Riki and Liz's Grand Adventure!

Las Pegasus!

“Wow, even in the day, this place looks amazing!” Riki exclaimed, sitting on top of the carriage. “I can’t wait to see this place at night!” Riki looks down to see the road and buildings built on top of clouds. “Oi, how is everything not falling through the clouds?” Riki asked worriedly.

“The clouds here are specially made so buildings and the residence won’t fall through,” Bebop answered.

“Still be careful walking around,” Feather added, “I heard stories of holes in the clouds. One moment you’re just walking, then the next, you’re falling out of the sky. A cloudy sinkhole.”

Bebop rolled her eyes, “Those are just made-up stories.”

“How do you know?” Feather asked.

“My dad told me,” Bebop said proudly.

As the ponies continue to talk about cloudy sinkholes. Riki just takes in the scenery. He hopes he can come back here one day with Liz and the girls. But something feels off, like they're being watched.

“Riki, are you listening to me!” Feather shouted, getting Riki’s attention. “I’m trying to ask you something.”

“Are you okay, Riki?” Bebop asks worriedly,

“What?” Riki said, looking at them. “Sorry, I was just thinking. What did you want to ask?"

Feather lets a sigh, “Well, I want to know if this place makes you homesick?”

Riki falls back on the carriage’s roof, looking up at the sky. He doesn’t really show it, but he misses home. “Just a little bit.” Riki lied, “But Las Pegasus reminds me of my uncle.”

“The one that owns a strip club?” said Feather.

“Your uncle owns a strip club!” Bebop said in disbelief.

Riki nods, “Yeah, but I’m talking about another uncle, Uncle Franky. He lives in a place like this, but we call it Las Vegas. Uncle Franky visited me and Liz when we were little and taught us some games. Poker, blackjack, and other stuff. Liz wasn’t really good at it, but I picked it up pretty fast.”

“I can’t believe your uncle taught you two poker at a young age,” said Feather.

Riki chuckles, “You sound like Liz’s mom.”

“How good was your uncle in poker?” asks Bebop.

“Good enough that people think he’s cheating!” Riki laughed. Bebop and Feather join in too.

They stopped when Blueblood started to bang on the roof, “Be quiet! I’m trying to read!”

Riki bangs on the roof, “Sorry!”

After a while, the carriage finally made it to the hotel. Riki jumps off the carriage’s roof and then looks up at the building. A solid 23-story hotel, “This place is way bigger than Mat’s hotel.” Riki said to himself. He then opens the carriage’s door, letting the prince out.

Blueblood walks out and says, “Get my luggage. I’ll be heading inside.”

Riki approaches Feather and Bebop, “So this is where we split.”

“Yeah, but we’ll be back on Sunday around noon.” said Feather, “So be ready, Riki.”

Bebop nuzzles Riki goodbye, “Stay safe, and don’t let Blueblood get under your skin.”

“And watch out for cloudy sinkholes,” Feather added.

Riki pats Bebop on the head, “I’ll be okay, and the prince will be fine under my watch.” He says his goodbyes to Feather and Bebop, watching them leave.

As Riki heads inside the hotel, in the shadows a diamond dog and minotaur watch from afar.

“We need to go tell Coal.” said the minotaur.

“Right,” the diamond dog replied.

“This place sure is busy,” I said, walking through the lobby. I’m so used to Max’s empty hotel, I forgot how crowded it can be. “Now, where is the prince?”

I look around for Blueblood and make sure I don’t accidentally run into anyone. I can hear the residents whispering about me.

“Isn’t that the weird thing from the magazine?” one pony whispered.

“It’s kinda cute in a weird way, you know.” whispered a griffin to her friends.

“Why is it here?” one mumbled with fear in their voice.

I finally see Blueblood talking with two mares. Walking up behind him, I can see the ponies’ eyes begin to widen.

