gesturing to the painted wooden door, but only got a glance in his direction in response. The unicorn pushed the door open and allowed the pegasus through, the two entering a large square room populated by multiple worn looking tables, chairs, and a full length bar that seemed to be lacking supplies. What the room was devoid of however, was life aside from the pair who just entered.
"Lively place you got here." High Rise voiced with mock cheer. The unicorn responded by passing him and began to lead around the wooden dividers on the rooms perimeter.
'Not like he can tell. This guy's about as emotionally diverse as a desert is wet.' He thought sourly, taking his place behind the leading stallion once more. The pair rounded a right turn, passed one door before turning again and entering the next. The familiar sight of stairs, this time going upwards, got High Rise to pause.
"Say pal I think you took a wrong turn, we just came down these." The pegasus pointed out, frowning when his sarcastic quip garnered a repeat of no response. The unicorn continued to stare impassively at him from his position next to the now open door, once he was sure High Rise was done, he spoke up.
"Who you are meeting with is waiting for you up these stairs, there are no turns, so you shan't get lost... Unless you don't think you can handle the curve in the stairs?"
The grey stallion looked at the unicorn, unamused. "So now you've got a sense of humor on you huh...? Whatever." He muttered heading up the stairs. 'Jackass.' He thought on the way up, when he reached another door at the top of the stairs, he groaned, but rolled his neck and shoulders in case this was the dodgy affair he now suspected it to be.
'Hopefully this really is a whole new opportunity.'
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