Riki and Liz's Grand Adventure!

The Pipistrello Family!

The casino! What a truly fantastic place. The sounds of winning laughter and crying defeat fill the casino. As Blueblood and I walk past the slot machines, he says, “I could have sworn I told the receptionist for two mares?” He then perceives to check out some can-can pony dancers that passed by.

“What a shame,” I said, trying to sound sincere. I have to thank Twinkle for messing with Blueblood’s request. I followed Blueblood as he complained all the way to the craps table. He sits at the table and asks me for his bits. “You want the whole bag?”

Blueblood nods, “Yeah, give me the whole bag of bits.” I pulled his bits from my backpack and handed them over. “Now go away. I don’t want you to scare away any ladies.” Blueblood waves down a cocktail waitress and asks for a drink.

“Okay, I’ll be close by.” I said, walking away, “Just yell my name if you need me. You know my name, right?”

Blueblood huffed, “I do, Tiki.”

“...Riki”

“Yeah, that’s what I said,” Blueblood said pathetically.

An earth pony, a cat, and a human are sitting at a blackjack table in a tense game. Riki has been on a three-game winning streak. The pony has 10, the cat has 12, Riki has 16, and the dealer diamond dog has 18.

“Hit,” said the earth pony, and the dealer dog deals out a card. It goes from 10 to 15 to 23. Bust. “Damn it, my wife is going to kill me!”

The cat taps for his card and gets a queen of spades, bust.

Riki looks at his cards, queen of hearts and six of spades. He likes how the queen card is Princess Celestia. He lets out a yawn and says, “Hit.” The dealer pulls and flips over the card, and it’s a two of clubs. Riki asks for another card, and it’s a… Bust. A six of clubs, “Damn, what a shame. I was on a good win streak.” He had lost 500 bits in this game, but in the end, Riki made 2,300 bits from the last three.

Riki gets up from the table and looks at Blueblood to see if he is having a good time. Laughing, drinking, and chatting with girls. Riki scratches the back of his head, “Blue is having fun, so I think I deserve a drink.” He then saunters over to the nearby bar and sits on a stool. Riki gets the bartender pony’s attention, “Oi, can I get a rum and coke? No ice and three limes, please.” He then pays with chips and gives the bartender a tip.

“You could have won that game,” Riki hears this and looks to his left to see a lady cat sitting a few seats down. He looked around to make sure she was talking to him. The cat swirls her martini with the cocktail skewer, “Hi there~,”

The calico cat lady is wearing a dark red mini bodycon sleeveless dress, a black choker, black toeless stockings, and two golden earrings on her left ear. She also has fluffy bangs that cover her right eye, red lipstick, mascara, and winged eyeliner.

As he sips his drink, Riki says, “I just got a bit too cocky.”

The cat picks up her martini and clutch bag to sit closer to Riki. She crosses her legs towards Riki, purposely tapping his foot with hers. “You lost on purpose. I was watching you play. I mean, who wouldn’t watch you play? Winning three games in a row, Mr. Card counter.”

Riki almost spat out his drink, “W-what!?”

She leans closer and says, “What’s wrong, cat got your tongue?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

The cat reaches into her clutch and pulls out a beaten-up Snorlax wallet. “I’m not dumb, Riki-boy. I’ve been around.”

Riki’s eyes widened, “Oi, that’s my wallet! How did you get it?”

“You were at the craps table, Riki-boy. Not aware of your surroundings.” She said seductively as she opened Riki’s wallet, “Oh, that’s a cute picture of you. Can I have it?”

“No, you can’t have my ID!” Riki yells, taking his wallet back. “What do you want, and who are you?”

She sips the rest of her martini, “I just want to thank the guy who saved one of my girls, Twinkle.”

“You know Twinkle?” Riki asked, “Wait, are you Ruby?”

The cat smiles and shakes her head, “No, Riki-boy. My name is Mimi, Mama Ruby’s right paw lady.”

“Oh, you’re the number two.” Riki said, leading on the bar table, “So Mimi, how’s Twinkle doing, and how did you find me?”

“Little Twinkle is doing good, and she told me where you’re going,” Mimi said with a small smile. “Twinkle told all the girls back at Mama’s what you did for her.” Mimi starts to play footsie with Riki and begins to speak seductively, “How you put that Kaz in his place, no hesitation.”