“What’s wrong?” Blueblood said confusingly. After those two ponies backed away a bit before running away. Blueblood turns around to see me, and he does not look pleased. “You scared them away. Can you fix your terrifying appearance,” Blueblood said as he gestured to my entire body. “I don’t want another lady to run in fear, Tiki.”

I stared at him briefly before saying, “Sorry, I’ll use my shapeshifting power to look less scary.”

“...I’m waiting,”

He really thinks I can do that. “…It takes an hour to use my power,” I said straightly. Blueblood rolls his eyes and then walks to the reception desk to get his room key.

“Here is your one-bedroom penthouse key, Prince Blueblood.” said the pony receptionist.

Wait, a one-bedroom? “Oi Prince, where am I going to sleep?”

Blueblood looks at me and says, “Sorry, I only got a room for myself.”

Why do I feel that ‘sorry’ was not genuine? I slowly walked towards the receptionist, so I didn’t scare her. “Excuse me, are there any free rooms available.”

The receptionist frantically looks through the check-in books, “Umm, sorry, we’re fully booked. The Canterlot Orchestra is in town. I’m sorry.”

I let out a sigh, “It’s fine.” Walking back to Blueblood, I told him what was going on. And to my surprise, he didn’t care. I can figure out where to sleep later. “Alright, let’s get you to your room. Now, where are the stairs?”

“Stairs? I’m not taking the stairs.” Blueblood grumbled at me, “I’m going to the elevator.”

Elevator!? “You guys have an elevator here!?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t we.”

We headed to the elevator, and inside was a unicorn elevator operator. “Hello, what floor?”

“The penthouse,” replied Blueblood.

The unicorn begins to use his magic on the elevator, making it go up. This is pretty cool. After a few minutes, we finally arrived at the penthouse floor. Walking to the room, I open the door for Blueblood. And wow, this penthouse looks amazing! Big living room, an indoor bar, and a balcony with a pool. Putting down the luggage, I then ask Blueblood, “Now, that we’re all settled. What’s going on?”

Blueblood sits down on the nearby couch, “Well, later tonight you’re taking me to the casino.”

“Casino, okay. But how are we going to get there?” I asked, leaning on the wall. “Are we walking or taking a taxi?”

Blueblood scoffs at the idea of taking a taxi. He then goes to his luggage and starts to look through it. After a few seconds, Blueblood pulls out a pamphlet and gives it to me. It says ‘Mama Ruby’s escort service’ I was not expected to read that. I open the pamphlet, “Have a sexy time with one of our beautiful ladies.” I read to myself. Seeing some suggestive pictures of ponies, griffins, and… Wait, is that a cat!? “You really called from an escort?”

“Already paid in advance,” Blueblood said, “They are going to send a limo. It’s going to pick us up at 7 to take us to the casino.”

Okay, 7 o’clock. It’s around four right now so, we got some time to kill. I look over at Blueblood, and he is giving me a weird look. “What?”

“I'm hungry,”

“So, order room service,” I said, taking off my backpack.

“I don’t want food from here.” Blueblood grumbled, “I want food from Tartarus’s Kitchen. I want you to go there and get me one of my favorite meals there.”

Wait what!? “I’m not supposed to leave you,”

“That. Is. A. Order.” Blueblood retorted

Remember what Bebop said. I sighed, “Just stay here, don’t let anyone in.”

“I’m not a kid!” Blueblood yelled, “I’m just going take a shower and then a nap.”

Yeah, you’re definitely not a kid. Blueblood wrote down what he wanted from the restaurant, then signed it with his signature. So, they know whose food they’re making. “What about the bits?”

Blueblood rolls his eyes, “They should be lucky I even eat there.”

“You will pay for an escort but not food. Glad to see where your priorities are.” I muttered under my breath.

“What?”

I quickly put on a fake smile, “They are lucky to have a great stallion like you to eat there. No, not just eat there, but know that they exist, Prince Blueblood.” I hope that wasn’t over the top. But looking at him, he seems to love it.

