Manehattan Vice

Time began to pass for me, my earpiece lodged into my ear and connected to my phone and throat mic so I can hear orders I need to follow from Buckshot. With every moment that passed, I felt an overwhelming sense of dread. This wasn't like that shootout in the night club, I could palpably feel my mortality, everything around me began to feel a bit hazy. I pulled my shotgun out of my duffel bag and cradled it. It reminded me of the Rifleman's Creed that Buckshot and Biggins had to repeat, even though this is a shotgun. "This is my shotgun, there are many like it, but this one is mine," I say quietly to myself, my anxiety fading away as I remember all the training sessions I had back at the academy with it, how I used to it meet the true love of my life, one I would do anything to get back. "My shotgun is my best friend. I must master it as I must master life"

"Without me, my rifle is useless," said Buckshot over the net, causing me to instantly pivot and aim my shotgun in a panic until I took a second to calm myself.

"Without a functioning heart, I am useless," I said in a grumbly tone, as I could hear Buckshot chuckling like a teenage stallion who just spray painted a dick onto a school wall, chuckling with one of the lowest kinds of immaturity.

"Easy there, Ness," said Biggins in a calming tone. "Remember, we all cope in our ways, this is one of the ways my brother does."

"If it helps steady your nerves, you look pretty good in that dress," added Diamond.

Taking a deep breath, I answered back "Thanks, yeah that does help." I smiled quietly to myself as I began to feel more confident in myself like I actually could take on everyone in this house with everyone here providing overwatch. "Approaching the rear garden from the west alley, cover me while I breach," I said, quietly.

"Copy, I got you on thermal," said Talon, giving me the clear to reach for my crowbar, digging into the lock before prying the lock off its hinges with one quick shove.

Gingerly pushing open the gate, I pulled my shotgun back up and began quietly advancing to the house. I could feel my heart racing as I approached. My trigger finger felt twitchy, but I made sure to practice diligent trigger discipline in my mind as I advanced, this is the last time I would ever want to have a negligent discharge. As I approached quietly, I heard the sharp, crisp crack of a twig snap. "movement in the garden" I said as I scanned around with my gun nervously before I hear a much wetter crack and a whoosh as I saw an earth pony fall.

"Target dropped," said Talon. I approached the former pony to see if he was still breathing, but he wasn't. Not with that hole, Talon blew into his heart. I investigated the rest of the garden to make sure there weren't any more surprises. I looked at the two-story house, but it also had a basement. I quietly approached the door and got in a position to breach. I put my ear to the wall to see if I can hear anything, and sure enough, I heard hoof steps. M eyes went wide and I hugged the wall. "Contact on another side of the door, about to be made," I said in a hurried but still hushed tone. As soon as I finished my sentence I shut my eyes and looked away as suppressed gunfire ripped through the door, I was hyperventilating for a good second, before it got quiet again, listening for any kind of disturbance erratically. Again, nothing. "Moving interior," I said, before open the door and stepping inside, so far so good.

Looking down at the body, the one Talon shot dead, I had felt strange being kneedeep in a death like this, but I snap out of it. I look to a door slightly ahead of me on my left. it was the door to the basement, it would be the first place I'll clear out. "Hallway secure, moving downstairs, cover me," I said before Talon gave me the willco.

Opening the door, I promptly headed downstairs. I turned on the lights and looked around. My jaw dropped to the floor at what I saw. "Buckshot, did our intel mention a crack cocaine lab at all? Because I'm seeing at-least a million bits of marching powder and some major freebasing equipment."

"Fuckers are trying to destroy Zebra communities through drug distribution. We have no idea who's supplying, do you think you can figure that out, Ness?" Buckshot asked, clearly angered at this discovery.