Riki pulls his feet away, “Umm, it was nothing, Mimi.”

“Twinkle did say you look cute, in a weird looking way.” Mimi flirted, “If there is a way to thank you, I would love to do it~.”

Riki hold his hands up, “Look, I’m not interested, and I’m on the job.”

“What a shame, and here I thought we could have a good time,” Mimi said, getting up and walking behind Riki. She drags her soft paw across Riki’s shoulder and then to his cheek, “And about your job, it looks like it’s about to get tough.” Mimi then points to where Blueblood is.

Riki looks over to see a well dressed diamond dog and a minotaur. The minotaur then grabs Blueblood by his jacket collar. “Oh, shit!” Riki yelled as he frantically ran to them.

“Bye-bye, Riki-boy.” Mimi said, waving goodbye, “Until we meet again.”

What the hell is going on? First, the cat lady, and now this shit. I never thought someone would do this! Damn. “I’m coming, just hang in there!” I assured Blueblood as I pushed my way through the crowd. “Sorry. My bad. I need to get through.” Wow, everyone here doesn’t know what’s happening or just doesn’t care.

I can see Blueblood struggling to break free. His hooves are in the air, “Tiki! Tiki! Save me right now. That’s an order!” Blueblood yelled.

“It’s Riki!” I yelled back, “Damn, is he trying to make me not like him?” I see them turn the corner into a hallway. Quickly jumping on a poker table to get out of the crowd. I got to where they were and turned down the same hallway, “Fuck I think I lost them.” As I ran past a hallway door, something grabbed my hood and pulled me into the room.

I get up to see I’m in one of those private casino rooms and not alone. Looking around the room, I saw an earth pony, unicorn, griffin, and a cat. Are they all wearing suit jackets? “What’s going on here, a little dress party?” The group looks like they’re ready to fight. That’s not good. “I assume you guys are working with the ones that took Blueblood,” I said, getting up from the floor. “If not, I recommend the four of you let me walk.” I was about to leave the room, but they decided to rush me. Grabbing a nearby chair, I slammed it on the griffin’s head. Then, using the chair to block the cat’s claw attack, “This is going to be a waste of time.” I huffed, pushing the cat away with the chair. “Just hang in their Blueblood."

At the back of the casino, the double doors fling open into an alley. Scout walks out with Slugger holding Blueblood behind. “Put me down, you buck-” Slugger cuts Blueblood off by throwing him against a dumpster, scaring away the nearby rats. “That hurt, you disgusting minotaur!” Blueblood yelled, but his voice died when he got a better look at his kidnappers. “Scout and Slugger, it’s been a while.”

Scout leans in real close, “Yeah, it has. Me, Slugger, and Coal, we all miss you.”

“Coal, how has he been?” Blueblood asked skittishly.

“He’s doing good,”

“Enough of the chit-chat!” Slugger yelled, picking Blueblood up by the scruff of his neck. “I’m going to ask you once. Where is our money?”

Scout leans on the nearby wall, smiling, “Slugger, cutting to the chase like always. Blueblood, make us happy and tell us you have our money. If not, I’ll take your horn and make it look like an accident.”

“You do know how much unicorn horns go for?” added Slugger.

“I-I need more time-Ouch!” Blueblood yelled as his horn was pulled roughly by Slugger. He then holds Blueblood in front of Scout.

“It’s been two years, Blue boy.” Scout said with a slight growl, “Slugger, we’re taking him in.”

“What about the weird human?”

“The others are handling that creature,” Scout said. “Probably already dragging his flank back to base.”

“The only thing they’re are dragging is their bodies off the ground!” Scout and Slugger look behind them to see a slightly beaten-up Riki. His hoodie has a magic blast scuff mark on it and claw marks on the side. Riki was pissed because he just got his jacket fixed by Rarity. “Oi, how’s it going?”

Scout looks stunned as he says, “You beat them all. It was four versus one.”

“Yeah, it was a bit tough,” Riki said, cracking his shoulders and knuckles.

Blueblood managed to get free from Slugger’s grip and ran behind Riki. “The two of you made a big mistake! My bodyguard is going to put you guys in the ground. Go get them, Tiki, beat them up.”

Riki ignores Blueblood and says, “Who are you guys? Because I don’t know if you’re stupid or just don’t care. You know who he is, right?”