“You know Tiki, you aren’t so bad.” He said with a smile, “Keep this up, and I might make you my personal guard.”

“Thanks,” I said tiredly, “I’ll be back as fast as possible.”

In the back streets of Las Pegasus, a dark brown minotaur and a short gray diamond dog are both wearing suit jackets. The two of them enter a bar, and inside is a mix of creatures, from ponies to cats. Playing cards, smoking, and drinking. The two were greeted when they entered. “Scout and Slugger, you two are back early.” Said the bartender pony. “Did something happen?”

Scout the diamond dog nods, “Yeah, something good, right Slugger!?”

“Right,” Slugger agreed, “Now where is Coal? We got some things to discuss with him.”

“He’s upstairs in the back,” Bartender said, “What a drink?” Scout says no, but Slugger asks for any mix of hard liquor with lemon and no ice.

The two go upstairs to the room. Inside is a dark gray unicorn named Coal with a slicked back mane and wearing a pinstripe suit jacket. Coal is sitting on a couch as he drinks from his glass. In front of him is a table with bags of bits and a bottle of whiskey. He is surprised to see Scout and Slugger, “Guys, you are back? No money to pick up?”

“Coal, we saw Blueblood.” Slugger said, “And we know where he’s staying at!”

Coal’s eyes widen, “Really!?”

“We have to tell The Don about this!” Scout said sitting down.

Coal shakes his head, “No, we can’t. Do you remember what today is!” They don’t answer, and Coal continues, “Boss is on his 36th wedding anniversary with his wife. And the Misses don’t want work to interrupt them on their trip, unlike last time. If she gets mad, the boss will be mad.”

“Yeah, we know.” Scout gulped as his ears lowered. “The last time Boss got mad, he showed us earth ponies can’t fly.”

“But if he finds out we didn’t do anything, he’ll get rid of me.” Coal said with a bit of fear in his voice. “It took me eight years to get to the position of capo!” He begins to freak out, accidentally knocking over his drink. “Plus, Blueblood has guards on his flank. We can never get close.”

“Calm down, buddy. Freaking out right now is not good,” Slugger said. “And Blueblood only has one guard with him.”

“What?”

“Yeah, it looks like a hornless minotaur or hairless diamond dog.” Scout added, “I think I saw it in a magazine.”

After hearing this Coal calms down a bit. “Just one guard, I can work that. Scout sent two guys to watch the hotel and report back when Blueblood leaves.”

“You got it,” Scout replied as he walked out of the room.

“Fuck, I think I’m lost?” Riki said, looking off into the city from a palm tree. He climbs to the top, trying to get a better view. Before Riki left the hotel, he asked the receptionist where Tartarus’s Kitchen was. However, he’s not the best when it comes to direction. He tried asking for help, but they didn’t respond or run away. “Okay, how about-”

“Hey, weird thing!”

Riki looks down to see an earth pony cop, “Oi!”

“Get down from there!”

Listening to the cop, Riki slides down the palm tree. Landing in front of the cop he says, “Is there a problem officer?”

The cop cautiously keeps his distance, “…Yeah, there is a problem. You can’t climb the trees.”

“Make sense.”

“And I was getting reports of a weird-looking creature.” Said the cop, “May I ask what you are doing here?”

Riki rolls his eyes, “Look I don’t want any trouble. I’m just looking for Tartarus’s Kitchen.”

“Why?”

“I’m Prince Blueblood’s bodyguard-”

“...Yeah, I have to ask you to come with me.” The cop firmly interrupted, “At the police station, you can tell me and the others your story.”

Riki knows this pony is not going to listen to him, just like his first time in Canterlot Castle. So like last time he decided to… Run away.

“No,” Riki said as runs away from the cop pony.

“Get back here, monster!” The cop yelled chasing after the human.

