PART(ie) Hard

The Sly Cat illuminates the brick wall in a neon red glow. Music thumps from inside and people wait outside in a line, all dressed from prim and proper to low and dirty. In front of the metal door are four large men in suits with sunglasses, with two actually guarding the door, one checking names on a list and another inspecting the customers with a fat wand. It only takes Pinkie Pie one blink to notice the vests underneath their suits and the pistols hidden from view.

Octavia walks over the guard guarding the checker -who is the only one wearing a white suit with a purple tie and has slick black hair- with the others in close tow and she stands next to him, hands clamped in front of her and head craned up just a bit so her eyes can meet his. It takes him a few seconds to notice her, but when he does his eyes bulge and he eyes her up and down.

“Well, I'll be damned. Octavia, is that you in front of me?” says the guard.

“It is,” says Octavia.

The guard chuckles and hugs her, and she returns the hug, though not as tight as his it still brings looks of confusion to the rest.

“Okay, which one of you lost Octavia?” says Rainbow Dash, pointing accusingly at Pinkie Pie and Trixie.

Octavia pulls away and fights off a flickering smile. “Elusive, we need to see the Bosses.”

Elusive's smile fades, and he turns to one of the guards at the door and orders them to keep watch while he talks to the girls. The guard wordlessly obeys and Elusive leads the group away from the crowd. When they are in a garbage infested alley with graffiti on the walls and dumpster he stops them and looks sternly at Octavia.

“Why do you want to talk to the bosses?” says Elusive.

“It is important,” says Octavia.

“You know your father doesn't want you in this life and the Bosses will drag you back in. What could possibly be so important that you'd jeopardize your father's wishes?”

“We need to find somebody and fast.”

“Who? I might know somebody who isn't a Boss that can help.”

“Discord.”

“Oh.” Elusive sighs and rubs his forehead. “Yeah, that's a problem. Discord is on their Black List. There's a huge bounty on him from us, but out of all the people we sent only one came back, and that was because Discord put a phone bomb in his gut and detonated him in one of our diners. Gutted the whole thing!”

“I'm pretty sure the news would have reported that,” says Rainbow Dash skeptically.

“We bribed them and the cops to write it off as a gas leak explosion.”

“Oh. That's one way to handle it, I guess.”

Pinkie Pie butts her way in front of Octavia and looks into Elusive's eyes, hands clamped tightly in front of her chest and eyes shimmering with desperation.

“But the Bosses know where Discord is, right?” says Pinkie Pie. “Like they actually know where he's hiding out?”

“Everybody who's important knows where Discord is,” says Elusive, “but nobody's touching him and word on the street is the cops were ordered to stop looking for him from someone up top.”

“This just keeps getting better and better,” says Trixie.

“So it sounds to me like you need an outsider to solve your Discord problem.” Pinkie Pie slides next to Elusive and bats her lashes at him as she squeezes his arm and flashes a sultry smile. “I can do that for you. Easy peasy, free and cheesy.”

Elusive raises a brow. “Free and cheesy?”

“It just came out, but I can still help.”

Elusive glances at Octavia, and when she nods he sighs and rubs his brow.

“Okay, fine. But I'm warning you right here and now that if you do this there will be no turning back,” says Elusive.

“Sounds fun. Let's do it,” says Pinkie Pie.

Elusive shakes his head and motions the girls to follow him around the back, where a couple of more guards are. Only these ones are not shy of their weapons, which just happen to be large shotguns, and they are not ashamed of sitting on the dirty crates, either. Elusive greets them and informs them that the girls are with him, and when they open the door, the group steps inside and-

The door to the PART(ie) dorm opens, and Applejack, without looking up from her Aura book speaks nonchalantly.

“Ya finally decided to get some sense back, Pinks?”

“I'm afraid not,” says a familiar voice.

Applejack looks up and her eyes about nearly pop out of her skull when she sees none other than Principal Celestia Faustsend standing in front of her. Her hands are clamped behind her back, her figure is tall and imposing to where light is fleeing from her, and worse of all her narrowed eyes appear ready to shoot a beam of fire into her skull.