"Yeah, one sec," I say, before licking my pinkie and dipping it in the white powder, before pressing it to my lips. They felt tingly and numb, trying to think of all the possible people I've bought drugs from in my past. It was pure, no adulterating chemicals whatsoever, really hard to pin down. At least until I heard movement something drop. "Buckshot, I hear someone hiding down here with me, going to investigate." I say, followed by racking the action of my Kel-Tec. Fortunately, it seemed to work, as I saw two hooves rise out from the corner.

"Ness, is that you?" I hear. The voice made me flashback to everything 7 years ago.

"Iron Loyalty, you son of a bitch." I say, finally seeing his face. "What the hell are you doing working for the Balefire Division?"

"What the hell are you doing raiding the compound dressed like a drag queen?" He asks in a sarcastic tone, followed by butt stroking him in the chest. "Okay, point taken, I'm coming with you."

"Buckshot, we don't have anything on Andy Quill, but we have Iron Loyalty, he'll be more than ready to talk," I say over the com net.

"Roger, exfil and bring him back to the safehouse, we'll take care of him from there, we'll cover you on thermal until you're out of the AO" Buckshot replied.

Putting a bag over Iron Loyalty's head, I slowly but steadily escorted him out of the basement, I made sure he didn't make a single peep. I guided him through several alleys, running him only across quiet, non-busy streets, keeping my head and gun on a swivel, just in case anyone, even a civvie, sees us, I need this go as smoothly as possible.

When I finally felt safe, I told Talon to bring our ride around, for my very first mission, and reuniting with an old ally on uncertain terms, I'd call this mission a success.

When we got back for the interrogation, I was sitting on a chair in the basement. Or as Valentine would've described it, his sex dungeon, I began to shudder from the perverse thoughts that filled my head of what happened down here. I'm 90% sure all of this in a different circumstance would be much more arousing. Unfortunately for Iron, he was stuck with me and Talon and based on the blow torch, popsicle, and raw steak, this is going to be a long and very painful interrogation session. Iron was handcuffed to a wheel, upside down no less, as Corporal talon got the blow torch.

"Let's talk," said Talon, in a surprisingly brooding but for once clear voice. Perhaps he was quoting a movie?

"Talk about what?" asked Iron, in a very nervous tone

"Let's talk about your friends" replied Talon.

"I'm not saying anything, have you seen how well trained Balefire is? Talking to you is gonna get me to end up like Andy Quill" said Iron.

"You don't talk to me, I'll kill you now, Iron" replied Talon. "They pay your rent, your legal bills, you should know something."

It was at this point Corporal Talon turned on the blowtorch. I nervously gulped as this looked like it would be bloody painful for Iron, but I stayed my tongue, I need Iron to believe he's in for a world of hurt.

"2000 degrees, Iron, enough to turn cold steel into butter." Said Talon, with a sadistic grin upon his face. "It won't hurt at first, too hot, you see. The flame sears the nerve endings shut, killing them, you'll go into shock, and all you'll feel is cold." None of what Talon said sounded right, but I'm not about to question a Navy SEAL on their interrogation techniques. "You'll smell burning meat, and then, then, it'll hurt."

At this point Iron Loyalty was pleading for anything else, I had to cover my eyes and ears as the burning pain and then the deafening yell was about to start. I looked down at the ground, but unfortunately, my nose was unprotected from the smell of burning flesh. Oh Celestia, why did we have let my old friend get interrogated by someone willing to go full Zero Dark Thirty to get answers.

After about a couple minutes or so, the screaming stopped. I uncovered my ears to try and hear what Iron would be saying. "Okay, this is going to sound crazy, especially to Ness, but it's the truth, alright?" Iron said in a hurried and panicked tone. "The camp is in the Appleoosa Bison Reserve, run by a gang who call themselves the Appleoosan Warrior. This is a tense situation for both of them, it's likely to fall apart with the slightest bit of stress. If you're after Balefire, You'll want to side with the Warriors. Ness remembers his girlfriend Aurora, the one he rescued from valentine and used to help build his little drug ring? She's with the warriors now, if anyone knows anything about what it is you're after, it will be her. That's all I know, please, please let me go."

