Snake Eyes took in a deep breath, his black eyes closing in concentration. He was sure he could play the part of a horny stallion looking for a good time.
Rusty had acted that way all the time on their adventures.
He felt a fire burn in his gut and he glared at the offensive building in front of him. It was barely a cottage, yet better than a shack, with a sign saying 'Lucky Lacy' on the front.
'Lacy' was the most infamous prostitute in this part of the Wasteland. Reason? Any stallion (or mare) who went in there never came back out. Considering it was the Wasteland, news didn't get around, so ponies kept going in.
Velvet Lace was her name. No one had ever met her. All they knew was a name.
Snake Eyes rubbed his forehead with a white hoof, and brushed back his bright poison green and bright purple mane, two-toned and split down the middle.
His saddle bags were packed with two pistols, a rusty knife for good measure, bottle caps, and some food and water. He plastered on a smile and he lit his horn with the black aura of his magic as he walked towards the front door.
He opened the door and moved his smile into a perverted smirk to continue the charade. Velvet Lace was practically plastered onto the slightly charred and bullet-riddled desk, her black flank raised in the air, her Cutie Mark, a heart on fire next to a pair of fuzzy hoofcuffs, easily visible.
Her mane, golden, was somehow brushed to perfection, half of it covering one eye seductively, the visible side of her face showing the perfect amount of makeup, including her horn as well, her silver eyes half-lidded.
When she spoke, it was soft and seductive. "Can I help you, mister~?"
It made Snake Eyes sick. Yet, he kept up his act. He read the sign below her front hooves. '10 Caps A Night, I Promise You'll Be Satisfied...' He lifted ten caps out of his saddlebags and sat them on the counter, right between her front hooves. "I'd like to get to know you, miss Lace, in a more... personal way."
She gave him a seductive smile. "Of course. Follow me, mister~..." Her tail was long, and it too looked like it had been brushed to perfection. It nearly dragged along the floor it was so big but not even a speck of ash or dirt littered in her tail.
She opened a door into a bedroom. Snake Eyes acted like his full attention was on her, when really, he was eyeing the bloodstains and other stains on the walls, floor, and sheets.
However his attention quickly moved to a fixed point as Velvet opened a closet and leaned into it, raising her rump high into the air. He shook his head, and quickly using his magic drew his gun-
At the same time Velvet did, lifting a shotgun in her silver aura. He dodged the shot, and Snake looked at her strangely as she chuckled. "Impressive, you weren't blinded by your hormones."
He narrowed his eyes. "My friend came in here and never came out. I'm hear to settle the score."
Velvet raised an eyebrow. "What did he look like?"
Snake didn't know why, but he answered. "... He had a gray coat with a red mane, green eyes, knife as his Cutie mark?"
The mare gasped in remembrance. "Oh I remember him! Huge pervert, but but pretty perceptive. I shot him in the flank as he crawled out the window, he might have survived. Don't know where he is."
Snake Eyes sighed in relief. Then he aimed the gun at her again. "Look, I don't want to kill you, but you're gonna kill me, so-"
"I'm not gonna kill you." He blinked as she lowered the gun to the ground and turned towards a side door that turned out to be a bathroom when she opened the door. "You handle that gun well enough that you'd shoot me as soon as I thought about shooting you. Besides, I think I'll join you on your journey if you'll allow me. It gets pretty boring. I've been losing a lot of customers now that sadly a few have escaped, including your friend. Don't try to escape while I'm busy, I locked the windows and door and I'm the only one with the key."
She turned back a final time. "Oh, and stop gaping, you'll catch bugs." She finally closed the door and enter the bathroom.
Snake Eyes had no clue what he got himself into.
Snake sat on the bed, trying to touch as few stains as possible, and thought about his Cutie Mark. It was a pair of dice and an ace of spades. He'd learned, through many trials and adventures with Rusty that this meant he was good at both gambling, taking risks, and chance.
He'd taken a risk all right. Just by coming here, yet he was pretty sure it was too late to go back now.
Soon enough, Lace left the bathroom, and it appeared she had taken a shower. A radioactive shower, by the looks of the slight green glow that was coming from her eyes, yet still a shower.
Her mane and tail were plastered against her sides, and her make-up was gone, but the thing that made Snake Eyes stop and stare was her Cutie Mark.
And the fact that it was something else entirely. It was now three bits, the currency long-since used, surrounded by a red circle with lines on it, like a gun was aiming at them.
"Stop staring, you'll make me blush." She wore something between a smirk and a shit-eating grin.
Snake Eyes quickly snatched his gaze away and frowned at her. "Why do you have a different Cutie Mark!?"
She grinned widely. "Because that Cutie Mark was a fake, I made it using decades old paint. Besides, I have one other thing to tell you..."
Suddenly, her voice dropped to a baritone. "I'm a stallion, not a mare, and my name isn't Velvet Lace. It's Gleaming Gold, but you just call me Gold."