Riki runs down the streets, trying to figure out what to do next. Well, the first thing is to lose the cop. He looks back to see the cop is still on his tail. As long as there is only one cop after him, getting away is possible. Quickly thinking, Rik pulls out some of his bits, “Who wants free bits!” He throws the money on the ground, causing the nearby locals to dive for the bits.

The cop gets caught in the pileup. He can only watch Riki get away, slipping into an alleyway. “I’ll find you!”

“I said no!”

“C’mon, Twinkle. Stop playing hard to get.”

In a dark alleyway of Las Pegasus, a black fur lady diamond dog wearing a blue cocktail dress, is grabbed by an orange cat wearing a black hoodie.

“I’m not interested, Kaz!” Twinkle barked as she broke out of Kaz’s grasp.

Kaz’s back starts to arch as his ears flatten. “Mangy mutt! Do you know who you are talking to!?” Kaz yelled, slamming Twinkle into a brick wall and holding her there. The smell of alcohol hits her face as he continues to talk, “Do you know what I can do to you and get away with it?” He leans close into her ear and whispers, “…A lot.”

Twinkle tried to break free, but she couldn’t. She then steps on Kaz’s paw pretty hard, making him yell in pain. “Sorry, my paw slipped.” Twinkle said with a smile. Kaz was going to hit her, and Twinkle looked ready to fight. But they both stop when they hear something coming down the alleyway. Both of them turn to see a weird looking creature. It's Riki.

“I think I finally lost him,” Riki said, trying to catch his breath. He then looks up to see a cat pinning a diamond dog against a wall.

“Is that…” Twinkle whispered.

“What is that!” Kaz yelled.

Riki slowly walks down the alley, not making a sound. Twinkle and Kaz just watch the human as he gets closer to them. Kaz’s tail starts to go between his legs and Twinkle just kept quiet. Riki walks past them, bumping into Kaz in the process. Kaz lets go of Twinkle and begins to shout at Riki, “Hey, ugly! Don’t you know who you bumped into!” Kaz grabs Riki’s shoulder and forcefully turns him around, “I’m a part of the Pipistrello family. And if you-”

In one swift motion, Riki grabs and pulls Kaz’s hood over his head, hard enough to make him flip over. Lands on the ground with a thud. It was so fast, Twinkle almost couldn’t see what had happened. Kaz was standing up, and now he’s on his ass. She took this opportunity to hide behind a nearby dumpster. Kaz gets up, confused about what just happened. He starts to punch and claw at Riki, but Kaz can’t land a single hit. Riki counters Kaz and punches him in the chest. “ I thought cats are supposed to have good reflexes.” Riki laughed.

“You bucking freak!” Kaz hissed, “I’ll kill you!” Reaching into his hoodie’s pocket, Kaz pulls out a switchblade. He begins to slash wildly at Riki, “What’s wrong, freak!? Scared you might get cut?”

Riki casually sidesteps a knife thrust. He then grabs Kaz’s wrist and pulls him into an elbow to the face, knocking the feline out cold. Kaz falls face first onto the ground. Riki turns to look to Twinkle, “Oi, you good Dog lady?” She slowly nods her head, and Riki continues, “That’s good.” Down the alleyway, Riki and Twinkle can hear hoof steps. Riki's eyes widened, “Oh, shit! The cop pony!”

“Cop!?”

“Yeah, he was chasing me.” Riki quickly picks up Kaz’s unconscious body and drops him in the nearby dumpster. “You have to cover for me,” Riki said hiding behind the dumpster.

Just then, the cop stops in front of Twinkle, “Ms., have you seen a big hairless creature running down here?”

“Ummm…Yeah, the creature went that way.” Twinkle lied, pointing down the alley. “If you leave now, you can catch up to him.”

The cop gives his thanks and tells her she shouldn’t be in a dangerous place like this. The cop then runs off.

Twinkle waits for a few seconds, just in case the cop comes back. “…You can come out now.”