“I really don't like coming back from a vacation just to find that some of my students has tampered with their probation bracelet,” says Celestia. She steps forward and looks down on Applejack, revealing that it is no trick of the eyes, her pupils are literally pulsing fire. “So, tell me, Ashlyn Apple, where is your leader?”

“Do you really have to do this?” says Trixie, disgust dripping from her voice as music thumps against the walls and beams of multi-colored light slide everywhere outside the tinted windows.

“Yes,” says Elusive. “Club policy.”

Trixie scowls and looks at the large box that has been set before them, but Pinkie Pie is not concerned about the contents of the box. No, her concern is that the room has its corners guarded by men in suits wearing pony masks. She stares at them, and they stare back, and her hand briefly twitches, which brings them to flinch.

“Man, these guys are furries?” says Rainbow Dash as she digs through the box, pulling out random cartoony animal tails and ears, among other things.

“You have a problem with furries?” says Octavia while putting on fluffy pony ears and giving her partner an unnerving stare.

“No!” blurts Rainbow Dash uneasily. “I'm totally not a hater. Haters are lame. In fact, I'm going to take this thing!”

Rainbow Dash grabs the top most item on the box... then frowns and holds it out at arms length. Pinkie Pie cannot help but snicker at that, and Trixie raises a brow.

“Wow. That is so gay,” says Trixie.

A few minutes later the group is walking down a brightly lit hallway lined with tinted windows that give a great vantage point over a gigantic room down below that is filled gambling tables. From blackjack, to roulette, to crabs, to poker, and other games that Pinkie Pie has never seen before. At the far end of the gambling room is a large door with a flashy sign that says CLUB HOUSE, and it is also guarded.

The hallway is lined with pony masked guards and at the end is a large, metal door with two machine gun turrets above it. Out of everything Pinkie Pie has seen so far, the turrets are the most unnerving, and from the looks of it, the rest of the group holds the same feeling.

“The door and turrets are new,” says Octavia.

“We've been having problems lately,” says Elusive.

He stops at the door, knocks three times, then waits. Several seconds later the door clicks and hisses, and it splits apart to reveal a circular room with a long table at the far end. Sitting at the table are four figures who are covered by shadows, but have symbols inside white circles projected in front of them. One has a red diamond, another has a black club, the next is a red heard, and the least has a black spade.

Elusive leads the girls into the room, and when they reach a red line he orders them to stop. They do as he say, but he keeps walking until he is at a red circle next to the Black Spade, then he faces the girls and clamps his hands in front of him.

“You destroyed one of our establishments,” says Black Club.

Rainbow Dash, Trixie and Octavia look at Pinkie Pie, and she looks at them, then at the shadow group and she points at herself.

“Are you talking to me?” asks Pinkie Pie.

“Yes,” says Black Club.

“Oh... My bad.”

“Are you serious? All you have to say about blowing up one of our buildings is 'My bad'?”

Pinkie Pie shrugs, and Trixie groans and face-palms.

“Great, we're going to die,” says Trixie.

“Nobody is going to die,” says Red Heart. “While my companion may be upset about it, the insurance was twice the structure's value, hence why we didn't kill anybody in their sleep.”

Pinkie Pie smiles. “I'm glad it worked out, then.”

“Buildings aside, we have more pressing matters at hand,” says Black Club. “Matters such as why you are so keen on finding Discord.”

“Funny story,” says Pinkie Pie. “Discord actually killed me and hurt my friends. I don't want to kill him, but I want to hurt him really, really badly, and Octavia said you guys might be able to help, so here we are.”

She finishes with a clap and flashes a big smile, and the four shadows silently stare at her, which brings her smile to a nervous state and leads to some sweat trickling down the back of her neck.

“I see,” says Black Spade. “But are you prepared to make a deal with us? You are all young and have the potential for many years of peace. I know one of you tried very hard to never return to us, but the rest of you have no idea what this world brings and to enter it will bring an everlasting blade aimed at your back.”

“How desperate are you for information?” asks Black Club. “Are you willing to enter our world for only a moment of clarity?”

“Me? Definitely. But I got a question,” says Pinkie Pie. “If we agree to have this exchange is there like a contract of say... a few months? A couple of days? You won't turn us into call girls will you?”