“Look, buddy, we don’t care if he’s a noble or some random pony.” Scout sits on a nearby trash can and says, “We are part of the Pipistrello family. We have business with the Prince.”

Riki’s eyes widen, “Wait, Pipistrello family like as in the mafia?” Scout nods his head. Riki looks back at Blueblood, “You got tied up in the mob. What did you do!?”

“Nothing,” Blueblood lied.

“He owes us 300,000 bits,” Slugger said. Riki’s jaw drops as he hears this, and Slugger continues, “We also have business with you, Ricochet.”

“What business?”

“You beat up Kaz, one of ours,” Slugger said coldly.

Riki lets out a groan. If he knew Kaz was part of the mob, he would just grab Twinkle and run. Riki knows how bad and annoying the mob can be. He, Madeline, and his cousins had countered with the mafia several times in New York. “Look-”

“No, enough talking.” Scout interrupted. “Slugger, take them in.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, and stay out of this. I want to see what the human can do.” Slugger snarled as he took off his suit jacket. He then cracks his knuckles, “Let’s make this quick, I have a bottle of cognac with my name on it.” Slugger then charges full speed at Riki and Blueblood, ready to throw a punch.

Riki quickly grabs a nearby trash can lid to block Slugger’s punch, but the force pushes Riki and Blueblood back. “Shit, this guy is tough,” Riki said, throwing the destroyed lid away. He then pulls out his tonfas to block Slugger’s incoming horn attack. Slugger overpowers the human and launches Riki into the ally wall, almost hitting Blueblood.

“What’s going on? Why are you losing!?” Blueblood yelled at Riki, “Do better, Tiki!”

“Get out of the way,” Riki said to Blueblood, picking himself off the ground. He then runs towards the minotaur and slams one of his tonfas down on Slugger’s head with a loud Crack. But the attack only made Slugger mad, “Damn, that did nothing.” Slugger tries to grab Riki, but he jumps out of the way. Riki knows he can’t beat Slugger in power, so speed is his only advantage. Riki plans to focus on dodging and trying to wear out the minotaur.

Slugger’s horn clashes against Riki’s tonfas and says, “The newspaper said you’re strong enough to save Equestria, but I’m not seeing it!”

Riki jumps back, only for Blueblood to get in the way, “Shit, move!” Slugger takes this opportunity to land a solid punch on Riki’s face. The hit almost knocks Riki out cold. His legs start to wobble as blood begins to seep from his mouth. As Riki falls back, he kicks Slugger in the chin. Riki spits out some blood and says, “We need to leave now!”

“You two are not going anywhere!” Slugger roared, lunging at Riki and Blueblood, trying to grab them.

Riki picks up Blueblood and slides between Slugger’s legs. Running to the door, Riki says, “I’m glad that I propped the door open with my backpack.” Entering the casino and shut the one-way door behind them.

Slugger doesn’t move for a few seconds before looking over at Scout. The dog is just sitting on the trash can. “Why didn’t you help?” Slugger spat.

“You told me to stay out of this,” Scout said, hopping off the trash can. “So, this is your fault.”

“I will kill you one day.”

“Same,”

Running down the empty hall with Blueblood in my hands, yelling at me to put him down. Quickly opening a utility closet, I toss the loud pony to the ground and slam the door. Grabbing a nearby bucket, I flip it over to sit on it. Slowly catching my breath, I can see Blueblood shouting at me, but I’m too tired to listen. The me that was fighting Taboo most definitely can beat Slugger. What happened to me?

“Hey, Tiki, are you listening to me!” Blueblood yelled at me. “You better-”

“Oi, Blueblood, my name is not Tiki. It’s Riki!” I interrupted, “If you can’t remember my name, don’t say it.”

Blueblood starts to get mad, “Prince Blueblood to you, and don’t tell me like that. Where's the respect?”

“Nonexistent, but you can try to earn it. The same goes for me calling you prince. You can earn that shit too.” I said as I pulled out a bottle of water from my backpack. “Here, take it. You look like you need it.” He looks at it for a few seconds before taking it. As Blueblood starts drinking the water I ask, “So, how did you get in a big debt with the mob?”