After that, I began to look up, Iron was surprisingly relatively unharmed. Talon prodded him with the popsicle, took the bag off his face, and forced it into his mouth. Iron's expression turned from abject horror to the flattest surprise ever. I look over to where he had the meat, now a black, inedible piece of well-done leather. Seems Talon is a fan of 2004's Punisher. In all my years of drug dealing, I had never seen anything that remotely devious or cruel. And on second thought, it's probably a bit of both. "Nessassio, he's all yours, if you want anything to say to your old partner." Said Talon, before walking up the staircase and leaving the two of us to talk alone.

"So I bet you have a lot of questions, Nessie." Said Iron, as I slowly walked over. Without saying a word, I punched that fucker in the nuts as hard as I could, causing Iron to flinch as hard as he could, making him feel nauseous. "What the hell, is that any way to treat an old friend?"

"Friend? The last memory I ever have of you is Aurora telling me she slept with", I retorted in anger, before punching him in the stomach, causing him to throw up. "followed by our meeting in that night-club, trying to get me to strike a deal with the Balefire Division, followed by you leaving, and then trying to kill me." I gave him one final punch in the jaw for good measure to snap him out from his vomit induced stupor before letting him explain himself.

"Okay, I probably deserve that. But I didn't think I was doing anything wrong!" Iron exclaimed in response. "You always told me that you didn't want to touch any of the money those 'trannies' touched when Aurora was helping to build up our prostitution and extortion racket, you were soooo focused on the drug selling aspect, 'It's where the money is', 'it's more ethical than collecting from prostitutes'", said Iron, adding air quotes with his semi-free talons when appropriate to denote the disdain he had for my opinions back then. "so if you want me to tell you anything about why I did what I did, you better cough up an answer to last night's question, 'why the hell were you raiding the Bale Fire compound dressed like a drag queen?'" Asked Iron, barely hiding the venom in his voice with his question.

There was no easy response to that, that's one thing I always admired about Iron Loyalty, he always knew just how to ask the hard questions I needed to hear. I simply collapsed into a sitting position against the wall as I tried to articulate a response to his question. "I honestly don't know why I said those awful things I said, I don't," I said, shaking my head and clutching my face as if I'm about to start crying. "I think I had my demons I was trying to hide from, that I was trying to deny deep down that they even existed, and I started taking it on innocent ponies who just happened to fall into sex work, and all they wanted was to be true to themselves." I soon broke down in tears, crying for a bit, before I wiped the tears away and perked up a bit. "Wait, was Aurora uncomfortable with what I was saying? Was she trans too?"

"Yes", replied Iron. "Well, she's two-spirit, sorta different, but at the same time sorta related. the reason she slept with me, is because you seemed so absent like you didn't want anything to do with her, despite the fact you told her constantly that you ostensibly loved her. Every time you had a major argument, she believed it less and less. And when I told her about the Balefire division approaching me, she couldn't go with me, but she wanted to say goodbye and break up with you, so we kissed, and before I knew what happened, that kiss became so much more" said Iron.

At that point, I began to recompose myself and began to undo the restraints on Iron. "The Balefire division will want you dead after this Iron, despite how mad I might've been at you, you're still my brother. On that day when we noticed the officers taking bribes, I knew there was only one pony I could trust more than myself, and that is you. I'll tell Buckshot you'll be dead without us, so you wanna come with, I'll even find you a spare sleeping bag." I said, before finally undoing the last restraint, and having Iron collapse to the ground in near exhaustion. On his hands and knees, I offer him my talon and him "So what do you say?"

He took my hand and pulled me into a hug, before letting go. "I say, thank you."

Going to sleep shortly after that for the night and waking up at 8 am, a bit groggy, I reached for the glass of water on my nightstand. A minute after I come to, I notice the smell of weed filled the room “Buckshot, sir?” I ask, before blinking a few times and readjusting my vision. There I simply saw my old friend Buckshot smoking a joint, perched on the window sill, and watching the sunrise.