Riki comes out from behind the dumpster, “Thanks for saving my butt. My name is Riki.”

“Twinkle and I should thank you.” she smiled, “Plus I kind of know about you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you were in a magazine. Well, more like in the ‘Top 5 Mysterious Things of the Week' section.”

Riki gets a sly smile, “And I was number one.”

“No, you were number two.” said Twinkle, “You were beaten by a carrot that looks like Princess Celestia.”

“Oh,” Riki said disappointedly.

“I also read that you saved Equestria.” Twinkle walks up to Riki to get a better look at him, “You look a lot better than in the pictures.” She then gives Riki a sniff, “And you smell nice.”

“…Thanks?” Riki said, stepping back a bit. “So what was with the cat guy?” He then points at the dumpster.

Twinkle crosses her arms, “That bastard's name is Kaz. He stopped me when I was heading back to work.”

“Why, you two once dated?”

“Oh, Celestia no. I have way better taste.” Twinkle spat, sounding a bit offended. “That feline thinks he can rub up on me, just because I work for Mama Ruby's-”

“Escort service?” Riki interjected.

“Now how do you know that?” Twinkle said with a cheeky grin. “If we knew the hero of Equestria would be using our escort service. We might give you a discount.”

Riki shakes his head and mumbles, “N-no, it’s not me. It’s Prince Blueblood who requested the service. I’m his bodyguard.”

“Oh, that’s a shame.”

“Wait, you believe me?” Riki said, scratching the back of his head. “Because the cop didn’t.”

“You saved Equestria, and you saved me.” said Twinkle, “But what are you doing here, are you supposed to be with the prince?”

Riki lets out a sigh, “He told me to get him some food from Tartarus’s Kitchen, and I didn’t feel like arguing.”

“Then why are you here?”

Riki looks away, “I got lost.”

Twinkle chuckles, “I’ll help you. Tartarus’s Kitchen is close to Mama Ruby.” She begins to walk away, “It’s about a 20-minute walk to Tartarus’s Kitchen.”

“Thanks, Twinkle, I owe you!” Riki beamed as he followed her. “…So, how long have you been an escort?”

“I’m one of the secretaries, not an escort.” Twinkle said.

“Oh, you’re a secretary,” Riki said with a smile, “Can you do me a favor, just a small change to something?”

As the two leave the alley the dumpster lid flies open and Kaz crawls out, covered in trash. “I need to tell the others about this.”

Finally back at the hotel, this food pickup bullshit was tiresome. I was lucky to get some help from Twinkle, or I will never have found my way. I hope the Kaz guy doesn’t go after Twinkle, but she said Mama Ruby will take care of it.

I swing the bag of food as I walk to the elevator, but I see it’s about to close. “Oi, wait!” I yelled, running to the elevator. The elevator operator sees me and opens the door. “Thank you, elevator guy.” Walking in I see two pony ladies. One’s a pale blue unicorn, and the other is a gray earth pony wearing a pink bowtie. “Penthouse, please,” I said, leaning on the wall. The operator nods and begins to move the elevator.

“Oh. My. Celestia!” the unicorn yelled, making her friend jump. “Youyouyouyou!” She starts to point at me.

The earth pony looks friend, “Lyra, it's rude to point.”

“But it’s him, the human!” Lyra said gleefully, “Ahhhh, I can’t believe this is happening.”

That’s new. I had never seen a pony so excited to see me. “Oi, I’m Rik-”

Lyra quickly stands on her hind legs and plants her hooves on my chest, “Your Ricochet or Riki. I-I read a lot about you in the newspaper and magazines. You were number two on the Top 5 Mysterious Things of the Week.” Lyra then starts to caress my chest, “Oooh, almost like a minotaur.”

“…Thanks?”

Lyra stops, “Oh, where are my manners? My name is Lyra Heartstrings, and this is my friend Octavia Melody.”