Blueblood thinks for a bit before saying, “Two years ago, I was on a bad losing streak. They offered to clear my debt. Also, I think I was a bit drunk at the time.”

I want to yell at him. I really do. Taking a few calming breaths, then saying, “…Does Celestia and Luna know about this?”

“…”

“You can’t be serious.” I groaned, “Why didn't you tell them!”

“I didn’t want to lose my money privileges,”

Fuck, this guy is something. “I’m going to tell the princesses want you did, and I hope they beat your ass.” I deadpan.

“What!?”

“Anyway, Feather and Bebop will be here Sunday.” I said get up, “We need to lay low until they can pick us up?”

“Let's just go back to the hotel,” said Blueblood, ‘We can stay in the room until Sunday comes.”

I shake my head, “They probably know where we stay, and we can’t go to the cops either. The mafia probably has their hands in there.”

“What now? I don’t want to lose my horn!” Blueblood shouted frantically, “Your job is to protect me. Think of a way out of this!”

“Oi, calm down and stop yelling,” I said, going to the door. “I do have a plan. First, we need to get out of this casino.”

“Okay, what’s next?”

“Second, we just wing it. Like we need to get lucky.”

“I’m going to lose my horn!” Blueblood cried.

“Hey, I think somepony is in here.”

“Then open the door.”

I crack my knuckles, “Looks like our hiding spot is gone. Get ready to run.”

“Hun?”

The doorknob begins to turn, and I quickly grab it. The door starts to thrash about, “It's jammed!” I fling the door open, causing a diamond dog to fall back. I grabbed his legs and dragged him into the room, shutting the door in the face of a pony. “They’re in here!” yelled the dog.

I quickly grabbed and slammed the dog’s head into the wall, knocking him out, and his body fell on Blueblood. Opening the door, I pulled the pony into the room. I quickly knock out the pony and turn to Blueblood, “They’re looking for us. Time to start the plan. You ready?”

“No!” Blueblood cried.

“Good,” I said as I opened the door. Checking the hallway to see that it’s empty. “Come on and keep up.”

“Don’t run too fast, I get tired easily!”

A cat and unicorn are staying in the hall. The unicorn looks at the cat and says, “How dangerous is this human that we’re looking for?”

“Are you scared?”

“No, but he did take out four of us and manage to get away from Slugger.” The pony said, sounding a bit terrified. “Also, you see what the human did in the newspaper.”

“Fake news,” replied the cat.

The pony rolls his eyes, “You should really stop saying that.”

“Oh, stu-Ahhggg!”

Out of nowhere, Riki slams his tonfas on top of the cat and pony’s heads. Their unconscious bodies fall to the ground. “They’re out cold, come on!” Blueblood walks out from around the corner, and Riki says, “How many members did they bring?”

“Umm, a lot more.”

Riki turns around to see six more Pipistrello family members. “That’s some shit right there.” Riki groaned as he ran away with Blueblood. The two stopped when three more Pipistrello family members appeared. Riki grabs Blueblood and runs up some nearby stairs. As they got to the second floor, Riki got a clothesline from the hell from Slugger, dropping him and Blueblood on the floor. This got the attention of casino players.

“Told you the plan will work, you twin horn bastard,” said Scout. “Block his way and make him come upstairs.”

“Shut it, dog,” Slugger replied as he picked up Riki by the throat. Blueblood tries to run away, but Slugger steps on his tail. “You’re not running away this time. Grab this fool, and don’t let him go!” After he said that, a diamond dog and griffin picked up the prince.

As Slugger walks over to the balcony with Riki by the throat, Scout follows and says, “Ricochet, I’m going to be nice to you.”

“Bullshit,” Riki coughed out, trying to break out of Slugger’s grip.

Scout ignores the human and continues, “If you bring us 300,000 bits to the Red Daffodils, you get your prince back. Also, don’t think about leaving or calling for outside help.”

“Is that it?” Slugger asked.

“Yeah, you can drop him,” Scout said with no hesitation.

And like that damn Slugger lets go of me.

I fell and fell, then BAM! My body lands on a poker table, scaring everyone around it. I don’t think I can get up. My body is done. A crowd starts to form around me as I shift my head around. From the second floor, I hear Scout yell, “300,000 bits to the Red Daffodils, or we turn this unicorn into an earth pony!”

My eyesight goes blurry, then darkness.