Iron seemed a bit somber, there wasn’t much I could think of to say right now, aside from getting a cigar from my humidor and join him, just for old time’s sake. I sat next to him, lit up and took a puff, and looked on beside him as Celestia's rays broke through Cloudsdale once more. Iron was completely silent, It's probably still hard for him to adjust to just how suddenly his life just changed. I reached an arm over his shoulder and pulled him to my side for a hug. Even though he was still quiet, he returned the caring embrace and pulled me closer to. "I'm sorry for the horrible person I was. I know I can't possibly go back to make it right, but maybe together, we can at least strive to make it better." I said, hesitation filling my every word as I reflect upon last night, and especially the times we had 7 years ago. "come, I bet Biggins is making a big breakfast for your big day." Iron simply looked over to me quietly and nodded. With that, I let go of him and turned around to head downstairs, deciding to wait for him by having a chat with Biggins and Buckshot first.

As I walked down the stairs, the smell of bacon and eggs began to waft through the halls up to my nose. It was a very pleasant and relaxing smell. I decided to check the pot of coffee, seeing Diamond busy at work trying to figure out how to operate the Tassimo. I simply chuckled, not even I could figure it out, always had to get someone else to help me do it for me. I simply patted Diamond's back reassuringly, she'll figure it out eventually I'm sure, she's a smart but also a very strong gal.

My ears soon turned to the sound of sizzling and walked past Biggins frying my breakfast. I grabbed a plate and sat next to Buckshot, who soon turned to me and said "Hell of a stray you decided to bring home" in a disbelieving tone.

With a simple shrug, I responded "He gave us intel, he's good in a fight and only sold us out when he had a gun to his head, it's hardly a fair comparison."

"Plus, without anyone protecting him, he'd soon be dead meat," said Diamond, giving a brief chuckle while kicking foot up on the table.

"Speaking of dead meat..." said Biggins, with an excited grin as he walked over with two frying pans while Buckshot grabbed a spatula.

"Breakfast is served, y'all." Said Buckshot, eagerly serving everyone, giving me two plates, so I could take one up to Iron later. Never before though, have I seen anyone dig into a meal so thoroughly. The most excited I had ever seen anyone respond to food was when after a major drug deal, I did a big Costco run for pop tarts, pizza pops, and iced tea. Sure, it might not have been the healthiest thing to have, but compared to subsisting on cocaine, and with a viable oven, it wasn't too bad, all things considered.

Deciding I'd try it for myself, I carefully smelled the food laid out in front of me. Hearing my tummy rumble, it certainly was enticing. I grabbed a knife and fork and decided to cut myself a piece of bacon. it was chewy. just a teensy bit of crunch, but what stood out to me was the cajun spice. It added soooo much more flavor to the whole thing, and just a little kick to let you remember it.

My eyes had gone wide, blown away by how flavourful Biggin's cooking was. Buckshot looked at me and simply chuckled before saying "Old apple family recipe, never fails to amaze people on their first taste." He's got that right at least, I soon joined in on horking down the rest of the food like the others, trying to get my share as quickly as possible, but by the time I was full, I had only just remembered I was supposed to bring a plate up to Iron. I quickly took some more cutlery and hurried up the stairs to go check on him.

As I re-entered my room, I could see he was no longer in sight. I looked nervously around to see where he might have gone until I saw his feet poking out from under my bed. I lowered the plate onto the ground, slid it over with my foot, and went prone with him. “Hey, is everything okay Iron?” I asked, trying to give a warm smile to let him know everything is okay. He shook his head for no. I simply nodded understandingly in response before saying “Okay, I understand. You probably have a lot of mental health issues to confront on your own. Eat up at least, I promise it will make you feel better.” After that, I left my room, closed the door, and let him be. I felt kinda bad for what I did to him last night. I decided to simply go downstairs again and get some coffee.