“No,” says Red Diamond. “The exchange is simple, you want information about Discord and we can give you that, but in order to get it we need to have your word that you will do something very important to us.”

“Name it and we'll do it. Or, I'll do it, or it'll get done somehow! Pinkie Promise.”

Black Spade scribbles some information on a piece of paper and gives it to Elusive, who then gives it to Pinkie Pie. She is quick to snatch it up and sees an address on it, and she is just as quick to thank him, but he does not return the manners.

“Now for your job. Ahuizotl Tepoztlán used to be an associate of ours,” says Red Heart.

“He left on good terms and actually brought us business with his new partners, but really this was an unkind ploy that has, in the end, cost us much, and he must be removed,” says Red Diamond.

“You mean... you want us to kill him?” asks Trixie uneasily.

“Precisely. We have word of his location being in San Palomino,” says Black Club. “It is a red zone, unfortunately, but we are certain you will find a way over there.”

“If you fail to uphold your end of the bargain then there will be grave consequences,” says Black Spade. “Are you still up for the task?”

Trixie holds up her finger. “Can we-?”

“Absolutely!” blurts Pinkie Pie.

“PINKIE!”

Pinkie Pie looks at Trixie, confused as to why her teammate is red and blowing smoke from her ears. Or why the other two are giving her hostile looks as well.

“What? I gotta find Discord,” says Pinkie Pie.

“Good. Do not fail us,” says Black Spade.

“Don't worry, a Pie always keeps their promises,” says Pinkie Pie.

“So I've been told.”

A sleek, blade-like golden car screeches to a stop outside The Sly Cat, and its door slides up and over the roof when Celestia steps out. On her wrists are a pair of large bracelets with golden gems attached to them, and as she marches towards the front entrance and holds up her key to press the lock button. The car beeps and its lights flash, followed by a shimmering shell that covers it fully.

The door to the chamber seals when the girls and Elusive are in the hallway, but upon leaving Pinkie Pie feels a tingling weight coming down on her, and she looks out the window for reasons unknown to her. She sees nothing special, only people gambling their rent and life savings away. She swallows for air and scratches her head, not being too surprised when she finds strands of pink tangling her fingers.

“Way to go, we've just been employed as hitmen,” says Trixie sourly. “And we're probably going to get expelled, too, so thanks for crushing my dreams. I really appreciate that.”

“You're not going to get expelled,” says Pinkie Pie. “Maybe.”

“Maybe!? Oh my Faust, you are the worst leader ever!”

Pinkie Pie pokes Trixie's nose. “Hey, snort a chill pill. I'll figure out something and we'll all be fine. I just need to think for a moment.”

“Like how we're going to get to San Palomino?” says Rainbow Dash sourly.

“Well, duh. I gave the guy a promise. A very dark, messed up promise, but a promise is a promise, so I gotta figure it out. The good news is that we know where Discord is, so we can scratch that off our list of things to do.” Pinkie Pie rubs her chin, humming loudly as she looks at the paper Black Spade gave her. “Where's 8192 Curve Ball Street?”

“It used to be a sports arena near the Canterlot Wall, but it is abandoned and scheduled to be torn down, along with the whole neighborhood,” says Elusive. He takes a deep breath and looks at the girls. “Are you sure you want to do this? If you want out I can convince the Bosses to drop the deal, but once you go down the elevator the deal is sealed.”

“But I got a bone to pick with Discord,” says Pinkie Pie, now feeling a very painful, sickly tingle running through her body.

Then the elevator down the hall dings, bringing the group to a halt and waiting patiently for it to do its thing. When the shiny doors slide open Octavia's eyes expand fully and become polluted with fear and Elusive shares a very similar reaction with the added display of him aiming his pistol at the elevator, for standing inside is a man and woman. The man is encased in a glowing black crystal shell and is holding a bloody corpse with his sharp claws, and the woman is tightening a muffler on a very large pistol with a glowing gem in the barrel.

“Oh, hello, Elusive,” says Chrysalis, flashing a wicked smile. “Abbadon sends his regards.”