"Nice to meet you," Octavia said as she pulled Lyra off me, “Sorry about her. She isn't really like this. After seeing you in the paper, Lyra was amazed.” Octavia fixes her hair, “I can't lie when I say I'm very thankful for what you did.”

“It was nothing,” I said sheepishly. Wait, did Lyra say Octavia? “Oi, Octavia, your Vinyl's friend.”

“You know Vinyl?” Octavia said, surprisingly.

“Yeah, she’s my boss.” I smiled, “She wanted us to meet when you come back to Ponyville. But I guess we can meet now.”

Octavia nods, “I guess we can.”

“Riki, I got to ask! Is your sister here?” Lyra asked as she checked out my hands.

“Liz still at Ponyville,” I told them, “I'm here on a request for Celestia to be Blueblood’s bodyguard."

Octavia gasps, “Princess Celestia asked you to do that!”

“He did help save Equestria,” Lyra said, letting go of my hand.

“14th floor,” said the elevator operator, “Have a nice day.”

“This is our stop,” Octavia said.

“Aww, but the human. I still want to talk to him.” Lyra whined, “Riki, you want to come hang out with us?”

Using her earth pony strength, Octavia drags Lyra out of the elevator. “Riki is a very busy pony. It was nice talking to you.”

I wave goodbye as I say, “We can hang out when you get back to Ponyville.” The elevator continues up, and a few minutes later, I reach my floor. I thanked the elevator operator and quickly made my way to Blueblood’s room. I knock on the door as I call out to him, “Oi, unlock the door. It’s me!”

I continue to do this until Blueblood opens the door, “Hey, that’s annoying, you know!?”

“My bad,” I said, “Anyway, here is your food. Your roasted eggplant slices with mozzarella cheese.”

“You can throw that away. I'm not hungry anymore,” Blueblood said as he walked inside.

“What!?”

“You took too long, so I just ordered room service.”

“I was gone for an hour and a half. Couldn't you wait a bit longer?”

Blueblood shrugs his shoulders, “No. So, you can throw that. Wake me up at six.” He then walks back into his bedroom, slamming the door.

I drop the food on the table and fall on the nearby couch. I don’t know if he’s doing this on purpose or not. Letting out a groan, “Someone kill me now.”

“Whoever did this, I’ll kill them!” Slugger yelled, throwing an empty bottle of rum across the room. “Who in the buck drunk the good booze here!”

“It was probably one of the new guys,” Coal answered.

“Slugger, just drink something else, you big baby,” Scout said.

Slugger was about to do something, but there was a knock on the door. “Come in!” Coal yelled.

A griffin opens the door with a worried look on his face. “Capo, downstairs! It's an emergency. One of the new kids got pummeled!”

Coal, Slugger, and Scout all hurry downstairs. They see a beaten up Kaz. Coal was the first to speak, “What happened? Was it the Limelight family who did this!?”

Kaz shakes his head, “No, it wasn’t them. It was a weird lookin creature.” Kaz explained what had happened to him to them. Well, he told them what happened, but with a few lies. Saying he has weird powers and stuff. Kaz also describes how his attacker looks, the human Riki. As Kaz finishes his story, Scout returns with a magazine.

Scout flips through the magazine and stops on a page that says 'Top 5 Mysterious Things of the Week'. He then shows Kaz a somewhat blurry picture of Riki, “Was this the creature?”

“Yeah, that’s the ugly punk boy!” Kaz hissed, “Took me by surprise.”

Coal takes the magazine and reads. “It says his name is Ricochet Philip, a human. Saved Equestria with the Elements of Harmony.”

“He’s the one guarding Blueblood,” Slugger said, crossing his arms. "What next, Coal.”

“This Ricochet messed up one of our boys. Just because he saved Equestria doesn't mean he's exempt from the wrath of the Pipistrello family!" Coal yelled, “We fight back!”