Walking down the stairs, I saw a surprisingly quiet kitchen. Fortunately, there was still coffee in the pot, just enough for one more mug. I pour it myself, put a teensy pinch of scotch into it, and take a sip, savouring that hypnotic and relaxing blend of booze and caffeine.

A second later, however, when I glance up, I see the entire squad staring at me. “Fuck, that was the last coffee wasn’t it?” I asked, before downing the rest of my coffee in resignation.

“Sorry pardner,” Buckshot said, approaching me and placing a hoof on my shoulder “But we need to stock up on some more supplies, we’re gonna stock up on some more food we can keep in our trunk. We were using the pot of coffee to see who would watch Iron Loyalty and the safehouse while we get supplies.”

“Well, serves me right for bringing him here and beating him up last night.” I said, clutching my head in mild frustration. “yeah, I’ll do it. I’ll wait upstairs, just make it quick.” With that, the squad began to trickle out the door and heading into the car. By the time they had all gone, I was watching them drive off, cradling my shotgun.

Deciding to smoke one of my cigars for about an hour and a half, I let the tobacco take me on a time quickening journey, until suddenly, there was the sound of police sirens outside, two, pulling up to the safehouse. They had to be dirty cops, there was no way we did anything genuinely illegal, at least not enough to warrant a 911 call. Perhaps leaving survivors from that cell was a mistake? No, it got Iron Loyalty out alive, it couldn't be one.

Fear and anxiety filler my head as I heard a knock on the door. I swallowed and got prone, trying to crawl over to Iron's room, pulling myself across the rug quickly with nervous anticipation that they just start shooting. When I reached Iron's room, I grabbed the door handle and pulled myself up, gritting my beak as I tried to pull myself up slowly but forcefully, stealth was of the essence, it was exhausting, gruelling effort on my muscles, every fibre of my body demanded concentration.

Slowly creeping over to Iron's sleeping bag, I put a hand over his mouth and grabbed him by the shoulder to wake him. Sure enough, he let out a muffled scream and was justifiably terrified for a brief moment before he came to his senses and shut up. "Look, Iron. Police are at our front door, I suspect they're on Balefire's take. We need to move you and find Buckshot and the others, now." I said in a hushed and urgent tone, before taking my hand off of his mouth so I can hear him speak.

"I got a plan to buy us time, maybe find us some intel on who sent these cops after. I need your shotgun." Iron said, reaching for it and looking me square in the eyes. "Do you trust me?"

Reluctantly, I nodded and handed him my shotgun. Just as we completed the trade-off, I heard a loud thud against the door as it soon caved in, a simple battering ram seemed to be all that busted up falling apart door could take. Without missing a beat, without missing beat, Iron racked the action and pointed the barrel straight at my face, before yelling out "Keep away from me, pigs! I got a hostage, his name is Special Agent Nessassio of the Equestrian Bureau of Investigation!"

"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL YOU STUPID FUCKING IDIOT!" I exclaimed, getting up to smack some sense in him the Diamond taught me to, before he simply elbowed me in the face and grabbed me by the neck, dragging me over to the window.

"I am dead serious about blowing his brains out with a 12 gauge!" bellowed Iron, I half believe he will at this point

"It's a 10 gauge, ass! And fuck you! You betrayed me! You betrayed all of us!" I curse out, not letting any of this go, fighting the fucker with every ounce of my being. Just as soon as I finished yelling, I heard bullets rip through the air and I fell to the ground out of instinct, falling out of Iron's grasp. I covered my ears, flashing back to the club as death surrounded us at every angle. But through a miracle, the shooting stopped. I patted myself to see if I was bleeding, I wasn't, thank Celestia for that. What I was even more grateful for, was to hear a familiar voice call out from the other side of the door.

"Well lookie here, ain't you just a magnet for trouble!" said Buckshot. "It's safe to come out, Talon's in the lead for most bodies dropped during this op so far."

Iron looked at me with a smirk, pointed the shotgun in the air, and offered me a hoof, which I promptly took. "See, I told you you could trust me."